Boston, MA Troy, and Niagara NY

Me and the American Falls

Boston streets
to the left is Paul Revere's House

We left Springfield Mass. and said goodbye to Noah, Chiala, and a comfortable bed. We spent about 5 days straight where we got to stay in comfy beds (3 nights in NYC and 2 days at Noah/Chiala's place). We did not want to go back to the way we have been living :).

Some of the streets of the North End

Driving over to Boston wasn't too bad though we did have to deal with some mellow rain. We started our stay in Boston by just going to a Starbuck's kinda by Harvard and just chilling recuperating and figuring out where we can do. We worked on our blogs and ate some subway. Unfortunately, As the day progressed I became more and more sick. Seems that NYC had some diseases I couldn't escape. By the time we were done and we needed to go find a place to camp for the night I was feeling horrible. Deep in the city there were no Wal-Marts so we had to embark on a longer than desired lame drive avoiding Toll roads, which by the way are wayyyy too many in New England and the roads still suck. We got out to a suburb and rolled on in. I hated the feel of the neighborhood.

Scenery of Upstate New York

Didn't get a pic of this before

The Walmart wasn't 24 hour so after 10pm we wouldn't be able to go inside for the bathroom and there is a certain amount of safety you get when the place is 24 hours. I told Anna I had zero desire to spend the night there and I suspect she eagerly looked for a hotel/motel. We found a cheapish Hotel and I went to go take a warm shower to try and clear up my sinuses. Well the place didn't have what one would call, "hot" water. The inability to have an enjoyable shower really put a damper on the stay. I then spent the rest of the night attempting to go sleep but I was unable to breath and my nose was like a faucet. After tossing and turning till about 4 am I passed out for about 3 hours then we went to Church because it was Easter!! Wow a major holiday and we would not spend it with family. We were already incredibly homesick and here we are at a church we have never been to with everyone dressed especially nice and us in jeans and t-shirts. It was a nice church, traditional, hymns, OK message but nothing stuck out and soon we were out of the door.

Driving and more driving

Lots of these along the way

We headed to the North End, where all the historical stuff is and shops and restaurants. It was hell trying to find parking but finally did and started to meander. Almost all the places are cash only and we didn't have cash nor a chase ATM anywhere. We weren't wanting to pay a fee and this ended up making our lunch a bit more complicated. We did however end up at this open mall type place and they had a food stand where they had chowder, lobster roll, and soda. We both got ours and it was quite delicious. We sat at our table for awhile and we were basically sulking not really loving Boston all that much either. The plan was 3 days in Boston then Portland, Maine then start making our way to Niagara. Thinking about going in the opposite direction as Sacramento, CA really created sadness in us. I told Anna, "You know I really am OK with not going to Portland, its a place I would like to go but really don't care that much if we don't make it there."

Weather got crazy while we drived

looking over the falls

She said she wasn't all that attached to Portland either and it felt like we would only get to colder places going in the direction of Maine. I said you know lets just stay in Boston for a day then put in some big driving hours in and go to Niagara then get to Pittsburgh early and just chill till it was time to get on the plane. We decided this was the best idea.



Here are my observations about Boston. Bostonians are very proud to be Bostonians, there is an insane number of Red Sox fans. People stare, especially at people with big beards. There are a lot of Italians there and they are Very proud of being Italian, they put little reflector stickers on their cars of the Italian flag. In our travel book it describes Boston as a labyrinth of streets, I agree. The cityscape that looks so beautiful in the movie The Town looks nothing close to as good from the ground/inside the city. If you go out to eat it is either, Italian, Pizza, or Subs.

