My Least Favorite Day of The Year

I woke up this morning to my last sunrise of 2024 in Maine. Russ and I had the added bonus of Suzanne still being with us. Her presence made the packing up process less horrible, but still sad. I have been away from Durham for almost six weeks, which is a long time. And I miss home and Durham friends and Mah Jongg students, but that is reality and Maine is magic.

We bid farewell to Little Island Lane and with Shay in her memory foam car seat we headed down route 1 for the drive I dislike the most. The drive from Owl’s Head to Buck County is nine hours without a stop or any traffic. In reality you need to add two hours for traffic nightmares, gas’s and potty breaks. If you stop for lunch add another hour.

We did not stop for lunch as I had made sandwiches. Russ and I spilt one for lunch and the second one for dinner when we got to his father’s house eleven hours later.

Shay was her best traveling dog yet. I guess she is much happier when we are all in the car.

The worst part of the trip is through southern Connecticut, New York and New Jersey until Princeton. The last hour is not bad, but by then I am so tired it feels worse than it should.

I can’t explain exactly why, but the drive to go home is never as much fun as the drive to go someplace new. The anticipation of a new trip gives the driving part a purpose that feels exciting. I am happy to go home, but the drive part is horrible. I wish that I could blink my eyes and be home. I don’t veer off the path if I see something interesting on the way home the way I do on the way to a place. Maybe I need to try that to make this trip better.

It’s just hard to add extra hours onto an already long trip. Tomorrow will be shorter, but not by much. At least it makes tomorrow my second least favorite day of the year.