Day 3: NOLA-MIA-SJU

Date: 24.2.2014

Before we left, we visited a local dive shop because stnz wanted to buy his own diving computer and missed  the store in NYC. The store didn't have the right computer so we left empty handed. We stopped in a nearby gas station (BTW, the gas is annoyingly cheap here). I managed to see the local newspaper and it had a suitable front page for me, on the day of my b-day; Banksy! I had to buy the paper, and I'll frame it at home :).

We got to the airport on time and returning the car was hilarious because we changed the car's units to real ones. The person checking our car asked us where did we drove with it? Then it came clear that she was overwhelmed of the mileage we got into the car in 2 days, she calculated them to be 15 000 :D. We realized that she didn't see that we had changed the car off from the miles and into kilometers so the conversion from the mileage when we got the car and the amount in kilometers afterwards didn't add up.

Time to head out of NOLA and change scenery somewhere even more warmer from the ~20C weather.
Yesterday it rained but today it was beautiful (of course).

The long ass Causeway

New Orleans from the sky

Miami

At San Juan, we waited for our rental car bus to pick us up for 45 minutes, and made 3 phone calls. It felt like the Hertz-people taunted us, because they passed by us 6 times. Stnz rented our car from some small place instead of the big ones we usually use, so this wasn't really a good start.

After a while, the guy picked us up, saying that they didn't know someone was coming. Funny, we called 40 minutes earlier and they said someone was "right there picking us up"..

While driving to the company, there were two big collisions on the highway, fortunately the cars were new, so it seemed that everyone escaped without major injuries.

The car was basic bulk, but it was cheap. Good enough for our purpose. Waiting for the car and problems with their printer I gave up on anything fun happening on my bday. Sucks ass. Well, the weather was nice.

Stnz at the rental car company

Our little four wheeler

Our aparment is really nice, and there are ACs in the bedrooms. I really love it - and it was our home for 4 days (one day more than we planned, because we don't have any flights reserved and paid).

From Newark Liberty Airport to Union City

Date: Thursday 20.2.2014

Our flight from Oslo took off in time. The extra check-in and the questions got me a bit annoyed but I managed to keep my snarky comments to myself. The mandatory questions in the check-in (which are asked to you several times in different stages, starting from the ESTA) really make you feel uncomfortable and in a some way they feel stupid and offensive. I really cannot imagine the situation these questions would prevent any real danger, only make things harder for the honest, normal people.

Landing soon

 The flight went pretty well, except it was pretty dry on the plane, and I didn't drink nearly as much I needed. I felt I was going to die while waiting for the customs because of the dehydration, lack of sleep and neck pain after sitting in a small place for 8 hours.

Our baggage took their sweet time and I saw all kinds of horror images how my new (and little too big) suitcase had broken down and all my stuff would be in a plastic bag. For my suprise - the bag was first on the line and it was completely ok :).

At the airport there was 2 train lines which connected the terminals and the nearby rental car offices, and we got to ride in the first car, the views were quite nice.

On the platforms there was someone yelling to the passengers where the two trains were going, even though there was clear signs which told you which were which and when they arrived. Made me think of how many people had this kind of job descriptions which mostly seemed to be existing because of lack of efficiency, which seem to be a re-occurring theme while I've been observing my surroundings in New York.

Must.. resist.. the button.

Stnz decided we needed a rental car in New York, and it was cheaper than using the public transport, so we headed up to P3, to pick up our car from Herz.

Boys checking out and documenting our beautiful little Yaris

Finally some water, after struggles to get it, it felt like a treasure.

In the next few hours we saw several fender benders - and there are really a lot of cars with broken fenders. And a lot of cars which would've been banned on our roads until they've been proven safe to use on public roads again.

First collision, around 2km from the rental car park

 Here's some images I took while driving from Newark to Union City.

Ahh, the good old greyhound - and jesus.

The second crash, somehow in this case the driver had gotten his car upside down.

More later, now I have to sleep for a while - I've been up over a day with 2 hours of sleep. And according to Fitbit, I've walked over 10 kilometers during this time.