So, starting right off with a narrowly missed Moose mishap, I am unfortunately quite sure that things are still going to get worse before they get better and we are in for a long night! The reason I think this is because we have known for months that we were suppose to pick this art up from NYC but never really looked into the details of it.

Martin had called the number we had been given about two weeks ago and then they traded messages a couple times but we didn’t get a hold of anyone till 6:30 that night when we were leaving Maine, to let this guy know we would be there “in a few hours,” like ten o clock at night. Well, this guy (never did know his name) is out of town, so he hands it off to this other guy. Martin, calls him to get directions and ask him how far it is off the freeway and will a Freightliner and a 40’ trailer get in there, “OH Yeah,” he says, “its not far off the freeway and there are big delivery trucks down here all the time.” I had been in denial about this for some time thinking that we surely wouldn’t be going INTO NYC, that someone would meet us at a rest area or truck-stop or something practical like that, but by this point I am realizing that its too late for such an organized plan and we are in for an adventure, my only possibly consolation is that it is the middle of the night, it shouldn’t be that bad.

Martin hands me the phone so I can write down the directions, I am looking at a map of NYC as I am writing so I can be sure it makes sense, and wouldn’t you know, we are going to an Art Museum in the middle of Manhattan Island, about two blocks from Central Park! Now I’m thinking that growing up in Bruneau, Martin probably cannot even imagine what a mess this is going to be or maybe he can and simply isn’t worried about it. Who knows, but we are committed now!

So, we proceed down 95 through Boston and Providence to NYC and arrive about 10 pm on the outskirts, now we are suppose to get off on Harlem River Drive, just before the George Washington Bridge. Well this guy must only go to work traveling west to east because the exit he tells us does not exist going east to west. Before we know it we are on the George Washington Bride heading into NJ……Off to a helluva good start! We get off the first chance we get, I am on the phone with this guy and he says “just turn around and come back” Oh Yeah, we’ll just whip this puppy around here and be right back. We have to stop and ask a taxi driver how to get back on the bridge, (luckily we did or we would have never figured that out) then we have to pay a $24 toll to get back across the bridge! This time it works perfectly, there is the exit we are suppose to take, ok everything is good, we are exiting and then, when there is no way out, we see a big sign that says PASSENGER CARS ONLY

Well, as it turns out, the reason for the PASSENGER CARS ONLY, is because they are doing construction and there is only one narrow lane curving to the right, with a cement wall on the right and lots of orange barrels on the left. Well, it was either drag the horse trailer along the cement wall or start knocking over barrels, so that’s what we did, knocked over every one of those big orange barrels for about two miles. (They should move that sign so you see it before you exit.) I’m still on the phone with this guy, so I tell him, “This says passenger cars only!” and he says “how big is your truck?” Apparently he missed the description and the point of the previous conversation.