Ask any given down-stater who made their trek back up to Binghamton yesterday, and chances are, you will get the same grueling reaction. For those who took the best known route (80, 380 and 81) through Jersey and Pennsylvania, the what should have been a 3 ½ hour ride (from Long Island, shorter if you were all ready out of the city) took some students up to 10 hours. I procrastinated the trip back until 3:00, but prior to that, I received at least a half of a dozen phone calls from friends who were already fully immersed in the jam.

So, going against my better judgment, I decided to take route 17, a trip that I had never made up until last night. By the time I finally got over the George Washington Bridge, and onto the 130 mile stretch westward, it was completely dark, raining, and I couldn’t see five feet in front of me. The road was a deathtrap--completely unpredictable, and I was sure I was done for at least six times. I kept the Kia under 50, for fear of having to break on the slick road and skidding off a cliff.  After six hours of misery, I made it back, only to be greeted by a slue of people who either shared my terrifying experience or sat in a 10 hour traffic jam.