2025 Late-Summer Road Trip - Day 0-of-35 - August 12, 2025

It has been a GREAT SUMMER here in Manchester-by-the-Sea, but I'm getting itchy to "hit the road". I want to visit the Pacific Northwest - I sprained my ankle in May, so no overnight-camping this trip, but maybe some smaller dayhikes. I'll be seeing Counting Crows in Salt Lake City, then Wendy will join me in Seattle. From there we will see friends and relatives, making our way back down to St. Louis. Wendy will fly home, and I'll make my way southeast down to Key West, then back up North and Home:

I am looking forward to seeing Monet at The Frick Pittsburgh; a Tiffany window in Sioux Falls, South Dakota; paying homage at the Buddy Holly Crash Site in Clear Lake, Iowa; and visiting the Lowe Art Museum at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida (this will be my first visit!).

A few weeks ago I bought a New-Used Car. In January 2024 I traded in my 2017 Subaru Crosstrek (199,000 miles) and got a new 2024 Crosstrek; it was ok, but it didn't have a cd player (which I really like), and it had a REAL FUNKY CRUISE CONTROL - the radar was so sensitive that when I was going downhill on the Mass Pike, it would pick up a bridge over the road and HIT THE BRAKES (thinking it was an obstacle). And this new-radar-stuff took up a huge amount of my windshield. So I thought "Life is too short to have to put up with this stuff", and I went to the dealer thinking that I would have to get something old (a 2019 Crosstrek?). He looked at his inventory and said "Well, we have a white 2023 Crosstrek with a cd player, the dumbed-down radar, and a sun roof." I said "That's my car!" (decals courtsey of Wendy!)

I will be getting home Wednesday, September 17th. 35 days, 13,500 miles (I wonder How Many Albums and Post Offices?)

Should be fun - come along for the ride! Maybe I'll see you Out On The Road - as Paul Simon wrote:

Counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike
They've all come to look for America