New York to Scranton, Pennsylvania

Under grey and rainy skies we farewelled New York City and headed out through New Jersey and north into New York State again. The vegetation here is still wintry looking, with fewer leaves and blossoms than in the southern states. 

Woodbury Common is one of the biggest and newest outlet malls in the USA. It's not really 'close' to New York - about an hour and a half north, with good traffic.

Being a Saturday it was quite busy, with lines to enter some shops. I didn't even go into my favourite clothing stores as the lines for fitting rooms would have been silly, but enjoyed checking our shops that aren't common, like Gucci, Celine, Chloe, Burton. 

We finally had an opportunity to try the Shake Shack for lunch. The burgers were excellent - made on brioche rolls, and fresh. Now second on my preference list after Five Guys (sorry Chryss!). 

It turned into a beautiful cloudless day as we left the shops an headed west to cross the country again. Whilst we still have a few weeks of holiday left, this defintely feels like a turning point in the trip. 

The highway was bordered by farmland with huge red and white barns and storage silos. Cows. Tractors. Idyllic and green. 

We stopped for the night in Scranton, Pennsylvania, a largish town on our route. We wandered through the town centre, admiring the old buildings on our way to dinner at the Backyard Ale House, which had great service and tasty beers.