Still some snow surrounding the falls though
it was hot outside

Horseshoe falls which is the more
famous of the falls
supposedly you can see them much better from the
Canada side
the mist makes it almost impossible to see the base though

Alright I will get on with it. Put in some big miles going from Worcester where we spent the night at a Walmart and took a scenic route to get to Albany, NY. We actually ended up driving through the town of Troy which had a cool feel to it and I had a slight inclination to check it out but we were eyes on the prize lets get on with it. Shockingly, the sickness that I had began to recover from was spread to Anna. She began feeling horrible and expressed the desire to stay at a Hotel. I complied thinking about how nice it could have been if I stayed at a nice place in Boston. We booked this very nicely priced hotel that ended up being a good stay with some very good breakfast.

up above the Horse shoe falls this is where
the crazies launch their vessels to go over the falls

More Horse shoe

Yesterday was basically just driving more and more and more. We took yet another scenic route, why you ask? well because we would have driven over 300 miles on a Toll road and we didn't want to pay that and we wanted to see the country off the beaten path. Turned out upstate New York is quite beautiful. There were tons of old buildings and barns. Some stuff was really pretty and there were quite a few deteriorating barns or homes which were actually pretty interesting. I was wondering if we would drive around the Appalachian mountains. Don't know if we went over them exactly but Maander did have to tackle some big hills. The whole east coast is pretty inhabited and for a long while we have felt close to civilization for the most part. There have been stretches that seem pretty rural.

From the observatory
now I notice that this is
out of focus a bit meh ;\

Basically as soon as we rolled into Buffalo the scenery took a nose dive and has looked like a combination south sac/Stockton look to it. We drove through some ghettos that were way bigger than I expected. I thought for sure that if you get close to the falls there would be a nice neighborhood or something. Nope everything we have seen has been pretty gross. We spent the night at Walmart and today we visited the falls. I'm tired of writing so I will say Niagara falls was huge, awesome, surreal. We walked around and just experienced it. We knew that half a mile away was a very ugly town but right here right now this, this was nice  :) On the Canada side Niagara looked really nice. Lots of Casinos and touristy stuff. We debating walking or driving over there but decided meh not that interested and were off.

So now we are laying low and some really big storms are supposed to roll in so I'm at a Barnes and Nobles hanging out. We plan on heading on down to Pittsburgh when the weather seems to be stabilized and just staying there till the time to fly to Sacramento!! wooo hooo bye bye enjoy the pics...

Philadelphia, PA New York City, NY and Springfield/NorthHampton, MAA

Ode to Rollerblading

There is the Liberty Bell through the glass

Recently we have hit some major cities here in the US. Anna and I have been pretty burned out so I hoped that these places could serve as a place to recharge and regain a sense of vigor for the road. In New York we had booked a few days at a Hotel so I knew we would have some good accommodations while we explored the Big Apple.

Streets of Philly kiid

More Philly ya hear?

First we must address Philadelphia. We had planned on going to Baltimore, Maryland but the weather was horrible and we had no idea what would be good to see in Baltimore. We ended up just zipping by and seeing what the city looked like, nothing special. onward up to Pennsylvania. As we made our way up the Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme song kept popping into our heads and we would spontaneously just start singing it over and over. I've noticed if there are some type of song or saying associated with a location that I am close to or on the way to I often will find myself muttering it over over just to occupy myself. It was fun and who doesn't like singing that song?

Cutie being cute

Ben Franklin was assigned that spot
at the church

I was hoping that Philadelphia would be a great experience. I really don't know much about the town but know that a lot has happened there. They have the Liberty Bell there and apparently Ben Franklin called it home and was buried there. They are known for their Philly Cheese steaks hence being named after the town. We knew we had to see the Liberty Bell, go to Love Park and get a Cheese steak, other than that anything could happen.

Ben Franklin's Grave

Nom Nom on dem
Tasty Kakes

We parked and started to make our way around the town. Anna and I agreed that the feel and look of the town was exactly what we imagined Philly to be like. We first headed to the Liberty Bell. Turned out everyone goes to the Liberty Bell. The line to go see it was huge! So long I knew I had no desire to wait. We could see the Bell through a window anyways. You couldn't see the crack very well but enough where I was satiated. We took a pic and were on our way. From here we mostly meandered. We ended up walking down a street and getting to the River that separated Pennsylvania from New Jersey. At a park right by the water was a memorial that commemorated all the struggles Irish emigrants went through. It described the potato famine and all the challenges they had in the new world. The Irish were mistreated basically. We headed back and now our destination was to go see Ben Franklin's grave and Love Park.

There Lady Liberty be!

