Saturday, August 14, 2021

Oh My Aching Back...

Yup, traffic sucked on Thursday...
(Source)

Departed home station at roughly 0900 local, hit the tanker (Shell for automobile fuel, Dunkin' Donuts for Sarge fuel) between 0900 and 0930. We were firmly outbound and on track by 0930. The navigator¹ predicted about a six and a half hour trip.

I want a shot of whatever it is she's drinking.

"Hey, let's take the Merritt Parkway." she suggested.

I demurred, the last time we went that way (in late May) it had sucked. Badly. Lots of traffic, granted no big trucks, but everyone seemed to have just gotten their learner's permit. As pretty as that route is, it also sucks rather badly once you hit the city. You might get routed to the George Washington Bridge, you might wind up going through the Lincoln Tunnel.

Bottom line, I stayed on I-95 through Connecticut.

Then the navigator suggested, "Let's head north at Exit such-and-such and take the Tappen Zee Bridge." (Officially it has another name, which I refuse to use. That whole family can go suck on a grenade as far as I'm concerned.)

I thought to myself, "Why not, 'tis a pretty route?" Though it adds about ten miles to the trip, the last time we went that way traffic from the western end of that bridge down through New Jersey hadn't been all that bad. But wait, that was December.

When we got near the exit to head in that direction, traffic was backed up bumper to bumper to go that route, whereas I-95, though heavily laden with big trucks, was still moving rather well. So I said, "Eff it, I-95 and the GW it is. I'm rolling the dice today."

From all the information I had available to me, there was no good route through New York, Traffic seemed to be jammed everywhere. At least on I-95 it was a straight shot over the bridge and into New Jersey. I've done the other approaches where if you twitch or one idiot driver cuts you off, you're in downtown and scrambling to find your way out. Nope, head down, "Hey diddle diddle, straight up the middle."

Two hours later...

Yup, about two hours to get from Point A to Point B, roughly 8 miles it is, I'll let you calculate our average speed...

(Source)

But here's the thing, everyone was more or less forced to stay in their lane. People were actually, and this stunned me, waving at me to ask, yes ask, if they could squeeze in front of me. People were being (again, stunned I was) polite and accommodating. It was a very low stress situation and "what the heck," I'm on vacation.

Perhaps the gods of the road were smiling upon me as at one point I saw a trucker trying to get into the next lane over, his turn signal had been on for at least a mile, people were ignoring him. So I took action, there being a gap in traffic I pulled into the lane he sought and promptly slowed down to give him a gap to move into. He signaled his appreciation and we rolled on.

Courtesy can sometimes be its own reward.

Traffic in New Jersey was...

Well, it was New Jersey. Going from light speed down to the pace of a heavily laden grenadier then back again. But we got across in fine shape, Delaware and Maryland were nothing out of the ordinary, in fact the traffic felt almost non-existent after our experience on the Cross Bronx Expressway. (There wasn't anything "express" about it, seldom is.)

But we eventually arrived after a nine and a half hour trip. So much for the navigator's confident prediction of a trip three hours shorter than that. But hey, it's math, you're going this fast, you have this far to go, as time equals distance divided by speed (sort of), she has to make her predictions without knowledge of either traffic or road conditions.

So I don't blame her, she's a machine.

But at the end of the trip, my derriere was rather tender.

But we're in Maryland, celebrating the youngest's first full trip around the solar system and having a wondrous time.

Cheers!





¹ The Waze App on my phone. For which I use a female voice, easier to comprehend I'm told.

38 comments:

  1. Roads go ever ever on...course there is a difference riding or walking them, sore bum or feet ....take your choice. Enjoy the family time Sarge!

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  2. Tappen Zee is an honorable name. "Tappen" honoring a local Lenape Indian Tribe & "Zee" being Dutch (who settled the region) for "sea." And yes you're right, the "other" name IS DEFINENTLY best left unmentioned.

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    1. Not familiar with the armpit of Yankee-land, I looked it up. Woulda barfed hearing that name even before the last couple week's worth of Scandals-R-Us. Bleh.

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    2. Though I wonder if you'd get arrested if you stopped and watered the dedication plaque? Hmmm... No, yankees have no sense of humor.

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    3. VX - The Lenape! I read that book you recommended, superb reading! Thanks!

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    4. Beans #2 - Not worth the effort.

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  3. The last time I drove from DC to coastal New Hampshire the route kept me on I-95. New Jersey and New York traffic was horrible. On the return trip I went west just north of Boston and eventually caught I-81 to get around eastern NY, New Jersey, and DC. I don't plan on making that trip in a car again.

