Day 5: Spending the day in Freehold, NJ

After the closing ceremony at the Ride-In, I packed up and left early this morning for Freehold, NJ via Hartford, CT and various cities along I-95. I got caught in traffic NYC and was feathering clutch for quite a bit until I hit the George Washington Bridge. The bridge was free flying (the breeze from the ocean was quite nice too) and I made my way into New Jersey. About ten miles in I was caught in a downpour and had to pull over and utilize the rain gear for the first time on this trip. I got into my friend's house by 1:00PM, showered, went out for a quick snack at Jersey Freeze (120 Manalapan Avenue, Freehold, NJ‎), took a nap, and went out for a nice dinner with the family at Shiki Japanese Steakhouse (1735 State Route 35, Middletown, NJ) to celebrate her birthday. It's been four years since I've been back in Freehold, and with the truncated schedule and inclement weather, we tabled the NYC trip for another day...figured I'll be back here eventually.

After dinner, she and I went out to watch "Despicable Me" in 3-D. I highly recommend this movie to everyone, and I definitely suggest watching it in 3-D as it really takes advantage of this viewing format. The plot is great, the characters are well-developed, and the slapstick comedy will keep you giggling the entire film.

Today I will get to have someone else pump my gas for me. As much as I'm not a fan of the idea, I can't really defy state law (Oregon is the only other state that still does that). On a bright note, gas here is the cheapest it's every going to be because I'm in an oil refinery state. After that it's crossing into the nation's capital, baseball-sized crab cakes, and the journey back to Columbus.

On my return, I'll have photos up and some more retrospect of this very entertaining road trip. Until then, I will continue to keep the rubber side down. See you back in Ohio!