We are back in Rhode Island, as of Friday night.  10 days on the road is a lot of days on the road.

I want a GPS system.  And Sirius-XM radio.  So when rivers flood and traffic is stalled and exits are closed and disaster surrounds us, I will know ahead of time.  I’ve learned that you can’t depend on McDonald’s to have their Wi-Fi up and running so you can research road closures and hotel vacancies while you eat a 99-cent hot fudge sundae and cry.

Also I want a GPS so I will not be the only one telling Banjo Man to “Turn left here,” and being ignored.  I need someone else to help give him directions, because when he is distracted by hogs, historic buildings and bakery signs he doesn’t hear a thing I say.  And he is always so darned surprised when he gets lost.  In Stockbridge, MA he turned the wrong way into a one-way street.   The locals honked their displeasure.  I didn’t have the energy to scream.

There is no GPS in my future, though.  We’ll have to wait until the Mazda has another 100,000 miles on it before we replace it with a Subaru and a dashboard full of technology.  I’ve even heard a rumor that new cars have no cd-players, so we will have to get–gasp–an I-pod.  I explained the I-pod concept to Banjo Man while we were driving across a long stretch of Nebraska.

We made a second visit to the Norman Rockwell museum.  I didn’t have a lot of enthusiasm for this particular stop, mostly because (a) we’d been there before, (b) it was hot out, (c) we needed to avoid rush hour traffic in Hartford and (d) I wanted to stop at a mall in CT and buy a dress for Saturday’s wedding.  I hoped to be home before dark so I could pass out in my own bed.

I sat outside and ate an ice cream bar.  I apologize for being too tired to take pictures.  It really is a gorgeous place.  You should all go there some day.

And we did hit rush hour traffic.

I bought a dress in 30 minutes at Macy’s.   I’d hoped for something that would go with my new black and blue boots, because it would have been great fun to go to the  wedding in fancy boots.  What would all these Yankees think???  I found a cute dark blue lace dress and managed to squeeze my potato-chip-addicted body into it just fine, but then I realized how old I was.  Which was about 30 years too old for stretchy lace!!!

I bought a different dress, more respectable (and on sale!!), though I can’t wear my boots with it.  I still have the fancy shoes I bought for Ben’s wedding stored somewhere so I hope I can find them.  I realized when I arrived home that the dress is a smeary “camouflage” print, so I’m going to look like a gussied-up Army sergeant.

Did you know the New York Thruway’s gas & food plazas sell fruits and vegetables from local farms?  We bought peaches, of course, but they were small.  I ate all four before I went to bed.

Everyone we saw Friday was over 60. September must be Baby Boomer Travel Month.

Summer sure went by fast.  Too fast.