Long drives, Chocolate and Jersey.

After leaving my relatives in Michigan I made a decision to shorten my trip and make it to Manhattan. It was 10pm when I left the Waterford area and I made my way down to Detroit in just under an hour. After leaving the Detroit area I grabbed an energy drink, jumped on the Ohio turnpike, called Diana and put here on speakerphone. The turnpike was barren, the sky dark and moonless and the next several hundred miles were going to be the same. Diana and I spoke for about 2 hours ending our conversation just before 1am when I decided to pull over and get a hotel room. Half-way into Ohio I figured I made enough progress for the night but when I couldn’t find a Hotel room or civilization for 30 miles I made myself a new goal. Pennsylvania.

Luckily for me the time difference works in my favor. So although Diana had most likely gone to bed, Jennifer and Jenson were in the Pacific Time zone and most definitely awake. I got them on speakerphone and continued my drive east. The witty conversations full of random updates from Portland mixed in with the off-humor that only Jennifer and Jenson can create kept me awake enough to make it completely through Ohio that night. I pulled over around 3 in the morning 2 miles across the Pennsylvania border. Whoo Hoo, I never had to stop in Ohio (except once for gas, but that doesn’t count).

I slept for about 3 hours in a rest area just over the PA border. The next day I made my way down to Hershey Pennsylvania. If you are looking to take a tour of a chocolate making facility don’t go to Hershey Pennsylvania. Because it is the largest chocolate producing area in the country you would think that it would have the biggest and best tour but no… they have some cheesy “it’s a small world” copy instead of an actual tour. LAME. The facility in California is much better.

I spent a few hours in the time anyhow, just driving around, napping in the local parks and avoiding my car for a while. Around 3pm I continued my drive east and made it into New Jersey around 6pm. Incredibly exhausted I grabbed a hotel room and prepared for my arrival into Manhattan. I spent about 2 hours, cleaning my car out, putting everything away and getting things in order. At approximately 9pm I fell dead asleep and I awoke the next at 9:30 or 10am. I think the trip took a lot out of me.

The next I woke up and began the final journey from Phillipsburg, NJ to New York City, NY. The trip took an incredibly long hour. No seriously I was only an hour away. Ok, so you are probably going to ask why did I get a hotel room if you were only an hour away from Manhattan.. and more importantly only an hour away from Diana. 

Well…..

I had no idea that I was so close, on the map it looked like a 3 hour drive. I didn’t realize that the map scale for New Jersey was only 10 miles instead of the usual 20 or 30 miles. Oh well what is done is done. 

I arrived in Manhattan at around 12:00 on Thursday afternoon.

I love this place.