Trip Report Day 1: Toronto to State College

Jen and I said goodbye to Maggie last night. When we travel, she stays with Jen’s folks, and generally does not miss us at all. She is content to play with the dog and cats and snack on things that she does not get at home.

We hoped to be on the road by 11:00 A.M., but things at the car rental place took a bit longer than expected. The fuckers were asking for more than what we were quoted…assholes. We left with our bright red 2006 Hundai Elantra and hit the road at about 11:30.

We crossed the border at Buffalo and it was hassle-free…whew. The drive to State College is mostly along US-219, which is a winding, often single-lane road through the backwoods of New York and Pennsylvania. The drive is always pretty, but it can be a bit frustrating when traffic is slow. We’ve done this drive so many times now that we have a pretty good routine going; Jen drives the first leg (including the border) and we switch cars in Ellicottville, a small town that doubles as a ski resort for rich people in the winter. Sometimes we switch in the next town called Salamanca. I drive for the rest of the trip which included a final one-hour push along good ol’ Route 80 in Pennsylvania. If we are running good, the trip takes five-and-a-half hours, sometimes six.

We were arriving one day before my Mother’s birthday, so there was a small celebration in the works. I really enjoy visiting with my family. We don’t have any problems…at all. It’s taken me a very long time to understand how unusual this is. We ate some delicious lasagna and chocolate mousse pie and the banter was at a high level. My sister was there for a while (she lives on campus at PSU…about a five-minute drive away), and my brother stopped by later.

Jen and I sleep in the basement, rather than the upstairs guest-room. I guess this is kind of strange because that room was my bedroom when I was a kid. Thing is, my Grandfather stayed there for the last few years of his life and it still kind of feels like his place to me.

We went to bed around 1:00 A.M.