Well the snoring can’t have been too bad as I slept fairly soundly; I can’t speak for everyone else however. Anyway, we got up this morning to frost on the ground and mist rising off the lake – I guess it was pretty cold last night! We got ready to leave and I have to say the hill we came up yesterday didn’t seem anywhere as steep this morning. The drive again today was not too bad and not too long; I remember some of the drive from the last time we were at Lazy Lakes Niagara. We got to the campsite sometime around mid afternoon and got all set up. This park looks a lot different than it did a few weeks ago, the trees are almost bare of leaves. It’s easy to see why as it was really windy here this afternoon and still is tonight. Putting the tent up took a four-man effort but we got it done; hopefully it stays up in this wind. Mam and dad went out to sleep in it even though the wind has been blowing the sides in all afternoon and now its raining as well. They might never speak to Mike and me again after this trip.

Mike: This isn’t Kansas anymore Dorothy!

On the road today but not for too long, the drive was only a little over three hours. We got up quite early and started to pack up immediately which wasn’t too easy for dad since he likes to get ready slowly in the morning. Never mind, we had to get on with the packing since we had a little more than usual to do. It actually didn’t take us too much longer than usual even with having to take the tent down and get two extra people ready to leave. We are headed north west towards Niagara but the drive is too long to make in one go so we are spending the night tonight in Covington, PA which is just across the northern Pennsylvanian border from New York. The drive was nice, very pretty at this time of the year, at least until we got about a mile from the campsite. The description of the site stated that the last ¼ mile to the site was up an 8% grade. I wasn’t sure what an 8% grade looked like but the fact they mentioned it in the camp book didn’t bode well in my mind. I told Mike I was going to get out at the bottom and walk the last bit, unfortunately I think it was a lot more than a ¼ mile at the 8% grade and Mike forgot to stop at the bottom and let me out. It was very scary, at least I was scared, everyone else seemed to think nothing of it, but it seemed to last forever going up that hill, and the road looked like it was coming over the top of us it was soooo steep! I didn’t cry though which was a feat in itself, and Serena got us to the top without any trouble – I need to learn to trust her and Mike more.
The campsite itself, called Tanglewood, is really pretty with lots of trees and a huge lake. It’s pretty chilly up here though and I think we might be the only ones on the site. It’s very clean and well kept, and the bathrooms are lovely with gas heaters running all the time; I think dad might just go and spend the evening in the shower! At least tonight we are not making them sleep in the tent, they are going to spend the night in the trailer tonight sleeping on the pull out sofa bed. It should be an interesting night and I wonder whether I will get any sleep; it’s difficult enough with Mike and Tal-ys snoring and now mam and dads dulcet snoring tones will be added to the mix.

Mike: OMG, I can hardly wait!

Well they didn’t come in from the tent last night, maybe it was too cold to get out from under the blankets to come knocking on the door! They did come in to the trailer shivering this morning and needed several cups of tea to get themselves warm; that was after mam fell out of bed, taking all dads blankets with her. We didn’t know what was going on with the noise outside, but Tal-y heard them too and sat inside the trailer door crying along with their laughter. They said the tent was fine and that once they got into bed they were warm, I suppose I’ll get the truth sometime in the next few weeks. Anyway they survived the first night, only about 15 more to go.
We didn’t do too much of anything today other than a little food shopping. We are still getting over those crazy days in New York, and mams leg needs some rest. We did all take showers in the site bathrooms which are freezing. Dad discovered that if you turn all the showers on and let them run awhile it steams up the bathroom and gets warm, nice. We had every intention of doing that in the ladies only to discover that we couldn’t leave our showers run. Even when we were using them we had to keep pushing the stupid button as the water only ran for about half a minute before the shower shut off. Very annoying and very chilly, hopefully the next place will be better.

Mike: That’s what happens when you pitch your tent on a slope! Duh!

Today is mams 60th birthday, Happy Birthday.

We didn’t have to get up quite so early today since we were heading out of Jersey and going back to the trailer, but first we had to pick up Tal-y from her vacation and we couldn’t get here till mid morning. We did a little shopping and mam bought a fluffy robe ready for her stay in the tent, then we went to get Tal-y. I think she was quite happy to see us and the report card we got from Petsmart said she had done great – she just needed a little coaxing to eat and go to the bathroom, but otherwise she was the life of the party. I find that hard to believe, she probably cowered in the corner the whole time. Anyway she was happy to see us and mam and dad, although she didn’t want to sit on my lap in the car; I guess she has to be a little mad at me for leaving her for three nights.
We had a nice easy drive back to the campsite in Wurtsboro, although the place looks a little different than when we left. There are a lot less leaves on the trees than there were last week, it looks like the wind came through her pretty good over the weekend. We all helped put the tent up this afternoon and get everything straight for mam and dads first night of camping – it may be their first and last, we’ll see.
We spent the evening just relaxing before sending them out to the tent. I wonder how long before they come knocking on the door wanting to sleep inside? I feel a bit guilty sending them out there but we did offer to stay out there and they said no. They didn’t seem to be having too much trouble sleeping in the tent at least cos when I just took Tal-y out to piddle there was a tremendous noise coming from inside the tent. Tal-y just sat at the door cocking her head from side to side, I had to explain to her that papa was still in the trailer and that other people snore too!

