Tuesday Dec. 28, 2004

Flying J off Exit 100, Interstate 95 in Maryland

Start 70064 end 70505 gone 441 Miles

It was cold when I left home, ten degrees.  Laurie, Maggie and Warren got up and saw me off.  I was on the road by 8:00.  The sun came out as I was driving down the Vermont side of Lake Champlain.  It was a good beginning.  It seemed that as soon as I crossed into New York it clouded over, and stayed that way for the rest of the day. 

I stopped just south of Albany for lunch.  Cole had been lying in the back of the RV, so I really couldn’t keep much of an eye on him.  As I was fixing lunch I noticed that there was snow where he had been lying that was frozen.  It is hard to tell because he shakes so much, but I am pretty sure his whole body was shaking pretty hard, like he was really cold.  I had all of my warm cloths on, and had been relatively comfortable.  As I fixed lunch I tried to start the furnace.  It wouldn’t..  Must be the critical need detector.  Pretty advanced feature for such an old piece of technology.  When I was ready to go I brought Cole up front and covered him with a blanket.  Then I pulled the front privacy curtain to keep the heat in the front of the RV.  By the time we got to Poughkeepsie Cole was better. 

The windshield washer hasn’t been working, I am willing to bet there is some ice in the hoses, and I can’t do much about it till the temperature rises. 

I have been in a daze all day.  Leaving my home and family is hard.  As I was slogging down the New York Throughway, cold, with a headache (I spilled my big cup of coffee all over the floor by the drivers seat, so I am going through caffeine withdrawal) I was really questioning why I was doing this.  By the time the sun was setting, I was in New Jersey, it was 20 degrees warmer, and I was feeling a lot better about things.  Now that Cole and I have had supper, he’s had two walks and the furnace seems to be working, life seems better.