Monday, July 17, 2017

Unintended Journey

Hubby and I went with our son to PA on Sunday to help him finish setting up his apartment. He will be living about 140 miles from us. We left Sunday morning around 9 a.m. and encountered absolutely no traffic. The entire trip took just over 2 hours. We crossed two bridges and traveled in 3 states. Wonderful! (Please note that the speed limits range from 50 to 70 so this is just about right).
We went food shopping with our son so that he could stock his kitchen and refrigerator. Then we helped him continue to empty moving boxes and waited for his replacement furniture. When we were in PA over a week ago, his new bedroom furniture was delivered by a crew that was less than careful. The furniture was scratched and missing parts. He was quite disappointed. A visit to the local store had a replacement delivery scheduled for Sunday. Well they brought a whole new bedroom set (he needed only the dresser, one bedside table, and bunky board replaced and the bed slats that never came in the first delivery). What they didn't bring this time were the bunky board and the bed slats... the latter didn't come either time and this is a platform bed so the mattress sits on those 14 slats. How in the world did they think that would work? Hubby and I went to the local store to complain again while our son waited at his apartment for the delivery crew to return with a possible solution. This delivery crew had promised to bring temporary expansion bed slats so that he could at least sleep on the bed. The temporary bed slats came and he used the bunky board that still needs to be replaced. He can sleep on his bed and he is supposed to get yet another delivery in two weeks. He started a new job on Monday and can't take days off for a delivery so he needed to schedule it on a weekend. 

Now after the long day of organizing the three of us went out to dinner at a local restaurant. Our son just moved into a planned community and there are a bunch of restaurants within walking distance. This park-like setting was just outside the entrance to our restaurant. 
 Isn't this a great fire pit?
 The little fountains change color.
 Here is the street that is right outside his apartment building.
 The building with the spire is the local supermarket.

After dinner, Hubby and I started the drive home around 8 pm. We expected to get home between 10 and 11 pm. Well that didn't happen. We had little to no traffic all the way through PA and not much on the New Jersey Turnpike (I95) until we approached the Goethals Bridge. Now Hubby and I live on Long Island, NY. You must go over a bridge in order to get off the Island (or take a ferry to Connecticut). The Goethals Bridge leads from NJ to Staten Island, NY which you can then drive across to the Verrazano Narrows Bridge which gets you to Long Island. As we approached the exit to the Goethals bridge we encountered standstill traffic. We sat in the exit lane for over an hour until Hubby got fed up and decided to try another route. (Note that my two phone apps continued to tell me that home was only 1.5 hours away even after an hour of sitting at this exit but they also said that the alternate routes were even longer.) Now our alternate route was to drive North of Manhattan (we were South of it) to the George Washington Bridge, then turn East to the Throgs Neck Bridge onto Long Island. We stopped at a rest-stop right before the GW bridge, because by now we were on the road for 3.5 hours. There was traffic leading to the GW bridge, but at least it kept moving even though it was slow. Our journey home finally ended at 1 am, 5 hours  (and many tolls) after leaving our son in PA. If you do the math.....140 miles (more because of our detour) in 5 hours means we averaged 28 miles per hour. Really?! Ugh.

The moral of this story is to think twice before moving to a home on an island. Hubby and I grew up on Long Island and it has always been a hassle to get off and on when traveling by car. We don't plan on spending our retirement here for a variety of reasons. I certainly won't miss the traffic, but that time is still several years away.

Thanks for stopping by!


9 comments:

  1. What a frustrating day for both you and your son!! I hope the next furniture delivery goes better, how annoying not to get the slats on the second delivery.

    What a trip both ways!! A minor miracle you made it in 2 hours going but going home is more typical. I dread driving to LI and having to cross the bridges and the tolls are very expensive.

    Your son's community looks very nice though!! I hope he enjoys his new job and home. Mary

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  2. Yikes. That is quite a difference. I would have never considered that thought about the traffic and an island. I'll bet bed felt great that night.

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  3. We had the same problem with the slats the when we bought Drama Teen's last bedroom set. Thankfully they had them in stock and it they brought them that afternoon. Sorry about the long drive home. We used to live south of Houston TX, there's not a lot of ways through Houston, so very often we'd sit in traffic for hours on our way out or into town. I'm very glad to be back living in a small town, with very little traffic.

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  4. delivery people didn't seem to be too careful, how frustrating. The town looks delightful and fun. I dislike when traffic is hit and miss. You'll have to drive through the night or early morning when everyone is sleeping :)

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  5. You poor people that sounded like a nightmare journey. And shame about your sons furniture, that said it look like a really nice place to live!

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  6. What a frustrating day and whatever happened to good, caring and involved customer service!

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  7. Sounds like a really busy weekend. Looks like a beautiful place your son moved to, though. What a traffic nightmare for you... you might've gotten home soon on a horse, lol.

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  8. I loved hearing mention of all those bridges. My husband was from NJ and when first married, we lived in Basking Ridge, basically a NY bedroom community for most residents. We often took the train into NY for dinner or a museum. I understand now there are only busses, no trains - ugh, you're still stuck in traffic. Who's good idea was that?

    I love where your son is living. That doesn't look like any commuter issues unless he has to go far for his job. What a hassle for the delivery, though! I hope he kept all the new, undamaged things and sent back all the older pieces. I hope he actually gets slats next time! I'm just guessing he'll shop somewhere else when he needs other furniture. =)

    Life is always an adventure, no matter our age.

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  9. Yikes. That is quite a difference. I would have never considered that thought about the traffic and an island. I'll bet bed felt great that night.

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