Road trip, and under the weather (Dial-up warning)

I’ve been a bit under the weather this past week. I had a bit of a dizzy spell last Monday evening just before bed, it passed and I went to bed but was awakened at 2:30 AM with vertigo so bad that I couldn’t stand without holding onto the bed. I crawled on my hands and knees to the bathroom, it finally passed after 15-20 minutes and I went back to bed. I still felt weak and a bit dizzy when the alarm went off so I called in to work and made an appointment with my doctor. The doctor said I probably had a viral infection in my inner ear, he said it should pass in a few days but gave me some pills for nausea and dizziness. I took one of each as soon as I got home, I still felt nauseated and light-headed. The pills knocked me out! I slept from around 10 AM until 7 PM and I still felt groggy all evening after I woke up. I was fine Wednesday but I had another dizzy spell Thursday morning just as I was leaving for work. I took my dizziness pill as soon as I got to work, it kicked in after about an hour but I was still weak and out of it just from the effect of the pill. I think that problem finally ran its course like my doctor said it would, I’ve felt fine since then. Well, fine except for the chest cold I’ve been fighting since Wednesday. I figure I picked up the cold while at the doctor’s office, I was so light-headed and out of it that I probably touched more things than I usually do and I know I didn’t wash my hands as soon as I got home, I just took my pills and crashed in the chair because I was so weak. At least it’s been a minor cold so far, I’ve taken advantage of a rainy weekend to just rest and recover.

So, two weekends ago I took my annual Epic Road Trip. I drive to Wayne, NJ for the biggest model car show east of the Mississippi River each April. I share the driving with one or two friends so it’s not too horrible, this year I broke in my new Toyota Venza on the trip. The two friends I traveled with had never been into New York City before so we planned to stay an extra day and drive to Newark then take the train into the city. We really didn’t have much in the way of plans, the train from Newark goes to the World Trade Center site then we wanted to see the Chrysler Building and go up to the observation deck of the Empire State Building. We took the subway to Grand Central Station then walked to the Chrysler Building, then took the subway to Times Square to walk around Times Square and the Theater District. From there we walked to the Empire State Building and bought tickets to the 86th floor observation deck. From there we took the subway back to the WTC site and the train back to Newark and our car. It was 5:30 PM so we drove about four and a half hours to get closer to home. I took the first shift to Winchester, VA where we spent the night, then the other two guys split it up the rest of the way.

The model car show was fun, as always. Here are a few photos, I took almost 400 photos and there were over 2000 models on the table so I’ll have to hit the highest of the high spots.

And a few from the NYC day trip:

Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, from the 86th floor of the Empire State Building. The Statue of Liberty looks so small compared to the height of the Empire State Building!