Streets of Manhattan

We saw the church where Ben Franklin attended and then walked over to Love Park which is right by City Hall. This has a special place in my heart because there has been a lot of footage shot here from rollerblading. I wanted to see all the skate spots see how big they are and get a pic with the Love sign. Once we got to the park I texted Buddy to let him know and then he told me he always wanted to go there and try Tasty Kakes, Water Ice, and a Cheese Steak. I had no idea what were Tasty Kakes and Water Ice. I felt like I had to experience those so we went on the hunt. Tasty Kakes is a brand that makes different baked goods like donuts, pasteries, etc. Bought that and then Water Ice is just a snow cone and it was cold so I didn't feel the need to get that. Before we left the town we of course got ourselves that Cheese Steak. According to Yelp there was a really great spot towards the North West part of Philly so that is where we headed. The place was just a corner store pretty compact and it was sooooooo good. They had a bunch of things you could add to it but you don't want to over do it with those things. Anna and I each got one and they were quite large. With bellies full and satisfied we found a Wal-Mart to spend the night at.

From the Jewish Deli
Smoked Salmon, Cream Cheese
on an everything Bagel

Wall Street where our economy
fell to it's knees!

The weather ended up being horrible. There were severe weather warnings for tornadoes but according to my weather program we fell outside the danger zone. The rain was dumping and the lightning would strike ever so often. Then the sirens started to go off. I was stressing badly on what exactly those meant. In Sacramento we don't have those so I didn't know how severe or the type of warning it was. The warnings we had on the weather program were possible flooding from higher than normal tides, which I was pretty sure we were in an area where we were ok from that. Then the warning about tornadoes but that didn't extend to Philadelphia. I doubted they would ring the sirens if it was the flood thing so I was worried that it was referring to tornadoes. I went inside the Wal-Mart and asked a guy saying, "Ummm, I'm not from around here... What are those sirens about? Do I need to be worried?"

Memorializing the FDNY and NYPD of
the Sept 11 disaster

Time Square playboy!

He responded with, "Usually they are because of fires." .... great.... I know it has nothing to do with fires the rain was absolutely dumping. I go up to some other employees on break outside I approach them and ask the same question and the just turn away and don't say anything, ignoring me.... yeaaahh customer service. Nothing came of the sirens except for me stressing for most of the night and Anna not being too worried about it. It is funny how a couple can balance each other. In Raleigh she was worried about the warnings and I was chill and in Philly vice versa. Turns out we got out of North Carolina just in time. Don't know if all you know but they had like 150 tornadoes about a week and a half after we left and there has been tons of damage.

This is GE's building which is 30 Rock

Anna and I have had to deal with a bunch of severe weather over here which is not something we are used to. It is actually really draining on us during the trip. As I have said before rain really gets in the way and these past few weeks have been on and off really bad weather. Without a warm bed and a fresh shower everyday you really just long for Sunny California and home. Yea sure we could snuggle and try and keep each other warm but with us being together always we are constantly butting heads. Not to say we are having relationship troubles it is just that not only do we have to deal with environmental challenges but the challenges of working together to accomplish the task of traveling to a location and everything that goes along with it. Since a lot of this trip is improvisational we can have different ideas of how to go about something and that can lead to some bruised egos. Anna and I are getting to know each other in a different way than before. We were married for 3 years before this yet I feel like I am gaining access deeper into her psychy than ever before.

On the Ferry to Staten Island

Grand Central Station

Finally to New York. I was really excited about this place. We had a long list of must sees here and we would be spending 3 days here. Luckily Anna's cousin lives in NYC. We knew he could give us some suggestions and kinda serve as a crutch while we meandered NYC. We rolled into Staten Island about noon after paying 16 bucks worth of tolls rolling through New Jersey and New York. In this part of the country it is unavoidable to escape tolls. The roads are just as crappy if not more crappy and you also have to pay to drive on em. Necessary evil but we check in get situated and then their shuttle took us to the Staten Island Ferry which dumps ya right into Manhattan. Navigating initially was stressful and we were kinda like chickens with our heads cut off. Eventually we made it to Anna's cousin's Apt in the East Village. He was watching his fiance's son for the day so he met us outside and we headed to a park. He got us familiar to the different parts of NYC and good places to check out. We ended up hitting up a Jewish Deli and getting some Ukranian coffee. The streets of NY are so close to the way they are portrayed in movies. You have hot dog carts all over cars/taxis zipping by honking and tons of people walking. It was an exciting experience. We got out of the dreary weather and headed inside Noah's Apt till his fiance got off work. We socialized for awhile then it was time to jump back on the subway to jump on the ferry then meet up our shuttle to the hotel. About an hour and a half of traveling to get to the shuttle finally and we passed out in a luxurious bed.

