Day 5 was our last leg from Ohio to  Pennsylvania to New Jersey. We ended up spending the night in Dayton, Ohio where poor Karon got extremely ill. We are still not sure if she picked up the similar flu bug I had or if it was food poisoning from one of middle America’s fabulous dinning establishments. Karon basically got wiped out after driving non-stop from California to Ohio. She spent the night hugging the toilet bowl and sleeping on the cold tile floor. Super fun Thanksgiving we had…not quite. It was my turn to drive the “Beast.”

The next day we woke up and headed for the final haul into NJ. I had a friend, Dave Halpin, who was kind enough to reach out to us and offer up his families “home/business” for the night. He explained on the phone to me that they have a giant parking lot for us to park in, the family business is on the lower level and the top floor is the apartment. This sounded ideal, considering we didn’t want to drive into the city with a giant 26 foot Uhual and not have a place to park or sleep. When we pulled into the beautiful town of  Bloomfield, there was Dave standing on the side of the road waving us in. We were so pleased to finally see someone we knew. We entered into a long driveway in between two gorgeous old three story homes. We started cracking up when we realized, the “family business” was a funeral home. Dave greeted us with a warm big smile and hug. WAHOO…we made it!!! It felt like forever, but we were finally on the East Coast. Who cares at this point if we were sleeping in a funeral home or not. We were just so happy to be here.

~Poor Karon Sick with Flu~

~Slowly & Steadily we are ariving East~

~We have arrived at the Halpin’s Home~

Dave explained to us why he was here taking over the family establishment, gave us the full tour of the home and patiently answered my zillion questions I had about funerals and death. We were so intrigued. This was definitely a first for both of us.  Day 5: Sleeping in a funeral home in NJ.

We ended our 11 hour day on the road in a great pub sipping on drinks and finally eating a tasty meal.

~Embalming anyone?~

Tomorrow, we cross the bridge and head into the city.

~Karon, Dave & I~

~Breakfast in NJ Fine Diner~

~Our First Site of Xmas and Colorful Leaves~

Thanks again, Dave!