Tag: New Jersey

 Trip Log 1.3

The Star Date 3/14/2016

Monday 

We got to our Washington, D.C. hotel just blocks from the White House minutes before Ron’s 2:00 audit committee meeting started. He handed the valet the keys, went to his meeting, and left me to check in. No big deal, right?

One problem: Hotels around here take security very seriously. And my name is NOT on the reservation. 

Our hotel was a block from the White House
Our hotel was a block from the White House

Oh! And I handed them my Texas License to Carry [a hand gun] instead my drivers license.

“We can’t let you check into your husband’s room without his approval, ma’am. Can you wait until he gets out of his meeting?” they asked politely.

Of course they won’t let me in my husband’s room without his ok. Silly me!

“He won’t be done until 9:00! So I wait seven hours?” I responded.

They decided they would call the person with the AHRI organization who made the reservation to verify that I should be allowed in the hotel. Except she’s in the meetings, too.

Plus, I needed to use the little girls’ room. This is an historic, luxury hotel. They don’t let just anyone use their facilities. After much additional discussion, they decide they would let me use the first floor restroom even if I didn’t check in.

I go to the restroom only to find a woman having a seizure! Right in the middle of the ladies room!

So I run, yes RUN, down a long hallway and back through this very fancy, very huge, historic hotel lobby to get security and help for the lady in the bathroom!

I still need to use the bathroom and would like to get into my room!

After all the excitement, they found someone with the AHRI organization who would vouch for me, and they let me check in.

I got settled in the room, made a few phone calls, and decided my head was feeling well enough to explore the beautiful hotel and work on my photography assignment. Here are a few pictures I took while exploring.

 

Willard Hotel Lobby
Willard Hotel Lobbe
Ceiling in the lobby with State Seals
Oklahoma State Seal
Texas State Seal
The second hall I had to run through to get help!
One of the halls I had to run down to get help!
Willard Hotel
Our beautiful hotel room!

 

Going back to my room, I wanted to climb up the stairs, but in these pre-Civil War Era hotels the stairwells are often hidden. The bellman looked at me in an odd way when I asked where they were and told him I would like to take the stairs up to the ninth floor, please. Security had to lead me through a labyrinth to the stairs. My second encounter with hotel security.

A bit later the weather cleared, so I went for a two mile walk around the hotel area, past the White House and near the Washington Monument.

I had to use the elevator upon my return because I couldn’t find the stairs and was too embarrassed to ask for security a third time!

My sweet friend Linda met me dinner since Ron had dinner meetings.

What a day!

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Star Date 3/15/2016

Tuesday 

Weather in the capital city was drizzly and dreary this morning. That did not stop me from me from taking a three and a half mile prayer walk before we hit the road. I walked from the hotel along the mall to Capital and back. I took a few photos on my walk.

 

I didn’t really have time to go into any museums; I had to be packed and ready to leave at 10:30 in case Ron’s meetings ended early.

This afternoon our route took us within ten miles of school where there’s a big job coming up. Bids were turned in recently and we hope we get the order! We took time to walk around the school and pray for favor with those deciding on the bid. We also prayed for the families whose children attend the school as well as for the community at large.

We took time to walk on the beach for a very few minutes before heading to Pennsylvania.

 

 

Atlantic Ocean at the Jersey Shore
Chair Pose on the Beach!
Selfie! Yes, we were tired and only had five minutes on the beach.
A school where we took time to pray for the children and the families in the community.

 

Side note: Yesterday and today we drove through Delaware. I’ve now visited forty-six states in two years. When I asked Ron last night if we could swing through Rhode Island and Maine on this trip to make it an even forty-eight, his answer was, “I don’t need the car until 10:30 tomorrow morning. If you can be back by then, go for it!” He thinks he is so funny.

Perhaps now would be a good time to tell you our crazy schedule for the week. 

Monday morning Ron unloaded the equipment at Harrah’s in Atlantic City. There was School Facilities trade show Monday and Tuesday. A couple of folks from marketing flew in to work the booth for the show.

