Monday, July 27, 2009
Sunday, July 26, 2009 – The sad goodbyes
We stayed with Rob and Marti R. last night in their beautiful home....such a great time! They were wonderful to be with! It’s the day for departures. Martha flies out at 11:30 to visit relatives in eastern Canada. LeAnne flies home at 6:45 pm and Char drives to Dorothy to spend time with relatives. It’s been fun having all you fans along for the ride. Hope you enjoyed our trip as much as we have! We’ll see you all next time! Ciao!
Saturday, July 25, 2009 – Washington, DC
On the road again for our final city of this collective road trip! We are so happy to be on the final driving leg - except for poor Char who will have to drive by herself tomorrow all the way to Dorothy, NJ. Arriving in DC at around 2 pm, we quickly decided that if we hoped to be able to see any of the fabulous capitol city sights, our best option would be to get a hop on and hop off tour pass. Due to a minor mishap, Martha’s feet were not working quite as designed. More specifically, her big toe had met with disaster and she was hobbling around fairly slowly. So we bought tour passes. We managed to find a dirt cheap parking garage at only $10 a day. This was enough to almost make our morning after shelling out approximately $25 of LeAnne’s cold hard cash (seeing as the other girls somehow managed to not have any) all to cross a couple of silly New York bridges and other toll road/money grubbing devices. Did we happen to ever mention that we don’t like toll roads, Mr. Obama? You are reading this, are you not?
On to the beautiful US capitol! Our tour’s starting point was Union Station, conveniently for us and Martha’s big toe, located almost directly across from our parking garage. First on our list of places to jump off at, was the Washington Monument. It’s tall. And we took pictures. Next up was the Holocaust Museum. With our traditionally great timing, the museum was scheduled to close in 20 minutes so we quickly dashed in to have a fast look. We didn’t get to see any exhibits but it was still pretty cool and something we would like to see more of if we get a chance someday. The Jefferson Memorial was up after that. It is beautiful and we saw several wedding parties having photos done in front of the building. We had the great idea of taking some more pictures. So we did. The Lincoln Memorial was pretty cool and easily the most crowded stop. We took a quick snapshot and managed to rush back to catch the next bus. We saw the White House, the US Capitol building, Ford’s Theatre and some other random buildings from the roof of our bus. Unfortunately we didn’t have as much time as we would have liked on our tour but it is a 24 hour pass so LeAnne and Char are hoping to check out a few more places tomorrow after meeting.
On to the beautiful US capitol! Our tour’s starting point was Union Station, conveniently for us and Martha’s big toe, located almost directly across from our parking garage. First on our list of places to jump off at, was the Washington Monument. It’s tall. And we took pictures. Next up was the Holocaust Museum. With our traditionally great timing, the museum was scheduled to close in 20 minutes so we quickly dashed in to have a fast look. We didn’t get to see any exhibits but it was still pretty cool and something we would like to see more of if we get a chance someday. The Jefferson Memorial was up after that. It is beautiful and we saw several wedding parties having photos done in front of the building. We had the great idea of taking some more pictures. So we did. The Lincoln Memorial was pretty cool and easily the most crowded stop. We took a quick snapshot and managed to rush back to catch the next bus. We saw the White House, the US Capitol building, Ford’s Theatre and some other random buildings from the roof of our bus. Unfortunately we didn’t have as much time as we would have liked on our tour but it is a 24 hour pass so LeAnne and Char are hoping to check out a few more places tomorrow after meeting.
Thursday and Friday, July 23-24, 2009 – New York City
New York, New York! To feel like real New Yorkers, we bought subway passes to get around. Not to sound like complete idiots, but the metro system is a little confusing at first, we think we sort of have it figured out now but we definitely rode the wrong direction several times and were helped out by friendly locals. Whoever says New York people are rude is wrong. First stop: Times Square and the half price ticket booth. We bought tickets to see two Broadway musicals – The Little Mermaid and Mary Poppins. The Little Mermaid was by far the better show, it was so cool to see how they did all the sets with the underwater scenes. We definitely recommend it! If you plan to use the half price ticket booth, be prepared to spend an hour or more in line. A great deal of Times Square was seen while spent standing in a queue. Rockefeller Center was somewhat of a disappointment as apparently they don’t keep the Christmas trees and ice rink going in July. Perhaps we’ll have to come back in December. We saw Battery Park and glimpsed the Statue of Liberty across the water. It would have been cool to take the ferry over to Ellis Island but we are rather broke at this point. The World Trade Center Ground Zero area was a giant building site with cranes everywhere so there wasn’t much to see. We missed getting into the visitor centre by 10 minutes. On our way down to Battery Park, we walked through the financial district but somehow failed to see Wall Street and the New York Stock Exchange stuff. Oh well. The Empire State Building was sighted on our way back to Times Square from somewhere. Our most visited spots were Starbucks, Times Square and Anthropologie. At least one place is native to New York.
