the Way of the Turtle

HARD-TRAVELLIN' TURTLE
1 WEEKEND, 4 STATES, 3 RACES
PART 6:
West Springfield, MA to West Hawley, MA
(44 miles)
Sunday, February 24, 2008

A major plus to staying in West Springfield before Moody Spring - I was able to sleep later than I would have at home (shorter drive, plus all my gear was already packed.) This was especially good considering that my incipient cold seemed to be making itself more noticeable in the dry motel room air.

I had flashbacks to Northfield at the start of this month, since part of my drive to the Dubuque State Forest in West Hawley took me along a stretch of highway I drove for that race too. After that it was time to make my way along numerous scenic side roads, with a stop for some juice at a convenience store. The rest of the ARE crew were there putting gas in the van, but I decided to wait and gas up closer to the NY border.

All in all, an uneventful drive, and it seemed blessedly brief after yesterday's travels. We had a brief moment of concern when Josh got the van stuck partway up the snow-covered icy hill to the parking area for the race (concern because the rest of us couldn't get by him to park, and afterwards none of the folks already parked would be able to get out) but some teamwork freed the van and the ARE crew ended up happily parked much closer to race HQ in the CCC headquarters/current Americorps building.

JMH