Des Plaines, IL. November 10, 2003. 

Michael graduated from Navy Basic Training in October (CongratulationsMike!), Dave graduated from Sub School (Groton CT.) in Mid September, and we've got pictures to prove it.

Now that was a trip to remember!  Hurricane Isabel charging up the Eastcoast, G & I charging East in a mad dash to crash into it...

So anyway, we decided to head out to Groton to be there for Dave's ceremony marking the end of his year of training at the  Connecticut. Submarine trainingfacility.  The Ceremony was on Friday the 19th, and G and I left DesPlaines on Wednesday morning (not 3 a.m.).  We figured we could get halfway that day, then the rest of the way on Thursday, spending the night in theGroton area.  That way, we could just go to the graduation.  

Of course nothing goes as planned.  Dave and some friends had gotteninto a bit of trouble, and he was concerned that maybe we wouldn't be able toget in for the ceremony due to his restrictions.  Well, G and I thoughtthat we needed a vacation anyway, so we'd go and if we couldn't get in, we wouldsightsee in NYC, Salem Mass, etc.  So we drove through to Pittsburg onWednesday, and as we pulled into the Hotel parking lot, we saw two things ofinterest.

The first was that the motor started dying on corners and when westopped.  Not a good feeling at the start of a road trip.  The secondwas that the parking lot was full of electric company utility trucks. There seemed to be a convention of the Detroit Edison IBEW, but it wasn'tlocal.  We guessed that they were staging up for the expected landfall ofHurricane Isabel.

We checked in and asked where the nearest Pontiac dealership was.  We called, they could take us if we left right away, we headed out.  Theyassured us that they could take care of it by morning, and they gave us a rideback to the hotel.  On the way, my ex (Dave's mom) called to say that Davesaid we wouldn't be able to get in.  She was hoping to reach us before weleft Chicago.  Oh, well... So we decided to head to Philadelphia, visit the LibertyBell, then New York, you know, the touristy stuff.  

Wright Pontiac was true to their word, and they picked us up (along with ourluggage) on Thursday morning just after the fleet of Detroit Edison truckspulled out.  We got the car loaded up, and found our way back to theeastbound PA Turnpike.  It started out with a mix of clouds and sunshine,but the clouds were amazing!  You could see the rotation patterns in thesky from the low pressure area that had been designated "Isabel", andwe were at least 500 miles away.

As we tooled East, we passed a whole lot of other power company convoysgetting in position for a quick response.  It had been a very wet summer,and the ground was saturated already.  With the oncoming winds, theyexpected a lot of trees to fall, taking out power lines. (I've dated a varietyof women, but I've never taken out a power line.  I have tried some powerlines, like "That's a gorgeous dress you're wearing."  Watt am Isaying?)  Anyway, hat's off to all the linemen that got involved in thecleanup.  I think I saw most of you on the road.

The weather slowly turned more gloomy, and we got into a lot of rain in theafternoon.  Izzie hit shore in North Carolina about Noon that day (Thursday), and it's projected path was right up the Chesapeake and Delawarewatersheds.  That's like the Eastern two thirds of Pennsylvania.  Itwas going to get us, but it would just be a bad storm by the time it got towhere we would be.  And so we checked into a hotel to the north ofPhiladelphia, and got ready to sleep through the worst of it.

We got another call from Dave's mom at about 9 p.m. with the message that ifwe could be at the base gate at 7 a.m. Friday morning, we could get in for theceremony.  So let's see; 10 hours, it's 4 hours away (at least), need somesleep,  OK, we'll leave at Friday morning, 3 a.m.  This way, we canget some sleep, and miss the New York rush hours. 

We hit the last leg of the PA turnpike at about 3:15, and head off into NewJersey.  What we didn't count on, was that Izzie was coming through thearea as we drove, and that we'd be following it up through NJ, NY, and NE. G dida great job on the first shift of driving, and got us to the end of the NJTurnpike.  She got some more sleep as I plowed on through upper Manhatten,the Bronx, and onto the New England Turnpike.  Rain, Rain, Rain!!! blowingwinds that make it hard to see the road in normal conditions, but everythingseamed to be under construction, with narrow lanes. 

After getting past a gapers block (massive multi- truck/car accident on theWestbound side), the rain seemed to die down a bit, and the construction finallyended.  My nerves were frazzled, but I could relax a bit.  We watchedthe clock and the ebbing darkness as we commented that "we didn't thinkConnecticut was so long!"  We finally got to the Grotton SubmarineBase at about 7:15, and that was good enough to get in and see Dave's ceremony.

I'll never forget Isabel. It coinsided with G and I driving like ahuricane to get to Grotton.   

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