The Veteran Traveler

Today I visited three states! The sad thing, though is that I only intended to visit two. Furthermore, I traveled more in the other two than I had intended. It wasn't too bad, but...oh, I'll just tell you the story. Here goes.

Daddy went today with one of his office workers, who is an even more avid sailor than he is, to sail Eagle Wings, our 30-foot Hunter, from Portsmouth to Rye, where it will be taken out of the water tomorrow morning. I went along to take one of the cars home so they would not have to return to Portsmouth when they had finished their ocean jaunt. I had not been actually expecting to go, but I was fine with it and took my Calculus in the car with me, so I would not be bored on the way up. I was going to take my audio Italian CD for the way down, but, well, let's just say non lo ho potuto trovare. So I didn't take it. No matter! Instead I toted along a tasty collection of Classical from the library: Violin concertos by Beethoven and Mendelssohn performed by Isaac Stern (who, by the way, is TOTALLY INCREDIBLE!!!!), some Chopin and Liszt, and a Tchaikovsky CD I didn't end up listening to (but which is also terrific).

Anyway, I began with the Calculus right away, listening to the (TOTALLY INCREDIBLE) Violin CD with my Walkman. Unfortunately, I had a math test and was done in twenty minutes. How I wished I had more school to do! Not because I wanted to do school particularly, but because I was in a rather scholastic mood and wanted to get done as much as possible. However, there was nothing else to do, so I sat and listened in raptures to Isaac Stern's incredible skill.

We reached Rye in good time, and leaving the Camry in the harbor parking lot, headed up the coast to the Portsmouth Naval Base, which, for those of you who are so uninformed as to believe the Portsmouth Naval Base is in Portsmouth, is in Kittery. Go figure. I dropped my passengers and their cargo off at the pier and headed out into the great wide world, full of hope and ambition.

All was well, at first. After all, I have driven home from Portsmouth before. Misfortune was not far ahead, however. I am used to coming down the Rte. 1 Bypass, going around the Portsmouth circle, and heading straight to 101 via 95. This was impossible today, for SOMEONE had decided to close the Rte. 1 Bridge!!!!! I was furious! Why close the bridge when Aaron was coming to town? Sadly, there was nothing I could do but follow the detour sign. Actually, there were more signs than that one, but I didn't see the others in time. I sped by them, following the signs for I-95. In no time flat I found myself screaming up I-95 NORTH, praying for an exit. There was one pretty soon, but not soon enough to avoid adding another 14 miles to the trip.

So, once again I was going the right direction. I was annoyed at the whole missing-the-detour thing, but at least now I was home free, right? Of course right!

Or not. As I continued south down the interstate, I thought of this and that, listened to Chopin, and all in all drove a bit absent-mindedly. I wasn't driving dangerously or anything, but I certainly wasn't concentrating on my route. I went through the tolls with my dad's EZ-Pass, and instantly my mind was on that subject. I weighed the pros and cons of the electronic system versus the tokens, thought about whether I liked the fact that EZ-passes sometimes let their possessors get through legally but without paying (i.e., the bill doesn't charge for every toll). The statesman inside me screamed, "Return to tokens, vote in a Republican governor!" But my carnal nature rather liked the situation.

So I continued with such ponderings, and pretty soon I thought I should watch the signs. "Hmmm....495? Huh, I thought that was in Massachusetts. Weird." Hardly had these thoughts passed lightly through my mind when I was startled by three words: "Massachusetts Welcomes You!" I didn't welcome Massachusetts.

I was pretty seriously annoyed, but I remembered from a another boat excursion, that one to Gloucester, that 495 connects with 93, and I have driven that road a hundred (well, maybe ten) times. Therefore, I began to look for signs for 495 North (because New Hampshire is to the north, right? Of course right!). There were none to be seen! Everything was "495 South", "495 South." (Probably just another example of the inefficient, bureaucratic government of Massachusetts.) After going a good way further, finally there was a sign for the northern half of the highway. I took it joyously, and headed farther and farther down a little highway, with no sign of nearing my hoped-for destination. Finally, putting aside my pride, I stopped for directions.

"Hi, can you tell me how to get to 495 North?"

"Next light."

Grrrr. I made it back onto the highway. Finally, finally, finally, I was on the right track. I started to breathe a sigh of relief - but ended it as a cry of despair as another hateful sign approached: "End 495; Joining 95." So I had just gone in a big loop! So that's why there were no signs for 495 North! Suddenly it all came back to me: "You have to take 495 SOUTH to get to 93! NOW I remember." I didn't do another turnabout, though, and this time found the 101 exit pretty quickly (my eyes could not have been more peeled). In the meantime, I passed a VERY welcome sign, one of the first: "Welcome (Bienvenu) to New Hampshire: Live Free or Die"!!!! No more of this "You're going to like it here" stuff; everyone already does anyway.

The rest of the trip home was long but blessedly uneventful. I made it back to my home town without further ado, although I got pretty tired of Chopin and was too tired to change the CD. Now I am home, and it has almost never felt so good.

Below: An overview of my trip; blue lines indicate where I was behind the wheel; red indicates where my dad was driving.