Before we get to this week’s hike, I need to repeat myself. As I’ve said time and again through this series, the trails along the gorge are not well maintained. It’s part of the trail system’s charm, feeling like you’re deep in nature, yet still within a short walk of the car.

Although the views are stunning and the workouts are great, I’d be hesitant to take trips with small kids in or near the gorge unless you have a system in place where each child has a parent to hold hands or stand close by.

Even then, I’d be worried sick if I took my 8-year-old girl into the gorge. And I’d hardly call myself a worrier.

The tragedy that took place just off the Whirlpool trail had me misty-eyed Thursday morning. Just a few weeks ago, I stepped foot in the same spot where Magdalena Lubowska apparently slipped into the rushing river on Wednesday, lured by what is one of Western New York’s most surreal experiences. To put it simply, the lower Niagara is spectacular. The Whirlpool Trail, which doesn’t offer great views of the water near the whirlpool because of thick woods, has a number of spots that beg you to come down to the river’s edge. I’d be lying if I said that’s not the best part of the trip. But extreme caution needs to be taken near the water. This isn’t Fantasy Island, where engineers have figured out how to make the experience both exhilarating and safe.

OSHA has no jurisdiction over Mother Nature.

But on to this week’s journey, which was the most well-traveled gorge trail, at least at the north end. The Niagara Gorge Rim Trail starts down by the Artpark Rim Trail, although you’d have to hike into the gorge, then head downstream to get there. In other words, there’s no way to do the whole trail one-way unless you dropped into the gorge by parachute. So in the interest of full disclosure, I only did the final two-thirds of the trail, starting just north of Whirlpool State Park.

This trail is really two hikes — the northern part along a dirt trail through the top of the gorge, and the southern and most popular part a leisurely walk on pavement through the falls area.

In and around Whirlpool State Park the views are great, but of course, the action really gets hot as you get closer to the falls. After the Niagara Gorge Discovery Center, the trail is paved and takes you under the Rainbow Bridge along the former connection of the Robert Moses Parkway. It’s a strange window into history since the road is in perfect shape, but has long been out of use.

When you re-emerge, you’re inundated with tourists. While this is a great spot to walk, and the path would be good for biking or jogging, you’d be taking your life into your hands if you tried to speed through as foreign families hammed it up for pictures.

One of my guilty pleasures is taking in the symphony of different languages. You invariably catch some Chinese and Japanese — although I can’t tell the difference — and expect a healthy dose of German, French and Italian. It’s a great reminder of the falls’ international renown. Just because we forget to take in the wonder doesn’t mean it’s lost any of its appeal elsewhere.

I happened to catch a great day and the water at the falls was perfect. Almost shiny and green. I walked the footbridge to Goat Island, and headed over to Luna Island, which was four deep along the Bridal Falls. This is the best spot to take photos of the American Falls because the sunlight shines from the south and hits it perfectly. Although it looks just as spectacular from the other side, the light messes up your snapshots. What you see with your eye doesn’t translate to the tiny screen on your digital.

From Luna Island, I trudged up the stairs and headed to Prospect Point, which I hadn’t done in years. It’s worth every step. And although I realize this is a free plug, I was incredibly jealous of the couples sitting on the deck at the Top of the Falls restaurant who were enjoying a perfect view along with a quick bite. I keep saying I’ll do lunch their soon, then hesitate because I don’t want to pay for the parking. Does it come off the restaurant bill? More homework.

At the point, the trail officially ends, although I headed upstream along the pavement for one of my favorite parts of the trip. While about a thousand tourists stood at Prospect Point, I was virtually alone after walking a few hundred yards to the south. I think a single jogger and a happy couple biking were all that passed on the road to Three Sisters Island.

Although this trail is easy, it’s long. If you’re going to do it, I’d suggest dropping one car off near Niagara University, and another near the Red Coach Inn. It’s rarely secluded, but worth the bother. There’s a reason people fly from all points on the globe to see the falls — and this trail heads through the epicenter.

Expect to see lots of people, and lots of great natural sights. But most importantly, do it safely.

‘GORGE’-OUS
• TRAIL: Niagara Gorge Rim Trail
• WHERE: Ends at Prospect Point along Horseshoe Falls
• SKILL LEVEL: Easy
• DISTANCE: 6.2 miles one-way
• WHAT TO SEE: Views of the Whirlpool and along the American, Bridal and Horsehoe Falls.

Back in town after a few days north of the border where we collected the 14 year old from her summer camp experience. It was a beautiful day to drive South via Ithaca with a stop at Moosewood Café and quick tour of the University/College town and home of DT's alma mater. I must say, for a place that is “gorges,” the trash cans are not abundant but neither is the trash (so something’s going right). I loved the crunchy nature of the place – strikingly white, however, or is it just me? After yesterday’s visit to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls where our foursome was clearly in the minority of nations represented, the whiteness of Ithaca was striking.

And speaking of another world, the husband/physician-scientist and I listened to Kiran Desai’s The Inheritance of Loss which was nothing less than incredibly depressing. But compelling and a good listen for hours on end, 800+ miles in five days) through beautiful rolling tree covered hills, lush farmland, alongside lakes and across rivers.

We reached 125^th Street on the West Side early this evening when we heard our first car horn after days of silence. A traffic-light changed just seconds prior, make that split in the life of the hurried traveler. “Welcome to the City,” said the horn/husband. Sheesh.

And then, after class this eve, as I exited a cab, a car honked at a line of cars being blocked by a trash truck. Fortunately for me, the cabbie suggested I take my time. That was a gift. Honestly, deep breaths and remaining calm are what it will take for me to be back in this noisy metropolis where so many people are in perpetual motion. Where are they heading, why are they rushed? Give me strength. Give me silence. I can no longer hear the loons calling.

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I can't seem to get an .AVI file on Wordpress, so until I find a solution, please go here to see the video:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/evmaroon/2772075679/

Jen X: Hide me, it's Meaghan.

Me: Meaghan won't be out here at 1:00 AM.

And then Meaghan walked up to us and we started to walk faster lmao.

Meaghan: Are y'all campers?

Me: No...

Jen: Uh...

Meaghan: It's okay, I'll just pretend I haven't seen you. Stay safe alright?

Me & Jen: *CONFUSED*

So Meaghan leaves and Jen is like, I think she wants to get raped, that's why she doesn't turn us in.

So afterwards we meet up with a few guys: Asher, Charlie, Jonny, and Salman. They were like, wow you're so stupid we've been sneaking out a lot and we've never gotten caught.

So afterwards we went to Meena's Joint, which was place that sold "dubs"--which were like subs. There were these drunk guys that tried to talk to me and Jen, and then there was this drunk guy that tried to talk to me.

Drunk guy: So have you been to many bars tonight?

Me: No.

Drunk guy: So what have you been doing?

Me: Nothing, I've been walking around.

Drunk guy: That doesn't sound like much fun.

Me: Um, it's actually quite fun!

And then I left and he talked to Johnny, who he thought was pretty chill.

Okay so we ate and watched this girl spill half her soda on the floor because she was so drunk. And Jen was like, wow she's not wearing her shoes because she's holding her heels, which was pretty normal although Jen doesn't think so.

