NYC Day One of Two-point-five

WHOO HOO, we made it!!! Moosh and I are nuts... this is probably the longest planned, yet most thrown together road trip ever designed and followed through.

The Drive Over. Friday, October 11, 2002

So, our adventures began at 2:45pm, Friday, October 11th... about an hour after we were supposed to be well on our way to the bright lights and the big city. With Moosh behind the wheel, and we pulled out and drove straight over to Borders... because we couldn't start our roadtrip without a copy of The Rough Guide to New York City. It's a necessity for anyone throwing together an itinerary at the last minute. We hit the highway screaming "New York or BUST!!!" and, of course, missed our exit and started heading down to Texas instead. Fortunately, however, we found our way back on the eastward road. Before exiting Ohio we made our first restroom stop... the reststops along the Turnpike our quite lovely as far as reststops go... clean... brightly lit... and abundantly stocked with food and other roadtrip essentials, including a two-dollar flashlight because my overhead interior light decided to stop working a few days ago. At the gas station the nice man behind the counter tried to help us out and save me seven dollars and we spent a good half hour checking the fuse boxes in my car and reading the manual... to no avail. Alas, I doled out the cash and we were on our way... but not before a trucker called my ass-crack "The prettiest sight" he'd seen all day. Whoo-hoo! First road trip compliment ;)

Pennsylvania... not much to say about that except that it is the longest, most boring state to drive across. I was behind the wheel... and I have to admit... I was cruising at 85-90 at some points. At one point we had our first roadtrip disaster... Moosh dropped her frozen yogurt in her backpack... unscheduled pitstop to clean up. We hit the rain in Pennsylvania, and haven't seen a dry minute since. I sang along to my sister's mixes, while Moosh pretend to sleep (I was quite embarrassed when I found that out!!! I was using my behind-the-door singing voice... the one you only belt out when you think you're home alone and you're dancing in your room naked ;) hehe.) Before we hit Stroudsbourg Moosh and I switched places. The gas station sold books about the Amish... Amish fiction, Amish poetry, Amish cooking... we were strangers in a strange land.

New Jersey! Whoo hoo!!! Every five minutes we saw a sign for New York and screamed "WHOO HOO!!! NEW YORK BABY!!!" You would think that would have gotten old... but it didn't. I made a small error and we ended up in a really sketchy New Jersey neighborhood. We're still not sure if we witnessed a drug deal. Found our way back onto the highway.

New York. Whoa... we're nuts. Driving into New York is an attack on the senses, the nerves, and the sanity. Yahoo Maps is more confusing then helpful. Moosh was wired on coffee and nervousness... and as soon as we hit the toll booths we were in trouble. The signs didn't make any sense, we couldn't see the lines, we mistook this overpass we went under for the Holland Tunnel. It was a miracle that we managed to get the car to Jon's place... we were driving at 5mph because we didn't know half the time where we were supposed to go and we were looking out for street signs because we didn't want to make a wrong turn lest it takes us where no Michigander darest go. We annoyed everyone behind us. We spent 45 minutes looking for parking. I ran into an apartment to ask "what's the fire hydrant rule?" There was all this space around fire hydrants and no one knew... because NO ONE DRIVES IN NEW YORK! We finally just decided to leave the car in a garage across the street from Jon's place for just $25 for 24 hours, which seems like a deal to me because it's much better than the possibility of a $109 parking ticket.

Day One. Saturday, October 12, 2002

We went to bed at 5am after exploring the sun deck and admiring the cold and wet view of our Lady Liberty and Staten Island. Jon's apartment also overlooks Ground Zero, and it's so utterly amazing to think that just a year ago... it's amazing how NYC has managed to pick itself up after so much tragedy. I didn't get up until 12:00. Our plans for the day: the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I have no qualms with playing tourist and I stop people every so often to ask how to get places. This is why I never get lost ;) hehe. We make our way to the subway and while being super silly and taking pictures I end up wearing a policeman's hat posing with Moosh and a Toronto cop. I love subways and I commandeer a map and soon Moosh and I are cruising the underground. Onward to the Met! And, how do you like that, we run into Zeman's at our stop! The 709 girls reunited.

At the Met we see Richard Avedon's portrait exhibit. Amazing. His portraits are really simple: white backdrop, no poses, just the person and their essence. I loved his portrait of Ezra Pound and Moosh loved Marilyn Monroe.

Walking tour commenced after dinner at the Met: Grand Central Station, the Chrysler Building, Fifth Avenue, the Rockafeller Center, Radio City Music Hall, Times Square, and, most important to Moosh, our resident MTV junkie... MTV Studios.

More to follow... stay tuned!