Just a (true) story... Last weekend my girlfriend and I travelled to New York to pick up a travel trailer that her brother gave us. Before we left, he sent us the title and we registered it here in NC, and received the plate. We left on Friday morning, with the intent of stopping some where off the New Jersey Turnpike and then driving the rest of the way after a good night's sleep. Once we reached the turnpike, we stopped at the first "service area" and my girlfriend ("A") picked up a coupon book for rooms. "A" is cheap. I, on the other hand, am not extravagant, but I hate staying at flea bags. It's like flying. If you've ever flown first-class, you know you'll never fly coach again. So we agree to stay at a nice place, but not the Sheraton (which is where I would have chosen). Starting at the far end of the turnpike (exit 18) she starts calling Holiday Inn Express and others of that grade, but they're all booked. Finally I allow a stay at a Best Western, but only because it's new (according to the ad in the coupon book), and she calls and they do have a room, but won't take a reservation. They say they have several rooms, so should still have something by the time we get there. "A" gets the directions and we're off. We get off the turnpike as instructed and promptly get lost. It was probably my fault. I think I zigged when I should have zagged. At any rate, after driving around for a half an hour, we finally find the intersection that the Best Western guy mentioned and we turn onto the street where it's supposed to be (Hwy 1). We drive up and down Hwy 1 a few miles and cannot find it. We look at the map in the coupon book and see that it's supposed to be right where we are, but can't find it. We do see a large building with a lighted sign the reads "Inns and uites" (the "S" is burned out), but across the street from it is an adult book store. Not a good sign. We finally pull in and park at a small shopping center (across from the Sheraton) and call them again. He says he knows where we are, and we're close. We just have to turn left out of the shopping center and drive about three miles, they're on the left. We drive as instructed. At 1.5 miles is that "Inns and uites", so that couldn't be it. We drive further and the number of adult book stores and liquor stores is increasing. We drive a full five miles and still do not see it. Make a U-turn and drive the five miles back. Finally, against my lovely girlfriends objections, I put my foot down and pull in to the Sheraton, where we stay. She loved it, and I don't think I'll have to argue with her about that again. The next morning we're off and arrive in Shirley, NY (on the eastern side of Long Island) in good time. Shirley is near Fire Island, and if you know where Fire Island is, I'd wonder about you. "A" tells me that she now believes, if we had the GPS I have been wanting to get, we would have not had trouble. So, she tells me that, when we get back, she'll allow me to get a GPS. But my story isn't over... Everything went well in the visit. We knew the trailer was going to need tires, which we had installed. We had a bit of a confusion over the size of the trailer ball, but that was also taken care of. Finally, I put the NC plate on the plastic bracket on the back of the trailer and we're ready for our trip home on Sunday. On Sunday, we leave bright and early at the crack of 10am. The trailer is pulling well, and everything seems to be going fine. I've never been to Long Island, so I'm travelling via MapQuest directions (which were perfect in getting us there). After travelling on a few side streets and boulevards, the directions tell us to get on such and such parkway, which we do. As we're driving up the on-ramp, I see a sign that says "No Commercial Trucks or Trailers Allowed on the Parkway". I know that means me, but I really don't have a choice since, without MapQuest, I'm lost. I drive a couple of miles and see a cop in waiting. Yes, he pulls out and behind me. Lights and a whoop from his siren and I pull onto the next off ramp and stop as far over as I can. The cop gets on his PA and I hear "Whah whah whah wah." (think adults speaking in the Peanuts cartoons). I figured he was telling me to continue off the off ramp and pull over on the side street. So I start to pull away and hear another whoop from his siren. Ok, I say to myself, that's not what he said. So I shut down my truck and wait to see what he does. The cop gets out and approaches my window. He says, "Do you understand English?" "Yes", I say, and tell him that it was difficult to understand what he was saying through his PA. First he says that I have no plate on the trailer. "Excuse me???" He invites me to the back of the trailer and, by golly, the plastic bracket that was supposed to hold the plate had broke and, yes, the plate was now missing. I show him the NC title, and he accepts it. The he tells me that there are no trailers allowed on the parkway. I tell him that I understand, but that I'm following MapQuest, and without it, I'm lost. He says that I need to get on I-495 and to get there I need to go up this road, turn right, go to the next major road and turn right again, then I'll see I-495 and get on it heading west. "A" is listening and says, "Wait, let me write this down." The cop says, "No, no. It's very easy. You just go here..." The cop doesn't give me a ticket, and sends me on my way. Ok, so we go the directions the cop said, and no I-495. So I just find the first road with a number (Rt 21) and head west. I figure, I'm on an island and eventually will get off if I drive far enough. So we're driving and driving, still heading west. But the road is going from four lane to three lane, and getting smaller. Finally, as we're stopped at a light, I look over and see a Wal*Mart, which is part of a mall. I tell "A" that, since I've been authorized to buy a GPS, let's buy it now and we can get off the island no problem. (At this point I'm feeling like the cast of "Lost" or Gilligan's Island", one or the other). So we go into Wal*Mart. Actually "A" goes in first and I hang outside for a smoke. When I enter Wal*Mart, I meet "A" who says that they are all out of GPSs. She says that this is a mall, so there bound to be a Radio Shack, so we head into the mall. I