And then we walked back and saw this homeless woman trying to find things from the garbage cans.

And afterwards we went home and slept hahaha.

Okay and then Friday afternoon I went to lab and finished up everything by making copies of my lab journal and taking pictures of the microarrays. I will analyze them later because Nobuko doesn't have the program to do so. I will probably get the information from her later on and analyze them.

Then we went to Lake Lansing and the beach to have a picnic with our mentors. We ate pizza and cookies with out mentors and it was awkward. Later I wore my tankini and we went walking along the shore with Jen Xu, Angel, and Connie. We didn't go in the water.

Oh and later a bunch of people paid for peddleboats but since we only had around 15 minutes left, Jen, Angel, Connie and I sat at the dock and talked. What's funny is that this guy who I think was Charlie's mentor went up to me and told me that he thought it was funny that my shoes and dress matched during my presentation, which he said was not commonly seen among scientists :P

Then we went home and had an Olympics opening ceremony party where Amanda got us food and drinks. The opening ceremony was really nicely done and beautiful and we had our final party in a downstairs room. Etienne and Sae left early that day; Etienne I think was going to Prague. The South Korean people who were living in Phillips Snyder also left that day.

Later we went to the rock that people at MSU always paint with spray paint. We couldn't think of anything to paint on it for a while and finally decided on "Andy just got pwned, <3 HSHSP 2008." It was a reference to the fact that Andy Lin kept hacking into our facebooks and changing them.

We went out again at night and this time everyone went to Big Ten Burrito while we went to find Meena's Joint again, but since it was 3:00AM, Meena's Joint was closed. Lisa always wanted to see a drunk girl and she saw this girl holding a guy's hand and stumbling over the sidewalk. So she was happy that she accomplished her goal :P

So then we went back to Big 10 Burrito which was closing as well, and then we went to Taco Bell's and I bought a smoothie for $2 and I owe Carolyn $2 which I never paid her :( Sorry Carolyn.

Afterwards we went home and tried to pull an all-nighter, except people were falling asleep left and right. We were in the common room and we tried to play games like Never Have I Ever and they passed around a bottle of Monster energy drink.

Then we moved to the basement to play this game where you run around in complete darkness and try to identify people by touching their faces. However half of the lights in the basement don't turn off so there was no point. They started to play apples and apples and I went upstairs to sleep at 5:00 AM. So I guess I still have never pulled an all-nighter.

So Ruby was leaving at around 5:30 for the plane and she walked in my room to say goodbye and I was like...Bye Ruby...zzzz. And Laura later said they laughed at my sleepy good-bye :P

And then other people left and I hugged some of them if I could, and I left with Lisa at around 1:30 PM for the airport on Dr. Richmond's car. Because I had a metal belt connected to my pants, I couldn't go through the metal detector and had to get felt up with a metal detector. And Lisa said that the TSA job of searching for metal at an airport would be such a good job for a pedophile, lol.

When we got on the plane it was such a small plane and so shaky that my hands were vibrating as if I was glued to a giant vibrating cellphone. I was hyperventilating and almost wanted to throw up on Lisa. Before I got off the plane I wanted to walk to the front and kick the pilot, it was so bad!! But when I got off the plane, the air-conditioning and stability made me better. What's weird is that I haven't been sea- or car- or plane-sick in a long while.

Currently I am watching Women's Olympics Trampoline, which is an interesting gymnastics-like sport. I love jumping on the trampoline, maybe I should've tried it as a sport! The Chinese girls in trampoline are very pretty. The Americans suck.

Okay so when I got off the plane, Lisa and I walked very far to my gate at 80~something and we ate at a kiosk in the middle of the airport. We ate some breadsticks and ordered soda. Then, I boarded my plane and Lisa had to walk very far in the opposite direction to get to her gate. It was so sad because Lisa was the last HSHSPer I saw!!

Well I got on my (much bigger) plane and it starts to thunderstorm, so the plane does not take off for another hour. What sucks is that if it started to thunderstorm a while before I got on the plane, I could have stayed with Lisa for another hour! We were joking that we wanted such a delay, but it came at an awful time, lol.

So the plane ride was very bumpy, almost like a Six Flags roller coaster ride, but it was safe and fun because I like roller coaster rides. I borrowed the girl next to me's Oprah magazine and read some things about home life and sex. When I got to La Guardia, New York, I saw my cousins Gina and Ian and Meaghan and my sister Justine and my parents and my aunt and uncle and my grandparents.

After 7 weeks, I finally arrived home. The next day, we took a long drive up to Canada (~6 hours) and lived in a small cabin on Wellesley Island in the 1000 Islands of the St. Lawrence Seaway. We fished and ate some fish and also went to the beach and took a boat around the islands (I didn't go on though; I just sat and swung on the swings). We also played tennis because tryouts are this Monday and I haven't practiced at all!

We also went to Alexandria Bay where I went shopping for souvenirs but didn't buy any, and my cousins and mom and sister went on a boat around the 1000 Islands and stopped at Boldt Castle on Heart Island where this guy built a huge castle for his wife.

Afterwards we drove again to the Niagara Falls and at night we went to walk the Niagara Falls but I got separated from my parents and so I walked to the hotel alone and watched Olympics all night. I can't believe Michael Phelps is going for 8 gold medals! That's a lot of gold medals...but in his sport, swimming, there is a chance for a lot of gold medals. For sports like gymnastics or tennis, you can only really win one or two.

Well I was really pissed off the whole time because my sister Justine was being stupid, but the next day I felt better so wasn't mean to anyone the whole time. We walked across the Niagara Falls and went on a Maid of the Mist boat to see the falls close up. I took lots of cool pictures and videos of the falls because there was a place where you could be so close to the top of the falls. I decided that if I ever decide to die, I want to jump down the falls!! It sounds and looks so fun.

The next day, we spent around $30 going to this ghost-shooting ride thing and then this haunted house that we were in the last time we came here and got so scared that we exited through the "Chicken Exit." There were cool pictures of ghost brides that I took photos of. It wasn't half as scary as last time!

Well, afterwards we took a long drive home and now I'm back home after 8 weeks. I will have to get started on my summer homework soon!

I will confess, I really miss HSHSP. I really miss all the people there and everything that we do there, like going on the internet on the Snyder side and going to Bubble Island and talking. I've talked to HSHSP people twice online, it was really fun but sad. I hope we have a reunion soon and I hope we all go to the same college or somewhere near :P

Oh, and last night I wrote my (pretty bad) Why Penn essay. I talked about Penn's school spirit, its alumni connections, and its LSM program. How much money do you think is the average salary for an LSM graduate? I really want to know, but the program is so new.

And I love watching the Olympics, even though they don't ever play tennis! Oh and Roger Federer lost a 2/3 match to Blake, who's never taken more than one single set from Federer the last 8 times they played! Oh no I don't want Federer to lose his awesomeness. Even though I do like Novak Djokovic, I still feel bad for the greatest tennis player ever.

Gymnastics was a disappointment as the two Americans won gold and silver. I don't like the Americans >:| I want the Chinese people to win.

China is still leading with medals, though. Hooray!

