Not making the mistake of moving to NJ (Orange, Wildwood: real estate, vehicle registration)

[BrianG]

Originally Posted by mike0421

I remember that winter of 1976, very well. Although I was only 10 at the time, I remember that winter vividly, as I did 1977, 1978 and 1983. In 1983, we were having another major snowstorm, the date was February 11th, if I remember. The next day, my family and I were scheduled to fly to Los Angeles from JFK. I had never been to Los Angeles before, or California for that matter. In fact, up until that time, the only experience I had with traveling to southern climates occurred during spring or summer (I have family in Florida and had traveled there before). Anyway, 2 feet of snow fell that day, and the next day, our flight was obviously cancelled. I was heartbroken, I was looking forward to seeing another part of the country, and I was mentally broken by the miserable winter. The day after, my dad was lucky enough to get our family on the only plane leaving to Los Angeles that day. I remember JFK airport and people still sprawled out on the floor of that airport, dirty, miserable, tired, etc. NYC was still virtually paralyzed. The plane lifted off the runway, and I was still half thinking the pilot was going to turn it around. About 6 hours later, craning out the window seat, I remember the pilot saying we would be on the ground a few minutes later and vividly recall my first site of LA: a green interstate highway sign with the two arrows "405 South San Diego". Only then was I convinced I had finally made it out of there.

Anyway, the flight de-boards, and we retrieve our baggage at the terminal. There are the sliding glass doors nearby, and my first memory were people wearing shorts, walking in and out of the door. I ran to the door, and the warmth of the air instantly breathed psychological life into my body. I took of my jacket, a respite of 5 days not having to do so. The following day I spent at Laguna Beach. Nothing but my bathing suit, basking in the sun. I remember the song "I Love LA" by Randy Newman being one of the first songs on the radio. The windows were down, the temp was around 70 degrees, and I realized during this drive to Laguna Beach that I had to leave the northeast at some time in my life. It was later than I would have liked, but I got out of there. But again, that's just me. I couldn't (and still can not) for the life of me understand how some people would be content subjecting themselves with winters of this extreme in New Jersey, or, for that matter, anywhere in the northern climates. But to each his own

Hey I'm not much older
i was 17 when i joined the army in 1976

This is a another good story
The earliest one i remember was in 1967 or 1968
I went to open the front door and all i saw was a wall of snow
I remember it closes the city for a few day (yeah no school)
Were here for the really big one in 96 ?

[BrianG]

Originally Posted by BrianG

Hey I'm not much older
i was 17 when i joined the army in 1976

This is a another good story
The earliest one i remember was in 1967 or 1968
I went to open the front door and all i saw was a wall of snow
I remember it closes the city for a few day (yeah no school)
Were here for the really big one in 96 ?

i clicked the wrong smiley it should have been

[mike0421]

Originally Posted by BrianG

i clicked the wrong smiley it should have been

Yes, the one in 1996 was the one that really gave me emphasis to leave. In fact, I re-enrolled in college and got my degree, just so I could have transferrable skills in order for me to go to a warmer area.

[exhdo1]

Originally Posted by BrianG

You will get no argument from me (this is a great post)
You made your decision based on your experience
Nj and for that matter the Northeast is not for everybody

Just as WI ,MN, IL are not for me (been there in winter) but i am sure there are a lot of people that love those area's
IF i ever get to NM you will have to show me the good fishing spots

As for The All favorite winter
Let me tell you a little story

I finished basic training in Fort dix in 1976
the last week before graduation was when we did our Bivwack
It snowed a lot that week and we had to dig 3 feet of snow before we hit ground (AND IT WAS COLD) we graduated and me and about 15 others were sent to San Antonio For our AIT training to become medics
I think it was mayber 55 or 60 degrees down there. We reported in around 10am and got our bed assignments and all and had the rest of the day to our selves, so we decided to have a softball game

It was around the 3rd or 4th inning when we noticed the bleachers and some of the stands were filling up with people wearing their heavy Fatigue jackets and gloves , Here we are playing in tee's and shorts
They must have thought we were crazy and i can tell you we thought the same about them ....but it was'nt long before a bunch ask if they could join in and since most of them were girls we said NO PROBLEM.
Those weeks down there flew bye after that .

