On Your Mark, Get Set, ....

Almost time to roll out the driveway and head to Kennebunkport! Julie and I leave this coming Friday at 6:45 AM for the Lobsters and Lighthouses Tour. We'll meet Don Bushart in his 1929 Pickup just around the corner and off we'll go. We'll overnight in Brattleboro, VT, then on to ME Saturday morning. Henrietta has a rebuilt engine, all new/rebuilt braking components including new drums in all four corners, and she'll be greased, oiled, and timed plus there's plenty of Rainex on her windshield. Spare parts are all organized and ready to go. Weather for the trip to ME looks good.

Once we leave NYS we'll be on VT and NH Route 9. Route 9 in VT is named the Molly Stark Trail; it runs the width of VT for about 47 miles and follows the course of the 1920s era New England Interstate Route 9, a part of the New England road marking system that ran from Bennington, VT, through Concord, NH, to Wells, ME. Molly Stark (February 16, 1737 – 1814) was the wife of American Revolutionary War general John Stark. VT Route 9 is thought to be the route used by General Stark on his victory march home from the Battle of Bennington. Did you that she's known for her success as a nurse to her husband's troops during a smallpox epidemic and for opening their home as a hospital during the war? Yep, true!

NH 9 is a 110-mile-long highway that crosses southern New Hampshire and is named after Franklin Pierce (1804-1869), our 14th President. Named the “Franklin Pierce Highway” almost a century ago the road traces his life from birth in Hillsborough, to college in Bowdoin, Maine, to legal studies in Portsmouth, to a political career in Concord. It runs across the state from west to east and is a multi-state route with Vermont and Maine, also part of 1920s-era New England Interstate 9. The New England Interstate system declined in the mid 1920s in favor of the modern U. S. numbered highways, and all of NEI 9 was redesignated as state highways retaining the number 9. The drive through VT and NH looks to be a smooth and scenic adventure. I'm amazed that the distance through the southern portion of VT is only about 50 miles. We're looking forward to the mountains, rivers, and greenery as we motor to the Maine Coast!