Friday, March 20, 2009

crossing the gw......



ok....i admit it....i'm a freak......even brad, who loves me unconditionally, will agree with you that when it comes to crossing the gw.....heading into new york.....i'm a complete and total geek for it......i'm that one-in-a-million, often cursed and constantly misunderstood by other drivers freak who absolutely LOVES going into new york.......i've been across the gw a few hundred times by now.....but let me look over to the right as i'm coming up the nj turnpike and i start to get excited....i don't know...maybe it's the small town girl hits the big city in me......maybe it's that i still hope to catch a glimpse of chandler and pheobe and rachel and joey.....monica.....even ross........


my heart starts to flutter when we hit the ezpass booths headin onto the bridge and doesn't slow down till somewhere near the far end of the crossbronx freeway......and if by chance the trip takes us down into manhattan, or even out on the island, it's almost an orgasmic experience....
i've been to new york on both business and pleasure.......i've known the breathlessness of stepping out onto the observation deck of the empire state building at dusk....the thrill of the chandelier dropping in the opening act of "Phantom".......a saturday morning breakfast of an egg mcmuffin at the fanciest mcdonald's with the grand piano playing.....and the sobering patriotism of standing at the foot of Lady Liberty......
i've also experienced the obscene shouts and gestures when you bring four lanes of traffic to a complete standstill because you've encountered an 11 foot bridge with your 13'6" truck......... dodging taxi drivers and hellbent delivery vans while trying to back into an enclosed dock out of 3 lanes of traffic.......the hunting for an address when the street you're on ends abruptly, only to continue 2 blocks down on a one-way cross street.......
i guess it's that i head into it, accepting the city for what it is......i never expect to head straight to my destination, or even out again for that matter, without any delays or confusion......before i start out, i mapquest, i google......i check out the city map for any restrictions and low clearances......i try to prepare....... i guess it's also that by now i've been into the city a few times.....and i've paid attention while i was there.......i know which lane to be in to get on the upper level of the gw without a fight......i know how to get around jfk without getting "into" jfk......i know the whitestone bridge from the throgsneck bridge from the triboro bridge.....and i know to stay off the fdr.........
i guess it's the energy that is new york.....the fast pace that everyone moves at.....and the way they appear so confident in their journey.......it's hard not to get caught up in it......

6 comments:

Team Caffee said...

Yep you are ODDDDDDD I get near GW and my heart goes pitter patter for a different reason. What IF I get in the wrong lane and get dumped into the city? Someday we are going to fly there and see the city without the stress of the truck. You are the second person I know who love it there. Oh I will admit when I looked up and saw were at the Twin Towers memorial my heart did lurch. Talk about an emotial moment.

Anonymous said...

Like Team Caffee said, you're pretty odd. :-)

You would love these turn and burns we've been on. We've been routed over the GW and up I95 three times a week for the past three weeks.

I HATE the GW. It's always a nightmare to me. Because of this, we don't follow the routing we're given. We take the Tappanzee instead. Adds five miles. Worth it.

I will admit, though, that the times when we've had to take the GW, it is a hell of a sight to look right and see that spread of city. Usually makes me think of Carrie Bradshaw. Better that than CSI. LOL.

Hedon and I got to see "Phantom" once. Saw it in Atlanta, though, at the Fox Theatre. That was awesome.

Anonymous said...

Uh, wait, that's six times a week, coming and going from Massachusettes to Indiana, that we've been routed over the GW of late. Little tired here. :-D

The Daily Rant said...

Ruth Ann...I'm with you. I'm one of those drivers that LOVES New York - the bridges, the traffic, the everything about it. I don't mind city driving anywhere.

But the GW has an exciting feel to it - I love looking down toward NY and on a clear day, being able to see everything. I always wonder about the people that live in the building perched on the shore, with a view of the bridge - what do they think about living there?

I was born in the Bronx and grew up about 90 miles from the city, but my family is still all in that area - mostly Westchester County. I've gone into the city many times with my cousin, my friends and Ed. We've even parked at that shitty little truck stop in Kearny, NJ and taken the bus to the PATH (Port Auithority Trans-Hudson - for service between NYC and NJ) into NY.

The thing I like about New York and most of the east coast is that although the drivers are fast and erratic, they know what the hell they're doing. They get out of your way, they work with you, they don't always let you in but if you hang your hand out the window, they will stop for you and let you get in.

We do often use the Tappan Zee though (side note: My grandfather was a welder for the city of NY and helped build that bridge!), coming in from NJ on 287. We like to go to the Palisades Center in Nyack to shop, eat, hang out at Barnes and Noble, etc. They have a commuter lot that on the weekends especially, has TONS of room for parking - and they never bother you.

And depending on where we're going - if it's up to the NE, sometimes we take the Newburgh-Beacon bridge because it's only $7 for trucks rather than the $30 something that the Tappan Zee charges.

I also see that you mentioned my favorite cast of characters - are you a Friends fan? Because if you are, I'm DEFINITELY coming by for Biscuits and Gravy!!!!

all things bradbury said...

thanks for the comments guys....we take the tappan zee and the newburgh-beacon bridges from time to time too....i love the views of the homes along the hudson from the tappan zee.....salena, ezpass is one of the few perks of being a company driver...i never know what the tolls are........i was just thinking how much fun it could be to have a "little-truck-driver- blogger-woman" girls weekend in the city sometime.....hmmmmmm....
and yes...brad and i are both huge Friends fans.....when we met i think that was one of the first things we bonded over....lol...

Angela said...

I'll admit I get a little sense of excitement getting into view of the big apple, but that's about as far as it gets. I've not been to close to the manhattan area. I've been in the bronx and brooklyn and way up in New Rochelle. Those are as close as I would prefer to get. I like seeing the city skyline in the distance and would prefer, honestly, to keep it that way.