on the road again

"You may ask yourself, 'Where does that highway go?!'" -Talking Heads (also covered by Josh Ritter)

I ask myself that all the time. When I drove home from Virginia last week, I wandered off the beaten path a little bit, trying out some county and state roads rather than the same old I-295. I had some time on my hands and needed a change of scenery. My original plan was to wind my way home whimsically through the Pine Barrens but then I realized I really, really needed to stop and use a bathroom and wasn't going to find one going that way, which is what brought me eventually to Cherry Hill and the western terminus of the road I usually take, Route 70. It was nice to see some farmland, barren as it is in February, and also to see that chunk of Route 70 that I'd never seen before.

However, tomorrow will probably not be one of those days in which I stray from the direct path, as I have a lot of travels to do. This is roughly my trajectory, although I'm already planning on taking sweet peaceful county roads to Princeton (it'll be 7.30 in the morning, I don't foresee that being a poor choice) and something more creative than the Turnpike to get to the Delaware Memorial Bridge. I like the way that route looks though, kind of like a fun roller coaster. Also, the first three stops are for camp related things, so that should be fun, especially since the third stop invited me to stay for dinner. I love the hospitality of the extended Johnsonburg family!

Why back to Virginia so soon? Because my amazing college roommate Brittany and I always said that if Josh Ritter and Joe Pug played a show together in one of our areas, we'd go. It was really just poor planning on my part that I'm going to see him twice in three weeks, but I enjoy Josh's music and I love love love Brittany's company. I have more crazy travels next weekend so decided to extend my trip into the days before the show, which will include catching up with some friends and also some sort of hiking adventure with the incredible Becky Trytten. All of this also serves as a good excuse to see that nice boy again. This week is going to be pretty awesome... assuming I finish this draft of that long paper today so I don't have to think about it... so I'm going to get back to that...