The Show MUST go on...

Ahhh... the day after Christmas gives me the respite I have been sorely lacking for so long. And with that I think to myself what a wonderful life it is in so many ways!
It is our third annual girls trip to NYC that I am referring to here. There seems to be something a travelling and bad weather theme for me as of late. Mom, Emma and I left here at 8 am to meet Lisa and Maddie in Windham. I knew there were threats of a Nor'easter in the making, but I had heard it was going to start later...later than 8 that was! For as soon as we left Exeter, the flakes started falling. I had talked to my sister, the flawless driver to see if we should make a different plan. I had even looked up the train schedule only to discover it would cost a mere one thousand dollars for the 5 of us to take it into the city and back. But Lisa was firm about going. I mean what else would we do? We had tickets for the 7pm show and the show was going to go on whether we were there or not.

So we drove and we drove and we drove and we drove. And as we drove the weather got nastier and nastier moving from snow to sludge to grease to ice to sheer insanity on the roads. At one point in Connecticut, there were cars off the road every 50 feet or so. The roads looked as though they had been oiled down with the thickest kind of grease. Lisa maintained her 10 and 2 position on the road, keeping her face with an appearance of utter calm as the rest of us tried to support her by occupying ourselves with everything but what was happening on the roads!!

Honestly, I cannot believe the woman's determination! I would have had several panic attacks had I been the one behind the wheel! The amazing part was that we were not alone out there on the roads. There was traffic and at times...lots of it! Now I am sure they were not in for the long haul of a five hour drive but still~
So we made it to our second cousin's house in just about 5 and a half hours...a good hour and a half more than it should have. Really not that bad if you consider the driving conditions!

At one point, this enormous tractor trailer skimmed by us...just inches away from our vehicle. The front of him spat up some brown sludge onto the windshield and before you could even think, you could hear sludge pummeling the side of our vehicle from the back wheels until finally it erupted in a sea of sludge that completely blinded the front windshield. I wanted to gasp and scream, but instead I looked over at Lisa who was sitting behind the wheel looking completely stunned and she very gently reached over and turned on the wipers! No reaction but the calmest of calm and thank God because I really think we could have been goners had she panicked in the least. It was right after that she stated that if the weather did not improve then we would be taking the train into the city from Anne's. Whatever you want my fearless driver was all I could think. Whatever you want!!

We made it there and took a long rest and as we were sitting there visiting with Anne the sun came out. Yep. We had done it. We had driven right into the Nor'easter and it was moving north and out of our final destination. We left Anne's and the rest of the ride was just a bit of rain in places.

We arrived and found our hotel after a beautiful entrance into the lighted city...there was Rockefeller center and then right into Times Square...but no place to pull over and get our stuff out. So Lisa just stopped! I don't think anything could phase her after that drive! My Mom and the girls jumped out with all the stuff and made their way to the hotel as Lisa kept the cops at bay. I jumped back into the vehicle and we were off to find cheap parking!!!

We stayed at the Marriott right in Times Square, giving us easy access to everything and Thank God because the wind chill alone must have been 30 below!! We braved the cold, made the show, Spring Awaking which was AWESOME, had dinner and crashed. The next day we made our way over to MOMA to expose the girls to "modern art" (what a joke but worthy of many laughs!) but also to see the Van Gogh exhibit that was there. FABulous!! Next it was back to the hotel for a hot totty and some very overpriced Sangria and then we went to see Wintuck.

Another fabulous evening of wining and dining at The View...a rotating structure at the top of our hotel where you could see the city from your table. All was well until Emma and I were drenched in wine that my mother accidentally spilled. For a moment it was tense as we were reeling with the feeling of cold wine all over us...not trying to make my mother feel bad...but we did and then I felt badly about that trying to explain I was no upset at her, just upset at being soaking wet! To no avail...finally the moment passed and we were on our way to get some food downstairs. Pizzas all around!

All in all it was a fabulous trip...but I did miss Hallie...our only original before Emma and Maddie joined in, but I am sure she will be there next year! I know I will because come hell or high water or nor'easter the show MUST go on!!