Kit and Carol on the Road

We travel up and down I5 a lot and have only recently discovered the Nisqually National Wildlife Preserve. It's in a perfect location for a lunch spot, enough off the freeway for a quiet respite, and there are bathrooms and a one mile boardwalk trail for a stretch.

We NEVER leave home in July but this year we took off in Ida for a trip to Oregon. We were gone a week and only stayed in an RV park one night--no Walmarts for us though. Sunday the 12th we had to leave on an evening high tide so stayed in Gwen's driveway in Burlington. Next night we stayed in the parking lot at Wiley Creek (Retirement Village) in Sweet Home where my mom lives. Then we were 4 nights at Kit's sister Milli's in Powell Butte (central Oregon where the temps averaged about 95). At least Milli has an electric hook up for us. Saturday the 18th my niece Darci was married above the Cascade Locks in the Columbia Gorge. Since the campground (site of the wedding) was tenters only we stayed at a KOA not far away.

The reason for this whole trip to New York was a reunion with friends of mine from grad school 40 years ago. The reunion was held Saturday evening at a hotel near Times Square. But a small group of us also met for lunch in Bryant Park (behind the 5th Av. Library). It was an awesome place--a boules court, a carousel, an outdoor reading room--and the best public bathrooms we have ever found on our travels (although a park in Paris comes in a close second). We also had dinner, and pizza, with Carol and Bob--and dinner, breakfast and biking with Tom. Here are a few photos for those of you who were or weren't there.

Tenement museum,

Our biggest adventure was a bike ride around Manhattan. Of course these photos are all backwards so read down to up. We picked up Tom (our friend and guide) and then the bikes on 42nd street. There is a wonderful bike trail along the Hudson River down to battery park. Stopped in the park to watch some street performers from the Bronx throw a great show. Then Tom led us into the city streets--up Wall Street (photo of the Stock Exchange) mostly walking the bikes to Ground Zero where they are working on a new building at the site of the Twin Towers. We stopped to see the George Washington era church which survived the blast. Then we rode across the Brooklyn Bridge. The bike/pedestrian level is separate from the cars and the views are awesome. Had ice cream at THE Brooklyn Ice Cream shop and then rode back in the rain.

We chose to rent an apartment in NY rather than stay in a hotel. Our apartment was on the 4th floor, facing the street at W 104th off Broadway. It was a large studio apartment with decent sized kitchen and bathroom. We weren't allowed to have guests which was a downer. Also it was pretty hot most of the time as our windows faced south. But we loved the neighborhood. There were grocery stores in every block with fruit and veggies on the street and wonderful goodies inside. We had hoped to eat "in" most of the time but ended up eating out with friends most nights. A bagel shop was very close and a French bakery up the street. The grocery stores were mostly open 24 hours and even the local hardware store opened at 7 in the morning. We quickly found a neighborhood pub --a bit of a dive but with local character. It was like Cheers in that there was a regular group of locals who were there every day--and dogs, and kids came in and out. We had our beer break here most every afternoon. We found a jazz club just up the street and a French Brazilian restaurant where we ate with friends. The subway was less than a block away and the #1 train took us nearly everywhere we wanted to go. Or we could walk down to the park and take the B train. Central Park was an easy walk East--through the Housing Authority Projects. In the other direction (West) the neighborhood was quiet and dignified and Riverside Park provided a nice walkway. Even though there was a lot of street noise this was a peaceful Oasis compared to Midtown.