Crossing the border into New York (Sept. 8)

I packed up the car and got on the road about 9:50 on Tuesday morning, Sept. 8. Crossing the border wasn't too bad... the border guard asked me around 25 questions though, as my story must have sounded a little unconventional (I'm not really in the 6-month-vacations demographic), but I answered everything honestly and I guess she must have figured that if I was up to something I would have given more conventional answers.

The drive across New York State was fine, quite a bit of construction and one large accident (not sure what smashed through that guardrail and down the hill, but it must have been a big rig!), but everything was signed so well traffic flowed perfectly.

Here's a couple of photos of the landscape from a rest station:




I spent the night in Clark's Summit, PA, which is just north of Scranton. I hated the little town! It had no sidewalks on it's main street. After arriving at the hotel I headed out for a bit of a walk and to find something to eat, and the town is just not designed for pedestrians at all. No sidewalks, highway ramps everywhere, no pedestrian crossings (and the main street is 6 lanes wide!), and yet it's a residential community. I can't imagine living in a small town where you have to drive everywhere, not because of distance but just because there isn't even a road shoulder to walk on to get to any of the local businesses.

I also visited my first-ever drive-through bank machine... on foot. Luckily, no motorists came screeching around the corner up to the terminal as I was standing there.