Day 43: Middlesex, Vermont to Madison, Ohio. Day 44: on to Indianapolis. Day 45, 46: Indianapolis, Indiana.

 

On Thursday morning we  said "goodbye" to Vermont. 

The past peak foliage still managed to look stunning on a sunny day.  

                

Since the drive from Middlesex to Indianapolis is 14.5 hours, we allotted two days to get there. At this point, six weeks in, I-90 is familiar territory. We know that after nine or so hours one's eyes start to glaze over. We broke the journey, as usual, near the Pennsylvania/Ohio border, opting this time to push it that extra 30 minutes to get into Ohio to reach a slightly newer, nicer hotel than the one we'd stayed at in Erie on that first, very long trip to San Jose. We had a reasonably good Mexican take-out dinner and settled in to watch the dueling town hall events with Trump and Biden. I can't seem to stay away from obsessively following the news during this pivotal moment, even if it might be better for my blood pressure not to do so. The next morning we were up early and off -- back on the interstate and headed to Indianapolis. 

At this point, I feel qualified to rank states in terms of rest stops and freeway maintenance. Here's my completely subjective analysis of the states we traveled through on this trip.

1. Vermont -- nice, clean rest-stops, fairly well-maintained highways and, of course, great views with no billboards.

2. Ohio -- I give this state my #2 spot for its rest stops. In highway maintenance and sheer logic of road transitions, etc. it would fall to 4 or 5. 

3. New York -- Considering how many ginormous trucks beat up their roads on a daily basis, I think New York does a pretty good job. Rest stops are too infrequent, though, but mostly clean. Once on the thruway there are regular rest stops but food options are terrible. We make our own sandwiches these days.

4. Pennsylvania -- PA has a nice "Welcome Center," but other rest stops are inconveniently located, chaotic and not the cleanest.

5. Indiana -- Not sure if I'm being fair to Indiana to put it last in this group. The roads were a mess, but we weren't in the state too long and didn't use a rest stop here. Will perhaps revise my opinion after our next drive. 

On thing I can say is life on the road is definitely affected, for better or worse, by such things.

                                                Below: the long and waving road.

While I'm fairly well-traveled, this trip has been a real eye-opener for me for many reasons. One, of course, is the moment we're in -- in the middle of a pandemic, with the nation finally waking up to the reality of systemic racism and with a crucial presidential election two weeks away.  The very air in the cities we visit seems charged with the electricity of the moment. And, because we are in these cities for Greg to cover a football game, the hotels we are staying in each weekend are usually fancy high-rises located right downtown. Not where we'd be staying if we were paying the bill.

We pulled into Indianapolis late Friday afternoon. While Greg had a zoom call with the teams, I took a walk around our neighborhood. The first thing that struck me was the grace and beauty of the city. A cobblestone street and walkway connects the domed state capitol building to the Soldier and Sailor's Monument, set two blocks away in a circular plaza.

The Indiana State Capitol building

   The Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument

According to wikipedia, the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument was the first to be dedicated to ordinary military personnel, not generals or admirals, etc. The obelisk structure is made of limestone and topped with a statue of "Victory."  The shot below (from the wikipedia page) was taken when the monument was being refurbished. It shows the eagle perched on Victory's head. We thought it was a real bird at first, since you can't see it well from below. The height of the structure is only 15 feet shorter than the statue of liberty. 

random shots from our neighborhood

                          

On my walks, I was sad to notice many homeless people on sidewalks and street corners or seeking shelter in the entryways of boarded up storefronts. I've lived in cities before, of course, in San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco, and, for a short time, in Paris and London. But, this trip is showing me homelessness on a bigger scale. And, with the added effect of the pandemic, things look incredibly bleak. Consider this statistic from a recent study. 

The number of poor people has grown by eight million since May, according to researchers at Columbia University, after falling by four million at the pandemic's start as a result of a $2 trillion emergency package known as the Cares Act.

I hope our country can tackle this terrible problem soon. It is heartbreaking that so many of our fellow citizens are living this way. 

At least some folks in Indianapolis are trying to help. The church below, which is right on the monument circle, has installed port-a-potties. You can see them in the lower left corner of the picture. Between them is a clean and attractive sink. And, while I was taking my evening stroll yesterday, a man pulled over and hopped out. He walked up to folks and asked if they'd like a meal. In the block or so that my route overlapped with his, he'd given out probably 15 bagged dinners.

On the field: Cincinnati Bengals @ Indianapolis Colts. 38 year old Phillip Rivers finds the fountain of youth, throws for 371 yards. Final score: Bengals 27, Colts 31.

On the map:  Distance from last week -- Hoboken to home to Indianapolis: 1,209 miles. 

This leg of the trip in green and brown (I'm running out of colors). From here, we stay out on the road as it doesn't make sense to return to Vermont when Greg's next game is in New Orleans. We will try to make lemonade out of lemons, though, by fitting in some historical sites related to the civil rights movement on the drive from Indianapolis to New Orleans.

Day 37: Home to Hoboken, New Jersey. Days 38,39: Hoboken. Day 40: Hoboken, New Jersey to Middlesex, Vermont

On our last trip, as we wound through some parts of Pennsylvania and West Virginia, we were saddened to see Trump posters peppering people's yards, so this was a welcome sign in upstate New York.

The photo below was taken from our house on October 6, the morning after we arrived home from North Carolina. The foliage on Mount Hunger was a tiny bit past peak but still looked dramatic. As we made our way south on Friday, we were treated to lovely foliage on the drive through Vermont and upstate New York.

And, when we arrived at our hotel in Hoboken, New Jersey, we were greeted with a spectacular view of quite a different scene. 

