Sailing off FROM Boston

"I believe t that what you sing to the clouds, will rain upon you when your sun has gone away. And I believe that what you dream to the moon will manifest before you rest another day. So stay strong, sleep long, and when you need to let the morning take you out on to today, yeah yeah. And when you find you're at the end of the road, just lift your head up spread your wings and fly away" -Michael Franti

I started my day with the packing that I should have done last night. I was a little sick to my stomach, which I would love to blame on my “nerves,” but lets face it, it was probably due to the hangover. I’m really hoping it wasn’t from sampling the homebrew that Hadley, Geoff and I made. Or the beer bottles that we retrieved from the Savant Projects’ last night recycling…

Anyway, I had a nice breakfast with Luis in the South End, followed by some last minute packing, freaking out and mixed taping. After all my possessions of importance were packed in my car, it was time to head out. I popped the “Allie’s Road Trip CD” that Luis made (it was a matter of secrecy and I was very curious as to what was on it) and headed west on the Mass Pike. It was a crisp, clear blue sky day and Boston was now in my rear-view mirror.

My apologies for not elaborating very much on this part of the journey, it is a section of road I have driven more times that I can count. My grandmother and her husband, whom I refer to as Pop-Pop Fred, and the entirety of my mother’s side of the family, live in Lancaster, PA.

My first stop is made just outside of Hartford, CT at a TA travel center. I need to make a bathroom stop and top off the gas tank. Now, why is it that you have to get all the way into the bathroom, do your business, before you realize there is no more toilet paper on the roll?! Luckily, there was a very nice person in the stall next to mine and was nice enough to hand some under the divider… Gas here is more expensive than in Boston, it is $2.12. Hopefully this isn’t going to be a trend.

I listened to Luis’s CD twice. Then put in a masterpiece of my own.



I love driving over the Tappan Zee Bridge. It is a cantilever bridge that spans the Hudson River between Nyack and Tarrytown, New York. On a clear day as you pass over it, if you look to the South you get an amazing view of the New York City skyline. If you are not driving on this clear day, you can look hard enough to spot the Statue of Liberty. In my case, I got a quick and excellent glimpse of the city while simultaneously trying to get the camera out to snap a quick photo. Hence, why this photo doesn’t nearly do it justice. I don’t know if any photo taken from a vehicle moving 45mph would, I think it is just what you experience as you are driving over it. It is pretty majestic, especially at dusk when the lights are on even though it is still bright enough to see.

I pulled into my grandma’s driveway at 8:00pm. It only took me 6.5 hours to get here, though I didn’t spend too much time on stopping. My grandma, bless her, is always trying to feed me. Especially now that I weigh 25 pounds less than I did the last time I saw her. She probably thinks I starve in Boston, how wrong she is!