August 2, 1980 Day 39 Back and Forth to New Hampshire and Vermont to Several Art Sites
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I crossed back over the Connecticut River and went to the Saint Gaudens National Historic Site, then to the Maxfield Parrish Museum. There I saw the machine Maxfied used to project his subjects on to the canvas and he was said to use his brush to take paint directly out of the paint tubes-no palette. The photo of the covered bridge is over the Connecticut River to Windsor. Back over in Vermont I stop at the Springfield Shopping Center on route 11 and go to the grocery store and then to the Ames for a distributer cap and tuneup parts. Crossing Vermont on 11 I get to Manchester and go to the South Vermont Art Center. I stopped at an art gallery in Mancehster then followed 7a down to Bennington where I stopped at the Dunkin Donut. I picked up a young couple that were hiking. They had just come from some privately run music museum where the man who owned it advised them if they loved music to never get a job in the business. They asked me to take them to Woodford State Park and that since they were paying to get in and camp I could park there for free. And that is what I did. There was some concert event going on that night and somewhere I have a sketch of it. I took advantage of an actual shower there but didn't realize when I went in that you had to put money in for hot water. I figured I was use to cold water and there would be some hot water left over from the person before. This turned out to be true, but only for about a minute then I was treated to the coldest water I had encountered on the trip-most likely water pumped in from the north pole. It was rugged, next time I will give up a quarter. Did taichi before going to bed.
Covered Bridge Across the Connecticut River
August 3, 1980 Day 40 Down to Massachusetts and the Clark Art Institute
The couple I was with wanted a lift into Williamston which worked out
fine because I wanted to go back to the Clark Art Institute. Well worth the
return trip-excellent collection and no crowds plus it was free. Next south to
Pittsfield and a stop at the Berksire Museum, then to a country road near
South Worthington where I did an oil painting. A short distance from that
location I stopped by a stream for a bucket shower, and then a stop at the
Knightsville Dam. I got to Northampton late and drove around checking out
the town and looking for a spot for the night. I thought in a hospital parking
lot would work but later that night somebody came by trying to check out
the interior with a flashlight and after they left I looked out and saw most
of the other vehicles had left, so I figured I wasn't blending in too well and
looked for another spot. I ended in a turnoff by Wyben at the entrance to a
dirt road.
Field Near South Worthington, MA
August 4, 1980 Day 41 Car Maintenance and Frustration
I wanted to get some car maintenance done so I parked along the side
of the road (route 202) in an enlarged shoulder area. I decided that
while I was waiting for the engine to cool I would get out all my
paintings and line them up on the curb to do a self critique and get an
overview of what I had been doing. A man pulled off while I was doing
this and we talked for about 45 minutes. He wasn't interested in buying
anything when he stopped but was curious and we were both road type
people so we hit it off. He was surprised by how little I was asking and
actually gave me more for the Pier at Burnt Church painting. This was my
first sale on the trip and I certainly could use the money-thanks Les.
I changed the points cap and rotor and set the dwell, then I started to
lubricate the chasis but ran out of grease and needed a more flexible
nozzle for some of the fittings. This meant another trip to the store and
while I was driving I set the timeing again. I hate to work on cars but it
was necessary for my budget and I never broke down on my trips at a
garage. One of the main problems is getting cleaned up after getting all
greasy and sweaty from crawling around and under the van and if you
have been reading my entries you should know I have this thing about
cleaning up-this became an overbearing problem for the rest of the day.
I got to Holyoke and stopped at the Holyoke Museum in the library, it
was one room of paintings but I was rushed out before I could get a
good look because they wanted to have a meeting in the room. So you
people in Holyoke I want you to know I have never been back.
On to Springdfield I stopped at a Mister Donut and checked the phone
book, still looking for a store. Finally get to a Two Guys at the Fairfield
Shopping Center and get more grease and air filter, hose and radio
battery. I finished greasing the chasis in the parking lot and set the
timeing again, plus I put the spare tire on the left front for some problem
I was having with the front end.
Still need to get cleaned up but I stopped in a parking lot outside
Amherst and did taichi, then back to Northampton to the the YMCA
hoping to pay to take a shower but they were closed. I was making
numerous donut shop stops to pacify myself, one being my first time at a
Bess Eaton and then a couple times back in Springfield at the same
Dunkin Donut. It was getting to the wee small hours of the morning
because I had gotten lost after I left Northampton somewhere out in the
countryside. It did give me a chance to see how the clientel at the shop
change with the difference in time from earlier until the real night owls
were there. Finally stopped for the night off 187 going towards Feeding
Hill about 3 in the morning still not cleaned up.
With the sale of the painting I now had a total of $79.99.
