Mike's Work Adventure to New Jersey for Atlantic APCO Conference

The 2026 APCO Atlantic Conference was held in Parsippany, New Jersey this year from September 27th to the 30th.  My team and I were going to drive down on Saturday the 28th, but because of the weather, a forecasted rain nor'easter we decided to go down on Friday the 27th to get ahead of the storm.

Friday September 27th 

Jessica, Amber, and I headed down in one vehicle while Theresa and her mother went down in another vehicle.  We had some thick traffic in Connecticut and New York, that actually dead stopped twice extending the travel time by nearly 90 minutes.   After getting to the hotel Amber and I headed out to Wegman's grocery store, I was hoping to find some soda that we don't have back home.

We got sandwiches that they make fresh to order there, and man was mine delicious!  I also bought a block of 6 year old aged cheddar!  I couldn't resist! My room is nice two double beds, a small couch, and a table with a chair.  It's going to be home the next few nights.

Saturday September 26th

Jessica and I headed out to get her some Starbucks, we also hit a couple more grocery stores, Stop and Shop and a Shoprite.  No soda, but I did get some Herr's cheese curls, and some candy, including a mixed bag of mini Charleston and chews and a big 400 piece bag of frooties!  I've never seen a big mixed bag of them before.

We then headed to the New Jersey Horror Con in Iselin, New Jersey.  Betsy Baker and Theresa Tilly from Evil Dead were advertised to be there.  After paying to get in I walked all around the floor and couldn't find them.  Turns out they cancelled because one was sick, and the con didn't announce it.  Just ridiculous as I wouldn't have gone and spent $45 on the admission fee.  Jessica had wanted to meet Susan Sarandon, but she had also cancelled after getting arrested at a protest in New York City the day before.

We walked about and checked out all the vendors, they had multiple tattoo artists there and I was tempted to get a tattoo, but didn't.  I did buy a couple small things, a pin of the View Askew movies from Brian O'Halloran of Clerks fame and a couple LEGO figures.

We then headed north to Stockholm, New Jersey to The Wrestling Collector store.  We stopped at a WAWA on the way to fill up the tank and grab a drink.  You can read all about my time at the shop here: The Wrestling Collector Store .

We headed back to the hotel for the evening because I wanted to watch the AEW All Out PPV.  I ventured back out to go grab a pizza to enjoy with my wrestling.  I tried researching online but nothing stood out so I asked a young lady at the front desk who recommended Tabor Pizzeria which was only a few miles down the road.

She was right, it was DELCIOUS, and the PPV was outstanding!

Sunday September 28th

It rained all day today, and very heavy at times. It rained on and off all day Saturday as well.  This afternoon was the first official day of the conference with registration, first time attendee reception, and the general reception. 

Cory arrived at the hotel about 830, as he couldn't check into the hotel for several hours he decided to join me for the day.  But first we ran Jessica over to Starbucks and to Stop and Shop to get a few things.  He stored his stuff in my room and we hit the road. 

Our first stop was in Raritan, New Jersey at the Knox-Porter Resolution site.

Even though World War I ended on November 11, 1918 and the The Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919, the United States rejected the treaty.  Senator Philander C. Knox and Representative Stephen G. Porter drafted legislation to declare peace without ratifying the Versailles Treaty.

About 15 minutes down the road we stopped at Kasia Market a Korean grocery store with products from Korea, Japan, China, and all over Asia.  Their fresh and hot food looked terrific, my wife would have loved it.  Corey and I stocked up on some fun chips and snacks that sounded interesting or looked good.  I got Canaan a couple containers of ramen as well.

Next stop was in the unincorporated community of Grovers Mill located in West Windsor Township. On October 30, 1938, Orson Welles put Grovers Mill on the map as it was the landing site of his Martian invasion for his radio drama "War of the World's".

