New York...what a wild ride!!!!

So despite our great plans for Thursday, the only one that really materialized was the American Museum of Natural History.  After getting off the train at Grand Central we decided to take a cab there because it's 40 blocks away and were too scared to figure out the subway system.  That was the scariest and most life threatening experience of my life!!!!  There was actually one point where he turned left on a red light and Cassie came withing one inch of a limosine bumper that stopped just before hitting us, even the limo driver looked scared.  I used to think the drivers in Jamaica were bad, but they have nothing on New York cab drivers.  Needless to say after that cab ride we learned about the subway system, and the fear of being mugged far outweighed getting that cab driver. 

Anyway back to the museum.  It was so amazing.  Way bigger than any of us thought an quite hard to navigate.  You would need at least a couple of days to see things properly and not have to run through it. 

This is the dinosaur from Night at the Museum.

And the Easter Island head from Night of the Museum who always said "Dumb dumb give me gum gum".  And that's all you could hear all the little kids saying when they saw him.

And my new boyfriend


After we got out of the museum some crazy guy on a bike thing wanted to take us on a ride throught Central Park.  We were quite scared for him because the 3 of us are not small, and tried to tell him it would kill him.  Anyway he was pretty cute so we went lol.  What a beautiful park!!!  Not at all the imagine I had in my mind whenever I would hear about it.  He was telling us how much it had changed since the mayor had it closed evenings from 1 am until 6 am.  Before that it was full of drugs and muggings, but since then it has been way better.  There is the most beautiful bridge that you would never imagine could be in there, and when you go underneath there are these young men singing and the echo is amazing.  We also got to have our picture taken at the same fountain as Friends:)

Justin having a beer after a long hard day (root beer that is).

By the time we got back to the hotel again it was another late night.  New York is not allowing us to get much rest and sleep thats for sure lol

There are so many people begging for money, but not really in your face.  I went and got a bunch of dollar bills because I kept running out and didn't like taking out my wallet to get money.  Cassie said what if they are just scamming, and my response is your life can't be very good if you have to beg.  Imagine waking up one day and saying to yourself "I have no food, so I have to steal to get some or beg for money.  If I had kids to feed I'd do whatever it takes.  And if you think about it, our lives could be very different right now than they are.  Everyone lives through different circumstances".  Nobody starts the day wanting to beg.  You can tell the economy is not good here, but the tourist areas really try to hide the reality of their situation.  But you sure see the upper rich people throwing around their money.  I am so thankful we live in Canada, even though the service is better here.  I guess the people working in restaurants here are more grateful they have a job than our restaurant staff (too bad).

Pictures from Whale Watching

Since our internet has been way better while in the US for posting pictures here's some from our excursion in St. Andrews.

There's a gull chasing an eagle for what's in his beak.

Here's where our Costco Atlantic Salmon comes from.

NEW YORK!!

Yesterday we finally arrived in New York!! First thing we did is head to our hotel. The radisson in New Rochelle. Wonderful hotel!! Thanks Aunty Ness :) We dropped our bags off and then we decided we would go and see the empire state building and times square. We had to take the train since we had no interest in sitting in traffic for hours. It was really interesting, the train there is very sketchy, there is trash everywhere and some people.....very questionable! lol. Riding the train was very cool because it took us through the heart of the city. We saw alot of rough neighborhoods, don't worry grandma, it was safely from inside the train :P. It was kind of sad to see all of the worn down buildings and seeing the kind of homes some people live in. When our train finally arrived we were in grand central station, if you haven't seen this before you must go!! There is just something about it that makes you say woah, even though to every new yorker its just a train station. We decided to walk around to explore and find the empire state building. I thought i would really hate New york since i don't like crowded busy places, but there is just something about it that makes you appreciate and love it. It must be that it is so different from home and that even in the busy mess somehow it just works. We got to the building and got our tickets and rode in an elevator to the top, luckily the wait wasn't even that long nothing like the cn tower. When we got to the top we could see all around New York, and the Statue of liberty. unfortunately while we were up in the tower a storm hit! And i already don't like heights...so i wanted to get down ASAP! People were being blown all over it was kind of entertaining but not really since i was scared. We had these little phone things that when you press a button they give you information about things you see around the tower, while we were waiting to get down in the elevator, the guy in the phone said "No winds can shift this building! its so strong! blah blah blah," he just kept going on and on about how it will never be taken to the ground...sounds like hes jinxing it! or its an invitation for someone to try. Call me paranoid, but dying up in a huge tower is not on my list :)
~Cassie

After we left the Empire State building we headed for Times Square.  The pictures can't even come clothes to showing what it is like there.  There are soooo many people and shops, and so much happening while all these flashy electronic boards light up everything everywhere.  It is truly amazing!!!! 

When we came back on the train, by the time we got off and started for the stairs the people were all gone and it was just the 3 of us on the platform.  Quite spooky lol.

We have a CityPass which is a really good deal and have a choice between Top of the Rock or Guggenheim Museum (where there are van Gough and Picasso).  Since we've spent a tremendous time in tall buildings this trip we are going to take in the museum.  We're also going to visit the American Museum of Natural History (from the movie Night at the Museum) and Ground Zero.  Another busy day.  New York is go go go!!!

