From Newtown, PA to White Plains, NY
From Newtown, PA to White Plains, NY
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Today is a very short ride. I will spending the night with my longtime friend Holly. Holly moved to San Diego after college and we became friends that have endured for twenty years. I get to visit with her and her faithful dog Jake and use the guest bedroom. Additionally, Holly will be cooking dinner -- well that really means that Holly has done the shopping and I will cook. But that's OK, its fun to be in a kitchen after so many weeks on the road.
It is overcast and fairly cold this morning. I put on a long sleeved shirt over my T-shirt and the leather jacket over both of them. I also wear my chaps mostly for warmth but also to protect me from road debris. Highways in and around New York are very busy and filled with trucks that drop things.
US 206 turns out to be a really nice drive through a number of towns in New Jersey including Princeton. I stop for a nice warm breakfast at a nice diner. A nice mushroom omelet and I'm back on the road.
I finally get to the Hudson River. I roll up to the toll plaza and I'm shocked by the six dollar toll to cross the bridge -- ouch. I was prepared with dollars and coin but not this much! Now despite being very careful, I somehow manage to get into the EZ Pass lane -- the pay by electronic scan program. I'm waiting for a toll booth attendant and the guy in the neighboring booth yells at me "EZ PASS ONLY." No suggestion as to how to fix my plight. I start to back up but there is a car barreling up my ass -- so that's not going to work. I pull forward into the painted diamond between lanes to get out of the way. I briefly consider getting off the bike to pay the toll but decide there isn't quite enough room to do that safely. I look around for another space to pull into and park, but there doesn't seem to be any safe refuge. I make the decision: I will flagrantly break the law! (Sorry Mom and Dad -- I'm a lawbreaker now.)
Out into traffic on the lower level of the bridge and into construction that has one lane closed. Nine lanes of toll booths are jockeying into two traffic lanes. I feel like I'm going to be pushed under the car transporter ahead of my by the refrigerated truck behind me. I was never so happy to get across a bridge.
I get lost in upper Manhattan. A step is clearly missing from the driving instructions. Rain is threatening but I ask the weather goddess to hold off until I get to safety at Holly's. The goddess is cooperative today. And I'm happy to see Holly pulling into the driveway as I roll up from the opposite direction.
We spend the evening drinking some wine, eating fine cheese, talking to Jake and contemplating our middle agedness. We have a lot of shared history and it is fun recalling funny, tragic and exciting moments. Holly is very much the professional so it is fun to talk about problem solving in the workplace -- always so much to learn. I get to cook some potatoes, vegetables and salmon for dinner. The two wines we were excellent accompaniment to our foods.
A little tipsy and very content -- its time for bed.
Continue reading: Stamford / New York
Depart Newtown on I-95 heading north.
Exit I-95 onto US 206 (exit 7) heading west.
Transition onto US 202 to link to I-287.
Enter I-287 heading east.
Transition onto I-80 heading east.
At end of I-80 continue on I-95.
Cross George Washington Bridge into Manhattan.
Exit I-95 onto Henry Hudson Parkway heading north.
Turn right onto Dyckman Street.
Turn left onto US 9 (Broadway) heading north.
At I-87, enter I-87 heading north.
Transition onto Cross County Parkway heading east
Transition onto Bronx River Parkway heading north
At Scarsdale, turn onto local road heading east to New York 22.
Turn left onto NY22 heading north.
Arrive White Plains
(c) 2001 Thomas N. Engler Revision Date: 05/18/2001
