This could take a while.....

It's a long ways from my home on 14th Street here in Hutchinson, Kansas to the Portland Head Lighthouse in Cape Elizabeth, Maine.  Least wise it would sure seem so by looking at the map and positive that it will FEEL so in the driver's seat of my car.  But this June I am keeping my promise to myself that some day I would travel to the state of Maine and see a lighthouse.  I intend to drive every one of the nearly 1,800 miles to get there and when I FINALLY do make it, my dream of seeing that beautiful state and the "guardian of the sailors at sea" will have been realized.

For as long as I can recall, I've wanted to make this journey.  Yet, I always managed to keep putting it off for a thousand different reasons, NONE of them good ones.  So when the idea of the trip made it to my bucket list, I decided it was time to put it on the calendar for this summer and just make myself do it.


I've spent the past few weeks trying to narrow down the route I plan to take and get an idea of the kind of scenery I'll be seeing along the way.  The journey of, hey you might as well say 2,000 miles, will definitely take a little time....at least 4 days worth of driving.  I've kind of mapped it out the "old fashioned" way, using the atlas pictured above.  With Onstar guiding me all the way, I hope to make it there with few problems.  That, we shall soon see.

Allotting an entire 2 week period of time during June, should enable me to go slow and take it easy along the way.  There will be sights to see and things to do all along the route.  I intend to take advantage of as many as I can.  I decided to break the journey up into four days worth of driving, averaging between 440 and 470 miles each day.  So far, the driving itinerary looks as follows:


Day 1-Hutchinson, Kansas to St. Louis, Missouri
total miles-463 and the chance to finally see the Arch and the muddy Mississippi River as well as your pick of tasty bar-b-que places.  I also have many Facebook friends between here and Kansas City, MO.  I'd love to finally make the connection with them on my "way out of town"...So, to Mary Jo Kurtz and Dennis Ulrey in Manhattan, Eric Allam and Nita Grier in Lawrence, and Beverly Silvers and Claudia Pfannenstiel in the KC area...and heck, anyone else I forgot....perhaps shall see you all as well.


Day 2-St. Louis, Missouri to Columbus, Ohio
Total miles-417  I hope somehow along this route to meet up with my Facebook friend, Patti Stone who lives in Pennsylvania.  No idea yet where we may find one another, but find one another we WILL.  This will be our first time meeting as well.  Patti and I became friends when my son Grahame hiked the Appalachian Trail last year.  One of the things I like about Facebook is the opportunity to meet, at least in "facebook land" with folks you would never have met otherwise.  Patti, I have a feeling that you and I are more alike than not.  


Day 3-Columbus, Ohio to Owego, New York
Total miles-476  I'll be meeting up with my Facebook friend, Joanne Jones who is driving down from her home in Gouverneur, New York to meet when I arrive in Owego.  This will be our first time meeting~her wonderful son, Wade, is my daughter Ursela's boyfriend.  So we two "moms" are looking forward to knowing one another.  I don't know a whole lot about Owego, but at least on the map it looks like a place that would be welcoming to strangers.  It was voted "The Coolest Small  Town in America" in 2009 and with a population, according to the 2010 census, of 3,896 folks, well that's the kind of "small town America" that I'm used to.  Unfortunately, the community was hit with terrible flooding in September of last year when heavy rains caused the Susquehanna River to inundate the town.  Joanne, not sure what all we'll be able to do in a day's time but sure will be glad to meet you finally!


Day 4-Owego, New York to Cape Elizabeth, Maine
Total miles-433  IF I make it here in one piece...I will probably cry  :)  There will be several states to travel through, as I understand from others, that you just zip right through all along the way.  I'm used to the wide-open prairies of Kansas and the idea of going from one state to another in a relatively short period of time is rather mind-boggling to me.  I have the hopes of meeting another one of my Facebook friends, Wes Linscott and his good wife Anita, somewhere along the trail in Maine.  He's been a great help in sending me some of the sites that would be nice to visit...and to him I'm most thankful.  I also have a niece, Jessica Scott, in NYC who doesn't mind travelling to Connecticut once in a while as well as a dear friend, Ruth Ann French-Hodson who lives in New Haven with her family.  I am so looking forward to meeting up with old friends and new. 


With June 1st just a little over 3 1/2 months away, it's time for me to start figuring out the next item in the planning part of this whole thing....a different vehicle.  My Chevy Colorado pick up has been a good one for me but I really need something that gets better gas mileage out on the highway than it does.  I'll be glad for any and all suggestions anyone has. 


Kind of strange to see how fast the days are flying by and before you know it, June 1st will be tomorrow!  Having put this trip off for so long, it will hopefully be nice to see it actually "come to pass."  And as I said before, don't worry about me moving off to a place far away from here.  Kansas has always been and will always continue to be, my "home, sweet home."  Good Night!  

One of the greatest adventurers that I know, my son Grahame Hemman.  This photo was taken 2 weeks before he left for the Appalachian Trail last spring.