Also accurate and alliterative: Saturday, soggy, sodden
We get on the road at 7:30 am. The GPS thinks we could make it in 6 hours but I can only think it’s imagining it will somehow stay 7:30am on a rainy Saturday morning the whole way.
It look us 7.5 over 2 days coming up, and while yes we did hit traffic in NY it wasn’t so much. It’s hard to believe that could be beat.
It’s not fun to be making the drive in rain, on wet roads. But it’s daylight without blinding glare, and the steady solid gray wetness of the day is probably dissuading day-trippers from heading to the beach or what have you.
On a holiday weekend, that’s quite the benefit.
We’re making decent time and relatively little traffic, all things considered, right up until we reach NYC.
The crossing to NJ is stop and go and then the NJ Turnpike is crowded.
But: moving again. Which is good.
We’re probably on track to do this trip in 7.5 or 8 hours, with stops. But we won’t, because we’re making good enough time that we could get to the winery near their old place to replenish our collective stocks and for them to pick up some wine they’ve intended to get as gifts. That will save them from backtracking hours and hours on another day.
We’re kind of hoping they’ll see some of the staff they remember, but they don’t get their hopes up because back then, they didn’t work weekends. In the intervening year, Peg has retired but Al is there to greet us and catch up. It’s nice to see a friendly and familiar face!
From there we take local roads back to the highway – which means cruising past their old house, familiar shopping areas, former job sites.
Then back to the highway, to make tracks toward home. We get off just before the toll to grab a leisurely dinner before we make the last hour+ push home.
The stops and rests mean that the trip takes us closer to 11 hours. It’s a long day, a wet day, but not a slog.
And then we’re home where things are in good shape – there’s been plenty of rain but no wind damage.
It’s good to be home!
aka gringita 