One day trip to Jamaica

Upper Deerfield Twp,  NJ

No, not THAT Jamaica.   Let me explain.

Leonard retired from the NJ Dept. of Corrections.   For years in addition to his fulltime job he drove a tractor/trailer on weekends.  I usually went along.   This was our "vacation fund".   We went as far north as NH, east to Nantucket Island, west to Pittsburgh, PA and south into Virginia.  But many of the runs were out on Long Island,  NY.

After sitting around for weeks, we were BORED.  So on Wednesday he went to see the man he had worked for to see if he needed a temporary driver.   We were back in the rig within two hours and headed to North Jersey.

On Thursday it was to Jamaica.   Again, not THAT Jamaica.   But to the section of Queens Boro in New York City called Jamaica.     Before getting on the road we had to stop at a local tire shop to get two new tires mounted.

So at approximately 9:30 am we headed north up Interstate 295 to the New Jersey Turnpike.   Traffic was not a problem YET.    All of a sudden the traffic stopped.   We were backed up about 3 miles at almost a stand-still.    And this is what the issue was.   SHEESH!    Way off the side of the road, not blocking the highway at all. Rubberneckers!!!  Got pass this and off we go again.

To get on to Staten Island we cross the Goethals Bridge.  Hate this bridge, so narrow.  The toll to cross for a semi?    $75.00!!!

The traffic on Staten Island was

Once out of Staten Island via the Verrazano Narrows Bridge  ($80.00) into Brooklyn we encountered even closer quarters due to construction.

The Queens Expressway takes us right across the river from Lower Manhattan.   A picture of the Freedom Tower where the twin towers once stood.

Seeing this tower brings back memories of our truck run to Connecticut on September 15, 2001 just 5 days after the terrorist attacks and those towers fell.  The air was still thick with dust.  We saw tractor/trailer after tractor/trailer heading to Staten Island with loads of steel beams.   Recently  I was looking at some old pictures taken of Len's daughter and family when they visited.   They were taken from the Jersey side of the Hudson River and there behind them were those majestic twin towers.

A little further up the road we see the Empire State Building in the distance.  We also see the Statute of Liberty but I would have to be really fast to get a picture.

The delivery site in Jamaica is near the JFK Airport.   From the time we crossed over into NY from NJ it took almost 3 hours to reach the depot.   This is the reason why.

We finally find the depot.   It sits in the midst of a residential area.   Parked in front of the entrance were two cars.   We were told lay on the horn, someone will come out of the houses to move their car.   We did, they did.

Tight backing in.  But Len is a professional.   This is another truck backing in.   Once he dropped his trailer and left, Len had to put in between the trailer and the wall without hitting any of the cars up and down the street.   Not a problem for him.

Heading back to NJ, I tried to get a good picture of this but afraid this is the best I could do.  Who can tell me what it is.

Of course before we hit the bridge we got

From what I hear, the OTHER Jamaica has lovely beaches.  The only beach I saw was

The run started at 7 am and we got back to the yard 7 pm.  An exhausting day. 

On Friday we took the girls to Dutch Wonderland in Lancaster, PA.

Our luck was running the same.  On our way back to NJ the traffic stopped about 5miles from the Delaware Memorial Bridge.

Finally at the base of the bridge we saw what little was left of a tractor/trailer

On Friday night Buddy (who has the trucking company) called Leonard and asked him to take a load to Maine.   We had to girls from the weekend.   So, looks like maybe we will not be bored for the remaining three weeks we will be in NJ.