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July 12, 2006
Forte in a Fez
Posted by Steven at 05:14 PM | Comments (0)
July 11, 2006
Home!
Pulled in at 8:45pm after 1,600 miles and 24 hours of driving over two days. Glad to see the house ok ... web and mail server needed reboot but otherwise ok ... will finish posting other events in next few days.
Posted by Steven at 09:31 PM | Comments (0)
Staton Corporate Headquarters
You just knew we had a central corporate headquarters somewhere. Alas, it turns out to be Hughes, Arkansas.
Posted by Steven at 05:15 PM | Comments (0)
July 09, 2006
Critters
Critters at Barbara's house.
Posted by Steven at 12:10 PM | Comments (0)
Barbara's Garden
Interesting stuff around Barbara's house ...
Posted by Steven at 10:29 AM | Comments (0)
July 08, 2006
Campfire at Camp Decker
Posted by Steven at 10:15 PM | Comments (0)
July 06, 2006
The Empire State Building
Leo and I finished off our day in Manhattan with a grueling ninety minute wait to ascend the Empire State Building on 34th St. We took a cab from Rockefeller Plaza to save our feet for the seemingly endless line to the elevators to the ... lines to the elevators. You have to ascend the building in stages, and it's slow going. When we finally got up top, it was a mob scene. I hope you enjoy these images ... they were harder to take than one might expect (good views are vigourously sought after on the 86th viewing deck).
Looking north at Manhattan, the Hudson River (left), and mid-town's skyscrapers.
Close up of Rockefeller Plaza, the Trump Tower, and a better view of Central Park
New Jersey and Rockland County, NY plus the Hudson River and the George Washington Bridge
The spires of the Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building
A cruise liner leaving Manhattan on the Hudson, and the ferry parking in New Jersey where we started the day
Looking south at the tip of Manhattan across Greenwich Village and the financial district (the State of Liberty is the small object poking up on the island just to the right of the tall buildings downtown)
Posted by Steven at 05:26 PM | Comments (0)
Fifth Avenue Apple Store
What trip through geekdom's hallowed halls would be complete without a visit to Apple's flagship store in Manhattan on 5th Avenue?
Posted by Steven at 01:00 PM | Comments (0)
Nintendo World Store
Believe it or not, the reason I took Leo to Manhattan today was because he wanted to visit the Nintendo World Store in Rockefeller Plaza. Since we'd be within 180 miles of it, I figured, "why not?" (besides, I could visit the Fifth Avenue Apple Store). So here we are.
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| Way-cool Nintendo World Store sign. | |
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| Leo speaking into a voice-recognition DS | First floor Pokémon Center |
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"Most excellent" egg-chair or total game immersion ovoid chamber. These are really stunning to look at and I didn't even try to find out what they cost for fear of finding out they are affordable afterall. I doubt we could have placed it in the RocketBox for the drive home. Wives -- take note of the womb-like nature of the chair and beware. Any husband who goes into this device will not come out willingly. |
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| Another view of the egg-chairs. | The Nintendo clothing area. |
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| Second floor gaming zone. | |
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| Early Nintendo 8-bit computer with cassette tape storage. | Customized Gameboys. |
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| Happy camper! Found his Nintendo World t-shirt. | A Boy and His Store |
Posted by Steven at 11:56 AM | Comments (0)
The Concorde
On the ferry from Jersey, Stephen pointed out that the Intrepid Museum now has a Concorde jet as part of it's exhibits. I decided to take Leo to see this majestic machine while we had the chance.
While there, we bumped into many European tourists, some of whom had flown on this very plane. They were quite surprised that I knew it was a British/French aeroplane, and that it was such a marvelous airframe. I had a great time talking to a British couple about it and politics in general -- they were not used to a Blue State American, I can tell you that.
Posted by Steven at 10:42 AM | Comments (0)
July 05, 2006
Treman State Park, Upper Enfield Gorges
After swimming in the lower falls, we went to the upper gorges to see the natural 'un-natural' looking formations.
