Long Long Weekend drive

What a weekend we had! It was my Aunt Pat and Uncle Donnie's 50th anniversary party on Saturday. My mom's family has a pretty good marriage track record. My parents celebrated their 50th in February, her brother Donnie's was in September and her youngest brother, my Uncle Rodney, is currently in year 47. Nearly 150 years of marriage - amazing!

Anyway, that part of the family lives in Down East Maine, Princeton to be exact. It's not too far from the Canadian border, about as east as you can go in the United States. And quite a long haul from our humble abode here in Medford, Massachusetts, just north of Boston. In good weather, the drive can be done in about five hours. But it was not good weather when we headed out - a little bit of rain, slick roads and slow traffic. By the time we hit Portland, it was pouring out, requiring hi-speed wipers, and it didn't let up for the next two days. In fact, since the pitiful Red Sox season-ending lost last Friday, which barely beat the rain, it has been cloudy and rainy. And it turned cool a couple of days ago, just about the worst of New England weather - long stretches of clouds, rain, drizzle, with 50-60 degree temperatures. Yech.

The drive is mostly highway, and now that both New Hampshire and Maine accept my Mass "Fast Lane" transponder for the tolls, it easier than ever before. It takes about 4 hours of some of the most boring driving imaginable to get to Bangor from here. Thank Zeus for my Father's Day present - a portable DVD player. We strap it to the back of my seat and the girls are actually encouraged to watch TV all day! I borrowed three DVDs from the library and they watched two of those - "Max & Ruby's Halloween" and "Preschool Power". Also on the viewing schedule was lots of "Looney Tunes". They've become real fans since I got the first "Golden Collection", and I see that they now have two more. These are the real thing, uncut and uncensored, so maybe it's a little too much for them, but they seem to enjoy it. Their favorite episodes are the Bugs Bunny versus the Bull one and any of them with Tweety Bird. Adrienne especially got a kick out of the Rabbit Season one, where Bugs keeps talking Porky into "blasting" Daffy during rabbit season.

It feels like cheating to have them watch the DVD the entire time, but given the alternative, it's a little slice of heaven. Gabrielle and I can talk, or listen to the radio or whatever. It works out very nicely for all involved. Other viewings include various Care Bear videos (huge Care Bear fans) and one Thomas the Tank Engine video.

After hitting Bangor, you head due east on "The Airline" (Maine Rte. 9). This used to be a real nightmare: a two-lane highway across very hilly terrain. Get stuck behind a huge truck or a poky driver and you were doomed to an eternal ride. But now it has been repaved, and plenty of uphill passing zones added, so it is much easier. Still, it took well over six hours to arrive in Princeton, arrving right in the middle of the party.

But it was a good time to see lots of cousins, second cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. There were a couple of other kids there and the girls had a grand time. Rhiannon enjoyed meeting Raeanna (a "second cousin once removed" says Gabrielle, who loves to figure these things out). She called Raeanna her identical twin, because "their names were so alike and they both had music class on Wednesdays!"

And then we headed back Sunday afternoon. Rain still pouring down, but the drive got lots better for me when I was finally able to find the Patriots game on the radio. We stopped for dinner at a Tex-Mex place in South Portland and still got home in about 6 hours. It sure was nice to collapse into my own bed!