This week has been unbelievable...

Ms Grumpy · #1 07-06-2013, 06:45 PM

Last weekend it was decided that I, along with a friend named Marie, would drive from Michigan to Brooklyn, NY to pick up my grand daughter Melhoney. We were going to pick her up to make it easier on my daughter Lacie to pack up her apt for a move home at the end of July.

Before we ever left Michigan it was decided that we would try to convince Lacie to pack up her stuff, rent a truck and come home with us. Lacie had recently quit her job and was looking for a job for the next month and it didn't make sense for her to spend the time there when she could come back to Michigan, look for a house, get a job and get a car.

So off we went. We left at 1pm and were making good time when we hit construction traffic on I-80 in Pennsylvania. We were not even 20 miles into Penn and traffic was at a dead stop. It was a nightmare. Long story short, it took us 9 hrs to travel 61 miles. If there had been a place to pull off the e-way or a place to stay we would have. We finally decided to stop at 3am Monday morning, we had only traveled 305 miles of our 620 mile trip. We slept for 3 hrs then were back on the road and arrived in Brooklyn at 3:30pm.

I knew traffic would be bad, but OMG !! I could never live anywhere that I had to take the New Jersey turnpike, or where the traffic was as unbelievably bad as it was in NJ and NY. And then there is parking. Who wants to live somewhere where it takes you 1/2 hr to find a parking spot 4 blocks from your house. I am shaking my head just thinking about it.

We took Lacie to dinner and suggested her coming back with us. To our surprise she said yes. So by 5pm we were packing up things in her apt. Now I don't mind helping anyone move, but.... This apt had no AC, it was in the upper 80's, the humidity was just as high and the temp in her apt was over 100 degrees. This old lady is not used to this. I want my AC !!!

It took us until 10pm on Tuesday night (which just so happened to be Lacies Birthday) to have everything packed in the truck. Now Lacie and her boyfriend were breaking up and that is why she was moving back to Michigan. But..this man helped to pack the apt, load the truck, he even drove the truck for us back to Michigan and paid some of the tolls. He didn't have to do this, but he did. I give this man a lot of respect for doing this.

Luckily it only took us 13 1/2 hours drive time (with a stop for the night in the Pocono's). We arrived Wednesday night about 7:00pm and parked the moving truck in my driveway. On Thursday afternoon I got a call from Lacie that she had found a house and was giving the landlord the security deposit and 1st months rent that night and she would have the keys to move in on Friday morning. Friday morning I drove the moving truck to her house, which is less than 10 miles from me, and she moved in.

Lacie still has a lot of unpacking to do, but this girl just had everything fall into place for her. Why can't we all be this lucky ? Oh yeah, she already has a car lined up too. This week has been just unbelievable.

flash · #2 07-06-2013, 07:17 PM

And I thought the traffic through Washington and Baltimore was bad ,I still wont do that again. Glad everything is working out ,now get some rest.

Ms Grumpy · #3 07-07-2013, 11:27 AM

I finally got some sleep last night. I can't remember the last time that I slept for 12 hours. Now the unpacking and arranging of my grand daughters room shall begin.

carpoor · #4 07-07-2013, 11:31 AM

I avoid big cities like the plague. In 2010, I had the misfortune of going through St. Louis while on the Hot Rod Power Tour. I was ready to beat people with a blunt object after 2.5 hours of crawling through traffic. I vowed never again to go anywhere near places like that. I want to go to Martin, Michigan next year for the Pure Stock drags. You can bet your sweet ass I will be mapping my route to stay FAR away from any big cities! It's going to be nerve-wracking enough towing a trailer with my car on it.

shadowgray396 · #5 07-07-2013, 08:59 PM

Glad you got there and back safely.

Ms Grumpy · #6 07-07-2013, 09:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by carpoor

I avoid big cities like the plague. In 2010, I had the misfortune of going through St. Louis while on the Hot Rod Power Tour. I was ready to beat people with a blunt object after 2.5 hours of crawling through traffic. I vowed never again to go anywhere near places like that. I want to go to Martin, Michigan next year for the Pure Stock drags. You can bet your sweet ass I will be mapping my route to stay FAR away from any big cities! It's going to be nerve-wracking enough towing a trailer with my car on it.

When you are going through Ohio and Michigan, timing is everything. If you just time it so that you avoid rush hours (4-7pm) traveling should go smooth.

Ray, me too. I have never been as nervous as I was driving in NJ and NY. I was driving my small Toyota (wanted the 40mpg) and I almost think it was worse. Some people in big trucks just drove like they owned the road. I imagine if I was in my van it might have been different, but I don't know if I could have gotten down some of the streets.

When my daughter was loading the moving truck someone had to stay outside with the truck so that the stuff wouldn't "walk away". As I sat outside I could hear the larger trucks going down the street hitting the side view mirrors on cars, and they just kept going, it was no big deal to them. And the bumper guards were funny looking too, but these people parked 3 inches from each other and it was bumper cars as backed up, pulled forward, backed up, pulled forward many times till they got out. I am so glad to be home.

Hank70SS · #7 07-08-2013, 07:08 AM

Sounds like the 'week from hell'. On the bright side I'm sure you're glad that both your daughter and grand daughter are back in MI and close to you. Our daughter has been in LA area for almost 6 yrs now. We're hoping after she graduates in August that she moves back here.

Never driven in NY or NJ. Philly, LA, Miami and they suck. Since we moved to Brighton I hate even going back into Novi or Livonia. We make sure we go in the middle of the day when we have to.

Ms Grumpy · #8 07-08-2013, 09:36 PM

Hank I have had my grand daughter for the past few days while my daughter is setting up her house. We were driving on the road and she said that she would get sick in the cars in NY, but her tummy didn't feel as bad here. Now I don't know if it was from the smell of the cabs or the fact that the cab drivers were insane when they drove. Either way she said it smells better here and she likes having grass. A big thing for a 7 year old.