Iesha, please roll the credits

I am home, safe and sound. I'd like to thank a few special someones who made this road trip possible.

Thank you, North Carolina, for your rolling mountains, your cool evenings, and taking care of my little brother. Thank you also for housing a portion of this country's racist rednecks so that the rest of us don't have to interact with them.

Thank you, Virginia, for displaying the most incredible wildlife--from T Rex to mama bear, you were endlessly entertaining.

Thank you, West Virginia, for being small and quick to drive through. I will be back to thoroughly investigate Harpers Ferry.

 

Well, Maryland, thanks for . . . nothing, really. It all happened so fast I couldn't even get a picture of the welcome sign. 

Thank you, Pennsylvania, for being the border of the Mason-Dixon Line. You help divide the saints:

 

 

 

"Sin: it seemed like a good idea at the time"

From the sinners:

Luckily, there is tractor trailer parking

Thank you also for having pretty stone homes along rt 81 for me to look at.

And for having Dutch Kitchen Restaurant, just south of Scranton. I was initially frightened when I saw on the menu mostly innards (this being scrapple country and all), but my chocolate milkshake more than made up for it.

***

Thank you, state of New York, for assuring me I was getting closer to New England. Thank you also for housing the mentally ill of the 19th and 20th centuries so elegantly.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we are passing back through Fishkill.

Thank you, Connecticut, for being the pass-by-me-on-both-sides-going-80-in-a-50-thereby-making-me-shit-myself state. And apparently New York has a strict no-givesies-backsies policy.

Thank you, Massachusetts, for shaping me into the tough little cookie I am today. Do you really not have a welcome sign on 84N? Regardless, I've never been so happy to see that I was approaching Lawrence.

Sorry, Hampton Inn, not tonight.

Bienvenue, New Hampshire! Thank you for liquor outlets, pretending to speak French, and KJ's Sports Bar in Newmarket.

Thank you, Focus, for getting me there and back. 2,105.8 miles, one nick in the windshield, an issue with brakes in the mountains, and now a little noise underneath. I'll get you patched up soon, I promise.

A very special shout out to my iPod. Couldn't have done it without you, little dude. I kept it on shuffle the whole way, or Kelly FM, as I like to call it. I'm not gonna lie--Kelly FM is awesome.

***

Unfortunately, animals WERE harmed in the making of this road trip. I've seen enough dead deer to last a lifetime (I lost count after a while, but around 20). I rarely see dead deer in New England (in fact, I saw one live one on the trip--near Worcester), but they were strewn all along 81 and 84. A dead squirrel is one thing; a dead deer is quite another. Serious carnage. 

***

Last, thank YOU for coming along. Some people were concerned that I was making an unwise decision, going it alone. But I had fun, didn't think too much or too deeply (thanks again, iPod), and had you on my mind throughout each day. So I may not have had someone right beside me the whole way, but I did get to share my adventure. Thank you for your support.

Okay. I will not be posting daily after today. Tomorrow, it's back to work. You'll have to wait for me to get pissed at a book or excited about cooking. I'm sure it won't be long.

Peace out. -k.