I made the return trip from Boston to DC on Sunday evening. The drive took exactly nine hours, mostly because of congestion from New Haven, Connecticut to central New Jersey. Having the gas tank on the passenger side of the car, however, saved me from an even longer trip. At the Richard Stockton Rest Area (named for Revolutionary War hero, not the sports announcer), gas lines were more than twelve deep for cars with the gas-tank opening on the driver's side. I was the line for the passenger-side tanks. I'll have a report on Convention-eve Boston shortly.

I really cannot stand driving through Jersey. The number one problem is that it is as if you enter some sort of time warp where you get zipped back to the gas lines of the Carter era oil crisis. I will never understand why that state feels the need to disallow people from pumping there own gas.

New Jersey does have long gas lines, but strangely, their gas is cheaper than in all the other states I drove through. With the state mandating station attendants pump gas (and no self-service) one would think that prices would naturally be higher than in surrounding states. At $1.94 a gallon off of the Jersey Turnpike, they're not. Gas prices are substantially cheaper in Jersey.

If you drive through NJ and need gas, you should get off at any exit and drive a mile or so into town to avoid lines at the turnpike rest areas. You have to get off and get back on the turnpike but doing that is worth it, esp. around central Jersey.