The door revolves already!

So the quick and dirty summary is that the trip down to PA took 5 hours and 50 minutes. I was there at 10:50 AM in time to go to lunch. Not one wrong turn going down. Whooo!!

Coming back, however, it was nothing but one wrong turn after another. It took an HOUR to get the heck out of Pennsylvania. Every time I tried to head east I wound up heading west. What a weird tangle of roads. But once I got headed in the right direction, everything went well until time to get off I-87 and onto I-84 at Newburgh. Sailed right on by the exit while I was even LOOKING at it. The next exit was about 20 miles up the road and by the time I would have turned around and driven back, I could have been half way to Albany, so I kept on going. Took the long northern route home and it turned out to be just as quick as the other one. Although I took another wrong turn (or didn’t take the one I was supposed to take) and sailed past the exit to the Mass Turnpike. That took a good fifteen minutes to rectify. But I finally got on the turnpike and the lad fell asleep so there were no more distractions. We still made it home in 5 hours and 45 minutes (not counting the hour it took to get the heck out of Pennsylvania). People were in a hurry today and I just went with the flow.

Lunch was delightful. The boys were just so cute...I wanted to hug each of them. And did. I asked them where they wanted to go and they all said, in unison, “Wendy’s!!” Oddly enough, they haven’t been to a fast food restaurant since they’ve been at school. So, Wendy’s it was. We had such a good time and they clearly are all really close friends. But my goodness, they look so young. Compared to the upper classmen I saw on campus, they look like fresh-faced babies. And yet, compared to high schoolers, they look so grown up.

They all helped load the car with bags and bags of laundry and all the rest of the lad’s belongings. We were packed to the roof. He wasn’t kidding when he said he had dirty laundry to bring home. I question whether he has a single item left that’s clean. It is already in the basement waiting to be washed.

There is NO STUFF by the front door. It has all been stowed. His television is already hooked up and his room arranged to his satisfaction, including his chair he HAD to bring home. Now he’s off downtown with friends who called several times on our way home to see how close we were. They’ve been waiiiiiting for two days for him to get home. The front door is back to revolving and it’s pretty darned nice.

Terry was beside herself with joy! She climbed all over the lad and right into his lap. Just covered him with wet-nosed dog kisses. The tail still hasn’t stopped. And she’s posted by the door waiting for him to come back from downtown. Abbie...well...she was inclined to give him the cold shoulder, but she caved after a few minutes. And Terry, by the way, was a perfect dog while I was away. I am astonished.

An observation or two about New Jersey. 1) The drivers are insane. The state speed limit appears to be 55 mph and the traffic the entire time I was in the state flowed at about 75-80 miles per hour. State troopers parked in their little hidey holes by the bridges and such and just watched everyone scream by. If you don’t go with the flow, the car behind you rides your bumper like they’re planning to run up and over you. Good golly. Massachusetts drivers are saints by comparison. 2) It must be a credit card thief’s idea of heaven. The boys and I had lunch over in New Jersey and I paid with my debit card. They swiped the card and didn’t ask for a pin number or a signature. When I filled the gas tank I swiped the card at the pump and it didn’t ask for a pin number. I pumped gas and it spit out a receipt saying Thank You for your business. I could have used anyone’s card and no one would have been the wiser until I was three states away or further. Is that common in other states, too?

One item of coolness...it only took one tank of gas to get there and one to get back and there’s still a little left. The round trip was 834 miles.  I love my car.

It is so neat having the lad home. I just can’t tellya.