Water Reseviour in Central Park shot towards the West Side
of Manhattan

The second day is where we hit up the big sites. We went to Central park, the World Trade Center, Wall Street, 30 Rock, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Time Square. When we got to Time Square, which is a huge tourist area, a guy succeeded in selling us some comedy show tickets. No prob we knew it would end up being quite a bit of money but as long as I laugh I am cool. After hitting some of the big things we laid low at Noah's until it was time to jump on the subway to where the comedy club was. Pretty late in the second day we soon felt like pro's navigating the town. The show was funny and we had some nice drinks but for 4 drinks the bill was $53! ouch and now back to the hotel at midnight. We got to Staten Island too late for the shuttle to pick us up, so we had to go by Taxi which was $24 when all said and done. I calculated and just making the decision to go to the Comedy Club was an extra $100 bucks for the day. I knew we would end up spending quite a bit in NY so I wasn't too mad at myself for that though it is always nice to have money :) Food wise we had a NY Slice, and I had an Italian Sausage dog from a cart and we had a Knish oustide The Met. All the food was very good.



On the third day we didn't feel so obligated to see things. We hadn't seen the Empire state building so we wanted to do that and maybe check out Central park more but that was it nothing more we stressed about. We got to the Empire state building after stopping by Grand Central Station and headed inside. $21 to go to the top and we decided that looking up at it was good enough for us instead of looking down. Went to Macy's on 34th Street which is the biggest store in the world apparently. Then we jumped on the subway and headed to Harlem which is on the north part of Central park. We walked along Central park and saw Harlem then headed down Central Park more on the Eastside. We did a ton of walking and once we finally got to the bottom we were both starving. We knew we wanted to get a Kabob, a Falafel and another NY Slice. We finally tracked down a cart that had a Kabob and Falafel. We were so hungry that after eating those we were still very hungry. Time to get a NY Slice. On our way to a hole in the wall place we saw a nicer Pizza joint that would serve full sized pizza instead of by the slice. We decided to go for the whole pie. The pie was great and we were happy. From there we headed back to Staten Island and were quite happy with our time in NYC.

Reseviour again towards the East Side of Manhattan

Belvidere Castle in Central Park

From NYC we followed Noah to their place in Springfield, MA. Drove through Connecticut and the scenery is changing once again. We haven't had mountains in the longest time but there were actually some hills. It was stupid windy on the way there and Maander was getting pushed really badly. We finally made it and made ourselves at home at Noah's and Chiala's. Yesterday we spent most of the day in a place called North Hampton which was recommended to us by Chiala, a native of Massachusetts. It was a nice place with a bohemian feel to it. We went to some Antique stores which was really interesting because there is so much history in this area.

North Hampton, MA
not the most scenic view of the town, sorry

We just rolled into Boston and the rain is going like crazy. It is supposed to rain the whole time we are here and Anna isn't happy about it. It looks like once we get back from our week in Sacramento we will just be zipping back home as best we can. This has been an amazing experience even though we feel like we have now, "experienced" the road. When we get back to Pittsburgh on May 10th I hope that the weather has decided to stay summer and there isn't any severe weather we have to deal with. Getting back to the wilderness will be interesting and I hope we can appreciate it even though we want to be home.

Raleigh, NC, Petersburg, Richmond, Williamsburg, VA Washington DC and Annapolis, MD

Lincoln and me

NC Capitol

She's in a boat!

I have truly neglected you. I planned on once a week but this past Sunday didn't give me an opportunity to write so I pushed it off farther. All of a sudden here we are 12 days later! I have seen a lot and at the very least I have a ton of stuff to talk about. Hope you guys enjoy I will try not to be long winded.