From there a few of us got sent to Fort Polk LA for our regular duty assignment and it was the same there (weather)

I remember talking to my mom on the phone in 1977 it was around 80 % in La
and NY NJ was in the middle of another snow storm. I was at an outdoor phone booth and it started to flurry in 80 % weather (lasted a minute or two)
But that was the same day the got snow in Maimi Fla


Sorry for rampling but it brought back some memorys
Again this was a great post

BrianG, Good post. I just wanted to point out one small error. It's "bivouac". I know it's petty but I learned it the hard way (I made an off key remark when we were told we were going bivouacking for the first time) back in 1969 before going on the paid camping trip that "Uncle Sam" arranged for me. I know you'll understand.

I guess the D.I. didn't like the fact that I said "what, aren't the barracks torture enough" After that day I was taught to "LOVE BIVOUACKING"

[BrianG]

Originally Posted by exhdo1

BrianG, Good post. I just wanted to point out one small error. It's "bivouac". I know it's petty but I learned it the hard way (I made an off key remark when we were told we were going bivouacking for the first time) back in 1969 before going on the paid camping trip that "Uncle Sam" arranged for me. I know you'll understand.

I guess the D.I. didn't like the fact that I said "what, aren't the barracks torture enough" After that day I was taught to "LOVE BIVOUACKING"

Damn spell check

[BrianG]

Originally Posted by BrianG

Damn spell check

Weren't those field trips uncle sam paid for fun !!!!
My first day at Fort Polk I report in to Co Headquarters and they tell me where my bunk was (They still had the old WWII barracks ) I was told
to pack my duffel for a filed trip (already) and be back in 30 minutes

It was an armor division i was assigned to so the whole unit was out on tank gunnery , they usually stay out a month or longer at a time

I met my sgt and he tells me to take a cot and get a nap cause the rest of the guys were out on the firing line and it will be a few hrs before they get back.....i was laying down almost asleep when i heard the first round go off
I jumped so high i hit my head on the support beam for this huge tent we were in, I looked over and my sgt was laughing so hard he had wet spots on his pants , he says excuse me will i go change ....needless to say i did not sleep the first 2 days out but after that i slept like a baby . I think that is the reason i can sleep thru any thing now...

[tahiti]

Originally Posted by mike0421

What part of the state were you living in Tahiti? As I recall, that was a storm that came up the coast, it was not like a lot of the storms that come from the west. I was living in West Caldwell at the time, which is in Essex County. Of course, you remember the big one of January 1996, right? It was January 7th. That was the one that really finished me off. No part of the state was spared.

The one in April of 1982, I don't think I remember. However, I do have a penchant for remembering odd weather events. The one I remember almost better than any other was in March of 1990, the 12th of March, we hit 83 degrees in Morris County NJ. What's funny is that Baltimore MD had the highest temperature in the entire country that day: 95 degrees! The next day, though, it was down to 58, and the day after that, 48.

i lived in bayonne. even though that is pretty much on the seaboard, the fact that it's a peninsula really cut down on the amount of snowfall we got. i remember going out with a yardstick after that storm (and I remember being pissed b/c it happened on a friday night and therefore, missed no school! lol)
and it was only about 1 foot - maybe 15 inches.

and i most certainly remember the 96 storms (plural!). living in morris cnty at the time, and we got two 2'+ footers a week apart. AND, the temperature plunged to about 20 below (i have a picture of my thermometer because I was so shocked).

then there's the storm of the century in march 93. we were in puerto rico flying back that day (we got channel 7 news down there and watched sam champion predict the end of the world ) - we couldn't land in newark (shocked we even took off in the first place!), and ended up being the last plane to land in boston. had to take a bus home the next day. getting home from the airport, digging the car out, THAT was fun, LOL.

despite some of the horror stories, nothing beats a good snow dump, IMHO. LOVE it.

[mike0421]

Originally Posted by tahiti

i lived in bayonne. even though that is pretty much on the seaboard, the fact that it's a peninsula really cut down on the amount of snowfall we got. i remember going out with a yardstick after that storm (and I remember being pissed b/c it happened on a friday night and therefore, missed no school! lol)
and it was only about 1 foot - maybe 15 inches.

and i most certainly remember the 96 storms (plural!). living in morris cnty at the time, and we got two 2'+ footers a week apart. AND, the temperature plunged to about 20 below (i have a picture of my thermometer because I was so shocked).

then there's the storm of the century in march 93. we were in puerto rico flying back that day (we got channel 7 news down there and watched sam champion predict the end of the world ) - we couldn't land in newark (shocked we even took off in the first place!), and ended up being the last plane to land in boston. had to take a bus home the next day. getting home from the airport, digging the car out, THAT was fun, LOL.

despite some of the horror stories, nothing beats a good snow dump, IMHO. LOVE it.

