Whew! We are finally in Augusta - over 3,000 miles from home

When I got married and we made the trip from Utah to Pennsylvania (via a trip to Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and New York state), I told Bill that this was the one and only time I would cross this nation - the traffic in I-80 in 1974 was terrifying to drive through and with and that I was not going to do this again.  So stay put, we are not crisscrossing the nation no way, no how.  Well 20 years later we left Pa and set out for Arizona.  Made a few trips back to the East coast for family reunions etc., but now driving back to the East coast I can tell you that I am still not enamored with driving on I-80 and it is 37+ years later.  I guess some things just don't change, except that the cars are more powerful, computeized components aid this, and the tractor trailers are larger and haul more and heavier loads.  America is on the move.  I thought that there were only a few cars going in our direction until I observed the traffic from one of the Thruway feeding stations and I note that there seems to be an equal amount of traffic going in both directions and wonder where they are all going.  Overheard a lady at this particular stop talking on her cell phone about a relative who has been diagnosed with cancer in his mouth and apparently he has not told his wife or family but the news is out now and the family is in disarray.  Made me wonder if there were people in other cars with similar family shaking errands.
I did not get to write yesterday due to the final push to get here so I will tell you what we saw on the thruway.
There are many signs extolling the virtues of the fireworks available and one sign in particular caught my eye.  It offered swords, guns, knives, fireworks and pepper spray.  This offering left me with all kinds of mind wanderings about when and how much of the merchandise would be used daily and how dangerous this world has become.  After seeing all the foliage etc. I doubt if the fireworks used here would start a fire but in Arizona the whole state would be in flames with such ready availability.  Would you use the pepper spray on someone who was trying to ignite your fireworks without your permission?  Attach them with swords?  I bet when Sir Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the British Parliament buildings many centuries ago, He had no idea what it would lead to.  Guy Fawkes day is celebrated 5 November in Australia and I well remember guarding my pile of fireworks so that a stray jumping-jack (a type of firework) did not find its way to my pile and set them all off at once.

We passed Niagra Falls and I remember when we visited there and rode the Queen of the Mist boat up to the falls.  I am told that they have two boats now due to the number of tourists that go to see the falls.  From the car we could see Lake Erie - I did not imagine it was as large as it appears but it stretched to the horizon.  I was also surprised to see miles and miles of vineyards.  I did not know that northern Pa and part of New York was vineyard country. I just thought that they mined coal and ran steel mills in this part of the country.  After all, that is what the industry was in Johnstown, Pa, where we lived for 20 years.

We talked to Sara while driving and could hear Oliver in the background.  We gave him some money for his birthday and he received more money in the mail and he has had his eye on a cap gun at Scheeles sporting good store.  So, the money burned a hole in his pocket and off they went to purchase the desired capgun.  He loved the gun, learned how to load the caps and had a wonderful time, however, now that the caps were all gone, he no longer had use for the gun and was crying that he wanted his money back.  In today's world, you can take things back that are damaged when  you get them out of the box, but it is a hard lesson for a 5yr old to know that being out of caps for his cap gun is not grounds for returning the toy and get the money back.  I think that they will take him back to the store to get more caps.

We passed Presque Isle Casino area at about 10am on Sunday and I was surprised to see that the parking lot was pretty full.  Guess the Indians know how to rake them in any day of the week to gamble.

Our Motel in Albany was a fire hazard waiting to happen.  The doors did not open easily and there was literally not an easy way out if there had been a fire.  There also was no security lights on the parking lot and I wondered if our belongings would still be in the car in the morning or even if the car would still be there.  They offered a "full breakfast" which consisted of Entenmanns cinnamon buns that had been cut crosswise into 4 or 5 slices (makes them go further then), three very small containers of dry cereal, 3 carafes of coffee, one small jug of milk, a few english muffins and small bagels and I did see two Eggo Waffles in with the entennmans but they looked soggy.  As I looked around the "breakfast bar located in the tiny lobby" it became apparent that this particular Motel offered an extended stay area and the people who came out of it to the breakfast bar were shabby and very old and perhaps sickly.  It was a sad scene to be sure.  I noticed that some sorry looking faded red silk flowers were stuck into a pot in the window and they did little to brighten the already drab brown paint on the walls.  The ATM machine was unplugged and  there was a computer desk, mouse pad but no computer or chair available.  And on the wall behind the clerk, Ganesh supervised the scene.

We left Albany and made the last leg of the journey to Manchesster and found the mission office.  The staff had just had lunch and they shared their meat ball sandwiches with us.  We were grateful to be able to eat because we had not stopped to do so.  We were interviewed by the Mission president, given our marching orders, and off we went to Augusta.

The members of the church here are excited to have us here and a few of them came to welcome us.  The Bishop served a mission in Sapporo but he has forgotten his Japanese.   I can  help him remember.

 These pictures of the family were taken on a very windy day in Lincoln.  It was like herding cats to get everyone to look at the camera and smile so what you see is what you get.

 Foliage in Maine taken at 65mph on an I-phone

 The sunset below is what we saw, replete with Moon, as we turned the corner to riverfront road and to our new digs.

The members have  furnished the apartment for us with a new mattress and box spring (the bed frame will be here later) and the eclectic chairs and table etc. are in the same vein as our furnishings in the first apartment we had in Scalp Level, Pennsylvania when we moved there in November 1974.  We are essentially honeymooners again - and our personal belongings are still strewn around the living room because we did not have time to clear them up before we fell into bed exhausted from the trip and from going to the grocery store to get some food.  We also bought an electric blanket and a comforter.  I purposely bought king sized blanket and comforter because the queen sized stuff barely covered the bed and Bill is notorious for rolling up in the quilt at home and I am left out in the cold.  I do not plan to be cold here in Augusta.