DAY 10: MANUSCRIPTS... ARCHIVES
Hmm.. so Ashley has nothing to say! It's true we spent most of the day slogging through files, but we did at least have a glorious sunny day to spend locked in the caverns of the Reading Room. Ah well... Then she took me out to supper at Claire's Corner Copia, our second hippie-veg haven of the New Haven scene... I'll be back there, I'm sure.
I haven't (yet) got up my "Art & Architecture" post, so here's a look-see for those non-photo-bucket enthusiasts... photos date to Wednesday, when we wandered around like tourists gaping at the incredible architecture. (I get it, Cyd! Finally!!) Impressive, and (as Hadi says) somewhat Harry Potter-esque, or Hogwartsian at the least. Here are samples (please don't ask me to identify the buildings)...
This last one took me several minutes to figure out that last word... duh!
I'm also going to post a few back on Wednesday's post.
Playing Photo Catch-up
Posting photos promptly has become a tricky business, what with Ashley being the only one with functional internet here at "home," and Sally not having enough time on the public computers in the Library... What with transfers to/from camera, to/from laptop to/from memory key, to/from some computer connected to the internet, it's a wonder I can find ANY of them! And I still haven't got them all corraled in the same place. (By the way, for those new to blogging, click on any photo to see a larger version of it, and if you want to comment--or read comments already posted--click where it says "comments" and use anonymous login)
Here's a start anyway, a quick review of some of the missing pieces of this week:
Saturday: farewell to Dick and Doris and Sue in Indiana and getting back on the road. Photo of Sally, Doris, Dick.
Sunday: visiting Lee and Susan and David. Photo of Susan and Taffy.
Tuesday: A last-minute waterfall stop (Montour Falls) on the way out of town... and I forgot to transfer the pictures of Phil and Priscilla-- sorry guys, soon!!
Later in the day, Pennsylvania welcomed us all right! With storms and floods, we are counting our blessings in making it to Connecticut. Can't remember how many times we crossed the Susquehanna...
DAY 9: MEETINGS AND MORE ARCHIVES
We spent the morning meeting with Dr. Linda Shane, a palynologist who knew my research subject, Paul B. Sears, through his work in pollen analysis. After lunch and copying, she went back to the Archives with us for a while, and may even come back and help again next week, after the "Ashley Assistant" leaves...
Tonight we are having dinner in the Graduate Club, where we're staying. Lots of walking around town today... at least this "job" isn't as sedentary as I would have expected. I'm getting more exercise than I do at home!
Haven't taken a single photo all day... next time!
--Sally
DAY 8: GETTING ACQUAINTED AT YALE
Breakfast in the dining room of the Graduate Club was a lovely, if solitary, experience. We were the only ones up for coffee when it opened!
Now we're blogging in the anteroom to the "real" formal archive Reading Room, but we're going to head out for lunch and exploring (providing it's not still pouring) before the first TEN boxes of files and papers arrive this afternoon!
Maybe we'll be able to get some photos of this amazing place!! Even walking down the hallway is incredible-- all the wonderful big old stone and brick buildings... As we keep saying to each other-- "Awesome!"
--Sally
DAY 7, TUESDAY: OVID TO NEW HAVEN
Finally, good internet access at the Archives center at Yale-- so we're back as of Wednesday morning. After a great breakfast at Joe & Georgia's diner with Phil and Priscilla and visits I'm sure Ashley will cover, we got on the road around noon.
We spent most of the day making our way east on I-17. It was lovely at first, but mid-afternoon we hit a sign outside Binghamton warning 17E was closed ahead due to flooding. Ahhh, that's why the tree trunks weren't visible in the Susquehanna River! Just floating foliage... So we diverted slightly south on I-81 to Scranton, PA, and rejoined our route eastward near Newburgh, where we crossed the Hudson River. We arrived at our accommodations in the Graduate Club about 8 p.m., ate in our room, explored the amazing 200-year old building a bit, and then off to bed!
--Sally
DAY 6: THE FINGER LAKES AREA
Quick note-- visiting friends and family in the Ovid-Watkins-Big-Flats area... had a wonderful busy day, and I'm posting this just in time to get it (I hope) correctly dated. So... more later!
Okay-- I'm back, it's Wednesday a.m., trying to catch up on these notes. Ashley's already written about Watkins Glen, and I just thought I'd upload a few more photos here. After enjoying all the ferns and liverworts-- oh yeah, and rocks and waterfalls-- in the Glen, we had lunch with my friend Deb, who now lives in Boulder but went to the same high school I did... then we explored a nearby graveyard. (Paul & Kathy, take note: Ashley now wants a snail for a pet!)
After a drive past our old house in Odessa (we didn't stop this time), we dropped in on Blaine briefly, then went to Peg & Dick's in Big Flats where we met up with Rick and Emma before heading back to Watkins and dinner. Ashley finally got to talk to someone her own age, and appeared to enjoy herself immensely with Emma and Hannah. Great to see family!
DAY 5: NIAGARA AND POINTS EAST
We will soon be off this a.m., heading (most likely) to Buffalo for a quick look at Niagara Falls, before trying to meet up with Lee, Susan, and David in Rochester.
Ashleytabula
Just a quick followup on our brief stay... We stopped last night at Ashtabula Harbor for a look at the Great Lakes shipping industry.
