Day 21 -- R&R

Quiet day today, which has been nice after 20 days on the road. Unfortunately, gentle readers, it doesn't provide much for the journal!

As promised in yesterday's post, we Toby-sat in our hotel much of the day. Note to self: six-year-olds get bored quickly in hotel exercise rooms! We also ran a few errands, including a visit to the Apple Store at the Westchester Mall to get my iPod looked at. [ed note: why are iPods soooo popular when they always seem to be breaking?! I know mine has to be restarted almost every day. And yet Apple retains this great image, and Microsoft / PCs are buggy... hmm... ok, ed rant over.]

Then back to Chez Olson (Beth Olson?) for a lovely Shabbat dinner to start the Rosh Hashanah holiday period. So L'Shanah Tovah everyone, whether you're celebrating at this time of year or not -- may the year ahead be full of family, fun, and new adventures!

• New out of state license plate seen: None, not even in the mall parking lot
  
• Days till we see Paige and Ashley: 14

Day 20 -- Colleges and Kiddies

If I could live my life over again, I think I would do whatever I had to do (like possibly study in High School) to go to Cornell University. We spent about an hour walking around the campus, and it is absolutely beautiful. On the shores of Lake Cayuga, the campus has rolling hills, beautiful eclectic architecture, creeks running through the grounds, and of course, an Ivy League education. I don’t think the photos do it justice.

The part of the town of Ithaca near the school seems, on quick review, to be quintessentially college. We went to breakfast, and seemed to be the only people over 30, and the only people not studying, or using the free wi-fi.

We then left Ithaca and drove to White Plains. We are here until next Monday the 21st when we finally will leave for Vermont, in anticipation of our furniture arriving Tuesday.

The big attraction in White Plains of course is of course the Olson family which includes our two oldest grandchildren, Toby & Beruria. We went out to dinner with Kara and the kids (Jess was at work), and got a refresher course in dining out with a 6 and a 2 1/2 year old. Toby is getting so big, and read to us to show what he’s learning in 1st grade. Beruria is a delight, and fascinated with princesses and ballerinas. Needless to say, these visits with grandchildren are, the highlight of our trip.
So tomorrow we are picking Toby up at 9 AM, and babysitting all day, since his school is closed. He says he wants to just hang out, because he likes hotels. Tomorrow night is Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year), and it will be very strange for us. We can’t go to Kara’s temple, so we’ll just observe it privately.

• New out of state license plate seen: Connecticut (three to go- Mississippi, Hawaii, Delaware)
• Days till we see Paige and Ashley: 15

Day 19 -- Falls Fever

Wow, did we have a great day. We went to visit Niagara Falls, and it is indeed spectacular. I know it is full of tourists, but sometimes that is for a good reason! Our hotel was walking distance to the a great overlook of the Falls, and then we took a funicular (steep train) down to the street right on the Falls. We took some photos (not that they can convey the beauty and force of the Falls), and then did a walk called “Journey Through the Falls” [ed note: according to the website, this appears to be called 'Journey BEHIND the Falls', but we'll let you off this time...] which actually went down to the base of Horseshoe Falls (the Canadian side), and then walked through tunnels that took us behind them. So there we were right BEHIND Horseshoe Falls [ed note: hence the name of the walk]. There was a tremendous spray, and we got a little damp, but fortunately the cost of the walk included a really cheesy yellow plastic poncho with a hood.

After we saw everything worthwhile on the Canadian side, we went back to the USA and went to Goat Island, which had a walk out to the TOP of the American Falls, almost to the edge. It was a wonderful morning, and showed us how great things are when you can do so many things on the spur of the moment. (So far, not working has its benefits, although not getting a paycheck is not so great.) I would recommend Niagara Falls to anyone who gets a chance to go. Just stay away from the tourist trap “towers” and ferris wheels that promise great views. The Falls can be seen just as well without those things.

