Connecticut to New York

October 12

Erev Sukkot

Throughout this trip we have visited many places and done many things that were on my so-called "bucket list." Razelle hardly ever mentioned things that she would have considered bucket-list items. During the past two days we did a number of things in Connecticut that could be labeled as such, but the one thing Razelle very passionately wanted to make sure we did while in Connecticut was take the Ferry from Bridgeport, CT to Port Jefferson, Long Island, NY. We made a dry run to the terminal two days ago so we'd know where it is and to find out about tickets. This morning we awoke before dawn so we could pull this off. I was also eager to experience this, so we both got ready for the day with the same eager anticipation. An added bonus to taking the ferry was that this part of the distance we would travel today would not be on the van's odometer. I was mindful of how close we were getting to the obligatory oil change and I was hoping not to have to do this before turning in the van two day from now (October 14th)

We decided to take the 7:30 AM ferry so we wouldn't have competition for space on board. We were told to arrive half an hour early, which meant leaving Debby and Zvika's in the dark around 6:30 AM. It was genuinely cold here at that hour. By the time we lined up at the dock dawn was breaking in shades of pewter grey, it was so heavily overcast. The smell of sea air and the sight of gliding gulls made our excitement palpable.

The chain was dropped and we were motioned to drive aboard. My van was guided into the forward-most position in the parking bay, meaning we'd be first off once we had gained the opposite shore.

The ticket window was in the enclosed passenger area. Large windows enabled us to see out while comfortably seated on benches provided for our convenience. Above the ticket window was a banner with the catchy slogan: "Break the Sound Barrier". We were about to cross Long Island Sound under that banner.

During the ferry ride Razelle found an interesting gentleman to talk with. He was a builder from Bridgeport with large construction projects to oversee on Long Island; this ferry was his daily commute to and from work. While they talked I explored the ferry. Razelle stayed put because the motion of the rocking vessel was too much for her leg. I went up to the open-air top deck, where I was exposed to the elements. The strongly whipping wind was cold enough to make my eyes water and numb my cheeks; the choppy water and ominous grey sky added to the nautical feel. The motion of the deck made walking a strait line a challenge. Only one other person was crazy enough to be on that deck along with me. Eventually, the wind chill got to be too much and I rejoined Razelle and bought both of us hot cocoa in paper cups.

Port Jefferson, NY was a pleasant surprise. I'd never been east of Ronkonkoma on Long Island before. This place looked like a New England seaport, rather than an Empire State community. We drove the van off the ferry and headed through this quaint port directly south across Long Island to get onto the Sunrise Highway near Patchogue, NY. Driving west on this Highway was a pleasure – until we reached Lindenhurst, NY. On-off ramps were replaced by traffic lights and traffic became heavy. It was stop and go the rest of the way into Baldwin, NY. The advantage of not taking the Long Island Expressway seemed lost by this point; nothing could be done about it now, so we just crawled with the flow.

We had a destination in Oceanside we wanted to reach before we stopped at Monte and Mindy's. Our GPS had us on a course that would take us directly there, but on a sudden whim, I broke off from this course and drove past Monte's house, to show Razelle where it is. At the precise moment we were passing it, my phone rang. It was Monte. He called because he needed to go to a meeting and needed to leave a key with us. I wheeled around the next block and greeted Monte in the driveway. He handed me the key. It was too perfect an occurrence to be coincidental. Monte and I have been telepathic before. Razelle was stunned that we'd done it again.

We continued on our way to Simcha Boutique, in Oceanside to keep our appointment with the proprietor. Razelle wanted to buy more handcrafted head-coverings to wear in the synagogue, made by this woman, like the ones I'd purchased for her via the Internet in the past. We had thought this boutique would be just around the corner but it was two miles away and involved a number of maneuvers to get there; however, my GPS was up to the task. After admiring her work and making our purchases, Razelle gave this women one of our souvenir magnets. It was important to reach this boutique as early as we had because the holiday of Sukkot would start at sundown, and the proprietor had to travel yet, to be with her family.

We then made our way to a CVS pharmacy I knew of at a strip mall at Atlantic Avenue and Long Beach Road in Oceanside, not far from Monte and Mindy's. We turned in another roll of film that needed to be developed. While we waited for processing, we wondered in and out of some of the shops. Again, no luck with the "talking book" quest I was on for Noga. An SUV, parked beside our van at this strip mall, had a bumper sticker on it advertising the Gilbert & Sullivan Light Opera Company of Long Island. Some day we have to contact this company. The owner of this vehicle would have had a lot in common with us, I surmised. At the end of an hour I went back into the CVS and got our developed pictures.

We drove to Monte and Mindy's house and parked the van – for perhaps the last time – on the side street beside their house. This is our final address in the United States. We've driven 13,500 miles to get here. Early on I wouldn't have wagered that the van would make it this far. But it certainly has.

We used the key and let ourselves in and sank into the living room furniture to decompress from our travels. Missy the beagle greeted us. She remembered me. She asked me to let her out into the back yard. I double-checked that the back gate was secure so she wouldn't leave the confines of the back yard and I saw that there was a Sukkah out there! Monte had put one together for this Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot).

Members of the family began to arrive soon. Ilyssa arrived and greeted us warmly, Mindy arrived with a cheery welcome, and, closer to meal time, Monte come home from his business appointment and, through the fatigue behind his eyes, smiled broadly and shared in the warmth of this family moment.

While dinner was being prepared I set to work bringing in items from the van, one trip after another, after another. Missy had to be kept behind the gate so I needed to be mindful each time I went through it to keep it secure against a beagle breakout. Some of these items ended up in a cluster in the front hall and some in a gathering heap next to the fireplace. Once I knew what our sleeping arrangements were to be (the entire basement suite was ours) I began dragging more stuff down the stairs to arrange them around the furniture down there. We had much work ahead of us for the next leg of our around-the-world journey – onward to London! – and the scope of this task was overwhelming at this stage. We had expanded the volume of our possessions beyond what the luggage and the airlines would allow and the task at hand would take a lot of thinking. If we used our time prudently we would be properly packed by departure time four calendar days from now. If it didn't all fit I would need to know soon enough to organize boxes and masking tape so we could send the excess baggage that way – or not, if it would cost less or be more efficient to take it all on the plane with us and pay extra baggage fees. It was too soon to answer that question. I had to do some consolidating and some research before I could say.

We gathered around the dinner table for the festival meal and the doorbell rang and one more person joined us at the table. Ilyssa introduced us to her boyfriend Mike. We did the blessings over the wine and bread for this holiday and, while we ate, conversation was lively; there was so much to relate all around. After the meal Mike and Ilyssa went out together and we all settled down for a quiet evening. Each of us had something to do.

Eventually, I had to stop sorting through our stuff. Tomorrow would be another day. It was time to get some sleep.