Unfortunately on the first day in the city, it poured rain. We bought cheapo umbrellas and Martha’s leaked. She wasn’t as thrilled as we thought she should be. The second day was full of glorious sunshine but we still haven’t gotten that tan we are in search of.
After one night at the hostel, a decision was made to see if any other alternative lodgings could be found. A hotel in Queens was located and at a decent price so we returned to the hostel to pack up. This is when we discovered that our hostel was not as secure as we would have liked. Char had left a bag of clothing beside the door with a pair of sandals next to it and now it was suddenly missing. We checked with the front desk person to see if it could have been picked up as trash although it was very unlikely. She made a quick check but didn’t turn up anything so we concluded that Char’s clothes were gone forever. There was sadness in our hearts as we have never had any problems at any other hostels. The cure for our depression was to go back to the stores and rebuy Char’s clothes. Problem solved!
All things taken into account, we very much like New York City.
Unfortunately on the first day in the city, it poured rain. We bought cheapo umbrellas and Martha’s leaked. She wasn’t as thrilled as we thought she should be. The second day was full of glorious sunshine but we still haven’t gotten that tan we are in search of.
After one night at the hostel, a decision was made to see if any other alternative lodgings could be found. A hotel in Queens was located and at a decent price so we returned to the hostel to pack up. This is when we discovered that our hostel was not as secure as we would have liked. Char had left a bag of clothing beside the door with a pair of sandals next to it and now it was suddenly missing. We checked with the front desk person to see if it could have been picked up as trash although it was very unlikely. She made a quick check but didn’t turn up anything so we concluded that Char’s clothes were gone forever. There was sadness in our hearts as we have never had any problems at any other hostels. The cure for our depression was to go back to the stores and rebuy Char’s clothes. Problem solved!
All things taken into account, we very much like New York City.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009 – Chicago – New York City
It was decided that we would sleep in for once and we took our sweet time leaving Char’s aunt’s house. She made us a delicious breakfast and we were entertained by Paul, Char’s little cousin, while we waited for the food to be ready. Thank you so much for your generous hospitality and internet access.
The drive to New York was estimated at around 12 hours. In Girls In America time, that’s probably closer to 15 hours! We were travelling on the I80 and in the eastern part of the US this is mainly a toll road. We hate toll roads. You have to take a ticket when you get on the road and then you can’t get off unless you pay money!!!!!!! We felt trapped and stuck and claustrophobic. To further enhance the stuck feeling, there are little service areas at the side of the road. They are basically glorified rest stops and we do kind of like them except for the fact that they are your only choice unless you want to pay. At one of these stops, we struck upon the glorious news that we would be passing practically right through Amish country! This was exciting and we set off in search of horses and buggies! Our trusty GPS found a little Amish town called Shipshewana somewhere in Indiana and it was full of Amishness and tourists. We felt a little sorry for the Amish people because it seemed like they were part of some weird zoo or something. There were tons and tons of tourists taking pictures and buying homemade stuff. The only pictures we took were of the horses and buggies so we wouldn’t invade their privacy.
Did you know that driving to New York City from Chicago you can go through seven different states? Yeah that’s seven [SEVEN, 7, seven] - Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. Admittedly Michigan was a two minute detour, but if you were that close wouldn’t you want to take a picture of the state sign on self timer from the hood of your car? Yes we thought so too.
New York City beckoned us from the horizon but the toll booth was the first thing to call out to us. Paying $9 to cross a stupid bridge is ridiculous, New York mayor, whoever you are! Too bad I can’t swim carrying a suitcase. We found our hostel without too many delays and went to bed around 2 am.
The drive to New York was estimated at around 12 hours. In Girls In America time, that’s probably closer to 15 hours! We were travelling on the I80 and in the eastern part of the US this is mainly a toll road. We hate toll roads. You have to take a ticket when you get on the road and then you can’t get off unless you pay money!!!!!!! We felt trapped and stuck and claustrophobic. To further enhance the stuck feeling, there are little service areas at the side of the road. They are basically glorified rest stops and we do kind of like them except for the fact that they are your only choice unless you want to pay. At one of these stops, we struck upon the glorious news that we would be passing practically right through Amish country! This was exciting and we set off in search of horses and buggies! Our trusty GPS found a little Amish town called Shipshewana somewhere in Indiana and it was full of Amishness and tourists. We felt a little sorry for the Amish people because it seemed like they were part of some weird zoo or something. There were tons and tons of tourists taking pictures and buying homemade stuff. The only pictures we took were of the horses and buggies so we wouldn’t invade their privacy.
