(Central Park, NY)
I love being back in the US! It is so nice to be back and see familiar systems and things all around me! While I have not made it home yet, it is just nice to be back in the culture I grew up in. I have been surprised at how much I have enjoyed seeing familiar restaurant names and stores I have not seen in years. While I don't need to go in them or eat there, I am happy enough to just know they are there. With that being said though, after traveling for 5 months now there are a few things I am loving about being back in the states. First, I do not have to carry hand sanitizer & toilet paper everywhere! Ah, so nice! For the last few months I have had a roll of toilet paper and hand sanitizer in my hand bag. Food wise I have been enjoying eating cereal & the good old bagel & cream cheese. Mmmm!
Arriving in Cincinnati I hung out with my sister Emily at her house. For the first couple days I got to see her life in mid-west. I went to class with her, saw her work, went sledding, had a number of snowball fights, and walked on frozen ponds. Early on the Sunday morning Emily, my friend Sally from Australia, Emily's friends Zach & Daniel and myself all loaded up into my sisters car and headed north. Over the next four days we made it to Niagara Falls, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington DC.
(Lincoln Memorial, Washington, DC)
It is winter up here, so Niagara Falls had many icicles flowing off of it & snow covered landscape around it. It definitely added to the impressiveness of the falls. Hopefully some day I will be able to make it back there during the fall or summer. On our way to the Falls we stopped at Lake Erie (one of the great lakes) was all frozen over. There were little huts out on the ice where men could go fishing. We even ran into a group of 4 people that were going scubba diving. I could not believe it, going scubba diving under a huge thick sheet of ice sounds crazy to me. I told them this too and their response was that they knew & it was ok because they took a chain saw with them! After driving 16 hours in one day we arrived to Boston at our friends Mathew and Mary-Ann's house.
(Time Square, NY)
We met up with some of our other friends, Victor and Jacqui and explored the Boston Commons, Boston Harbor & walked the Freedom Trail. The Freedom Trail walks through the city stopping at many of the sites where historical events occurred that shaped the beginning of the USA, like where the Boston Tea Party started. We ate some local cannolis, which are some great Italian pastries from Sicily. We spent the evening eating dinner at our friends Mathew & Mary-Ann's house discussing current events and just really enjoying our time together.
(Boat ride passing Eiffel Tower, NY)
We spent a few days in New York in Manhattan. We went to Central Park, Wall Street, Times Square, took a boat out to Staten Island swinging past the Eiffel Tower and saw many of the other required sights. We took an afternoon stroll through the Bronx which turned out differently than we all thought it would. We got off the subway towards the middle & walked across the Bronx to another subway going up and down a number of streets along the way. We had no trouble at all and saw very little things that made us feel unsafe. Although we did notice that nobody really looked you in the eye as you walked down the streets.
(Top of Niagara Falls, Canada)
From New York we headed to Philadelphia and checked out the Liberty Bell & than continued on to Washington DC to see the White House, Presidential monuments, Smithsonian, Capital Hill, and the Pentagon. After walking around DC we drove the 8.5 hours back to Cincinnati that night & got in around 3am. We all were heading down to Louisville the next day, so the plan was to clean up, wash up, rest up, and than head down. Although that plan got slightly rushed when some friends stopped by the apartment that were heading down to Louisville as well & suggested we join them on a Bourbon tour though the Wild Turkey brewery. We had a great time asking the tour guide lots of questions on the brewing process & how they mixes their bourbons. After some taste tests we decided we bought some of the good stuff for later.
Speaking of taste tests. Mmmmm, we have had some good food on this trip. We have tried many of the local foods that the cities are famous for. In Boston we had the cannolis. New York gave us hot dogs, pizza, gyros, and bagels all on the street. In Philadelphia we had some philly cheesesteak sandwiches. I have decided I am in love with street food after all of the wonderful street food I have had from around the world. I now wish all the cities I have lived in have had some great street food!
(Road Trip crew at Lake Erie, Sally, Zach, Daniel, Emily & me)
We all were heading to Louisville, TN to join a large weekend event put on by my church where there are basketball and volleyball games, seminars, dances and other family activities. My older sister Kristina, with her husband and daughter flew over from Spokane, my home town, to visit her husband's family and come to the weekend event. So upon arriving I had some great time seeing my sister. I have been so happy to be with a part of my family. The weekend here has been great! I have been able to catch up with a number of friends I have not seen for over 4 years. I have also been able to meet a number of new people and spend time with my family here. I have been playing basketball for three days while here. It was interesting to me that sometimes my basketball skills I used to have would come back and join me, allowing me to play some good moves. At other times though I would play and could not make a single basket or even catch the ball. I suppose when you don't really play for a number of years you tend to be a little more hot and cold.
(White House, Washington DC... as close as we could get a day before Christmas)
Since I have not really planned out all of my itinerary upon arriving in the states, I have been trying to figure out where to go next. I have had a number of offers for some rides, and I also have had lots of ideas running around in my head with ideas of possible solutions for transport. I am thinking I will probably stay in the eastern half of the US for a bit before heading back to the Northwest.
So until next time, those in the north stay warm and enjoy the snow and those in the south soak up that sunshine and don't get too hot.
~Laugh & Love Life~
