In early afternoon, we passed through New York including The Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn, and then over the Verrazano bridge into Staten Island. Finally, we passed through New Jersey heading south to Pennsylvania. It was pretty awesome when Don't Stop Believin' played out as part of our New Jersey playlist - in honour of Tony Soprano, natch.
I adore Manhattan and have visited the island several times. Although we knew we wouldn't be stopping there this time, it was a bonus for all of us to see it from yet another angle:
We're learning a lot about the American road system on this trip. People drive a lot more slowly than in the UK, where the average speed on the motorway is 70-80mph. There's a pretty strict 55-65mph speed limit everywhere here and there are state troopers hiding behind trees and billboards. As a result, we've been using the cruise control quite a bit. Hopefully, Dale (aka: 'Teen Agent') will speak into his watch and order us up a turbo boost when necessary. I have the prototype version of cruise control on my old Mondeo; it involves balancing an appropriately sized brick on the accelerator during the periods in which I wish to rest my legs.
There are also vast amounts of tolls to be paid on US roads. It costs $2.50 to turn the key in your ignition in America. We must have spent $50 yesterday, just passing through CASH ONLY lanes. One bridge crossing cost us $11 for 30 seconds of not getting wet. For that, I'd like not only a toll, but a troll, a billy goat, and Superman saving children in a school bus, please.
We had a near miss leaving one such toll booth today when some lily-livered jerk cut us up by turning left from the right lane doing about 50mph. Missed us by inches. At least I would have died in New York..
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