Did you know that driving to New York City from Chicago you can go through seven different states? Yeah that’s seven [SEVEN, 7, seven] - Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. Admittedly Michigan was a two minute detour, but if you were that close wouldn’t you want to take a picture of the state sign on self timer from the hood of your car? Yes we thought so too.
New York City beckoned us from the horizon but the toll booth was the first thing to call out to us. Paying $9 to cross a stupid bridge is ridiculous, New York mayor, whoever you are! Too bad I can’t swim carrying a suitcase. We found our hostel without too many delays and went to bed around 2 am.
Tuesday, July 21: Chicago
Our goal was to leave the Short’s by 7 am but of course it wasn’t until after 8 that we managed to drag ourselves away. First we had to coerce a photo out of the family much to their dismay. Thanks for letting us stay with you! We had a great time!
Our drive to Chicago was about 5.5. hours, which Martha is now considering to be quite a short drive. In England, driving for 2 hours is considered a major road trip, you have to stay at the place for a week to make it worth the drive. We made it into the Windy City without too many mishaps and viewed the Mississippi River on the way. Unfortunatley we missed both the Iowa and Illinois states signs but we really were there! Upon arriving into the city we parked at what was probably the most expensive parking garage and walked over to the Willis (used to be Sears) Tower. After that we drove over to Millenium Park and paid for parking again. The park was fabulous! They had a symphony rehearsal of some sort that included violins and guitars going on so we watched that for a while. Also checked out the huge, silver “Bean” that shows off the skyline nicely and took multiple photos of screwed up reflections. The fountains were on as well, these are two large rectangle’s that face each other with the entire surface being a screen. Each screen has a face on it which blinks and smiles in slow motion and then purses it’s lips and water comes shooting out at all the kids. Very fun. The last touristy thing we had time to see before dinner was the Navy Pier where we took a ferris wheel ride, even Martha was game for this! It was a cloudy, misty day so couldn’t see very far but it was nice to look out on the water and boats. We had heard that Gino’s East Pizza was the place to get real pizza so we wandered in. This place will let you write on the walls and these walls were COVERED with people’s names, memories, dates, etc. The waitress informed us that deep dish pizza would take about an hour and since we had to be at the Addison meeting in an hour we settled on Thin crust. Char and LeAnne decided to order salads and steal pieces of Martha’s pizza when she wasn’t looking and it was delicious. While waiting for the pizza, Char entertained Martha and LeAnne by sticking straws on her teeth, vampire-like, and talking in a weird voice. She also offered to check for lice with her new straw teeth. They left soon after to use the bathroom, at least that’s what they said, and didn’t come back until the pizza was delivered to the table. We rushed off to the meeting only getting there 15 minutes late. Afterwards, the local YP announced they would like to hang out with us at Culver’s so Megan G. decided she would hop in with us so we wouldn’t get lost on the way. Culver’s is about 2 minutes away from the meeting room. We did a giant loop through some industrial complexes, went past some road construction and found ourselves at a dead end. At this point, Megan admitted she has no sense of direction and then proceeded to tell us multiple stories of her getting other visitors lost and late for wherever they were supposed to be. NOW you tell us. After a quick phone call we were back on our way and what should have taken only 2 minutes, took us about 15 which in Megan time, is actually pretty good. J According to Megan, no Chicago experience is complete without Megan getting you lost at least once. So if you ever visit this city….look her up! We had a good time at Culver’s the YP and then followed our trusty GPS to Char’s relatives, Stephen and Rene R. We stayed up and chatted with them for a bit before heading off to the computer’s to catch up on email. Martha has decided that this is the next city she would like to live in…watch out Chicago!!!
