The initial start this morning was obstructed by bad weather, a mixture of ice pellets and sleet and, latterly after we crossed the border, a persistent fine rain more like a spray which threatened to freeze but thankfully didn’t. With the temperature bearing down just precious fractions above 32 degrees Fahrenheit we wended our way over the glistening black roads of Syracuse, along the circuitous ups and downs, avoiding the Exit Only lanes, glimpsing the modern buildings on the skyline, then through the city to the sudden countryside with its distant hillsides and wintry lakeside scenes.  We progressed slowly but earnestly ever southward along Interstate 81. There was of course the usual competition with trucks of various sizes and elongations.  I was satisfied to defer whenever appropriate or even mandatory.  We were in no rush.

Sleet

Rain and snow mixed (American English) or sleet (Commonwealth English) is precipitation composed of a mixture of rain and partially melted snow. Unlike ice pellets, which are hard, and freezing rain, which is fluid until striking an object where it fully freezes, this precipitation is soft and translucent, but it contains some traces of ice crystals from partially fused snowflakes, also called slush. In any one location, it usually occurs briefly as a transition phase from rain to snow or vice-versa, but hits the surface before fully transforming.

At last we arrived in Binghamton, New York but not without the friction of Goggle and Apple Maps, the segregation and manipulation of which we have yet to accomplish successfully. But there was Cracker Barrel.  Don’t ask.  Just know we left sated. The diet starts tomorrow. And we’ve already succeeded to fill the gas tank for a full departure tomorrow morning.  After breakfast. It’s included.