The No-Reason Road Trip

Sundays were made for driving, in my opinion. I love to fill the tank and hit the winding road. No destination, no agenda, just the road and the radio.

Yesterday I headed north on Interstate 81, towards Binghamton, New York. There wasn't anything in Binghamton I wanted to see. I got off the highway, drove around the Courthouse Circle -- they have a round-about -- and headed south again.

Driving north, I had noticed construction and one-lane traffic on the southbound side. That's no way to spend a leisurely Sunday afternoon! So I got off on Pennsylvania Route 11 and headed south from there.

What a beautiful drive! From the New Milford exit heading south on 11 there is nothing. No houses, no cross streets. Somewhere to the right was a river, but I couldn't see it, except sporadically, through the trees. The winding ribbon of asphalt was bordered on either side by a wall of green, so close and so tall that only a matching ribbon of blue was visible overhead.

It was a slow drive, a lonely motorcycle acting as pace car. Suddenly as we came around a turn, there was the Nicholson Bridge. Or, rather, the Tunkhannock River Viaduct, came into view. We weren't in Nicholson yet.

After that turn, there were more cross streets and a few houses. The motorcycle turned left, and I had the road to myself. Usually when I come to the Nicholson Bridge, it's by way of Route 92, so when the bridge again came into view, I was looking at it from a different angle. The arches are grand, immense, and Route 92 passes under one. Route 11, however, runs alongside. I had no idea the bridge was so long!

From there I was in familiar territory. Houses, farms, traffic, and construction! Soon enough: Factoryville, La Plume, Dalton, Clarks Summit. An afternoon well spent.

There was nothing exciting about the trip, but that was the point, wasn't it?

Where will you go on your next -- or your first -- No-Reason Roadtrip?