It’s been about 10 days since the good madness began for Team Blue Lollipop Road soliciting votes in hopes to be chosen for the Rand McNally/USA TODAY Best of the Road 2012. I have worked my tail off already and can barely sleep at night because I want so badly to go on this trip with my Mom. The anticipation and excitement of it all (and we are not even on the trip yet!)- is the energy I live for. I love it. I love “meeting” new travelers on social media, I love watching the videos from last years competitors, I love reading about small towns I have never been to and daydreaming about going to to them.

Today was a bit of a catch up day. I went for a long run along the beach and around Portsmouth and did some trip planning for a surprise announcement I have coming. I hung out  at a local coffee shop that was packed with regulars. (My favorite kind of people watching besides airports.) The weather was that fall coastal drizzly kind with a chill, so my original plan to sit outside on the patio got axed, and so did my hopes of having some beach time in York. Fortunately, it made a good excuse for me to drive around the coast. I crossed the bridge into Maine, and of course geeked out about crossing a state line:

Who takes pictures of toilets? ME!

…and trashcans:

I would usually cringe too, (photos in a bathroom?!) but the toilet seat had candy pieces in it. I had to take a couple. A candy filled toilet seat is just the beginning of how they roll at The Friendly Toast.

It’s just not a trip to Vermont if you don’t make it to Sonny’s Blue Benn Diner for breakfast:

If you have followed here for any bit of time, you have definitely heard about this place before. I am a serious repeat offender. The Blue Benn has long been written up and praised in publications like the New York Times, countless magazines and a bunch of road food books, but even with all that mega-popularity, I love that it’s always stayed the same:

As I am sure you all are very aware of, the Northeast- particularly the Southern parts of Vermont where I have planned to head to to kick off this Honda Adventure has been severely damaged by Hurricane Irene. This means a lot of things, one being there are several road closures, detours and spots that are simply off limits as the enormous clean up is underway. Considering my pre-planned route and meetings go from NJ, through NY and into VT then through NH into ME, I will essentially be attempting to go through the thick of it all. I have been a less planning, more doing kind of girl during my travels over the years, just rolling with what happens on the road, so It’s ironic that I pre-planned some things for this trip, and one of the worst floods in Vermont’s history happens right before I plan to be there.

I had a couple votes this morning to head to Portsmouth, NH for Labor day Weekend (Ahh…fall in New England) and check out The Friendly Toast for breakfast eats. (You know how much I love a diner.)