Govornor's mansion in Raleigh

some clothes you could try on at the battle field

The last I left off I was feeling down in the dumps and sick for home. I can't say I don't desire to go home but I truly feel refreshed after what I have been through. Our first stop after Wilmington was Raleigh. The poor weather had been plaguing us a ton and that was no different in Raleigh. The great part about Raleigh was that the history museum was free. Turns out a lot of museums in this part of the country are free. We have been overwhelmed with history thus far. We saw the capitol which was interesting because there were nuances like divots in the stone stairs from when the slaves in the 1840-50s used metal wheeled wheel-barrows to take wood up to the furnace to keep the legislators warm while they were in the senate debating. The building had a mix of architecture because the in style architecture changed midway through the 8 year build and they ended up going with a different style on the inside on the 3rd story. They had some great preserved historical artifacts that were interesting to see.

Pulling a carriage

Across the street from the Capitol was the history museum which we were able to go in for free. It was a pretty impressive museum for being free. We saw things that honored North Carolinian athletes, WWII things, Some early activist photojournalism that shed light on child labor in North Carolina circa 1905. After a night where there were tornado warning which Anna got pretty nervous about we were on our way. We stayed a night at a KOA in Roanoke Rapids, NC which is just south of Virginia then onto Petersburg.

Looked amazing

reproduction cabin found in Civil war era

what a fort looked like back then

We got to Petersburg and saw that there was a park that preserved where a Civil War Battle had happened. We decided to make our way there and check it out. Once again we got a reasonable charge on exploring the are, $5 per car. This park is actually quite large and has places where both Confederate and Union armies created forts. There were major battles there where the Union tried to get to Richmond, Petersburg is just a bit below Richmond. There were many earthworks where the soldiers built up the land so they could better defend. They had cannons all over and recreated some things from the war. On this site they had the battle place where the Union effectively won the war. It was amazing because the Union built a mine underneath the Confederates then loaded it with ammunition and blew it up!

Cooking up some good stuff

What is hilarious about the story is that they blew it at about 4:30am then the Union rushed in after the explosion, however, they didn't have much of a plan. What ended up happening was the Union soldiers would rush in see the crater and just start staring in awe of what they were able to do. The Confederates regrouped and send a counter attack and Union soldiers ran into the crater for cover and ended up getting messed up pretty bad. While apparently the Confederates won that battle overall it was able to bring ultimately a surrender from the Confederates apparently... I'm no historian, just going on what was told to me. The placards and stone memorials all around the area were interesting. People truly treasure the past in this area. They are very proud of different occurrences and want everyone to know about them.

the mine where union dug to blow em up

the crater

I was happy I was able to see where the Civil War began, Fort Sumter, and where is ended, Petersburg at the Battle of Crater Hill. We ended up going to a pub after seeing all of that history and had some excellent food. As I have stated before the buildings and towns are just much much older than what I am used to. We are talking 1600s here. We meandered around the historic district which wasn't too much then were off to Richmond.

petersburg old building unlabeled

Richmond Capitol

Richmond felt big and industrial. It was difficult to navigate for the most part and we found another episode where trying to navigate and get to places we wanted to had Anna and I at each other's throats. The weather wasn't good at all and we spent a day where we saw a movie then got some food then quickly got to a Walmart to chill for a few. For the most part the weather was not good here and we were lamenting our situation. We did however go to the Historical Society's Museum. It was ranked really high on things to see in Richmond and it too was free. This place was actually an information overload. All the exhibits were excellent and pretty soon we were wore out from all of the information they were providing for us. We spent a good portion of the day working our way through the museum and after were pretty exhausted. Anna was able to contact her cousin who lives and works in New York at the time and he gave us all these suggestions and is available to hang with us some when we are there so we were getting very excited about getting to New York. We decided we will stay in the city in a hotel for a couple days and those few days will likely be pretty expensive. I look forward to it a ton though.

