July 14,
2017 / 80F
Bastille
Day!
DoubleTree
by Hilton/Newark Airport
Newark,
New Jersey
Because dear friends from Connecticut wanted to cruise to
Bermuda starting on July 16th to celebrate their 50th Wedding
Anniversary and 70th birthdays, they invited us to travel with the.
I have known them since 1967 when we studied in France together. Another
schoolmate, originally from Nebraska, is also joining us. We have remained
close and this chance to travel together again sure sounds fun. Cindy, Greg,
Judy, and I enjoyed the French Riviera, including Nice and Monte Carlo, with
two American soldiers a long time ago. Now Bermuda beckons, Cindy and Greg’s
honeymoon location. Tim and I have never been to Bermuda, nor have we cruised
on Celebrity, and we are always game for another adventure!
Thank goodness Tim is a travel planner second to none. He was
packed and ready to go a day or so ago. This time I packed on the fly - not a
good idea. I did have a list, but it was not very well thought out. I packed
“stuff” for my hair, teeth, and face, but forgot to wash clothes I had planned
on packing until last night. Wet clothes do not pack well.
I think one gets the picture here. The bottom line is I did
get packed and was ready at takeoff time today, 11:00 a.m. Directions for plant
watering for Brian and B1, a few emails regarding publicity for the Erie City
Garden Tour and ESGR 45th Banquet, remembering all the technology
and the chargers, and we were off…at 11:09!
I knew that we were taking my car this time, but I did not
know that I was going to be driving. I had my magazines, a good book, and my
USA Today crossword puzzles, but Tim was already in the passenger seat. I
forgot to tell him that if I was going to drive he would have to be silent. hahaha
Today was a sunny day, a little humid, but I-79 was dry and
not too crowded. I believe in going 7 miles over the speed limit. Tim does not.
Oh well. For the first easy 100 miles he did keep quiet and he was playing with
the controls of the new car and figuring some things out. He already had set
the GPS for our hotel in Newark.
I thought we were sharing the driving, but after about 200
miles, Tim told me to stop at a Pilot gas station—that had no gas pumps. On I
drove. We stopped at a rest stop in Pennsylvania on I-80 to eat our tuna
sandwiches on a clean picnic table. Tim, of course the excellent planner, made
these great sandwiches and packed the Diet Pepsi and water. I was still
driving. I-80 was getting busier and busier and Tim was getting more and more
vociferous. He did not like the stories on Radio Classics, my fall back plan
when we do not have audio books. He started having opinions about every driver.
I was fairly content at 7 mph above the speed limit when possible and whizzed
by two different police cars with radar guns. Finally, 4 ½ hours later, we
stopped for gas, successfully this time, and Tim said he would drive. I think
his patience was melting away with the miles.
I settled in to read my never yet read Oprah magazines and
paid no attention to his driving. By the time we got to New Jersey we both
needed a rest area. He pulled into the first one in NJ. We got out of the car
only to see a sign on the window that it was closed—open from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Are they kidding? He spotted 4 porta-potties at the end of the parking lot, the
foulest smelling porta-potties that I have ever experienced. We had no choice.
I will not elaborate, but New Jersey did not make a good impression at this
rest stop.
With Tim’s skillful driving (eyeroll here), we got through
the heavy traffic and arrived at this night’s hotel. By the way, his driving
time was 1.5 hours. Our hotel for tomorrow night is next door. Tim’s super
planning using our hotel points and hotel packages meant that the hotel we are
staying in tomorrow night has very reasonable rates for parking our car for
seven days. The DoubleTree did not have reasonable parking rates, but we are
here on points tonight!
Tim’s plan is to catch the ferry to Liberty State
Park/Manhattan and into NYC tomorrow morning and we will spend the day there.
TK’s Takes: That rest stop! That was a welcome center too!
Ha! There was lots of traffic as we got closer to Newark.
MJ’s Notes: I will admit that Tim drives his truck skillfully
to Florida every January and then home again. He will not allow me to drive his
truck.
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