Rainy State Park Road Trip
These are some of my favorite views of the city coming back on the BQE and the other on the George Washington Bridge. There is never a view of the entire skyline but you can get portions of it.
This is coming back, when you can barely make out the city through the wildfire smoke over the George Washington Bridge
 |
| Google made this picture and sprinkled fairy-dust on P! |
McDonalds inside some futuristic shopping village somewhere outside of the city. An experience we would never choose but Google maps led us to this bizarre location in desperate need for fast food. It was clean, air conditioned and filled with wealthy tourists.
A night at the drive in! Astroid City!
 |
| Fried everything and 1970's prices. A nice couple ran this place and tried to keep its integrity preserved. |
 |
| Plenty of green vistas to dream on as we drove up to the State Park. We went to swim because its the end of June and you know, any other week it would be 90 degrees, however, this one was torrential rain and cool temperatures, of course. No swimming except for the hotel pool with an autistic child. |
 |
| Thank God for good eats and hikes and the ability to have a good time in just about any situation. |
 |
| Lots of cool hiking trails along the river and railroad tracks |
 |
| A neighborhood joint with a good crowd and well-stacked pizza with that crumbly sausage and nice big booths to comfortably spy on the locals. |
 |
| A couple attempts to swim with big clouds and lightning. No allowance in the water, which was slightly tortuous. |
 |
| Bad/good free breakfast at the hotel. It's never that good but this was well kept and fresh and they were trying. |
 |
| One night it rained so violently that were nervous something crazy might happen although I didn't know what it could be. |
 |
| We had dinner in this small cool town on the roof overlooking the river and P ordered the special, a seafood paella platter. Too bad my pictures didn't turn out because they piled on so much fresh delicious seafood he couldn't finish it. It was also the first time he appreciated rice. |
 |
| It was a blessing to find this small hike out to a lighthouse towards the end of the day. We had good weather but it threatened to rain any minute. We drove 10 minutes to what we thought was going to be some dumb tourist attraction but instead it was an incredibly enchanting private trail to this gorgeous old lighthouse with seats to enjoy the view. You can even stay in it overnight if you dare. |
 |
| Biggie girl breakfasts are my absolute favorite. This might be on my last supper death row meal wish list. |
Great Mexican food is an absolute must in every town. This place was on the money. Enough rice to stuff a pig but when on vacation, you want big platters. You want heavy silverware. You want extra. They had giant booths and plenty of ceiling height, and music. You would never believe you were in a strip mall once we were seated.
 |
| They had real Central Americans working here that barely spoke English and the young waitresses came to peak at the piggy girl that finished her giant platter of food. |
 |
| A cute idea to serve a little plate of beans as dip before the meal with chips and sauce. |
 |
| I saw the rain approaching beforehand. It came across the water like a sheet and then pummeled the beach. Totally worth it except for the fact that it brought a freezing wind. |
 |
| One day for about 1/2 an hour they allowed us in the water. The water was crystal clear but cold and you could see 12" fish all around you. Beautiful. Made it more special perhaps, to have such a limited time? That's how I choose to see it, otherwise I'd bawl like a baby because I LOVE to swim. |
 |
| Life is gooood! |
