Finally...the trip to The Big Apple - 2011

Friday, December 2, Bob and I took a NJ Transit train from  Dover into NY Penn Station.  I was really looking forward to the train ride, and wasn't disappointed at all.   Penn Station is right next to Madison Square Garden.  We used a map my cousin Carol had loaned us to navigate the city, and started  down 34th Street towards the Empire State Building.  Just as I had told Bob, he almost fell over looking up at the buildings, but I was the one who made a hit on Broadway, or rather 34th Street, by tripping over a police barricade (a photo of one is below)  and landing flat on my face on the sidewalks of  New York.  The "miracle on 34th" was that I didn't break any bones or my camera.  I had bad scrapes on both  knees, a sore wrist and back, and was shaken up, but I was determined to continue.  We turned up 5th Ave, past Macy's and on to NY Public Library, where I cleaned my cuts in the ladies' room.  From there, we passed St Patrick's Cathedral, which is undergoing renovations, and walked to Rockefeller Center.  No one was skating at the rink because a Zamboni machine was clearing the ice!  The tree didn't look as impressive as we expected.  We continued up to 7th Ave and made our way to Central Park South, passing landmarks like Radio City Music Hall, Carnegie Hall (also under renovation), Lindy's Famous Cheesecake,  and human and non human Statues of Liberty.  We were planning on taking a carriage ride around Central Park, but at the sight of the old Dobbins, we didn't have the heart to do so.  We headed back down the other side of 7th Ave, and on to Times Square, which was a "movie-able feast" for the eyes...projection screens everywhere advertising just about  everything.  Easily a thousand people were standing in lines at the TKTS office.  Thankfully, there were tables and chairs for public seating in the square, where we could rest a bit and take in the people and sights at the crossroads of Broadway and Times Square.  A statute of George M. Cohan stands there...one of my favorite all time movies is Yankee Doodle Dandy with James Cagney as George M.  We had walked over 6 miles, and were pretty tired by then, and ready to head back.  The Dover Express was due to leave Penn Station within 20 minutes of our getting there, so we took that home.  In some ways, we were disappointed with the visit.  It was not as Christmas-y as we thought it would be, and it was hard to take everything in because you had to watch where you were walking while dodging people, cars, taxis, and buses (and police barricades).  But, overall, we both enjoyed the adventure and would like to go back again another time.  Hope you enjoy the tour, too.

Vist with the Konecy Cousins

On Saturday evening, we went to Mahwah, NJ, to visit with relatives on my father's side of the family.  It was my birthday, and they surprised me with a delicious carrot cake with two candles, one for good luck and one for good health.  Judi also made a very tasty chicken/sausage dish, plus had lots of other goodies. 

Sherri meeting Judi & Brian's new puppy, Wendy

Birthday cake!

The "traditional" group picture:  Brian, Dean, me, Anne, Sherri, Anne, and Judi

Thanksgiving 2011

Over the river and thru the trees to Cousin Joe's house we go.  Since the Ram didn't know the way to carry the sleigh, we followed cousins Carol, Annie, and Matt from their home in Highland Lakes, NJ, up 94, thru Warwick, Chester, and on into Salisbury Mills, NY, where we had a very wonderful Thanksgiving gathering with The Piasciks, Mersons, Monteros, Lambrights, and Jones...21 in all.  The feast was fabulous; conversation lively.  After dinner, some enjoyed watching football; others playing Catch Phrases; and still others just relaxing.  Thank you, Joe & Barbara for a wonderful time.

From left to right: Jill, Nathan,Rachel, Mrs Jones, Kevyn & Al (standing), John, Mr. Jones, David, Uncle Mike, Bob, and Matt & Luke (well, at least part of them).

Jill, Adele, Joe, Carol & Uncle Mike

Michael, Mr. Jones, and  Barbara

 David, Annie, and Bob

 John, Al, Kevyn, and Luke

Matt, Nathan, Mrs Jones, and Michael

Florida to Jersey Nov 2011

Phase II of our 25th wedding anniversary celebration is a trip to NYC. Bob has never been there, and we are going to play tourist and see the Christmas decorations.  Best of all, we get a chance to visit with family and friends in New Jersey, and once again play tourist there as well for about two weeks.  We left Saturday, Nov 19th about 6 am, after dropping our friend, Steve, off at the airport for his visit to family in MA.  We took our time getting to Jersey, stopping in GA, VA, and PA before getting here on Tuesday, the 22nd (the 48th anniversary of JFK's assassination).  It started raining in PA on Monday and still hasn't stopped.  Rain is projected through tomorrow.  We are once again at the Mahlon Dickerson Reservation, a Morris County park.  The only difference this time (besides the trees being bare) is that the water is shut off to the individual campsites.  There are heated rest rooms and shower rooms, with lots of hot water (thank goodness).  Right now, we are the only fools camping here. We have plenty of bottled water, paper plates, cups,and plastic utensils, and lots of food I prepared at home and froze.  And, it's not exactly like we are in the boondocks entirely, not with Shop Rite and A&P within 5 miles of us, and plenty of restaurants and diners. 

Bob getting ready to pack  his "snow" shovel.  I told him he might be able to earn some extra money shoveling some sidewalks in Jersey!

9:41 am around Daytona Beach

Can you believe it?  Another blow out on the trailer, just south of Jacksonville.  Took Bob about a half hour to change to a spare.  We were able to get another tire in Brunswick, GA, where we stopped for the night.  We were advised we shouldn't drive over 65mph with the trailer...the tires aren't made for it.

Looks as though we are in a plane, but we are driving up the mountain on I-77 overlooking the Shenandoah Valley.

The fog is beginning to roll in as we drive thru Virginia.

We noticed this American eagle carved out of a dead tree in front of a home in Carlisle, PA, about 35 miles from Gettysburg.  We had stopped at a campground near there Monday night.

This is the view through our windshield as we drove thru Ravine, PA on I-81 this morning. 

and this is the temperature when we stopped at the campground around 2 pm today...good thing we packed our woolies: