The trip started at 6:34 AM on Friday, July 10, and ended at 4:32 PM on Tuesday, July 21. In that 11 days, 9 hours, and 58 minutes, my wife & I traveled 6,082.4 miles through 20 different states. This trip allowed me to drive in two new states, Rhode Island & Maine. This was the first time I had been in new states since July 9, 2005, when I was in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire for the first time. During this trip, I entered each of those states for the 2nd time. Rhode Island became my 42nd state entered on July 12 (which also happened to be my 26th birthday), and Maine became my 43rd state entered on July 15.
The weather was pretty good for the trip as a whole, considering that up to that point, it had been very rainy in New England in recent weeks. We saw sunshine and blue skies at some point on every day of the trip.
Here is a daily recap of the trip:
Day One, Friday, July 10:
Started in: Oklahoma City, OK
Finished in: Indianapolis, IN
Miles: 732.8
States: OK (#1 on the trip), MO (2), IL (3), IN (4)
Weather: Clear skies until Missouri, then cloudy with occasional sprinkles & rain showers until Vandalia, IL, then partly cloudy to Indianapolis
Detours: None
Highlights: "Re-clinched" Interstate 70; it was rerouted around Indianapolis International Airport between the last time I was there in 2003 & the present
Day Two, Saturday, July 11:
Started in: Indianapolis, IN
Finished in: Rochester/Greece, NY
Miles: 625.2
States: IN, OH (5), PA (6), NY (7)
Weather: Mostly cloudy until Richmond, IN, then cloudy until Columbus, OH, showers & thunderstorms from Columbus to Mansfield, Sunny to partly cloudy from Mansfield to Ohio/Pennsylvania state line, cloudy from OH/PA state line to just south of Buffalo, sunny in Buffalo & Niagara Falls, cloudy from Niagara Falls to east of Buffalo, partly cloudy from east of Buffalo to Rochester (the weather was very indecesive on this day)
Detours: Niagara Falls via I-190, I-290 & U.S. 62
Highlights: Saw Niagara Falls for the 2nd time, but the 1st time with my wife
Day Three, Sunday, July 12:
Started in: Greece, NY
Finished in: Worcester, MA
Miles: 508.1
States: NY, MA (8), CT (9), RI (10)
Weather: Clear to partly cloudy skies all day
Detours: Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA; Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg; Providence, RI
Highlights: Toured Basketball Hall of Fame, Entered Rhode Island for the first time
Day Four, Monday, July 13:
Sidetrip to Providence, Fall River, Newport, Westerly, Plymouth, and Cape Cod
Miles: 471.4
States: MA, RI, CT
Weather: Clear to partly cloudy skies all day
Detours: None really, just a winding sidetrip to see some of Massachusetts & Rhode Island
Highlights: Saw Plymouth Rock & Cape Cod, including the unremarkable eastern terminus of U.S. 6, clinched all interstate mileage in Rhode Island
Day Five, Tuesday, July 14:
Sidetrip to New Hampshire & Vermont
Miles: 459.3
States: MA, NH (11), VT (12)
Weather: Clear skies at the beginning of the day, then cloudy with occassional showers the rest of the day
Detours: None
Day Six, Wednesday, July 15:
Started in: Worcester, MA
Finished in: Bangor, ME
Miles: 311.4
States: MA, NH, ME (13)
Weather: Clear to partly cloudy skies all day
Detours: Fenway Park
Highlights: Clinched all interstate mileage in New Hampshire, toured Fenway Park, drove northbound on the southbound lanes of I-295 in Maine (southbound traffic was being rerouted to nearby U.S. 201 due to construction)
Day Seven, Thursday, July 16:
Sidetrip to Houlton & Fort Kent, ME
Miles: 423.9
States: ME
Weather: Mostly cloudy almost all day, with some clearing around Houlton; rain showers from Fort Kent to Bangor
Detours: None
Highlights: Saw the northern termini of Interstate 95 & U.S. 1
Day Eight, Friday, July 17:
Sidetrip to Bar Harbor & Acadia National Park
Miles: 224.4
States: ME
Weather: Mostly cloudy & foggy almost all day, with some clearing around Bar Harbor
Detours: None
Highlights: Saw the beautiful Acadia National Park (even though dense fog affected our views of the ocean)
Day Nine, Saturday, July 18:
Started in: Bangor, ME
Finished in: Chambersburg, PA
Miles: 700.7
States: ME, NH, MA, CT, NY, NJ (14), PA
Weather: Showers from Bangor to Portland, then cloudy from Portland to Worcester, then sunny to partly cloudy the rest of the way
Detours: None
Highlights: Clinched the eastern Interstate 84, drove by ESPN Headquarters in Bristol, CT, briefly crossed into New Jersey via I-84's Exit 1 in New York
Day Ten, Sunday, July 19:
Started in: Chambersburg, PA
Ended in: Sevierville, TN
Miles: 566.3
States: PA, MD (15), WV (16), VA (17), NC (18), TN (19)
Weather: Clear to partly cloudy for most of the day, except for the Great Smoky Mountains, where it was cloudy
Detours: I-26 & I-40 through the Great Smoky Mountains
Highlights: Drove I-26 through the Smokies without having to deal with the remnants of a tropical storm (like I did in 2005)
Day Eleven, Monday, July 20:
Started in: Sevierville, TN
Ended in: Hot Springs, AR
Miles: 621.3
States: TN, AR (20)
Weather: Clear to partly cloudy from Sevierville to Memphis, then mostly cloudy from Memphis to Hot Springs
Detours: Sevierville via TN 66
Highlights: Re-entered the Central Time Zone
Day Twelve, Tuesday, July 21:
Started in: Hot Springs, AR
Ended in: Oklahoma City, OK
Miles: 410.8
States: AR, OK
Weather: Heavy rain from Hot Springs to Clarksville, then partly cloudy from Clarksville to Oklahoma City
Detours: None
Highlights: Made it back home safely
That is a quick recap of the ESKS New England Extravaganza Roadtrip 2K9. It was a wonderful trip and it was a great experience.
ES
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