August 5, 1980 Day 42 Finally a Shower and Quaboag Pond
The first thing I did was go to a phone booth on Columbus Avenue in
Springfield and look up the location of a YMCA. There was a Y on
Chestnut Street and I was able to get a shower there for $3.00. Finally
after gettig all the grease off I went and parked at the corner of Dwight
and Taylor and went to the Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum and
Museum of Fine Arts. Headed east from Springfield, had to stop along
route 21 bacause I was falling asleep. After a nap I went on to Quabbin
Hill Summit and then to Wickaboag Pond where I rinsed off. I had a
sandwich at a rest area before Brookfield and ended the day at a boat
launching wharf at the eastern end of Quaboag Pond, where I decided it
was a good place to spend the night.
August 6, 1980 Day 43 Not to the Highest Point in Rhode Island
I started the day by going into Southbridge and sending some slides off to Kodak to be developed. I had now been to the highest point in 4 of the New England states and wanted to hit the highest point in Rhode Island next. So I headed south, stopping at Pulaski Memorial State Park/Clarence something State Beach and stopped to look around. then on in search of the elusive highest point, which I never found being only 812 feet and not well marked it was easy to miss and I didn't want to burn up a lot of gas looking for it. I must have passed it on the road but it wasn't clear, so on to Connecticut, Brooklyn to be exact. Got some gas and then headed east to Mansfield Hollow State Park.
I am not only short of cash but I also have a schedule to watch now because I am supposed to pick up my sister in Arlington along with a u-haul and transport her out to Austin, Texas a little later in the month, which will be the start of my first west coast trip(driving that is because I had flown out years ago and rode back on the historic Route 66 with my uncle and some of his kids). Anyway I was going to paint a picture but it looked like rain so I just did some sketches. Next I continued on to Gay City State Park and went in swimming and washed my hair at the faucet. Then I thought it would be nice enough to do an oil painting, which I did of two islets in the pond. I had an example of how attitude affects our perception, because while I was painting a couple of guys came by, the first guy said he really liked my painting. Then when the other guy came up he kind of looked at it and said he wasn't impressed. the thing is it would have been totally confusing because I was painting over an old painting which I had turned upside down and just started laying in the new areas of color, so as a picture it would make no sense at that point. After leaving the park I went to my second Bess Eaton Donuts in Manchester. I was never really impressed with this chain but when you are doing a sociological study of donut shops you have to make sacrifices. I ended the day near there in a commuter parking lot. And I must say that is the first time I had been checked out by a police chaplain in uniform or not in uniform, but he gave me the ok to stay there. 4740.4 miles so far, I couuld have made it to the west coast, average expense at $12.68 per day.
I am not only short of cash but I also have a schedule to watch now because I am supposed to pick up my sister in Arlington along with a u-haul and transport her out to Austin, Texas a little later in the month, which will be the start of my first west coast trip(driving that is because I had flown out years ago and rode back on the historic Route 66 with my uncle and some of his kids). Anyway I was going to paint a picture but it looked like rain so I just did some sketches. Next I continued on to Gay City State Park and went in swimming and washed my hair at the faucet. Then I thought it would be nice enough to do an oil painting, which I did of two islets in the pond. I had an example of how attitude affects our perception, because while I was painting a couple of guys came by, the first guy said he really liked my painting. Then when the other guy came up he kind of looked at it and said he wasn't impressed. the thing is it would have been totally confusing because I was painting over an old painting which I had turned upside down and just started laying in the new areas of color, so as a picture it would make no sense at that point. After leaving the park I went to my second Bess Eaton Donuts in Manchester. I was never really impressed with this chain but when you are doing a sociological study of donut shops you have to make sacrifices. I ended the day near there in a commuter parking lot. And I must say that is the first time I had been checked out by a police chaplain in uniform or not in uniform, but he gave me the ok to stay there. 4740.4 miles so far, I couuld have made it to the west coast, average expense at $12.68 per day.
