Columbus Day! I was up by 0630 again and found the day even colder than yesterday. After getting myself ready, I packed up my car. Then drove (following John and Katie) to Pembroke and got gas at Irving (0915) and breakfast at the Omelette Factory - it was really good! We finished eating at around 1000 and then I said goodbye to them. Next, I drove down to Plymouth to visit Gerard, arriving at his house at around 1045. It had been a while since I'd seen him but, as usual, we had a nice political debate! At 1245, we drove over to ThreeV for lunch. The restaurant (and area in general) was very upscale and reminded me of something I'd seen in the DC Metro area. We had a nice time there and I met the owner, Mike. After we finished eating, he gave me a bottle of his family wine! Gerard and I then drove around in the area, visiting places that meant a lot to him. We got back to his house at 1430 and chatted for a bit longer. By 1500, I was on my way back to New Hampshire after a nice visit. Unfortunately, by then there were several major accidents on MA-3. This extended the length of my drive by over 30 minutes. Google Maps took me west on US-44 and this route had its own traffic problems. Fortunately, I finally reached MA-24 and took it north to I-95/I-93. After I reached Quincy, though, the traffic slowed down again - and rain started... I passed the time with audiobooks. Once I'd passed though Boston, the traffic sped up a lot. On the other side of the highway, though, there was major traffic (yikes). I reached Hookset by about 1700 and took NH-3A to I-89. There was lots of traffic through this area but it was not as bad as in the other direction... From that point on, I had a great drive (weather improved) all the way to Lebanon. I was still about 15 minutes late for the Knights of Columbus meeting but managed to participate in that for about 30+ minutes. Afterwards (1915), I headed home and unpacked. I hadn't realized it previously but I was VERY tired. However, all the driving was worth the effort - it was great to have seen so many people over the holiday weekend!
