Cara's scanned old photos - vacation #4 - New England

In my vast searching of the KelCar travel logbook (NO I HAVEN'T FOUND IT DAMMIT I THREW IT AWAY) I ran across a few journals of mine.  One was a journal I started five months after Madison was born.  I planned on writing down things about our lives so that she would have something to look back on.  I wrote one entry that I never finished.  And then I wrote another article that had nothing what so ever to do with Madison and our lives, but instead was about my childhood Thanksgiving holiday.  Perhaps I was describing these for Madison?  The rest of the journal was empty.

The second journal I found was from my trip through New England in 1989.  This was a trip that I took with my friend Kim where we stayed in youth hostels around New England.  I'm not sure how the idea of the trip came about, but I think it had to do with our parents pushing us to get out and do some traveling before our summer jobs kicked in.  I, of course, decided to write down our adventures and photograph things at the same time.  Unfortunately, I was too tired at night to write things down in the journal so it too is mostly empty after the first few days.  Oh, if only I had had my blog back in the day!

I figured I would post this old trip while on my new trip just in case I can't find any Internet connections.  Enjoy!

Part 1 - New England trip 1989

From Cara's Journal:

• 10/5/89 - mileage 73105 - 10:30 AM - Smith Home

We are just beginning our travels.  Our plan is to drive to Syracuse today to pick up Cousin Maya for further adventure.  I'm sure she is looking out her dorm window, waiting with bated breath for us to arrive.  We shall spend the day and night at the university and leave tomorrow for Cooperstown.  As we leave, our first planned destination is the Harrisburg Post Office where Kim will pick up the Priority Mail package Connie has sent (four days ago, I might add) containing her resumes.  From here we will head north on 81.  Kim is sad to be leaving - much crying.  I am ready to hit the road.

• mileage 73108 - 10:45 AM - Smith Home

We have arrived back where we began.  The post office handed Kim not only her Priority Mail Package, but the entire bundle of mail for 306 Fireside Dr. - all of this without asking for a show of identification.  As I sit waiting for Kim to play mailman, I smell something burning.  Lois (Kim's mother) and Kim don't smell anything, but Kim does mention that the car isn't acting right.  Lois' helpful suggestions is "to pull in to a garage if it acts strange."  We will forge on.

• mileage 73140 - 12:45 PM - Smith Home

We have now managed to travel 35 miles without ever leaving Harrisburg.  We have spent the last hour in the waiting room of General Tire, about a mile from the Smith home.  We did make it to 81, even traveled 16 miles, before Kim pulled off the road because the brakes had failed for an instant.  We made it back to General Tire and they have just finished telling Kim that we've been driving with the emergency brake halfway in the "on" position.  How this is possible is beyond me, but I'm very relieved it wasn't anything major.  We've been told that highway driving will cool down the brakes.  We have returned to the Smith home to report, have said good-bye for the third time, and we are now on the road once more toward Syracuse.  I certainly hope Cousin Maya isn't still looking out her dorm window.

Kim has been nervous and upset over the car business; however, she has just requested her sandwich from the cooler, which is a great sign.  Throughout this mess I have been annoyed at the delay, but have refrained from speaking as I know all about the tension inside of Kim (right Little Magnum, wherever you are now?).  Instead I have had my head buried in a romance book with a hot, half-naked hunk on the cover.  Just a touch of some reality.

The countryside is breathtaking.  All I think about New York is what I see on TV - big cities, but New York is so much more.  Fall is definitely here.  The colors are beautiful.  The leaves are changing, and as we drive through the mountains bursts of reds, oranges, greens and golds are popping up around us.  This is the scenery you see in the movies.  Beautiful!

• mileage 73420 - 5:30 PM - Syracuse University - Maya's dorm

We have arrived at our first stop!  Cousin Maya was not at the window, but lopping on her bed watching television and eating some nasty Italian dinner she called a "snack".  She has, by of greeting us, shown amazement that we reached Syracuse.  She felt we would get lost, thus she has not packed.  She is also skipping her class tonight to spend more quality time with Cousin Cara and Buddy Kim, claiming that the Spanish class is "worthless because she knows everything all ready".  (Kim and I, who traveled to Mexico with Maya and her Spanish refuse comment)  Maya showed us a little of the campus on the way to dinner at Archie's Pizza and Friendly's Ice Cream.

Life in the coed dorm at Syracuse is hustle-bustle.  Under the pretense of writing a book tentatively titled, "College Dorm Life USA", I interviewed several students on the second floor of Day Hall.  The following is an excerpt of my research:

     My station is Room 231, Day Hall.  I have the door open so that I may entice wandering students into my interviewing room.  Of course the fact that Maya has informed many of my pending arrival has brought most students down to 231 to meet me.  The males on the second floor, and one who resides in the nearby engineering dorm, were very easy to talk with one on one.  They had no problems answering my questions, were not afraid of revealing too much, and did not withhold any information.  I was told by a female student that this male cooperation was because the guys were hoping to be laid.  A nice compliment that I'll file away, although I don't agree.
     The females, of whom Maya hadn't made many friends with, regarded me as an outsider.  Only one female stood long enough to be interviewed.  The others blatantly ignored me or chose not to divulge "good gossip" with someone outside their tight group.
     My best interview was also my first one.  Lee (to be known as Bruce in the book) was friendly without pretending, and interested as well as helpful in my research.  He was of average height with dark hair and a cute face that sparkled.  Lee (Bruce) had a great sense of humor and took my questions seriously, whereas most of the interviewees answered my questions spitefully.  The greatest thing about Lee (Bruce), however, was his sports knowledge of basketball.  He knew the Evansville Aces well, had watched them play, and enjoyed the talents of Scott Hafner.  He was a Celtics fan.  All in all, I found Lee a charmer and see that Maya has found a decent friend.
     My next interviewee was Bill, a hulk of a kid who thought he was much more.  He was cruel to those around him, a thief, and your geniune "let's party" type of college student.  He wore his black hair in a ponytail and let everyone know he was here to set the rules.  I got the impression he did have a sort of control over others around him, mainly the engineering student and my next interviewee Tim.
     Tim, despite his mild following of Bill, was honest in most of the questions.  I was invited to his room and was asked to sign his piece of carpet, an honor.  He had music talent, a sense of humor, and would make a good friend after shaking off that reject of the hippie era.

That is just a small part of my research and perhaps more will be available if I do take it upon myself to finish my tour of dorms.  Showering was available with hot water.  Maya's roommate's bed was comfortable, and the night passed peacefully except for some snoring and some talking in the sleep.  The Cubs won and the series is tied 1-1.  I got to see Knots Landing, and I'm looking forward to our next day's adventure.