Basketball at Midnight

I returned through my buddy The Storm twice more to get from Bangor to Vermont in one of my worst intuition-mapping adventures yet.  Scott recomended I take the Kankamagus Highway through New Hampshire, which is in fact a simply beautiful, winding highway through the White Mountains.  The Storm was coming back at me with a vengance, but wasn't forecast to hit NH until after noon, and as it was 9:30 when I left, I decided to make a run for it.  

And I made it through the Kank, with the first drops of rain happening after I had gone over the ridge and to the bottom, on my way out.  I have a couple pictures that I'll send up when I get a chance, but it was overcast through most of the trip.

Now once out of the Kank, there's no good way to get Shaftsbury, VT.  Heck, there's no good way to Shaftsbury from Maine (or anywhere else, really… it's not too bad from Troy, NY), period.  As my Uncle says, they still have Pony Express out here, it's so far removed.   So I had a few ways to go, and with the pouring rain, I took 93 North to 91 in Vermont.  Let me tell you about 93. It becomes a 1-lane interstate!  I've never conceived of such a thing.  It's still limited access, but 1 lane for about 20 miles through some brown-signed national reserve or park.  Absolutely beautiful, and in pouring rain, no worries I'd have to lock up my front brake because someone tried to turn left in front of me. 

But in all, it was a cold, miserable pouring rain, and by the time I got to a clearing at 91 I was sure ready for it.  As I recalled from my mind-map, US 4 picked up a little south of where I was, and I could take that across and then head South to Shaftsbury, or I could 91 all the way South to Brattleboro, and head west to Shaftsbury.  So I went South, looking closely at the clouds and watching the signs.  As I approached White River Junction, halfway between 93 and Brattleboro, I could see the south was engulfed in the same storm, which was in a line heading Southwest.  So I started looking for Rte 4, which I never found, went back through the pouring middle of the storm, and got to Shaftsbury the worse from the wear.  I thought, as I got to the Junction, I should stop and doublecheck the map for the best route, as I realized the storm was probably not twisting fast enough to get out of my way.  

So that's +2.  I hit The Storm about eight to ten times on my three driving days.  To Southington soon!