Making the Move into a New Home

For the most part when I drive the Garden State Parkway it’s usually only for a short trip consisting of a few exits with an occasional one in which I maybe go 20 miles or so.

Sunday we drove all the way to exit 163, a trip I will be making on a fairly regular basis as my son moved into his new home in Waldwick this week.

Prior to this I have never had any real reason to travel to Bergen County and Waldwick, a borough of around 10,000 is rather charming. Lots of nice homes, trees, parks, etc.  It’s surrounded by towns like Ridgewood, Wyckoff, Glenn Rock, and Hillsdale and not too far from Ho-Ho-Kus which I know nothing about but love the name.

Back to why I bring this up and I am sure nothing new to those of you who are commuters and use the GSP on a regular basis.  I felt like I was part of a NASCAR race with cars flying by me even while I was going with the flow of most traffic at 80 MPH.  I have to be honest. If you’re not doing 80 then you better stay in the right lane because you will hold up traffic.

It wasn’t just the speed but the amount of cars that weave in and out and most don’t even bother using a turn signal. They don’t really have time because they have no idea what lane they’re going to go in next as they fly by those who are only traveling 15 or so MPH over the speed limit.

Maybe the most amazing thing is that there are not more accidents because it’s not a parkway but a speedway and you don’t see nearly the number of marked State Police cars like in the past. At least I didn’t.  Next time I make the trip I think I’ll wear a racing helmet, at least it will make me feel a bit more secure.

Of course we were thrilled to visit Brandon, Jill and Carter in their first home.  Leaving Hoboken after ten years for the suburbs was not easy but having a house with plenty of space is exciting, especially for my grandson who is almost 16 months old and now has room to roam (and boy does he roam).  Of course Brandon is finding life as a home owner is quite different and Sundays will mean lots of trips of Lowe’s.

That’s okay as long as he’s home by 1 p.m. to watch the NFL on his 70-inch TV which I really enjoyed.