The start of a big trip

We are in Day 1 of an almost month-long road-trip to Wyoming and points west. At the moment, we are in an America's Best Value Motel in Austinburg, Ohio, which is just off I-90 near Ashtabula, about 30 miles NE of Cleveland. We left our house at about 9:30am and arrived here a few minutes after 9p.m. - a 12-hour day. I think it was about a 540-mile trip. We went down to the Mass turnpike, came west on the NY Thruway (I-90), got off at Geneva, NY and came south through Penn Yan, NY (where I used to live, 1967-69), got ice cream at a favorite spot - Seneca Farms) and then down to Bath and onto I-86 west to Jamestown, NY (the "Southern Tier Expressway" - very low traffic and very scenic), and then back on I-90 past Erie, PA into Ohio and to Austinburg. It was a nice trip! I was concerned that I might have trouble with aching knees, sitting in sort of a cramped position for so long, but it was fine. I read aloud from Robert McFarlane's Underland which is fascinating. John gave it to me for Christmas and I hadn't gotten around to reading it yet - it's perfect for the trip. Tomorrow we will drive to Chicago and stay with Maggie and Jerry over the weekend - it's been two years since we have done that. So that will be great. Then Monday, it's on to Wyoming! It will be wonderful to once again be with Paul, Jenny and Max!

Seneca Farms in Penn Yan, NY There's lots to report from the week leading up to our departure, but it's late, so I'll save that for later.