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  4. Is there a way that goes around NYC? Sometimes I'd rather drive further if I can avoid a slow down. Drove to Lake Tahoe a few weeks back and due to fires we had to take the long run way around, driving straight up the ugly interstate 5 to Sacramento then east. No problems on the way home and highway 395, which is gorgeous and follows the Eastern side of the Sierra Nevadas, was much appreciated. Although in one small town we did see gas at $5.55. I waited until I saw a semi reasonable 4.79

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    Replies
    1. There is but it takes far too much time and fuel.

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    2. At today's prices, I understand, but you could make a trip of it- stop and see some sights, like maybe where some of those characters in your latest story lived! Although we always push it when we're driving most places so easier said than done.

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  5. We'd always enjoyed visiting the New England area.
    But getting there and back from Philly eventually made us look elsewhere for a travel destination.



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    1. It's been my experience that any Interstate ending in 5=No Fun. Ending in Zeros=Not much Fun. Prove me wrong. :-)

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  6. I used to take the TZ bridge every weekday, commuting from near Danbury, CT, to job site in North New Jersey. Took 75-90 notes, and I was thankfully going against most of the commuter trafficking . Wasn't a bad commute, but the stress and exasperation of doing that twice a day built up. I realized I was yelling at the dog and kicking the kids, or the other way around, (figuratively, of course) way more than I used to.
    To Tuna and T2, I do exactly that driving from NC to NH - it takes 2 or even 3 hours longer to go around the big cities and heavier traffic all along the more direct I95 route, but it's well worth the hassle in avoiding the traffic and bureaucracy of D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia, NYC.

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    1. The 2 to 3 hours to go around aren't worth it to me. I'll take my medicine and get it over with. Besides, I don't do it often enough to really get annoyed by it.

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    2. I hear ya, but there are secondary reasons for me to take the longer route that I really don't want to get into here ... I'd muscle through the traffic as well if I didn't have those other considerations

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  7. Yikes. Hate automatic gps talking thingies. Love paper maps, and planning trips ahead of time. And I love the voice of my navigator (she who sits in the righthand seat.) Elsewise, nope.

    Used to do a lot of long-distance traveling at night as the idiots (and heat, having a succession of non-air conditioned cars (well, they had an ac system, just kerbroken, so...)) tend to be less idiotic at 4am. But, well, that was in the oooold days, back before the turn of the century and such (our turn of the century, from the 1900s to 2000s, not OAFS' turn of the century, which was...)

    As to bridge, there's a reason nothing, NOTHING, should be named after someone until they are dead, preferably 25 years or more dead if not a died-as-hero dead. Seem to remember a lot of stuff being rapidly renamed after Nixon quit.

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  8. May I suggest listening to the song "Texas" by Chris Rea? A calming song indeed especially when one is exploring back roads in Texas.

    Juvat, have you and yours stopped at the 1930's era riveted iron one-lane bridge on the old Fredericksburg-Austin road? It's just east of town at the junction of Hwy 290 and Hahn Road.

    -Barry

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    1. I have not. But will rectify soon.

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    2. Is it just north of 290 crossing the Pedernales and just west of Stonewall?

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    3. Yes. Right next to Guadalupe Cemetery between Hahn road and upper Albert road. Makes for a nice photo spot with the creek running underneath. Speaking of upper Albert road if you take that a couple of miles up towards the pedernales cellars and ranch to market 1623, there's a very picturesque Old Stone farmhouse with dry stone walls surrounding the fields.
      -Barry

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    4. Dang voice to text! It is actually south of 290 and West of Stonewall. The turn on the Hahn road and then in the immediate turn on old Austin highway is located across from Vogle Orchard on highway 290.
      -Barry

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  9. done A to B several times (or more) in my salad days: 2 hours ain't bad - at all. but have no fear, between de Blasio and Fauci, Bronx and New York counties may soon become an empty wasteland (hopefully)

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  10. Nothing's easy anymore on the East Coast. Back in the spring I drove from south/central PA to Petersburg, VA. Forgot it was Good Friday. Four hour trip turned into a 6-1/2 hour one. Washington, D.C. to Richmond. VA on I-95 is a cluster whatever time or day it is.

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    Replies
    1. Did Norfolk to DC and back one time. Around Richmond is definitely a cluster you-know-what.

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  11. (Don McCollor)...I envy the excitement you have on the East Coast. Took a trip from home west of Alexandria, MN to a doctor's appt.in Fargo, ND a couple weeks ago on State and County roads. Distance 115 miles. Speed limits 65/60/55 and 25, 30 or 40 in towns. Elapsed time 2:52 outbound, 2:47 homebound (including 28 minutes at three rest stops defueling coffee). Five minutes difference in times...

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  12. I have read that everyone calls it the Tappan Zee Bridge, no matter what the nameplate says. Just like in Chicago, the Willis family are the only people don't call it The Sears Tower.

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Just be polite... that's all I ask. (For Buck)
Can't be nice, go somewhere else...

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