Our drive to Chicago was about 5.5. hours, which Martha is now considering to be quite a short drive. In England, driving for 2 hours is considered a major road trip, you have to stay at the place for a week to make it worth the drive. We made it into the Windy City without too many mishaps and viewed the Mississippi River on the way. Unfortunatley we missed both the Iowa and Illinois states signs but we really were there! Upon arriving into the city we parked at what was probably the most expensive parking garage and walked over to the Willis (used to be Sears) Tower. After that we drove over to Millenium Park and paid for parking again. The park was fabulous! They had a symphony rehearsal of some sort that included violins and guitars going on so we watched that for a while. Also checked out the huge, silver “Bean” that shows off the skyline nicely and took multiple photos of screwed up reflections. The fountains were on as well, these are two large rectangle’s that face each other with the entire surface being a screen. Each screen has a face on it which blinks and smiles in slow motion and then purses it’s lips and water comes shooting out at all the kids. Very fun. The last touristy thing we had time to see before dinner was the Navy Pier where we took a ferris wheel ride, even Martha was game for this! It was a cloudy, misty day so couldn’t see very far but it was nice to look out on the water and boats. We had heard that Gino’s East Pizza was the place to get real pizza so we wandered in. This place will let you write on the walls and these walls were COVERED with people’s names, memories, dates, etc. The waitress informed us that deep dish pizza would take about an hour and since we had to be at the Addison meeting in an hour we settled on Thin crust. Char and LeAnne decided to order salads and steal pieces of Martha’s pizza when she wasn’t looking and it was delicious. While waiting for the pizza, Char entertained Martha and LeAnne by sticking straws on her teeth, vampire-like, and talking in a weird voice. She also offered to check for lice with her new straw teeth. They left soon after to use the bathroom, at least that’s what they said, and didn’t come back until the pizza was delivered to the table. We rushed off to the meeting only getting there 15 minutes late. Afterwards, the local YP announced they would like to hang out with us at Culver’s so Megan G. decided she would hop in with us so we wouldn’t get lost on the way. Culver’s is about 2 minutes away from the meeting room. We did a giant loop through some industrial complexes, went past some road construction and found ourselves at a dead end. At this point, Megan admitted she has no sense of direction and then proceeded to tell us multiple stories of her getting other visitors lost and late for wherever they were supposed to be. NOW you tell us. After a quick phone call we were back on our way and what should have taken only 2 minutes, took us about 15 which in Megan time, is actually pretty good. J According to Megan, no Chicago experience is complete without Megan getting you lost at least once. So if you ever visit this city….look her up! We had a good time at Culver’s the YP and then followed our trusty GPS to Char’s relatives, Stephen and Rene R. We stayed up and chatted with them for a bit before heading off to the computer’s to catch up on email. Martha has decided that this is the next city she would like to live in…watch out Chicago!!!
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Monday, July 20 2009: Colorado – Iowa
Today we drove and drove and drove and drove some more. A minor victory dance was performed in the front seat as we saw a hill mid afternoon, and only two minutes into Nebraska we saw our first corn-stack. No cliches at all.....
One stop we did make, was in Burlington where Char stopped to say 'Hi' to her ex co-workers. She also showed us her haunted house. We were disappointed not to see any ghosts ourselves as we passed.
As always, we stopped at the state signs as we passed whenever possible. At the Kansas border we happened to arrive at the same time as a large family group of about 10 people. They very kindly took our picture and we took theirs. This saved us the usual balancing act that the camera has to do on the car roof as we run to get into the frame before the timer is up.
We arrived in Des Moines late and spent the night with Bob and Debbie Short. Thank you so much for your hospitality.
As always, we stopped at the state signs as we passed whenever possible. At the Kansas border we happened to arrive at the same time as a large family group of about 10 people. They very kindly took our picture and we took theirs. This saved us the usual balancing act that the camera has to do on the car roof as we run to get into the frame before the timer is up.
We arrived in Des Moines late and spent the night with Bob and Debbie Short. Thank you so much for your hospitality.
Sunday, July 19: Denver, CO
Had the most fabulous shut-eye time we’ve had so far on the comfort of the Huff’s wonderful mattresses. Spent the morning with the folks there in Englewood, CO then headed back to the Huff’s for a special treat that the Huff’s knew Char was in love with. They have a special sauce they make for red meat that is to die for. We travelers were stuffing ourselves silly and Char tried to sneak the rest of the sauce into her water bottle but got caught. Anyhow, it was DELICIOUS.
The rest of the day was spent shopping and hanging out with Cam T. until the meeting that night. After meeting we headed out with all the local YP for a place called “Casa Bonita.” Apparently this is a must-see restaurant in Denver and we were promised live diving shows with spectacular food. Promises are not always kept…
Afterwards we went to a coffee shop called ‘Stellas’ for some witty and sparkling conversation. Char amused herself by reading the dictionary and then attempted to teach Martha to speak ‘American’. Her report card states that although she is still having trouble with a few words, she is making progress and her teachers are very proud.
The rest of the day was spent shopping and hanging out with Cam T. until the meeting that night. After meeting we headed out with all the local YP for a place called “Casa Bonita.” Apparently this is a must-see restaurant in Denver and we were promised live diving shows with spectacular food. Promises are not always kept…
Afterwards we went to a coffee shop called ‘Stellas’ for some witty and sparkling conversation. Char amused herself by reading the dictionary and then attempted to teach Martha to speak ‘American’. Her report card states that although she is still having trouble with a few words, she is making progress and her teachers are very proud.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
