AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHH!!!!!
OK now that I got that out, on to the blogging. Remember my plan about finding something cool to do on the weekend since so many things have only been open on the weekend? Yeah that's failed so far. Today was....frustrating...
I got out a bit late in the morning because I was finishing up trying to make a plan for the day. I got directions to a AAA place in Northern NJ to get new maps and guidebooks. I didn't have a printer so I wrote out the directions by hand. They were strange directions that sent me well into a residential area. And then suddenly none of the roads I was looking for were there. Anywhere. I hadn't written down the distances because I didn't think I'd need them, but I drove for a long ways and couldn't find the turn.
Luckily, I had left the directions open on my computer. I'd just need to open up my laptop to get the distances. But alas, my computer wouldn't wake up, so I had to restart it, thus closing the direction window.
At that point I went to get something to eat because I was starving, and tried to find some internet to "borrow". It took a while but I finally found somewhere with a connection that worked. When I looked up the address for the AAA office, it told me that branch didn't exist. What??!! I started wondering if I'd been dreaming....if i'd somehow been seeing things and invented directions to a non-existant place. It was actually a bit creepy.
Thankfully, after searching a different way I found the office I was looking for. This time it gave me completely different directions. It's possible that I could've written the original ones down wrong but I don't think I could've messed it up this bad. I was sort of in the right area but way on the wrong roads. Anyway, hours later than planned, I finally got my maps and was ready to go.
I picked the most direct route I could find to get to the highway. I didn't notice that it took me awfully close to the big city cluster that I'd been trying to avoid. The road turned in to a super narrow, heavily congested road. Narrow, with businesses, cars, and people everywhere. It was sloooooow going. To make matters worse, I got the distinct impression that I was on the wrong side of the tracks. Nothing scary happened or anything, but I had no desire at all to stop anywhere or get out of the car. My pale, blonde-haired self would've REALLY stuck out! Not that there was anywhere to stop anyway...that was part of the problem. I couldn't find anywhere to even pull over to check a map and find a new route!
I finally found the interstate and have never been happier to see it! At least then I knew what I was doing and where I was headed. But it was nearly 4 by the time I got to anywhere I wanted to be. Once I was south of the cluster area I headed out to the coast. It was getting late, but I stopped at the first public beach I saw just to walk around for a bit. It was nice to see the ocean again. You know, a chance to stop and smell the scallops before continuing on. No matter how stressed I get, the ocean can always calm me down somehow.
It was a really cool beach. The waves were forming and crashing right close to shore. There was a big sand burm on the beach, that only the big waves could crash over. Then the water from those waves would collect behind the burm in a river/puddle thing, deposit shells and rocks and things, and then slowly drain into the sand or back out to the ocean. There were shells EVERYWHERE! Far more shells than I've seen on any beach this trip. Or maybe any beach ever.
From there I mostly just drove. Got a few nice views along the way, but I really wanted to make some distance. I had read about a very cool campsite on the beach that I wanted to get to. I had planned to stop and check out a few boardwalks (seemed like something a person has to do while on the Jersey coast) and then head to this campsite. Instead, with my shortened trip, I only drove by the boardwalks and still didn't make it anywhere close to where I want to be. The first place I could find to stay was quite a bit south. There was a campsite, but it was super expensive, and just barely cheaper than a hotel. Literally just $20 separated a patch of dirt and my own hotel room. So yeah, I went for the hotel. So....instead of camping on the beach I'm staying at a Holiday Inn and had dinner at an Applebees connected to a mall. A little different than the plan but I guess it works. I got lucky...I got one of the last two rooms left at this hotel. The couple that arrived mere minutes after me got the last one. It's a smoking room but it doesn't smell because the window was left open. Thankfully it was open because someone had set the heat on to 77. Ack!
Anyway, the evening pretty well made up for the frustrating day I had. Or at least left me a lot less grumpy. Hopefully tomorrow will be smoother!
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Oh, my, how frustrating! I hate when I find something online once, don't get all the details right, and then can't find it again. It's like they suddently changed the whole system or something in the short time in between. I, too, wonder if I made it up. Only, I know I'm not creative enough to have come up with all the details. So naturally, I blame the computer. Or technology in general. I'm glad you eventually found it, though. I'm starting to appreciate the technology of GPS a lot more now. It truly is an amazing invention...when you want it. But, it's also a little creepy to think you can be tracked so easily, too. Still, something comforting about the voice of the lady in the box when you're having trouble find your way...I wish they had a GPS for life. (OK, that was an odd random thought.)
ReplyDeleteI agree that the ocean is a powerfully calming influence. When I was in CA, I often went to the ocean for that very reason. Just hearing the rushing sound of the water and tasting the salt in the air feels good. Even my little lake, with whatever wildlife happens to be in it (and whatver boats may be out) gives me a little of that. I really should make the effort to cross the parking lot more often....lol.
Seems to me that if you got one of the last 2 hotel rooms, it was meant to be...that's how I always think of those kinds of things. But someone had the heat on? Seriously? I realize the temperature's dropping, but that seems a little ridiculous. You're lucky that it's a room where the windows open, though; I think most of the hotels I've been in have just had solid panes of glass.
I hope tomorrow's a better, less frustrating day for you and that you find some cool things to do.