New Jersey In Review

Our adventures in Jersey began before we even arrived.  We found a campground online that boasted its view of Lady Liberty & prime location just a ferry ride away from the Big Apple.  We were nervous about driving the big rig through New York, but couldn't pass up the city location.  As we approached the city, traffic increased & the highway seemed to split into a million directions.  A confusing ramp took us to a wrong exit which led us to a toll.  We asked the toll operator for help heading back toward Jersey City, but he hurriedly pointed in the direction of the Lincoln Tunnel.  We knew this was not an option... vehicles with propane are not allowed in any tunnel... and next thing we knew we found ourselves on 2nd Avenue, right in the heart of Manhattan!  I frantically called the Jersey City campground & the gentleman graciously guided us while he followed our route online (a GPS is NOT useful when trying to maneuver 60 feet of vehicle through a bustling big city!)  The fear of the situation made the next 20 minutes or so a blur with only flashes of skyscrapers, millions of pedestrians & signs like "Broadway" & "Central Park".  Yes, we were led straight into Central Park which might not be a problem except for the low stone bridges.  The first one our 12' 5" monster approached had a sign that read "11.5 feet".  We panicked.  Literally.  Jim just stopped right on the one-lane road.  I'm sure cars were honking behind us, but we just sat there in shock.  With no way to back up or turn around, he finally decided to go for it, assuming we'd lose an air conditioner or two.  Amazingly we made it through, but soon approached a 10'.5" bridge!  Again, we held our breath and slowly drove as close to the center of the arch as possible, causing cars in the oncoming lane to move out of our way.  I have no idea how we made it through, but we passed through Central Park without a scratch.  Finally we found Hwy 9A which would lead us to the George Washington Bridge toward Jersey.  But just as we were feeling relief from making it through the city, our low fuel sensor began to shine.  As we sat in stand-still traffic, with the view of the bridge just ahead of us, I could only envision us running out of fuel right in the middle of the bridge.

But amazingly again, we made it to the other side where we saw the most glorious sight... a gas station!
We arrived safely to our campground which was actually just a big parking lot with hook-ups.  We were crammed in between the other motorhomes & campers and though we usually prefer nature-y, secluded sights, we loved having a short walk to the ferry or subway, and a view of 2 city skylines (Jersey & NYC) & the Statue of Liberty.     

Our view of the Statue of Liberty (in the center of the photo)

NYC

We settled in and if the traumatic journey here weren't enough, once we got in the jeep to head to dinner we realized we were having transmission troubles.  We parked back at the campsite and took a short walk (now in the dark) to a fabulous Cuban restaurant for dinner and tried calming our worn nerves:)

Our first day in town was totally rainy, and having had several rainy, indoor study days lately, we decided to head north to West Orange, NJ (praying the jeep would make it).    

In 1876 Thomas Edison built the world's first industrial research facility in Menlo Park, NJ that incorporated several fields of science and technology and is where he invented the phonograph & light bulb.  Eleven years later he opened a lab complex here in West Orange three times the size of his Menlo Park facility which is now preserved at Thomas Edison National Historical Park.  We were surprised at the enormous size of the complex... a dozen or so large, brick buildings with one 3-story building containing a research library, machine shops, photo lab, experiment & research rooms, Edison's office and more.  Edison had up to 200 employees working in small teams while he would make his rounds daily to inspire & fine-tune their work.  The list of his accomplishments is endless and included the introduction of motion pictures, a technique for poured concrete buildings, a fluoroscope to view x-ray images, huge machines for extracting iron from ore & his search for a domestic source of rubber.  Over his lifetime he patented over 1,000 inventions!  

This time clock at the entrance to the main lab had painted hands marking the last time Edison passed through the doors- when his body was removed from the library in a casket after his death in 1931.

Edison's 3-story library contained over 10,000 books, displayed may of his early inventions & numerous awards for his achievements and housed his desk, left exactly as it was on his last day of work.  Tucked in the corner was this cot he used for his famous catnaps.  A tireless worker, Edison regularly slept only a few hours a night and when near a solution would stay at his lab for days.

This is one of the lab's machine shops where Edison's inventions were manufactured for direct sale to the public.  Profits from the sales were used to improve inventions & fund further research.

Edison's private lab where he would retreat from time to time.

Edison's goal was to have on hand everything needed to quickly & cheaply perfect inventions & ready them for mass production.  This stock room fulfilled that, carrying everything from tools and parts to turtle shells, elephant hides & other oddities.

Edison's music recording studio- singers & musicians would travel here from New York to record using giant horns to focus the music onto cylinders.

While in the recording studio we were able to catch a demonstration of an early 1900's phonograph, Edison's favorite invention.

In 1887 this building was one of the best equipped chemistry laboratories in the world.  Everything from phonograph records to rubber were experimented here.

Edison called this machine the "father of the phonograph".
It recorded telegraph messages and was the inspiration to
recording sound.

This is Edison's 1st phonograph from 1877 which recorded
sound waves as indentations in a sheet of tinfoil.
It provided his famous "Mary had a Little Lamb " recording.

This improved 1877 design used a wax cylinder record instead
of the previous and more delicate tinfoil record.

Of the over 400,000 artifacts in the complex, Jim was most excited
when he realized this was among Edison's inventions:)

On our way home we stopped in Hoboken, home of Carlo's Bakery as seen on TV's Cake Boss!  

No, we didn't get to meet Buddy (shocker!), but did leave with a couple boxes of goodies.  The fruit tart & chocolate torte were rich and fabulous... the cupcakes, though were disappointing- although they looked fabulous, they tasted like they came from the grocery store:(

Our first day still wasn't over... we decided to take advantage of our short commute to Manhattan and head over on the subway to Broadway to watch the performance Wicked, our favorite, favorite musical.  And the girls were thrilled that because it was too cold & rainy to walk back to the subway and seemingly every taxi was occupied, we just had to grab a limo for our ride home! 

