Day 8 - Philadelphia, PA to New Haven, CT

Friday, May 08, 2015
New Haven, Connecticut, United States
My friend Margarita loves the word serendipity, which means "the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way". That perfectly describes today.

We left the hotel this morning headed for Connecticut, but with a stop near Trenton, NJ to visit a high school friend of Armando's. I figured we would get there and he and his friend would talk about a bunch of people I don't know in Spanish while his wife and I would make polite small talk until it was time to go. I wasn't even sure if she spoke English.
 
Well, the first thing his wife Mary Anne said to me is "Are you American too like me?" Yes!! So we went in and sat down, the men started talking about their old friends in Spanish, just like I knew they would. Then Mary Anne asked me where I grew up. I said Madison, Wisconsin. She said "Oh my God, I went to Edgewood College in Madison". I said "when did you graduate?" She said 1968. I didn't go to Edgewood College, but many of you know that every summer I get together with four friends from high school, and one of them, Lucy, went to Edgewood and graduated in 1968!!! So Mary Anne got her yearbook and sure enough there was Lucy!!!!! What a small small world!!! She and I talked non-stop from 10:00 when we arrived until 2:00 when we left. We'd probably still be there talking except she had a doctor appointment. We decided from now on we'll coordinate our trips to Peru, so the men can go to their reunions and we can go play together! How amazing is that??!! I am still blown away. Of course I had to phone Lucy and tell her about it, and she was amazed too.

Other than that (and I probably can't take much more excitement in one day!) we drove up around New York City, crossing the Hudson River on the Tappan Zee bridge. After we were across I got curious about the name so googled it. I'm glad I googled it AFTER we crossed. Tappan is an Indian name and Zee means sea in Dutch. But what else I learned: The deteriorating current structure bears an average of 138,000 vehicles per day, substantially more traffic than its designed capacity. ….The Tappan Zee was designed to last only 50 years due to material shortages during the Korean War at the time of its construction….Many factors contribute to the precarious infrastructure of the bridge, which has been called "one of the most decrepit and potentially dangerous bridges" in the  U.S. Engineering assessments have determined that "everything from steel corrosion to earthquakes to maritime accidents could cause major, perhaps catastrophic, damage to the span," prompting one of the top aides in the New York state governor's office to refer to the Tappan Zee as the “hold-your-breath bridge.” A 2009 state report noted that the Tappan Zee’s engineers designed it to be “nonredundant,” meaning that one "critical fracture could make the bridge fail completely because its supports couldn’t transfer the structure’s load to other supports."

Sometimes ignorance is bliss!! 

From the New York border to New Haven we were in traffic - (note to my Memphis friends - there IS no traffic in Memphis!) all the New Yorkers getting out of town for the weekend I guess. We did see this truck - it says "Swimming Pool Water" (click to make the picture bigger). Swimming Pool Water? Seriously? People in New England get their swimming pool water delivered in a tank truck?  
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Comments

Marge Nickels
2015-05-09

You are correct - Memphis has no traffic! After having lived in Cleveland, OH and visited Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia, DC, Baltimore, Miami, Atlanta, Los Angeles and New York on the ground driving, what Memphis has for traffic just does not compare.

crazy.travelers
2015-05-09

Yeah, and even worse, if you try driving in Lima, Peru, you will decide those American cities you listed aren't so bad after all!!!

Leigh Ann
2015-05-09

I'm caught up. Love reading your stories.

Research Department
2015-05-09

Regarding the pool water, it's spring and Northerners are refilling their pools after draining them for the winter. Maybe they don't do that further south in Memphis. This is from another company that delivers pool water.

Q: Why can't I just use my hose to fill my pool?

A: Many people do use their hose. But, if you are on well water, your water has not been treated. You will have to buy chemicals and run your well for sometimes up to three days to fill your pool. Most garden hoses only discharge six gallons/minute. That's only 360 gallons an hour. That's a lot of stress on your well pump. After you add the water treatment chemicals, you will have to run the pool filter for a few days straight, to get the water ready to swim in. To recap, if you use well water, it may take approx. three days to fill your pool, and another 2-3 days to treat the water before swimming in it. Having it trucked in, you are ready to swim the same day your water is delivered.

mike wess
2015-05-09

hey if you are going to new haven you need to stop in at the KOC museum. I have heard that it is quite good.

Becky Williams
2015-05-09

You are on point...Memphis has NO traffic...crazy drivers, maybe, buy no traffic!

crazy.travelers
2015-05-09

Mike, we are in New Haven because the KOC museum is here. Going there after breakfast.

Research Dept. - When we first open the pool in the spring the water temp is too cold anyway, so no one is going swimming for at least a week, giving the chemicals time to work. And adding chemicals goes on all during the season. I do get the part about if you have a well, though. It took a long time to fill our pool after changing the liner, but we heard we could have paid the fire dept to hook up the hydrant and fill it in no time.

Etta
2015-05-11

It took us two hours to drive three blocks in New York City back in the mid 70s. I think they believed that those things hanging above the intersections were just pretty lights!

2025-02-15

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