On Sunday I woke up some time after noon. The night before I had told Natalia to call me when she got to the long branch train station or half an hr before I was to pick her up, so I sat at home waiting for the call. The first call came I think around 4. She told me that she was at the LB station and that the train she was supposed to transfer to, wasn’t going to be there for another half hr. so I called rick and jumped in my car and got on the parkway to head north. Just as I got on the parkway she calls me, tells me to wait and go back home till 5ish. I was a little mad, but I did. Besides I think I forgot something. Half an hour later she told me she was getting off the train at the Belmar station and to come get her. I know from experience that the drive to Belmar was at least 20 mins, so I called Rick who was already at the boathouse, to go pick her up. When I got to Belmar I passed the boathouse, then went to the train station. When I arrived there rick was just putting Nat into a cab, and we decided to rendezvous at the Boathouse. At the boathouse I parked on a side street... There isn’t much of a lot.
The three of us walked in the bat together and proceeded to hunt for a place to sit. Rick got a beeper from the hostess so we could be seated. In the meantime we tried sitting in a yet to be opened section of the bar. We were told by a bus boy that we could, but soon the hostess came by and told us we couldn’t, but there was a booth available for us now.
As we ate we b/s’d and reminisced some more. Nat and I told rick about our trip up together. She also showed us the 2 coats she finally found in Brooklyn. It wa here that Nat told Rick that I chose the most American dinner at the Russian restaurant. Nat also told us about the comedy show she saw. From what I could tell the show was performed by an improv troupe, she would say otherwise. I told them both about what I had done after I left her at the show. Rick sat and listened and told us that Roman wasn’t able to come because he had just gotten sick the night before. I think, and so might Nat that the story was b/s, Rom just didn’t want to go.
The three of us sat and ate and talked for I think 3 hrs there at the boathouse before we finally parted ways. It was 9pm before Nat and I left Belmar and hit the highway to bring her home. My GPS at first said we wouldn’t get back to Round Hill till 2:07am. The trip was long and we didn’t talk much on the trip down, Nat opt’d to sleep and listen to music. When we got to the six flags exit I stopped for gas as I had on the way down the first time. At the station nat asked for some other music and I told her to find a couple of cds to listen to… I had packed a plastic bag of a bunch of my old cds the week before for the trip. As I drove down we listened to the music. The only times I woke her were the couple of times I had to open the window for a toll, and for on rest stop break. I did however let her know a couple of times, as we got closer to her home. Somehow I got her home quarter to two.
Long before we got back to round hill I decided to stop at the 7-11 near her home to buy her some cherry garcia that I owed her from last year. I think it woke her some that we had stopped. A few minutes later we were at her house and I showed her in, helping with all her bags. I tried kissing her goodbye and left. i think we both thought that was it, but on the way out of the complex I realized the ice cream was still in my cup holder. I drove a little up the road and hun a U-y, calling Nat, trying to get her before she went to bed. I succeeded in contacting her and told her I forgot something. When I got back and gave her the ice cream, I think she was a little surprised and she was definitely gracious. I didn’t get the total response I was hoping for, but I guess it was good enough. (More about that in another blog I think).
Once I knew she had everything I headed back to the hotel I would be staying at. The hotel was half an hr away and I was exhausted… I thought Nat would do some of the driving, but she was tired and had more to do in the next 24 hrs than I… so drove pretty fast to get back to the hotel, I didn’t want to fall asleep driving in an area I didn’t know. I am surprised I didn’t get caught, but it was early Monday morning. I think it was 3am before I collapsed on the bed in my hotel room. I watched some bill maher and a movie before I fell asleep.
Despite just getting to sleep around 4 or 5 am, somehow I got up in time for the complimentary breakfast the hotel had served in the lobby. The breakfast was ok, they had little round egg patties like an egg mcmuffin or that sort of sandwich. They also had grits along with all the other things they had last time. I grabbed a bit to eat and sat in the dining room to watch the tv. They had fox news on and they were talking about acorn. I felt like asking someone to change the channel because it was making me sick as I ate, but I think republicans surrounded me.
I ate up quick and took the muffin I couldn’t finish back to my room. Back at the room I took a shower and packed. I think I checked out during the 11 o’clock hour.
The night before I decided to make my way to Annapolis, MD on my way home and figured out a rout. Although about a mile or two up the road from the hotel, I noticed that my check engine light was on. I didn’t panic too much. I might have gotten a little paranoid about how the car was running tho. I resolved to take back roads and try to make it back to jersey before anything really happened. I also called and left a message on my home answering machine, telling my folks what was going on and not to panic.
Fortunately taking the back roads that I found, they took me towards Annapolis and I took a drive and a walk around the town. The town was nice. It looked old. I guess it would be with the naval academy there. When I drove up to the academy gate I was told that I would have to find a place in town to park, and that all I needed to get in was a state issue ID.
I drove around the town and found a parking lot about a couple miles from the academy. I walked around the town finding my way back to the academy, taking pictures of the downtown shops as I went.
When I walked up to the academy gates I took some more pics and walked in the main pedestrian entrance. There were metal detectors at this entrance, but they didn’t seem in use. The only thing that I got checked was my I.D. I didn’t even have to take it out of the sleeve in my wallet. I walked through to the other side and made my way to a welcome center a block up the road. The welcome center also acted as a museum, but it didn’t seem like it had much to do with the academy… there was a space capsule there. I took a map and decided to walk around the campus on my own. Before I went for the walk my father called, and I told him what was happening.
Going to the academy I was expecting some big port or base with different ships around, there wasn’t. The only vessels I saw were the sail boats the cadets trained on, so I walked back to the exit almost a mile away. In order to get back to the exit I cut through some of the main courtyards of the school area. I felt soo weird with what I was wearing; surrounded by all these uniformed cadets, and was afraid I might soon be arrested for trespassing or something. I made it back to the exit and my car. The parking fee was rather cheap, not even $5 for 3 hrs.
When I got back to my car I headed out of town. When I spoke to my father earlier he recommended finding a Honda dealership to look at my car, for the engine light. On my way back to the highway I found a dealership, but it did not appear to have its service shop attached. I figured they would rape me in charges to find out was wrong anyway so I fig’d I might as well be raped close to home if I had to.
Once back on the highway I noticed my gas gauge was getting pretty low. One thing after the other led to my not getting gas soon. First I missed most of the stations when I first noticed, then I crossed a mile long bridge, and when I brought up the gas station search on the GPS I found out I had just passed one. I think I went 40 miles before I finally filled up.. it pays to have a Honda when you’re low on gas.
A few miles after the gas station I crossed the border from Maryland into Delaware. It is here that I stopped at a wawa for lunch and spoke to my father again. Once on the road again I noticed my “check engine” light had finally turned off and my car was running more smoothly.
The rest of the way home was uneventful as I listened to the rest of my Obama cd book. i think disc 4 of 5 finished up 4 miles from my house. When I got in and relaxed I fell right to sleep, exhausted as hell!
The end.
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