My brother is good at city driving.  I am OK, but get tense (with shoulders and jaw as evidence).
Thursday: Traffic was not a problem (besides pedestrians) while with my brother.  The same was not true of my trip to Cambridge.  I thought that taking a couple straight-forward roads would make sense.  It probably did, but it took a looong time to get there!  Good thing I wasn't on a deadline.  So, it's drizzling out & chilly & I meet Matt at MIT.  He shows me around some of his favorite places (computer science building with their hacking theme).  I think of my college friends and how they could totally get along with this guy and pull some of the pranks or go in restricted areas like he has.  We then go to the Harvard area.  He treats me to Pinnocio's pizza (yum) and we walk around talking (have bubble tea, too).  That pretty much sums it up, except that he gives a friend a call (southern Maine).  Then, I drove through the rain and made it to said friend's house to meet him & crash on his couch for the night.  Cool guy.  Heads up support for the Ron Paul campaign in his area.  Really cute.  I don't know why it is that I'm surprised when I find so many people attractive!  and it's in such a way that I think people are beautiful, not like, "I want to kiss you."  Woke up every hour that night, just thinking and trying to comprehend whether what I heard was an aquarium or the rain.

Friday morning: headed through New Hampshire.  Most beautiful place I'd been to.  Stayed on 4 the whole way.  Stopped at a small info center and took pictures of scenes of ideal fall that happened to be miniature enough to fit within the frame.  Red leaves fallen on yellow ones w/ pine sapling and red berries growing... Went to Quechee Gorge State Park in Vermont next.  walked all around the path next to the gorge, then by the dam and finally the bridge.  Saw what looked like the base of a building- bricks on stone, and wondered the story behind it- it may have been a woolen mill.  Then, I chose to forego all the signature Vermonten places (cheese farms, Ben & Jerry's) and drove through the mountains south.  Stopped in MA for a Taco Bell dinner.  Then decided to take a nap at a parking area along the road.  There, a guy approached me to ask if I wanted to share a joint.  No!  I did chat with him for a couple minutes, but made it clear I was not interested in anything, and hit the road.  God definitely looked out for me!  Could have been much worse...  So I was a lil freaked out and called Matt 'cause he's slept at roadsides, etc.  He suggested checking out Northampton.  That's the next exit I'd planned on taking, so that worked out well.  The most interesting people I've ever observed were there.  It was a young crowd, but had families, too.  Everyone was dressed uniquely & was rather friendly.  I was actually more of the cold big-city girl for a lil while (someone had said, "hi" and it took me a minute to reply- I'm used to people saying hi in order to hit on or get something from me).  It was chilly (40s) and I enjoyed the crisp air and walked around for a while.  I considered going to a jazz performance, but decided against it.  I was at the point of my trip where I needed alone time to think/reflect.  I hit the road again and picked up some pumpkins.

as the screen is blurry and my time is up, I will continue 'Friday' at my earliest convenience.  get outside!