did see a Sears from the outside, so we head in that direction. Didn't see a Radio Shack along the way, so we went into Sears. We bought the GPS (which is actually a Palm Pilot with a Garmin GPS installed). Head back out to the truck and open the box. I get out the unit and "A" gets the manuals (I'm a guy, "Manuals? We don't need no stinking manuals"). I'm fiddling with the unit trying to get the GPS to start up (I can turn it on, but a message on the screen says "GPS Off"). Then "A" says the manual says that I need to install software for the GPS to work. I tell her that I've had PDAs before and it comes with the software already installed and the disks are just in case the software needs to be re-installed. After a few more minutes I still can't get the GPS to start, so I figure "A" is right. (As a side note, I found out later that the GPS antenna needed to be open. However, the maps did need to be installed to be able to get directions that were meaningful). So, back into Wal*Mart to get a map book. We finally figure out how to get from where we are to I-495 and we're off again. Turns out, in the cops directions, one of his rights should have been a left. We're finally heading down I-495 when "A" points out that I-495 stops. I tell her it's probably a tunnel or something else. She says no, that it turns into a street. Huh??? Where??? "Manhattan", she says. Yes indeed, we come to the end of I-495 and with tonnes of traffic, I got flagged by a couple of cops who directed me to a coned of area. They asked if I had and hazmats (such as propane tanks), which I didn't, since they were already missing on the trailer. Then the cops asked me to open the trailer so they could see if I had any terrorists inside. After being satisfied, they let me go through the tunnel. On the other side of the tunnel was downtown Manhattan, 37th Street. Although the trailer isn't really long (about 14 or 16 feet), the combined length between it and my truck would be close to 35 to 40 feet. I drove straight down 37th Street, which was a two lane, one way road (although there were several instances of double parking). At every stop light, there were several dozens, if not a hundred or more people crossing the street in every direction, even against the light. Only once did the light turn green allowing me to cross, but the traffic on the other side of the light was stopped so the trailer hung out in the intersection. At that point, as all the people were winding their way around my truck, "A" kept saying "We're sorry, we're sorry". I told her to "Stop that." Finally, after a dozen or so blocks (including Broadway and Park Avenue) I saw a sign pointing me toward the Lincoln Tunnel. I know from my travels on the New Jersey turnpike that there is a direct shot between the turnpike and the Lincoln Tunnel. A couple turns and we were finally in the tunnel and out of that horrible mess. The rest of the drive home was fairly incident free (except for one guy in Maryland who apparently doesn't know that a truck towing a trailer cannot stop on a dime). I have no idea how these people live in that 7734-hole of a city. I'm also curious about how I could see so many cars there, and not a single gas station. At any rate, that my story. Just wanted to relate it for future posterity. Thanks for your time. (JenniferS, since you write for a living (or at least as a paying hobby), I'd appreciate a critique, if you have a few).
LOL Clif! Sounds like some adventures DH and I have been on! We have a 27 ft travel trailer and sometimes that can be a little "hard" to turn around when you end up somewhere you ain't s'posed to be! At least you got it home in one piece!
Well, minus the license plate anyway. We were looking at 28 foot trailers for a while, but this came along and who could turn down a free trailer in good working condition (we hope). I will tell you what, though, that trailer will never see Long Island again.
Nope! I wouldn't turn it down either! We bought ours new because we had already been burnt buying a used boat and we didn't have any kind-hearted relatives with one! ................figured we'd cut our teeth on one that shouldn't have mechanical problems. Skipped the pop-up stage since everyone seems to upgrade to a travel trailer later anyway.............the fifth wheel or the motor home is on the horizion though! Camping is great family time!
I have a friend that has a pop-up. She likes it and swears she's not going to upgrade. I've been to the shows, I can see a fifth-wheel or even a diesle pusher in my (relatively distant) future, though. Right now I figure I'm getting some experience with towing. So, where do y'all camp at?
Right now due to time constraints, not to mention gas prices, we mostly camp at Jordan Lake. We have some friends in Pittsboro, so that's convenient. There is a very small campground just outside Wilson we like to go to because it has a pool on-site. We have camped near the zoo in Asheboro, and of course at a couple races in Charlotte. Planning a week at Myrtle to one of those big campgrounds in the summer.
Forgot to add, I can definitely see the advantages to a pop-up! They are much easier to tow, doesn't require quite as much of a truck to get the job done!
And to add insult to injury......... All you had to do was call me since I was born and raised on Long Island......
Clif, I'm certainly not qualified to critique anyone, but since you asked.... Overall, I think the structure and content was good. It was a nice read. My only complaint is that I found myself skimming through, which is what I normally do when something has at some point lost my attention and it's become too long. I think for the story itself and the point you were trying to make, it was a tad bit lengthy. Otherwise, it was an interesting story.
Clif, In certain genre. the rapid pace, and "quick" writing is an excellent method to move the story along, and keep your reader interested. As one who started out with a shelter half, which morphed into a Popup, to used to new RV, I commiserated with every mos step along your way. Good Read! Carl
You didn't really ask A NY cop for directions did you???? If you did, it would be a link of diners and donut shops with a few streets inbetween. And his union steward aint gonna be happy.
