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

.

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.)

Day 23: Middlesex, Vermont to Syracuse, New York; Day 24-26: Cleveland, Ohio

We took a meandering route through the Adirondacks to Syracuse. The fall foliage was stunning along the way, but we had our eyes on the road and the destination. No time to stop to take photos. I took a couple from the passenger seat, but they don't capture the beauty. 

Our dinner was greasy and the hotel in Syracuse, careworn. Needless to say, our sanitation routine was in full swing and we were up and out early the next morning, arriving in Cleveland, despite some slowdowns due to road work, in the late afternoon. 

 On Saturday I was able to have a socially distant visit with my brother, sister-in-law, nieces and nephews-in-law and their kids. It was so wonderful to be with family and enjoy the lovely, sunny day.

 

Cleveland has done a lot of redevelopment to improve its historic downtown. Here are some shots from the neighborhood of our hotel.

Here's a shot of Greg's monitor wall and his desk during game day. On either side of his station, tall plexiglass walls block him from his colleagues right next door.

On the field: NFL Week 3, 9/27/20: Washington Football Team @ Cleveland Browns. 

Baker Mayfield threw for 2 TDs. Nick Chubb ran for two more.  Final score: Football Team 20, Browns 34. This game marked the first time in NFL history that there were 2 female coaches (one for each team) on the sidelines and a female official on the field. 

On the map: distance from last week. Philadelphia to home to Cleveland: 983 miles.

We accidentally left the map in our bags in car, so no shot of our progress today. Will catch up next time. Tomorrow we head home for a few days of a break from life on the road.

Day 18: Philadelphia to Middlesex, Vermont. Day 19-22: Middlesex, Vermont

After the cross-country and back drive, the game in Philly felt almost like an afterthought, but, of course, the game is the thing! Here's the summary:

On the field: NFL Week 2, 9/20/20 -- Los Angeles Rams @ Philadelphia Eagles

The Rams dominated the hapless Eagles. Jared Goff threw 3 TD passes to Tyler Higbee. 

Final score: Rams 37, Eagles 19.

Our final score . . . we crossed the country in 5 days to get to Philadelphia. 

On the map: San Jose, CA to Philadelphia, PA. -- 2,904 miles. 

We chose to leave Philly right after Greg's game because staying over would have meant dealing with traffic the next morning in Philly, New Jersey and New York. So, we ended up leaving around 5 p.m. We still hit some traffic and road work and didn't relish driving on narrow parkways in the dark. We were exhausted when we finally reached home at 12:30 a.m.

We had a lovely visit with Anna and Adam. I am so grateful for the good care they are providing for our home and dogs. Honestly, I think the pups will be disappointed when we come home for good. They're getting lots of love and attention while the kids juggle online college and work obligations. 

Apple picking on a glorious day!

It's hard to leave Vermont at this time of year, but the NFL road trip continues. Next stop: Cleveland.