Last Friday night we finished packing and tried to go to sleep at midnight...we were up by 2:40 am and left the house at 3:45 am...Robert, Robiana, our 11 year old niece-Debbymar- our 8 year old nephew Marc Anthony and I. Robert drove about 1 1/2 hours and then I drove the next 2 hours or so. It was hard for both of us trying to stay awake having slept for only 2 hours. However, once the sun was out it was a little easier for us. We drove through Georgia, South and North Carolina without major issues. But once we got to Virginia, traffic started to get bad. We realized an hour later that there was an army convoy that was slowing the traffic down--about 15 military trucks. Then we thought we were safe and good to go, just to find more traffic as we got closer to Washington DC. By then it was close to 8 pm. We stopped in a food/gas rest area after passing Baltimore at about 9 pm and by 10 pm we were back on the road. It took us another 3 hours to reach our final destination: a Best Western in Fairfield NJ. After spending 21 hours in a car we were happy to get to our room and simply crash in bed!!! Sunday we got late, well 10 am and we missed the complimentary breakfast in the hotel so we visited the Hot Grill in Clifton--I just so enjoyed the chilli fries, coffee and a ham, egg & cheese in a hard roll. It had been years since I last ate there. Then we stopped by the hospital Marc was born in Passaic- St. Mary's, the apartment building we last lived before moving to FL, the park near the apt., and the church we were went, First Baptist of Passaic. After that we went to Robert's oldest daughter, Audrey. We stayed there for a little while and then took all the kids for bowling. This was Robiana, Marc and Debbymar first time at a bowling alley and we had a blast. Debbymar and Robiana had 3 spares; Debbymar finished 2nd and Robiana 3rd. Not bad for being first timers! After leaving Audrey's house we stopped at Applebees then the hotel; we were all in bed by 10:30 pm. on Monday morning we visited my sister Lourdes and saw my niece Tania who I had not seen in over 7 years. I met her husband and two adorable sons (Vergil, 2 and Gabriel, 4 months old). We took some pictures and they left, they live in PA. After about 2 hours with my sister we headed to Robert's son house: Robert. We had lunch and dinner there. The kids had a great time as there were other children about their same age and we met Robert's youngest granddaughter Ivangeline, 5 months. Although we all had a great time there, I was a little stressed because there was a dog in the house. For those of you who don't know me, I am very afraid of dogs; I was bitten by one when I was about 7 years old and have not been able to get rid of that fear. Small dogs don't scare me as much unless they want to be near me all the time. Anyway, thanks to God and Debbymar & Isidra, I survived and was happy when I left. Tuesday morning we visited Rockaway Mall and then went to Robert's second daughter's house: Annie. She lives in Lake Hopatcong. We spent the afternoon/evening with them. We visited the lake and had lunch and dinner with them. This was our first time in their house. Robiana liked playng with Tommy's drums and Marc with his legos. We even watched The Lion King 1 1/2. Yesterday we drove by Debbie's apartment while she lived in NJ in River St., Paterson. Since there was some police there, we were not able to take pictures right in front of the house as I had planned. From there we went to NYC and we had such a great time. It was mostly a sightseeing adventure from the car but we did manage to make quick stops to take some pictures. We decided to park near the South Street Seaport and walked around for a good 2 hours. We even took a taxi to Battery Park. Then we drove to Chinatown. At that time the battery of my camera died--so we took very few pictures at Chinatown and none of our trip back to Jersey and the Red Lobster where we ate. Today we met a very good friend of mine and her children at Chuck E. Cheese's in Wayne. It has been raining all day so we have stayed in the hotel, after swimming at the pool for an hour or so. Debbymar & Robert are watching tv and Marc & Robiana are "playing" together. We only have one more full day here and then we head back to FL very early Saturday morning. This time we will probably stop at a hotel on our way down and will get to FL on Sunday. It is a lot of hours in a car but we will try to have fun on our way down, just as we did on our way up here, and make memories along the way. I have had a wonderful time and I am very glad we brought our niece and nephew along. Blessings to all--from NJ! More to come after this adventure is over....love always!
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