Leslie Across the USA

Rochester - It's not a coincidence that Dad was born here...

Ok, so day one was pretty uneventful…I drove from New Hampshire to Rochester, which is a drive I’ve done about a million times. I did make one detour that I've never done, and that was to stop in Rome, New York, for dinner with my cousin Ashley. We went to the lovely Friendly's restaurant, which was having some air conditioning problems, but we had a nice meal. We ate with Ashley's friend Evan, who was super nice. She is doing an internship in Rome at the old Griffiss Air Force Base. It is probably the least lovely place in New York. She is living in a dismal old barrack, but at least it is air conditioned. She has met some nice people, too, which is good. Ashley always knows how to make the best of any situation, and I can see that she is enjoying herself even if it is not exactly beautiful there. She spends most of the day indoors anyway, learning how to be the smartest person in the world. I know she'll be loving the sun and sand of Cape Cod, soon, though! She's also training for a marathon, so she's getting outside to run in the evenings. It was a good stop to make because after I stopped, I really noticed something wrong with the Mini. The car had been shaking a bit, but after sitting for an hour in Friendly's and then driving Ashley back to her dorm, I noticed it even more. I was kind of miffed because I just got her serviced at the dealership in Boston last week. Anyway, I’m sitting in Sears Auto Center at Marketplace Mall in Rochester right now, while they get me a new tire because I had a broken belt! The service guys here were kind of confused by the tires that are currently on the car because they are not the usual tires for a Mini. Of course, I had to explain why my current tires were on there…Dad had “customized” the Mini by putting on his own tires, larger ones that would make the car sportier. That’s probably why every bump on the road makes itself known to the people riding in the Mini. I knew my dad would have wanted to join me on this road trip somehow, and it looks like he’s sending me a little sign not to forget him while I’m driving (like I would forget…)! It's fitting that I had the work done in his hometown. So today (once I get out of Sears) it’s on to Cleveland, where I’ll hit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and then stay with my Aunt Rhonda’s parents on the lake! Catch you later…
Oh, one more thing about Rochester. They have the BEST RADIO STATION EVER! It is called WBER, and their motto is "The only station that matters," which sounds really funny when the djs say it with their Rochester accent. They say, "the only station that meeaatters." I love it! You can listen online at http://wber.monroe.edu/site/html/index.php. I highly recommend a song I heard on their station, Galvanize by the Chemical Brothers - a great road trip song! Very high energy. Ok now I'm really out-

posted by Leslie @ 12:37 PM