The Fun Never Stops

Now that we've made it to a town called Clearfield, Pennsylvania, I have time to fill in details of the past few days. Smooth sailing has yet to occur, though at least my initial anxieties about Ozzy and his flight, etc., are over.

We stayed in the Sheraton at Heathrow on Monday night. It was a great hotel and Ozzy took to the "high life" like he was made to be a starlet's dog. Honestly, he just strutted down the hall, stopped at the elevator, pranced on and off, and made himself at home. Two photos below of the room, and the view out our window.

We took Ozzy to the Virgin Cargo place at Noon on Tuesday, though he was very nervous the minute the crate came out of the car.  Poor guy.  It always kills me to leave him in the care of total strangers who are in charge of his wee life across airports, airplanes and thousands of miles.  Virgin is the best though, so I wasn't as stressed as I could be.  We left Oz, then drove around the entire perimeter of Heathrow trying to find the rental car return place...and yes, Alan and I exchanged snarky words.  I won't say more than that.

Our plane was delayed on the runway for an hour--the whole time all I can think about is Ozzy in the cargo hold having to endure an extra hour of torture. Flight was uneventful, though we hit some real turbulence at least three times. OH! But this part is soooo cool. Alan got our seats upgraded--I think I've already told everyone that--and man, oh man, I will never go back..!! Premium seats means hot towels to wash your hands, free champagne (though I had OJ), extra treats, and a gourmet dinner. I had tortellini stuffed with truffles, if you can imagine that.

Then we land.  Sigh.  Part of my memory of yesterday is gone, mainly due to the aneurysm I'm sure I suffered.  We get through Customs with no bother, lug our four suitcases, two carry-ons, purse and duty free whiskey (thank you Lorna and Derek) halfway across the Newark Airport to the AirTrain, finally get to the car rental place, then wait for nearly 45 minutes for the car, so of course, now it's pitch dark and we don't have a clue how to find Ozzy, other than this hopeless map that we can't decipher...in the dark...in a car we aren't familiar with...both of us bone tired.  More snarking.  I found this (adorable) cop, who gave us the exact directions, and we finally found the Virgin place.  I had to fill out paperwork, then we had to drive elsewhere to US Customs, more paperwork, then drive back to Virgin, pay the money, get the dog.  It is close to 10:00 and we are completely confused about how to get out of Newark, let alone find the hotel.

I will spare everyone the details of the scene that ensued when at one point I screamed at Alan:  "NO!  DON'T GET ON THE TURNPIKE!!"  Of course, it's too late and off we go, headed for Hoboken, or Trenton, or bloody Mars.  Needless to say, I managed to get us back on track, though there was some borderline nastiness at bit later when I hissed like a viper: "Do not get in the lane for the effing Holland Tunnel!!"  (Ending up in NYC was most definitely not on the agenda).  So, all's well that ends well.  Or some such nonsense.  We got to the hotel, unloaded a gadzillion bags, dragged our sorry butts upstairs to our room and that's all folks.

So, this morning, bright and early, we load the car and take off.  Here were our directions from MapQuest on finding I-80 so we can head west on the first leg of our cross-country adventure:

• South on Spring St / US-1 S toward Neck Lane
• Right on Neck Lane
• Neck lane becomes Mt Olivet Ave
• Right onto McClellan St
• Merge onto US-1/9 N /US-1 N / US-9 N
• Take I-78 ramp toward I-95 / New Jersey Turnpike
• Keep right at the fork in the ramp
• Merge onto I-78 W via ramp on left

Now, though that might seem easy to some people, compound those directions by going 70 mph and all those instructions above happened within little more than a mile.  Never let it be said that I am not a skilled navigator..!! 

We are now barreling along the Turnpike at 10:00am, expecting horrible rush hour traffic.

Totally amazing.  Barely a car on the road, lovely scenery, calm and composed.  Finally, a relaxing break in days of chaos and we spend a few quiet hours crossing New Jersey.

Then we drive into Pennsylvania, and this was our welcome:

I would like to say this was an isolated moment in time, but sadly, the crappy weather kept up for the whole drive.  It was the worst day of driving I have experienced in ages.  Miles and miles and miles of trucks and almost zero visibility at times.  The shot directly above was taken between wiper swipes.  Wipers that were on their fastest speed.

My last photo of the day.  We were coming down out of the Appalachians.  This was the clearest moment we had.  Shortly after this, we decided to stop pressing our luck and called it a day by stopping at Clearfield around 5:00pm.

Any minute now I'm expecting that elusive vacation to begin, or at least for the weather to clear up.  I mean really, what is this...??  Scotland...??