Drive To Rhode Island II 2013
Today I made my annual pilgrimage to Rhode Island for Thanksgiving. This time it was by Electra as I did previously this year. What a long road trip! Fortunately there is the radio and NPR is always there for me. But what kept me energized throughout the drive had to have been singing along to songs at the top of my lungs. Keep in mind it was probably the worst singing you have never heard. The two songs that repeated the most were OneRepublic's Catching Stars and Lady Gaga's Applause. I enjoyed singing to them on the numerous occasions they came on. Old, but I'm not that old. Young, but I'm not that bold.
Things were different this time driving. First, I80 didn't turn to one lane at any point; I don't think that's happened to me before. The tolls were less of a hassle with the EZ Pass I purchased; no more getting frustrated with those rude toll booth cutters. This time I drove at the speed limit on the George Washington Bridge to admire the New York Skyline especially for the $13 it now costs to cross it (eastward only).
The biggest update to the route back has to be Connecticut's Service Plazas. With some high taxes, Connecticut definitely spent a quite a bit of money on these new pitstops. Instead of the aged centers, you have modern stops with McDonald's and other food venues including the essential Northeast favorite, Dunkin Donuts (finally, took them long enough to figure that out). But every aspect has been is improved on. It is certainly cleaner. The selection for food increased dramatically including Pink Berry. The atmosphere is comforting and I even got to watch some of the NFL Monday Night Football game. Even the restrooms are done smarter, it looks like the women's restroom is double the size of the men's which makes sense. Only the gas pumps are designed for better flow of traffic. There are even Tesla Chargers! It's good to see that Connecticut is fully embracing the fact it is an alley between New York, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island.
But some things didn't change. Once I hit New Jersey, people forgot or never learned that the left lane is the passing lane. Connecticut drivers are just as bad as New Jersey drivers. The sight of beautiful Rhode Island plates warms my heart. And somehow my father always calls when I'm at one of my two pit stops. And as always, he asks if I have eaten yet but no girlfriend questions! Instead, he inquired how much more driving I had left which was two hours. He responded like a true Rhode Islander and made it seem like it was a lifetimes worth of driving. I don't know what the number of years a person should be eligible to be a citizen but it should be less than 27 years if you had to use my father as an example (though my father is a citizen already). To be honest, the fact I only had two hours left made me incredibly joyous after having driven ten hours already.