We are staying in Ithaca, home of Cornell University, in the Finger Lakes region of New York. We picked a place called Best Western University, thinking it would be near the campus with a lot of ambience, maybe on the Lake, and it turned out to be in a strip-mall on the outskirts of the town. Oh well, it actually is quite nice. Tomorrow before we leave Ithaca, we’ll check out the campus, and maybe spy Lake Cayuga. [ed note: did you know there's a Cayuga Lake Wine Trail? Something for your next trip perhaps...]

We only have to drive a few more miles, and we’ll be in White Plains with the Olson kids! Apparently, Toby doesn’t have school on Friday, so Kara asked if we’d babysit. Can’t wait!

• New out of state license plate seen: VERMONT (finally!), Nova Scotia
• Days till we see Toby & Beruria: Tomorrow!!
• Days till we see Paige and Ashley: 16 (You may have noticed this jumped by a few days -- I had been counting the days wrong all along.)

Day 18 -- It's only Rock 'n' Roll

Well, we never made it to Progressive Field, even for a quick look. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was so incredibly interesting, it took longer than we had planned.

We had thought we could see it in three hours, and it was impossible. There was so much R & R history, that we could have easily spent the whole day. There were special exhibits about the 40th anniversary of Woodstock, and the 50th anniversary of Motown. I highly recommend it to music fans, and there is something for every age. Six floors! So much to see (including Janis Joplin's Porsche, below), and so little time. So, we will have to save the baseball field pilgrimage for another day, and come back to Cleveland and do that and spend more time at the R & R HoF.

One slight problem; Because there are so many baby-boomers, many museums have raised the senior age to 65. That is not the problem. The deal is, Carl goes to the ticket booth and asks for two senior tickets, and they look at us, and NEVER QUESTION IT!!! I have over two years to go!! What to do? It’s a question of $$ vs. ego, and since we’re now, officially, old retired folks on a fixed income, I guess the $$ win. If my grandchildren are reading this (and if they are, they really are geniuses), do what Nana says, not what Nana does.

We had a slight change in plans. We found out that our belonging are not arriving until the 22nd, so we decided to take an extra day and visit Niagara Falls. It turned out that a Raddison in Niagara Falls, Ontario, was having an incredible Expedia special, so here we are. We arrived too late to do any actual sight-seeing, but now our road-trip is officially international. We had decided to bring our passports because we didn’t want to trust them to movers, and it gave us the flexibility to go to Canada. The town of Niagara Falls, Ont, seems to be Las Vegas-like, with a strip of high rise hotels, a casino, and LOTS of tourists. The desk person at the Radisson thought we were nice looking, I guess, because she upgraded us to a falls-view room. From our room, what we can see is spectacular, and I can’t wait to do a little more walking around tomorrow.

Because we are in Canada, we can’t use our iPhones without incurring huge roaming charges. It’s amazing how dependent we’ve become on instant internet at any time! Well, we’ll be back in the USA tomorrow.

• New out of state license plate seen: New Hampshire
• Days till we see Toby & Beruria: 3 (The only bad thing is that this number didn’t go down!)
• Days till we see Paige and Ashley: 18

Day 17 -- On the Road Again

A day late, I want to send a Happy Anniversary (11 years!) to Kara and Jess, and a big Happy 35th Birthday to my delightful son-in-law Jess!

We left Chicago, and Lucy and her parents, this morning and began the drive to Cleveland. It was hard to say good-bye to her. She is such a happy baby, and so full of smiles.

There was so much food left over from yesterday’s lunch that we were able to make sandwiches and take some salads and fruit for a picnic. I know I said that I would never eat again, but it turned out to be possible.

We stopped in South Bend, Indiana so that we could see Notre Dame University. [ed note: interestingly, the University is the 3rd to come up when Googling simply 'Notre Dame', after the Cathedral, and a 6th Form College in Leeds. Wonder if that's only because I'm Googling in the UK.] Classes were in session, so at one point, we were trapped at an intersection by what seemed like thousands of walking students. I had heard that the football stadium was called “The Golden Dome,” and I thought I had found it, but it turned out to be just a church on campus. We did see the legendary football stadium, and, surprise, it looked just like a, well, football stadium.



