DAY 15
FINISH:
miles
Albany, NY
10433.0
Airport by 2:00 PM (the time at which I rented it 15 days prior). If I were to have
return it late they would charge me 1/3 the daily price for it being returned up to an hour
late ($18.00 in my case), another 1/3 for up to 2 hours late, and a full day's charge if
over 2 hours late. I left my sister's house in Painesville at 5:52 AM, 8 minutes earlier
than scheduled. My immediate goal was to find the gas station in Mentor (just next to
Painesville), which I had found 2 weeks earlier. Gas there was only $1.37 a gallon, the
least expensive in my entire trip. Unfortunately, I was unable to find this particular gas
station, so I ended up filling the tank at a gas station in Painesville just off of I-90 for a
much more expensive $1.59 a gallon.
My route for Day 16 was identical as Day 1 - only in reverse. As I was driving on I-90
near Ashtabula, Ohio, I slowed down to about 40 mph as I prepared to hit a major
milestone in my journey - the 10,000 mile mark. I watched the digital trip odometer as
it changed from 9999.9 miles to 0.0 miles. I was actually surprised that the trip
odometer would have a fifth digit in the front, but I found out that it did on Day 2. I
was not expecting a sixth digit, and I was right to find out that it did not have one.
(After all, how many people go on a road trip longer than 10,000 miles, right?)
My only other source of excitement on Day 16 came as I passed through Salamanca, a
small community tucked away in the southwestern corner of New York State. I got off
of I-86 at Exit 20 to gas up for the unbelievable price of $1.49 a gallon (well,
unbelievable in New York, at least, considering gas in most areas of New York in
October 2000 ranged from the high $1.50's to the mid-$1.60's.) The reason for this
located on Native American land and
is operated by Native Americans.
Similar gas stations can be found in
other areas of New York State, with
prices running about 5-10 cents per
gallon less than the norm.
The rest of my trip continued without
incident, and I made it back on time
to drop off all of my luggage first so
that I wouldn't have to deal with
carrying it all over Albany Airport
when I returned the rental car. I
asked me how long it took to recover from my 16 days of driving, or how long it will be
until I'm able to undertake another road trip of such grand proportions. My response is
that I could have easily gone another 2 weeks. I guess I just love to drive and discover
new places. To anyone planning on going on a road trip of any length of time or
distance: Good luck, have fun, and I wish you well.