Day Two of Sister One's Great Adventure

The day started out very early ... 
especially when you factor in the time change!

 

We hit the thruway bright and early.

Believe it or not, we had no trouble finding our way out of town.

We drove and we drove and we drove.

Mid-morning we stopped at the all-convenient "service center" 

that are situated every 30 or 40 miles on Interstate 90.

 Inside are exceptionally clean bathrooms, McDonald's, a quick-mart, 

souveneirs, vending machines and a small arcade.  

Here's what I'm used to on the Eisenhower Interstate System:

 

 

If you're extremely lucky, there is toilet paper and 

the pop machines actually have pop stocked in them.

 

Service centers also do not have the warning

"Do not dispose of household garbage" 

stenciled on their garbage cans as the Eisenhower rest areas do.  

We drove for a long time through New York and had passed three signs to today's mystery location before we finally said, "What the hell --- let's go since we aren't on a schedule."

 

Keep in mind that in Nebraska when something

is just a mile off the interstate, it's really just a mile.  

We discovered in New York, that "just a mile" 

meant that the first tollbooth was just a mile. 

We inquired about our destination and the toll booth 

attendant told us just to go up that road and over the hill to take exit 17.  

Uh-huh.  Up that road, and over 26 miles of hills to get to exit 17.

But it was well worth the trip.

I know what I want to be when I finally grow up:

 

a pistol packin' mama!

We also discovered in New York that a sign proclaims the beginning of a town and extends to the next town.  I imagine this is commonly known as a township.

We arrived at the township and eagerly looked for the attraction.

 

It seems that the town we went to was 42 miles long.

But we eventually found it and my co-hort and I eagerly climbed up the EXTREMELY steep hill because we had to park a mile and a half away because everyone and their dog also were interested in where we were headed.

Have you figured it out yet?

I'll give you a hint.  The character in the bottom right corner of the picture above is a clue.

He's also a wax figure.  But that's beside the point.

Need another hint?

It's a little known fact that Sister One is obsessive-compulsive and likes to catalog and categorize items.  She has a large collection that relates to the attraction.

(The pez museum is in California, not New York.)

 

"Let's see, I've got that one.  And that one.  And that one."

I enjoyed this exhibit much more than the more popular bling-bling.

 

 

Every year was represented in this glass case with 

the exception of 1994 because there was a strike. 

 

Does this help?

 

 Two of my favorites movies of all time are Field of Dreams and Major League.

 

That should be a dead give away ... but just in case it isn't:

  

  

  

Yep, you guessed it:  Cooperstown and the Baseball Hall of Fame!

For the record, I think Pete Rose got the shaft and should be included.

So what if he bet on baseball .... I did all the time with Grandad.

There was one picture of fans at a game there that

I could have sworn had Grandad Pipe in it.

After the Hall of Fame, we had lunch at a sidewalk patio.

I ordered a frankfurter in honor of our national past time.

 

Complete with kraut and onions!

We hit the road again and once again made our way to Albany.

Toll roads took a definite toll on our pocketbooks!

 

 

Our side trip allowed the holiday traffic to catch up to us.

 

 

We literally crawled at a snail's pace into Massachusetts.

 

 

It didn't get any better there!

If it hadn't been so late and we hadn't already taken our side trip,

we would have detoured so that I could visit:

  

Northampton in Massachusetts.

It's on my bucket list.

Perhaps on the return trip!

Have I ever told you how much I hate driving over bridges?

No?  Well, let me tell you.  I don't just hate driving over bridges.  

It scares the bejeebers right out of me and I experience panic attacks. 

I'm sure I must have plunged over the edge of one in a previous life.

 

Oprah has nothing on me when it comes to fear of bridges!

 

We finally left Massachusetts and made our way to New Hampshire.

 

and twelve and a half hours after leaving New York,

we arrived at our motel.

We walked in to dim lights and soft music.

 

 

 Now I'm going to collapse!