Right before school started back for the year, we took a five day road trip to NYC/NJ and Washington, DC. A big thanks to Aunt Betty and Jim for putting us up (and putting up with us). Since we try and find something to teach the boys in all of our adventures these are the top 20 things we learned on our journey:
1. I would prefer for Scott to check the car the weekend prior to our road trips, not at 10:30 the evening before we leave. This would avoid stopping for an hour somewhere to change out the battery.
2. Tolls along the East Coast are no longer paid with coins. They are paid with dollars, and lots of them. I brought a bunch of change with me, apparently I thought we were driving to 1976.
3. One day Sam would like to count all of the tiles in the tunnel in Baltimore.
4. It is physically impossible for Sam to ride in a car without creating a ring of crap and garbage around him. It just seems to magically appear.
5. Ryan would like to live a few blocks from Times Square, but in our house and neighborhood. The idea of a McDonald's and Dunkin Donuts on every corner was very enticing to him.
6. Ryan found his heaven in the form of a room full of WWE stuff at the world's largest Toys-R-Us.
7. If the boys never hear a Bon Jovi reference from me again it will be too soon. I pointed out his hometown, a shore bar he played at, and of course The Meadowlands, which when they asked me who played there the answer was The Jets, The Giants, and Bon Jovi.
8. NJ tends to have a variety of smells.
9. Scott learned he will never again complain about traffic on I77 again.
10 The bleachers in Yankee Stadium are damn hot in August, but the lemonade is awesome.
11. A new chant for when Ryan plays catcher this season: Hip Hip Jorge!!
12. Although I am way familiar with the concept, the boys learned what a Guido and a Snookie are.
13. Those slingshot rides are awesome.
14. Ryan loves Zeppoles, and is insisting that I learn how to make them.
15. You can slap the name NY Style in front of a pizza in NC but it just isn't the same as the real thing.
16. Ryan loves Jewish bagels.
17. DC has a lot of homeless people
18. The Korean War Memorial is my favorite, and Ry loved Iwo Jima.
19. Sam is too lazy to climb the steps at the Lincoln Memorial.
20 According to Ryan the Air & Space Museum (the one out at Dulles) is the most boring place on Earth, but Scott and Sam could have stayed there all day.
And the last thing that we learned on our road trip was if you have been putting air in a tire once a week for six months, you might want to get a new tire before you drive 1800 miles. You'll only make it 1700!
Here are the highlights of our trip in photos. I would like to add one explanation of why I am standing in the middle of Times Square looking like I just went to the gym. My sister pointed this out and now I am self conscious about it. These were the comfortable clothes that I wore on the 10 hour trip up. I didn't know that we would be going into the city right away and I didn't plan to get out of the car. Soooo many people tell me I look like Miranda from Sex In the City, but clearly that was not the case here.
