He saw the flash of the car in the side mirror an instant before it passed him on the left. It was late afternoon in January and his headlights were already on. Diffuse gray clouds stretched from horizon to horizon, foretelling the snowstorm that was predicted to arrive in New England that night. He was settled into the center lane of the interstate heading southwest, hoping to get at least as far as the metropolitan New York City area before…
I first drove across the United States during the summer of 1982. My mother and I loaded up our family’s 1970s-era American station wagon — you know the kind: huge V-8 engine, body big enough to land planes on, trunk/jump seats in the back..the kind of station wagon the Griswolds drove to WallyWorld — and headed west to my brother’s wedding in Utah. I was 16 years old and my mother had insisted I get my driver’s license as soon…
Yes, Matamoras, Pennsylvania. I put a few hours under my wheels just to make the next couple of days’ drive more manageable. I’m in a Hampton Inns hotel just off I-84 here in the northeast corner of the Keystone State. Oh yeah, baby! Matamoras! (It DOES appear on Google Maps.) The drive was surprisingly easy for the Friday evening of Labor Day weekend. Traffic was very light even in some of the usual nightmare area such as the Mass Pike…