Flight from Canada to the USA (NYC) and Settling Down in Somerset, New Jersey

Wednesday, September 11, 2024

Woodbridge, Ontario, Canada-New York-Connecticut-New Jersey

Flight from Canada to the USA (NYC) and Settling Down in Somerset, New Jersey

Today was rather bizarre in more ways than one. When I had planned our itinerary, it had not occurred to me that we’d be flying on that dreaded day—9/11. Yet, here we were, awaking with the knowledge that we’d be airborne on the same day (and at the same time—yikes!) as those passengers who had lost their lives on that fateful day! No more to be said!

So, you can imagine that I was quite keyed up as we awoke in Sylvia’s place for the last time and had a quick breakfast before we gathered our backpacks together to get to Pearson International airport in Toronto for our flight to New York. Yes, Phase Four of our travels had come to a close and we were about to embark on Phase Five (the final phase) in the USA.

Accordingly, we called for an Uber to get us to the airport, said our goodbyes and thank-yous to Sylvia who had been an exemplary hostess at a time when she was herself dealing with a new challenge in her life as a ‘Singleton’ and were on our way. The ride to the airport from Woodbridge took us about an hour and, as we did not have to deal with the return of a rental car at the airport (as we had to do on two previous occasions), we simply went straight to our check-in counter and with loads of time to spare, made it to our gate.

Flight from Toronto to New York City:

We had a very comfortable flight on Delta from Toronto to New York City. Really clear, cloudless skies and bright sunshine, during a flight that left at 11.30 am, meant that we had beautiful views of downtown Toronto, the City Center and the Harbor Front as we skimmed out of Canada. I managed to get some really good footage of the receding city before Llew and I settled down for the short flight. We had a very nice stewardess to take care of us in-flight and she plied us with packets of almonds, much to our unexpected delight, before we disembarked.

As we approached New York, I could see the East River and then the Hudson come into view. I kept clicking pictures with my camera and then, before I knew it, we were approaching JKF while flying over the Tappan Zee Bridge first and then the Verrazano Bridge. At this point, I realized that we’d probably be able to see the Statue of Liberty (and we did—although it was in the far distance and not very distinct) and Governor’s Island (much clearer). It was not lost on me that had we made this descent on 9/11 in 2001, we’d still be able to see the Twin Towers standing proud and tall in Manhattan Harbor. Instead what we did see was the Freedom Tower as we flew eastwards and made our way to JKF. I did get some footage but we did not have a very clear day and so my footage is not so clear. However, we reached down safe and sound—and that was all that mattered, really.

And so it was that we arrived again in the USA via JFK again. This time, the two of us merely picked up our back packs and made our way towards the Air Train. We were on it in no time and getting off at Federal Circle (where the Car Rental offices are) and within minutes, we were at the Budget counter claiming our rental car which we had booked way back in advance. It was then about 1.00 pm and yes, we were hungry, but we wanted to get on with it as we needed to get to Connecticut first, to the home of our friends the Factoras, as we had left the bulk of our baggage in their garage. Once we picked it up, we’d be able to make our way to South Jersey to Somerset, where we’d be spending the next few days.

The Saga of Getting a Rental Car from Budget:

Picking up our car at JFK was pretty painless but getting out of JFK (always a maze) is a bit of a stresser). Still, we did get on to the Throg’s Neck Bridge and once on it, it was a piece of cake getting on to the Merritt Parkway and into Connecticut. The weather was nice—nothing to complain about. However, by the time we had left New York, it became evident to Llew that there was an error message on his dashboard that worried him. He asked me to call Budget to find out what could be done to fix it as we did not want to stay in a car for nearly a week that was not of optimal quality. The phone call to the Customer Service folks at Budget led us to being advised to take the car over to the nearest Budget office to have it seen by a mechanic. As we knew where the Budget office in Fairfield, Connecticut, was, we decided to just head there first. Isn’t it annoying, when time is at a premium and you are trying to get to someplace before night falls, that you have all these unexpected glitches to deal with? I began to feel really frustrated at this nonsense.

