@Robert M wrote: "Doing this taught me that the county I live in is bigger than the state of Connecticut."
Here in little ol' New England, we can drive cross-state in 2 - 3 hours (under 45 minutes diagonally in Rhode Island, but you have to go over 3 big scary bridges and might have to stop at a Dunkin' Donuts for a Latte).
In 2 - 3 hours, with traffic, YOU can't even get out of your neighborhood! Where I am, I can be in Providence, RI in 30 minutes, Boston in 45 minutes and Nashua, NH in an hour. 2 hours to Brattleboro, VT, too! If traffic is heavy, maybe double those times (except for Brattleboro - Nobody but Hippies want to go there these days).
Plus, it's a lot cooler here (although as I type this it's 90F with 70% humadidity, so maybe not so cool). At least out on the "Sand Bar" where the Gallos live it's in the mid 70's (but the fog is wicked thick in the humadidity - A real "pea-souper").