I had a few dreams and I should have written them down but now they are forgotten...

Five years ago today, I was dressing for my wedding by candlelight. Our planned elopement to Niagara Falls coincided with the largest blackout in North American history. I had designed my hand sewn wedding dress (my sewing machine had been on the fritz too) with our train trip in mind. It was a knee length strapless sheath made of white eyelet, with a little stretch for comfort and a thin pink ribbon tied in a delicate bow at the waist. We'd matched George's tie to the ribbon and, before he gobbed jam on it halfway through the trip lol, we were the perfect pastel couple.

We were married late that night, after having to reschedule from a payphone deep underground in the madhouse of a Toronto train station. The Eastern seaboard had come to a halt, but we would not be dissuaded. People got married before electricity, didn't they? Our Reverend took us out to pick up pizza after the ceremony (we both teared up as we clasped hands and promised forever) and then to watch the fireworks over the blacked-out falls. I remember the wind catching my veil and blowing it around us as we looked out over the dark water. The fireworks blazed on, despite the disaster. We've never cared that we missed seeing a wonder of the world that night, because we've spent the last five years building our own : )

We started off today with a quiet cup of coffee with my sister Kathy on her porch. Well, rather, I started off today that way. The good doctor started off by getting some much needed sleep, having spent the past several nights up very late either packing or, in the case of last night, driving. We knew in advance there would only be one way to handle breakfast, by going to King's in Newtown. This is a small building by the side of the road that is somewhat TARDIS like in its interior, with three separate rooms for dining and an outside gazebo. It features crazy, over the top meals like pumpkin spice and mascarpone-stuffed french toast, triple-decker burgers with all kinds of toppings, and absurdly good turkey gravy lovingly surrounding the most flaky, delicate biscuit you could ever sink your teeth into.

The problem with going to King's, really, is the evil flag pole in Newtown. I suppose there are ways to get there without passing what is in fact, a car killing machine, not a symbol of patriotism, but it's more fun to pass by it and snark about it. A recent Newtown transportation report said, "Because the Flagpole sits in the middle of a busy intersection with five roadway legs, it has been the site of many accidents, which tragically include fatalities." The flagpole dates back to the late 1800s, and the current flagpole was erected in 1950. But dead people? Come on, residents of Newtown, let's put something around this thing other than tiny green signs that read, "Keep Right."

At any rate, the food is fantastic at King's. Susanne ordered some Frankensteinian monstrosity of brunch cooking when she requested a cannoli cream-filled crepe that tasted amazing. I had the "Asparagus Lenny," which was a creative way of saying ham, asparagus, and poached eggs with hollandaise sauce over English muffins. My nieces were nearly dismayed that anyone would choose to order something as disgusting as asparagus, but they pulled themselves together.

After breakfast we said our goodbyes and headed out, promising to visit again for Christmas.

New York is a big state, the Empire State, which basically means that all the drivers think the roads are for them to go as fast or slow as they like. There are also more angry bumper stickers out here than in most places--the jerk driver of the day today was a woman driving a small SUV with a hitch, and the hitch had a bad wheel that was wiggling as it went and, replete with the following message: If you hate logging use plastic toilet paper. Gee, I'll have to make a note of that one. So it's either . . . decimate our forest land and stress out endangered species and other wildlife . . . or wipe myself with Tupperware? Good to know those are mutually exclusive!

We drove across New York for 4 hours and into Syracuse, where we made a pit stop at my alma mater, Syracuse University, and I gave Susanne a somewhat frenetic tour of the campus, enough to show her the quad, memorial to the students killed on Pan Am 103 in 1988, and give her a sample of how ugly and far away the dorms (actually they're delightfully called "residence halls") are from the classrooms. We had some pizza at Cosmo's, which is where I met my best buddy Lori, and there are only two changes to note from the last time I was there, one sad and one positively liberating--George, the pizza maker extraordinaire, who looked like Mel from Mel's place, if he got caught in a taffy-pulling machine, has passed away, and the women waitstaff are no longer required to wear skirts or dresses. I'm happy to report that the pizza tastes exactly as I remembered it. I told the new pizza guy that he made it almost as well as George, and his response was, "well thank you, I sure hope so." Lori's former boss was there, a not-very pleasant lady who had a rather homophobic and short-sighted way of looking at life, and it was interesting to see that after all these years, she's still in the same place, literally and figuratively, as if she built her own cell and locked herself right in. I'm not sure if she's happy, but she's never looked happy, I guess.

We traveled on after our supper, getting back on the New York Thruway and cutting through small mountains, drumlins, and rich, green farmland. I took pictures of cows. I smelled the cows. Rather, I smelled what the cows made, but I know not to complain about the scent of cow manure, for I have also smelled pig manure, and wow, that is one of the worst smells I have ever encountered. It makes cow manure smell like Elizabeth Taylor's latest perfume creation. Or maybe I have those reversed. Hmm.

Thruways and turnpikes and other toll roads are interesting inventions. Susanne made the point that out in Michigan there aren't any toll roads because the residents pay taxes that support the infrastructure, but then they have to pay the toll to use the New York roads, too, even though that support doesn't happen in reverse. I was nice and didn't mention that no New Yorker was ever going to drive to Michigan. Anyway, though the Thruway may be getting loads of tax dollars for say, new asphalt, it doesn't seem to be getting many funds in the way of nice printers for its fare tickets. Ours looked like this:

I won't go into the usability of the design here, at least not today. Suffice it to say it was vaguely better than a butterfly ballot.

At any rate, we logged mile 710, pulling into the endlessly gaudy Seneca Nation Casino in Niagara Falls. We were at once swarmed by smiling, helpful valet service personnel, who gladly took our car and are, at this very moment, joyriding through Ontario. Little do they know we got complimentary wheel locks on our CR-V, which I'm sure will come in handy. If they blow my trip B odometer count, I'll be pissed.

We were so young. I remember thinking that it was amazing that Dylan was out on the road again, performing again, at the ripe old age of...what, I guess ol' Bob was about 35 years old!

There was an afternoon show and an evening show on Nov. 15, 1975. We went to the evening show with two girl friends. Here's the set list from the show we attended: (not including songs by other performers -- the featured guest star when we saw Rolling Thunder was Joni Mitchell):

When I Paint My Masterpiece
It Ain't Me, Babe
It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry
The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll
Romance In Durango
Isis
Blowin' In The Wind
I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine
Never Let Me Go
Mama, You Been On My Mind
I Shall Be Released
Love Minus Zero/No Limit
Tangled Up In Blue
Oh, Sister
Hurricane
One More Cup Of Coffee (Valley Below)
Sara
Just Like A Woman
Knockin' On Heaven's Door
This Land Is Your Land

Friend Phil recalls this: I remember clearly the rendition of "Tangled Up In Blue', when he changed the lyric "Some are carpenters' wives" to "Some are truck drivers' wives".

