Day One, Disaster One, Epiphany One

So Cousin Earl decided to drop in on more northern relatives and spared us entirely.  A pity as I was looking forward to a dramatic send off.  Instead, what we got was a lovely morning with bright skies, low temps and no humidity.  It was perfect - too perfect ....

We loaded up the U Haul van with all our stuff and drove across the Manhattan Bridge to have a farewell cuppa with Kate and Jack.

Empire State Building way in background

I kept telling myself that this was the last time I'd be seeing the Brooklyn Bridge, the lower Manhattan skyline, the Empire State Building, an NYPD cruiser and so on ....













but it didn't really sink in until we crossed the George Washington Bridge.  This is really happening. We're Leaving New York!





Dan's parents arrived for a farewell lunch of Brooklyn bagels, lox and cream cheese and brought a homemade challah and Aunt Zara's cookies for the road.  We somehow shoved all the gear in and Dan took to the wheel while I manned the U Haul and we hit the road.  My God, that thing was huge! 

We dropped off the U Haul in Newark, NJ and I took the co-pilot's seat at last.








First stop is CT and Diane's country estate in Lambertville, NJ.  We'll be here for 2 nights, time to unload and stash all those tubs full of stuff we somehow figured was absolutely essential for a road trip, and time to visit and enjoy their renowned hospitality.  At the end of a very long day, just as we're pulling in to their drive and congratulating ourselves on how swimmingly everything had gone so far, and anticipating the rewards of something very alcoholic, we hear a loud bang.  Oh my God, we've hit one of the low hanging branches and lost the satellite dish.  But no, it was worse.

Fortunately, the Roadside Assistance Number  worked.  "Are you in a safe place?"  By this time Dan had a very large whiskey in his hand and was able to assure them that yes, we were in a very safe place.

45 minutes later, John the off-duty fireman arrived and in 15 minutes had replaced the tire (I think I'm in love)

Can you believe the size of those tires?

and we were able to fully appreciate CT and Diane's extraordinary generosity and hospitality.  Just look at what they welcomed us with (read the labels!!):

Thanks to Tina Klem for the gift of Balvenie, put to immediate use!

But wait! That's not all.  CT had a dozen fresh, live oysters which he insisted I try even though I don't like oysters.  I've never understood why people go ga-ga over them.  But, after watching him shuck them,

 

and being 3 glasses of Perrier Jouet in, I couldn't refuse.  And guess what?  I had an oyster epiphany.






Forgive me daughters, but OMG.  This was a taste of sea heaven.  I totally get it now.  I've never actually eaten a real, live, fresh oyster before.  CT tells me that the oyster proteins start to break down a few seconds after opening so that explains why I've never liked oysters up until today.  They've never been at their nadir of oysterness.

We went on to have one of Diane's magnificent meals, ending up with butterscotch pudding and Sauternes for CT and Dan, gorgonzola and whiskey for Diane and me (what's wrong with this picture?), and by 9.30 we were out for the count.

Tomorrow is for unloading the tubs and organizing the RV and more of Diane and CT's R&R.