2021 Fall Trip - Day 37 - 9/29/2021

Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2021 - HOMEWARD BOUND!!!! - (306 miles driving today):

Pulling out of Stroudsburg this morning, I crossed over 10,000 miles on this trip:

Morning fog going through northeast Pennsylvania

To break-up the drive, we stopped at 11 AM at the Hill-Stead Museum in Farmington, Connecticut. Wendy and I were the only ones at 11, so we got "the private tour". Photos-inside are not allowed, which is silly because the images are available on-line. Two-of-the-Four Monets are:

View of Cap d’Antibes, 1888:

Grainstacks, in Bright Sunlight, 1890:

The outside and grounds are lovely:

An hour later we were being welcomed back into Massachusetts:

And we were home at 2:15

YAYYYYY!!!!

37 days, 10,304 miles - Thank you God for ALL these GREAT adventures!

And of course, if you have enjoyed these blogs, I have to invite you to check-out dixonheadingnorth, which chronicles my mountain-climbing adventures.

Music for today:

various - The 4400, 2007 soundtrack


Warren Zevon - Learning To Flinch [Live], recorded 1992, released 1993


various - The Very Best of Cole Porter, 2004


various - Windham Hill Records Sampler '84, 1984


various - Hitsville USA Vol.2: The Motown Singles Collection 1972-1992

I kept only 3 songs (but they're REALLY GOOD SONGS):

Diana Ross - "Touch Me in the Morning", 1973 (#1 single)
The Commodores - "Sail On", 1979 (Top 10 single)
Lionel Richie - "All Night Long (All Night)", 1983 (#1 single)

various - Music From The OC: Mix 4, 2003


various - National Lampoon's Animal House, 1978

The 5-minute version of "Shout" (by Otis Day and the Knights) was a SUPER SONG, and a staple for at least 5 years at parties and weddings.

2021 Fall Trip - Day 36 - 9/28/2021

Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2021 - 5 STATES TODAY: Virginia, District of Columbia, Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania - (294 miles driving):

Ok, so maybe some of those "states" aren't very big...

We left about 8 AM, heading east down I-66 - going fine, until we GOT TO THE CONSTRUCTION:

I just kept doing "focused driving" - around D.C, through the Baltimore Tunnel, and the pretty northern Delaware countryside, and got to lunch at 11:59

We had a GREAT 2-hour-lunch with Cousin Tom:

with lots of "Carton-family stories" back and forth!

4 hours after leaving lunch, we reached The Penn Stroud hotel in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania:

WOW - It was wonderful seeing family-and-friends on this roadtrip, but I might be a little "socialed-out". But Still: Thank you God for these GREAT adventures!

Music for today:

The Dave Brubeck Quartet - The Great Concerts: Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Carnegie Hall, live album, recorded 1958/63, released 1988


William Ackerman - Passage, 1981


various - The Unplugged Collection, 1994


various - Windham Hill Records Sampler '81, 1981


various - 60s Instrumentals


various - 92.9 WBOS Live From The Archives, 2003


various - 2007 Grammy Nominees, 2007

2021 Fall Trip - Day 35 - 9/27/2021

Monday, Sept. 27, 2021 - Up through Virginia today (374 miles driving):

2-and-1/2 hours after leaving Kingsport, Tennessee we reached Falls Ridge Preserve (part of The Nature Conservancy):

There were a couple of other cars in the parking area. It is a beautiful day to get out for a little hike to see some waterfalls:

Not bad "water-flow" for September 27. Wendy found this place by googling "waterfalls along I-81" - very cool. Hey, you might have something like this in your own backyard - get out and explore!

It was a nice 1.2 mile hike, in a little more than 1/2 hour - up through the field, a loop through the woods, and back down through the field:

Back at the car, Wendy made lunch, and then it was a nice drive through the Virginia countryside:

And we were down at Peggy and Norm's place right at 2 PM:

We took a lovely hike around the neighborhood:

and then Wendy and I headed down the road - but not before Peggy gave us a picture from our old Darden days:

Ah, "Once Upon A Time".

We mailed postcards in Nellysford, Virginia 22958:

And went north on the "valley road", between I-81 to our west, and Skyline Drive to our east - just didn't have the time that Skyline Drive would have demanded. 2 hours after leaving Nellysford we checked into Super 8 Front Royal, Virginia:

It was wonderful seeing friends on this roadtrip, and Thank you God for these GREAT adventures!

Music for today:

The Great Jazz Trio - At The Village Vanguard Again!, live album, recorded 1977, released 2000


The Great Jazz Trio - Someday My Prince Will Come, 2004


The Pretenders - Learning to Crawl, 1984 third album


The Steve Miller Band - The Best Of 1968-1973

I like the first 5 albums by The Steve Miller Band A LOT!!!

The Temptations - Millennium Collection: Best Of The Temptations, Vol.1 - The '60s, 1999


The Waterboys - Fisherman's Blues, 1988


Martin Luther King Jr. - A Call To Conscience, 2002 (7 cds) - cd 6 today


U2 - "Bullet the Blue Sky", 1987 song from The Joshua Tree:


lyrics:

"In the locust wind comes a rattle and hum"

and

"Outside is America"