Me, I remember that the most impressive and thrilling songs were the songs from the new album "Desire" -- "Romance in Durango," "Oh Sister," "Hurricane," "One More Cup of Coffee" and "Sara"; the powerful symbolism of Dylan and his merry band doing a finale of "This Land Is Your Land" in tribute to Woody Guthrie and with a nod toward the upcoming bicentennial (as an idiot wind blew from the Grand Coulee Dam to the Capitol...); and, I believe, a duet with none-other-than Joan Baez on "Mama you've Been On My Mind." I remember being in a bar in Niagara Falls when a girl I knew ran in and excitedly handed me a handbill she'd just been handed by some guy on the street -- a handbill for the Rolling Thunder Revue.

I remember that a girl named Lee -- blonde and beautiful Lee -- came with me to the concert, to which I wore a stupid black fedora, which fedora Lee decided sometime during that evening to wear over her long golden locks, and I never saw that fedora again. As I recall, we had great seats in the middle orchestra, no more than ten rows back from the stage. I have a vivid image of Dylan wearing that clear plastic mask and a hat just like the hat he wears on the cover of "Desire" and he's standing at the microphone without his guitar doing a sort of hipster pantomine as he sings "Isis." I remember falling in love, alternately, with Joni Mitchell, Roni Blakely and Scarlet Rivera. I remember that the show opened with a song by Ramblin' Jack Elliot, who was dressed very much like Dylan and looked very much like Dylan and until he started singing many people in the audience were cheering because they mistakenly thought he WAS Bob Dylan.

Memories of Rolling Thunder from more than thirty years ago....still echoing as I listened last night to the sound of distant thunder and flashes of light in the northwest sky...as my son and I get ready to head North for this weekend's show in Saratoga Springs featuring Bob Dylan and his band with LEVON HELM and others. I promise to not wear a black fedora and I promise to report back on this coming Sunday's performance by the man my friend and fellow writer Steve Hart has dubbed "His Bobness."

On National Debts

by

R.E. Prindle

     For all the terrible criticism about America and its hideous White people the Whites of America have been altruistic to a fault.  Thus the US, that is your parents and grandparents, lent billions of dollars to the nations of the world during the Great War of 1914-18. 

     When the Nation asked to have it paid back the first response of the nations of the world was to cut the debt in half and say that's how much they would pay.  Well, that alone was a good deal, borrow a dollar and pay back fifty cents.

     Then by the thirties the nations of the world said they didn't want to pay at all.  The US called a debt moratorium for a couple years.  Then as the US plunged into a deep Depression the Nations of the world just defaulted.  You see, it can be done.  They didn't pay anything.

     Perhaps facetiously saying their debt was our contribution to the common effort.  Common effort, whose common effort?  Why common?  They ignored two things.  One, America sent its boys to bleed and die along with the others.  Secondly it wasn't our problem in the first place but theirs.  Well, never mind.  We were in Depression and they had blown up our billions.  Try to find 'em.

     Then from East to West, West to East by 1940 we were started on another round of warfare.  America expended its wherewithall and manpower once again.  By this time, one assumes, democracy had been saved, so this one was tagged 'the good war.'  Good for whom has never been explained.

     After the war the world was exhausted.  The only country with the energy to go on was the US.  Once again the bigots of the US ponied up and set the world on its feet again.  Treasure poured out of the US.  George Marshall, that old altruist, set the Communists up in China, money was poured into Europe to revive it, cash flowed like a Niagara into Israel and the Middle East.  Finally in order to bring the high I.Q geniuses of China kicking and screaming into the twenty-first century the US economy was given as a gift to the Red Chinese Empire.

     Hey folks, none of this came free.  No such thing as a free lunch, hey?  It cost the US bigtime.  Who knows what the national debt really is, somewhere between ten and fifteen trillion.  The rest of the world including China holds that debt.  Time for the payback, world.  To start with it would be a sweet gesture if you forgave fifty cents on the dollar.  Then next year with your kind permission we'll default on the rest.  It can be done, it has been done.

     Altruism should be a two way street.  We survived when you the world defaulted and you undoubtedly will when we default.  That ought to relieve the burden on our future generations and restore social security to health.

     Not to worry.  As soon as the idiots in Washington realize the debt is gone they'll shout:  'Hey hallejuyah we've got ten trillion to spend again.  Let's go boys and girls.  Spend. Spend. Spend.

Well, first of all, I'm going to be continuing my education duties a little longer than expected. I'm going to keep covering Lew-Port and the Falls district until we finish a transition in our newsroom, so you haven't gotten rid of me yet! Though, I did go to my first Town of Wheatfield board meeting. What an adventure that was! I'm still gung-ho on Wheatfield, so send me some tips while I'm trying to figure things out!

OK. Lightening round. Go!:

Carmen Granto is retiring after 16 years as superintendent and 42 years with the district. How about that? Well, let's be honest -- it's not necessarily a surprise, but he'll be leaving quite a legacy behind.

Fuel costs are eating school district budgets. I did a story about it. It seemed really odd to me that Lew-Port has not budgeted enough to even cover what they spent last year. I don't know anything about the fuel market, but I have a feeling that budget line might be running on empty by the year's end.

Niagara-Wheatfield is taking a proactive approach on dealing with bus costs. I wonder if fair warning will be enough to stop the parent complaints when miscommunication ensues and the kid doesn't have a ride?

Niagara County Community College gave its administrators, president included, 2.9 percent salary raises -- $47,000 worth of raises in all. (No link, but it was in last week's newspaper.) I thought the college asked the county for more money and the county said no? Priorities make room in the budget where needed, I guess.

Speaking of NCCC, they want to look at possibly adding some new sports. I graduated from college less than a year ago and I recall vividly looking at my bill seeing the athletic fee and hating the sight of it. I never once went to a sporting event or participated in a sporting event at my college. The technology fee was something I knew I was getting my money's worth out of, at least. NCCC wants to raise its athletic fees to support these new teams. That sucks for non-athletes. (For the record: I do not write or have any input into my newspaper's editorials. I don't even know when an editorial is written about my beat most of the time.)

That's it for now. I have some meetings in the Falls and Lew-Port coming up this month. I'm not sure about Niagara-Wheatfield and Town of Wheatfield. I'll have to check. Either way, see you there!

We get to leave the dungeon! After getting ready. We gather some photo's Aunt V had given us the day before. We had copies made for all of us and had two of her favorites blown up and framed. They turned out great.

"Aunt V"

We went back to visit "Aunt V". She cried over the photo's. One was one with 2 of her sister's in their thirties and the other, them about 30 years later. She is the only one left. Her brother and another sister have since passed on as well.

We brought breakfast and spent several hours with her. We learned that her husband had owned a slip factory but after the war when women started wearing slacks, he went bankrupt. Can you imagine? I thought that was really something, how women wearing slacks would have such an impact on a business, forcing it to close. Not enough sales to keep it going. He did own a farm and his crops got them by for a time. But when he realized a new big thing, he and a partner jumped on it. Frozen Food! Yes, the big fad now was that companies were freezing foods. He and his partner built 2 warehouses for frozen meat. I was amazed. You don't often think of these things and that people of this generation also went through new technology just as we do. They have been around to witness the birth of many technologies that we consider ancient history. They have been witness to so much.

There were plenty more stories that for now are personal. One day I may share them.

She didn't walk us out of the building because she said she didn't want people to see her cry all the way back. How sad. On the way out we set up a massage appointment for her as a surprise.

