Tesla Road Trip

April 21, 2015

I didn't post anything last night as it was late when we got to the motel and I have to admit it was twice as much money for the room as it had been on our other stops. Seems like we were not in a great place and it was the last room in the motel.  Tired and ready to stop, I gave in.

We had thought of going to Dover, Delaware and catching th ferry for the ride to Cape May, New Jersey but it was cloudy, windy and about 55 degrees.  Maybe not the best day for a ferry ride. So change of plans put us on the backroad through Dover and on to Newark, Delaware.  It was a nice drive through lots of small towns past beautiful old houses on small farms.

Much to my dismay being a vegetarian, not only for health reasons but also because I don't believe in torturing animals and then killing them for food.  We kept passing truckloads of chickens crammed into cages flying down the road.  Realized that Perdue Farms is headquartered in Salisbury, Maryland and the chicken torture chambers were every where.

When we got to Newark the exit ramp for the Tesla Supercharger was closed.  When we tried to get a different route the voice on the computer began to sound like Gertrude McNasty telling us to make U-turns or to turn immediately.  We tried asking directions from a gentleman at a Dunkin Donuts and got an alternate way to go, but no way to get to the Supercharger since it was in the plaza in the middle of I-95.  Finally got back on I-95 and went north several miles past the closed exit and then went south for several miles.  Finally found an exit for the plaza and the Supercharger.  It was huge.  The food court looked like a food court in a mall.  Some electrons and food got us in a better mood and on our way north to New Jersey.  Gertrude did seem to get back to her civil self.

Our reason for going to New Jersey was to check out the place where I lived from 1980 to 1984. We moved there on a job transfer and I can remember not wanting to live there.  In our search for a house all the real estate agent would show us was the "junior executive" houses in the suburbs close to shopping centers.  I finally found a newspaper and looked for something myself.  Behold!  I found a house built in 1915 a block from the Delaware River and across the river from Philadelphia. Of all the places I ever lived - that was the best.

Marshell always made faces when I talked about New Jersey.  Most people think of the "Sopranos" or pictures of Newark, New Jersey when the state is mentioned.  No one pays any attention to the fact that it is known as the Garden State.  Tomatoes are as big as a softballs, little stands line the road in the summer with home grown corn, asparagus, strawberries and blueberries. Northern New Jersey is a huge horse area with training tracks hidden among the trees. It is fun to surprise Marshell.

We got to Riverton about 3:00 in the afternoon and the one person I had contacted was Michael, who took my place as the director of the Riverton Library when we moved away. He recognized me when we walked in the door and both of us decided neither had changed even though it had been thirty years since I left.  Now that was a good feeling!  He gave us a tour of the library which is housed in a little yellow house where it has been since 1902.  The house itself was built in 1855 and donated by the owners to the library.It has a new beautiful handmade desk and a large new room added to the back, but it still looks and feels the same.  Michael has done a super job as the library has stayed extremely busy.

Then it was time to go for a walk around the block to where I used to live.  Marshell was enthralled. He really did not expect to see the beautiful, storybook town that Riverton is.  The town was founded in 1850 by wealthy people from Philadelphia who built huge summer homes along the Delaware River.  Some of the houses have nine bedrooms so the entire family could come and get away from the heat of the city during the summer. At the end of Main Street is the oldest Yacht Club on the Delaware and one of the oldest in the country.  Sailboat races take place every Wednesday night and Sunday afternoon.  Large freighters come up the channel in the middle of the river to offload goods on the Pennsylvania side.

Riverton Free Library

 As we walked around I realized how Riverton has not really changed which was a great feeling. We walked along the river and if anything is different it is that many of the houses have been restored to their 1900's beauty.  Gone was the vinyl siding and now the original fishscale siding and three color paint schemes dress up the house. As we approached my old house it looked awesome.  Just the same but better - nice for a house that is 100 years old.  The little garage that was a thorn in my ex-husbands side is just the same as we left it. There is no doubt that the people who have lived in it for the past thirty years loved it as much as I did.

