Diane and I had a great day today. We left our hotel in Parsipanny (sounds like a root vegetable) at about 8 for the drive to New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) in Newark. I was the keynote speaker for summer technology camp for high school kids. Newark is about as different from Vermont as two places could be.. The air was hot, humid and hazy as people edged their cars along the packed freeways.. I’m not a great city driver. I’m pretty distractible (no.. really ? ) and there was so much to look at as I drove. I was so happy to be driving the Prius.. it’s GPS got us right to the door of NJIT . My friend Maureen met us and guided us in to our unloading spot. A bevy of camp counselors descended on our car and lugged the equipment up to the third floor where my show was to be while Diane went and parked the car. It was great having her here with me.. I think there were about 80 kids in this camp.. half from new jersey, half from out of state.. Some for inner cities. They were all interested in engineering and science. . The show went great… I always choke up a little when I do the introduction and dedicate the show to Sam.. but once I’m into the shtick.. I’m ‘on’. All of the equipment worked today.. which is a bit of a miracle in itself.. the kids were great participants and the faculty and staff at NJIT were warm and welcoming as always. This place has such a great heart…
After the show… the samy clutch of camp counselors lugged the equipment down stairs for me.. which is the only part of doing these shows that I usually don’t enjoy. It was about 12:30 when Diane and I got the car loaded .. We had about 6 hours to kill until our flight to Austin. For no particular reason we headed down to the Jersey Shore.. It seemed like a better idea than heading into NYC on such a hot and muggy day. The temp outside read 97 degrees as we headed down the Garden State Parkway.
We turned off at Point Pleasant Beach because one of the students had told us it was one of the closest beaches. .. looking for the quintessential Jersey Shore experience.. and we found it. Jenkinson’s Beach at Point Pleasant was about as Honky Tonk as you could get.. a boardwalk, expensive rides, rigged (I assume) games of chance.. cool beach food .. and lots of sunburned people. We looked for a place to change our clothes.. For some weird reason changing in the restrooms was a punishable offense.. The only place you could change was a ‘bathhouse’ that wanted $4 apiece for the opportunity to change your clothes in a tiny stall.. no thanks.. We went back to the car and di the classic change in the car routine, then headed back to the beach. We paid $6.50 apiece to be able to go down on the beach and we sat down in a sea of people.. . I know it sounds yucky.. but for some reason, it was just what we were looking for. The breeze kept the heat down.. the sun was bright… and we just spaced out. We’d ate the few veggie sandwiches we’d found at a health food store and fell asleep. I woke up before Diane and just stared up at the sky for awhile and spaced out. .. The kids would love this place.. I missed them all… When Diane woke up, we went down to the water and put a SamStone in the Atlantic for him.. It felt good to do that..
Here we are in the parking lot
Check this out !
We’re going vegan in solidarity with Max.. It’s harder than I thouhgt.. and I’m already a vegetarian !
This is me spacing out and starign into the sky
Who does his shopping ?
By then it was time to head back up to JFK.. We spent a few hours driving back up to NYC.. I had work calls for the whole drive. New Jersey freeways are … err…. uh… picturesque ?!
We also talked to Max and Gabe. Max is home in Vermont and sounded hot.. We heard it hit 100 in Burlington today !!! Gabe sounded like he was having a great time Snowboarding in Oregon. Snow sounds great on a day like today.
Right now, Diane and I are sitting in the airport waiting for our flight..
we’re already an hour late.. which is no fun.. At this point, we’ll probably miss the rental car pick up in Austin. We’ll manage. I’m looking forward to seeing many work friends in Austin..
Hey they’re boarding our flight !.. Gotta go.. More tomorrow !
-jc