Saying good bye to my girls-Brownie
Moonie my baby. Love you. Be good!
DAY 1: Thursday, November 20th at 11:30am-Groton, Massachusetts. First leg of tour; destination Chincoteague Island to see the wild ponies.
It’s time to go. After saying goodbye to my horses and stopping by my storage unit, I’m finally on the road. My 6 month solo road trip is about to begin. My Prius is packed, I’m ready for anything. All season clothes/shoes, iPhone, car charger, AAA Trip Tick maps, food, cooler, water, first aid/medicine, books, computers, printer, sleeping bag, Temper Pedic Pillow, blanket, towels, passport, cash/travelers cheques/debit cards, cd’s, EasyPass. You name it I got it. It’s nicely packed. Granted I packed and repacked about a million times, but who’s counting?
The open road is before me. Making it through NYC before rush hour is high priority. I want to go through NYC via the George Washington Bridge (big mistake). The bridge looks beautiful in the pictures. Granted the scenes are from the air or on the water. In my head I’m visualizing seeing the Statue of Liberty, Manhattan skyline, The Big Apple in the distance as I cross the majestic bridge. Friends warned me not to go this route, but I’m headstrong, should have listened to their wise words.
Needless to say at about 3:00 pm, traffic comes to a snarling halt. Hundreds of tractor trailers inching their way over the bridge and my tiny Prius is in the midst. Do they see me? I see them all around me. I feel like a sardine packed in a can. Very nerve-wracking. Is this how my road trip is going to be?
All I see is lines of brick buildings, concrete and wheels. No sign of the amazing sights, just lots of traffic. Finally after 1.5 hours I’m finally across that damn bridge and into New Jersey. Good riddins’. I continue driving down Route 95 S. It’s official I passed my record of 4 hours on a solo road trip. Very proud of myself.
My nerves have calmed and I feel a new sense of achievement. The sun is setting and the sky is a beautiful magenta. As the day wears on night approaches as I continue to drive. The New Jersey turnpike is boring. Finally out of NJ and into Delaware. It’s dark I can’t see anything but road. I might as well continue to drive, what the heck. I divert off Route 95 to Route 1/13 south and into Maryland. My GPS is leading the way passing white lines and pavement into the black.
After driving 450 miles in 10 hours, my eyes are tired. It’s close to 9:30 pm and it’s time to find a place to sleep for the night. I see a sign for Holiday Inn Express in Poconioke City, Maryland. Finally I can rest. La la land is a welcoming site.
You must be logged in to post a comment.