We left the Moose Lodge around 5:00pm, drove to Jessup for gas at Cousins, and then took a deep breath and got on the crazy highway (I-84). It wasn’t too intense for the first part of the trip; traffic was sparse and relatively calm through Pennsylvania and New York. Connecticut was its usual insanity. I hate it! (We both do.) The recklessness on the highways there is incomprehensible.

Our dinner stop was, as always, Rein’s Deli in Vernon, Connecticut. We ordered a small/appetizer size order of their new spinach potato pancakes with sour cream (and applesauce) and a tuna salad sandwich with lettuce and tomato on whole wheat bread (we had asked for toast, but received bread). Everything was good, and the pancakes were so good that we ended up ordering another two to share!

Usually after our stop at Rein’s the traffic is much calmer. We don’t have much farther to go in Connecticut by that point and it’s usually around 10:00pm when we get back on the road after eating, so traffic is typically very light. Not tonight! Traffic remained consistently heavy and crazy until nearly midnight.

We arrived at the rest area in Kittery, Maine around 12:20am. It seemed darker than usual this year (we could only guess that maybe the trees have grown enough to obscure some of the lights that before were always shining into our eyes). We fell asleep easily beneath our fuzzy moose blankets. It was relatively warm and very humid, but comfortable overall.