[singpilot]

Joe;

I'll call you at the PM cell.

Update day one. Amtraked from Penn Station to Providence Sunday morning. Had not been on a USA train since college. Have gotten spoiled by European trains. Nonetheless, arrived Providence at noon. Seller met me and took me to Cranston to Van. Is mostly what I was expecting, the bad is not as bad as it could have been, the good is as good as I was told.

Left PVD, north MA146 to I-90, then west thru all of Mass and into NY state. Into Albany, north on I-87, and stopped for the night in Malta, near Saratoga Springs.

I thought the drivers in PVD were bad, but then got to MA. Once clear of the Boston area, it got better the farther west I went. Saw LOTS of bikes, it was a warm spring day. Lots of Kerry / Edwards stickers, but those are subsiding too. Don't want to start a flame war, but the worse the driver, the more vehement the stickers. Meaning, in addition to the K/E sticker, would be a Regime Change sticker. That person was busy discussing regime change on her cellphone when she brushed the center divider, spewing plastic parts of her 1989 Honda Civic all over the road. Did she stop? No. Did she stop talking? No. The next one was discussing Roe v Wade (with the K/E sticker AND an Abortion is Murder sticker) on the cellphone when she rear-ended the semi. She never stopped talking until the remains of her car stopped spinning.

As I got into NY state, the K/E stickers thinned out, only to be replaced by Hillary stickers. Since NY is a no-cellphone while driving state, it actually got worse. Now, in addition to dialing, and talking while driving, you have to lean over, or slump low enuf to think you are not being seen while driving and discussing '08 election. This tends to make the car lean over or slump while travelling down the interstate. The upside is that you see NO Bush stickers at all, and the numbers of K/E stickers is thinning out due to road accidents. Oh well. I-87 is crowded with Canadian trucks and full-size Ford and Chevy's headed north at great speed. I think our northern frieds are heading home after discovering how expensive everything is down here.

Diesel was 2.70-ish in BOS area, but 2.14 here in Malta. Truck gets 17MPG at speed empty. Is a 3.9 Isuzu turbo diesel, is happiest at 63ish, but will do 73 when pushed. This van has lived it's life at sea level, and it's hill climbing ability at speed is not stellar. Cant wait for Eisenhower Pass. Of course, looking at yesterday's weather channel report of 2 feet of snow in Denver may make the climb there slower for another reason.

Today up to just north of Glens Falls to pick up a bike I bought a while ago, then to Plainfield IL to pick up an exhaust system. Plus maybe a stop in Michigan for Joe. I am on Euro time (Midnite NY time feels like time to get up and go), so will have to wait for the sun to catch up with me and NY state for a while. I need to change a couple of tires this morning, one of the sidewalls in the front had a cut that has developed a delam, and there is a GoodYear dealer right here. I want to hit the NY DMV as well to see about the title work on the bike I bought. I am getting hints from the seller that it might not be 'right'..... I guess the closest to him is back in Glens Falls.

More later!