Day 3.25: Syosset, NY to Katonah, NY

We slept in thanks to the total darkness offered by the windowless basement bunk bed room which Abe so enjoyed as a child – Arielle less so because it always feels like the middle of the night. We got ready for Father’s Day, and Arielle went out to buy some fruits and veggies that she was thrilled to platter given that we hadn’t hosted a meal in months. Abe thought the blueberries were especially delicious, but her pride and joy were the pineapple and watermelon that she put back into their rinds to serve after she cut them. We had some reheated bagels, which were still better than most fresh bread across the country, and lox for breakfast before the rest of the family arrived. Donald, Nancy, Hannah, Sharon, Rachel, and Laura all arrived, and we spent the afternoon hanging out by the pool.

We went back to Butera’s for a delicious early dinner. Arielle got cauliflower pizza and shared some of Hannah’s penne alla vodka, while Abe got the same steak he had eaten the night before.

We left around 6:30pm, and it only took us about an hour and twenty minutes to get back to Westchester. We were thrilled to have made it back to our point of origin, with one week to relax before our next big trip: Europe!

Approximate number of miles covered: 64

Day 3.24: Kent, OH to Syosset, NY

We got up early to leave by 9am. Aaron woke up to say goodbye just as we left, but Liz did not in fact join us for the farmer’s market. We got on the road for a long drive through the entire state of Pennsylvania, which took us hours. We did pass a sign for Punxsutawney, which got Arielle excited.

After passing many Sheetz locations, we finally found a Wawa and couldn’t have been more excited. We each got a banana cream smoothie and Arielle got her huge iced coffee. Abe ate the leftover tagine and we continued along, crossing into New Jersey, where we began to hit traffic. We slowly crossed the George Washington Bridge, entering New York, and miraculously made it to Long Island by 6:30pm.

We dropped our stuff off at the home of Pop-Pop, Abe’s grandfather, and went out with him to Butera’s, his preferred dining establishment. Arielle got an eggplant rollatini appetizer and a Caesar salad, and Abe got a steak.

For dessert, we enjoyed a chocolate chip pie to go with ice cream on the side (packaged tightly in a to-go container). We went back to the house and spent some time together before going to sleep.

Approximate number of miles covered: 461

Day 3.1: Katonah, NY to Kent, OH

After an extraordinarily productive yesterday during which we booked almost all our accommodations for this trip and our subsequent trip to Europe, we got up around 9am to pack up the last of our things. A relatively leisurely breakfast was followed by the swiftest, smoothest loading of the car that we’ve had yet. We can even see out the back window completely, which is really something, thanks to the absence of a large box, a third suitcase, a fourth duffel bag, and a third crate. Hopefully we have everything we need with us! We said goodbye to Abe’s parents and left their house around 12:30pm. Our first stop was at the local Goldberg’s Bagels, where we purchased a bialy with butter for Arielle to eat with a Pickle Guys sour pickle she had brought from home, a pumpernickel bagel with butter for Abe, and a half dozen everything bagels to bring to our hosts for the night.

We were already five hours ahead of the last time that we drove to Ohio on our first road trip last summer, which was a great start, and we mostly made good time en route. Unfortunately, we sat completely still for an hour on a single-lane stretch of 84 West in Pennsylvania due we think to an accident, and then finally started moving. We used the time well to watch some TV on Abe’s computer since the car was parked anyway!

The good news is that we managed to find a Wawa along our route, despite the fact that searches in Waze for Wawa pulled up locations of its far inferior Western PA competitor, Sheetz. Arielle got a 44-oz iced coffee, which she brilliantly split into two far more manageable 22-oz cups to store in the cupholders in the back seat, and Abe got a large Banana Cream Smoothie, once again available for only $3 thanks to the “Siptopia” promotion. We hit some very intense rain but also experienced some incredible skies full of clouds.

