Completing our weekend travel adventure, Kish and I drove home from Vassar today. Russell graciously let us use his car after it became apparent that it would be very unlikely that we could fly back today, due to the disruption caused by the weekend snow storm in the Northeast. (Even today tens of thousands of people were without power, as the heavy snow tore down tree limbs that knocked down power lines.) The airport we were to fly out of, Stewart International Airport, got around 50 inches of snow in the space of a day or so, lost all power, and then couldn’t get its computer systems up and running. Rather than risk a total travel failure, we decided to drive home today, and it was a good move.
One last travel observation: I think a G.P.S. system is worth renting if you are making a strange drive. On Friday, after we arrived in Philadelphia to learn that our flight to Stewart International was canceled, we rented a car from Budget. They had no maps, but they did have a G.P.S. device we could rent. It was a godsend! It faithfully guided us out of Philly, across New Jersey, and up to Poughkeepsie, taking us through some back road short cuts and allowing us to avoid some of the traffic snarls that bedeviled the area due to the monster snowstorm. I don’t make many unexpected road trips, but I am still wondering whether a G.P.S. system is worth the investment — just in case.
Webner House 