Then to the beach... a bit deserted, and neither of us was up for a swim... Nice to see the "inland ocean" though!
And one from Day 2: Ashley with a riverboat (casino) at the Mississippi
DAY 4: ON TO(WARD) NEW YORK
Because of our late start, we didn't get on the road til noon. But then we just did wonderfully, cruising along on I-70 from Indianapolis all the way past Cleveland to Ashtabula. These light days are a bit easier than the long ones! And our stop near Ashtabula gives us a chance to make a little progress with the blog reports and photos without losing visiting time with family and friends. We are staying, quite by accident, at the same Comfort Inn mom, Deb, and I stopped at on our trip 3 years ago.
I'm making a mental note to do this stretch of the drive home on the weekend too-- beats fighting rush hour in Cleveland. Of course, by then the tourist season will be in full swing.
Technical bugs are gradually getting worked out, but I still need to reinstall my image editing software for smoother progress on that front. Ashley's found a clever way around that hurdle by using an online photo album. We are, needless to say, learning a lot from each other! I showed her the macro (flower photo) button on her camera, and she's going to show me how to do panoramas.
So, for various reasons, photos have been lagging behind blog posts, which are still lagging a little behind actual travel. So revisit the earlier posts to check out images. I'm going to get pix of Ashley posted now, as her folks must be wondering where she is and why we have more of me-- it just has to do with whose camera got downloaded first! She really is still here... see?
--Sally
Ashley meeting her first-ever Sycamore tree near Iowa City.
DAY 3: BLOOMINGTON INDIANA (Friday)
We arrived in Bloomington late Thursday night-- in a downpour! It rained heavily most of the last 75 miles, starting north of Terre Haute. Neither of us were used to (or ready for!) such weather... In addition to poor visibility from sheets of rain, it was, of course, getting dark. But we finally connected with Dick and were led to our destination, where we soon fell gratefully into bed.
Some of us neither rose nor shone very early this a.m., but we eventually got downtown to meet friends for a great breakfast and a little shopping, followed by a LONG hike in the woods. All in all it was a wonderful day-- we greatly enjoyed and appreciated Dick, Doris, Vance, and especially Sue's hospitality. And it was great to have a break from the road...
--Sally
DAY 2: DES MOINES TO BLOOMINGTON
Another long day on the road! Imagine that... Here's a brief outline to be filled in later.
[I'm filling in, but still don't have all the photos edited... stay tuned! New stuff is in red.]
One of the major things we noticed coming across Nebraska and Iowa is that we were seeing where most of America's food comes from! That will continue throughout the Heartland. 
Despite the 5-speed transmission, Ashley has been doing some great driving. Just west of Iowa City, she made her first successful trip through all 5 gears! (Day 2, 11:15 a.m., a red-letter moment!)
Early in the day, we discovered we'd been following (in reverse) the footsteps of Mormon pioneers. First it was the Mormon Bridge near Omaha yesterday, then this interpretive sign near Iowa City.
We crossed the rest of Iowa, and took a slight detour to Clinton IA to see the Mississippi River. Here's Sally by the Mississippi.
Ashley's getting really good at these bridge photos!
Once across the bridge, we were officially in Illinois.
We paused briefly at the Big Boy near Danville IL to refuel... us and the car!
a long first day
Denver to Des Moines on Wednesday... no time last night for updates, and we'll have to figure out how to edit photos so we can start posting some.
Driving east through dusk to Des Moines, we were entertained by millions of fireflies twinkling away on the roadsides, and occasionally on the windshield, alas.
This morning we are heading to Bloomington IN, but it's already wonderful to feel moisture in the air! Hadi tells me, tho, that it rained hard last night after we were long gone--and it's probably just as humid at home, for only a day or two.
All for now!
--sally
Update: New photos:
We found this great statue of a caterpillar, pupa, and butterfly in Sterling CO, on our way out of state.
And within no time, it seemed, we were in Nowhere, Nebraska! (Actually it was North Platte.)
preparations
The hard part. Underway, sort of, but then I'm a last minute kind of person. I'm setting up this framework so Ashley and I can, as part of "getting on the road," email people a location at which they can find out what's going on with the Companion and I as we head east.
Mostly, at this moment, I'm not as jazzed as I have been all along-- I need a nap and I think I'm about to go have one. That will help! And whatever doesn't get done, well, it obviously didn't need doing!
Current tentative itinerary (subject to change with or without notice):
- Leave Denver CO Wednesday a.m. enroute toward Des Moines IA via I80
- Thursday Des Moines to Bloomington IN
- Saturday Bloomington toward Rochester NY
- Spend a few days in NY
- Tuesday NY to New Haven CT
- June 28-July 11 in New Haven
- July 12-18 or so somewhere in New England, possibly including Maine
- July 19-23 back to NY
- July 24-26 Ohio
- July 27-29 Bloomington again
- July 31 Home sweet home
Or not. That's just the Outline-of-the-Moment. Ashley has yet to express an opinion, and we are certainly open to detours along the way!
--Sally
Hmm.. so Ashley has nothing to say! It's true we spent most of the day slogging through files, but we did at least have a glorious sunny day to spend locked in the caverns of the Reading Room. Ah well... Then she took me out to supper at Claire's Corner Copia, our second hippie-veg haven of the New Haven scene... I'll be back there, I'm sure.
This last one took me several minutes to figure out that last word... duh! 
