The last big stretch...
Saturday morning my sister and I woke up once again at 6am to begin our final day of driving. We enjoyed the free continental breakfast at the hotel, then took our first coffee of the day on the road. West Virginia really is a beautiful state. It's also quite rural. There is no way this city girl will ever want to live in a state like W. Virginia.
We were just getting tired of the winding highways of West Virginia through the mountains when we crossed the next state line.
MARYLAND? Uh, oh. My sister said she didn't want to hear uh, oh. I reminded her that as long as we were driving east or north we weren't going the wrong direction. Though we might not be going the best direction. Luckily a glance at the map showed we were still going the right route. We just had noticed the yellow lines indicating we would pass through Maryland on our way to New York. So we continued driving through state #6, Maryland. I don't have much to report about Maryland except for the gas stations were located ridiculously off the highway which wasted too much of our valuable time.
Apart from restroom breaks, we didn't stop much on Saturday. We were hoping to be in New York by 3:30/4:00. After the several surprise hours spent in Maryland, we finally entered state #7, Pennsylvania. My sister was overall, unimpressed with Pennsylvania. I think it might be hard to appreciate a state when you are tired of driving a big truck. I was hoping we would get to pass through Hershey, PA and maybe even stop to buy some chocolate. But of course the highways took us around it. There was no way we were exiting to go find it.
Normally I don't think many people would be
excited to go to New Jersey. But considering it was state #8 and the final one before New York, we were pretty excited. Well, as much as one can be excited about the Garden State. As we approached New York, we stopped for one final gas tank fill up and to switch drivers. It was long decided that I would be the one to make the drive into the City. I was very nervous.
The plan was to cross over the George Washington Bridge into Manhattan, then head down the Westside Highway to my neighborhood. However, as we approached the Bridge we couldn't figure out which lane to be in. Were we a truck? Even though we were in a Budget truck we weren't really a big commerical truck. I chose the regular lane for cars. I chose wrong.
When we reached the window ready to pay our $6, we were told we were on the wrong level. We were to cross 5 lanes of traffic, exit, circle back around and go across the top part of the bridge. I made it across 3 lanes nearly hitting the cars
I couldn't see due to my HUGE blindspot. Next thing I know we are crossing the GW Bridge- illegally! Imagine two girls screaming with fear and you've got a great scene for a movie. We made it across and when I saw the exit for Amsterdam Avenue, I took it. We had finally reached state #9, New York. I knew that street, and I was ready to get to my new apartment.
Once in Manhattan, the driving was nearly as bad as I had feared. In fact, if I can't find a job in education maybe I'll become a cab driver. I drove downtown finally reaching my neighborhood just before 5pm.
Unfortunately, in spite of all my planning, I was there before my movers. So my sister and I double parked and began unloading as much as possible before the cops came along and told us to move. We got most of the boxes when my token male mover arrived, followed shortly by my roommate and her parents. We managed to get the sofa unloaded and through the door, followed by the bed. Finally everything was out of the truck, and still no signs of cops to make us move. The final challenge was deciding where to put the truck. After an unsuccessful attempt to parallel park it, I found a spot that I could easily back into.
It was time to relax in my new apartment littered with boxes waiting to be unpacked.