About 10:00 a.m. Ron picked me up and we left the trailer at the hotel in Egg Harbor and drove about four hours to Washington. Traffic and pulling the trailer can increase travel times.

This morning Ron had meetings in Washington. He wasn’t sure when he would be finished so wanted me ready early. His meeting went late, so we left at noon and drove four hours back to Egg Harbor, picked up the trailer, went to Atlantic City, loaded the equipment, and drove four hours to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Wednesday we have appointments in Harrisburg and few other cities. Then we will drive two hours to Columbia, MD, to be close to our first morning appointment Thursday.

Thursday we have customer appointments in towns all over and around Maryland. We will stay in Gaithersburg after having dinner with friends that night.

Friday morning Ron has a two hour meeting with a large school system in the Baltimore area. He hopes to be back at the hotel to pick me up by ten so that we can hit the road. We are driving to Chattanooga (ten hours) for the weekend to spend time with our oldest daughter and her husband, our youngest daughter, and our grandchildren. We will attend church on Lookout Mountain with them Sunday then head southwest.

We plan to stop to have dinner Sunday evening with friends in Alabama before continuing towards home. We will stop for the night somewhere along the way. We need to be back in Texas Monday night.

If all goes as planned, we will have been gone 18 nights and stayed in 12 different hotels in seven states plus the District of Columbia. 

Of course, things rarely go exactly as planned!

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Star Date 3/16/16

Wednesday 

For this week, today was unusual: Ron had one meeting with a rep firm that lasted all morning. It was just minutes from our hotel, and I got to spend the morning in my room.

Some days Ron’s appointments are not located conveniently for him to come back and get me, so I have leave with him bright and early. Today his schedule made it easy for him to pick me up just after noon. I spent the morning working on my Precept Joshua study, writing postcards to my kids and grandkids, checking social media, and making phone calls.

We traveled a couple of hours to the next appointment. I helped set up then took a walk during his presentation to work on my photography assignment and get some exercise before we loaded up.

After a ninety minute drive to our next hotel, Ron worked on follow up emails and calls, we walked across the parking lot to get some pizza for supper, and got to bed before midnight!

 

Ron showing equipment to engineers in Maryland

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Star Date 3/17/16

Thursday – St. Patrick’s Day!

An early morning demonstration, a quick errand or two, then a pleasant sixty mile drive through stop and go traffic brought us to a great meeting with a large school system where there is plenty of opportunity over the next few years. I helped set up the equipment then walked around the school facilities yard shooting pictures before returning to the car to read The Hiding Place.  I also worked on a couple of blog articles I may publish next week.

On the way to the second meeting, we passed a huge landfill. Ron asked, “Want me to drop you off? Maybe they will let you drive the really big bulldozers!”

My husband knows me well. I would have loved to have spent a few hours driving one of those giant trucks pushing trash around! Really! I would! Too bad I’m not licensed to operate heavy machinery.

Ron asnwering questions about a self-contained unit ventilator from school facilities staff in Maryland.

Ron had a lunch meeting with a rep​. We went to a restaurant where I could sit at a table across the room and work on my Joshua study. I really need to get it finished so I can start on James! Plus, I didn’t want to listen to more HVAC talk.

One more very long meeting with a rep firm (during which I sat I the parking lot reading) then off to the hotel in time for me to have barely thirty minutes to shower and change for dinner.

Some dear friends Mark & Debbiewho live in the area took us took a nice French restaurant in Gaithersburg for a wonderful evening out. This is one of my favorite perks of traveling with Ron: getting to see people I love all over the country!

Just a note: You might be tired if…when you get on the elevator and realize that neither of you remembers what floor your room is on. 

Twelfth. Tonight it was on the twelfth floor. And I did not take the stairs. I did, however, take them down to breakfast the next morning.

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Star Date 3/18/2016

Friday – Our last work day of this trip!

I woke up at seven and Ron was packed and gone. Turns out he had been up at 4:30 a.m. to get everything ready for his day.

He had an early meeting with I-don’t-know-or-care-at-this-point school system. He was supposed to be done by 9:30 but called to say things were going very well and he would be at least another hour. They wanted him to unload all the equipment to show them everything… not what was originally planned.

