Here is the rest of the story to Michigan:
As we were leaving NYC, my friend was driving and I was chatting with her while her daughter slept at the back having taken some ZzzQuil. Somewhere in Pennsylvania, I offered to take the steering wheel. It was drizzling a little bit and was foggy up in the Poconos.
I had the car on Cruise Control and was on the middle lane. Suddenly the truck on the right lane decided to swerve in front of us. I do not know if the guy was sleepy or was trying to avoid something on the road. I immediately pushed the brakes and looked to my left and saw a car but had to swerve a little bit for a few seconds just to avoid the truck.
Lo and behold I see a police car behind me and pulled over. Mind you, I have lived in the US for over 3.5 years and don't know how many times I have been to the country in the last 28 years and never have been pulled over.
Anyhow, the policeman approached the passenger side window and started to speak to my friend while looking at my driver's license and the car rental agreement. He was friendly and wanted to make sure I wasn't falling asleep. He asked us where we were going and when we told him we were bringing a kid to school in Michigan,. He wanted to see the kid, talked to her and advised her to study hard. Then, he let us go. Well, I wasn't sleepy at all but after the episode, with the adrenalin rush, I was wide awake for quiet a while.
We kept exchanging the steering wheel every two hours and so and thus, managed to safely drive all the way. The last 6 hours in Michigan was so boring, we wanted to scream.
When we finally got to our destination, we checked into the hotel, showered and took her to the school to her orientation. After the orientation we emptied the car and helped her while she organized her dorm room. She wanted to stay in the dorm that night although her roommate did not show up that day. So, we left her and went out to shopping for small things she might need and had dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings.
I decided to go to the sauna to shake the cold I had and both my friend and I probably fell asleep at 8 p.m. that night and slept like babies. Wonder why?
The next morning we woke up very well rested and decided to find out more about the campus and about Lake Superior. It was a nice and relaxing day.
And, the truck driver was not stopped? Too bad. It seems that kids want to dump parents as soon as they can at school! That was quite a trip to take, long.
ReplyDeleteI was speaking with a friend last night and it made me think of you as she and her sister drove 16 hours straight from their dad's place in Nova Scotia to the sister's home in Ottawa - spelling each other every few hours. She was very happy to take the train home to Toronto yesterday and let someone else do "the driving".
ReplyDeleteI find those huge trucks so terrifying now - you just never know when they are going to decide to take over a lane and you really have no chance against them. Very glad to hear that you all survived it and got the the orientation on time. I hope he rest of your vacation was a bit more relaxing!