Three good things

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

GETTYSBURG, PA --- At the close of our second day of travel, several things have fallen into place and added to our comfort level! The first is a sparkling clean car. The Honda FIT we’ve been towing along was so covered with dried spray that when we unhitched it tonight and tried to drive toward the setting sun, we had to open the side windows to see around the corner. The muddy windows were virtually opaque. Fortunately there was a car wash just a block or two from our hotel, so that was the first order of business.
Our second success is the cheap cellphone we bought last year in the US. We had been unable to activate it before returning to Canada, so we weren’t sure it would work for us on this trip. (We found out that having such a device would save us a ton of money in roaming charges on our Canadian cellphones. We just buy phone time on a card at any WalMart – no contract or bills in the mail.) With a new phone card, we made the call to activate the phone and add the time we purchased, and it actually worked. Very satisfying!
The third success is figuring out why I couldn’t log on to the blog spot to post our travel journal. Turns out I was starting from the wrong e-mail address (mine, instead of Val’s), so the site didn’t recognize me. That’s been resolved, so we are back in communication once again. Yay!
We had an excellent travel day again today. The temperature was mild and the roads were clear and bare, so no complaints. We passed into Pennsylvania shortly after leaving Binghamton this morning and have been enjoying the rolling hills and peaceful scenery of farms and little towns.
We’ve been sharing Highway 81 with the dozens of semi tractor trailers, busily moving goods in both directions. When we were switching to Highway 83 toward Gettysburg, we passed a harrowing scene where one of those behemoths had missed a downhill curve, slammed into the concrete berm separating the two sides of the highway and split apart, spilling its cargo and twisting its frame. There were at least a half dozen emergency vehicles working on the cleanup. The most chilling part was the quick glimpse I had of the driver’s cabin, with the roof so caved in that it made me wonder if the driver could have survived. I was glad we hadn’t passed when the incident was actually happening; it must have been terrifying.
We are at a very nice hotel on the outskirts of Gettysburg – I guess you could call it our Gettysburg address (had to say it!!). And we’ve had a tasty dinner at a nearby restaurant with excellent service. Small things, but there are so many such things to appreciate every day.