The fanciest restaurant we were able to find for over a hundred miles was a Ruby Tuesday located in Dubois, PA. Abe ordered an 8 oz. top sirloin with grilled zucchini and a baked potato on the side, and they even allowed us to add the unlimited garden bar for only $4, which Arielle had as her meal. It was a good find, and worthwhile to know that this chain is a decent option that’s not too pricey and has good vegetarian options, including two soups Arielle may try next time.

We got back on the road with over two and a half hours to go, and luckily didn’t hit any more traffic along the way, soon crossing into Ohio.

We weren’t too late to be greeted by Abe’s cousin, Aaron, who we had seen in Florida just three days earlier at the unveiling for their grandmother. He and his girlfriend, Liz, who had already gone to sleep due to an early morning the next day, have a lovely house in Kent, a nice college town. We brought our things in, socialized for a bit, and then went to bed after a long day of driving.

Approximate number of miles covered: 480

Day 3.0: What We’ve Been Up To

Hello again, readers! We finished our second road trip during the second week of April but neglected to put up many of the posts we had written until just now, so please forgive us! We’re already back on the road after six weeks of sort of staying in one place. We arrived in Katonah a week and a half before Passover, and spent some of the time before the holiday in New York City visiting friends.

We enjoyed two wonderful seders at the Fried-Tanzer home in Katonah with friends, much of Abe’s extended family, and Arielle’s parents and her sister, Cindy, who flew in from Los Angeles.

Midway through Passover, we went into Manhattan to stay in two different apartment of friends who were away, getting to visit with friends around the city and New Jersey throughout the week. Abe covered twenty-eight movies at the Tribeca Film Festival, and we enjoyed time both together and apart back in our old stomping grounds.

We returned to Katonah for just one night before driving to Massachusetts to celebrate the engagement of Abe’s sister, Hannah, at her fiancé, Brad’s, parents’ home, sticking around for a few days to see a number of friends.

We came back to New York in time to go visit the Ramah Sports Academy in Connecticut, where we will be working at the end of the summer, stopping to see our friend, Seth, at his synagogue in Westport on the way home. We split our next few days between time in Katonah and Manhattan before flying down to Florida on Thursday.

We spent a night with Shosh, whose wedding we attended in February, and enjoyed a lovely few hours out by her pool in Aventura after a tasty breakfast at the Original Pancake House. We drove on Friday to Hollywood to spend Shabbat with Andrew and Lauren, which was great, and culminated in a repeat visit to a kosher fried chicken establishment, Dixie BBQ, that luckily didn’t end this time with Arielle throwing up all night.

That Sunday, we moved up to Boynton Beach to see Abe’s grandfather, Grampye, and had dinner with Abe’s brother Ezra, Uncle Bruce and Aunt Nancy, with whom we stayed in Chapel Hill, and cousin, Aaron, who we’d soon visit outside Cleveland. Abe’s parents, his sister, Hannah, and her fiancé, Brad, arrived that night and we all went to the Courtyard Marriott in Boynton Beach. Abe, Ezra, and Nancy watched the series finale of Game of Thrones together and then we all went to bed. In the morning, we drove to nearby Delray Beach for the unveiling service for Abe’s grandmother, Bubbe. We enjoyed a meal together at Ben’s Kosher Deli in Boca Raton afterward and then spent a wonderful afternoon out by the pool. Arielle was even able to get Grampye in the water, which made the experience special for all of us! After a great dinner at Joseph’s in Delray Beach that night, we said goodbye to most of the group. The next day, we spent the late morning and early afternoon out by the pool with Nancy, Donald, and Grampye, and were very impressed that Grampye, who will be ninety-five this October, was able to throw the ball around with us (and often better than we could!).

We drove to West Palm Beach Airport and flew back on Delta via Atlanta to Westchester Airport, where we landed just minutes after Nancy and Donald’s nonstop flight on JetBlue (Abe obviously wanted to enjoy his Platinum Medallion status, and Arielle was grateful that Abe gave her his First Class upgrade). We spent all day Wednesday cleaning, packing, and planning our next trip, and got to bed earlier than we expected to before setting back out on the road the next day.