Learning nothing from our previous road trip experience, Amanda and I decided to drive the five hours to West Point to visit Jack for a night before heading into New York City for the weekend. This is the joy of my brother living so close to New York City and to home.

The original plan was to hit the road around 12:30 as I had an 11 a.m. nail appointment. This is where we hit our first snag in the plan. My nail lady was running late, which meant my appointment started late. Then we decided to get fun with the colors and did my tips in blue, taking a little longer than usual. Also, while she was filing the underside of my nail, she cut the tip of my finger. So not only was I running late to meet up with Amanda, but I was also bleeding profusely from the fingertip. Amanda did find a way to keep busy while waiting for me, first by changing her top (including bra) in the middle of my driveway and then by closing her phone in her trunk, breaking the screen and rendering it nearly inoperable for the rest of the weekend.

Bleeding staunched and nails finished, I returned home to pick up Amanda. Of course, I was no where near completely ready and by the time I finished last minute packing and getting traveling food together, we were already an hour late in setting out. After stopping for gas, we made a quick trip by my local comic shop before we were on our way.

The actual drive was uneventful for the most part, though of course Amanda and I took our usual jaunt completely out of the way for food. We never intend for this to happen, but we needed to stop for gas and saw a sign for Dunkin’ Donuts and decided to grab a bite. Little did we know that DD was about 10 minutes off the freeway. Luckily, this time we didn’t have a plane to catch, so it didn’t make us late like the time we went to Dairy Queen.

Arriving at West Point around 7 p.m., we met up with my brother, had a nice bite to eat then did a driving tour around post. I have to say, West Point is absolutely gorgeous. It’s built on the side of a hill and all overlooks the Hudson River, which gives it the most amazing view ever. Vowing to tour a little more once we return from New York City, we head back to the barracks to call it a night knowing we are in for a very busy vacation.