Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Back Home in Maryland

After a three month hiatus in Maine, we have returned home to Maryland . . .  twelve hours and 550 miles through 8 states.

We endured heavy rain and ground fog from the cottage in New Gloucester all the way down through Worcester, Massachusetts.  The traffic was particularly thick going around Boston and west on the Mass Pike, but we had some much appreciated clearing (even a few minutes of actual sunshine) as we continued down and across Connecticut.

We stopped for a late lunch in Bethel before making our way across New York’s Westchester County and the Tappan Zee Bridge over the Hudson where the traffic once again grew thick and at time threatening.  Despite a brief yet needless detour, the drive down the length of New Jersey was actually quite a pleasant one with relatively little traffic, at least in the direction we were headed which was opposite the long line of traffic slogging toward New York City.

We picked up more rain as we crossed the Delaware Memorial Bridge at Wilmington, Delaware and had it with us all the way back to Washington, DC. The drive through the rural landscapes of northern Delaware and Maryland’s Eastern Shore was an opportunity to relax and catch my breath.  This changed when we encountered the massive convoy of NASCAR 18 wheelers and luxury RVs and busses clogging US 301 and the approach to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge after departing the day’s Sprint Cup Series race in Dover destined for Talladega.  Once over the Bay it was clear sailing from Annapolis and we made it home safely but not just a little bit road weary.  

It is strange to be home and in these familiar surroundings again after three months away.  There are the ambient morning city sounds, and I miss not stepping out each morning with Sabbathday Lake at my feet, enjoying the breezes of the water and the resident loons’ cries as I sip my morning coffee.  Each summer's end is a hard come down. Yes, this is going to take some getting use to.

Slowly, gradually, we are moving back into chez Rogers in Maryland. I’ll be honest.  I hated to leave Maine. I hated even more being in between Maine and Maryland. But now we are home again and it’s time to look to the future. I leave for Oklahoma in less than a week.

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