New Jersey

New Jersey
New Jersey gets bad press! We have found this state to be full of surprises! Not only do the attendants wash the windshields at the NJTP service plazas, there are always fresh flowers at each restroom sink! A nice touch to an otherwise dismal stretch of highway. After sharing tea with my relatives in Riverside, we raced the sunset to Belleplain State Forest near Cape May. We set up camp (well, parked the car and blew up an air mattress), walked the forest for an hour (okay, got somewhat lost) and watched white-tailed deer romp through a clearing. We had the entire place to ourselves. Toasting our good fortune with Chianti and bean soup, we then donned the headlamps and read, snug as two bugs in a Buick. All was right with the world, at least the southern part of New Jersey. As one traveler commented to a trucker outside the rest area of my favorite turnpike, "All days are good ones. Some are just better than others." Tuesday was one of those. Did I mention that ice coated the inside of the windshield during the night?!