I thought the 1993 storm was the ice storm. Maybe I am thinking of something else, or some other year. But I thought it was around March 93. People couldn't make it from their front doors to their cars that morning without slipping and falling.

[BrianG]

Originally Posted by mike0421

Yes, the one in 1996 was the one that really gave me emphasis to leave. In fact, I re-enrolled in college and got my degree, just so I could have transferrable skills in order for me to go to a warmer area.

I was watching the steelers playoff game with my brother inlaw in brooklyn
and when i left his house to go home it was coming do really hard
I lived 5 blocks away from him and it took me over 2 hrs to get home

I had an astro van at the time and was heading up 44th st between 6th and
7th ave and there was a livery cab stuck in front of me

He asked me for help so he took his spare tire out and put it between the cars and i pushed him all the way up the hill . I start going up the next block and i notice there are at least 3 cars stuck in the middle of the road so i back down the block and try the next and then the next , to make a long story short i had to go all the way to 60th street so i could turn up i finally get up to 9th ave and start heading back towards my house on 41st street
i finally make it and there must have been 7 cars left right in the middle of the street , i see if i can turn down 39th st toward 8th ave but no luck so i make a u turn back to 60th and turn down to 8th ave and make my way back that way .....i parked the van in a bus stop knowing the meter maid would not be around.......i slush my way to my house and the next morning i go out to see how bad it was and the only thing you could see were the antennas from the cars in the middle of the road
I go to my van and am rocking it so i can get it out of the bus stop when a plow shows up and behind him was his supervisor in his car ,they both got out and gave me a push and away i went ,Now i'm thinking were the heck am i going , so i go along 8th ave and every side street is blocked by cars ,the only stores i see open was a laundry mat and a grocery store , i make a u turn and go back to 41st . Now i do what any good husband would do
I go upstairs and get all the laundry (you had to see the look on my wifes face) i head off to the laundry mat , stop at the grocery store for a 6 pack and a sandwich and do laundry...Within a few hours the place was packed with guys doing laundry and drinking beer while watching tv and playing cards.

When i am finished all this i wind up parking in the same bus stop
but at least i had a little fun and drank and did the laundry for free (i won at cards)

[Summering]

Originally Posted by mike0421

I remember that winter of 1976, very well. Although I was only 10 at the time, I remember that winter vividly, as I did 1977, 1978 and 1983. In 1983, we were having another major snowstorm, the date was February 11th, if I remember. The next day, my family and I were scheduled to fly to Los Angeles from JFK. I had never been to Los Angeles before, or California for that matter. In fact, up until that time, the only experience I had with traveling to southern climates occurred during spring or summer (I have family in Florida and had traveled there before). Anyway, 2 feet of snow fell that day, and the next day, our flight was obviously cancelled. I was heartbroken, I was looking forward to seeing another part of the country, and I was mentally broken by the miserable winter. The day after, my dad was lucky enough to get our family on the only plane leaving to Los Angeles that day. I remember JFK airport and people still sprawled out on the floor of that airport, dirty, miserable, tired, etc. NYC was still virtually paralyzed. The plane lifted off the runway, and I was still half thinking the pilot was going to turn it around. About 6 hours later, craning out the window seat, I remember the pilot saying we would be on the ground a few minutes later and vividly recall my first site of LA: a green interstate highway sign with the two arrows "405 South San Diego". Only then was I convinced I had finally made it out of there.

Anyway, the flight de-boards, and we retrieve our baggage at the terminal. There are the sliding glass doors nearby, and my first memory were people wearing shorts, walking in and out of the door. I ran to the door, and the warmth of the air instantly breathed psychological life into my body. I took of my jacket, a respite of 5 days not having to do so. The following day I spent at Laguna Beach. Nothing but my bathing suit, basking in the sun. I remember the song "I Love LA" by Randy Newman being one of the first songs on the radio. The windows were down, the temp was around 70 degrees, and I realized during this drive to Laguna Beach that I had to leave the northeast at some time in my life. It was later than I would have liked, but I got out of there. But again, that's just me. I couldn't (and still can not) for the life of me understand how some people would be content subjecting themselves with winters of this extreme in New Jersey, or, for that matter, anywhere in the northern climates. But to each his own

I love your story, Mike. Wish more people would have such interesting stories such as this. Fantastic that you found that state which is so perfect for you.......thats grand. Good Rep to you!!