{"id":264,"date":"2010-05-12T23:26:44","date_gmt":"2010-05-13T03:26:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myunclesmustang.com\/?p=264"},"modified":"2010-05-19T21:32:23","modified_gmt":"2010-05-20T01:32:23","slug":"horizons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myunclesmustang.com\/?p=264","title":{"rendered":"The Last Leg – Part 3 – Horizons"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Welcome Aboard!<\/p><\/div>\n

I was quite relieved when I made the ferry – and a bit amazed once again how it all was working out. Not once before the night before my last travel day did I even consider the Cape May-Lewes Ferry, and yet here I was driving onto the boat. As I drove on board, I felt a strong sense of satisfaction that soon I was going to be back in New Jersey with the Mustang – and a comedic irony that I was driving the car onto a boat. I wondered if Uncle Pete took the ferry when he drove the Mustang down to Florida from my Aunt Frances’ house in northern Jersey.<\/p>\n

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Safe in the Belly of the Boat<\/p><\/div>\n

I started thinking about him as I pulled further into the belly of the boat. As I followed the instruction of the attendant on the Ferry, I wondered if Uncle Pete would be happy that I was bringing the car to my parent’s house for my Father, his baby brother, to see. The instructor guided me to within a foot of the car in front of me. I shut the engine down, and got out and walked to the back of the car. The Mustang was the last in line, and another attendant put a wheel chuck behind the trailer wheel to keep it from sliding back I guess.<\/p>\n

People started to exit their cars and a number of them came over to the Mustang. The guy who scanned my ticket asked me if it was a 64 1\/2. I told him it was a ’66 and he told me that he had a ’65 – I think he said it was a fastback. Then a gentleman named Ray from New Jersey came up. He complimented how good the condition of the car was.<\/p>\n

I told him the story – My Uncle Pete was the original owner and the car has been sitting in his garage in Florida for more than a decade. I mentioned that he took good care of it with the help of his son.<\/p>\n

“You know,” I added, “I think he’d really love all of the reaction this car has gotten from people during this trip.”<\/p>\n

I showed him the interior and we walked around the back of the car.<\/p>\n

“It’s really in good shape,” he said.<\/p>\n

He then added that he had a doctor in Philadelphia that had a 64 1\/2 convertible (pretty rare car!). It was gorgeous I would think, and I was shocked when he told me that they traded it in early in the ’90s for a Mercury Grand Marquis. Wow. If only they’d known.<\/p>\n

He snapped a picture of the Mustang and I with his cell phone – my first pic with the car outside of Florida! I didn’t want to leave the car behind, but I did want to go upstairs. Before I did, I snapped one more pic from a distance:<\/p>\n

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DEEP in the Belly of the Boat LOL<\/p><\/div>\n

I made my way up onto the deck, and relaxed. We were moving at a good clip, and then someone announced over the loudspeaker that there were dolphins playing along side the boat. I ran to take a picture – and I saw them, but they dove down before I could snap a pic. You’ll just have to believe me. I have never seen a dolphin in New Jersey waters before. This was collectively a trip of firsts – first time driving by myself from Florida, first time hauling a car, first time seeing my young cousins kids, first time on the CMLF…. On and on and on.<\/p>\n

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Delaware Disappears<\/p><\/div>\n

The ride was nice. It was peaceful. I sat towards the front of the boat first and then made my way to the back of the boat to watch the last few days disappear beyond the horizon. I realized that as I looked back, how very special this trip had been and I was only a few short hours away from it ending.<\/p>\n

I couldn’t help but think about how I loved this trip. I felt myself smiling as I thought about the reunion with my cousins – Lea and her daughters Emily and Mary, Nicky and her sons Nicholas and Nathan, Phil, his wife, his son Phillip Cosmo, and his newborn son, Peter – not to mention Doug and Mary.<\/p>\n

The way it’s all worked out till now could be luck, but I believe I am blessed. There I was on a boat, just a few minutes away from being back on New Jersey soil and only an hour or so away from my Pop’s house. I couldn’t predict what my parents’ reaction was going to be when they saw the car, but I was going to find out soon….<\/p>\n

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New Jersey Appears<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was quite relieved when I made the ferry – and a bit amazed once again how it all was working out. Not once before the night before my last travel day did I even consider the Cape May-Lewes Ferry, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-journey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myunclesmustang.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myunclesmustang.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myunclesmustang.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myunclesmustang.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myunclesmustang.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=264"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.myunclesmustang.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":321,"href":"https:\/\/www.myunclesmustang.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264\/revisions\/321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myunclesmustang.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myunclesmustang.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myunclesmustang.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}