I had orders from Wes on what pictures he wanted me to take.  Both os the boys remember Riverton as the neatest place that we lived.  In looking for a house I always heard from the real estate agents where the best places to live were.  Of course the more expensive houses always had the best school systems, the ones with thousands of kids in each grade level.  The one we had in New Jersey was no different.  When I waved the newspaper add in her face she knew nothing about Riverton but I prevailed.  The Riverton school was K through 8 with an enrollment of about 300. Sounded okay to me and I could see the playground from the front yard.

Several interesting facts about Riverton school is that way back in time the PTA was founded there. I guess before then parents were not encouraged to get involved in school happenings or their children's education.  The PTA became a national organization taking directions Riverton did not like and sometime in the 1950's they dropped out of the national organization and started their own Home and School Association.  Somehow I managed to end up as the president for three years.  During that time we had carnivals, balloon launching events and one very cold, windy Saturday we built a Tire Playground in the school yard.

Never be put off by a small school.  Riverton was almost like a private school in that the principal, school board and parents worked for the best education possible for the students.  Most of the teachers had children who attended the school and once hired they stay until retirement.  Anything the school requires is gladly provided for by the community. Wally learned to read in Kindergarten and Wes did manage to graduate from the eight grade. Wes still has friends he stays in contact with from this very special school and community.

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The was one person I really wanted to see I was not able to get his phone number prior to our visit.  So, I did the knock on the door routine.  He looked through the door at these strange couple and their dog on his porch.  Suddenly a smile broke across his face and he called out my name.  Wow!  How cool is that - to once again be recognized after thirty years.  Bill and I are about the same age and his Mom and Dad lived in a house across the street from us.  Even with a twenty or more year age difference, his parents were my best friends and subtitute grandparents for Wes and Wally. When we had to go someplace the boys did not want to go to they would just state that they wanted to go to Sis and Gus' house. Both are gone now and Bill lives in the house.

Interesting story about Sis and Gus.  Sis was born in that house.  When she and Gus got married they lived in a third floor apartment down the street. Sis's parents got to the point where they needed help both physically and keeping up the place, so Gus bought the house from his in-laws.  They took care of Sis's parents until they passed away, raised their children there and Bill moved back home to care for them in their last years.  How about spending your whole life on one block.  Pretty cool.

There is so much more to say about Riverton, New Jersey but pages could never describe what a beautiful place it is. The sidewalks are always busy as you can walk anywhere in town.  Every path you take leads you down tree lined streets which at this time of the year are filled with flowering trees and shrubs behind turn of the century iron fences. One would be hard pressed to find a better place to live.

Much as I hated to leave we had decided to go see the Shore so we headed off to Hamilton Township near Trenton to add a few more electrons to the car.  Only a few stern comments from Gertrude on finding the Supercharger which was located in a huge shopping area.  Barnes and Noble was a great place to spend a few minutes and the Panera Bread was a great place to eat  Lucky liked it. And on to the Shore.

Marshell had been continually amazed at New Jersey.  We took a small state highway instead of the Parkway or Turnpike to get to Long Island.  The small towns with their neat old buildings and the tree lined roads were so pleasant to drive along. We noticed that the speed limit in a lot of places was 45 and 55 but you would have been run over at that speed but traffic moved along very weel for a two lane road.

Long Beach Island is just north of Atlantic City and was hit hard by Sandy two years ago. I really did not know what to expect - hoping for the best. Crossing over the bay bridge to the island it was noticeable that there was a lot of new construction.  The interesting thing to note is the rebuilding has been done in the "old" beach style.  A store we visited for souvenirs several blocks from the beach said they had several feet of what come in. But the beach looked beautiful and surfers were out in full force.

After trying to figure out how we could live here forever it was time to head back towards the hotel of the night.  Tomorrow is my big tour for Marshell of Philadelphia.  Poor Lucky gets exhausted everyday with so much to see and things to experience.  Makes you wonder if he goes to sleep and dreams about birds and waves and all the new things he is experiencing.  Can't believe he is such a good travel partner.