October/November 2021 Vacation Day 10 · · PAGE 35.

November 4, 2021:  Thursday getting on US 9 to go north is a couple of miles west from the harbor and bridges.  When you see this image below, you feel like you went out in the countryside.  We got on US 9 North at 2:17 PM to start back toward our motel up in Vineland, NJ.

This mile marker on US 9 going north is 3.5 miles from the Cape May Ferry location.

This is the first major intersection on US 9 going north from Cape May.  This area is called Rio Grande.  Wildwood is the beach resort East of here on the Atlantic Ocean.  That town is densely populated and that is why we did not go there.

We pulled into this McDonalds to get some lunch at 2:30 PM.  It is located about two blocks north of the intersection seen in the photo above. The front door was locked due to Covid-19 restrictions.  We went through the drive-thru lane and parked near the trees and grass at the south side of the parking lot.  Chase appreciated that area for his break time out of the car.  We left McDonalds at 2:49 PM to look for a place where we could have our rest stop.

This Wawa is located at the intersection seen in the second photo above.  Their rest rooms were spotless!  When we were back in the car, the exit to the left in this photo below put us back on NJ route 47 to head back to the motel.

Third time is a charm.  This is the same railroad we saw this morning in Millville, NJ where there were no gates at the crossings.  Finally, the traffic on this section of NJ 47 is heavy enough to require the lights, bell, and the GATES that can block auto traffic for the passage of a train on the tracks.

Going north on route 47 comes to a short cut not seen coming southbound from Millville.  Going north on 47 is a LEFT TURN up ahead at the traffic light.  The short cut going north is to use route 347 going straight ahead at the light.

Going north with the short cut is using the right lane here, not the left turn lane.  We passed by here going north on route 347 at 3:29 PM.

The forest is thick leaving the intersection seen above until 1.6 miles north of the intersection where East Creek Pond is adjacent to the NJ route 347 roadway.

The short cut saves about 3.2 miles compared to the normal NJ 47 route.

This is looking north at the intersection of NJ 55 going north to bypass Millville.  NJ 47 is coming and going north on the "side road" that goes straight ahead.  New Jersey uses a "Jug Handle" intersection that is on the RIGHT side of the through route, then stops before crossing over to the LEFT side as seen here to continue north.  Following the white car at the lower right side of this photo will get to NJ 47 going to Millville.

This is the curved path of NJ 55 going through to become the bypass around Millville on the East side of town.  We got on this end of NJ route 55 at 3:43 PM going north.

Here is the view from the jug handle position of NJ 47 ready to cross NJ 55 and go into Millville from the south end of town.

NJ 55 becomes a FOUR-LANE divided highway just six-tenths of a mile north of the NJ 47 / NJ 55 intersection.

The exit from NJ 55 at 3:51 PM brings us to a left turn to get on NJ 47 to go north, and a chance to check out Cumberland Mall straight ahead in hopes of finding a good take-out restaurant.  We passed by two franchised restaurants but neither of them got our vote for dinner tonight.

This gas station was just over half a mile up NJ 47 from the NJ 55 exit.  I always get fuel in New Jersey before going into Pennsylvania where the gas prices are higher.  New Jersey has a law that prevents drivers from putting fuel in their car at "self-serve" locations.  Every gas station has an attendant by the pumps to take your credit card and insert it into the card reader before he puts the gas in your tank.  The attendant does not check your oil or wipe your windows ala "full service" as pumping fuel is all they do.  When the transaction is completed, he returns the credit card with the printed receipt.

There is a Wal-Mart about one block from our motel.  We stopped there where Linda went in to get us some frozen dinners we could prepare in the microwave oven in the room.  I kept Chase in the car with me while she went inside and was back in the car at 4:20 PM after a relatively short visit of only eight minutes.

The Google Earth aerial view shows just how close Wal-Mart is to the Days Inn motel where we spent two nights with our exploration of south Jersey on the day after our arrival.