Road Trip Planning

I felt like a real retiree yesterday - spent most of the day watching the PGA Championship on TV and mapping my New England road trip. It was a very satisfactory day. Last evening, after my workout, I had cocktails with Jay Livey, Chris Ashenbrenner and Joan Kasson at the Prospector. Jay is leaving today for Seattle - he was up on contract with State Senator Lymann Hoffman and will, no doubt, be back in another 90 days or so. He expects to be working the session after the first of the year.

I'm spending far more time than usual organizing my Fall Leaf-Peeping Extravaganza - lodgings can be scarce at the peak of the season and the guide books all say I must book early. So...that's what I'm working on. Here's the plan as it stands - including the Great Northwest segment.

September 7th: Fly to Seattle and rent a car to drive to Portland. I'll be staying with Arthur and Sher Snowden the 7th and 8th.

September 9th - 10th: Will stay at a downtown hotel in Portland. Hope to hook-up with Jane, John, Jim and Tim - and the gals of course.

September 11th: Friday afternoon I'll drive to Redmond for the Juneau Fall Golf Tournament. Alison and Dougie will be driving down from Seattle. We'll get to warm-up over the weekend with the scramble on Monday and the regular tournament Tuesday - Thursday.

September 18th: Drive to Seattle for the weekend. I have a reservation request in at the Gaslight Inn on Capital Hill.

September 21st: Wheel's up for Boston arriving around cocktail time. I have a room request pending at the Charlesmark Hotel in the Back Bay - a smallish boutique hotel with great rates and recommended by Fodors. The big hotels are mighty pricey...

September 22nd - 23rd: Sightseeing in Boston.

September 24th - 25th: Relax in Provincetown, Cape Cod.

September 26th: Off to leaf-peeping land. Drive to Brattleboro Vermont and spend the night.

September 27th: Drive to Albany, New York and spend the night.

September 28th - 29th: Drive to Hornell, New York to visit my ol' pal JP Holbrook. It's JP's birthday on the 29th!

September 30th: Drive to Burlington Vermont and spend the night. This is the longest drive of the trip - probably around 8 hours.

October 1st - 2nd: On to Bretton Wood, New Hampshire for two nights. Looking at a cool old resort http://www.mountwashingtonresort.com/

October 3rd - 4th: On to Hanover, New Hampshire for a couple of nights.

October 5th: Back to Boston.

October 6th: Wheels up for Seattle and Juneau. Ugh.

The New England bit should be way fun. I will skirt or drive through most of the major leaf-peeping venues including the Berkshires, Green Mountains, Adirondacks, and White Mountains.

Have a great weekend everyone!