Ithaca, NY (USA)

We got up pretty early - both to be able to leave and to catch Carolyn before she had to be at work. It was a good thing, too, since Nicky left her keys at Carolyn's house... We drove along through green valleys and saw lots of farmland as we used I-81 down to Luzerne County, PA. We had lunch near Hazleton and then we got off the beaten path - using US-209 as it snaked its way through Schuylkill County. I have always been interested in this area - almost all of the early Coogans in the US lived either in New York City or in this area of PA. Nearly every town had some significance - Coogans had lived in almost every one between Tamaqua and Pottsville. We were racing the rain clouds, so we didn't really stop again until we were well south of central PA on the extreme east side of Pennsylvania Dutch Country. Saw lots of buggies and happy Amish families. Used several PA highways to make it to Delaware - crossed near Wilmington and got on DE-1. Good drive with little traffic all the way through DELMARVA. Dinner at Popeye's Chicken (mmm...). Hit Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel just before sunset and had a beautiful view of the sun dipping into the Sea. The kids were still jazzed all the way home - only a couple of movies on the entire trip. Home by full darkness.