Day Eighteen & Nineteen – Rolling Eastward

After meeting up with our son in southwestern Pennsylvania, we looked at our tattered US map and noted that we weren’t that far from the Atlantic. And since the coast of Maine has always intrigued us, we figured we might as well head there next.

However, to reach our next destination we needed to travel through the other New England states - Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont and New Hampshire. I have never wanted to go to those states because of the large cities with their tolls and turnpikes, but that too became an experience. We rolled through those states without many stops on our way to the coast, but each state left an impression.

The first thing we noticed about Pennsylvania were the curving lines on the map, especially in the west, central and southeast region. It wasn’t long before we figured out the curving lines follow the folds of the Appalachian Mountain Range. That became apparent as we went up and then down hills. Not mountains like we know in the Pacific Northwest, but my ears did pop a couple of times.

Something that kind of surprised us was how forested Pennsylvania is. We had envisioned rolling farms and fields . Instead, we found mainly deciduous forests with a lot of oak and other hardwood trees with a smattering of pine mixed in. 

New England does have a lot of interesting, and historic, architecture. 

One really amazing Episcopal Church in the little town of Troy was very unique. It was built in 1875 with rocks, not bricks. And the roof was covered with slate shingles that had been cut and shaped into round and pointed shapes. What a labor of love.

Our second day we travelled through upper New York, first circling around Albany, and then heading east on Highway 9. Again, we were struck by the hills of deciduous forests. They were starting to show some fall colors, but it wasn’t peak season yet. The hills were less steep, than Pennsylvania, and we saw more fields and farms. 

One unique thing we found in New York were their “text stops”, yep, I spelled that right. We were looking for a rest area and saw this sign.  What the heck is a “text stop”? Well, it is a place you can stop and text. Sometimes it is also a rest stop with bathrooms, but not always. We guess that New Yorkers are serious about not texting while driving.

The next state we passed through on our march to the sea was Vermont. Highway 9 was a nice drive through the hills which were a bit steeper... well again, not compared to the Rockies or Cascades, but still the road did climb and our ears did pop a few times. There were still a lot of deciduous forests and we could see that the leaves were starting to change color. In another month, they would be fabulous. 

By this point in our cross-state travel, we noticed that there were very few rest areas and we only came across one viewpoint turnout. Maybe other roads have them, but not the ones we travelled.

There weren’t state line signs that we saw, so Vermont changed to New Hampshire without our noticing. It too had hills that were covered in forests that were just starting to put on their fall colors. 

One annoying thing occurred in New Hampshire. We accidentally turned onto an interstate that was a toll road when we missed the turn we meant to make onto a non-toll road. Yikes! Once on those things you can’t get off for miles usually. This one did have a service center which had a visitor center and liquor store in one stop. There were other stores in there too, like Dunkin’ and Starbucks. This is where they have rest rooms too. Also, these service centers have fuel. So, it is a one-stop location for travelers. A helpful visitor center person did help us figure out how to get off the toll road and continue on to the coast.

This was not the only time we made a wrong turn that sent us onto a toll road, but the first time it occurred it was very disconcerting.

Overall, our speedy trip through the New England states went pretty smooth. We reached our actual destination, the Maine coast, mid-day on the third day, but that experience will be a whole series of blogs.