We were so excited to finally be on the road. We got moving around 2pm with Jarrod out in the lead, and I followed close behind with both dogs. Here's proof that my car, Angel, has officially left CT:
We took I-95 to the Tappan Zee bridge to bypass some of the New York traffic.
From there, we took the Garden State Parkway south through New Jersey.
I had no idea such a small state could take so long to get through! Between rush hour traffic, rubberneckers, and toll booth bottlenecks, it took us until 8:00 to actually get out of New Jersey. There was no sweeter phrase at that point than "Welcome to Delaware."
After a quick stop for dinner, we got back on the road, attempting to make it to Alexandria, VA before Monday became Tuesday. We had planned to visit with a college friend of mine, Rachel Kibbe.
We were hoping to have time to share a meal and a visit with her, but those plans were cut short, as we didn't pull into her place until around 10:30pm. We were so glad for the chance to get out and stretch our legs. The dogs were ready to move, too. She lives in a busy neighborhood with permit-only parking, so we parked a couple of blocks away and used the walk as a chance to unbend from the drive. We arrived at her beautiful new condo and were "welcomed" by her canine-unfriendly cat, Conex. The dogs and Conex had quite the standoff before we finally put her into her carrier for the night. Her other cat, Bonkers, was cautious and distant from the dogs, but not openly hostile. Ella was fascinated by Bonkers, and spent most of the night trying to get closer to him.
We were hoping to have time to share a meal and a visit with her, but those plans were cut short, as we didn't pull into her place until around 10:30pm. We were so glad for the chance to get out and stretch our legs. The dogs were ready to move, too. She lives in a busy neighborhood with permit-only parking, so we parked a couple of blocks away and used the walk as a chance to unbend from the drive. We arrived at her beautiful new condo and were "welcomed" by her canine-unfriendly cat, Conex. The dogs and Conex had quite the standoff before we finally put her into her carrier for the night. Her other cat, Bonkers, was cautious and distant from the dogs, but not openly hostile. Ella was fascinated by Bonkers, and spent most of the night trying to get closer to him.
Molly wasn't sure about any of it, and was actually pretty happy when Rachel offered to cuddle on the couch. She settled in pretty quick, don't you think?
It was great to see Rachel, and catch up just a bit. I wish we had had more time to visit, but the travel furies were against that plan. We told her, as we tell everyone, our door will always be open in Hawaii. We'll just have to schedule another visit soon! We were all up early the next morning, and we headed out from Rachel's, ready to get moving. Jarrod and I had breakfast at a diner in town, and then tried to find a dog park to let the pups use up some of their energy. We got directions to what we thought would be a dog park, but when we got there, there wasn't anything there. By this time, it was 9:30am and we decided we should just get to Virginia Beach, and we could deal with puppy energy there. The drive to Virginia Beach was easy and uneventful, and we made it to the Hamaker's just after 2pm.
Praise God for safe travels, and good friends who are happy to host us and our "kids!"
Next update: fun with Lisa & Rex and the rest of the VA Beach crew!
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