2021 ConnectiCOUCH Part 3b: NYC, and a rest area in Connecticut

[theinfamousj]

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12 Hours 45 Minutes Down, 1 Hour 15 Minutes To Go

Luckily, there was a nearby park and we headed there without any plan of what we wanted to accomplish. I was thinking that we might sit on benches. But when we got to the park there were a lot of people with flashlights gathered around tables having animated conversations in Mandarin. The Significant Other declared that they were playing Mah Jongg and, well, I play a pretty decent game myself so I asked him what our budget contained for miscellaneous betting money because I was sure I would lose but this would absolutely be a memory of a lifetime.

They were not, in fact, playing Mah Jongg,



but some other gambling game involving playing cards. However, they were so chuffed that I had inserted myself into their fun that they tried to feed the very full Significant Other and myself. We suddenly found ourselves adopted by a seemingly endless stream of elderly Aunties and Uncles who cared about our nutrition and hydration and did their best in their broken English and my limited Mandarin to explain the game they were playing and how the betting worked.

As this was happening, there was an elderly man wandering around the park with a broom and dustpan set that one most frequently sees in the hands of a movie theater employee, sweeping up detritus from the bricked courtyard. He explained to us that there was a pavilion behind him which we could not see due to the darkness of the night, and that in that pavilion were public toilets that were still open. The Significant Other decided he needed to visit them.

And then, the moment the umbrella had been waiting for: it rained.

And everyone, tables, cards, bets, flash lights, bao, bottles of water, good luck charms, extra cigarettes, and broom and dustpan sets, gathered themselves and walked up the now illuminated by the light of the moving flashlights stairs to the pavilion where, once under cover, things were set back to their rightful place and game play resumed. At this point, I spread out the picnic blanket that was a permanent resident in my backpack and sat on the pavilion’s cool stone floor and took my shoes off and just enjoyed the summer warmth as I felt the humidity of the air drop, and listened to the quiet murmurs in a language I did not yet fully understand, oh I got a word here or there such as “telephone number”, as it was juxtaposed on the sound of a summer thunderstorm. And I breathed the air so clean with the washing of a rain shower. And I waited to see how the Significant Other would react to emerging from the restroom to a changed scene.

And the rain stayed until the fateful hour of 9:30 pm when it was time for us to return to pick up the car. We promised 10 pm, and 10 pm would it be. So now, the umbrella was getting to see its usefulness and was pulled out as we both scrunched our bodies beneath its shelter and walked to the nearest subway station. Our MetroCards were empty at this point so we each loaded on just enough for the final trip back to the car.

We emerged from the underground world of the subway to find that the rain had just stopped near Broadway, and walked to the garage where we found ourselves second in line for vehicle retrieval. The Prius was returned to us without a single scratch on her, and with her catalytic converter intact. We showed our SpotHero payment slip to the parking attendant who, frankly, had expected it when we requested the return of the car so hear yee hear yee if you do the SpotHero thing and keep that printout on you at all times. We also tipped the amount that the /r/NewYorkCity subreddit said to tip for a valet garage, and drove off into the night, bound for the Connecticut Welcome Center in Danbury.

14 Hours Down, 0 To Go

Your girl (me) was EXHAUSTED. I’d just survived 14 hours in pretty brutal heat in New York City. And after wending our way through a few mostly-vacant city streets in Manhattan, we quickly hit stop-and-stop traffic near the Bronx. What should have been a quick hour to Connecticut turned into 3 hours to Connecticut and we got to the rest area at 1 in the morning.

I didn't have enough energy to take a bucket bath, so a quick change into pajamas, quick brushing of the teeth, and a quick inflation of my sleeping pad and pillow (if you have inflatable items, it is best not to leave them inflated all day as the temperature fluctuations can cause blown baffles) would have to do. One Melatonin later, I was completely dead asleep to the world in Motel Prius. We left Motel Prius in climate control mode with the parking brake set and the Significant Other’s towel draped across the dash to hide the lighted displays that indicated that the car was still on in Ready mode. Let me tell you about that climate control ( >)

Frugal Budget Check

• Prius - $57/day
• Motel Prius - Free
• 16 GB Flash Drive - $4
• Lincoln Tunnel - $16
• Parking - $20
• Breakfast - $1.50
• Book - Free
• Staten Island Ferry - Free
• Lunch - $10
• MoMA Admission - Free (Culture Pass)
• Dinner @ Bodhi - $40
• Subway Fares - $29.50
• Parking Tip - $5
• Motel Prius - Free
• Gas - 1 tank $30

Total $213

NYC was absolutely going to be our expensive day, and it was.