Malone, NY (USA)

[planned a four day hiking trip up north - woke up at 0630 (although this was later than I wanted to leave) - as I was finished packing, I received a call from Nicky at 0700 - Brenna wanted me to come get her, so I drove over to their house (0730) - I talked to Brenna for a bit before dropping her off for school (0800) and got gas for the road - drove over to at JiffyLube for a 200K mile (wow!) check on the Explorer - picked up breakfast at McDonalds (0835) while I waited - finished all the service by 0945 and got on the road - by the time I left DC, though, I had already begun to wonder if my plan to hike on AT in NJ, NY and CT was what I really wanted to do... - I continued north (via I-495, I-270, US-15) and stopped at Fort Detrick and bought some adult beverages at the Exchange - I made several phone calls as I drove (work, home, etc.) - the ride north (PA-581, I-81) was OK but I encountered lots of traffic throughout the day and some inclement weather - played phone tag with Eileen for several hours and eventually asked her if we could meet up this weekend - she told me she might be able to do it and would call me back - I continued north, awaiting her decision for several hours - stopped for gas in Great Bend (PA) at 1500 (probably the third time I've used this same service station) - I didn't want to turn east until I knew for sure what would happen, so I kept going, reaching Watertown without any guidance from Eileen - I decided to stop at Fort Drum and bought some clothing at the Exchange (1755) - still no answer on the weekend plans, but figured I was "in for a penny, in for a pound", so I continued east on US-11 - was going to stop at a street party in Canton but it started to pour - stopped instead at Walmart - sent my last text and voicemail to Eileen, apologizing for trying to make something happen so short notice - by the time I drove into Potsdam, I had no plans and no contact and gave up any chance of seeing her - I was tired already, so I tried to find a place to stay nearby - I firts attempted to use my gift card for a hotel on the west side of town (it didn't work) - at that point, I decided to head east on US-11 again (thinking that maybe I could hike in Vermont in the morning) - I quickly lost cell signal, it got darker, rain continued - eventually got tired of driving and began to regret my efforts to get up to the North Country when there was no chance to see her - obviously, my weekend wasn't going to work out as I hoped - decided to stay in Malone for the night and got a room at the Four Seasons Motel (2045) - I went to sleep around 2200 - woke up a bit later when Eileen started texting - she eventually called me and we tried to make plans for the rest of the weekend - we'll see what happens...]