Tommy Boy Moment En Route to the Big Apple

One week ago today I was in a car in Pennsylvania heading south to New York City. Right now I am so wishing I could go back in time…or maybe even forward in time so I would not be at work anymore. Anyhow, despite the long drive it was a fun trip. We went to both MLB stadiums and wandered the streets of Manhattan for a short time all while mastering the expansive subway system. The fun was not limited to our adventures in the big city; it started somewhere near the Pocono’s and had me looking as stupid as David Spade’s character in Tommy Boy at the gas station (the scene where David’s character is looking for a town using the wrong map).

We got the Triptych from CAA to guide us to New York. It is useful as it shows construction zones and the location of food, gas, lodgings and points of interest. We also had the New York Tour Book that gives more information on the points of interest, lodgings, etc. As my dad fiddled around with his new GPS unit, I followed along with the old school maps and my triptych. I was checking out the points of interest to see if any of them interested us. As we neared the Pocono area I noticed a point of interest near Mount Pocono and began searching the tour book for what the point of interest was but I could not locate the town in the Tour Book. Five minutes of searching, likely cursing under my breath all the while, I finally realized something…I would never find Mount Pocono in the Tour Book I had. Mount Pocono happens to be in Pennsylvania not New York, the state for which the Tour Book contained information.

It turned out I needed a new Tour Book not a new map as the gas attendant so bluntly put it in Tommy Boy. And that was my first thought after I realized the mistake I made and started laughing in the back seat. My sister got just as big a laugh out of that occurrence as I did when I told her the reason of my seemingly unprompted laughter.