Mike: Man, she’s old! I thought that was thunder!

Up early again this morning and off back into the City. We had intended to take the boat out to visit Lady Liberty this morning but the dude on the bus yesterday told us that taking the Staten Island ferry would give us just as good views so that’s what we decided to do first. Since we had to get to Battery Park to catch the ferry we thought we’d take the subway from the Times Square area. Mike asked the lovely helpful man at the ticket counter which train we had to catch and then bought tickets for us. It seems the guy didn’t really understand where we wanted to go cos we almost ended up in Brooklyn which is nowhere near Battery Park. We had to walk about 18 blocks underground to get to the right station and then once we got on the train we couldn’t understand the announcer and didn’t know which stop to get off at. It’s definitely not as easy to navigate as the London underground. Thankfully there was a nice New Yorker on the train who informed us of the stop to get off at before we ended up in Brooklyn. The problem was we were nowhere near Battery Park but instead were somewhere in Chinatown. Mike asked a woman in a news booth which way we had to go and she wouldn’t even talk to him, and when we asked another woman on the street we discovered that the only english she knew was Coach and Louis. I bet she’d have spoken perfect English if we’d said we wanted one of her knock off handbags. A friendly young lady in Starbucks finally helped us and pointed us in the right direction.
We got on the ferry for Staten Island and had quite a nice ride over while getting to view the Statue of Liberty – she still looks small even out on the water. It was really windy and cold on the trip over but it was beautiful and sunny and we got some really nice views of the city from the harbour. We had intended just to stay on the ferry and come right back but they made us leave the boat, so we walked through the terminal and got right back on the same boat, silly me thinks but whatever. On the ride back we stayed inside in the warm.
After getting back on dry land we had a little lunch and then took a bus tour of Brooklyn where we got to hear about the devastation that the city felt, and still feels when the Dodgers left back in 1958. I think it’s time they just let it go, and our guide wasn’t very sympathetic either since he was a Yankee fan.
Next we headed uptown to Central Park and walked around that a little; it’s very beautiful and even more so I think since it’s right in the middle of so much concrete. We didn’t have very much time to wander and it would have been nice to spend a day just walking through the park but there was just too much to fit into two days. Another bus ride landed us at the Empire State building and we headed to the top. We actually came at a good time I think as there was hardly any line to get to the top, and we were entertained by King Kong while we waited. It was a little crowded at the top but we still had a good look and the views from there are spectacular; and we had a perfect day, everything was visible and clear. And I now know that the Chrysler building is not the Empire State building as I could see it from the top of the Empire State building! More rushing around when we got back down, this time we walked to Grand Central. Wow what a building, it’s beautiful, way too nice to be a train station.
After getting food for mam and dad it was time to get them to the theatre in time for the show. We decided to walk the 10 or so blocks to the right street, which in hindsight wasn’t a great idea since mam, while trying to keep up with Mike, fell over while we were walking up Broadway. While dad rescued the soda bottle from the gutter, two nice policemen helped her back to her feet; they even wanted to call an ambulance for her. She hit the pavement really hard and is going to have a gem of a bruise to remember her time in New York.
We left them at the theatre to watch Jersey boys – tickets courtesy of Jaime and Lec – and mike and I headed off to waste thee hours in New York. We wandered the streets, ate pizza standing outside a deli which was yummy, and then spent a long while watching the people in Times Square. People watching is so much fun especially in a crazy place like New York, and Times Square is a very weird and wonderful place with people and advertisements everywhere. We saw the Naked Cowboy, and later in the evening the female version.
We headed back to pick them up later and it sounds like they had a great time at the theatre and enjoyed the show immensely. I think they were surprised by how much of the music they actually knew but didn’t know that Frankie and the Four Seasons had sung it. Then we caught the shuttle back to the hotel for the last time this trip.
We all headed to bed (after icing mams leg) absolutely knackered but I think we all enjoyed the two crazy hectic days in New York City. It is not a place I’d ever want to live but visiting was fun and hopefully we’ll get to come back sometime soon.

Mike: Go Dodgers! New York is fabulous as long as I don’t have to drive!

