First Day on the Road - a sorry tale

Day 1 – Feb.12
Departure – 7:30am
Weather – 4 degrees C, fog, light rain, 25mm rain predicted with flood warning
Gas report – $0.799/litre -- $2.11/gal. -- $1.96 -- $1.91 -- $1.87
9:30am is our first stop at the Salmon Run Mall in Syracuse. Looks to be a shoppers’ paradise. The only other time I’ve seen such shiney floors was the first day of school. This place is not only immaculate, but also massive. It’s also a popular place for people to do their morning walk exercise. I get a Subway breakfast bagel while Al gets the replacement SIM card for the cell phone. Good move as it turns out. After filling the gas tank (2.11 per gal.), we’re on our way by 10:00am
Back on I-81 south the weather worsens – real rain occasionally verging on sleet accompanied by gusty headwinds of up to 50mph. We’re gonna lose bigtime in the gas mileage department. Al has already started playing with the radio – on, then off, then finally settling in on NPR with the Diane Rheme(sp?) show. The environment is the hot topic.
Well it’s now 3:39. Are we there yet? Are we having fun? The former is self-evident; the latter is debatable. Let me review our progress. According to S&T (short for MS Streets & Trips, our computer mapping system), we are 250 miles short of our day’s goal despite having started out 1.5 hrs ahead of schedule. Now why would that be? First we have never been able to keep up to this sytem’s schedule. But an unscheduled stop of 45 minutes doesn’t help either. Oh did I say where? Just five miles short of the next gas station on I90, a toll road no less. Joe Benson’s Towing service to the rescue. Moral of the story: don’t let your CAA membership lapse (we didn’t or it would have cost ~$65); OK I admit it - a cell phone is helpful; listen to & obey (the operative part of this statement) your car’s early warning system re: low fuel (we won’t go into who consciously drove by the gas station – VBG).
5:25pm. We’re down to the last 10 miles and headed for a Days Inn in Ohio. Price includes free Internet so that’s good although I don’t have much to post and certainly no pictures.
Now why ever would I think that this would be the end of the day. Our first question is always ‘do you accept dogs?’ Since they wanted $10 per dog and the only room was a smoker, we declined and drove on. The next intersection with I90 offered 3 possibilities. The first wanted $15/dog and the second $20/dog. So much for Pennsylvania. On we drove to exit 193 (by now we are in Ohio) and a Red Roof Inn, Al’s ultra favourite. Yes they accept dogs and when I went down to the office to inquire about Internet charges I was given a freebie. Should I tell you what time we checked in? Why not! Can you believe 8:30pm. There were some intervening events all to do with the hitch, sharp turns & a certain parking lot, but I’ll let Al have the pleasure of telling that portion of the story personally.
Nightie, night.