Travel and Jersey

Hi all,

I hope you enjoyed Dave's first post. He's so helpful!

Since I have the chance now and probably won't again until D.C., I thought I'd write my thoughts on the beginning of my trip...

Having Dave take me to the airport was so helpful. I had a busy day at work on Wednesday and hurried home to finish a few things before we had to leave for the airport. I felt really stressed and nervous, and I just needed Dave there. He came in with me and we got food and sat together until I had to go through security. The first flight got off fine. My biggest issue was the woman next to me took my pillow! It was a red eye flight where they give everyone a pillow and blanket, and the person next to me got there first and took mine. She already had her eyes closed, so I didn't really feel like I could do anything without seeming dramatic. Still, it was annoying. I got maybe a little sleep, but it was hard because I had the aisle (and no pillow). The flight was just under 4 hours to Detroit. I had only about a 55 minute layover, so I basically got off one plane, walked to the next, and they were pre-boarding. As Dave said, no surprise that my bag didn't make it to LaGuardia with me! I at least had more space on the flight. The woman with the luggage office really was very nice, too.

So, bagless, I waited for my shuttle to Penn Station. As it happened, the shuttle stopped at Grand Central Station with a connection. I ended up walking to Penn Station because it was only about 10 blocks. It was nice to get just a small taste of what it's like in the city. At Penn Station I navigated my way through to the New Jersey Transit section, bought a ticket, and caught a train to Don and Lisa's (Danielle's parents) home in New Jersey. It was actually quite pleasant taking the train, reading, and looking out the window.

Lisa met me at the train station and took me home. She showed me around, fed me (a yummy vegetarian sandwich!), and generally made me feel very welcome. While she headed out for a class at the school she runs, I took a nap and figured out some details for tomorrow. Later on I read in the porch swing and enjoyed hearing about some of Danielle's art from her childhood - seriously impressive stuff. I also got to know Lisa's 4 very cute dogs. I was impressed to see her walk 3 at once! We went out to pick up 2 neighbor kids at daycare - Abby and Kaitlyn. They were very cute and fun, and we played with them while getting ready for dinner. I thoroughly enjoyed Lisa's famous sauce with stuffed pasta, salad, and bread - yum. Wine and cupcakes made for a perfect birthday meal. I even got a crown!

I'm really glad I came out here for the day. It's been wonderful to have people to take care of me and help me rest before the craziness of this week. Currently I'm exhausted, so I know I'll sleep well!

As for tomorrow, I will get up in the morning and Lisa will take me to the train station. I will return to Penn Station, then take the subway to my hostel. After dropping off my bag, I will take the subway up to Central Park - I plan to visit the carousel and get a pretzel (Danielle's instructions). Then I will walk to the bike shop and pick up my bike. We will make adjustments, and then I will transport it to the starting location for the ride. This will probably mean taking it on the subway, which is allowed. I'm going to ask the bike guys their advice. By this time I will probably need to go drop off my bike and do my registration for the ride. We have an opening celebration in collaboration with Manhattan Greendrinks at BLVD. I think it will be fun - open talks, green Manhattanites, food and drinks. I hope to get a decent night sleep at the hostel, as we gather at 7am on Saturday morning. We will bike to the south ferry and take that across to New Jersey. Then we get going to Princeton.

Thanks to everyone for you inquiries and support. I hope to send some texts along the way, but do check back on the blog for more updates from Dave. And keep sending me good vibes!