Merrin, Zoe & Liam - Mile 3985, and Going Strong

This morning as I was planning my next move, turned on the news ..... accidents everywhere .... near-by Newark, NYC, the Turnpike. So, Liam plotted a route around it all and off we went on the NJ Garden Parkway, a huge improvement over the turnpike. We completely by passed the City and took the very amazing Tappanzee Bridge over the Hudson River north of the city, then cut through Rye to the Greenwich area, all very beautiful, picturesque, and for the most part traffic free.
Liam was very patient with me today, as I decided to take to road less travelled in CT, and got off the highway and to the Old Boston Post Road that meandered along Long Island Sound through quaint little towns and villages. Everytime I would decide to turn off, he would quietly recalculate and give me new directions. What a guy :)
Had my first Tim Horton's sighting, and stopped at Lenny & Joe's Fish Tale in Madison for a delicious lobster role. Arrived in Wethersfield and spent the rest of the day visiting my grandson and his parents. Tomorrow will be a slow day in the morning while Zack is at School and Francois works, then more hanging out. Closing in on the Canadian border and getting excited to see friends and family north of the border

Wed - Last Day at the Mount

Mount St. Marys in Watchung, NJ

This is my last day at the Mount. As always, it has been both a privilege and a pleasure to be here.

I first met the Sisters of Mercy a little over three years ago when I got stranded in the Newark Airport during a blizzard. I was about to get into a line - a three hour wait, I had been told, to get my flight re-booked when a young man told me that if I followed him, he know where there was a bank of phone and no one was using them. I could rebook there.

As I was walking away, another woman ( Sister Brenda) joined the line, so I told her to follow us. As it turned out, she was going to a local convent to wait out the storm and asked me if I wanted to come along. My other alternative was sleep on the floor in the airport, so off I went. After waiting two and a half hours in the raging blizzard for a cab, we finally got to share one with a man going to nearby Plainfield. finally we turned up a long drive and there I was at Mount St Marys.

The nuns welcomed me with open arms and warm soup. they invited me to stay the three days until my flight left and extended the most loving and gracious hospitality, which, by the way, is their code. During my stay, Sister Brenda had to dash off for a family thing, I was befriended by Srs. Monica, Marlene and Diane.

Sr. Monica took me to a local shop to get the basics, my luggage being held hostage at the airport. These women are amazing, kind, generous and all have had very interesting career within education and parish life.

These last few days have been like a retreat as I have explored the nearby area and walked the grounds.. which are dotted by little prayer gardens. Tomorrow, I pack up again and hit the road to Connecticut to see my son and his family.

Taking a Break

Srs. Marlene & Monica and me
Sr. Marlene & Monica, My Nuns

Thanks to the wonderful women at Mount St. Marys, I am taking a break and doing almost nothing. My days have been really lazy, and I'm giving my body a rest from the road... I plan to stay here until Thursday , then it is on to Connecticut to visit my son, his wife and their son.

Arriving at the Mount

Today, I got to drive, in the misty rain, through Virginia, Maryland, DC, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. If it had not been for Liam, I would still be trying to figure out how to get through the nation’s capital. Liam has certainly solidified his worth on this trip by helping me navigate the maze of freeways, underpasses, overpasses and HOV lanes.
I was very grateful that I went through DC on a Sunday, because, even then, the traffic was heavy. I can only imagine how long and arduous it would have been on a week day.
My route took me right past the monuments and I could see the dome in the mist.

I chose to take the toll roads, because it took an hour and a half off of the travel time to New Jersey from Richmond. Toll roads took me through a tunnel under the river at Baltimore, over gigantic bridges and onto the New Jersey Parkway where I encountered the worse traffic since I left the Bay Area, going 5 – 20 miles an hour for over an hour and paying for the privilege.

It was all worth it, when I finally arrived safely at the Mount in Watchung the welcome mat was out, tea was waiting and “my nuns” were as hospitable as ever. After unpacking, Sr. Marlene and I went out or a nice quiet dinner and got to reconnect. It will be early to be and late to rise tomorrow then off shopping and lunching with a few wonderful women.

Zoe, is holding up very well, but has a small booboo. Now that I am safely on the other side of the continent, I can reveal that on my very first day, just after I got on Highway 5 a truck threw a stone into my window and cracked it. That night I found a PepBoys and got a resin epoxy, or something, and sealed the crack so that it would not grow any more. It worked and I was very proud of my self for fixing it. Just did not want the Stepher to worry. I have been faithfully checking the engine, the oil and water levels and Lil Car is great.

