Intro

This was the day Todd left for vacation. He planned to leave by 3:00 PM and drive to the Pennsylvania/Ohio border, which is about an eight hour trip.

Details of the Day

Why leave so late? Todd ran a mountain race in the morning. He woke early and drove my car to Mt. Ascutney in southeastern Vermont for the Ascutney Mountain Run. This is a 3.8 mile race up the auto road with an average grade of 12%. It is also the final race of the La Sportiva USATF Mountain Running Circuit. The highlight for Todd was when he was awarded the title of mountain goat for completing the entire circuit and was given his commemorative mountain goat shirt.

He got home from the race around 1:30 PM, hopped in the shower, and had a bite to eat. As we started to pack the car, a former colleague of Todd's, Tomoyo Wakamatsu, and her kids stopped over to gather our signatures. She was running for a state representative seat as a member of the former Lieberman for Connecticut party. In order to get on the ballot she needed a certain amount of signatures and we were happy to help out.

The car filled quickly with all of our gear. Luckily most everything fit in the trunk. That left the backseat for anything we bought on vacation. There wasn't going to be much time for shopping, so I wasn't worried about filling the backseat.

Todd gave the car a once over, including checking the tire pressure. He discovered that one of the front tires was badly cupped. During the trip it would be worn down to the belt. Todd decided to stop by the Sears in West Hartford to buy two new front tires and have a front end alignment done. We were already having car problems; the transmission was a bit temperamental and the engine would occasionally surge just before shifting. By getting new tires, we had one less thing to worry about.

Around 5:00 PM the car was packaged and Todd left for Sears. While they worked on the car Todd called me. He recounted the story of the last time he was at the store. A former co-worker of his works there and advised him at that time to get the car aligned. Todd did not take his advice. On this visit he got an, "I told you so" from his friend. Todd took his friend's teasing as they talked about what Todd wanted done to the car. They made quick work of the alignment and Todd was soon on his way.

My evening was filled with phone calls. Todd called often while he was driving, mostly to complain about idiot drivers. His aunt, Debbie, called also and we visited for a while. I was apprehensive about my upcoming trip and the phone calls kept my mind off my worries. I don't fly often and I get a bit nervous until the plane takes off. I was also concerned about our aggressive schedule and if we could accomplish our goals. I wondered if I would slow Todd down on the hikes and if I could climb all those mountains. Although my fear of heights has gotten better, I still get scared on some of the more technical hikes.

Todd wasn't able to make his goal of the Pennsylvania/Ohio border. Eight hours was just too far to travel with the late start. Instead he stopped in Mifflinville, Pennsylvania and called it a night. That is about a four hour trip from our house.

Reflections

There isn't much to reflect on for this day. Todd got a late start and didn't get as far as he planned. I sat home worrying about the trip. I hoped tomorrow would go by quickly.