Travel Blog

Monday, June 14, 2021

It has been a few days since I logged anything into this Journal. I went back to Rhode Island to catch up with some friends. I played a little golf, did some exploring in Providence, went to the beach with Axl, and generally just enjoyed myself in an area that I know and I am familiar with.

I hit the road on Saturday and headed to New Haven Connecticut. There is a small hole -in -the-wall restaurant that was the first in the country to introduce the hamburger sandwich. It is a tiny little place in New Haven called Louis’.

Louis’ has 2 items on the menu: a cheeseburger and a hamburger. They both are served only Medium Rare and the only option is with tomato and onion and they only have white bread. It was a very limited menu but the cheeseburger was delicious.They have been doing it that way since 1895.

I had a great conversation with a police officer named Vanessa. She was posted on the street on a busy Saturday night in New Haven. We spoke of crime, relationships, weed, motorcycles, van-life, retirement, and dogs. She was such a cool person and I really liked her vibe.

She made time to chat with me, while she was listening to the radio, and did not seem to judge me because I was living in the van. We spoke for at least 30 minutes.

Afterwards I took Axl for a walk and I took some nigh time shots of the city. I parked my van on a busy street so I didn’t get to sleep right away. whenI woke it was like I was in a completely different situation. It was a quiet Sunday morning in Yale Town Connecticut.

I started driving south towards New York and my plan was to go west towards Pennsylvania.

I have to admit that I have a real fear of bridges.Although I have been over the Tappan Zee Bridge several times I was not feeling very comfortable this morning. I took a right to head north on Rt.9 just before the bridge to overcome my fear of the bridge and take a scenic route.

I came into a small town called Fishkill New York. I drove past an old shopping center that was abandoned so I decided to take a look. Armed with my camera I ventured to the back of the building to see if I could make my way inside. The building was completely abandoned and boarded up. I did run across two old, burned, abandoned trailers. As they sat there covered in graffiti I knew I had to explore more.

I took some amazing photos of the area and especially the two trailers before I continued my journey.

I ended my day in Scranton Pennsylvania. I slept at a parking lot of a hotel. It was quiet. I made myself a delicious salad for dinner and went to bed listening to the rain as it lightly drummed the top of the van.