HomeLAN said:
The foot hurts, frankly. As of today, I'm off the crutches and into a shoe. The shoe may not see the end of the day.
How was the trip back?
Fucking brutal. The run down was hard, but we were all fresh. This time, we were already wrung out, burnt out, and saddle sore. And I needed more sleep than the 15 mins I got before the lasershow on the mountain. I had to pull off for a couple of hours in NC. We sorely missed those hours later. Took us hours to make it through MD. I caught my second wind about then, tho. We'd planned to find a motel, and visit Arlington. I wanted to show V2.0 the Lincoln Memorial, since she'd already seen where the stone for it was cut from. But we decided to press on. With it raining and my navigator asleep, I missed the exit for I-87 off the NJ turnpike, and wound up dragging a ton of camper on a scenic tour of Newark, while the missus tried to figure out where we were, and how to get the hell out. That cost us more time. Once we managed to get up on the 87, and out of NJ, the Missus told me to exit and park it at the next motel sign. The next day, we decided to just go easy, and we took another night in Platsburg, only a couple of hours from home, after only perhaps 6 hours in the saddle. Yesterday, we took the kids to Santa's Workshop up there. Damn near fried the tranny getting there. Only to find that their prices are .... obscene. $17.95 for adults, $15.95 for over 2 years old????? We'd been there only a few years back, and the prices were nothing like that. And to top it off, half the attractions are limited to under V2.0's height, broken, or unmanned. The attendants were surly. The eating facilities non-existant. Even the giftshop (formerly a mecca of tree ornaments and good taste) had only one redeeming feature : the exit. The missus and I had to make an effort to not show our displeasure. At least the kids still enjoyed it (what there was of it). But at nearly $80 a family, I expect better. Much better. And the prominently displayed "NO REFUNDS" sign at the enterance suggest that I'm not the only one. Needless to say, the NY tourism board, AAA, and the better business bureau will be hearing from me. As will the owners, should I be able to track them down.