This is great news for the business, but I didn’t care! I just wanted him to hurry up and finish so we could hit the road! My grand babies were waiting about ten hours down the highway!  I was ready to leave Maryland! Not that Maryland is a bad place.

And, I must say, while in Maryland, we did have one big success: we got the Maryland You Are Here mug. (I’m putting my Illinois failure behind me since we will have another chance to get that one in April…and May…and August…and October.) We have two new mugs and good odds for getting Alabama on Sunday!

 

Maryland You Are Here Mug

 

Ron finally finished doing whatever he was doing and picked me up at the hotel about noon so we could get on to the more important part of this whole trip – going to see my new grandbaby.

I won’t bore you with all the details of driving from Gaithersburg, Maryland, to Chattanooga, Tennessee. Pull up Google Maps and plug in the locations. Set it to “satellite view”, and you’ll be get a feel for what we saw. Trees. Lots and lots of trees. A few cities. And trucks. Big trucks moving very fast.

We listened to The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis, music including classic Keith Green and The Eagles, and some podcasts. I slept; Ron drove. Ron slept; I drove. We ate. We drove. More trees. More trucks. Ron worked on emails and phone calls. I played Trivia Crack and lost. We both checked social media. We talked. And laughed. A lot. We enjoyed each other.

Just outside of Roanoke we had a bit of an adventure: It was bumper to bumper traffic going 60-70 miles per hour. A row of about eight to ten cars in front of me (yes, I was driving) slammed on their brakes! A couple of cars veered onto the shoulder even! Cars going every which way! I was able to stop without hitting anyone, but then … BANG! The medical transport (ambulance) behind us hit the trailer. Hard.

No one in either vehicle was injured. We were all fine and pulled off the highway safely.

No people were hurt, but the trailer is messed up! The door and floor are bent. The frame is damaged. Without repairs there is no easy way to get the equipment out.

I am grateful that:

  • No one was hurt. This is the most important thing!
  • The driver was kind and did all the right things to take care of everyone and everything
  • Another transport was there quickly to take the client to her destination
  • It’s a beautiful day and it happened during daylight
  • Their insurance will take care of the repairs
  • It happened at the end of this trip when we don’t need to get the equipment out of the trailer again until we get back to the factory

Yes, it’s a problem and will be a bunch of work to get fixed, but even with no injuries, the whole thing could have been much worse! If it had happened yesterday, for example, Ron would have missed opportunities to demonstrate the equipment for important customers.

And as I have said before, life is an adventure!

We got to our hotel late. That’s okay. We are safe.

And we are going to see people we love early tomorrow morning. We plan to bike with the little boys. They think it’s cool that Grandmother and Granddad know how to ride bikes!

I’ll get to hug two of my daughters and my favorite son-in-law. My Facebook friends will get tired of all the pictures I’ll post. Too bad for them. My grandchildren are darling!

We are going to dinner with another While We’re Waiting couple Saturday night. We’ve been friends for years, since long before either of us joined the fraternity of grieving parents. They lost their daughter about eight months after The Accident. It will be great to spread time with them.

So, yes, getting hit by an ambulance was an inconvenience, but not a major catastrophe. And I look forward to a wonderful weekend.  

I’m publishing this early because it’s already too long.  Trip Log 1.4 will have pictures from out weekend and updates of the final leg home. 

Enjoy your weekend!


Photo 101 Day 7: Big & Point of View

My excuse for not doing Point of View assignment is my crazy couple of days and only having my phone with which to take pictures.

If you want to read about our crazy week and my adventures the last two days, check out my Trip Log 1.3. 

We took five minutes to walk on the Jersey Shore and I shot the Atlantic for Big part of assignment.  Maybe you will all be kind and count the selfie as my POV?

 

The Atlantic Ocean. The beach at Brigadine, NJ.

 

A quick break on the Jersey Shore!

Trip Log 1.2

Star Date 3/7/16

Monday 

This is how we do conference calls on the road. Notice my fun colored pencils for my Bible study and the postcards for the kids and grandkids!