In 1988, on the 50th Anniversary of the broadcast they erected this monument to commemorate the event.  Later an Eagle Scout Troop erected signs along a walking trail that leads to the monument talking about the history of the show.  The park it's located in was partially flooded from all the rain that they have gotten.  Some areas as much as 8 inches of rain fell.

It was lunch time so we stopped at Russ Ayers for a dog, and you can read about that on my Hot Dog blog here: Russ Ayers Hot Dogs, Bordentown, New Jersey

We then attempted to go to the Columbus Flea Market, but it was closed because of an accident that cut power to the area.  About quarter of their back parking lot was flooded.  This place is HUGE with over 100 outside tables, and a huge inside section as well.  Thursday thru Saturday they have an Amish Market as well.

I found a small antique shop down the road called Vintage Venue.  They had a lot of great stuff and very reasonable priced as well.  I bought a couple items, including this really cool owl shaped glass cup.

With more time to kill until the wrestling show started so we stopped at the Burlington County Prison museum.  It was in operation from 1811 to 1965, and when it closed in 1965 it was the oldest operating prison in the United States.

We were there for over an hour and check out all 3 floors.  Each cell block was set up as it was during different times to show us what the prison was like over the years.  The wardens office and kitchen were also set up. 

They had graffiti on the walls that they protected behind plastic to help preserve it.  You could also read about everyone that was executed at the prison and all those that escaped and what happened to them.  It was well worth the $5!

We got to the venue just at 3pm, doors opened at 330pm, and they started the show promptly at 4pm.  This was Cory's first every independent wrestling show and he got a fun one.  There was a great mix matches on the show from high flying, to hardcore, to comedy, to technical wrestling.

You can read my blog about the show if you want: Super Havoc Pro Wrestling 9/27/2026

It was a decent ride back to the hotel, even with the rain.  Cory if a ham radio enthusiast and he brought a couple radios with him.  Throughout the drive he gave me an education on the radios and answered some questions I had, he participated in a couple check ins which was neat.

We got back to the hotel about 830, it was long day but a great day.

Monday September 28th

The first full day of the conference, breakfast was decent and after morning announcements we had a keynote speaker.  I thought the speaker's message was good, but I don't think the delivery style was for me.

It's different walking through the vendor room this year because as I am now the Director, I'm the "money guy" and they know it!  It took some great classes today, lunch was just okay, and after the afternoon classes we had our first chapter business meeting.  I'm being sworn in on the board as an At Large Board Member, Wednesday it's a 1 year appointment.

At 6pm they had a Monday Night Social with a DJ, and a couple food trucks, as well as a cornhole tournament.  The food was decent, a brick over pizza place and a hot dog trailer, you can read about it on my Hot Dog blog: Designer Dawgs, New Jersey

The DJ was great and played a solid mix of music. Cory from the ESCB and Rich from Maine EMS teamed up and won the cornhole tournament! They each won a cornhole set, as shown in Melissa Adam's picture below.  We are going to transport them back in our vehicle for them as we drove and they flew.

It was a great day of conferencing.

Tuesday September 29th

Day breakfast wasn't a good as day 1, sausage and pancakes.  Some really great classes this morning once again, and I attended 1 of Jessica's 4 classes that she is teaching.  Today I took my second class from Kris Inman of The Healthy Dispatcher, and I really enjoyed his presentation style.  I'm going to look at brining him to the Maine NENA Conference as a keynote speaker.

Lunch was significantly better as we had building your own sandwiches.  They also pulled all the vendor drawings during lunch and it was lucky day!  First I won a set of Beats wireless headphones, they run for $150 on Amazon.

I also won this VERY cool Lego block style set of a communications center.  I really wanted to win this one, it's one of the coolest giveaways I've ever seen from a vendor.  I'm going to display it in my office.  I wasn't the only winner in our group, Jessica won a 40 inch ROKU TV!

I took a couple classes after lunch and then we had our business meeting for election of officers.  At 6pm we headed into the main hall for dinner and the awards ceremony.  We took a group photo in front of the 60th Anniversary backdrop, it was ordeal but we got it done!

