August 17, 2008.

We’ve been to Jersey and survived to tell about it.

We packed up the rent-a-car and headed up to Jersey on Thursday. We were to spend several days visiting with family and friends. Since we were traveling with the dogs we were having a hard time finding someplace local that would allow our canine companions.

After a very generous offer it was decided that we’d spend the week on Cirrus, a Pearson 36 which belongs to our good friends Nick & Edy. It ended up being the best possible solution as it put us right in the heart of the area we wanted to visit. An unexpected bonus to staying on the river is that I’m pretty sure I saw Michael Phelps swim past as he tried to stay loose between Olympic events.

The dentist squeezed us in even though we had called at least a month ahead of time. We both had exams and cleanings and then Christy needed a minor tooth repair. It ended up being 4 separate trips back to the dentist over a few days time. Our entire trip to Jersey was like that, constant running to this appointment or that.

Throw in a couple of doctor appointments each, dinners with family and trying to catch up with all of our friends and it was dizzying. Also since we had the car we did some major shopping. There was a new laptop, pillows, a printer, lumber, galleywear, tools etc. We put 400 miles on the car and never got more than 25 miles away from Cirrus. To say that the car was packed was an understatement.

After a week of running around we headed out to Happy Valley to watch Ashlee, the youngest girl child graduate from Penn State. It was the end of summer sessions so mercifully there were only 1600 students graduating. The graduation actually went very smoothly and was over in about 2 hours.

Once again it was pack up and get in the car. We left Happy Valley and were back at Veranda, in Maryland in less than 4 hours.

Christy and I have decided to try and avoid renting a car ever again, unless it’s absolutely necessary. Christy has just gotten too used to traveling along at 6 knots to be able to relax at highway speeds. We had arguments like we’ve never had before just because of the damned car. Both of us were never so relieved as we were when we pulled into the marina and got out of the car……and Oh look, its Margarita Night at the marina.

We unpacked about a thousand things from the car and put away what we could before heading over to Margarita Night. We spent an hour with several friends discussing ongoing boat repairs and various visits home.

A couple of observations I made during our trip north. Highway driving speeds are way down from the way they were before we left on the boat. I’m not sure if its gas prices forcing drivers to try to economize or if law enforcement has actually made an impact. In the past at 70 MPH I was the slow guy in the right lane but this week it seemed that the majority of the drivers were content to do the speed limit.

Also, one morning we spent about 10 minutes parked in front of a Perkins Pancake House. Ninety five percent of the patrons coming and going were fat. I’m not talking chubby either, I’m talking obese. You can forget your Atkins diet, forget your South Beach diet and just don’t have breakfast at Perkins. Chances are you’ll drop pounds like the French Army drops rifles.