The drive to Suffern, New York was to take a few hours. The plan today was to be on the road early so to make our destination around dinner time. And then we could relax and charge up for Saturday.
It was my first trip to the North East Astronomy Forum. Also Joel had never been. But Katrina, Millie and Dietmar, Phil, they were all veterans. Katrina tweeted that we were "the NEAF posse."
I had multiple objectives. I was going to just experience it, obviously. Fully experience the trade show, take in some talks or lectures, see how the Rockland Astronomy Club ran things, do some observing, with guidance from the experienced NEAFers. Manuel had charged me to keeping an eye out for new cameras. And I had my new business matter to explore.
I got up early to finish packing. And make coffee, of course! At 7:45 AM, my mobile phone buzzed. It was Katrina—they were ahead of schedule. Already at the rendezvous point on Bloor. Oh! They wanted to know if I was ready (yes) and when I could be there (5 minutes). I suggested the fastest solution was for them to drive one block north and I'd meet them at the corner (2 minutes).
I filled the traveler mug, put on shoes, hustled to the foyer, just as Joel's mini van appeared. It was surprisingly warm outside. A lovely spring day albeit cloudy and misty.
By 7:55 AM, we arrived Millie and Dietmar's. I had peeked across the hydro allowance while still on Royal York and saw that Phil was already there. We briefly entered the house but everyone was ready to go. Millie and Dietmar loaded a single remarkably small bag into the trunk. And the humans piled into the spacious Honda. Phil and I took the third row; Millie and Katrina were in the middle. Dietmar rode shotgun and fired up his GPS. And without further ado we were on our way.
Joel almost missed his first turn! We teased him. Dietmar encouraged him to heed the GPS...
Lora had provided road trip cookies! Yeh.
I gave Katrina her CAO keys.
I realised, out by Winston Churchill, that we would be traveling right in the middle of the morning rush hour. But, fortunately, westbound traffic was light. And, of course, we were entitled to use the HOV lane. Sweet! We made good progress.
Later, on the 403 near Hamilton, around 8:30 AM, we witnessed a near-crash. Immediately ahead of us, a vehicle in the left passing lane began to return to the centre. Meanwhile, a vehicle in the right lane, overtaking everyone, claimed the middle lane. The left lane driver was in the process of changing when, at the last moment, they saw the centre lane was no longer clear—and yanked back. Whew. No collision. But it was close. Very close. I couldn't help, with all my HPD training, wonder what would have happened to us. I bet we would have been caught in it. And that would not have been good. Alas, Lady Luck favoured all concerned.
We arrived at the border at 9:11 AM (uh, weird). All lanes open. Each had about 10 or 15 cars. Surprisingly busy. But we went through pretty easy. After the Boston bombings, we weren't sure what to expect.
We viewed the new RASC cards, via Dietmar. He had procured some from the recent council meeting. He had two flavours: the general contact one; and the benefits of membership one. Very nice. We all pocked some.
At 10:21 AM, we stopped at the Pembroke thruway service centre. Many partook of the Tim Horton's. I declined many offers for more coffee.
I reviewed my wish list...
We finally stopped for lunch. We found a Friendly's Ice Cream Shop, just off Interstate 81, in Cortland. I had a quintessential burger, fries, and coke. By 1:50 PM, we were back on the road.
The highway seemed familiar to me. I wondered if it was where I received my last speeding ticket! Way back, when Willy and I took a motor to Long Island.
I had brought a couple of books to read: Camera Raw 101 by Canfield; and Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi/400D guide by Busch. I plowed through the Canon book...
We stopped for fuel and stretched our legs. I think that was in Roscoe. And then it was the final push.
At last, at 5:00 PM, we arrived hotel.
The monitor in the lobby show NEAF info. But the computer driving it crashed as I walked over... I didn't touch it!
There was a robotic dome in lobby. Wow.
Phil said the Crowne Plaza, just north of Interstate 87, had been redone, refreshed. The room seemed very newly appointed. I found however the decor a little cool and stark, white, black. Strange mirrored, chrome thing over the desk. Very contrasty. Later, it would become obvious that some of the linens were not black, in fact, but dark purple. Apropos of the RASC!
Our room was on the outside of the building. That offered us a window (which might sound strange) that I promptly opened. The trees were in bud here; the air smelled lovely. Suffern is around latitude 41.1. Three degrees south and the flora showed it.
Phil found that a low battery condition on the room safe prevented operation. We'd have to keep our personal effects on our person.
We found, happily, that we had free wifi in the room. w00t. Phil had wondered, after the hotel upgrade, if it would be a surcharged item. I found the signal good! Sent some work and RASC emails...
I had obtained everyone's room number after check-in. I called others in the posse to share. Joel had an inner room on the same floor (without windows). Phil was perplexed that he didn't have two doors. Katrina was just down the hall from us, same side, i.e. an outer room. Millie and Dietmar were down on the first floor.
We reconvened in the lobby around 6:30 and headed out to dinner. The Airmont Diner. Place was busy, hopping. The staff were fast and friendly. I had snapper. Huge portions. Found Sam Adams on the list. Yum. Joel was intrigued.
Around 10:00 PM, back at the hotel, we settled in courtyard lounge. Phil told me we were sitting where there used to be a pool. We had drinks all around. Katrina bought—thank you. It was clear there were lots of astronomy people around: the vendors were particularly obvious in their labelled shirts.
As we chatted, some familiar faces appeared. We were happy to receive Janice and Byron. They were very surprised to see us. They had spent the day shopping in NYC. Tomorrow Byron was headed to NEAF. Later they showed the hard cover book, made with iPhoto, of the Australia eclipse trip.
Retired for the evening. Took in some TV but it was poor quality. Some analog channels looked very bad on the widescreen LCD. On top of that, the signal was wobbly. It would drop and distort every few moments. We shut it off.
Big day ahead...
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