Sadly, my visit with Eileen and Mika in New York's North Country was scheduled to come to an end today. It's been a good visit, filled with outdoor adventures, fun times with the dog, great conversations and challenging cooking projects. In anticipation of the proverbial "clock running out", I was awake at 0545 (no alarm needed). I started teleworking immediately and then met up with Eileen in the living room at 0615. We spent time together eating breakfast, working on puzzles and relaxing by the woodstove before she got heavily into packing, cleaning and getting ready for work. Meanwhile, I returned to my computer to log some more hours. In her usual whirlwind style, Eileen successfully made all her checkpoints and deadlines and we said goodbye at 0815. The house was very quite after she and Mika were gone... After that, I kept teleworking for the rest of the morning, taking only short breaks to get ready, clean up areas where I'd been living during the week and packing up my stuff. Meanwhile, it started snowing outside (at about 1030) and didn't let up at all for several hours. By the time I wrapped up my work day (1200), I had a little more time to do some "chores" (mostly firewood and kitchen cleanup) before I left Eileen's. When I started loading the car (1215), temps were sitting at 29 F and it was still snowing heavily. I had to spend another 10 minutes cleaning off the car before I could even get out of the driveway. Carefully (and very slowly), I made my way through treacherous wintry conditions and increasing traffic towards the west (on US-11). I let Eileen know that I'd be passing through Canton on the way and she suggested I stop by to say goodbye again. With some effort, I made it to the SLU Campus at around 1255. Eileen and Mika were just crossing a busy streety when I was parking and Mika (with Eileen's permission) raced across the quad to greet me. That felt good... The timing worked out good for both of us - she had decided to head home to grab her bags before departing for the airport in Plattsburgh (she was headed to Florida for her Spring Break). For real this time, I got back on US-11 and drove west to Gouvemeur. On the way, I passed several cars in ditches and generally snarled traffic. It was a surprise to get some calls from Eileen during this window but we shared intel on the weather and other things that were happening - that was nice. Google Maps surprised me again by taking me off the route I've been using since 2014 (US-11 to I-81). This time, I ended up on CR-52, which took me to NY-22. In a few places, I got annoyed with slow moving trucks and passed them when I could. I passed the time with audiobooks. Along the way, I drove through the towns of Oxbow (1400) and Theresa. After the latter location, I followed Mill Street and Main Street, which became NY-26. This road took me to NY-411 and, finally, I-81 (1420). Meanwhile, the snowy roads started to clear and the steady snow turned into rain. I also watched the temps climb from 33 F in St. Lawrence County and rise to 41 F by Jefferson County. On the Interstate, there were LOTS of cops. Even though I didn't need more reasons to slow down, I soon found myself driving through areas of extremely low visibility. Traffic still moved pretty well until I reached the northern end of Syracuse. I noticed a (new?) bypass but Google Maps kept me on I-81 until I was stuck in a "20 minute delay" traffic jam (mostly due to construction) in Syracuse (1535). I saw some opportunities to escape the "You are still on the fastest route" though - I ended up using city streets on the west side of the city until I could access I-690. After that, it was smooth sailing on I-81 again. I stopped in Binghamton for gas (Speedway) and lunch/dinner (McDonalds) at 1650 but then made a mistake on my food order. I was honest with the staff (about how I was trying to observe Lent) and they fixed the problem for me (fish filet sandwich). While waiting, I made a hotel reservation (actually found a pretty good deal for a reward night). After all the excitement, I departed (1720) towards the south. At around that time, I started thinking about how many times during the last two months that I'd returned to a place where I'd been earlier ("figure eights" or "loops"). Meanwhile, I continued south on I-81 and into Pennsylvania (crossed the border at 1740). The weather turned nasty again and the 25 miles of road construction didn't make the drive any easier. At times, I was being splashed by cars/trucks in front and on the sides and it made it very hard to see out of the window... I passed the time with more audiobooks and some of Eileen's delicious homemade desserts (she'd packed me a container). After battling traffic, the elements and growing fatigue, I arrived at my hotel, the Econolodge (Clarks Summit) by 1815. Almost immediately, I recognized the building and location - I’ve definitely been here before. Unfortunately, the quality seems to have dropped off and I had to contend with insects roaming the room, long hairs on my sheets, open construction areas (walls, floors), loud neighbor noise, etc. Since it was rainy outside and I wasn't in the mood to go back outside, I just sucked up the conditions. Instead of getting annoyed, I spent the rest of the evening watching streaming services and trying to catch up on my blog entries (falling way behind). I also logged back into my work computer to see if I'd missed anything important since logging off after a half day (used leave for the rest). A bit later, it a nice treat to get some texts with Eileen (she had made her flight to Florida). The rest of the evening was filled with reading and prep for the following day. Finally went to bed at 2215 after covering a lot of driving distance - tomorrow should be more relaxed. I hope the weather will be better...
