Summer 2013 Adventure - Day 17

We woke up far more refreshed than the previous day and got ready to leave our super nice hotel.  We got Katy's morning coffee, then continued down the road to Columbus to meet up with our friend who attends Ohio State medical school.  Before we got to Columbus we passed a cool looking area near Cumberland, OH called "The Wilds," which is an endangered wildlife conservation area.  It looks like an awesome place to visit and tour, so we plan on doing that in a future adventure.  We had a nice lunch at a Mediterranean place in Columbus called Aladdin's Eatery with our friend.  The food was great, and the conversation was better as we caught up with a friend we hadn't seen since our summer adventure last year.  We stopped at Walgreens for some soda, then we were off toward Indiana.  We got to our hotel in Muncie earlier in the afternoon, so we had some time to drive around town and take a look at the area.  We drove down to the hospital and it looked fantastic!  The hospital itself was very nice, but the family medicine center looked modern and awesome!  There were lots of nice neighborhoods around close to the hospital too.  Muncie reminded us a lot of Conway because of how spread out it was and how there were not a lot of tall buildings.  The area had lots of good restaurants and shopping, and we had dinner at one of the local Japanese restaurants called Fuji.  The food was great and we went back to our hotel to talk about the city and what we thought about it.  Tomorrow we will explore Muncie some more and head northwest!

Summer 2013 Adventure - Day 16

Today we woke up and said goodbye to our friends in New York and headed back westward.  We spent some of the morning playing with the kids in the playpen one last time before we left.  We loaded up the car and paid our parking fee, then drove down to get Katy the New York Starbucks mug she had been eyeing the last week, then we were off.  We made the drive through Queens, Brooklyn, and across the Verrazano-Narrows bridge and into New Jersey.  It was a very cloudy day, and we were very tired from having stayed up late playing board games the night before, which made for a very tough day of driving.  We stopped for lunch at a Cracker Barrel in rural Maryland and filled up with gas.  We had planned on going to Fallingwater in Mill Run, PA, but we were very tired and decided to just drive on to our hotel.  We got to the hotel around 6:00 PM, ordered in some Chinese food, and got to sleep very quickly.  All in all it wasn't a very exciting day, however the Comfort Inn in Washington, PA was the best we have ever been to.  Tomorrow we will be visiting a friend in Columbus before going to Muncie, IN.

Summer 2013 Adventure - Day 15

This morning Dean and I hung out at the apartment for a bit and I worked on teaching the au pair to knit in the round for a hat. Then we set off about 10 on the F train for the end of the line at Coney Island. Two hours later (there were a ton of delays) we saw the Ferris Wheels and roller coasters on the beach! We stopped in for lunch at Nathan's World Famous HotDogs and then bought a beach umbrella and found a spot on the sand. It was so much fun relaxing on the beach and putting our toes in the water. We found some really cool seaglass and chilled on the beach for a couple of hours.
As we got ready to leave we walked down the boardwalk and found some Italian Ice which was absolutely amazing and a perfect end to our afternoon at the beach.
We got back on the F and headed for Manhattan/Queens. A stop at Carroll Street  lead us to one of the best craft stores I have encountered, Brooklyn General. Half of the store was covered in yarn and the other half was all types of fabric, including linens and oilcloth on the 60" wide bolts. It was pretty amazing. I ended up buying a bundle of fabric scraps in some fantastic prints and a knitted squirrel kit, which I can't wait to cast on! The squirrel was on display in the store and I just fell in love.
After a short hike back to the F train, we had a  much shorter trip back to Roosevelt Island than in the morning. We ordered dinner from the local burger place, Riverwalk Bar and Grill (yum!) and then played Frag for several hours until early in the morning hours. We have had such a wonderful time staying with our friends and enjoying their company. We have played 3 new games this week and doted attention on their precious girls. We will definitely be sad to leave tomorrow and head back west, however, I am beginning to miss my own baby Ralph and will be ready for the adventures ahead of us. We will be back to visit NYC and our friends soon!

Summer Adventure 2013- Day 13- The Bronx Zoo

Today we set off from Roosevelt Island after a Starbucks stop. We took a couple of trains and made it to the Bronx, a borough we haven't spent much time in before. Wednesday is bargain day at the Bronx Zoo, so for a mere $30 both of us had total experience tickets for the zoo. We saw some amazing animals like tigers, a snow leopard, a red panda, Indian rhinoceros, elephants, peacocks and peafowl, deer of all kinds, and bears too. Gorillas, monkeys, birds,  leopards, taipiers,  lemurs, giraffes, and wild dogs were just some of the awesome animals we saw. It was a beautiful day and the zoo was so well laid out! We loved the shady paths, the variety of animals and plant life , and the snacks! The zoo was just fantastic. Dean bought a new shirt at the zoo and we got a new tote bag to the support the Conservancy. After a long day walking around the zoo we got in line for the Dinosaur Safari which, while cheesy, was super awesome! The animatronics were very good and the pictures were so much fun to take.
As we came back home for the evening, we stopped by a cupcake shop Amanda talked about a couple of days ago and bought super yummy mini cupcakes for dessert after games! We played a new game after the girls went to bed called Frag which is way fun!
We had a fantastic day and are so happy we decided to go to the zoo today!!