A good night’s sleep, a poppy seed bagel and coffee, saying good-bye to our friends Simon and Rosie, and a morning drive from White Plains to West End Avenue and 84th Street to see our friends Bruce and Ilona. I was very worried about finding a parking place. It was an unnecessay worry, as you can see from this photo of our car and their building.

We walked two blocks from our friends’ place and had lunch at The French Roast on Broadway. We had been there before, once on Bastille Day. It’s a fairly trendy place with a fairly trendy menu, and the food is acceptable, but not great. The specialty of the house seems not to be any particular dish on the menu, but the attractive waitresses who bring you the menu.

The weather (rain, dry, rain, dry) was concerning, with severe thunderstorm warnings all through the mid-Atlantic states. Our GPS must have sensed the danger that a ride down the Jersey Turnpike could take forever, so it suggested an alternative route, presumed to take over 5 hours.  Basically, we first drove west through New Jersey to the Pennsylvania border. A dull ride in the rain, to be sure. But I did learn something. I now know how to get to Donald’s golf club in Bedminster.

Crossing the Pennslvania border at Easton, we continued past, oh, little town of Bethlehem, and then Allentown (did you say “Allentown”?) Before we got to I-81 and familiar territory. We went by places we had passed in the opposite direction on Sunday, including Dillsburg and Gettysburg, stopped for supper in Emmitsburg MD, where I had a decent tuna melt and chips.

Emmitsburg is home to the National Fire Academy, which gives specialized training to fire fighters. So it was only appropriate that a fire broke out in the sky while we were there.

Oh, did we see rain? Off and on. Until we got about 20 miles from the house where the skies just opened up. I didn’t realize how poor the lane markings are on I-270 in Montgomery County. When it is pouring and dark, you can see neither the car or the road. Lucky everyone has head and tail lights. And really slowed down.

We spent much of the ride listening to MSNOW on Sirius in our car. We have a free subscription through the end of the year. Should we continue after that? I haven’t figured Sirius out yet. Is there only one classical music station? That’s what it looks like.

I must admit I was surprised that he renamed Lake Ontario Lake America. I always assumed he would rename the Great Lakes like this: Lake Donald (that would be Lake Superior), Lake Ivanka, Lake Tiffany, Lake Eric, and Lake Junior.

Anyway, nice to be back in Washington, DT.