Another day we decided to go plan-free & just enjoy a walk around NYC.

The rather small group that have made rather large headlines on the news for their protest against unequal distribution of wealth.

We stopped for a look at the One World Trade Center in progress.  When finished, it will be the tallest building in the U.S. with it's illuminated antenna reaching the symbolic height of 1,776 feet, America's year of Independence.

"Dedicated to those who fell and those who carry on...

...may we never forget"

Alayna's highlight of the day... maybe even of the week... was browsing through this "Everything $2.99" jewelry store. Jim, on the other hand, would rather have gouged his eyes out.  Not joking.

Times Square!

By this time, Alayna had the subway system totally figured out & took charge of getting our passes:)  

Alayna carrying her loot down our parking lot with a view.
Mom & Dad following behind wondering where in the heck we'd put the new clothes
in our already stuffed house on wheels!

For dinner we checked out Jersey's Little India, a street filled with Indian shops, markets and restaurants.  

We devoured our scrumptious chicken vindaloo, shrimp tandoori, potatoes with spinach & naan... YUM!

We loved the area, but had made an appointment for the RV to have minor warranty repairs (Non working electrical outlets, leveling system & central vac), so needed to head toward the dealership near Philadelphia.  We made our routine check of the maps, plugged our destination into the GPS and were on our way.  Within blocks, the GPS directed us to turn off the path we knew.  Unfortunately we listened.  And "she" took us on a tight side street covered with parked cars on both sides.  

Again she told us to turn.  Jim wasn't sure if he could make the turn, but had to try.  Before completing the turn we felt a jolt and looked at each other in panic!  Actually, from the start Jim kept his composure... it was me in a panic.  We stopped mid-turn, exiting to assess the damage.  Our back RV corner (thankfully not the jeep) side swiped a parked car and before we knew it the owner (and her sister and mother) was there in a rage.  "YOU #@!!$%^ HIT MY CAR! WHAT IS THAT?!?!" (referring to our motor home!)  

As you can imagine, Jim was able to finally calm her down, but she wasn't the only one we had to deal with.  Our home took up the entire intersection, and as Jim frantically unhooked the Jeep so we could maneuver out of the way, cars behind us were growing restless.  I went to calm them...  "Why is he unhooking the jeep?? Just tell him to drive forward- the jeep will be fine. Trust me!"  And another man, obviously late for work frantically yelled at me to direct him backwards out the street.  We quickly cleared the intersection, but the gawkers continued to gather. One couple who lived down the street asked, "You hit THAT orange car?!?  Those are the three nastiest women you could have messed with!"

Finally the police arrived, we exchanged all our info and sheepishly asked if she would please escort us  to the highway.  And she (the police woman) graciously did:)

Straight to the Fleetwood dealer we went, thankful to drop it off and not have to drive it for a few days!  Unfortunately, we also had to hunt down a Jeep dealer who could solve our transmission problems.  By the end of our frazzled day, we'd had both vehicles in the shop & no home to boot!  So we rented a car & stayed in hotels and started our homelessness in Princeton where we toured the lovely university campus.

Our guide informed us that the gentleman who built Princeton's chapel was dissatisfied with the size limitations put on his grandiose design.  To spite the college, he placed a bulldog on the hidden gutter of the chapel... their rival, Yale's mascot.

Princeton's Firestone Library (above left) holds over 50 miles of shelves and its collections increase at the rate of nearly 10,000 volumes a month.

A signer of the Declaration of Independence, John Witherspoon was president of Princeton University 1767-1794.

Near the university, we drove by Albert Einstein's 1935-1955 home in Princeton.

While living in Princeton, Albert Einstein conducted lab work and gave seminars from this room at the university.

Just a short drive away was Washington Crossing Historic Park where Washington and his 2,400 troops crossed the icy river on Christmas night 1776.  Once they reached the other side (which took until 4am), they still had a 9 mile march to Trenton in blizzard-ous conditions ahead of them, before defeating the Hessians in an unexpected attack.  Days later were the Second Battle of Trenton & the Battle of Princeton.

Durham boats similar to those used by Washington & his men.
Every Christmas, the park reenacts the crossing across the river.

Still waiting for our vehicles to be repaired, we ventured down to Atlantic City.  We had heard that it resembled a mini-Vegas, but were surprised to find how run down much of the area was.  A major attraction was the wooden boardwalk that goes for miles along the Jersey shore.  I was intrigued after reading about the famous beach chair rides down the boardwalk... so we had to experience it:)

In Atlantic City, the Boardwalk is lined with hotels, souvenir shops, psychics and lots & lots of taffy (apparently its where taffy got its start).  We stayed in one of the casino-hotels... just for the all-you-can-eat-crableg buffet:) and loved the huge bathroom & nice view of the shoreline from our room.

Did you know Atlantic City was the inspiration for game inventor Charles Darrow's Monopoly game because of his fond childhood vacation memories there?  Most of the "real estate" in the game is based on actual streets in Atlantic City.  

Finally, our Jeep & home were repaired and ready for pick up.  We were anxious to get to less hectic driving conditions and even more thankful to escape the pricy tolls of the Jersey Turnpike...

"$12.55"
Just two of the many tolls we had to pay in Jersey

"$23.25"

But despite the stressful driving, we thoroughly enjoyed Jersey, our 19th state!

A) Manhattan, NY 

B) Hoboken, NJ (Carlo's Bakery)

C) Jersey City, NJ (Campground)

D) West Orange, NJ (Thomas Edison National Historic Park)

E) Princeton, NJ (Princeton University)

F) Titusville, NJ (Washington Crossing)

G) Atlantic City, NJ

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