BillyVance 34 #1 October 16, 2007 What a nice but busy vacation I had in NJ and NY with my wife and kid! Flew Atlanta to Newark Saturday the 6th using tickets that were originally scheduled in January but postponed when my wife got sick and had to miss her cousin's wedding. First hour of the flight was a nightmare as our little girl screamed and cried a good amount. She obviously had ear pressure and intestinal gas problems. Thankfully the last hour and 20 minutes went by with little complaint from her. Grabbed the rental and took off to my wife's aunt's townhouse 15 minutes away in NJ to visit for a couple of hours, then it was on to Long Island across the George Washington and Throgs Neck suspension bridges to stay at my wife's grandmother's house. Damn they make a killing on the bridge tolls! Let me tell you, staying at grandmother-in-law's house ain't no picnic. She's 88 years old and cranky as hell. She's my wife's grandmother so I have to put up with her as best I can, and I do a much better job of that than SHE does. Grandmother also has a really bad problem with food left in the fridge for months or in the pantry for years! She was gonna cook dinner for us, but my wife noticed that everything she planned to cook with were spoiled! So I ended up going out for pizza to bring back. I also knew if I drank beer in her house, she was gonna bitch about it to my wife. So I had one at the pizza place while waiting on the order. It was also funny when my little girl pulled a box of pasta out of the pantry that was dated 1994!!!! The next night I needed to get the fuck outta there for a few hours so I put out a holler on here for anyone on Long Island to come meet me for a beer. Broke responded! Thanks dude! Tuesday was my wife's birthday and we all went out to dinner, including her aunt that we visited first, as she stopped by after work (on long island) before going home back across the river. I learned that she spends about $400 a month on bridge tolls and gas!!! That evening I wanted to call my aunt in Auburn and find out what the situation was with my dying uncle, who was in a hospice. But grandmother, being the cranky bitch she is sometimes, complained that it would cost too much to call that far. Boy did my wife lay into her that I paid way more for her dinner than that phone call would cost. Well she agreed to let me call, but then a thunderstorm rolled in with intense lightning and she didn't want me to make the call. Damn, we plan to drive out there the next morning and I'm trying to get any info whether we should go or not, plus it's getting late and I don't want to call her too late. So instead I text a few relatives hoping someone would respond, and then I hid in a corner of the house away from the granny from hell. Turns out I couldn't sleep until 4 am. Well, Wednesday morning I get up and check my messages. Mom told me it was too late to go see my uncle as he had stopped recognizing who his wife was and was drifting in and out of consciousness, and his wife was too upset to have anyone visit. So... we opted to visit my wife's cousin in western NJ. Now that was a house that my little girl liked, she kept climbing up and down the stairs in the 3 floor house! Of course, she didn't do that without one of us nearby, and thankfully she has a healthy fear of heights and just by watching her, I can see she's careful about getting down the stairs. However, if she sees open water, she will make a beeline for it, with or without us! Next day, Thursday, time to get on to my other aunt and uncle in New Paltz, NY. We decided to avoid the highways and take the back roads. Now that was a nice leisurely drive. Lots of tiny and small towns along the way. One thing about New Jersey though - almost every damn little town is guaranteed to have a Dunkin Donut shop in it!!! Sometimes I can see TWO of them within eyesight!!! We also happened to pass right by William Seward's birthplace, you know, that guy that brokered the United States' purchase of Alaska from Russia. We got into New Paltz to my aunt's house (another one our girl loves, especially the stairs!) and there we stayed for the remainder of our vacation. They took us out to a brewery/restaurant in town (it's a SUNY college town with a bunch of pubs) for dinner and boy it was good, even though we all had to take turns walking our little girl around as she would just not sit still in her booster seat. I also had the beer sampler set - eight 3 ounce glasses, one of each of their in-house brews. I liked a couple, so I ordered a pint of each afterwards and gave the car keys to my wife. We also visited my 94 year old grandmother in a nursing home just outside of town. She is the complete opposite of my wife's grandmother - sweet, knowledgable and very engaging. She had a ball just watching her great-grand-daughter play. After that, it was time to head down to Gardiner 6 miles away and check out the Ranch DZ there. Now that was interesting. A major, busy DZ with a gigantic hangar and two Otters running back to back loads, all right in town just walking distance from downtown. I thought it was going to be much further down the road and I almost had to slam on the brakes when I realized I was about to pass the entrance! I just wanted