Travels with George #1

Day one took us out of Illinois, through Indiana, and all of Ohio. We spent the first night at Erie, Pennsylvania.  Getting there, however is part of the story.

The we referred is me (George Safford), Liz Drozdik (my daughter), and Pam Kramer, my good friend and neighbor. The ladies agreed to come on this trip with me provided we traveled in another car, not mine which is 18 years old, has problems, and over ninety-five thousand miles on the odometer. So, I said yes, and Liz provided a two-year-old SUV with all the trimmings including four-wheel drive.  With that we should be good for any weather possible.

We started on November 9th at five am. Made it to Indiana before six am. We stopped for breakfast/lunch at 10:30 somewhere in Ohio. Dinner was in Erie, PA.

The Illinois prairie landscape remained with us to just west of Cleveland. Hills appeared along with their woods. Undulating topography boosted the southern shores of Lake Erie. Woods were everywhere and very different from flat land Illinois.

Fall colors were still evident although much diminished. We didn’t care because our trip was not about falling, colorful leaves. No, this trip was all about remembering my youth from the ages of eleven to seventeen. Those were the years from 1954 to 1960. My folks moved to Syracuse, New York but I remained in Pittsfield, MA to complete my junior year in high school. I lived with my married brother and his bride of six months! Most likely not a fun thing for them,

As we moved east, I was aware of seeing this region with a different pair of eyes from what I expected. Having lived in Illinois for 58 years not counting my four years at Knox College in Galesburg, Ill., I was well used to flatland living. I discerned beauty in our rolling agricultural domain. The snow-covered acres as well as the burgeoning green crops inspired my sense of beauty of the land. The occasional woods, riverbanks and shoreland hills only added much appreciated flavor. Once out of this landscape, however, the ‘other’ emerges quite quickly.

More on that later, but kindly remember I was born and raised for my first eleven years in southern California with the hills, giant mountains, ocean and coastal lands. Deserts, too, don’t forget I lived there as well. So, landscape comparisons were easy for my family to make. The east coast seems tame compared with the lush California offerings.

So, day one ended in hilly Erie, PA. We were ready to cross all of New York state and enter the Berkshires the next day. We leave our story at this point.

November 15, 2023

 

 

 

 

      

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