The Final Summer in NY: Part II

Trying to check out all the parts of NY State as we could we headed up to Lake Ontario, West of the Adirondacks (the opposite end of the lake to Niagara Falls) for 4th July weekend. We camped at a site on the shores of the lake and we were fortunate to get a spot right next to the lake. It was really busy and pretty much all sites were taken. Our site was on a corner by the lake so we only had one neighbor and lots of extra space - the sites were pretty small otherwise.

First top was the lake beach at a state park just up the road. it was a nice little beach with some dunes and a roped off swimming area. The lake was pretty warm with some good waves and a whole load of seagulls.

The first night, which was July 4th we watched a storm cross the lake, followed by a great sunset and watched fireworks all around the lake!

Day 2 involved something I've always wanted to do - whitewater rafting!! It was busy as it was a holiday weekend so there were 6 boats of people out in the afternoon session. We were really lucky that it was a beautiful, sunny hot day but the river flow was really high as there had been a lot of rain the week before. They even fed us half way round and had a BBQ when we got back. We managed to stay in the boat (except a quick swim during the quiet parts) but one boat took a nasty spill on one of the rapids and we pulled up one person and most of the oars. Someone on that boat quit halfway round because it scared her so much! Rafting on the Black River was a big hit. I really enjoyed it and can't wait to go again. Highly recommended.

The Final Summer in NY: Part I

We decided we had to have one more visit to NYC before moving to Oklahoma and the perfect opportunity arose when some friends from Texas said they'd be in NYC for a few days and we should go hang out. We took the train down on Saturday morning and after a stop at the hotel we headed to the Museum of Modern Art.

I'm no art critic but for the most part I enjoyed it - especially when it was paintings I actually recognized! Admittedly, some of the "art" I didn't really understand. I guess I'm just not that cultured. Matt even went in one of the "interactive" exhibits which was supposed to represent being born!

This is the sort of art I don't understand

But this one was more familiar

Matt being "reborn" involved balloons apparently

After the museum we had some lunch and caught some of the football (this was world cup round of 16 time). The we went up to Central Park and spent the rest of the afternoon wondering through the park and enjoying the sunshine. It was a lovely day and the park was packed with people enjoying it.

We met up with some friends for dinner and had a really delicious dinner at central American place. I had some really good ceviche and some fish ribs. The ribs took some figuring out but were really flavourful and I would definitely eat them again. This was followed by a walk through Times Square (our friends had never been to NYC before) and back to hotel.

The Empire State building lit up rainbow style for Gay Pride!

We spent most of the Sunday downtown in Battery Park and Wall Street before finding a place to watch the Mexico vs Netherlands game. We ended up in a British pub and had a great time. It was packed with people watching the game and it made it a lot of fun.

The afternoon we headed over to Ground Zero. We had hoped to go to the museum that had recently opened but you needed to get tickets in advance - there was a huge queue even for people with tickets. We ended up going to the museum put together by the families, which was much smaller but just as poignant. I won't say a lot about it, but I'm very glad I got to go.

For dinner we found a great Korean restaurant in the penthouse of a building in Korea town. Not only did we get great food but we had a great view that really topped off a wonderful weekend in the city. The train home was busy but the sunset over the Hudson was beautiful. Matt wouldn't know because he was asleep!

I <3 NY

Oklahoma!

Well we made it and we finally have internet but still no belongings after 8 days of being here. Sleeping on an air mattress is getting really old.

I've got lots of things to catch up on. Nothing much to say about the road trip and no pictures - just three days of driving (plus a couple of hours the night before) with a cat in each car (and the fish with Matt). It wasn't as bad as I was anticpating but I won't be doing it again anytime soon.

Update from Oklahoma so far: you can get gas for under $3 a gallon (vs ~$3.70 in Albany), it's bloody hot and the DMV is useless.

More soon I promise!