Getting Lost in Every State is Easier Than You Might Think

So we started out at 7:30am (half an hour after my boy had originally wanted to leave). We managed to get all the way to Weston (for those of you not from Boston, read not that far) without mishap. We hit the toll and instead of getting back on the highway we got diverted onto the exit and ended up in the quaint little town just outside of Boston. In the process of getting back on the road, we discovered a tiny turnpike sign covered in vines and behind a bush. I wish that we had taken a picture so I could show you how bad it was. Instead you'll have to look at my terrible clip art rendition (sort of like those old America's Most Wanted sketches).

Anyway, we found it. We continued on to Connecticut without mishap and stopped for breakfast (we'd been up since 6 and it was now close to 10am). The complex where we stopped for breakfast also had a grocery store so we went to get some ice. When we returned a guy hopped out of his car and started talking to me about mine (which doesn't look as good as the one in this picture). He said he had the exact same one (there were only 3,500 made in the year mine is from) and he asked where I got parts (it's getting harder and harder) and then he started asking detailed questions about type of engine etc. and lost me. He gave me his number and said to call him if I thought about selling (I think he plans on harvesting the parts from my car). I also plan on calling him soon. I can't afford the repairs on my car and while it lasted to PA and back, it's not going to last much longer. . .

We started off again with the cockiness that comes from driving an admired car. We didn't get far before we saw a sign for Route 7 South. That was what we were looking for according to the directions and I shouted at my boy as he flew past the exit. We turned around. and caught it again. Then we ended up down a road that reminded me of construction that happens in AK. It was down to one lane with lots of construction on the side and totally in the country. We were stuck on it for miles and couldn't turn around because of the amount of traffic. FINALLY after much finagling, we managed to get on a side road, off road it for a minute and then turn around. My boy patiently explained exit 7S wasn't until we were in NY. Oops. We continued on to my friend's house in NJ only getting slightly detoured as a result of a missing street sign (I was convinced it must be her street because of our luck, turned out it wasn't).

We had a very pleasant visit with my friend, who has a baby I haven't seen since he was a little tiny bulge in his mother's stomach (arguably I didn't really see him then). He's now a very active 1 and a half year old with strong feelings about meat (does not like it even hidden in pasta) and a love affair with fruit. He was game to try most foods though. Even though he didn't seem to enjoy them much, he did try two salt and vinegar chips. He also showed us around the whole house (with a good portion of the tour spent in the play room and in the back yard sand box area) and he sat down to read No David, which is usually a hit with almost 2 year olds :).

We pulled out of my friends drive way after our lovely visit and were zipping along (for a long time) before we realized we'd missed the turn. So we zipped back to almost where we started and found the correct street. We repeated this process a couple more times with a couple more streets and managed to see the mall my boy's firm is working on. I did not, however, manage to get a very good picture of the structure of the ski slope which was visible from the road. I will post my lousy (as in they may as well show a Sasquatch or loch ness monster) quality pictures sometime soon.

We got on the NJ Turnpike and stopped and started our way to philly. We managed to get there only 40 minutes late, but utterly exhausted because of the tension of riding around with crazed traffic for so long, and getting lost and having no air conditioning. It was with great relief that we dropped the car at a parking lot and washed up before meeting friends for dinner.