Williamsburg we were best of buds

Governor's Palace

After Richmond it was time to go to Williamsburg. It was one of the first cities here from England. We planned on meeting Micah and Rachelle here and seeing the sites. Williamsburg was actually restored in about 1920-30 by one of the Rockefeller's. Here they are all decked out in their colonial gear giving you a very 1600s to 1700s feel. It was great seeing and being with family after feeling so homesick. Micah and Rachelle had already booked a Hotel that had two beds and they invited us to stay with them! We spent two nights there and it felt like we got a reset from all of the travel and sleeping in Maander. We spent much more money in Williamsburg than we typically would have if we were by ourselves but we definitely felt like we got to know the town and experience everything it had to offer. We left Williamsburg for Washington DC agreeing to meet up with Micah and Rachelle there.

Micah getting to work

Inside the Palace

Oxen

This guy did an awesome speech where he pretended he was a frenchman
coming to fight in the revolutionary war

DC is really busy and really hard to navigate. So conflict was present here but we made due. Parking was impossible and the Bus was hard to switch lanes. We finally found a parking spot and walked a bit and saw the Lincoln memorial. Seeing all the sites here that I have seen in pictures were quite surreal. I never thought I would see these places. I never really had a huge urge to come to DC. I was very glad I did reflecting on the experience. The weather got bad and we snapped a few pics then we were off to a Starbucks to figure out where was the best place to lay our head. We made arrangements to see our friend Jami who we haven't seen in like 3 years. She is now this really important Lawyer for a big firm and soon will be moving to New York. I was happy she was willing to give us peons the time of day :).

Washington's Monument booom

Abe's hat

Jefferson's memorial, the neglected one

We met up at a bar and immediately it was good times. We were laughing and joking. It was cool seeing her and catching up because there were so many things to catch up on. We talked about our journeys and this is probably the first person we have really known well that we have shared with now that we have been on the road quite some time. We reflected on a bunch of places we have been what we enjoyed and what we thought was lame. We joked about going to Dollywood because she worked there for a summer. We got to know all about how hard she has worked to get to where she is at. I hope all she seeks she gets and that she doesn't have to sacrifice parts of her where she would feel like she is being fake.  We laughed and joked and had a beer and some calamari and talked more. We ended up staying and talking till the bar closed which was at 11 for whatever reason. We hugged and said goodbye with hopes of meeting up the next day or the day after. Unfortunately, we were unable to meet again so this sweet meeting will have to suffice. She was able to give us tips with getting around DC which ended up being very helpful.

Natural history museum

White house... no Obama

We went to the Holocaust Museum the last day in DC. This was an experience I won't forget. I know that the atrocities that happened there were unthinkable but man when confronted with photos and video of it it is sickening. We must not forget this tragedy and we must not allow this to happen. I felt so sad but felt that in a way I was trying to memorialize these victims whose lives were cut short for no valid reason. It is unthinkable that humans are capable of doing what had happened. The evil man is capable of is so extreme and so disgusting. I filled with anger at points and felt helpless at others. I remember seeing video of when the army was liberating a concentration camp and one of the prisoners started hitting and attacking one of the German army men that was now under arrest. I felt like the prisoner should have been given an opportunity to torture and kill his captors. I quickly recoiled however. This feels like an appropriate response but is it truly? More killing and more torture will only beget more pain and death and evil. These people need to be punished but we must do it civilly. I have conflict in my heart still thinking about this situation. I pray and I hope that I can sift through the spin that  my own government puts on issues and come to a clear understanding. I pray and hope that all information on controversial subjects I am able to see the clear true information and make a good decision on it. This world is filled with bias. I often want to reject all news or expository text because I feel it is strife with half truths and leanings I don't desire to let enter my brain.

Top of Jefferson's monument pretty cool

Emotionally exhausted and feeling generally done with DC we left for Annapolis Maryland. Here we enjoyed a 24 hour fitness and today walked around the downtown area. It is a beautiful town and used to be the Nation's Capital very briefly. The Treaty of Paris which ended the Revolutionary War was signed there. We ate at this delicious joint that specialized in corned beef. We walked the town and got some ice cream. We basically made  a day trip out of Annapolis and now we are just south of Baltimore in a suburb.

Annapolis

Nom Noming

State house Treaty of Paris signed here!