[dw1]

With so many people shopping online I was really surprised today at the number of people clogging the roads around shopping areas.

I deliver supplies to hospitals and I had a mid-day run today (Black Friday) to Garnet Medical Center in Middletown, NY. My normal route takes me past Woodbury Common in/near Harriman. HOLY *****!!! Traffic was REALLY bad. Stop & go for miles on the NY State Thruway and on rt. 6/17. Because the shopping center parking lot was full, exit 131 on rt. 17 was CLOSED, meaning traffic had to go to the next exit, about 5 miles up the highway, and backtrack (to get to alternate parking areas or just go home?).

I used to commute on the highways of northern NJ and this was equal to as bad as I've ever seen.

The other end of my trip (after exiting Orange County NY largely via back roads) took me near Willowbrook Mall in NJ and the main highways in that immediate area were also a mess, but nothing like what I saw in NY state.