I'm back. I haven't caught up on the message forum yet, but I just spend an hour catching up on my email.

Whew. Where do I begin? I guess I begin with the trip north. You remember my stupid trip back from Canada, when they closed the entire city of Concord? This time we made it west to Concord and all the way north to Franconia Notch, where New Hampshire's most famous landmark, the Old Man of the Mountains, is. I pass it every time I drive to or from my parents' house, but I still love to gawk out the window at it. It rules. For those who don't know, it's a natural granite formation that, when viewed from a certain angle, looks like rocks. (Dave Barry's definition.) Actually it looks like an old man's profile. Less famous is the Old Woman, which is another granite profile on the same mountain, that can be viewed almost from the same spot -- not quite -- a bit down the road to the left, facing the mountain. It's half way down, half the size, and with half the detail, but what the hey. I never lose any childlike awe over things like this.

Anyway, I'm getting sidetracked. Several miles south of the Old Man, the road through the Notch becomes divided by a rail, and there is only one lane travelling in each direction. Because of the wealth of natural attractions in the Notch, and the fact that the whole place is protected as a State Park, there is very little development allowed in it. So you have to cope with the single, narrow lane. Natives cope, anyway. About eight miles south of the Old Man, we got stuck in a traffic jam that lasts for two more miles and -- get this -- THREE HOURS. Apparently some car was going fast while its driver was gawking at the scenery, and the car ran into the center guard rail. Worse, it ran into it just before there was a brake in the guard rail for "emergency" use only -- so the car charged into the other lane, smacked into a tractor-trailer, which fishtailed, blew over the guard rail, and blocked both lanes. And because of the single lanes, it was hard getting emergency vehicles in and out. While we were sitting there, a police car went in, and three police cars and an ambulance came out, and they were all having trouble getting by the regular line of traffic. Finally the road cleared, and we inched along. When we passed the scene of the accident, the oncoming lane was still blocked. The car that ran off the road was obliterated. Smashed and flattened and twisted. I never saw a vehicle more destroyed. The license plate was intact, though. It was some idiot Quebec tourist. Those of you that remember my "Adventures With Sam In Canada" post will understand my frustration. I'm trying hard not to adhere to a negative stereotype, but, come on. So soon after getting stalked on the road in Quebec, the last thing I had the patience for was to sit in traffic for three hours because of another idiot Quebec driver.

Anyway, it was long past dinner time when we cleared the Notch, and we didn't want to wait until we got to my parents' to eat, so we stopped at Friendly's.