Years ago I was driving from New York City to Syracuse, New York, to look for a house. It was about 1984. A realtor had called us because he had found a home for us to look at. At the time, I was working at the Brooklyn Naval Yards and I received the call from my wife telling me we had to Syracuse that night.
It was autumn. I got off work at 6, went home to pick up my two daughters (at the time they were young girls). We left the house about 6:30 in the evening and arrived at the New Jersey Turnpike at about 7 o'clock. We stopped at a rest stop and bought coffee and snacks.
Now mind you, this was not our first trip to Upstate New York, so we knew where we were going and how long it would take -- about five hours.
When I got back to the car with the snacks, it was pouring rain; we could barely see in front of us. There was a faint glow on the highway just beyond a hill, and my wife turned to me and said, "It looks like we're driving off the edge of the Earth." I turned to look at her, and when I turned back to the road, it was day light, sunny -- and we were on the outskirts of Syracuse! That was a total distance of about 300 miles... and 8 hours had transpired!
I turned back to my wife and woke her up. The children were still asleep in the back. I told her where we were and what time it was, and she said that there was no way -- she had just gone to sleep a minute ago.
I can only remember getting into the car at the rest stop in New Jersey... and I ended up in Syracuse. I couldn't remember driving to Syracuse. I know I didn't fall asleep at the wheel and drive for 3oo miles. And I didn't pull over to sleep on the road because I had my kids in the car. It could not have been driving hypnosis because I had to drive through the Shawungunk Mountains. I am 62 years old and am still trying to find an answer to my mystery.
