Rainy Ride to New Jersey

Hustled to load the van in the rain after work on Friday and got myself in bed by 10. The alarm at 2 am came way too soon and I was off to New Jersey. Rained the whole ride. Going back to NJ after a long absence always floods me with memories. I passed the elementary school where we hid under the desks from Kruschev's missiles and so many other landmarks of my life. I pulled into Linda Berry Walker's amazingly beautiful facility right on schedule at 8 and was able to pull my little van right into the event barn. To my delight a group of alpacas and llamas were penned right in front of me. I was surprised to find vendor friends from my area of New York, and some from the Fingerlakes. We had a great time socializing and trading fiber vendor stories about shows we do. Too bad the customers were reluctant to come out in the rain. Patrons had to park in the lower field and take a golf cart up to the event barn. The driver didn't have to make very many trips. Mia and Andrew came to help out and keep me company. We chatted, took pictures, and taught Andrew how to knit! As the morning wore on and traffic was very thin, the young couple left to go to the movies with Andrew's mom. I had a few shoppers come by, but not enough to really make spending another day worthwhile. Sunday historically is half of Saturday intake-wise, and if that held true I would really be doing a LOT of spinning. I decided to spend the night with Mia in Morristown and head home from there. My fiber/vendor friends understood but had to stay themselves as they had motels booked, etc. I packed up again, said my goodbyes, and headed out in the rain. I stopped at Border's in Flemington and picked up a NJ Monthly magazine with a list of the Best Doctors of NJ featured in it, along with my precious British Country Living. I thought Mia and I would have fun gossiping about the docs she works with at MMH. As I was checking out an announcement came over the PA from the National Weather Service warning of a tornado that would touch down in Flemington in ten minutes. People were stunned and just staring at each other. An apocalyptic rain and thunderstorm was going on outside sounding like a freight train on the roof of the store. I decided I would rather take my chances on the road than in a flimsy store. I had my trusty waterproof North Face parka on (yes, it works!) and waded through the group standing in front of the doors watching the storm. Away I drove through the torrential rain. I was almost out of gas and looked for a station that was undercover when I realized I don't have to pump gas in New Jersey!! Fabulous! I asked the attendant if he knew about the tornado and he laughed. I'll go for a ride in it he joked. Ah, the Spanish in NJ. Always laughing! I took off north for Morristown at a good clip but was slowed by flooded roads and three lanes of tailights going slowly. Remember this is NJ! I finally pulled into Morristown which has more investment banking offices, cute restaurants and night spots than it did a year ago. Mia was waiting for me in her apartment and I fortunately found a spot on the street. I got inside with my bags almost dry.