250 Miles (Approximately)
Saturday is a nice
relaxing day, right? Wrong! And I think many of you would
agree. Weekends aren't usually for relaxing, they are for getting things
done. This past Saturday we had A LOT to get done. I'm going to
write it all down here and I'm thinking that by the end, you're going to be
tired of reading. (I'll be tired from writing and LIVING it all.)
Here's how it went down:
- Get up, get dressed and have a bit of breakfast.
Coffee is consumed, but not too much because I knew we would be on the
road and there really aren't rest stops on the route I was taking.
We make sure that the car is pretty much completely empty so there's lots
of room for "stuff." We would need lots of room for
"stuff"
- We hit the road around 9 (give or take). We head
east/south/east to New York. As I've talked about way too much, my
son is wrapping up his junior year and with a small SUV, there was no way
that we'd be able to get all his stuff in the car with just one
trip. Especially with a mini-fridge that is not too mini. So I
had my son clean out and unplug the fridge and pack up as much as he could
live without for the next couple of weeks. Hopefully this means when
I pick him up mid-month we will be able to get the rest of his belongings
in without too much trouble. (I'm not counting on it.)
- We arrive on campus around 11. There is a parking
lot right by his dorm, BUT there's a gate that prevents us from getting
in. I know it's a special lot, but you'd think that maybe on
the weekend they'd open it. (It IS open during fall drop off, but no
other time.) So I "park" in the entranceway. Our son
comes down with a few things and then he and my husband go into the dorm
(I have to stay put in case I have to move the car.) First thing
they do is bring down the fridge. They manage to get it into the
car. Then they had back up for blank canvases that my son is
bringing home. (Courtesy of one of his amazing professors who is
"retiring.") The canvases life on top of the fridge.
(I can barely see out of the back window but...) My son makes two
more trips to get coats, a hat box (remember the top hat from the Easter
Parade?), and a garment bag. All these things along with the other
bags he brought down when we first arrived are crammed into the car.
We are so packed, that I can't even get out of the car to give him a
hug! (He leans in to try so there's that.) Then he heads back
to the dorm (he's got work to do and studying for a Monday morning exam)
and we head to NJ. It's nearly noon.
- We head across Staten Island. (Why is there
always a traffic jam? Is there ever a time when you can just drive
on the expressway? I've yet to have that experience. I so want
that experience.) I have my husband be my other set of eyes whenever
I have to merge. (Merging left is okay...right is a little more
precarious.) We get on the turnpike and my GPS keeps telling me to
get off. I've had enough back road drama from SI before (https://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2025/11/where-was-i.html)
and decide to ignore the instructions. Yes, there was back up (due
to construction that wasn't happening on a Saturday), but even with the
delays I don't think we would have made better time taking an alternate
route. The only issue was the coffee was really wanting to make its
exit and I couldn't get back to the house in NJ fast enough.
- We finally get to the house in NJ. After a much
needed bathroom break, we unload the car. The trickiest thing is, of
course, the fridge. I am there to help carry, but hubby decides to
do it on his own and does manage to get it from the back of the SUV to
the front door. Then he tries to slide it into the living room,
which only scratches the floor. So he picks it up and carries it to
the dining room where it is going to stay (unplugged) for now. It is
not ideal, but it's out of the car and in the house, so you've got to consider
that a win.
- After unloading, my husband does a few things around
the house that I had been needing him to take care of. (Like getting
the outdoor lights back on schedule...it's a long story!) And I was
THRILLED to find my new Real ID in the mailbox (https://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2026/04/a-visit-to-mvc.html) That
alone might have been a reason to drive to NJ. Just after one, I get
a text from my son which is a link to the quarterly college magazine. There's a small
article that features his artwork; one of his paintings and 3 of his
photographs. When he was home on winter break he bought a camera
(one that uses film) at "our" thrift shop and he's really developed
(sorry...pun) and knack of taking photos. The shop was closed, but I
ran down anyway because I figured a few of the staff would still be there
and I wanted to show off. Unfortunately, the woman who had shown him
the camera had left, but I got to show a few of our friends the
article. I hung around and "shopped" (which means I found
yet another purse that I had to buy) and talked for quite a while.
(I helped out a little, but since moving to PA, I'm not a true volunteer
anymore...I do try to help out when I can, but I guess 12 years of working
there is nothing to sneeze at.)
- When I finally got back to the house, it was pretty
much time to leave again. We had been invited to a
graduation/birthday/Derby Day/early Cinco de Mayo party up in North
NJ. (Almost to the NY border.) The graduate/birthday girl is a
good friend of my son's (and if he could have come he would have) and our
families have been friends since...well for a long time. There was
no way we could miss it. We needed to celebrate the birthday girl
and her achievements. It was also a great time to catch up with some
other friends. (Including one woman who was the younger sister of a
friend I'd known since kindergarten? Maybe even before...She
recognized me, but I didn't recognize her! Yikes!) We stayed
less than an hour (sorry), but it was so good to see everyone and again,
recognize/celebrate the graduate. (I know plenty of good things are
on her horizon.)
- Then it was back in the car where we had to go north to
get on highway to go south. But it also took us west before cutting
back east. (It then goes west again before cutting back east one more
time...its NJ...it's confusing.) We finally got back on Route 80 and
headed west to the Poconos. We did have to make a "quick"
(yea, right) stop before heading home, but we finally got there. We
were actually home in time to see the Kentucky Derby...which we didn't
watch, but we could have.
- Then it was time to grab a warm shower and call it a
day.
It was a LONG and tiring one.
We were on the road for over 4 hours. And I filled up my tank while we
were in NJ where gas is cheaper. (Of course gas prices has gone up 20
cents since I'd last filled up on Tuesday night, so I didn't really make
out...I think we are about to surpass the prices that we saw back in 2005 after
Hurricane Katrina. Those prices were due to a natural disaster, these are
just the result of disastrous decisions, but I will say no more.) I'm NOT
ready to go back on the road again to NJ, but go I must for work...
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