I can't wait to see her again.

I'm still trying to figure out the video thing and it's just getting me a little upset. So, I'll post my video's at a later date.

I'll leave with with a few more pictures of the Falls and shops. I'd be happy to answer any questions about them. I'm a wee bit tired and keeping this one short.

Hope you enjoy.

Tiger Woods and Fat Bastard:

Our route is currently under review, but the general plan is to bike from my house, to the Troy, NY area, and then follow the Erie Canal Bike Path, and the New York Bike Route 5, which follows the canal pretty closely. We will follow these routes to Niagara Falls, and then cross into Ontario, and bike through to Michigan, and straight on through to Muskegon, where we will take a ferry to Milwaukee, WI. From there we will bike down to Evanston, and I will go on the Project Wildcat trip.

I hope I'll be in shape for backpacking!

I will be taking an Asus EEE PC 701 on this trip, so I'll be able to update this page regularly, and post photos and maybe videos as well.
Comments are welcome!

Johnnie and I left NJ late Saturday night, just to say that we had started our vacation.  We stopped for a few hours at the rest area on the Northeast Extension of the PA Turnpike (I-476) before Allentown.  Then Sunday we journeyed to Niagara Falls.  We took a rather scenic route:  I-476 to I-80 West to I-180 to Rte. 15 North into NY.  I now know that there is more to Williamsport, PA than baseball fields.  Once in NY, we continued on Rte. 15 to I-86 to I-390 to I-90 (NY Thruway) to Buffalo to I-290 to I-190 to Niagara Falls, NY to Rte. 62 and across the Rainbow Bridge to Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. 

This is our first trip to Canada and our first August trip north rather than west.  I think we missed some of our familiar scenery at first because we compared everything we saw to other locations that we had previously seen – “This reminds me of Idaho.”  “This reminds me of Missouri.”  “This reminds me of Nebraska.”  Six days into our journey we are doing less of this and just appreciating the Canadian landscape for what it is.

We have never taken a vehicle into a foreign country and friends of Johnnie’s had warned him that the crossing into Canada would be time consuming, nearly two hours.  They warned him of being fully inspected by the Border Agents, and having them look into every compartment and drawer.  Thank goodness, that was not our experience.  We were second in line behind a tour bus.  The Border Agent asked to see our identification which was our passports, asked us a few questions – if we owned the vehicles (our RV and our Jeep), besides personal belongings if we carrying anything else, and how long were we staying in Canada, and then sent us on our way.  Total time:  10 minutes. 

We caught glimpses of the American Falls and the Horseshoe Falls as we crossed the bridge.  We quickly found our campground, Niagara Falls KOA on Lundy’s Lane, and settled in.  After dinner we took a drive down Lundy’s Lane in search of a store that sold trash bags and HypoTears, one of the few items that were left at home.  Every major fast food chain was available:  McDonald’s Burger King, Arby’s, Wendy’s, and Popeye’s Chicken.  Other choices were available:  Tim Horton’s, China Buffet, a Snack Shack featuring Canadian and Colombian food, a Jamaican restaurant, a Mediterranean café, and a few others.  Hotels and motels were also prevalent as were campgrounds.  There is a place to stay and a place to eat for everybody!  We did not know at the time that Lundy’s Lane is one of the main tourist’s districts. 

We did find a drugstore that was open.  What we didn’t see were any grocery stores or a Walmart or anything like that.  Again, at the time, we did not know that Lundy’s Lane is a tourism district.  We did eventually find grocery stores and Walmarts by driving down some of the side streets away from Lundy’s Lane, notably Dorchester Road.

My initial reaction to the Niagara Falls KOA was not a good one.  It was crawling with kids.  They were everywhere.  They didn’t look when crossing roads nor did the adults or teens who were accompanying them.  They would come flying around corners on their bicycles with no regard for possible on-coming traffic.  We obviously do not travel with children.  But, I forgot that we arrived on a Sunday, a weekend during the peak season.  Monday, people began clearing out.  By Wednesday, the KOA was half-empty.  Thursday when we were leaving, it was beginning to fill up again.  The Niagara Falls KOA is a large campground with lots of activities, if you need them.  We took advantage of a tour of the Falls that was arranged through them.  (More about this in another post.)  So we would stay at this KOA again, we just would not come in August.  September after kids have gone back to school would be a better time for us.

We had heard about a huge outlet mall that had name brand items for 60 to 80% off. Anyone who knows me, knows I like a great deal! The plan was to run back (about half an hour) in the middle of a thunder storm, wearing our garbage bags, to the "dungeon" and drive to the mall.

Once there, everyone is happy. We are still getting out of the room and doing something until we realize we only have an hour and a half before it closes. How could we possibly go through all these stores in that amount of time? There was no way. But we could always finish up the next day on the way home. I was pretty excited, hoping to come home with some super things I had saved a bundle on.

Most of these places ended up being clothing stores. For my sister's, this was heaven. For me, I'm not all that much into clothes. Oh well, no big deal. And let me tell you, it was a real letdown for me. The first place we went into, the sale table had T-shirts for sale just under $30. That would be the time I would turn and walk out. That was on sale? My sister's are running around snapping these deals up like crazy. Sweatshirts, T-shirts. Mom and I just tagged along for the ride on this part of the trip. I don't mind spending a lot of money on some things, like food and things I need. I believe you usually get what you pay for. But clothes just are not "my thing". They just happen to be my sister's. Which is fine. I have to admit they always look great, and sometimes they dress me too! LOL! I have raided their closets from time to time and am glad that I can. I'm glad they have a sense of style and when I need to fancy myself up, I can look to them for help. I'm just a lost cause and I am told I dress too old for my age. Or too sloppy. But I like to be comfortable.

I finally did buy somethig at La Vie En Rose. 10 pairs of underwear for $10. Hahahaha! Some of them have sequins, one pair even has a chain with charms. Who could pass up that kind of a deal?

Everyone walked away with something, by now the rain had stopped. We wanted to find a grocery store so we could buy real food but everything was closed. Finally we asked someone and found an a store open until midnight. We loaded the cart with all our stuff. We went back to the room, ate some fruit, had some juice and decided we would chance the walk back to the Falls. I'm glad we did. Here are a few shots I was able to get:

Slash in wax:

This is a huge Dreamcatcher in one of the shops:

A wax Brad Pitt:

I missed getting the Falls in colour. By the time I finally adjusted my camera settings it had switched from pink to white. It still looks pretty though:

We would be back the next day for more. It was Midnight and we headed back to the room. Here are a few photo's on the way back:

Johnny anyone? :)

We made it back to the room. I can't believe I fell asleep with an unlocked window. But we were all exhausted and were snoring in no time. We were still alive come morning. That was a good sign :)

But that's another story, for another day....

A photo of Niagara falls sometime during March when there was still some snow!

Am Montag Morgen waren wir schon sehr gespannt, welches kleines, billiges Mietauto uns erwartet. Wir haben natürlich bei einer der günstigsten Autovermietungen die billigste Autokategorie gewählt, da es uns nur wichtig ist, dass wir von A nach B kommen. Klar, dass jetzt noch irgendetwas kommt. Natürlich war das Auto dann nicht so klein, wie wir es uns erwartet haben ... ich weiß ja nicht, was ihr so denkt ... aber ich finde, es ist ein Proloauto (ich bin kein Fan von Heckspoilern und großen Motorhauben).