August 7,1980 Day 44 A Full Day of Adventures in Hartford, Connecticut
I got to Hartford early and parked in Colt Park by the ice skating
rink. From there I walked up town and did some sketches. After several
hours of foot touring the city I drove to the Hillstead Museum in
Farmington. On the way back I was on a mission to trade in my empty
bottles, which were a constant nuisance because each state had its own
deposit rules and as I traveled through New England I would be stuck
with bottles from another state and I actually planned part of my travel
so I could return the bottles to the right state. Back in Hartford I parked
in Goodwin Park for dinner, then I went up town and parked by the
municipal motor pool on Sheldon Ave. I had seen when I was in town
earlier that Maria Muldaur was giving a free concert that evening and
since she was one of my favorite singers I determined to go. And the
concert was great. However when I got back to my van I found that it
had been broken into. I have the whole list of what they took-my
biggest loss was my binoculars. I always like to travel with a compass-so
if you get lost you still know what direction you are going, a magnifying
glass so you can see things closeup and binoculars so you can see things
far off and also I am a bird watcher and these are a necessary item to
have for that. They took one set of speakers and a bunch of tapes but
they couldn't figure out how to take my stereo because I had built a
special cabinet so it was out of sight to anyone looking in but I could
operate it by reaching around the left hand side of the drivers seat and
do it by touch. It was simple enough to get in by popping the vent
window open and reaching in to unlock the door. It's these masterminds
of automobile design that are still being bailed out by our government
with millions of dollars of tax money. If they are that stupid let them go
under. Anyway when I had a chance I put metal guards over the inside
of the vents so they could be opened for air circulation but not enough to
get your hand in. Then I unscrewed the plastic covers to the door locks
and pushed them down inside the door so that it was only possible to
lock and unlock the door with a key. If anyone broke in now they would
have to break the window and climb in and out. This was the only time
this happened in all my traveling in all the states, most of the cities
covering over a hundred thousand miles easy. I made a report at the
Hartford Police Station and then stayed in their parking lot for the night.
A couple notes about Hartford. They brag about a building that is
supposed to be the only two sided building in the country-shaped like a
fish kind of- and they would probably say the world. But they are wrong.
It doesn't look anything like theirs but there is a real well known public
building in the US that is also two sided. If you have been to DC you
should be able to figure it out. Another thing was that it was one of the
most dangerous cities to walk in, not because of crime at least not
directly, but every few minutes I would hear a siren and a cop car would
come barreling around the corner at a very unsafe speed for anyone
crossing the street. And this went during the whole time I was there. I
won't even go into detail about their little sculpture park of boulders.
August 8, 1980 Day 45 Making Tracks Back South
Before leaving my night spot I put my regular tire back on to see how it would ride, then I went uptown to the Wadsworth Atheneum. Next on to New Britain, and because the tire was riding funny I put the spare back on. I figured that one of the balancing weights had fallen off and the tire needed to be rebalanced. In New Britain I went to the Museum of American Art-nice collection, especially off the beaten path. Going back after a fashion to Hartford I stop at the Rocky Hill Mister Donut, then back to Goodwin Park where I went in swimming in the free pool. My intent was to go to another free concert, this time a free jazz concert at the old state house. Afterwards it was the Whole Donut preparing to cover some ground as I had to be getting back home for my trip out west. I headed southwest but still haven't been able to decipher the town name or find the route number I recorded for my final stop of the day. However this was to be short because I was somewhat spooked by the thought of driving through the New York City traffic and wanted to leave after a short nap and make it to Jersey in the early morning hours. All I can tell is it was a Ramada Inn parking lot. I don't know how to put two stopping places on the map in one night so I have listed a rest area on the Garden State Parkway near Brookdale as the final spot for the night.
August 9, 1980 Day 46 Visiting My Aunt and Uncle then More Night Driving
I am now headed home, but first I have relatives in this area of New Jersey so I call my uncle to see if he's home which he is and I get directions to his house in Bridgewater. I get there a little after noon and see my aunt and uncle and he takes me on an interesting tour of the the area. One of the interesting stops is at the falls line toward the west where regular navigation of the rivers is impeded by the first dramatic rise in elevation above the coastal plains. After spending the afternoon and evening with them I head out going south, no sightseeing now, just covering ground. After a final donut stop at Mister Donut on route 13 I stop about 2:57 in the morning at the u-turn parking lot in the middle of the dual highway in Odessa, DE. 253.3 miles for the day
August 10, 1980 Day 47 Back in Rehoboth Beach and Grandmother's House
Not much happening now, I get up and make it to my grandmother's house in Rehoboth Beach, where I spent a good bit of my growing up years and in my log I make it the end of my trip but for this record I will make it tomorrow when I get back to Salisbury where I started from. Not only did I get to take a real shower, my grandmother made me dinner and breakfast, and she bought one of my paintings, which helped out.
August 13, 1980 Day 50 Back in Salisbury, Maryland
After spending a couple of days at the beach I made it back to my
starting point, as shown above a total of 5317.8 miles and an average of
$12.38 a day for expenses. Not all smooth sailing but all in all a really great
time, a lot of things to see for a small town boy. Now I have to prepare for
the continuation of my cross-country journies as I will leave for my sister
and brother-in-laws up in Arlington to transport my sister and a u-haul out
to Austin, Texas and then myself going in a circuitous route all the way to
the west coast, so be looking for my next travel edition -" My First
Midwest-West Coast Trip", which starts august the 15th, 1980 and ends
the 25th of september, 1980 in Claremont, California.