Ticks

As this trail is something of a local secret, I'm keeping the exact location to myself. If that wasn't enough to reduce traffic, I'm thinking this sign might also. In addition to the ticks, there is quite a lot of poison ivy along the trail.

Steamed Milk

 

THE major discovery during my trip--steamed milk in my morning oatmeal at the Tandem Bagel Company. Why, oh why, did it take me so long to discover this fantastic new dimension to my morning ritual?! My great thanks to the manager on duty at Tandem for instructing me on how to do this at home!

Beds

 

Are you curious about housekeeping details? I am. So when I checked in to my hotel in Massachusetts, one of the first things I did was to see how the bed was made. No fitted sheets here. Just one sheet spread on top of another with a cover nicely tucked. 

One thing I'm always very careful about are feather pillows. Nope! Can't have any. Badly allergic. The hotel here likes to include two feather pillows with two synthetic. But within five minutes of my arrival, the switch to all synthetic occurred. Thankful for that. 

Residence Inn

 

Created to provide accommodations for more long-term stays, this Residence Inn in East Windsor nonetheless served my needs. Arrived late, of course, due to terrible traffic farther south. But what a relief to get off the road even for a short stay overnight. The complimentary breakfast was a selling point. So many places abandoned that idea, I think, during and after Covid. 

Plan C

Time to play catch up, I suppose. Since last I posted, I was aboard a plane scheduled to fly from Richmond, Virginia, to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where I was later scheduled to catch another plane to Hartford, Connecticut. But . . . the plane's brakes "broke", so passengers were forced to look for alternatives. Plan B, according to American Airlines, was to fly me to National Airport in Washington, D.C., later in the afternoon, to be followed by a late night flight leaving Washington at around 10:30 p.m. and not arriving in Hartford until midnight.

No thank you! I wasn't about to spend my Fourth of July holiday sitting around in airports waiting and just hoping that all my connections worked out. So, after speaking personally to the pilot on my original flight--no kidding, he and I had a tête-á-tête of sorts--I opted simply to cancel all my flights, rent a car, and drive to New Jersey. 

Broken!

Ha! No go. Brakes broken. And rebooking would mean spending a whole day meeting connecting flights and long layovers, so I cancelled all these and rented a car instead. Long road trip, but at least I was on my way, if you know what I mean, even with all the traffic in Washington and Baltimore.

RIC

RIC yesterday on what was reportedly the busiest day for flying this year in the United States.