Travel Insanity

 

That’s a fucking car!

I didn’t take that picture, it was online after I googled about just what the fuck happened today.

So, let us start from the beginning.

8:00 am: I drop off Ana for Brain Camp.  A bus comes and picks up all the kids, the driver is an older lady and the only way to describe her is totally rad.

8:45 am: Dino and I leave to catch the light rail to Hoboken Terminal.  We had no time to walk to Bergenline Avenue, so we took the stairs down the Palisades to Port Imperial.  Absolutely fabulous for bone on bone osteo. Not.

9:19 am: Our trolley arrives at Hoboken Terminal.

9:31 am: The train leaves the terminal for Paterson.

10:08 am: We arrive in Paterson and deliver my son to his father.  I must now travel back to Weehawken so I will be on time to get Ana at 12:55 pm.

What happens next is pure chaos.

10:10 am: My train back does not show up.  It doesn’t say delayed on the app, there is no announcement, but as the minutes tic by, the app keeps saying that the train will arrive in 2 minutes.

10:30 am:  Still no train.  I need to use a restroom but not because I need to pee.  Because I need to empty my menstrual cup.  I get 2 1/2 hours tops on the first two days of my moon time, and no it’s not too much information, it’s life!  I went to several food places in the area, no bathrooms, I had to walk all the way to a Planet Fitness with thankfully immaculate bathrooms.

10:50 am: I get back to the platform where there are even more people because another train is expected at 11:10 am.  This time a random ass dude tells us, no trains are coming, they hit a car.

Because of course they did.

Service is suspended in both directions and there isn’t a shuttle.

FUCK.

10:55 am: I frantically search the transit app and Google maps looking for the easiest way home by connecting bus routes.  It’s not easy, at all.  I go down stairs to the closest bus stop where I see that I can take either a bus to Hackensack or a bus to Union City, but if I wait for Union City I will be terribly late for Ana.

11:20 am: I catch the 703 to Hackensack Bus Terminal.  Never been there before in my life.  Some of the houses look like they’re from the late 1700’s, it’s pretty wild.

11:55 am: At the terminal and I realize that the buses that leave from there aren’t going to get me home.  I have to literally run/hobble 6 minutes away to catch a bus on State St that will get me a block from my apartment.

12:10 pm: I reach the correct stop for the 165.  I have two minutes to spare!  The bus comes on time and I settle in for a 45 minute ride.  Thank the Goddess I thought to bring my Kindle.

12:40 pm: Blvd East at 60th street is completely shut down and the bus must detour because apparently one of the high rises is on fire, 6 trucks are on the block.

FUCK.

12:52 pm: I finally get off the bus in front of Louisa Park.  Ana’s bus comes in three minutes and it’s actually on time.

I do not get to relax.

1:00 pm: Ana and I are home and I need to make her lunch while I check for the train info.  Thankfully it’s back to running regular schedule, I guess all their forensic photos and crime scene investigating was complete.  I make an iced coffee.  At this point I haven’t eaten anything, but I have had water.

1:30 pm: Lunch is ready and we chow down while I double check the schedules.  I have about half an hour before we leave.

2:00 pm: Ana and I walk out to catch the 89 back to Hoboken Terminal (no stairs this time!).

2:12 pm: Our bus shows up.  Fingers crossed it gets there on time!

2:34 pm: We arrive at Hoboken Terminal and walk to the correct platform.

2:46 pm: The train leaves on time!

The rest of the our travels go smoothly.  We get to Paterson, pick up Dino, go back up to the platform and wait for our train home.  Once we get back to Hoboken, Ana asked to “see the ocean” which means we just walk to the beginning of the dock.  We stay there until we have about fifteen minutes for the 89 to come because again, I am not walking either up the stairs from Port Imperial or down the hill half a mile from Bergenline.

11:11 pm:  I am tired, I have severe cramps and I am thirsty.  Stupid toothpaste dries out my mouth.

Time for bed.

Drive safe out there people.  Or you can be like me and catch up on your reading, all fucking day on NJ Transit.

🚊🚍🚆