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Traveling Through Massachusetts With Photos by Trucker Mike  Click to go to New England Page 1,  New England Page 2,  Connecticut
Massachusetts: Are you familiar with Formica and similar brands of laminated plastic panels used to make kitchen counter tops, shower enclosures, etc.? If I thought about it at all, I pictured all the raw materials coming in one end of a factory and the finished panels going out the other.  My enlightenment came when I picked up a load of pulp paper - thick, whitish 4' by 4' sheets of partially processed paper that felt like the material egg cartons are made of - from a freight yard in Philadelphia and delivered it to a paper mill in Fitchburg, Mass.  At the mill, the pulp paper was soaked in water again to turn it back into a cellulose mush which was then bleached, dyed, dried and rolled out into thin sheets of smooth paper of various colors. These rolls of paper were then trucked to another factory where designs were printed on - wood-grains, flowers, geometric patterns, etc. The imprinted rolls were next sent to another factory where the laminated panels were constructed. The process that I originally believed only involved one factory now required at least three different factories probably hundreds of miles apart, with trucks being the primary means of transporting the materials from one factory to another. Products taken into Massachusetts: plastic bottle caps, snack foods, canned and packaged grocery products, residential vinyl windows, extruded aluminum for commercial doors and windows, electrical cable.  Products taken out of Massachusetts: printed food cartons, rolls of brown paper, corrugated boxes, damaged wooden pallets, bottled drinks.

  

Capital = Boston,  Population = 6,593,587

330+ Favorite songs from the 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's.

Links to videos, lyrics and Wikipedia biographies of American music and artists.

Practice reading common English with the lyrics of songs and stories about the singers and bands at www.mikiemetric.com .

On I.90, approaching the I.290 interchange. Westbound I.90 heading toward NY. Igneous rocks along I.495, Mass.
On I.90 eastbound, the Massachusetts Turnpike, or the "Mass Pike". I.290 goes through Worcester, pronounced "Wooster." I.90 westbound, through rolling hills, worn-down mountains, and on to Albany, NY.  I was impressed by the blocky formations I saw along I.495. They are quite different from the layered formations that exist in most of Pennsylvania.
Left side factory building, Lawrence-Mass. Right side factory bldg. Lawrence, Massachusetts. Muddy river sign, Boston-Mass.
Lawrence, MA. I stood in one spot to take these two pictures, first swiveling left and then right, to take in the size of this building.  It is at least 2 blocks long, 1/2 block deep, and 6 stories tall. It used to be a fabric mill, I think, but now is rented out to many smaller businesses. I picked up skids of printed food cartons. The sign says "Muddy River" but where is it? Is this from the song by the Standels?  Boston, MA.
Fenway Park, Boston Red Sox, Mass. Second Fenway Park photo, Mass. Office building, downtown Boston, Mass.
As you can see, this is Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red sox. Another view of Fenway and a sign proclaiming the Sox to be 2005 World Series champions. More buildings in downtown Boston.

OK, back to Massachusetts.  There is a unique truck stop off Exit 2 from I.84, a few miles into Massachusetts from Connecticut, called Sturbridge Isle. The main building is like a large resort chalet with several levels. There is a decent restaurant, an old-fashioned ice cream parlor, a game room, clothing store, souvenir shops, a tremendous rack of Jelly Belly jelly beans, and several decent private shower rooms. Outside, there is a landscaped duck pond with walkways for strolling.  I tried to plan my trips to that region so I could spend the night there. Note: Since I wrote the earlier part, the property was purchased by Pilot Travel Centers and the resort building with the restaurant and other features closed.  Pilot renovated the fuel desk building, put in a deli and some showers, expanded the parking area and continues in business while the resort building sits vacant.

I.90, a toll road, was the main route to the Boston area.  The roads were always busy and congested, especially off the interstates on the city streets.  I remember passing many ethnic businesses and warehouses - Italian, Chinese or Asian, Hispanic.

Boston I.93 traffic, Mass. Vine-covered building, Massachusetts. Tall building in downtown Boston, Mass.
Limited view of Boston Traffic.  Picture yourself driving a large truck through this congestion. I picked up a load from a business housed in this building, but don't remember where or what. This is as much of a tall Boston building as I could get into the frame.
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Part of the Boston skyline, as seen from I.90, I think.

 

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