Posted by Steven at 04:22 PM | Comments (0)
Treman State Park, Lower Enfield Falls
We first stopped at the lower falls in Robert Treman State Park. The kids swam in the 65 degree water, and I took some shots of them coming off the high dive.
I caught Leo just as he hit the water, for an interesting (if not provocative) photo.
Posted by Steven at 02:40 PM | Comments (0)
American Crafts in Ithaca, NY
We visited Anne's favorite craft store in the US ... American Crafts by Robbie Dein in Ithaca, NY.
Anne and Alanna "ooh'd" and "aah'd" over the minature cast figurines, ear rings, feather masks, and artwork in the store. Barbara and I 'discovered' the place back in 2004, and I've bought Anne more than a couple of one-of-a-kind gifts there. This was Anne's first visit, and she came away with a small cache of wonderful new stuff.
Posted by Steven at 12:01 PM | Comments (0)
Ithaca Sagan Memorial Planetary Walk
When in downtown Ithaca, it's not hard to find the first five planets of the Carl Sagan Memorial Planetary Walk. It starts in the Commons, right next to Anne's favorite art store, Americana Crafts. Jupiter is next to the famous Moosewood Restaurant.
Posted by Steven at 11:50 AM | Comments (0)
Ithaca, New York
We're going to Ithaca today, to do some shopping and visit Treman State Park and see the gorges.
Posted by Steven at 09:39 AM | Comments (0)
July 03, 2006
Arrival
We arrived at Barbara's around 7pm today, after driving around two and one-half hours from Phonecia. We went across Rt. 28 to Rt. 206, which took us through Walton, NY. The town was devastated by the Susquahana flooding, and we were center-stage for it all when we drove through downtown. I think I've driving all the major east-west routes through the Catskills now!
Posted by Steven at 07:22 PM | Comments (0)
Dershstock 2006
The whole family went to Dershstock 2006 this year (if only for a day).
We drove out of Albany around noon and made it to Phonecia in good time. We stopped at Brio's for lunch, and despite the flies, had a really good lunch. Anne went shopping at a local Tibetian store (Tibetian in NY, go figure) and found an interesting shirt. We went back to the Jetta and started trying to find the compound.
I made a couple of bad starts, and then went down Fawn Hill Rd. (all the way), but we eventually found our way there.
The Dershstock House
For the most part, the building and facilities were the same. When I arrived in 2004, it was at the beginning of the event, before everyone and their kids arrived. At day three, when folks were actively leaving, it was evident that a lot of folks had come and gone (and someone had a lot of cleaning to do!)
Charles' friend Bretch
The oddest thing about this Dershstock was the absence of my friend Charles. Everyone was talking about it ... this is the first Dershstock he's missed. Apparently, he's the "spice" in a lot of the more infamous Dershstocks of the past. No surprise there!
Another shot of the big room and majestic view.
Leo had a great time in the pool most of the afternoon, swimming around with his noodle and being chased by the dad with the sharkfin googles. The water looked cold, but was fine "once you got in it." Sure. Sure.
After we said our goodbyes to the Dershowitz family, we headed out Rt. 28 to Rt. 206. We passed through Walton, NY, which was nearly destroyed by the weekend floods on the Susquehana river. It was about two and one-half hours drive to return to Whitney Point.
Posted by Steven at 05:40 PM | Comments (1)
New York State Museum
Visited the New York State museum in Albany today. Like so many things in Albany, I never bothered to visit when I was at RPI. The whole family was with me on this trip, which started with trying to park in the Rockefeller Plaza complex. We eventually found a spot in the P-3 V-Lot, and the credit card parking system was much like the one I used in Toronto, which I prefer.
Performance Art building called "The Egg"
We ascended from the underground parking into the base of "The Egg", which I haven't been in since 1984. We walked across the plaza to the CEC building where the museum is located, passing a Rickey sculpture (of a format that we call 'Needletoid' in honor of the Chrynitoid) and several pieces of public art, including the Mickey Mouse Crying sculpture that used to be on the grounds of SMU in Dallas.
The Rickey sculpture on the Rockefeller Plaza
The museum is in the CEC building at the south end of the Plaza. We went downstairs to the concourse to cross the street, and into the Museum proper.
