Skip to main content

A long time coming but I'm finally here

So I made it to New York. That's the long story made short.

Here's the story at longer length:

I got out of the house and on the road about an hour later than I expected to, but judging by all the maps I was looking at I would still be able to make it within a reasonable amount of time. The thing about trips though is you always forget something. I knew that once it was too late I would realize I forgot something that I absolutely needed. That's just the way it goes.

I was dreading the border most of all, it would have really sucked to have to go through a hassle just cause some border guard is having a bad day. As I was approaching the Queenston/Lewiston crossing I picked a spot with two cars in front of me. The first car got the point. As in please park over there sir so we can ransack your car. The second car also got the point, and now I'm thinking is this the designated point guy for the day?! Am I gonna cavity-searched cause it was his turn to search everybody?

So I pull up and hand him my passport, and he looks it over, "Where are you going?" "Heading down to New York, then Florida." "Why?" "Just travelin around" (really? could I have thought of a worse reason to give to a border guard?) "Any family down there?" "Nope." "Any alcohol in the the vehicle?" "Nope." "Ok, you're all set." And that was it. I was in AMERICA!

It seemed a lot like Canada to be honest, but I suppose it would at first. My GPS and my google maps had routed me through New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. So 3 states on the docket for today. I gotta say I'm impressed with the beauty of the places I went through, I went through the poconos, and some of it was really breathtaking, even from the road. This one was of a bridge going over the Delaware river. As you were heading out you were surrounded on all sides by trees. Really nice.

By the time I took the picture the impressive part was over. All I ended up getting was a sign through a bug-splattered window.

By the time I got to New York, it was a half past 7, and I have to say, the drive in wasn't that bad. A lot like driving in Downtown Toronto, only more people, and nearly all one way streets. Getting to the hotel was an adventure. It had no driveway, I had to drive into their garage (which stores the cars via elevator).

Anyways I'm beat so I'm gonna get some sleep, but one thing before I end this. The hotel I'm staying in is right near wall street, and this is just to the left of my window:



Yep, that's Ground Zero. They're still pulling stuff out at night. 8 years later. Sobering.

Comments

  1. Awesome hotel view! Glad to hear you made it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. wow that is crazy...ground zero...damn.

    Oh yo so what did you forget? Have you figured it out yet?

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Florida in the Key of West

Yesterday was not a pleasant day.   10 hours of driving only to end up at the Best Western in Jacksonville, just so I could stand around waiting for my laundry to finish because the hotel in Key West that I'm staying in for 4 nights had no laundry mentioned on their website.   So it's 10:30 at night and I'm sweating on the second floor between the world's loudest dryer and the local ice machine for an hour.  And that's following 30 minutes of washing.   I even had to hang dry some stuff because even after an hour it still wasn't dry yet. It's times like that that make me question whether or not this trip was even a good idea.  It usually happens in the waking moments before sleep when I'm lying in my rented bed in the middle of a town where I know no one.  Why am I here?  Am I learning anything?  Is this just a giant waste of time and money? And then there's times like the Wendy's.   I got in too late in Jacksonville and the hotel was far enough

Walkin' in Memphis, and boy are my feet tired!

The trip through Tennessee, incidentally, was beautiful. Hilly, with roundabouts and full forests. Fun to drive. I tried to take some pictures with my phone, but they all came out pretty assy. I arrived at Memphis at around 4:20 which I later discovered was 3:20. Ah time zones. Looking for a place to eat I headed south down the road to what I hoped would be a nicer area since my hotel room gives me a beautiful view of the freeway. Walking through Memphis I got the impression that this is a city that's either on the verge of a fall or the verge of a comeback. At first I thought it was the former, though now I'm leaning towards the latter. There's a lot of nice things around, decent restaurants, nice views, ok shopping... but for every location with activity there seems at least one other that's boarded up with big For Lease notices stickered to the window. The other thing I noticed as I was walking was that nobody else was. Nobody. The city was dead to walking traffic. P