September 27, 2022 Day 4 around Princeton New Jersey 114.8 miles
Today is partly cloudy again but with more wind. We ate breakfast in the room rather than waiting to eat in the hotel crestaurant. The drivers meeting is 30 minutes later this morning so we got there before they started. One of the roads they had planned to use is closed for some kind of repairs so we got handouts on the new route. Our first stop is the Van Sant Historic Airfield. The drive took about two hours from the hotel but a lot of that was waiting on traffic lights to get out of Princeton. We guessed one of those lines was at least a mile long and only a few cars got through the traffic light at a time. Several cars owned by locals turned around and went another way. Once that was cleared the remainder of the trip was much better. We did see a dead fox on the road. Deer must be a real issue here because several of the fences are really tall. A few houses are decorated for Halloween. Since many of the yards are large the decorations are too. The airport has a grass landing strip. Most of the planes stored there are antiques. Several different kinds from one that looked like a tandem bike with wings to a sleek glider. Our coffee break was scheduled for here as well. Today they served a delicious cinnamon coffee cake. The next stop was at the Washington Crossing Museum. They showed a short video about the crossing and the area. We didn’t look at much of the museum. The river looks so peaceful at this time of the year. Hard to imagine what it was like at the time of the crossing. Every year a reenactment is done on Christmas Day just like in 1776. Well somewhat like it. Now they cross during the day rather than at night when Washington and the troops crossed. We crossed a couple of the covered bridges from yesterday and a couple of the narrow metal bed bridges that make the car shake. It’s a short drive from the museum to the Washington Crossing State Park. We had box lunches from Jersey Mike’s here for lunch. After most people had lunch a historian from the park gave a short lecture about the events and conditions at the time. He was dressed in reproduction period clothing and carried a musket. He told us how to load and fire the gun and then actually did fire it. As we were pulling out of the parking area we heard the ice cream truck would be back in about 10 minutes but we didn’t stay. On the way back to the hotel we saw a doe in someone’s yard and a squirrel dart across the road. Not much in the way of wild life. We turned in our paperwork for the day at the host hotel and then went for fuel and food. Grocery stores are not in the area of the hotel so we had a 3-4 mile drive to one. Really nice store but prices are higher than at home. We bought salad for supper and turnovers and yoghurt for breakfast tomorrow. Then it was off to the gas station. We took a wrong turn somehow and went to a different station than we thought but that is just the way it goes. When we got back to our hotel the lobby was crowded with people from some convention. Rob worked on the car for a little bit before it got dark. I wish I could better describe some of the roads. They are very narrow, rough and winding. The shoulders don’t exist. The side of the road drops off significantly most of the time. Then throw in an occasional hill either up or down. At the foot of the hill is often a stop sign. Roads come together at many different angles and may consist of five or six roads. If you are lucky the view is clear but there are a lot of overgrown trees and bushes blocking the view of oncoming traffic. The stop signs are hidden too so its a good thing a warning sign proceeds them. There are so many signs for hidden driveway that you begin to wonder. I am really glad I don’t have to drive these roads and driveways in the winter.
Spoffords Travel 