My Toyota Rav4 got a work out this morning. I got up early to drive our h.s. freshman to rowing practice on the river only to find that the longest train that I have ever seen was blocking the entrance to the Millvale Boathouse. A traffic jam ensued as at least 2 area crew teams tried to make it to the river – where do people find the energy to honk their horns at the hour of the morning? The train wasn’t budging, but if you know any coaches, you know that there are very few excuses that are acceptable when it comes to missing practice.

Someone suggested that if we drove down the bike trail from Washington’s Landing, we could access the boathouse from the back entrance. So we did. The bike trail, I soon discovered, is pitted with huge pot holes and ruts (filled with 2 feet of water this morning) – easy to avoid on a bike, but in a car – not so much. Hence the workout for the Toyota.

So the round-trip that should have taken me 20 minutes, took 50. I am not much of a morning person, but the good news for Shalini & Jim (our wedding couple today) is that after that little adventure, I am wide awake!