East Coast Christmas

Well I am on break from school for two weeks and I am making the most of it. I spent a lot of time up at Kyle and Devin's house making my Christmas presents. I really liked these photo fabric montages that I'd seen at the Stock Show in Denver and I decided I would make one for my friend Jess for a Christmas present. (See for details: http://www.lipstickranch.com/) I also wanted to recreate an Old West photo for my mom because I'd seen a quote from the Jesse James gang that epitomized us three children: " We growed up regular, our mama taught us right, reckon we just got bored". We grabbed Max, a couple guns, a bottle of Jack Daniels and some Carhartt's and headed out behind Kyle's house. We posed by the fire pit, in the old grain feeder and in the old dairy barn. It was a lot of fun and Mom loved the photo. Aunt Kathy, Kyle and Devin helped a lot with Jess' gift (basically I sewed a few buttons on) and I am very grateful to have creative people in my family.
Speaking of Jess, she got into town safe and sound (and on time) on Christmas day. She rejoiced at the Christmas ham. Our first order of business was watching the Hannah Montana movie that Amber got me for Christmas. I love Hannah Montana and I am convinced everyone should see it. It's life affirming!
Anyway, our first day was spent at Niagara Falls. It was a bit rainy and we had to stay on the American ghetto side because Jess never updated her passport. Our first stop was at the Observation Tower which was basically a gutted warehouse with no heat. We quickly got out of there (after stealing some food) and decided to just walk around the State Park. We stopped at the American Falls and walked across the Niagara Rapids to get a view of the Canadian Horseshoe Falls. They were more covered in mist but we still got a pretty good view. I'm pretty sure I've only seen the falls from the Canadian side so it was interesting to see a different side of the Falls.


I'd completely forgotten there was an NPS site in Buffalo until I saw a sign mentioning Teddy Roosevelt's Inaugural. After a lunch at Panera and a quick run through Barnes and Noble we headed over to the site. It took Jess a few minutes to get the door opened. I probably could have helped if I hadn't been laughing so hard. The people at the desk saw our trouble and didn't bother to help. Then they told us the only way to see the place was on the guided tour. Jess decided we would just look at the museum but when we went to walk in the idiot at the desk yelled that it was a part of the tour and we couldn't go in there. We then asked how much the tour was and he said it was $10 per person. I told Jess to get out her pass but she argued that it only covered her. Turns out it covered both of us and we got rushed into the museum because we were holding up the tour. I didn't much care for the tour. The guide wasn't very good and most of it was watching movie's. My favorite part was at the end when we got to pretend to be President's. There was a replica of the West Wing and we could take our photo at the desk and pretend to sign or veto bills. Jess posed as Eskimo security and it was hysterical.

That night we headed out for a night on the town. We started out at The Roost, a country line dancing bar that I've been going to since I was 16. A whole bunch of people came and it was a blast. No one really danced besides me (and Daiji). I did get Don on the floor for the Cupid Shuffle and it was hysterical. There's just something about the way he moves. I crack up every time. I had a blast out on the floor. We went to the local townie bar D and D's for the remainder of the night.

Thanksgiving Roadtrip

This past weekend Mom and I took off on a mini roadtrip. As you all know I am obsessed with the National Parks and there's a great app on my Facebook page that was created to promote Ken Burns' series on the National Parks. For some reason it's not transferring my data when I posted it on my blog but I have been to about 70 out of the 392 units. 5 of which were added this past weekend.

Our first stop was Fort Stanwix in Rome, NY. It was odd because it was right in the middle of the city. The Fort had been rebuilt so it was a bit lacking in authenticity but it was still really cool to see every aspect of Fort living. Apparently soldiers there were miserable due to boredom and many tried to desert. Alas, they were caught and executed to show that top brass would not stand for it.

Our next stop was in Saratoga. The Battle of Saratoga was a turning point in the Revolutionary war and Benedict Arnold fought and was wounded there. It was a beautiful spot but I didn't get the same feeling that I did at other significant battlefields (Gettysburg, Antietam). I think it was because the driving tour consisted of stopping at wayside exhibits with various cannons scattered about. There wasn't enough of an atmosphere to draw me in. Plus it was windy as hell.

We skirted around the edge of Albany and headed down to our hotel. We had one more stop scheduled at the home of Martin Van Buren but by the time we made it there darkness had fallen and we were stumbling around the parking lot by light of our cell phones looking for the mansion. We got stopped by park rangers who kindly gave us some brochures and escorted us off the property. Oh well, at least I got the brochure to prove I was there.

Thanks to my amazing coworkers at the Hampton, we got a deal for the Hampton Inn Kingston. On the way back from dinner we stopped at a Goodwill figuring we were close to NYC so maybe the goods would be better. I tried on a nice Express coat and upon inspecting the pockets I discovered a condom! The closer you get to the city, the naughtier the goods I guess.

The next morning we went to the Vanderbilt mansion. Apparently the Vanderbilts have mansions scattered around the country, the biggest and most famous being the Biltmore (which I didn't go to because it is absurdly expensive). We didn't go inside but the grounds were beautiful. It sat right on the cliffs of the Hudson.

We continued on to FDR's home. He was born and died there. We actually got to see FDR's grave which was fascinating because I've never been to a presidents grave before. We walked the grounds again because it costs money to enter his home and library. Unfortunately, my National Parks pass expired so I didn't get my free admission like always.
We watched a nice film about the Roosevelt's that really showcased what amazing people they were and showed how much the country relied on them through it's toughest times. We went to go to Eleanor's house and again were stopped by Park Rangers! I had pulled over to try to find an overview map of how to get to the Stone cottage (because Jack was confused) when a ranger zipped over on her glorified golf cart (wearing a helmet!?) and proceeded to give us directions.

We made it to Eleanor's cottage and there was not a soul in sight. All the doors were locked so we just wandered around again. I had been taking pictures of me doing cartwheels in front of all the mansions when I decided to try to do a handstand against the chimney of the cottage. Mom tried to throw my legs up in the air but I kept falling over. We left before someone was onto us.

We made the long drive over towards Ithaca and saw a covered bridge. I used to think that it was just a fluke of Jess and mine's roadtrips that we never saw the same thing even though we were in the same car. Granted she can identify a flower at 60 mph but still. Since I didn't even see the covered bridge until Mom pointed it out, I realized that I apparently drive in a vortex and see nothing but the pavement in front of me. We drove through the Catskills which were really pretty especially because I hadn't been around mountains in a long time (not like they compare to the Rockies but the change in elevation was nice).

We stopped at Taugahonnack falls outside of Ithaca. They are the highest free flowing falls in the Northeast (taller than Niagara!). They were really pretty. There was a nice gentlemen that took out picture together and I was wearing a hat and he told me to take it off because it was shielding my eyes. I did and his wife was admonishing him for directing me. He reminded me exactly of the father in Big Fish. Even his voice. We made it home before nightfall Saturday night. Overall, it was a really fun trip and I'm glad I got to see that part of New York and add more badges to my NPS map.

THE NATIONAL PARKS: My Parks