-drove almost 500 miles to western New York and back
-in 11 hours
-I will tell you why Monday
-but it had a lot to do with the 2 different state parks we visited
-so we hiked about 6 miles total
-played 6 CDs
-visited four NY state rest areas and
-got about 32 miles per gallon and
-between the 2 of us took about 100 photos and
-split 8 slices of my pizza for lunch and dinner plus 4 apples and 7 oranges and 2 cookies and 2 thermoses of coffee and 2 bottles of water and exactly ONE tank of gas...roughly....
(I remember reading once that people who hike or X country ski bring their own food when they travel and stores hate that...whereas snowmobilers spend a lot of money on beef jerky and BUD and BBQ chips... I swear! I read it in the paper! And for us its true, there is no way I am wasting money on road food when I am a superb cook)
A point: many of the NY state highway rest stops are clean and functional and about as old as me...46ish...cinderblock huts.
BUT, 10 or 15 years ago, when the state was flush with money they went bananas and started building PALACES and temples along the highways..where you can also go potty and get tourist maps etc --I was telling the wife
"I bet this place is so amazing because if you live in Ohio? Its just over there, and New York wants all those people to come HERE for vacation...and spend money..."....and the wife is like
"Good theory, because all of the cars here in the lot have OHIO PLATES".
The rest stop outside Chautaqua Lake NY is unflippingbelieveable, the prettiest MOST BEAUTIFUL temple of toilets on earth, as you see. And as if the building is not gorgeous enough, it sits on a huge hillside overlooking Chautaqua Lake below...wow....
Got our mail before we left....kate and Jim are so awesome, they sent me a pig watering can for my birthday! Spike had a quiet and sleepy and lonely day at home without all of us...but was delighted to open this box and kick the pig's azz......
The wife agreed: even in spring, hilly lakefronts can be amazingly windy and cold, but we are ever prepared....
BEFORE I knew Chautaqua Lake had the best rest stop on earth, I had thought that the new one outside of Salamanca, NY was the most amazing...turtle and beaver sculptures out front!
Penny drives short trips with me all the time. But never more than 2 hours before. Holy cats, 11 hours in the car (and as I say, nearly 6 miles hiking for the day) and she rides like a CHAMP. My gosh I love my dog so much, what a good girl...did not barf in the car, did not whine, did not bark, just rode quietly and hiked happily......
Part 2 Monday!
Got our mail before we left....kate and Jim are so awesome, they sent me a pig watering can for my birthday! Spike had a quiet and sleepy and lonely day at home without all of us...but was delighted to open this box and kick the pig's azz......
*****
OH? Disgusting things you'd never anticipate? One CD we were singing along to (I get the Fred parts, the wife gets the Kate parts) was B52s...awesome road music...favorite line in the song below:
"Disgusting things you'd never anticipate!!!"
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9 comments:
Sounds like a great b-day weekend. 8-)
Of course you had to stop so much... all that coffee and water and oranges!
If Jim and I were with you, you'd have stopped more than 4 times! lol
What a great adventure. Whoo-hoo!
Sounds like a good trip!
Exactly...roughly...:-)
We have a new public restroom in town that my son jokingly calls the taj mahal. But it is nothing, NOTHING compared to that! Happy Birthday!!
That sounds like a great trip. I am like that too, would rather take my own food in the car because it tastes better and is better for me. It is a lot more fun and easier on a road trip with a passenger to help pour the coffee! I don't have a passenger to help me right now.
What an awesome road trip!
Dear Gary,
Please drive back and fetch me either the turtle or beaver statue for my garden. Your choice.
Thanks,
Claudia
I love the B-52's!!!
You both are so much fun! So glad your weekend was enjoyable....now about those temple of toilets??????
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