Urban Refugees - Flee for your life!

I want to admit to one of life's little thrills. It has happened a whole bunch of times and it doesn't get any less pleasurable!

Let me set the scene...it's a Sunday evening and my family & I are driving north on Interstate 93 to our Hanover, New Hampshire home some 200 km north of Boston. On the southbound side of the divider are canoes, kayaks, mountain bikes, snowmobiles, snowboards, bass boats, ATVs and horse trailers as far as the eye can see - every one of them sitting in stop & go traffic 3 lanes wide.

If I could ever poll the people heading back to the urbs and the burbs I guess the most would say that they wish they could swap their Monday-Friday gig for their Saturday-Sunday gig. And that's what makes me smile the widest - because we did. Every mile I put between us and the crowd is another guarantee that my Mondays will be traffic-free, low-stress and spent with neighbors who not only yield to a commuting cyclist but gladly offer a smile and a thumbs-up.

When I pass the Dartmouth College campus and step out of the car after the trip back from Boston I am breathing in sweet, cool air and seeing a dazzling display of the heavens. And I don't feel so bad for the Southbounders because when they get home they are probably being lulled to sleep by the sweet sounds of highway traffic.