The Worst Travel Day Ever!

Woke up to horrible cold and rain. Had wanted to go to Emmitsburg to a shrine there that I haven't seen for 30 years but it is outdoors and the weather was not conducive to a visit! So instead of heading to Hagerstown and fried oysters for lunch we opted to go to Hancock and pick up I 70 north to Breezewood Pa and pick up I 76 and the same path we'd taken through Pa when we left home. Breezewood had been our second stop because of Snow back in February so a rather funny shaped circle was complete with the path home from there serving as a string on our odd balloon. Pennsylvania is an interesting state--where Interstates interchange traffic is taken through the downtown and so it is in Breezewood. We recognized the intersection immediately since we had almost been flattened by a non-stopping tractor trailer there when we were returning from dinner to our motel back in Feb. Very shortly East of Breezewood you pass through Tuscarora Mtn and then through Kittatinny and Blue Mtns. In this stretch of road Bill and I were discussing his driving, my navigational skills and the interaction of the two. I had to take a shot of him as he lectured me on the importance of being able to tell a left turn from a right turn no matter the orientation of the map in regards to our direction of travel and the dangers of confusing the pilot while trying to align the map with the actual car alignment. I think my considered response to this pontification was bullshit!That was most likely our last bantering moment as Pa once more set us into city streets to get between I 76 I 81 in Carlisle! What genius decided the only way the businesses in these burgs would thrive if all traffic, trucks included, was funneled through their streets???? At least, I 81 is a straight shot to Binghamton, NY and as you can see we had torrential rains, and fog and traffic the whole way. I was almost crying at times--my throat even hurt the way it does when you are overwhelmed and want to cry but cannot and you just feel you will die of the pain. I cannot understand why anyone would choose to drive through that and not stop and wait for a better day. When we got to Binghamton I told Bill I wanted to stop in Applebees. I don't usually go out in Binghamtom but rather just veg while Bill goes to some little local pub I've never even seen. This time I needed food AND a huge dessert. There were three college girls at the bar with us--so cute--eating appetizers which were half price for happy hour for dinner because they are broke college girls. I told them their parents would be proud--one girl said well, maybe but probably not the cocktails. I said--you are adults now and I'm sure they'd understand--told them about Bets and the Hauf--a hangout that she didn't take us into while we were in Bozeman. It was fun to hear their conversations--make-up, boyfriends, signing up for classes, deciding whether to go on to a 4 year school, pregnancy and human sexuality class. Just fun--the gamut of topics. Our bartender was a gay young man named Daniel--he pretty much told us he was gay, as he was talking about hearing conversations at this bar and at the gay bar downtown where he worked and the kareoke there and the mixture of locals--rural--and gay urbanites. It was fun--then we talked about Cher and Steisand and their appeal to gay men----I'm still not sure what it is, although he did allow as how Cher was one of the first celebrities to embrace gays. Reba is a big fav, too. His mother on the other hand, like me, loves George Strait! Went back to the room and watched Dancing with the Stars--think I'll wait a few weeks to go back--by then perhaps that mother of a hundred kids and Pamela Anderson and sadly the Astronaut will be gone. It was painful to watch the three of them --for different reasons but painful nonetheless. Bill went out to his pub for old times sake for about an hour. Should have gone with him but I ate my triple chocolate suicide instead!