The Mount Washington Auto Road is a 7.6 mi toll road to the summit of Mount Washington. The road climbs 4,618 ft, an average gradient of 11.6%. Having driven it this afternoon, I can say with authority that this is even more insane than it sounds. Having now spent a day in three New England states, I say with conviction that Massholes are the Americans of New England. We’ve only been here since about 4 or 4:30, but I’m pretty disappointed with Maine.

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Posted at 06 September 10 at 22.09 in Travel

I can confirm that Montpelier is indeed the cosmopolitan town I suspected, at least in terms of places to eat and drink. After a second day in Vermont, my takeaway remains the same: this is a state filled with people who believe that everything is possible if you work hard at it and treat people well. Clark’s Trading Post is one of the strangest places in the world and offers a good place from which to examine the phenomenon of the tourist trap. I am starting to think that there is a rule that in order to be an innkeeper at a bed and breakfast you have to be a little insane.

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Posted at 05 September 10 at 20.09 in Travel

After an exceptionally slow start, today was day one of the final leg of this trip: charming New England. It is a nice change of pace. The girl has a theory about Applebee’s, which is that it follows Wal-Mart. Tonight is a quiet night pub crawling Montpelier, population 7,705.

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Posted at 04 September 10 at 18.09 in Travel

Today set a new standard for failure days. Considering I was trying to go to Olympic Park and take a look at what Montreal had made of the 1976 Olympics venues, that seems entirely fitting. From Montreal I returned to the United States, to New York and to the Adirondacks.

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Posted at 04 September 10 at 00.09 in Travel

Today was the first and will be the last day on the road trip during which I will not see or drive my car. A major realization that came to me today is that the reason so many girls in Canada seem like they are hot is simply because they are not fat. Today I went to two museums about the history of Montreal, both going back to Native times. The third museum I went today was the Canadian Center for Architecture, which hosted an exhibit on SPACE! The other activity of the day was a tour of the Basilica de Notre Dame Montreal.

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Posted at 02 September 10 at 21.09 in Travel

Today was by and large a driving day. One of the day’s most interesting stories comes from the drive through northern New York. Touring Parliament was pretty cool.

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Posted at 01 September 10 at 23.09 in Travel

There is nothing quite like spending time alone with nature to figure out what the hell is going on. It is remarkable how quiet the trails were. The most noteworthy part of today’s hike — besides the two miles I walked almost straight uphill — was the challenge I was presented by an abandoned, restored fire tower at the top. This trip has been inspiring. This fall, or at the latest, next spring, I’m going to hike into the woods on a similar course, eat some lunch, read Walden, sleep, eat some dinner, and hike back.

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Posted at 31 August 10 at 23.08 in Travel

Today was a good day. Though I suggested early on that politics would not have much of a place in this series, it is hard to visit the Franklin Delano Roosevelt home and library and not have something to say about them — especially when the key exhibit was about the passage of the Social Security Act. Saratoga Springs is my kind of town, built around horse racing, mineral baths, relaxation, forests, trees, outdoors, and eating and drinking.

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Posted at 30 August 10 at 22.08 in Travel