I worked with my headphones on while Rachel and Ron talked with engineering and marketing back in Texas. I wore headphones because their conversations are really boring! Plus, if I’d listened, I wouldn’t understand anything they discussed anyway. It’s not because their discussions are top secret and they’re afraid I’d spill the beans to the enemy. In case you were wondering.

After they left to see customers, I went to the hotel workout room. My goal on this trip is to spend some time exercising each day. Yesterday we walked around the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. Today I did some stretches, push-ups, crunches, and walked on the treadmill. Plus, I took the stairs each time I went down to the lobby. I only took the stairs up once. But every little bit helps, right?

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Star Date 3/8/16

Tuesday 

Today was an unusual day: seven customer visits in one day! Ron said it’s a record!

He also said he needed me to help load and unload equipment to assure we could make all the appointments on time. Unfortunately, I’m not much help with the heavy lifting, but the rep sure was! We made it to all seven appointments, and the engineers and contractors were very interested in the products.

In the morning, I walked around downtown Buffalo. I took pictures for my photography class.

I strolled along the waterfront while Ron and the rep visited an engineering group late in the day. I stopped to talk to a young Marine who had parked his bike to pay his respects at the military memorials. I told him I’m a Marine mom. He told me he’s still struggling a bit since getting out, but trying to do the right things like spending time with other combat vets, using the G.I. Bill to finish college, getting counseling, and cycling with vets who also use that as therapy. He sounded like another Marine I know. I enjoyed talking with him.

Tonight I will pray both of them. And for all those who serve our nation.

 

Military memorial at the waterfront in Buffalo, New York

 

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Star Date 3/9/16

Wednesday 

I spent the morning in a hotel in Syracuse while Ron met with customers. I took the stairs down and UP twice! Third floor! I spent some time working on my Photography 101 assignment, did some Joshua homework, and prayed for the families of some men I overheard in the hotel restaurant.

After lunch Ron and I stopped in Vestal, New York, to ride our bikes. It was a beautiful seventy-five degrees but very windy, so we didn’t ride very far, only twelve miles. But it was a fun ride.

 

Rail Trail in Vestal, NY

 

We drove to Secausus, New Jersey, and got there fairly late. Too late to do anything but crawl into bed. Along the way we stopped in a small town so Ron could print documents, sign them, and Fed Ex them to somebody important. I have no idea who, what, where, or why.  I don’t suppose I would make a very good reporter.

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Star Date 3/10/16

Thursday 

Secaucus, NJ. If I climbed on the roof, I could see NYC from our hotel! But I didn’t climb on the roof. And I didn’t see New York City.

I did climb down and up four flights of stairs three times today – once each for breakfast & dinner and once to help Ron with something in the trailer. Other than that, I stayed in the room. I did not exercise.

Mr. Migraine came back for a visit, so I’ve been taking it easy today, mostly resting in a dark room. Sad, since I’m just an Uber ride away from the city that never sleeps.

Ron took an Uber ride. First he worked on emails, presentations, and other boring business stuff at the desk in our room from before breakfast through mid-afternoon. I’m not sure what all he does on the phone and computer, but he does it nonstop. Every once in a while, he does a little happy dance. It must mean he got an order or a rep did what he asked. Maybe I’ll record it and figure out how to upload it to YouTube for the world to see.

After he’d done his happy dance a few times, he took Uber into Midtown to meet with customers and is staying to have dinner. They are celebrating a big year in 2015 and securing a really big order recently. It’s an order they wouldn’t have gotten without me, but Ron forgets that part and didn’t take me to the celebration. I keep reminding him of that time on Long Island when I convinced a school facilities manager that Magic Aire Unit Ventilators were the best in the industry. But here I sit with my Lean Cuisine dinner while he is dining on steak in NYC.

(I am woman hear me whine!)

Ok, so the truth is that I played a very tiny role in getting the order. And he thanked me for helping. So I have no reason to whine at all. None. Nada. Zip. Zero.

The real reason I didn’t go tonight is that it’s a working dinner and no other spouses were invited. It is just the top people from the rep firm and Ron talking unit ventilators and air handlers.

