Family Visit in Connecticut

After my day and a half celebration in New York, I took a bus to Southbury, CT to visit my sister.  As the bus drives out of NY, I snap a few pix of the city I leave behind where people are sure to wake up in the glow of the following day.

I know my loving sister Christine and her husband would have come to pick me up if I had asked them.  But driving into the city and a long 2 hour country drive is a lot to ask for.  I also have had way too much stress and experience with caring people wanting to help with the driving.   The train/bus is soooooooooooo much easier.

I was googling on google maps to see about public transportation from NYC to Bridgeport which is a town about ½ an hour from Southbury - my destination for today.  I clicked onto the little public transport symbol on google maps and up popped an option with Peter Pan bus company going to Hartford and it had a stop in Southbury.  It was actually the 2nd stop from NYC.  And all for just $31.  Hassel free and my sister would only have to drive 5 minutes.  What I didn't know is that Christine could go onto the Peter Pan bus website and follow the bus in real time.  She had pulled into the bus station just 2 minutes before I got there.  So there was zero wasted time waiting around.  Funny and coincidental, her husband Robert was picking up their dog from the doggy sitter and on his way back home, he saw a Peter Pan bus and followed it thinking it could be my bus and he could just take me home from there.  He was right.   So actually both Christine and Robert were there each in their cars ready to take me home.  That's how easy and wonderful and stress free the entire ride was.  Plus I was able to buy the ticket on-line from home in Copenhagen to be sure that I could secure my spot as there are only 2 departures a day.  But the morning departure was at 8:55 so it's not like I had to wake up in the middle of the night as one does with so many discount flights.

Nothing was planned for this visit.  It was just an easy, simple family visit that I mixed in together with my NY parade experience and that was more than enough for me.  I really enjoyed myself and talking with both Christine and Robert.  Here are a few pix from the visit.

This is Christine and Roberts grandson, Benjamin.

Their granddaughter, Sidney.

She loves to dance and have "dance off's ".

Here is a cute and funny video of Uncle Eddie and Sidney having a go at it.

DANCE OFF

  Who will be the next big winner of our international dance competition? 

In between the playing and melting under the sun and trying to keep cool from the humidity, we basically did nothing but a lot of relaxing, and eating.  Well...…. I did the relaxing while Christine worked out of her home office and Robert put a lot of things together in the garden.

I did manage to get my butt off of the lounge and help out a bit with some yard work.   However, to my surprise, I ended up getting poison ivy and nearly 3 weeks later, I'm still scratching.

I was in heaven because Christine is an excellent cook.  Her food tastes like my mother's food which should have at least 5 Michelin stars.

This same evening, we celebrated Benjamin's birthday.  I didn't know it was his birthday.

Christine and Robert were in California for a week and they actually got back to CT just 12 hours before I showed up.  Their grass grew like crazy while they were gone.  So one day Robert got on his tractor lawnmower and zipped through the garden.  But he needed a hand getting the tractor up the hill in the back yard.  I helped and now paying for it dearly.  I'm pretty sure that's where I got the poison ivy from.  Pushing the tractor up the hill was through part of the forest.

 This is just a tiny part of the front yard.  Shot through a window and screen.

This showed up on my leg 1 day after I got home and it got really ugly as the week progressed.  

Still it itches but much less now.

Boy, it sure was hot and muggy in CT.  Spent a few hours poolside just relaxing and enjoying.  I really had a very nice time.  I wish Jens could have been with.  We were here together last time but it was too cold to go out.  I think it was April 2018.

As they say: All good things must come to an end.  4 days later, I had a late night flight out of Newark to Copenhagen.  It was the 4th of July and I guess that is why the plane was empty.  I considered buying my Peter Pan bus ticket back to Port Authority and then switch to the airport train.  But Robert and Christine needed to buy some patio cushions at Home Depot and it was halfway between their home and the Bridgeport train station.  The train from Bridgeport would take me directly to the airport. 

So, that's what we did.  We went to Home Depot, bought some cushions and then drove off to the train station where we said our good-byes.  See you next time Christine and Robert here in Europe.

 I need the Washington DC train arriving at 5:56

 Here it comes.

 It's getting closer - it hasn't exactly arrived just yet.

 Closer...…

 Just about here...….

  There!  Now it's coming to a stop so that I can get on.

Weird….  As I mentioned earlier, I was considering taking the Peter Pan bus back to Port Authority and then I would have to walk 5 to 10 minutes to the central station to continue onto the airport.  The train ride, however, was a direct train.  The down side, I didn't know is that there was a ½ hour wait at the central station.  I was a bit worried because there was no body there.  No passengers on the train or even in the station.  No train personel or sign of life.  Kind of creepy.  It was the 4th of July but still… shouldn't there have been masses of people?  This is after all, New York - right?

I got to the airport in good time.  Put on my flight clothes, checked in, dropped of my bag and got in the express lane at x-ray control.   The express lane let you pass about 30 people but you still had about 100 in front of you.  Hardly express.   And in all these years, I cannot believe how messed up this airport still is.   They have had 15 to nearly 20 years to get it together and it has not changed at all since I have been flying into EWR.  Anyway.... I got the ok to continue and walked in.  I headed to the lounge and paid the fee and poured myself a concoction to put me under for the next 8 hours.

Now I know, flying on a holiday seems to guarantee an empty seat.  The flight was so empty that the captain came on the speaker and asked everybody to sit in their assigned seat for weight balance to a smooth and trouble free take off and that once the seatbelt sign was turned off, people were free to choose another seat.   I was in business class and it was empty.

Next thing I know, I'm being woken up for breakfast.  Oh that was soooooo nice.