Transition

Well it's official. I finally signed the lease this morning and I'm now a "red state" resident. It was a long trip for me, not having done any long distance driving in many years - heck barely having driven at all in the last four or five. It wasn't easy on my trusty Ford either. I've owned it for four years and I doubt I put 2000 miles on it before now. It ran like a champ right up to the end. On the last stretch it started stalling at stop lights. I have to say I was pretty freaked out the first time it happened, in the middle of eight lanes worth of city traffic with five hours of driving left to go. I was really glad I decided to only drive during daylight hours at that point let me tell you.

In the end however, we made it right into the driveway at my family's home without having to call a tow truck but I haven't tried to start it since. It appears the first thing I'll need to do here is find a good mechanic. Hoping it's not the transmission - that would be a drag.

Otherwise it was a pretty good trip. The weather was perfect, dry roads and warm, even at night in New England, so my houseplants were comfortable enough. It being the holiday, traffic was light and I didn't see a dozen big trucks the whole time.

My hotels were both good and had great diners right next door to them. Now I love diners, I always look for new ones to try and these were both winners. The second one was pretending to be a real family restaurant but turned out to be a Greek diner in disguise and the food was great and everything was from scratch including the best crab cakes I've ever had.

My New Year's eve was pleasant enough as well. I spent the evening alone of course, soaking in a hot bath and drinking my favorite champagne, Moet White Star. You can pay more but I think most of the more expensive ones are over-rated and Moet doesn't leave you with a hangover the next day.

Meanwhile it will take a couple of more days to recover from the trip and get settled into my new digs but for the moment I'm enjoying starting the new year in warmth. I haven't put on my winter coat since I left Noho and in fact spent the afternoon outside today in just a light sweater. I may not like the politics around here, but you sure can't beat this weather.