Maine's winning ways continued at the 50/50 drawing as Melissa Adams brought home that sweet, sweet cash.  Dinner was great, my I enjoyed my steak and the vegetables and dessert was very good as well.  There was a live band, and what I got to hear was really good.  I would have liked to have heard more, but it's been a long day and I wanted to get to my room.  I'm glad tomorrow is the last day and we can head home, it's been a fun but long week. 

Wednesday September 30th 

Last day of the conference is essentially a half day, they have a couple classes in the morning, lunch and the final business meeting with the swearing in of the new board.  I am on the 2026 - 2027 board in a Member at Large position that is appointed by the President.

We loaded up the vehicle Tetris style with all of your stuff plus Cory & Rich's cornhole boards and Jessica's TV.   The ride home was uneventful with no traffic issues making for a very smooth ride!

Over all it was a fantastic conference, and I look forward to next year in Yarmouth, Mass.  Here are a few photos I found of myself from the official photographer that were posted after the conference.

Until Next Time!

Arundel Speedway Reunion

A couple years ago I was watching Lost Speedways with Dale Earnhardt Jr. on Peacock, episode 6 of Season 2 was about Arundel Speedway in Maine.  I never knew there had been a racetrack in Arundel before.  It was a great episode, they footage showed the track was still in great condition considering it closed down 50 years ago.

That sent me on search of other former racetracks in Maine and there is quite a few.  There were speedways in Belfast, Biddeford, Ellsworth, Waterville-Oakland, Ellsworth, Sanford, Norridgewock, Old Orchard Beach, and many of the fairgrounds in Maine had them.  Most of those fairgrounds still do, except they only have Harness racing which is VERY popular to this day.

This difference between Arundel and all of the other racetracks is Arundel is still there, and the others have been torn up or built over.  Arundel is a 1/3 mile asphalt oval track that opened in 1964 and closed in either 1971 or 1974.  Most sources say 1971, but there is evidences of races in 1974.  

I don't know when they started doing reunion weekends at Arundel, but the Maine's Lost Speedways Facebook page shows photos from 2015 with cars on the track.  The track and the land are privately owned, but one weekend, a Friday & Saturday, each year the owners host a reunion where classic race cars come and run hot laps for a few hours.

By the time I found out about it two years ago we had just missed the reunion.  In 2025 I had a conflict and we couldn't go, but in 2026 we were not missing it.  My Dad had never been to the track it closed while he was a kid, but he knew about it, he didn't know they were doing the reunions.  Wesley, my youngest, loves going to the races and wants to go to all the tracks in Maine.  We need to still hit Ricky Craven's Speedway in Herman and Spud Speedway in Caribou.

Saturday September 19th Wesley and I hit the road early to pick up my Dad and to get to the track.  Hot laps were to start at 9am, so we got there about 10 minutes prior.  The track is located at the end of a Dead End road, again on private property.  They have people at the entrance where you sign a release form and they guide you where they want you to park which is on the lawn.

We brought our chairs over and we set up on the top of the banking overlooking the front stretch of the track between turns 4 and 1.  This is where the grandstand used to be, you can see the remnants of the paved walkway and where the poles for the safety fence used to be.  You can see the foundation for a building that I am guessing was the concession stand or bathrooms or something.

We watched most of the races from right down trackside at turn one area.  You stand right up against the edge of the track as the cars go by.  From turn one through turn 4 the drivers give it some, but they slow down on the front stretch.  It is organized as there is a gentleman with a PA system that announces the division that are due up for laps, as well as warns people not to cross the track when cars are active on it.  I'm sure this is some huge liabilities to consider for the landowners.

They did hot laps for a couple hours and then they offered rides, Wesley jumped at the chance and caught a ride in a 1926 Ford that resembled the same style of car used in the film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

We've already established that the land is privately owned, and the owners live there year round in a home build where the turn 4 grand stands used to be and there is no entrance fee.  Well, food is also provided.  They had chili, steamed hot dogs, pasta and potato salads, water, soda, chips, popcorn, cupcakes and assorted candy.  There was no fee for anything, just help yourself.

