I crossed the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge for the first time today after picking up a load on Long Island. The bridge connects Long Island and Staten Island and was the longest suspension bridge in the world until 1981 when the Humber Bridge in England was opened. To reach the east end of the bridge I drove through Queens and Brooklyn on I-495 and I-278. These highways run through the most densely populated areas I’ve ever seen. There were numerous buildings whose second or third stories were level with the elevated roadway and only a few feet away. Can you imagine living with the continual rumble of traffic outside your window? I passed mile after mile of row houses, brownstones, shops, office and apartment buildings. It seemed as though every building had at least one wall entirely taken up by an advertisement. Some of the larger buildings had signs ten stories tall. There were neighboorhoods that had incredible quantities of graffiti on every fence, wall and overpass. Traffic was so heavy it took me two hours to drive forty-five miles. As I approached the west end of Long Island the buildings became taller and newer and through the gaps I could see the hazy skyline of Manhatten. I’ve got to go back someday when I can stay longer.

As you can see through my dirty windshield, there are many trees in Brooklyn.

Snirt in Whately, Massachusetts

Today after fueling my truck I pulled forward to leave room for another truck to use the pump I was at. I went inside to use the loo and when I came out I saw that the driver in the truck at the pump next to mine was waiting for the truck in front of him to move. Drivers often complain about how long it takes some guys to move, so I imagined this guy was frustrated. We joke that the driver must be inside taking a shower and eating dinner while his truck is parked at the pump. As I walked between the two trucks I gave the one in front a shove with my hand in jest, and as a show of sympathy to the driver who was waiting. To my surprise the instant I touched the truck it moved forward and pulled away. The driver who had been waiting gave me a big smile and a thumbs up.

This photo was taken somewhere between Syracuse and Buffalo. I spent the night in Cheektowaga (a suburb of Buffalo) which had 2 or 3 inches of snow on the ground. Parking lots already had large piles of snow plowed into their corners. Fortunately the roads were clear and mostly dry. I’m dreaming of a GREEN Christmas. And I don’t mean money or evergreens.

I haven’t driven through these parts recently, but it is one of the curviest stretches of interstate I have driven. This is I-40 near the North Carolina / Tennessee border.

I delivered a load of ground rubber in 50 pound bags to Virginia State University’s athletic field. They didn’t have a loading dock so they had to move the pallets to the rear of the trailer and then a fork truck on the ground removed them. With no loading dock, a job that would require one person, took three. The ground rubber is used along with some sort of adhesive to surface the school’s track.

Truck stop on I-10 in Katy, Texas.