“Slow down, you move too fast. You got to make the morning last…”

Hi again! Hello from Ocean View Campground, in Ocean View, New Jersey. This is our regular “go-to” campground – and it is once again, just as lovely as in the past. So let me catch you up on what’s been going on.
When last we “spoke” (!), we were in Ohio, and heading back home. That next travel day, we made pretty good time getting back to Jersey. The trip was uneventful through Pennsylvania – and never ending as well! The weather was great, UNTIL we hit Jersey. And then – DOWNPOUR! DELUGE! TORRENTIAL STORMS! It was fun. We got Mom home, and settled, and all was well. She was very happy to have gone on our adventure, and to have visited with the Memphis Kabat Krew. She was ALSO quite happy to be home. We arrived back at our front door at about 7 pm or so – which was pretty early. All was fine – until we noticed a hideous smell, which, all the facebook readers will remember turned out to be…a decaying, dead animal. Enough said.
In the ensuing weeks, I spent 10 days teaching at “Comedy Camp”, caught up with family and friends, and most importantly welcomed my daughter home from Israel. We decided to take a few days and get away – and that brings me to the present.
This past Sunday, we spent the entire evening repacking and reorganizing the RV, to prepare for this week. Thankfully, the basics were still in place: linens, paper goods, dry goods, cleaners, etc. We had to fill in perishables, clothes, etc. It’s like opening a beach house, I guess. It just takes a long time. In addition, we had to make sure that Mikaela’s “room” was set up. She sleeps in the “loft” above the cab. Honestly, I don’t know how she doesn’t have claustrophobia. It’s very long, and wide, but pretty shallow. She’s okay – as long as she doesn’t sit up fast! On Monday, we continued the packing, and finished straightening up the house. If anyone breaks into our house while we’re gone (G-d forbid!) – it is in the CLEANEST CONDITION we have ever left it! We made our way down the ever wonderful Garden State Parkway around noon, and not surprising to anyone I’m sure, we hit bumper-to-bumper traffic. There was no construction, no accident, no detour – and yet, a 30 minute jam up. Ya gotta love Jersey! We met my mother-in-law Connie at a rest stop, and she followed us all the way down. We gave her the BEST birthday present you could want: US ON A CAMPING TRIP!!! We decided 2014 would be the year of the camping grandmas!
As we entered the campground, we were reminded of the older women who yell at all the incoming vehicles to “SLOW DOWN”! In fact, these women inspired our blog title today! We registered and found our site. It wasn’t long before we set everything up, made a delicious barbeque dinner with a big salad, turkey burgers and hot dogs, and fresh corn on the cob. Yummy! We rushed the clean up, put on sweatshirts, and headed on down to Wildwood.
The Boardwalk is, unto itself, an American tradition. It’s a plethora of different cultures, ages and backgrounds, who come in all different shapes and sizes. It appeared to me that most of those walking the boards with us were families. In reality, it’s a nice, fun, and POTENTIALLY inexpensive way to spend a summer evening. The ocean breeze was incredible, and we had a really nice time. In addition, we racked up 2 miles of good, clean walking exercise. In past years, Rich and I walked the entire length both ways – thereby doing 4 miles. (Hey, I got an A in Math back in the day!) And, in July of 2012, we did that 4 mile walk during the day, in 100 degree heat. So we burned calories like crazy. Monday evening, we walked from one end to the other. When we reached the end, however, I cried uncle. I did not have the energy to make the return trip. It’s very possible that Rich, Mikaela and Connie could have done the walk without any issue. But I was done. Luckily, my exhaustion allowed us to all to take part in even MORE of the Wildwood experience…the TRAM CAR! There is a mulit-car train that carries “weary vacationers” from one end of the boardwalk to the other. For a mere $3.00, you can catch a seat and make life much easier by riding down the boards. It won’t get you there any FASTER – as it stops every 20 seconds or so to pick up or drop off passengers. However, the tram must notify those on the Boardwalk that it is approaching. There is no horn; there is merely the following announcement: “Watch the tram car please!” That message is heard OVER AND OVER AND OVER again. There are T shirts for sale with that message! There were tourists holding signs up with that message! It just replays in your head, over and over, like a bad dream! And to think, because of my exhaustion, we were part of it!
We drove back to Ocean View and headed to bed. It was a very full, long day. Everyone got comfy in their own spaces, and the air conditioning didn’t hurt, I can assure you. I’m going to stop here, and pick up with my story tomorrow night. After all, I owe you a couple of posts! Oh – before I forget: the trivia Q and A. My last question was: How many time zones are there in the world? The answers varied – but they were all correct, as I found that the question has more than one correct answer. There are 24 main time zones, but there are several “sub” time zones as well, so…whatever answer you wrote was correct! And there were several of you. Now, here comes today’s question. It was announced that, sadly, Robin Williams passed away Monday morning. It truly is a tragedy. From the movie “Mrs. Doubtfire”, what song does Robin sing with Harvey Fierstein sing during his makeup transformation? Answer, and my next post, tomorrow. Have a good one.

Some more s’mores??