Thursday, October 12, 2006 - We're supposed to take 95 South......

Thursday, October 12, 2006
We're supposed to take 95 South......
Ok, so I last left off at the end of our long ass trip north to Worcester, Massachusetts. Scruffy and I got all cleaned up and went out to a club. Carl, his chic, and another coach met us out a short while later and we all had a pretty good time until I had a violent reaction to a drink and the night ended poorly. My best guess is that I somehow ended up with Scruffy's drink (vodka and tonic) which I am highly allergic to. Vodka and tonic looks identical to Gin and tonic (which is one of my favs) and I'd venture that the two were mixed up at the bar when we ordered them. Nonetheless, it may be awhile before I live down that adventure............. moving on...........
The next day we had our football game. Shocking as it may be......we actually lost a game. First one ever with this program. I feel that everyone handled it very well, especially with the level of distraction going on with the protests back at school. The second half of the game the team played very hard and almost came back to win it, but it just wasn't in the cards for us that day.
We packed up the van and headed for home, stopping along the way for some refreshments. Took a more scenic route from Worcester to Providence which prooved to be quite nice and quick. Once we got back on 95 South in Providence it was smooth sailing. We quickly made our way through Rhode Island without incident and waved as we passed our previous party spot, Stamford, Connecticut. Coming in to New York there were signs directing which way 95 south went. I saw this and asked our trusty driver, Carl, if he'd seen the sign. "Sure," he says, to which I answer, "so then you'll need to be 2 lanes over." Carl obliges by moving over just one lane and missing the exit for 95 south putting us on 295 south heading to the Bronx. Scruffy and I both repeat to him "we're supposed to take 95 south!" We decided to just take the same route we'd taken on our trip to NY, but this was also not in the cards for us. Once we crossed over the Throgs Neck Bridge in to Queens, the only exit was heading east, instead of west on the Cross Island Parkway. This explains how we managed to have to take a lovely detour through Flushing, Queens on our last trip. I whip out the trusty map and plan our next move. We'll just follow the park way to the east and it will loop us around the city, across the bridge to Staten Island and across to Jersey where we'll hop back on 95 South. Again, this was not in the cards for us. We needed gas, so again we make a stop off in Queens, although this time in Bayside. I'm finding that I grow fonder and fonder of Queens everytime we stop on our way through there. Getting back on the parkway there is an accident which we get by relatively quickly and without incident. Shortly after that we take yet another detour when Carl decides to put us on the Long Island Parkway instead of continuing on the Cross Island Parkway. An exit, u-turn, and reentry is in order here and is executed well under the circumstances. We pass JFK airport, Coney Island, and eventually make it to the Verrazamo Bridge which takes us across to Staten Island. From here it is relatively smooth sailing although the distance and time of day is taking a toll on all of us. We made it back about 30 minutes before the bus, major detour and all, and took a quick cat nap in our trusty minivan before unloading the bus and heading home.
I'd like to mention that the soundtrack eminating from the radio was one of the best ever. I would love to take all of those songs and put them on one CD. Through extensive scanning we had a fantastic mix of classic and modern rock, hip hop, dance, country, jazz and bit of blues. One could not have asked for better listening, although it was disappointing to not have any Michael Jackson as we'd had on our last trip.
I really enjoy travelling with my partners in crime and will truly miss the good times in the van and with football altogether when I start my new job at the end of this month.