Für alle, die sich mehr für Autos interessieren als ich, bzw. sich besser auskennen: Es ist ein Dodge Avenger und er ist grau :) UND er ist mit Automatik!!! Da haben Stephan und ich ziemlich blöd geschaut, als wir das entdeckt haben. Aber wir sind dann doch noch weggekommen. Mittlerweile muss ich sagen, habe ich unseren Dodge doch auch schon etwas lieb gewonnen (vor allem seine Klimaanlage). Es ist wohl so, dass ich durch meinen einfachen Studentenlebensstil das Gefühl habe, dieses Auto ist zu protzig (oder zu amerikanisch?) für mich/uns. Naja egal, es bringt uns von A nach B.

Nachdem wir dann die ersten 100 km Highway hinter uns hatten, besuchten wir die 1000 Inseln, die zwischen Kanada und der USA im St. Lawrence Strom liegen. Da machten wir dann eine wunderschöne und romantische Schiffstour nach Heart Island, wo ein reicher Hotelier Anfang des 20. Jhdt. für seine Frau ein Schloss bauen ließ. Nachdem die Frau aber plötzlich gestorben ist, wurden die Bauarbeiten sofort abgebrochen und der Mann ging nie wieder auf die Insel. Sehr tragisch. Jetzt klinge ich schon wie aus dem Werbeprospekt, aber es war wirklich eine schöne Insel und ein schönes Schloss. Lustig war auch, dass wir mit dieser Tour auch eine Reise in die USA machten, da die Insel zu den Staaten gehört. Für ca. 2 Stunden Aufenthalt mussten wir somit Fingerabdrücke abgeben und Foto machen lassen. Jetzt sind wir also auch schon registriert.

Am Dienstag ging es dann weiter nach Toronto. Dort besuchten wir dann gleich das höchste Gebäude der Welt, den CN Tower! Es ist aber nur deshalb das höchste Gebäude, weil sie so eine hohe Antenne draufgesetzt haben. Auf jeden Fall sehen die Wolkenkratzer daneben ziemlich mikrig aus. Der Ausblick war ein Wahnsinn. Obwohl ich grundsätzlich wenig Probleme mit der Höhe habe, war es schon ein etwas ungutes Gefühl, als der Lift mit der Glaswand hinauffuhr und ich ganz vorne stand. Oben gibt es dann auch einen Teil, wo man auf einen Glasboden steht. Ca. 340 m in der Luft stehen, ist gar nicht so ohne.

Bei unserem ersten B&B trafen wir zwei schon etwas ältere Schwestern (die hätten von ihrer Art her auch bei den Golden Girls mitspielen können), die in Toronto aufgewachsen sind. Eine von ihnen ist ein richtiger Baseball-Fan der Toronto Blue Jays und sie meinte, dass wir uns, wenn uns das Rogers Stadium interessiert, am besten einfach ein Spiel ansehen. Dies ist nämlich erstens billiger als eine Stadiumsführung und zweitens auch viel lustiger. Und sie hatte recht. Es war mein erstes Baseballspiel und es war wirklich sehr lustig. Das Spiel selbst war auch sehr interessant und spannend (die Heimmannschaft holte in der letzten Runde den Rückstand auf und gewann) und mit der Zeit habe ich dann auch die Regeln verstanden. Was aber noch viel unterhaltsamer war, war das ganze runderherum des Spiels. Immer wieder wurden die Zuseher motiviert, sich so blöd wie möglich zu zeigen, damit sie dann entweder auf dem großen Bildschirm gezeigt werden oder vereinzelt auch etwas gewinnen. Ich habe weder das eine noch das andere geschafft :) Außerdem wurden massenweise Musik, sonstige Unterhaltung und natürlich Werbung eingeschaltet, damit einem nie fad wurde.

Nach ein paar Spaziergängen durch die Stadt und der davorliegenden Toronto Insel, muss ich sagen, dass mir die ziemlich amerikansiche Stadt Toronto auch sehr gut gefällt. Ich denke mir nur, dass Montreal durch den europäischen Einfluss doch etwas gemütlicher als Toronto ist.

Heute (Donnerstag) waren wir dann bei einem weiteren Highlight unserer kleinen Tour: den Niagara Fällen. Was soll ich da viel sagen? Es war cool! Die mal wirklich zu sehen (und nicht in den vielen Dokus, die es darüber gibt), hat schon was. Es ist wirklich viiieeel Wasser. Natürlich haben wir auch so eine Fahrt mit der Fähre zu den Wasserfällen hin gemacht. Das ist schon ziemlich spannend und außerdem hat man so einen lustigen Regenmantel an. Solche Fotos werden hier aber nicht veröffentlicht.

Übrigens sind die Fälle schon ziemlich kommerzialisiert. Neben dieser Fahrt mit der Fähre kann man hier alles Mögliche machen: mit dem Hubschrauber fliegen, mit einem Boot in den oberen Strudeln fahren und rundherum ist eine einzige Vergnügungswelt (vor allem für Kinder) aufgebaut. Es ist viel schlimmer als am Urfahrmarkt. Aber wir waren nur im Casino.

So ... jetzt gehts ins Bett, damit ich morgen für die hohen Wellen fit bin.

It's apparently wedding season across the many states of the US. In the last month and a half, I've been to a wedding in Alaska, Buffalo, Massachusetts, and even went international with a bachelor party in Niagara Falls this past weekend. It's been a heck of a ride.

Here's a few shots of the weddings & random fun

:

Me, my dad, and Mr. Quiet at the rehearsal dinner

Me & My Buddy Mr. T at the wedding

I Decided to take the beard off for the weddings.

Here's a great shot of Mr & Mrs Quiet with his mom, step dad, and sister who were all practically my family  growing up (with the exception of Mrs. Quiet who is only family now).

A few short days later I found myself in Buffalo for my cousin's wedding.

The bride to be's dad and my cousin:

The night before the wedding I stayed with my cousin and her bridesmaids. We got ice cream and felt ten again:

I had also stopped and bought fireworks on my way in to town - she loved them:

When I bought the fireworks, I asked the lady selling them to me why none of them shot in to the sky any more. She cited some legislation then told me that I could put them on a ladder to get the full effect.

Er. Yeah. 'cause that's the same.

Ah well, it was still pretty cool once I put three or four together:

Being in the wedding, I didn't get to snap too many photos, a few, however turned out great.

After a quick week of work, it was time for the 4th of July.

Lo and behold, my best friends got engaged on the 2nd.

The next night we all drove up to Columbus together, but that will have to be a separate post, this one's all about weddings & stuff.

Following Columbus, I hopped in the Jeep and drove up to Massachusetts with Lois Lane (pseudonym) via New Jersey for yet another wedding.

We look awesome:

(I need a new suit)

On the way out of town (sorry, no actual photos of the wedding) we stopped for gas where they had, not breakfast, but BREACKFAST.

