Alley Road Trip 2007: New Jersey Part 1

May 10-15, 2007

Hey. It's Julie. Well, we got into Cape May, New Jersey, at about 6:00 p.m. We drove off the ferry boat and onto the southern most part of the state. We called Robin and got directions and also stopped at the local pizza joint, "Santos" and brought pizza to their house. My kids inhaled it, of course. Shortly after we got there some friends of theirs who were helping them out moved and delivered their piano to them. One of the guys was wearing a Red Letter 9 t-shirt, which Jimmy recognized and noticed he had added his own art to the shirt, after spilling bleach on it.

So, that night, Thursday, and all day Friday, we helped Robin move boxes, organize bookshelves, and set up our sleeping arrangements. The first night was rough and involved a lot of screaming but after I confiscated lots of cardboard to 1) cover bright windows and 2) make a barricade so Cash couldn't see us when he woke up, things began to run more smoothly in the sleep department. (Although Cash woke before 6 a.m. for like the first 5 or 6 mornings. Vacation? I think not!)

Somewhere along these days Robin's washer quit working. Uh-oh. Daren and Elissa were to arrive the next day (Saturday) and I already had a load from being at the beach in Rehoboth and all. Jimmy spent many minutes on the internet and phone trying to diagnose the problem...long story short, it was on the fritz the whole time and we were a house full of 14 people, which included four children in diapers (and you already know mine don't always hit the target) and the babies of course get quite messy at meal time. Heck, Jimmy gets messy at meal time. Anyway, it all worked out and during the week we did get to do some wash at a family member's house. It made me appreciate clean clothes.

So Daren, Elissa, Zachary, and Nate arrived Saturday and all was reuniting and fun. Sunday was Mother's Day and Robin's kids, Corey, Jamie, and Jordan, cooked an amazing meal of salmon, asparagus, wild rice, salad, bread, and yummy desert and all us mom's enjoyed not having to cook anything. Although Robin spent hours in the garage moving furniture and boxes, I figured Mom's who do nothing on Mother's Day are wimps. :-)

Early in the week we went to the Cape May Zoo which amazingly has tons of exotic and wild animals. By this day I was getting to feel 100% BLAH. Like, tired of being away from home and everything began to feel so complicated, juggling everyone's schedules and needs. But I made a vow to "fly by the seat of my pants" and told Jimmy I would do my best to be laid back and have fun. And really, the zoo was good for that, I guess. I seemed to turn a corner, get a little more sleep that night, and just accept the fact that being away from home for days on end just gets hard every once in a while. I think this is enough for now. We will do more.