Fond farewell to Hilton Head & The Newtons

Shirley and I got to walk beaches with the dogs, and each day was such a wonderful treat. Miles of beautiful hard sand, I will miss her.

Dinner on the back patio in front of the newly installed fireplace, very cosy

Aerial view of Hilton Head, looks like a big sneaker!

The "A" is the area where the Newtons live.

"Ali Gattor" back to visit on my last day in Hilton Head.

He took a little sun bath for about 30 minutes

on the front lawn by the pool.

My last day in Hilton Head...

We went to the beach early in the day and walked and walked.......then last minute errands and time to pack up. At lunch, as we were eating an eagle swooped into the lagoon and caught a fish, then soared overhead showing off his catch. In the afternoon, "Ali Gattor" came back right up onto the Newtons lawn for a tanning session. We watched from the upstairs window and Joe got a couple of really good pics.

The whole week has been just wonderful and then at the last minute, my phone died....dead. So, mad dash to the Verizon store and lo and behold they gave me a new phone, no hassle. Jamie, the young man who took care of me was so helpful, however, sadly, I lost all my contact numbers. I am hoping that all my friends who have my cell number will send me a text so I can recapture the information

Saturday - 4/24 Today, I very sadly said my goodbyes to the Newtons and headed up highway 95 to Richmond VA where I am stopping for the night before getting to Watchung, NJ where I will be visiting for a couple of days with those wonderful nuns that took me in three years ago during a big blizzard an rescued me from having to sleep on the floor at the Newark airport.

As I was driving up here today, I realized that on this trip I have become a destination driver, focused on getting to my next stop where I will be seeing people I am looking forward to seeing. Usually when I take a vacation and spend time in one place, I'm more into site-seeing and side trips. While in Hilton Head I did that -Savannah & Beaufort, and local sites on HH. However, coming across the country I drove by signs that announced places that were places would have gone to if I was tourist-ing - like Boot Hill, Window Rock, Shiloh, Civil War Sites and the Shanandoah Valley. I'm making a list of places I will want to come back to with a friend and see in detail.

Photo Op for the Local Wildlife in Hilton Head

Newton's pool, patio and lagoon

Alligator in the lagoon

Gecko in the patio

Courtesy of Joe Newton, I now have some pictures to share of the Newtons' back yard, a visiting alligator that cruised by and checked out the perimeter of the lagoon, and a little visitor from the lizard kingdom that joined us for lunch the other day. As you can see the wildlife comes almost to the back door!

Several night we have gone out and sat in the hot tub before retiring, however, we have to keep a close eye on the dogs that they do not wander down to the edge of the lagoon.

Thank you Joe, for capturing all of that :)

Exploring Beaufort, NC

On the Deck at "Up The Creek"


After a quiet day of beach walking with the dogs, then hanging out at a local joint - Up The Creek - for Happy hour and Bar-B-Q, yesterday we went into Beaufort (pronounced Bew-Fert, rhymes with few) so as not to be confused with Beaufort, NC, pronounced the usual way.

Beaufort is a quaint little town on the inland waterway, about an hour from HH, that is very easy to walk around and well known for being the site of several films including Forrest Gump, Big Chill, The Great Santini, Something to Talk About. We had a really nice lunch on the inland waterway (Shrimp Po'Boys - my first) then walked around the downtown shopping area. They had an old 5 & Dime (Wollworths) store that had been renovated to accomodate a series of small boutiques.

Everyone is very friendly and we stopped in at a shop that was also the center for walking tours, and the woman just gave us her tour map so we could set out on our own. We saw so many lovely big old houses, built in the 1700 and 1800's, with big verandas and front balconies, as well as some original slave quarters. I recognized the Big Chill house, which is privately owned so you cannot get too close, as well as the house that was used for the movie Forces of Nature with B. Affleck and S. Bullock.

Today is my last day in Hilton Head, as I set out tomorrow for New Jersey. Joe helped me check the oil this morning, so I am good-to-go. I took long walk with Shirley and the dogs this morning, almost two hours, and now am getting ready to sort through my things and load up the car

Although I will be sad to leave, the Newtons have been so welcoming and fun to hang out with, great company, rich conversation, tasty food and wine, I am looking forward to the next part of the roadtrip, which will reunite me with the nuns who rescued me three years ago when I was almost stranded in the Newark Airport for three days.... That's a whole other story. Later.....