the Way of the Turtle

Over Hill and Dale From Rochester to Albany
Tuesday, July 31, 2007

I spent the first part of the day driving back from Rochester. My usual route is the NYS Thruway - quick (relatively speaking - it's a 4+ hour drive, after all) and to the point.

A couple of times during the summer, though, I find myself taking other routes. The Thruway is quick and convenient, but it's bloody boring. Taking side roads also has the benefit of saving me money on tolls! But even then, I do parts of the ride on the Thruway, because going to whole distance on side roads just takes too freakin' long - the 4+ hour drive becomes closer to 5 1/2 hours or more.

Today I took side roads from Victor all the way down to Exit 41, just north of Waterloo. I've driven that stretch a lot of times, and it's fairly straight and flat, running roughly parallel to the Thruway. Nothing too interesting today, I'm sorry to say.

Took the Thruway down to Exit 32, then hopped down to Rt 5 and took that into Utica, where I jumped on 5S toward Mohawk. From Mohawk to Canajoharie 5S is a roller coaster - lots of long climbs and descents. Where the Thruway runs mainly along the bottom of the Mohawk River valley, 5S follows the hilltops through a few small towns but mostly farm country. What great views on a summer day! Much of the time I could see off across the valleys all around and all the way to distant mountains, across green field after green field. What a pretty part of New York State that is!

And then it was time to get back on the Thruway for the final blast to Albany. Sigh. It's days like today that I really, really miss living in the country.

JMH