Up early this morning and after having breakfast we caught the little shuttle from the hotel into the city. The drivers here are insane, but I guess dealing with this traffic all the time it’s not really surprising. Anyway we got into the city in about 15 minutes even with stops – I’m just grateful that I don’t have to drive here, we might never have made it!
We got dropped off just off Times Square, and even at that time of the morning there were people everywhere. Thankfully the weather is beautiful this morning, well dry anyway, I guess we can live with the cold and wind. We had decided that the first thing we were going to do was take a bus tour around the city to get some perspective and also to cram in as much as we could in two days. Well we must have looked like tourists cos as soon as we got off the shuttle a guy selling bus tickets stopped us – I can’t imagine what gave us away, I’m sure we all looked like typical New Yorkers.
So we got on the bus and headed into New York. It’s a pretty good idea especially since it was our first time there and Mike hadn’t been in so long. We got to see New York without having to drive in the crazy traffic and we didn’t have to walk miles, and also we got some info and history about the city as we went along. The buses are hop on hop off and since the first tour guide we had was horrible, he kept yelling at the passengers, we didn’t stay on his bus too long. We got off and headed to the site of the World Trade Center. There’s actually not too much to see at the site as its all behind construction fences, but they have at least started working on the site after being idle for almost ten years. We did get to see the plans for how the site will look when it’s complete and it’ll be interesting to go back in a few years and see it for real. We walked around for a little while because the men of the group were cold and we had to buy sweaters and wooly hats for them, aww bless the big wimps. I have to admit though that once they stopped moaning about the cold the day was a whole lot nicer.
Next we headed down to the business district and checked out Wall Street and the financial district. We weren’t allowed to go inside and yell and shout and throw bits of paper on the floor, we had to settle for taking pictures outside. Then we walked to Battery Park and almost got swept away as the wind was super strong, it was actually difficult to walk at times. From Battery Park we got to view the Lady out in the water. She was quite a ways away and looked very small and lonely. We had wanted to go visit her but time didn’t permit it and we couldn’t get tickets to climb to the crown anyway, maybe next time.
We took the bus some more and traveled through Chinatown, Little Italy and back through Times Square. Then we changed buses and headed uptown to Harlem, past Central Park. This time we had a really cool dude as a guide who had lots of useful tips for spending time in New York. We had dinner at a nice Thai restaurant on restaurant row before taking the night tour around the city and over to Brooklyn. It was cool to see everything at night as it’s all lit up and there are about as many people wandering around as during the day. It was so bloody cold though. We did manage to stay on the upper deck of the bus, which was outside for most off the tour, but we had to go down into the warm before the end as all our extremities were frozen. Took the shuttle back to the hotel after the tour ended and crashed for the night after a busy but fun day.

Mike: You know what they say about a witches t__ in January?

Off to New York City today to get mam and dad. We left fairly early this morning since we had a little bit of a drive to get from Wurtsboro to JFK, and we needed to make a few stops along the way. The first stop was in Secaucus, NJ, to check Tal-y into her hotel; she’s going to be staying at the Petshotel at Petsmart for the next few days. She wasn’t to happy about it when we got there and kept trying to get out the door while we were filling out her paperwork. It was horrible leaving her, especially considering the looks she was giving us, but when we left she was getting a cwtch from one of the girls working at the hotel. I think she’ll be okay.
Our next stop was to check into our hotel. We are staying in N. Bergen, which is just on the New Jersey side of the Lincoln Tunnel. We drove right by it the first go round and then it took us a while to get back to it as the roads around it were all one way, by we finally managed it. The hotel is nice, clean and roomy; we spent a few hours here before heading to the airport.
Their flight was due to get in about 6 p.m. but it was delayed about two hours. According to Nell the drive to the airport was only supposed to take about 30 minutes but Mike wanted to leave early so we didn’t have to rush. It was a good job we did cos it started raining and the traffic was like nothing I have ever seen. To get to New York we had to go through the Lincoln tunnel, which was literally a mile and a half from the hotel. It took us an hour and a half to get to the tollbooth, it was crazy. There was traffic everywhere and loads of buses, and in the midst of it all was an old guy whose car had been hit by a bus who was making sure he got all the bus drivers details – not helpful to the traffic situation at all. We inched to the tunnel and then after paying $8.00 we discovered why it had taken so long to get there, there were about 20 lanes of traffic funneling into just 2 lanes to go through the tunnel - stupid!
Anyway once we got through the tunnel it was a little better for a while and I got my first look at New York City; it’s pretty amazing. We drove right up 34the Street before heading to the midtown tunnel and over to Queens. The traffic got worse again once we were in Queens, and it didn’t get any better till we reached the airport; the rain didn’t help anything either. It is pouring down right now, I just hope it’ll be nice tomorrow as it won’t be much fun walking the streets of New York in the rain. The flight was a little later than we expected they got in after 9, but it was so good to see mam and dad and we are going to have a great time for the next few weeks, hopefully.

Mike: Just think, I get to drive through New York again in three weeks when we take them back!