The End

After precisely 7 days away from home I am back. The last leg of this trip was largely uneventful. After stopping at the hotel in Sturbridge, I got out around 9am and was amazed that I got the car out of the snow without major problems. Btw. the Days Inn in Sturbridge, MA is a no no to stay at. The room was smelly, dated and dirty. They also do price-gouging. While they offer an online booking for $50/night they were asking unreasonable $179 under this last storm. It doesn't help arguing with staff, they have instructions not to give in.
The place is in the hands of east-indian staff and they have racked up a barage of really bad reviews on TripAdvisor. If this would be my business I would be ashamed of it every day.

The roads home were clear of snow, however the "victims" of last night were still in the ditches, some being under towing that morning.

Getting into Maine I felt like I was the only driver all along. It was still snowing like crazy when I got to Bangor, ME. But it did not stick to the road. Even coastal Rte. 1 was OK to drive.

Arriving home I was greeted by a happy Bea and a ditto happy Dixie. Having not seen Dixie for a week it seemed to me she had grown substantially again. Such a happy puppy she is. 

Love being home again.

I Unstuck Myself But It Looks Like I Might Be Stuck Again.

When morning ran up I had a look out the window. There was my Mercedes encrusted in snow. It looked like it would stay there for ever. Watching the weather news I hung out for another hour, before I went to the reception for a coffee. 
Back in my room I started researching weather forecasts for the next part of my route. Apart from a few snow showers here and there it didn't look so bad. I could probably reach the state line to New York, which would cut down my travel time tomorrow. So I packed up, sent a message to Bea and was gone. 

The highway was indeed clear and partially even dry. Some times it looked like the sun would peek out. At Port Jervis I just continued driving into New York State. Traffic was light, probably because many had been scared enough to stay at home. After New York I passed into Connecticut and even here the roads were just fine. But coming into Massachusetts snow started coming down and getting worse by the minute. The I-84 was showing signs of accumulating snow and that was the point where I really didn't want to be part of this anymore. Checking out accommodations by the road side, I found a Days Inn at Sturbridge,MA.  Another 22 kms to go but not too far. 
The turn-off led to a lower level road which was entirely covered in snow. Don't they own snow plows in these parts? But it was getting worse. This particular Days Inn is in a hidden-away location and one has to negotiate a narrow up-grade to the building, which is behind a truck stop. Left and right I saw cars parked in more than a foot of snow, and obviously nobody was prepared for more guests parking their vehicles, as the few empty spaces were covered in snow. Great service really!

  

I finally discovered a spot where somebody had tried to get into but hadn't succeeded. I gave it a little extra gas and swooped the Mercedes right into place embedded in a foot of snow. Whether I would be able to get out again, I don't know. But i saw a man with a snow shovel! Maybe he's around tomorrow.

Stranded in Danville, PA

Starting the day at 6am from Illinois, I was making progress along I-80. Weather was a mix of snow showers in Ohio, clouds and then sun in Pennsylvania. But how long was Adam in Paradise? I was nearing Bloomsburg when visibility disappeared in slush and a wintry mix. But it should it paid off that I always drive the same route. I was known around here as weather has had a way with us to deteriorate whenever we get into these parts. So I knew about accommodations in Danville, PA and decided enough was enough and turned into the little town. They have a Red Roof motel there and we'd be staying there before. In fact, I have been staying 3 times in Danville and always because of bad weather. Weather forecasters are now predicting a major, major snow storm along the coast and it won't be peanuts this time. So I am pretty much prepared to start living here until the weather monster is over. Talked to Bea and she has already taken precautions with shopping for food and supplies.

But let me tell you about what really shocked me today. I was heading down a long slope when suddenly I heard a clunk and something appeared for a fraction of second beside the hood. Simultaneously a small yellow light began to glow on my dash. Oh God..what happened?

To find out, I stopped on the shoulder, and went to the front of the car. There I looked at agaping hole where once a nice yellow turn light has been living. A lonely wire with a plug-in was hanging out of the hole.
GEEZ....my turn light was GONE!
I walked a ways back along the road but could not find the thing, and it was probably broken too after the sudden departure from the car.

Since I have plenty time now, I ordered a new turn light over Ebay right away. Looks really shitty - a fine Mercedes with only one front turn light.

Way Too Much Excitement For One Day

To say that this day was exciting is a sure-fire understatement. When I woke up it was just snowing slightly. The roads would be wet and I would drive in the spray of other vehicles, using windshield wipers all the time. Unfortunately one of the wipers was damaged on the upper end so the cleaning effect was limited to the lower part of the windshield. I had purchased a new blade the previous day, but had been unable to remove the old one. This is MERCEDES, remember? And it just doesn't make things easier that the hood needs to stand open in order to get to the wipers. So today I tried it again. I coaxed and pressed and pushed and pulled, without moving it one millimeter. So I decided to stop some place to buy me a tool. The first few miles down the wet road were tedious as I had to look through the lower part of the windshield where the wiper still had an effect. Suddenly I saw the signs of a home depot looming left of the road. I pulled off and over the overpass. Would they have open this early on a Sunday?

I was in luck there!

I found a combination tool looking almost like a leatherman, just a lot cheaper. Armed with this murderous instrument I started breaking apart the plastic of the blade where it is clamped into the U of the wiper arm. I got my hands bloody and it took unbelievable 20 minutes to get the damn thing off. Plastic shards were all over the place. The mounting of the new blade just took 2 seconds though.

But my troubles had only just begun. Around 11am I stopped for gas. And that's where I lost my Credit Card, before getting back in the car. Only, of course, I didn't know it yet. The epiphany came to me 130 miles farther down the road when stopping again, this time in Wisconsin. I always keep my gas receipts, and I found the phone # of the gas station back in Eau Claire,MN. Oh yes, they had the card on the counter. Some customer had brought it in. But sending it to my address wasn't anything they could do, at least not without the managers approval, who was not on the job on Sundays.
So I called Bea and got the phone # for lost cards. I got it canceled, but the guy on the other end told me that the last use of the card had been declined. So, obviously some smart guy thought he could make a few bucks with it. The abuse of lost CCs has diminished after the cards got a chip implanted which calls for a PIN-code, when used.

The CC was my only one and now I was afraid that I would run into problems getting a room at a motel. But the next Super  8 graciously accepted my debit card. 

I am stopped at a place called OTTAWA, Illinois, and I am recounting my sins of the day. Today I also had my first visit at a restaurant. Have you ever ordered a burger "Well done" and biting into raw meat? That's what happened there. Who was to blame? The server, who admitted to have called it in wrong. 
Back at the motel I got a coffee and another one of the Boston Cream sweet tooth pastries. 

Yummy!