Indiana:  Worth paying the toll to get through quickly.

Ohio:  aka Road Work Ahead.  Never saw anyone actually working though (wait, I did see someone putting out the cones).  First time through I thought it was really pretty, lots of rolling hills, etc.  Return trip got kinda boring.  On the way back I stopped at a Shell right off the turnpike – – $3.59 a gallon with a full-serve attendant!  Top that!  I noticed that everywhere else the gas was considerably cheaper – even on the toll roads – than in the Chicago suburbs.  by about 60¢ a gallon!  rat bastard politicians…

Pennsylvania:  Lots and lots of mountains and trees.  No cell service.  State seems to consist of 187,998 counties, most one mile or less wide – at least from the huge number I passed through.  On the trip out I stopped at McDonalds and sat next to a group of people dissing Obamacare; I feel that if Obamacare covered tattoo removal and dental implants, Pennsylvania would all over it like lint on a cheap suit.

New Jersey:  Hey!  I drove past the Marcal factory – promised my butt we wouldn’t stop.

NYC:  I got the Groupon $16 mid-town parking rate, the Hilton BlogHer hotel rate, most meals covered by freebies and free shampoo and conditioner.  What’s so hard about living the cheap life in NYC?

Lots and lots and lots of gigantico trucks on the road.  90% of the Fedex ground and freight trucks were those three-part deals.  Scary.  Service areas were totally clean and well-maintained.  no need to squat outside in the bushes.  not that i would ever do that.  really!  so let’s just move on, shall we?

The Manhattan ad is a puny thing – four pages total!  One of the guys working saw our ad and almost fell over!  The asst mgr and he were shocked at the liquor prices on the back page – even the liquor warehouse prices are considerably higher.  Actually, the guy said it would be worth it to drive to Chicago and stock up for everyone!  Here’s a picture of the self-scan registers – they have these in downtown Chicago, too.

And here’s a picture of the drink stations at McDonald’s – they hand you a cup and you have to make some decisions – three machines with three different screens…

One stop I never miss when in New York City is the East Village Cheese shop in … East Village. It’s about 4 1/2 or so miles from my hotel, but I’d just eaten a huge brunch and felt the exercise wouldn’t kill me. Yeah, it’s always a good idea to go so far in 87 degree weather with high humidity. Anyway, the stuff in the picture cost me about $36. The round containers are 7 oz cartons of St. Andre triple cream that were $1.99; kosher cheddar was $3.99 (splurge); two thin tubes of double-cream brie were .99 each; big wedge of Stilton was $3.99 a pound (so I took the two-pound wedge!); chevre with vegetables (rather like a Boursin) was $1.79; Talari (Greek sheep’s milk cheese for saganaki) was $3.99 each; President Camembert was $1.79; Double Gloucester was $1.50; a nice Havarti with jalapeno was $1.50 and two demi-baguettes were .85 each. This stuff will be fine on the drive home because I’ll put it directly under the air conditioner vent all the way home. Usually I shove everything into a USPS Flat Rate Priority Box and it arrives in perfect condition in two days. Yes, I’m an old hand at this!

Here’s some more pix:

And this is the good stuff…with no coupons pictured…and more tomorrow…

And finally, my keeper, aka Rachel!

Here’s a picture taken pretty much outside the Hilton, where we are staying. We have one wall of windows that overlook Radio City Music Hall.  In the other picture, I am eating a burger at the Edison Cafe in the Hotel Edison.  It’s a very old cafe, whose claim to fame (besides having the cheapest burgers in NYC!) is that Neil Simon used to eat here and placed his play, 45 Seconds to Broadway, in the cafe.  It really is right on Broadway!

This is the loot from just one room/one party.  Here’s picture of the signature dish I designed and they cooked up at the Hillshire demo section.  And Smith Bros. has nighttime drops coming out with melatonin!  way cool!!!