During the lunch break Wesley and I walked the track and got a good look at the back stretch behind turn 2 that was obstructed by trees from the front stretch. 

After the 30 minute lunch break they did a car parade that was roughly 20 laps of all the vehicles that were there.  

We watched the Indy and Stock cars do another set of laps and we headed out for the day just before 2pm.  They were going to finish the day letting anyone who wanted to drive a lap or two around the track, at a safe speed do so. 

We all had a blast, couldn't believe we could get so close to the action, that they owners are so accommodating, and the huge turnout for the event.  It felt more like a family BBQ than a public event.  Such a unique racing experience, we will definitely go back next year.

Until Next Time!  

2026 Ocean City Adventure

It's that time of year where we pack up Vanatu and head south to Ocean City, Maryland!  This year though Addison declined going with us, so we brought AJ along.  He's been to Ocean City and the condo numerous times, however, he's only ever been in April, so he was excited to head down in the summer.

Saturday June 27th

We got the van packed up and were on the road by 2:15am!  We literally made the same exact stops this year as we did the last two years.  First the TA Travel Center on Ruby Rd in Willington, Connecticut wher we fueled up.  Next was the Connie Chung travel plaza on the New Jersey Turnpike, once again I got a Chick-Fil A breakfast sandwich, chicken biscuit, instead of a breakfast burger from Burger King only because Burger King was closed still.  Finally Royal Farms in Milford, Delaware to top of the tank and grab a drink and snack for the last stretch to the condo.  It only took 10.5 hours this year and we did add a quick bathroom stop on the New Jersey turnpike.

We got supplies for the condo, Kate did a to go order from Food Lion, and we got some bagels at Surf Bagel as well.  Ice cream of the day was Dumsers Dairyland, I got a delicious handmade cherry coke!

Dinner tonight was pizza from Lombardi's, all you need on their amazing pizza is cheese.  It's the absolute best cheese pizza I've ever consistently had.

Kate tried to take the boys to the pool, however, we got on and off rain and thunderstorms and it didn't work out.  The boys and I played uno though.

It was an early night for all of us but we have a plan for the next few days in place.  

Sunday June 28th 

A bit of a wonky sleeping night for me as I went to bed at 830pm and work up at 3am after my normal amount of sleep.  Managed to sleep a bit more before getting up.  Everyone else seemed to sleep well.

The weather was not great today at all.  It was forecasted to be overcast all day, and not only was it, but it was muggy and it rained on and off a few times.  We decided today was a good day to hit the antique malls an some other sights.

After breakfast we headed out with the first stop being in Greedwood, Delaware at what I thought was a Mason-Dixon line monument, but it was a resurvey monument.  I mean it's still pretty cool, and it is 50 years old.  

The other main reason for stopping here was that Wesley likes to get pictures with the "Welcome to.." State Line signs, and we had two!

On the way over we saw a sign for Vanderwendes Dairy Farm, claiming to have the best ice cream on the Eastern shore, which is HUGE statement considering all the ice cream places.  So they became today's ice cream stop.

I must say, it was quite delicious!  Kate got strawberry, and it's the best hard serve strawberry we've ever had.  Wesley got cookie dough, I got butter pecan, and AJ holy cow, which is vanilla, peanut butter cups, and fudge.  

There are farm markets all over the place in this area, it makes sense there is numerous farms, we did stop at one to get fresh local tomatoes, corn on the cob, and I got a jar of F.R.O.G. jam.

Fig, raspberry, orange juice concentrate, and ginger.  I'm not going to open it until I get home, but I am very curious about this combination!

In Bridgeville we hit up two Downtown Alley and a couple miles down the road Antique Alley of Bridgeville LLC.  Downtown as nice, saw some cool things but nothing that we felt the urgent need to buy.  Antique Alley is huge, with over 100 vendor booths and the place is set up like a maze, and again, saw a bunch of cool stuff but I didn't want away with anything.

