Kate and I came back from an awesome weekend with the Fink’s today. On our way home we usually take 295 North to Route 1 North to Ridge Road. Ridge Road connects from the awfulness of Route 1 to the sanity of smaller roads like 206. We make the jug-handle (Yes, in New Jersey you’re not trusted to make left turns) and begin down Ridge Road when we see an assembly of cones and a road closure block that seems like either somebody is trying to close the road or just really bored. We continue down only to find about a mile down the road that it is indeed closed with a police car blocking it.
Why am I making a big deal about a single road closure? Only because this was not the last one of these we saw before arriving home … in fact I ran into two of them while I was driving today!
Yes, that’s right. I was driving on actual roadways. After leaving Costco Kate pulled into a closed gas station to allow me to take over. I was going to travel down a small local road that comes to a major four way intersection and then turn onto Main Street in Manville. Take that to some back roads that would take us home. I turn onto the road and proceed about 300 feet up a hill to a traffic light. At this traffic light we see that the road is closed ahead so instead I follow the detour and hang a right. After about 15 minutes of bumper to bumper traffic we have watched about 20 cars turn around and head the other way. We think we estimated the entire distance we made on this road as being that same 20 cars.
At this point I swing into a parking lot, turn the car around and proceed the other way. I head back to Costco where I gave Kate back the drivers seat as the only other way home required us to go on a major highway that I am not nearly ready enough for.
As we approach home Kate pulls into another lot to let me get in the drivers seat and continue the way home. I pull out and travel maybe half a mile to the traffic light only to see that the road I am going to turn onto is yet again closed. This time I only turned around and went right back to where I started and Kate drove us home (again on more major roads).
It was awesome to get to drive on the main roads. I am good, but not great. I made some very foolish mistakes and am a bit embarrassed at my performance. I have to be easy on myself as this was the first time I got to drive this vehicle (we were in my car) and I’ve never driven on an actual roadway instead of a parking lot or housing development. Both of the roads I was on were 35 – 45mph roads.
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