The best part was that they had the sign misspelled in not one, but two places. I'd have put it up to some kitchy marketing scheme if we weren't on the cusp of the ghetto.

A few weekends here in the District of laziness and nautical(izing?) (coming soon) and it was back on the road for more wedding-themed fun, this time in the great state Country of Canada.

We got an awesome room, specially designed for children. They must have known we were coming.

The door had two peepholes:

And kid-themed comforters:

We then proceeded to relive college in all sorts of un-blogworthy ways.

The rest of the weekend was amazing, but my favorite part of the whole trip was when we were in a KFC eating and waiting out the rain, when suddenly, the clouds parted, and I was able to take the gayest (as in gay pride, not homophobic) and most awesome picture ever:

It's gay, you know, because of the rainbow. AND it's awesome, because it's got a Dinosaur. DINO RAMPAGE!!!!! (link to full size)

rawwwwrrrr.

And that's what I've been up to.

More to come. Everything will be all out of order now... hmm... the OCD in me is irked by that.

sampai mana ya waktu itu?
setelah puas foto2 di pinggir jembatan queenston (border between US & Cad), kami bertolak menuju ke 'butterfly conservatory', sebuah tempat dimana kupu2 sengaja diternakan. ribuan jenis kupu2 hidup didalam dome yang kelembaban dan suhunya diatur, mendekati cuaca tropikal.

lagi2, perjalanan tidak semulus rencananya. kami terpaksa berhenti karena ada keramaian yang membuat bapake penasaran kepingin liat. ternyata orang berduyun2 antri mau menyeberang naik kereta gantung. bedanya dengan yang di taman mini, kereta ini diisi oleh puluhan manusia dan menggantung2 diatas arus deras. hiiiiiiiiiiiiiii...ogah ah. apalagi sama anak2. kalau saya sama bapake doang sih oke2 aja. tapi kalau sama anak2...no way.

yg merah2 itu lho yg ditumpaki manusia, sambil berdiri, menggantung2 nggak jelas....males lah.

akhirnya sampai juga ke butterfly conservatory, waktu sudah menunjukkan pukul 5 lebih. saya bergegas turun untuk bertanya, jam berapa mereka tutup. ternyata tutup jam 8, berarti masih banyak waktu dan NGGA BAKAL RUGI. sudah kadung janji sama adel, dia itu anaknya suka dengan alam. segala jenis bunga2an dan hewan, bikin dia penasaran kepingin tau. apalagi sesuatu yang cantik2 dan colorful. tapi biarpun dia pengamat alam sejati, dia sangat penakut dan jiji'an, boro2 mau pegang2 serangga, sama hewan piaraan aja takut.

setelah bayar di loket, kami masuk. agak2 tipu dikit lah, seharusnya 6 tahun sudah bayar, tapi saya bilang adel masih 5 tahun *tentu saja nggak bilang ke anaknya, kalo dia tau bisa marah krn merasa dirugikan umur--dan bakal lebih marah lagi karena tau kalau emaknya 'tuti' aka tukang tipu*.

di dalam dome, kami disambut oleh ratusan kupu2 yang cantik2. pusing saya melihat kupu2 yang berwarna-warni....pengen rasanya menangkap beberapa ekor untuk dibawa pulang. jangankan dibawa pulang, dipegang aja nggak boleh. kadang2 kami harus hati2 melangkahkan kaki, karena banyak juga kupu2 yang dengan seenaknya hinggap di lantai. padahal orang jumlahnya ratusan disitu. jalan setapak yang cuma 1 meter lebarnya jadi macet dengan manusia. tau2 ada satu kupu2 yang hinggap di tangan babe. lucunya....tanpa rasa bersalah sekali ya, main nemplok di kulit orang. nggak mau rugi, langsung otomatis tangan satunya jeprat jepret. klik. klik. klik.

ini tangan babe lho...makanya maklum kalo agak2 badakisme dan berbulu kritiang (walopun tumbuhnya senen kemis).

diujung dome, kami melihat bagaimana kepompong disimpan. karena tuntutan reproduksi, kepompongnya pun juga dibuat oleh manusia. saya kurang jelas bagaimana cara kerjanya, tapi semuanya disusun dan digantung rapi di dalam sebuah rak kaca dengan suhu tertentu. karena crowded oleh manusia, kami jadi tidak nyaman berlama2 disana. informasi pun juga tidak diterima dengan maksimal. tapi yang penting, hutang saya terhadap adel terbayar sudah. walaupun dia tampak ketakutan (bolak balik kaget kalau ada kupu2 lewat), tapi ketika kami ajak keluar, dia protes berat. katanya masih belum puas. weleh...udah malam nih, kita masih harus ke tempat lain lagi. untungnya, summer siangnya cukup lama. matahari baru terbenam sekitar pk 9.30 malam. jadi walaupun kami keluar dari dome jam 7 lebih, masih terang benderang diluar.

kepompong2 di dalam lemari kaca

keluar dari dome, kami sempatkan jalan2 ke arboretum (masih di dalam park tsb), disana terdapat ribuan jenis tanaman (semacam kebun raya bogor lah..). sayangnya, bunga2 nya tidak sebanyak arboretum yang pernah kami kunjungi di dallas, sehingga kelihatan boring.
disana, kami sempat juga berfoto keluarga. walaupun harus duduk diatas rumput yang agak basah, kami cuek sajah....yang penting cheeeeeeeeeeeeeese..........

peragawatinya momi

waktu sudah menunjukkan pukul 8 malam, tapi kami meneruskan perjalanan ke Niagara Falls, yang cuma 3 km dari butterfly conservatory. tidak sengaja kami lewat ke jalan yang selama ini nggak pernah kami lewati, disana penuh dengan keramaian dan tempat2 hiburan yang udah pasti bikin anak2 saya merengek2 minta masuk. ada ripley's, madame tussaud, spongebob play area, MGM studios, juga toko2 yang seru banget buat shopping. kenapa ya selama ini kita nggak tau daerah ini, padahal sering ngajak tamu jalan ke 'the falls'. sayang waktu yang tinggal sepenggal, dan kami yang sudah kelelahan mengandalkan sisa2 tenaga, kami cuma bisa berfoto2 aja, dan mampir ke wendy's buat nyamik2 sejenak.
nggak lupa kami sempatkan juga ke planet hollywood dan hard rock cafe buat beli suvenir. hari sudah hampir magrib, kami harus pulang. toh cuma setengah jam pulang kerumah, jadi lain kali bisa lebih di planning kalau mau ke Niagara Falls (abis gimana...keluarga koboi mana pernah planning matang).

kami tidak pernah bosan datang kesini, karena emang bagus sih. 1 dari 7 keajaiban dunia yang cuma sekitar 30 menit dari rumah. pengen juga sekali2 bermalam di hotel yang menghadap ke air terjun. pasti bagus sekali. sekalian kami juga janji mengajak anak2 ke kebun cherry (cherry picking) dan marineland, masih di Niagara Falls juga.

fyi, hari sabtu ini saya dan keluarga mau ikutan 'fun walk', jalan sehat yang diselenggarakan oleh KJRI Toronto dalam rangka memperingati 17 agustus. lokasinya di Toronto Island, sebuah pulau yang tahun lalu kami pernah kunjungi juga. insya allah acaranya sukses tanpa harus diguyur hujan (soalnya hampir tiap hari hujan nih), dan pasti diliput di "the momi's fairytales post".

ada lagi --
si gadis sudah merilis blognya lagi. alasannya kenapa nggak melanjutkan blog lama sangat basi ; lupa passwordnya. emak dan anak sama2 pelupa. untung belum tua bisa jadi kayak mak uwok (duh..maap ya mak).
silakan menengok kesana. kalau ada kritik dan saran silakan. asal pake bahasa inggris. hehe.