My Dad his this exact set up when I was a kid

They all chimed at once, the other size of this room was all grandfather clocks

I love these 1950's kitchen table sets, if I had the room I would have one of these

Kate did add another vintage Christmas ornament to her collection and bought an old table cloth that has a pretty design on it.  She loves her some table clothes.  After getting soda pops at McDonald's we headed to Laurel, Delaware to the Out of the Attic Antique Mall.  I never actually made it into this antique store as in the same mall I saw a store front for USW: United States Wrestling, which I didn't know was there.  

I spent the entire time in there chatting with owner/promoter/wrestler Brian Hardy.  Cool guy had a great conversation with him and made a new pal to chat about wrestling with.  You can read more about it on my wrestling blog: The Wrestling Insomniac

Continuing down the road we went to the Route 13 Outlet Market, which is a giant barn full of all kinds of different vendors from food, to a barber shop, to booths with new items, used items, crafts, just a mix of everything.  We stopped here to check out the Dollar Book Shuffle, which sells books, hardcover $2 and soft $1.

We made the drive to Salisbury, Maryland to get Cook Out.  Cook Out is a fast food chain based out of Greensboro, North Carolina that my buddy Brandon told me about that he loves and someone at work was talking about it as well.

You order a tray that comes with an entree, two sides and a drink.  I got the cheddar style double burger, fries, hush puppies and a coke zero.  The boys also got burgers and Kate got the spicy chicken sandwich.

While it did not knock my socks off, the hush puppies were great, and I loved the burger, the patties are small but they do make the burgers fresh.  I'd get a burger again!

We headed back to Ocean City and stopped at Candy Kitchen to get some delicious chocolates for Kate and I, and the boys got gummies.

We shop at Candy Kitchen every time we are here, of course it's overpriced, but it's THE BEST English toffee I've ever had.  They have 19 locations, 12 in Ocean City on a 7 mile stretch of road, which is CRAZY!

We got back to the condo and took the boys down to the pool, even though it was overcast and chilly.

Dinner was turkey sandwiches with those delicious tomatoes and the corn on the cob, which was also quite good.  I was able to watch the AEW Forbidden Door PPV which was tremendous!  Tomorrow is a BIG day!

Monday June 29th 

Today was the boy's and my side trip to Buc-ee's, Waffle House, Cooter's Place and more.  I wrote a whole separate blog post about it that you can read here: Ocean City 2026 Side Trip Adventure

Kate spent the day relaxing at the condo, spending time at the pool lounging, reading, and swimming.  She door dashed coffee beanery in the morning and got some crab dip for lunch.

When we got back Kate took the boys down to the pool for over an hour so they could get some swimming in to finish their day. 

Tuesday June 30th

Kate made us pancakes for breakfast, which were quite good, before we headed out for the morning adventure to the Rehoboth Beach boardwalk.  

We stopped along the way in Dewey beach at the WWII Artillery Fire Observation Tower #3 as AJ had not been to it before.

Kate stayed on the ground but the boys and I made the hike up the stairs, and it made my legs feel all Jell-O once I got to the top.

We had never been to Rehoboth Beach this early in the day before, so we got parked close to the boardwalk on the first drive through, normally I drop everyone off an I make several laps to finds a spot.  We could have parked closer! 

After paying the meter, we headed down to Zelky's to play some games, and win tickets.  I played the three pinball machines multiple times and won games on all of them.

I had never played or seen these before, Pokemon, The Mandalorian, and a new Jaws machine.  The Jaws game was my favorite of the three.  The  boys cashed in their tickets for stuff and things, I bought a Zelky's pin for my pin board at work.  

We walked down the Funland where I spent a couple bucks on Skeeball trying to win this little hot dog plush, I failed.