~Lorrie

Laundromat

So we decided to stop just outside New York City at a laundromat. Its a toss up whether it would just be cheaper to buy new clothes or was the old ones, but since I'm obsessive and would have to wash the new ones before wearing them I caved. The kids are enjoying the extra time to bond lol. There seemed to be minimal bars on windows in the neighborhood when we drove in and there's 2 police officers standing out front. Not sure if that should make us feels safer or more nervous lol. Risky or not Justin ran out of socks so here we sit. That Spanish I've been wanting to learn would come in handy right now.
Sent on the TELUS Mobility network with BlackBerry

Back to New Brunswick then into the States

We left New Glasgow, NB yesterday morning and drove to St. Andrews hoping to catch a whale watching excursion.  It was really windy and we were suspicious it was going to be cancelled again, but we got to go out anyway.  Unfortunately, we didn't see any whales but I saw a few porpoises.  There was quite a few seals and some bald eagles.  We got to see where the Atlantic Salmon farms are (yummy!) and how they fish sardines (yuck).  It was so beautiful out there. 

Not wanting to stay in St. Andrews we decided to cross the border into the US which was pretty close.  Not busy crossing at 9:30 at night so that was good.  We went to Bangor, Maine for the night and were relieved to get another Holiday Inn Express.  After our last disgusting hotel experience we all breathe a huge sigh of relief when we see a Holiday Inn sign.  lol  Anyway it was pretty late when we were getting into Bangor and I was thinking it probably wasn't the smartest decision to be driving around an area we don't know in the dark (sorry mom and dad). 

So when we got up this morning with the idea of getting as close to New York as possible we hadn't really taken into consideration shopping lol.  First shoe store we stopped at we found Justin about 8 pairs of shoes to try on, and 2 measured up to his standards.  For those that don't know that's a pretty huge selection for someone with size 14.  The best part was we got both pair for $40.00, one pair is Nike, unbelievable!  Cassie had heard about a clothing store that would be good for her so we ended up taking a little detour to North Attleboro MA.  There was a pretty good selection there and she was trying on clothes until 9:00.  Quite a thing for my kids to have choices for clothes.  Because it was so late and I didn't want a repeat of the night before we just went to the Holiday Inn a couple blocks away.  There is also a Big & Tall men's store a few blocks away that we will probably stop at tomorrow before heading to New York.  So we only got 4 hours closer than we were yesterday but the SUV is fuller now lol.

We have reservations at the Radisson in New Rochelle, New York tomorrow so we have to get there.  Thanks to my awesome sister-in-law we get a great family rate. 

Pictures from PEI and Nova Scotia

Restaurant (not) where crazy guy was. lol

PEI

Friday night we stayed in Moncton because we were going to go to the Hopewell flower pots in the morning.  I called a motel in Port Hasting, NS to get a room because all the rooms were booked up in the area and they had one left.  I asked the girl how long it took to get there from Moncton and she told me 7 or 8 hours.  Since we had plans to go to Hopewell to see the flower pots and PEI on the way we re-evaluated because we wouldn't have enough time.  So Saturday morning we jumped in the SUV and set the GPS for Port Hasting, and wouldn't you know it the GPS said we'd be there in 2 hours.  Man some people have no idea!  We decided we'd do the Confederation Bridge and take the ferry over to Nova Scotia.  Unfortunately it was raining the whole time so we didn't spend much time in PEI.  We checked into our room at the Causway Inn in Port Hastings and it was the yuckiest hotel EVER!!!!!  Man it was a toss up whether to sleep in the car or not. 

Justin was hungry so we went back to this restaurant that we had passed that said Lobster Suppers.  I ran in to check out the menu and as soon as I walked in this guy started yipping and hollering, made me come back outside so he could set off a firework, then told me the restaurant isn't operating yet because it's too early in the season.  I had to go get the kids because this guy was unbelievable so they came in and he set off an even bigger firework and started yipping about the Calgary Stampede.  His store looked like a scene out of Hoarders and he wanted to sell of everything, we split pretty quick.  When we were leaving Cassie and I were complaining about how he has all these signs for lobster dinner, etc and doesn't even have any, and Justin says "that guys a genius.  He knows how to get people in there."  lol  We are having trouble posting pictures so when we can we'll put some on.

This morning we set out for the Cabot Trail with plans to take in a whale watching expedition.  Unfortunately both we signed up for in 2 different places were cancelled due to weather, and of course they didn't get cancelled until we had waited around for an hour each time.  It was pretty rainy and about half of the Cabot Trail was socked in with clouds.  But what we did see was sooooo beautiful.  What an amazing drive!!!!  Our only goal after that was to get as far past Port Hasting as we could so we didn't have to stay in that dump again.  We settled on New Glasgow and are loving it.  The Cabot trail takes alot longer to drive than you would think because it is so winding.  I definitely feels so fortunate to have this opportunity to see this beautiful country we live in.

Cassie hadn't had an injury yet, even after walking out to the ocean on millions of rocks, and wouldn't you know it she punched the ceiling in the bathroom of our hotel room while changing.  Who hits their hand on the ceiling while changing besides my giant daughter?  It's not her first time either lol.  Now she has a black and blue finger.  We had just been discussing today how she was due for an injury lol, but we thought it would be a concussion on the whale watching ride like in BC or something like that. 

I'm kind of suspicious that once we get home Justin will never get in a vehicle with Cassie and myself together at the same time every again. lol

Tomorrow we are off to St. Stephen area in New Brunswick in the hopes of getting a whale excursion before we get out of Canada.  Then we are heading into the U.S.  Sad to see our time in Canada ending, would love to see more.