The Museum has three permanent exhibits, focusing on NYC, Native Americans, and the Adirondacks. We toured all of it, but at a fast pace. There's a lot there to see and read, and in particular, in the very early history of New York (New Amsterdam) I found immensely interesting.
Exhibits included early Indian villages, colonial settlements and their growth into the metropolis of New York City, the subway and skyscrapers of the city, and the cultural enclaves of NYC (e.g. Harlem, Chinatown). One very detailed exhibit documented the WWII Jewish emmigrees kept in a refugee camp in Oswego, which bore a shocking similarity to SS camps. I had no idea we did that in 1944-5.
A surprise exhibit was a recreation of the original PBS set for Sesame Street which Anne and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing. It was surreal seeing it in 3-D and at full scale -- didn't it always appear so much smaller on the TV?
The skyscraper exhibit tastefully left out the W.T.C., which was featured separately in a 9-11 exhibit which included unique samples of wreckage and recreations of the temporary memorials. It's easy for a Texan to forget how 9-11 hit everyone in NY so intimately.
Posted by Steven at 10:42 AM | Comments (0)
July 02, 2006
My Birthday Party
Anne and the gang surprised me with a birthday party this morning.
Alanna wearing my birthday Fez
They acquired an ice cream cake which we ate right after breakfast (?!?), and they gave me the new Paul Simon CD, some birthday cards and money, and some silly gifts including a small fez which didn't actually fit around my head. Fortunately for me, and unfortunately for Alanna, it fit her. I think this photo is my favorite gift, now that you mention it.
Posted by Steven at 10:10 AM | Comments (0)
July 01, 2006
Drive to New York, Day Two
We're almost all the way to Barbara's house north of Binghamton. As I type this, we're approaching Corning, NY on I-86/Rt. 17. Funny thing is, I've wanted to visit Corning for years, but never had the time to drove almost two hours out from Binghamton. That is, until today.
The drive has been relatively benign, as these things go. Usually tempers are frayed by the end of the day, as has been the case in the two previous drives to NY (1998: CR-V, 2002: Windstar). This time it's been much more civil, with most of the personal frustration being caused by Leo's inability to not chatter about everything and instead just take in the scenery (or his gaming magazine).
Anne and I have shared the driving pretty evenly, with our usual styles coming out. I try to drive to the cruise, and will only accelerate to skip ahead of an obstruction. She tends to get right up their backside. I don't really care one way or another since not driving is such a relief.
Last night we tried to get a room in Elizabethtown, KY, but found ourselves priced and booked out. Even with my Marriot Platnium card, I could only get a room for $100. So we called up to Louisville and booked a room at a former Holiday Inn, which had recently been converted into a Quality Inn. There was a good reason, of course.
The hotel was near the airport, in a very urban area. The hotel was fairly rundown compared to the places I tend to stay at (Wingates, Fairviews, &c.), and the room was pretty dated. At least the promised WiFi was there and worked -- both Alanna and I got on without incident).
My big fear with the place was its proximity to a liquor store. I parked near it, and was worried that someone might break into it, just to grab the radar detector. Fortunately, nothing happened to the Jetta with the RocketBox on it.
We spent most of today just driving across 500+ miles of Ohio, from Cincinnati to the northeastern tip, near Erie, PA. The 250 mile run across I-86/Rt. 17 has been the shorter leg, but since it has come at the end of the day, it seems longer. Oh, that and the fact that 20 miles in the Seneca Nation were one lane and someone decided to go 45 MPH the whole way (that added 15 minutes to our arrival time).
We heard from Barbara where I-88 collapsed, and of course, its north of where we would enter the highway coming across Rt. 206 from Whitney Point. So we'll have to slough up Rt. 7 to Unadilla, along with everyone else coming up from Binghamton, before getting on the real interstate to Schenectady on our way to the Capital District tomorrow.
It's on these long drives that we, as a family, experience something that we rarely have to endure in our home (non-McMansion that it is) -- being stuck together for a whole day in a box. Can't say I recommend it.
Posted by Steven at 05:29 PM | Comments (1)