We didn’t pass many parks on the interstate, so our picnic lunch turned out to be at a rest stop somewhere in Indiana. It was just as good as if it had been in a park. Thanks, Amy & Brian for the great left-overs.

So, now we are in Cleveland. There does not seem to be much life downtown after dark, except that we found a kind of “restaurant row” on 4th St., and found a nice pub to have dinner and watch Monday Night Football. I keep forgetting that we are now in the Eastern Time Zone, and that all these sporting events don’t start until 8 PM. I am going to have a real problem being a sports fan in Vermont, since I seem to root against all the New England Teams. I have been in Seattle so long that I really tend to root for underdogs.

Tomorrow, it is off to Progressive Field, home of the Cleveland Indians for a quick look, (unfortunately the Indians are not on a home stand) and then the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

• New out of state license plate seen: Louisiana (thanks to a quick drive through a Notre Dame parking lot).
• Days till we see Toby & Beruria: 3
• Days till we see Paige and Ashley: 19

Day 16 -- BFF

This morning was Lucy’s Baptism. It was the first one I had ever attended. We then had a very nice lunch at Brian and Amy’s condo, and met a lot of their friends. Once again, there was a LOT of food. In fact, there was so much food at this lunch today, that I don’t even know if I’ll ever eat again, but I have a suspicion that somehow I will.



Parking near the church, and near their condo is an adventure. Basically, street parking is the only option, and there is very little. The church is relatively close to Wrigley Field, so we could have paid $25 for a spot, but luckily we saw someone pulling out, and only had to walk about half a mile (literally), and I was in heels!

I want to take this opportunity to really, and publicly thank my dear friend Gail. We first met way back in the mid-sixties, when we were both still teenagers, and then shared an apartment our last year at Berkeley (she graduated, it took me two more years), She was in my wedding, but we lost touch with each other during the 70s when we were both busy having kids, and moving around the country. Gail moved to Chicago with her family many years ago, and we reconnected through the internet (what an invention). She has opened her apartment to us, and let us use her bedroom, indeed make a mess of it. She has insisted on buying us dinner, and has even done laundry. This trip to Chicago would have been much more stressful without her help. Carl went to bed early last night and the two of us stayed up talking, and, at least to me, the years melted away, We both have grandchildren now, and if you look really closely (really really closely), you will see wrinkles, but I think the forever friendship will always be there. Thank you, Gail!

Tomorrow, we leave Chicago, and head on to Cleveland, and then we will be off to see the second set of grandkids.

• Days till we see Toby & Beruria: 4
• Days till we see Paige and Ashley: 20

Day 15 -- Wildcat, Bruin, Husky Fever

Did I mention that Gail lives right next to the Northwestern University football stadium? With a view of the practice field from the bedroom? We were awakened at 7 AM by about 15 area high school bands practicing loudly for the half-time show. It really was fun for a while. Apparently they had all practiced separately for a medley of Michael Jackson songs, and now it was time for them to put it all together. It took a while until they were all able to start & finish at the same time.

Later, we went to “Wildcat Alley” on the practice field which is a pre-game party, complete with Beer Garden, and open to the public. In spite of the Beer Garden, there were lots of young families, and I was told that Northwestern Games are a family affair. This seems to be quite a departure from UW Games. Also surprising was the lack of traffic as we were driving away right before game time. I was trying to imagine what the roads near Husky Stadium would be like on a Game-Day!

We went to Brian & Amy’s for the rest of the day. Carl went with everyone else (including Lucy) to the German Fest down the street from their condo, and I had some time to myself for the first time since we left. As part of the Fest, there was a parade down Lincoln Avenue with yet more bands.

We had a very quiet Saturday night, having dinner at a Mexican restaurant, and then watching college football. We were delighted that our alma mater, UCLA managed to hold off Tennessee, but then watched the USC-Ohio State game, and were sick at the outcome. We saw that the good old UW finally won a game for the first time since 2007. Go, Huskies.

• Days till we see Toby & Beruria: 5
• Days till we see Paige and Ashley: 21