Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Morristown

Jay is working for a law professor at Harvard this summer. He is helping by doing background research for an article the professor is about to write. As part of this work jay has decided that he needs to find a read some documents pertaining to wills and civil law suits related to the case. In order to do that he needed to go to Morristown, New Jersey. Helene and I volunteered to go with him.


The four hour drive to Morristown was very interesting. We travelled on highways in Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut and New Jersey. The scenery was beautiful - we saw many, many trees with full green crowns. The landscape primarily was rolling and changed regularly. This kind of scenery is exactly what is missing as we drive through the prairies.

The weather was interesting too. We drove through bright sunshine, heavy clouds, light rain and heavy rain - on a regular basis.

Although the scenery all the way along was beautiful, nothing compared to what we saw on the Merritt Parkway. This is a 4 lane road lined with very heavy growth of trees forming a canopy over the highway. The centre median also has trees and which contribute to the sense of driving through an arbour.

As I sang the praises of the Merritt Parkway to Dori after we returned home she pointed out that it is not only one of the most beautiful strips of highway in the U.S. but also one of the most dangerous.

Morristown turned out to be a nice little place. The history there centres around the two instances that Washington and the Continental Army overwintered there. There is a very pleasant green in the centre of town with statues and other items commemorating the role Morristown and its people placed in the revolutionary and civil wars.

Jay drove to Morristown but I drove home. The whole drive was on large highways - interstates or significant state roads - something I look forward to when we drive in the midwest or mountain areas in the States. Here in the east these highways are crowded and seem to be bumper to bumper all day long. The drive home for me was interesting but I was 'driving' the whole time - as compared to the ease of driving (basically alone on the highway)on an isolated interstate going through Montana or North Dakota.

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