Along the drive, Greg's phone kept going off with texts from coworkers. A player on the New York Jets had tested positive for Covid 19 and the players had been sent home from practice. Greg's broadcast team was instructed to go ahead as usual on the assumption that the game would not be canceled. But, as the day progressed and Zoom interviews with players and coaches did not happen as scheduled, it seemed that things were very much in flux. Late Friday the news came that the test in question had turned out to be a false positive, so the game is proceeding as planned today. Football, it seems, will have to adapt as we all have. It looks like Americans, in these crazy times, just have to take what comes. 

But, we also have to do what we can  . . . I dropped off my ballot, along with Greg's and Anna's on the day before we left for New York. It felt great to be able to put the ballots right into the drop box at our local town clerk's office. If that's a possibility for you, get on it. It feels great to have it done!

Finally we arrived in Hoboken and (thank heaven!) got out of the car. The 70 degree temp and sunny weather was perfect for a stroll. 

Most folks were masked and/or distancing, so that was a relief. It was nice to see people enjoying the day.

A few minutes before this picture (right) was taken a couple got engaged right there on the grass. Total strangers started cheering and clapping as the couple kissed. A reminder that even in these uncertain times love still continues.

(Above) Me, outside of the shop of the "Cake Boss." 

We bought a piece of chocolate cake. It was quite tasty.

(Below) The Lakawana railway station. 

View from our hotel window, by day . . . 

. . . and night. 

 

On the field: Arizona Cardinals @ New York Jets. Kyler Murray threw for 380 yards and ran for a touchdown. Final score: Cardinals 30, Jets 10.

On the map: distance from last week's game in Charlotte to home to Hoboken: 1,266 miles. 

        Map showing our route in to Hoboken in yellow.

Day 30: Middlesex, Vermont to Charlottesville, Virginia. Day 31, 32: Charlotte, North Carolina

Sorry for the long break in posting. I fell behind after Cleveland because our map disappeared and I kept thinking it would magically reappear. Turns out, things don't magically reappear or disappear (as some folks suggest). We've started a new map and I'll post it showing all of our travel once I've got it up to date. 

I had intended to catch up on the blog last weekend in North Carolina, but Greg accidentally took my computer charger when he headed off at the crack of dawn on Sunday to cover the Panthers game. After venturing down to the cavernous, empty hotel lobby to fetch a coffee from the Starbucks woman with a thick Eastern European (I guessed) accent, I sat down to blog and discovered that my computer was dead. So, I finished a novel instead. Here I'll catch up on our time in Vermont post-Cleveland and our journey and time in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Vermont was incredibly beautiful, which made it awfully hard to leave. Here are some shots taken on the road to and fro, and at home

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Funny, as I write this, I am just now noticing that our hotel on the way to Charlotte, North Carolina was located in Charlottesville, Virginia. This trip has been infused with so much angst over the state of our nation that it feels odd to me. Perhaps its a function of the fog of the road, but I didn't grasp the significance of our stopping place at the time. 

It had been a very long drive, with lots of road work, slow downs, and white-knuckle driving hemmed in by big rigs and solid cement dividing barriers. We lunched on peanut-butter sandwiches at a rest area just inside the Virginia border. While Greg had a conference call, I took a walk around the grassy area at the pet friendly rest-stop. Virginia may be for lovers but, unfortunately for me, they don't all love picking up after their pets.

On the way to Charlotte

After a rather fine (for us, our standards have really dropped) dinner from Noodles & Company and an uneventful sleep, we headed for Charlotte the next morning. The closer we got to Charlotte, the more crowded and stressful the trip became. I was happy to finally get there and park the car. Although Greg has been to Charlotte many times as it was a site for NASCAR which he covered for 13 years, this was my first time to the city. I thought it was rather pretty, with lots of sleek skyscrapers. Food was better here, too, or at least we were better at finding good food. Had a really nice gyro from a Greek pub (take-out of course) the first night.

Scenes from Charlotte.

Along with the sleek buildings, Charlotte has a lot of public art, including a truly wonderful Black Lives Matter mural on a major street. I couldn't get a good angle of it, though.

In Charlotte, we stayed in a very lovely hotel. Here's another feeble attempt at being artsy.  As you'll see, this hotel was even fancier than the first one I chronicled way back near the beginning of this adventure. That one was in San Jose. 

 Hotel during a Pandemic, redux.

Here's a shot of Greg on game day.

Our first night in Charlotte was marked by the bombshell announcement that Trump had tested positive for Covid. Of course, that seems like ages ago now, as the aftermath has certainly eclipsed even our most dramatic fears in those early moments. Here I am, with our take-out dinner, glued to to the news.

On the field: NFL Week 4, 10/4/20: Arizona Cardinals @ Carolina Panthers

Carolina Quarterback Teddy Bridgewater (#5) threw for 2 TDs and ran for another one, his first score since a devastating knee injury in 2016. Final score: Cardinals 21, Panthers 31.

On the map: distance from last week's game -- Cleveland to home to Charlotte: 1,514 miles.

The reconstructed map. If your eyesight allows, you may be able to see where I've noted which day we arrived in various places. 

Here is a closer shot, highlighting the route we took from home to Charlotte, NC in red and orange.

                                                

 We left Charlotte as soon as Greg got back from his game. To make the drive home the next day doable, we needed to get four hours of driving under our belt that night. Here's a pic of me dragging myself and our makeshift breakfast to the car in the wee hours the next morning. Although you can't see it, a local restaurant's emblazoned sign off to the left gave me a laugh. Since one letter had burned out, the breakfast eatery proclaimed itself to be "affle House" (pronounced "awful," of course.)