Ithaca – our last stop before heading home. Leaving Ohio and through Pennsylvania, the rain never let up – Sandy is getting closer all the time.

Although the heavy rain hasn’t picked up yet, or so it seems, apparently upstate New York is already having problems, and we see a few exits are closed due to flooding. But we make it to Ithaca without any serious detours, in plenty of time to enjoy the festivities with Bridget’s buddy from college Matt and his housemates. Several games of pool ensue while we endeavor to get the Giants game on the radio. The signal went in and out, and with the Giants winning late in the game, Bridget and I hustled back out to the car and listened on the car radio to the end of the game. And what do you know, the Giants win, sweeping the Detroit Tigers. And it happened at 11:50 ET.

Superstorm Sandy hit landfall in New Jersey on Monday, October 29, and although parts of New York were hit very hard, not so Ithaca. If we hadn’t been following the news, it would have seemed like just another rainy day here.

While Bridget played with her friends in town, I mostly hunkered down at her friend Jake’s place, complete with power and Internet. Home in New Hampshire got hit harder than Ithaca did, with power out for a few hours but Internet out for three days. We were much better off here in Ithaca. And so I spent the last week of our road trip holed up working, trying to catch up on my blog, emails and proofreading. A productive week, but not thrilling, as you’d imagine.

Mark Watt, recently arrived in Ithaca from California, and I caught up with each other for drinks and dinner followed by a movie Searching for Sugarman, which my friend Paul from British Columbia had been recommending to me for the past two months. I won’t give away the plot – it’s just too interesting a story to spoil it for anyone. This movie I do remember, and if it’s out on DVD or Netflix, I’d recommend seeing it, especially if you grew up in the ’70s.

The week off with a lot of time on my own afforded me, finally, a chance to relax, lay my head on my caledonia pillow and give Van’s Born To Sing a serious, complete listen. The disc hadn’t been given much time in the rotation on the drive across America – Bridget was not impressed with it – so now was the perfect opportunity.

With Sandy subsided and a week of relaxing in Ithaca over, we packed up Dexy for the last leg – home to Londonderry, New Hampshire. Time to say goodbye to the road for awhile. This is not the end, but it’s the end of the road ’til the next time.