Anyway, we finally made it to Fairfield, Connecticut, after fighting endless traffic, and headed straight for the Budget office. We found a single attendant there who told us that he had no mechanic present and no spare car available to give us, other than a hybrid. We told him that we did not want a hybrid and wondered if we could pick up an alternate car from his Budget Office in nearby Westport. He said we could try, When we asked if he could call his office in Westport to request them to hold a vehicle for us, he said he could not reach them. He gave us the number and told us to call them. While I was in the process of calling them, Llew went off to use his rest room and a little later, I did too. When I returned, I found the attendant on the phone himself. I have no idea to whom he was talking or what was being said. But next thing we knew, he miraculously had an alternative car in the back that he told us we could use (that was not a hybrid)! It was not a compact or mid-size car, but a larger one (not our preferred choice) but since we had no option, we agreed to take it. It actually worked out well for us (so, in the end, all was well, as we had a lot of baggage to fit into the trunk and it helped to have the larger one). About an hour after first arriving at Budget in Fairfield, we were finally ready to drive on. However, this car proved to be a real curse to us. Wait until you hear what happened to us at JFK airport just before we returned the car to Budget on our flight back to India!

By this time, it was past 3.00 pm and we were both starving. Even before going to the Factoras, I told Llew that I needed to buy a few items from Stop N Shop at Fairfield (olives, essentially—not bottled ones) as I was not sure where in New Jersey I would find them. Getting to Stop and Shop meant that we had the opportunity to pick up some food. I bought Clam Clowder for me and a Chicken Wrap for Llew. We then called the Factoras to tell them that we were on our way to their garage to pick up our stuff. I also called my brother Roger to see if they would be at home so that we could pay them one last visit before we left Connecticut. Sadly, neither he nor his wife, Lalita, responded to my text as they were both busy at work. I left them a voice mail message and told them to call me if they could see us at about 5.00 pm. By the time, they did get back to me, we were already on the highway to New Jersey—so we lost the opportunity to see them one last time.

We ate our lunch in the Factoras’ driveway at about 5.00 pm—if you can believe it. As I said, it was a bizarre day! Then, having been given the code to their garage door, we opened it, got our bags loaded into the large trunk of our car, had a final look around to make sure we had left nothing behind and we were off. As we passed by our own home on Pequot Avenue, when heading to the I-95, we took one last look at it and waved it goodbye. Finally, we were on our way to New Jersey. We called our friends, Imraan and Ghazala and told them that our ETA was about 8.15 pm. as it was almost 5.45 pm by the time we left. Needless to say, we were right in the thick of traffic throughout our journey, but at least we were moving forward.

Dinner at the Masuds:

By the time we reached our friends, the Masuds’ home, in Somerset, darkness had well and truly fallen over New Jersey as it was almost 9.00 pm. Still, our friends had a superb dinner all laid out and ready for us. Ghazala had laid the table beautifully and the meal was just delicious. We had paneer with chicken, mutton carry, rice, salad, rotis and papads. So you can imagine that having subsisted on soup and a sandwich during a really annoying day, we were so happy to feel embraced by the company of loving, hospitable friends once again who would serve us nothing but the most delicious, home-cooked meals for the next few days. They showed us downstairs to our beautifully-appointed basement apartment which gave us full privacy while we would eat all our meals upstairs with them. It was really the best kind of arrangement and we felt very grateful for it. Just before our meal ended, we were joined by their daughter, Kiran, whom we were seeing after a very long time indeed.

It was at about 10.30 pm that we finally said Good Night to our friends and went down to bed at the start of our last few days in the USA. We had just a bit more shopping to do (while keeping the weight allowance uppermost in our minds) and a lovely wedding to look forward to as we settled down to bed.

Until tomorrow…cheerio.