We got lunch at Grotto's splitting a pitcher of Birch Beer and a large pizza with the table.  I don't know any places where you can still order a pitcher of soda for the table, in fact the only place I can think of that you could in Maine was Pizza Hit.

Of course the Pizza was amazing.  We then hit the shops in Rehoboth, and got our ice cream of the day Kohr Bros!  I got peanut butter and chocolate twist. 

We headed back to the room for some time in the pool and rest before the boys and I headed to Perdue Stadium for the Delmarva Shorebirds baseball team.  

This would be Wesley and I's 3rd Shorebirds game, and this was AJ's first ever baseball game.  They both got shirts.

We got there early to check out the Eastern Shore Baseball Hall of Fame Museum, celebrating all things baseball on the Eastern Shore, which is made up of almost all of Delaware, and they portion of Maryland & Virginia that make up the Delmarva Peninsula.  

It's the 30th Anniversary of the Shorebirds and it was throwback night, $5 upper seats, $2 hot dogs and popcorn, and $3 24oz Sodas!  Our seats were fantastic, in the shade, and there was a breeze so it was a gorgeous night for a ball game.

Wesley and AJ spent about 2/3rds of the along the outfield wall watching from there, Wesley got a toss up from one of the Shorebirds make him 5 for 5 when going to ball games!  In the end, the Shorebirds got shut out losing 5 - 0.  

We had an absolute blast!  We grabbed a beverage at the Royal Farms and headed back to the condo for the night. 

Wednesday July 1st

Kate and I got left the boys at the condo and headed out before 7am to go to Assateague Island National Seashore and see some ponies!

We've never been there this early in the morning before, very few people were there which is nice.  Once we entered the grounds we headed for the Life of the Marsh Nature Trail where we had seen ponies the last few years but there were none.  We then drove further down the road to end of the point where the camp store is, we had never gone there before, and we hit pay dirt.

We saw 3 ponies and one was a foal, which made Kate very happy.  We drove over to the Ferry Landing and then down to the end of the loop road and didn't see anymore.  As we were approaching the gate to leave we saw six more ponies so we pulled into the parking lot to watch them.

As we were heading down the road to the bridge to leave we had to wait for this guy to pass.

It was a successful morning with 10 pony sightings!  We headed back to the condo for breakfast and once the boys were ready we head to the beach!  I did put my toes in the water, but mostly just sat and read my book and enjoyed the sea breeze.

They lasted about an hour and wanted to go to the pool, so we did!  It was hotter up at the pool, but they can have more fun swimming there.  It was refreshing and cooled us down quite a bit so we could sit and read and not get baked out by the sun.

We headed up to the room for lunch and although not planned or intentional we all took a nap as we've had a long few days!  At 4pm we loaded up the van headed to the Ocean City Boardwalk for a couple hours.  First thing AJ and I did was go to Trimper's Haunted House ride.

I love this ride and I look forward to it every year!  I noticed some changes in the ride this year, some new displays on the ride and a couple areas where the cart goes faster! The actor in the house did jump me with a simple "rawr!"

We went to Marty's Playland for some gaming action!  I played some pinball, these were older machines and I had played them all before.  We all had a great time!

We got some Thrashers fries to snack on while we walked the boardwalk, we all love them, especially soaked in vinegar!  

AJ asked if I would ride the Ferris wheel with him, he had never gone on it before and wanted to, so of course I said yes! 

That wrapped up the night for us on the boardwalk, Kate grabbed a crab cake sandwich to go, and the ice cream of the day was Kohr Bros.  We got back to the room and Kate took the boys back down to the pool for over an hour.

Thursday July 2nd

Kate made us big breakfast of bacon and eggs, which was marvelous.  The boys asked to go to NASA's Wallops Flight Facility Visitor Center down in Virginia as AJ had never been, so that is what we did.

It's a scorcher of a day, with heat index over 100 degrees, just like back home in Maine today!?! I enjoy the back road drive to Wallops as there is some pretty country side.