Sometimes it’s not appropriate for me to join him for business dinners. I’m okay with that. I glad for the times I am able to join him. I try to be gracious and represent the company well. On the road, I sometimes get to eat nice meals in nice restaurants with nice people. Other times, I microwave something from the hotel gift shop. 

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Star Date 3/11/16 

Friday 

Wake up call was at 5:00 a.m.

We had to be in Philadelphia for meetings at 8:30 and still had to pack and hook up the trailer.

Plus, the early bird gets the coffee mug:

 

New Jersey You Are Here Mug

 

Two great meetings with engineers on Friday ended a very successful week!

During one meeting I took a long walk to shoot some pictures for my photography class. I walked a little over a mile. Yeah me! Even with a headache I got a bit of walking in. I exercised every day this week, except yesterday when I felt so bad.

Here is Ron showing the equipment near Philadelphia.

Ron explaining the features of a self-contained unit ventilator to an engineering group in Pennsylvania.

 

It’s my job to take pictures of at least a few of the demos each trip. Ron likes to have proof to show his investors that he really does work on these trips. (As an accountant, I think the proof is in the financial statements. But I’m just the wife. What do I know?)

After lunch we drove about sixty miles to Egg Harbor Township near the Jersey Shore, where we will stay this weekend. Ron had lots of phone calls and emails to take care of once we checked into our room. An early Thai dinner was followed by his well-deserved appointment at Massage Envy.
Thirteen customer visits across three states plus one bike ride and one You Are Here mug. Not a bad week. Not bad at all. 

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Star Date 3/12/16

IT’S THE WEEKEND!

Ron slept past sunrise in the Rockies!

No we are not in the Rockies; we are in New Jersey. I was trying to be cute.

I’m glad he got to rest this morning. Last weekend he drove more than fourteen hundred miles to get Buffalo, NY, then spent Sunday morning working on the trailer and paperwork before we got to play in Canada for a few hours.

This weekend we don’t have to drive anywhere! Im excited that we get to stay in the same hotel three nights in a row! Ron still has, as he puts it, a boat load of work to do. We don’t have a boat, but at least we get to sleep in the same place for a while.

A big breakfast at IHOP was followed by running errands and little shopping. Nothing exciting, but we picked up a few necessities.

By the way, did you know that in New Jersey you go right to turn left? They have these loops to help with traffic flow. You loop right to go left. Yep, I was totally confused, but it’s true!

img_1063
Sign for left turn in New Jersey

 

You can see the loop in this picture.

 

When you come out of the loop, you must go straight, so you have now completed your left turn, by looping right.

 

I wish I could tell you all about our bike ride along the Jersey Shore!

Unfortunately, I am still fighting a migraine with dizziness and nausea. Yuck! If any of you have experienced these, you understand that riding a bicycle while suffering a migraine is not a great idea.

Ron worked all afternoon while I slept in a dark room.

We had an early supper. Ron did laundry then worked some more more while I went to bed early. I wasn’t a lot of fun or a lot of help today.

I’m glad he loves me for better, for worse, in sickness and in health, for richer, for poorer, in Texas and in Jersery. 

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Star Date 3/13/16

We had breakfast at the hotel then attended Faith Presbyterian Church. It was a sweet service and we met kind people.

Afterwards, Ron dropped me at an Urgent Care center across from the hotel. The headache was worse today. The doctor gave me steroids and new meds that he thinks will help with my pain! Glory!

I’m going to nap while Ron works. A recurring theme this weekend.

I wish I’d felt better and we could have ridden bikes and played all weekend, instead Ron got lots of work finished while I rested. So maybe it worked out for the best. I appreciate how kind he’s been to me. He loves me well.

It’s been a rainy weekend at the Jersey Shore. I hope we can come back some time when both my health and the weather are better!

Tomorrow we head to D.C. where I get to have lunch with a fun friend! But that story will be in next week’s Trip Log. Stay tuned for more adventures from the Magie Aire Road Show!

 

One lasr picture of Ron showing equipment. This was in Buffalo.


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