Day 12: somewhere in New Jersey to home, Massachusetts

My last day of travel got off to a terrible start! At midnight I was woken out of a sound sleep to a loud rining alarm. I was so confused that I leaped out of bed to rifle through my purse in search of what in my mind thought was ringing - a flattened out lock with buttons on it. I didn't find it in my purse (because it was a figment of my imagination!) so I started to look around the rest of my stuff but somehow managed to put it together and figure out it was the hotel's fire alarm that was ringing. I grabbed my puse and went outside. Somehow my fellow evacuees managed to get dressed properly before going outside. I was in my boxer shorts and tank top with no shoes and no bra. Lovely. I got my coat out of my car and sat on the ground for about 15 minutes until the alarm stopped ringing and people started to go back inside. About 20 minutes later the alarm went off again for about 20 second and then stopped. For the next hour I heard the firemen tromp up and down the hall loudly discussing the situation. With all the noise and adrenaline it took me forever to get back to sleep. Argh! When I checked out the desk clerk told me the alarm had something to do with the town and too much water pressure. After taking a shower I am not convinced the hotel had a too much water pressure . . .

My stay in New Jersey redeemed itself when I went running. There was a subdivision of condos nearby. Lots of condos in a small area so I ended up running around in circles. Literally. On one of my loops I saw 3 deer! They were just hanging out on a grassy area near a driveway! It was so cool! I stopped to watch them for a while. On my way out of the subdivision, heading back to the hotel, I saw another group of 4 deer! It was so so so cool! I stood and watched them for about 5 minutes. Cars kept passing but none of them slowed down for a closer look. Maybe they were all jaded from seeing deer everyday? They were beautiful and I could have watched them all day.

I was out of New Jersey within 50 miles and then got on the 87 (New York Turnpike) which headed upstate. I still had about 4 hours of driving ahead of me so I figured if I saw a sign for anything interesting I'd pull off and take a look. I saw a sign for Woodstock but when I asked at the toll booth where it was the toll taker said it was the town of Woodstock, not the musical venue. It was too late to turn around so I kept going and I'm really glad I did. I ended up seeing a couple of cool sights.

The first stop was the Vanderbilt Mansion. Totally amazing! The mansion was actually the Vanderbilt's spring and fall "cottage" but I could have easily fit my last apartment into any one of the rooms. It was beautiful and wild. Made for an interesting comparison to the other famous mansion I saw - Graceland. Both were pretty ostentations but in different ways.


My other stop was the the FDR Museum and Library. My second presidential library for this trip! I like FDR and Eleanor and the museum was set up well and informative. Lots to look at and learn. I didn't have a chance to take a tour of FDR's house because the I would have had to wait a couple of hours for the next available tour. Eleanor Roosevelt's house is in the same area but I ran out of time to visit and take a tour.

I made my way back on to the 87 and got on the 90 (Massachusetts turnpike) and flew down the freeway until I made it to my parents house. By the time I got there I was so ready to be done with driving!

Total miles for the day: 352.4