to check the place out and see if there were anybody from dropzone.com there. It was also my little girl's first visit to a DZ, and she kept pointing at the Otters and the skydivers landing under their parachutes. Just wait until she finally gets to see her daddy do it! I was about to give up and leave without meeting anybody from here when I noticed a car with the plate "ntrprnr" on it. On a dime, I turned around and went right back into the hangar to look for Peter Shankman. Caught him just walking into the hangar (windy enough for you dude?) Hey, you got my little girl to smile while holding her. We then headed off to the Shawangunk ridge to visit some of the park attractions, and then it was back to my aunt's house in New Paltz, but damn if I didn't run into a 2 mile long jam on rte 299 from the mountain into town! What the fuck... Got out the blackberry and checked into the GPS mapping feature. Love that shit. Ah! Found an alternate route just 100 yards ahead. Took it. Whadaya know. It took me all the way back to Gardiner and then I got back on 209 for the drive back to New Paltz, a 13 mile detour. Beats sitting in traffic edging a few feet a minute anyway. It was clear going through town on 209, but we did notice 299 was still backed up. Sunday, it was time to head home. Got the rental car all packed up, with two bottles of milk and a couple bags of snacks for the toddler, a bottle of mountain dew for me and coke for my wife, 96 miles to Newark Liberty Airport, hit it! (sound of tires squealing out of the driveway) Anybody guess the reference? So there we are, speeding down I-87 and then I-287 into NJ, and I have the unfortunate luck to get busted for speeding. Been a while too since the last one. Fuck. We definitely ain't in Alabama. I take the ticket from the Dodge Charger equipped deputy, and my wife insists on driving the rest of the way. I oblige. We did manage to make it to our gate with just a few minutes to spare. And boy, did that children's Benadryl work wonders on our little girl for the flight back! We had to try something after that disastrous flight up. Well at least she didn't scream or cry, but she was squirmy at times. Well, back to the usual routine... What's up, bitches! "Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
normiss 851 #2 October 16, 2007 Quote What a nice but busy vacation I had in NJ I just can't get past that outright lie...it's simply unpossible to do this.Glad you enjoyed your time with your family. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bolas 5 #3 October 16, 2007 Quote Sunday, it was time to head home. Got the rental car all packed up, with two bottles of milk and a couple bags of snacks for the toddler, a bottle of mountain dew for me and coke for my wife, 96 miles to Newark Liberty Airport, hit it! (sound of tires squealing out of the driveway) Anybody guess the reference? Blues Brothers. Stupidity if left untreated is self-correcting If ya can't be good, look good, if that fails, make 'em laugh. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NWFlyer 2 #4 October 16, 2007 So, to summarize ... Cranky kid Cranky in-laws Weather Traffic Random ntrprnr sighting Billy forgets that he's fookin' deaf and can take off the hearing aid to ignore most of the above. Got it."There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
normiss 851 #5 October 17, 2007 you sooo missed the most important part: Sneaking out for ! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brittentay 0 #6 October 17, 2007 the amityville house is still there, but its been remodeled. doesnt look much like the house you would see in any of the movies. my ex drove me to it once, and just the general build of the house is a bit creepy. his best friends grew up there, and he used to stay over all the time. swore he never saw or heard anything but that the clock on the mantle in the old movies is actually painted onto the floor in front of the fireplace. seemed odd. anyways, you didnt miss much, promise. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
livendive 8 #7 October 17, 2007 You were gone? For longer than it took you to type this? Blues, Dave"I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nutz 0 #8 October 17, 2007 Quote You were gone? For longer than it took you to type this? Blues, Dave Yeah, what is this, Billy's blog on dz.com? Shouldn't it have some disgusting picture attatched? "Don't! Get! Eliminated!" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
2fat2fly 0 #9 October 17, 2007 Please don't give him any ideasI am not the man. But the man knows my name...and he's worried Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mnealtx 0 #10 October 17, 2007 Quote Shouldn't it have some disgusting picture attatched? That's the "well, back to the usual routine" part of his post.... Mike I love you, Shannon and Jim. POPS 9708 , SCR 14706 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TFFTM 1 #11 October 17, 2007 While you were gone Buddy gave you Alabama Gang #45 BSBD Home of the Alabama Gang Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BillyVance 34 #12 October 17, 2007 Quote While you were gone Buddy gave you Alabama Gang #45 Woo hoo!! Thanks dude!"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