Niagara Falls was breath taking!! At some point I'll upload pictures but I've been having trouble doing that online so I'll probably make a page or something after I get back with all the pictures from the trip. Other than that, we've all just been hanging out in the bus, watching movies, talking, reading, and enjoying one anothers company.

This trip has been really good for me. I've gotten to read for pleasure (after buying books at nearly every seminary we stopped at), hang out with my friends that I haven't seen all summer, and get to see 10 seminaries... I mean, seriously, think about it, if this trip wasn't happening I probably would have tried to pick two seminaries based on their websites and word of mouth to visit (since gas prices and plane tickets are ridiculously expensive) and never given the other seminaries a thought. I am very blessed to have this opportunity and I know that I will not regret it.

Tomorrow we will be heading over to Boston University to tour Boston School of Theology and then we will drive to Madison, NJ in the afternoon to tour Drew on Friday. It's hard to believe tomorrow will be the halfway point of our trip!!

Until next time, peace out!

And here's the plug.

New poem over at The Poetry Hut

For our anniversary, my wife and I spent some time up in Toronto, Ontario. Check out the ice that is building up on us in the photo above!!! Why would we leave the comfort and warmth of Texas to go to Toronto? Well, for one, we've never been there; two, it's cold and they had a big snow storm blow through a couple of days before we arrived; three, we wanted to go somewhere for our anniversary; and four, we've never been there!

Be sure and check out our trip photos/videos below!!

Saturday [Feb 02, 2008]

When we arrived we were greeted with some of the most awesome looking snow I've ever seen! Now being from Texas I don't get to see a lot of snow; so any amount is an awesome amount in my terms!!! As we left the airport I was surprised that it was chilly but not a bone-chilling cold that I was anticipating ... that would come later!

We stayed at the "Renaissance" Inn in Markham. (That's in inside joke!)... This place was awesome and there were hardly any other guests in the hotel; so it seemed like we had the entire place to ourselves!!

I was amazed at the ease of traveling on the highways given the amount of snow/ice that I saw everywhere. Truth be told, I was a bit nervous to be out driving around in those conditions. But those folks know how to care for those roads!!! Maybe they should come down to Texas and teach the road crews on how to care for the roads when they ice up around here!!

One thing I have to recommend... book your trip through PriceLine.com and 'bid' on your rates! We bid on our hotel room and got it for next-to-nothing!! During peak season, the rooms go for $280 a night! We got it for $47 a night!!! Cha-ching!! (did I just type 'cha-ching'?!). We also bid on our car rental and had a nice Corolla for $15 a day! Yeah baby (another inside joke).... I'll be bidding on all my trips from here on out!!

Well, we got settled in and started getting used to the area and determining where we'd like to go ... the lake, Niagara, etc. ... but there was one thing we definitely had to do! We had to go and visit some friends that had relocated to Toronto from Texas a short while back!!!

Surprise!

What a joy it was to show up at the Bae's house unannounced! We had to do it that way or they would have run off to hide until we left! hahaha.... Check out Jim's response when he saw it was us!!

As we were heading to Jim's house, we were worried that they wouldn't be home. But thankfully they were!! Esther, Jim's wife, wasn't home but she did get home shortly after we had arrived. We had a great visit and I really enjoyed the dinner that we had together and just being able to see that everyone was doing well!

Sunday [Feb 03, 2008]

Early in the morning we drove down to Bluffers Park so that we could take in the site of the bluffs and Lake Ontario. Needless to say.... it was breathtaking!! Check out the vid of us entering the park!!

I've never seen such beauty in the winter!! Thankfully it wasn't windy or it would have been much less enjoyable. While there we viewed the lovely snowcapped bluff and watch a couple of kayakers head out onto the lake. While taking some pictures of my wife, a few geese decided to drop by and welcome us to Canada!

We then headed back into Toronto and went to the English service to hear Jim's message. It was a warm welcome waiting for us as we arrived at the church and it was a pleasure meeting his staff and congregational members!!! After church we helped celebrate Jim's birthday with a surprise birthday party that was thrown by his congregational members. It really blessed us seeing them take such good care of our friend, Jim!!!

Afterwards, Su and I headed out for some sightseeing. When in Toronto, there is so much to see.... Lake Ontario, downtown Toronto, the vineyards near Niagara Falls... but then the biggest site to see of all is Niagara Falls!

What an awesome site to behold!!! I've seen videos, I've seen pictures, and I've heard tales of this majestic wonder.... but experiencing it firsthand is the ONLY way you'll come to marvel at this wonder!!! I was just amazed at the sheer power those waters displayed and you could even feel the power of the waters from the ground vibrating! I was taking a picture of my wife and told her to back up a couple of steps so that I could get a better picture. Soon she's telling me to hurry up because she feels like needles are piercing her skin. Needles??!!! Well, I went over beside her to view the falls and sure enough... it felt like needles!! I soon realized that the mist rising up from the falls was reaching the cold air and freezing!! You don't get to witness something like that in Texas!!!

We hung out for while taking in the different views. It was interesting to see the huge blocks of ice down in the river below the falls. So yes, we'll definitely have to come back again and view this amazing site at a different time of the year!!

Heading back to Toronto, I told Su that I was hungry for some spicy soup. She said, "You're so Korean!!" (By the way, for those that don't know... my wife is from South Korea.) So we found a Korean grocery store and got soup spicy beef soup and some other foods that my wife loves to eat when it's cold outside.

Monday [Feb 04, 2008]

With all the excitement for the past couple of days, we decided to take this day slow and easy. We had lunch with JIm and his wife, Ester, at an awesome Japanese restaurant. And afterwards headed out for a casual drive around town for more sightseeing before we had to leave for home.

At the recommendation of Jim and Ester, our dinner was at Wah Sing, a quaint little restaurant on the south-end of Toronto.

Evidently this place is well known for its seafood so Su and I decided to tear up some lobster! We ordered up some hot-n-spicy lobster and some lemony-style lobster. When they brought out those lobsters and the fried rice, I started to wonder if we were going to be able to put it all away!!

But being the good patrons that we were, we put it all away (well most of it!!) and this place will definitely be on our list of places to go back to on our return trips to Toronto!! So the rest of the evening was spent heading back to the hotel and getting things ready for our return trip the next day.

All in all this one a wonderful trip!! Getting to see old friends and seeing how well they are doing and getting to see a new city and new sites! And let's not forget the snow! I love snow but only when I get to visit it and then come back for my Texas winters!!! But we'll definitely be returning to Toronto (probably during the spring or summer) so that we can see what things look like in different seasons!!

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