The boys had fun exploring the center and reading the different displays and history of the Flight Facility.  Wesley got himself a freeze dried ice cream sandwich.

We left there and headed for lunch at Sonic Drive-In short distance away in New Church, Virginia, neither of the boys had been to Sonic before, and Kate and I haven't been in a very long time.  We all got the same thing, double sonic smash burger with tater tots.  It hit the spot for all of us, the smash sauce is excellent!

We went back into Maryland stopping at Flea Market 13 Antiques in Pocomoke City.  It was very cool, so many items we both thought about getting, the prices were great as well!  I loved all the old signs they had through the building. We ended up getting this nutmeg grinder to add to the wall in the kitchen.

We headed back to Ocean City, dropping the boys at the condo and Kate and I went to Fenwick Island to get Addison her favorite fudge at the Seaside Country Store.  We then stopped at Candy Kitchen as I wanted more English toffee.

Once we got back to the room, Kate took the boys down the pool for a couple hours.  We decided to get another round of Lombardi's pizza for dinner tonight!

Friday July 3rd

The last day in Ocean City and it's an oppressively hot day!  A couples miles down the road from the condo is this little store with a sign boasting the "best donuts in Ocean City".  We've driven by it numerous times and I always so, oh I'm sure that's where the best donuts are.

So this morning I went to the store and buy some.  There isn't much inside the store, but they do make the donuts fresh right there.  They are all raised plain donuts and toppings, and two that I've never hard of including peanuts and sand dollar.  Sand dollar is just a glazed donut with cinnamon.

They were all delicious!  Especially the glazed donuts with peanuts, sweet and salty with a crunch.   We will get them again.

Kate took the boys down to the pool for a couple hours, so hot outside you can't really sit around the pool as it's too hot.  We decided to leave early to get ahead of the holiday traffic, so we cleaned up the condo and packed up the van pulling out of the lot at 4:25pm.

Our first stop was on other side of Rehoboth at Chick-Fil-A for dinner, and then in Milford, Delaware to top off the tank at Royal Farms.  Next stop was at the Whitney Houston service plaza on the Garden State Parkway where Shake Shack was still open, and I got a shack burger!  Kate's not as big as fan as I am, but she got the chicken shack and enjoyed it.  Wesley got a cookies & cream shake, and love it.

We stopped at the TA Travel Center in Ruby Rd to fill up the tanks, grabs drinks and snacks.  The final stop before home was at the Irving Circle K in Kittery so I could use the restroom.  At Linda's request, we dropped off  AJ at roughly on the way home and pulled in the driveway at 3:10am. 

The only traffic of note that we hit was the beach traffic coming out of Ocean City and through Delaware, but we anticipated that.  We did hit a slow up in New Jersey because of severe thunderstorms.  We had been watching the lightning ahead and beside us for quite sometime and we could see it raining in the distance but we were fine.

Then the wind started picking up and was pelting the vehicle with sand and debris from the Interstate.  The external temperature on the van read 100 degrees and it very quickly dropped to 73 degrees, then the rain hit, and it poured!  The downpour didn't seem to last very long though, but it rained about 30 minutes, and for a time we drove through the rain while watching the sunset to our left.  It was a bit wild at times.

We saw fireworks a few times on the way home, but saw a bid display in New York as we crossed the Tappan zee Bridge.  Interstate 84 was closed Eastbound near Hartford so we had to divert off for a short distance over to Interstate 91 to meet back up with 84. 

We drove a total of 2,214.9 miles on this journey.  I do not have a complete total on the tolls as of yet, we are currently at $95.75, but I think another $16+ needs to be posted still. 

The gas chart below is not 100% accurate as we left the house will a full tank of gas and returned home with about less than half.  Essentially the same amount we put in the tank at the first stop at Ruby Rd on the drive down.

We had a fantastic time on the trip, really glad we brought AJ along, he and Wesley are more like brothers than cousins and they had a great time together. 

Until Next Time!