Footnotes: North America 2011 - Washington D.C./New York Again/Toronto, May 26-31.
Missed out on updating this for a while again, since we got pretty busy. I'm currently typing all of this out from my brother's apartment: it's our last day in Toronto before the last Vancouver run, and my folks have gone off to do some last minute shopping things. Peter and I are done packing, so we're chilling out and waiting for them.
May 26
This was our last day in Washington do to whatever we could, so after sleeping in and eating brunch at our leisure, my family elected to hit the Mall again to cover the Museum of American History. That place had some of the coolest exhibits I've ever seen, and one incredibly impressive exhibit on America's involvement in the different major wars along with some of their own on the home front. Military history and the like are among my favorite topics of interest, so you can only guess how much time I spent bouncing around in there, gawking at everything.
(Have I mentioned, on a related note, that we caught field trip season while we were in Washington, so we've been constantly swarmed by crowds of irritating children? I sometimes wonder if I've ever been so unappreciative of heritage and culture at those ages.
Shut up, I'm an old woman.)
We spent most of our morning and afternoon there, and then we split up to check out places we were interested in. Mom hit the art galleries; dad, Peter and I wanted to take a look at the Museum of the American Indian. Everything about that place was amazing, and my only regret is that we really, REALLY didn't get to see a lot of it before closing time. I was hoping to pick up a good book on Native American beliefs - something like a general reference on systems of religion, worship and philosophy - but there doesn't seem to be one in existence. That saddened me greatly, because the one exhibit we really got to go through tackled that topic, and was so fascinating. ;;
My feet were smarting from the collective pain of constantly walking since Toronto by that period. I think I spent most of the remainder of our last day in bed.
May 27
We got kicked out of the hotel by 12 because of check out times, and since our flight had been pushed back into the evening, we were left to stroll a bit around town and lounge in the lobby until it was time for us to head off. That was the start of all the shit, I believe.
Because of horrendous weather conditions and lots of air traffic, our flight was pushed back at least seven times, which resulted in my family and everyone else waiting for flights coming from New York waiting in the departure area for over four hours. The long delay made us miss our connecting flight to Buffalo (and, subsequently, an extra afternoon and evening with my brother Philip in Niagara on his birthday), so after riding a plane that smelled of piss (no joke; I don't want to think about whatever went in there before we came around), we were forced to putter around for a hotel at 2 in the morning upon our arrival to spend an extra night in NYC. We nailed one, but they dinged my parents for a crapload of money that didn't quite add up to the services and room quality of the place we were stuck with. It was one of those hotels that used to be really classy but is now falling apart all over the place.
At least the shuttle driver who took us over to our hotel was really cool.
In retrospect, the situation really wasn't so bad because I had my family with me. I think I would have been a lot angrier (and maybe a little insecure) if I had been traveling alone. The last delay I had to go through was back in LA, when I flew off for a conference. That wasn't very fun. :\
May 28
Our flight to Buffalo was, thankfully, NOT delayed, and we managed to get our suitcases upon landing without a fuss (they had been checked in the day before and had gotten to the airport way ahead of us). Philip was there to pick us up, along with Russell, one of my white brothers. The road trip going to Niagara was fun. XD
Russell accompanied Peter and I on the Maid of the Mist tour, which was so damned awesome... the last time I had been to see the Falls, I had been very young, so encountering them again at an age where I could truly appreciate their beauty and power was something else entirely. After that, we all spent a night out on the town, checking the place out. They really built a tourist town on the Canadian end! It made me miss the company of my friends back home.
The only solution, it seems, is to come back there with them someday.
May 30
Did some last minute touring of Niagara (Russell, Peter and I hit the Journey Behind the Falls this time and got thoroughly soaked) then went for a pit stop at Niagara-at-the-Lake (lovely little town; got to eat Canada's best ice cream, or so the sign said) before heading home. Didn't get to see Geoff since we arrived pretty late, which kind of sucked. Blame it on all of those damned delays...
Attended Mass with Phil and his family in the evening, then spent the rest of the time settling down and bonding. The little bro and I were dragged out early the very next day to go around the Greater Ontario area, checking out some of the universities that my folks are aiming to send my brother to. I went, of course, because these are the places I will have to seriously consider myself, since we might be moving.
Phil, Peter and I picked Liza and Liana up as soon as we were home so that we could catch Kung Fu Panda 2, which was pretty damned good for a sequel. After that, we picked up ginormous sandwiches for dinner, and the bros and I talked on things - family, growing up, moving out - while waiting for my parents to get home.
This trip, it seems, has been all about thinking back, looking forward and wondering where the hell I am now, in more ways than one. I am occasionally surprised at realizing how I really feel about things, and I'm also becoming increasingly aware of the fact that there's only so much time to do everything I need to do, and all of the other things that I simply want to do.
Interesting, really, this process of getting older.
On other news, I'm on my second (and heaviest) day of my period. I will be in transit. Fun.
May 26
This was our last day in Washington do to whatever we could, so after sleeping in and eating brunch at our leisure, my family elected to hit the Mall again to cover the Museum of American History. That place had some of the coolest exhibits I've ever seen, and one incredibly impressive exhibit on America's involvement in the different major wars along with some of their own on the home front. Military history and the like are among my favorite topics of interest, so you can only guess how much time I spent bouncing around in there, gawking at everything.
(Have I mentioned, on a related note, that we caught field trip season while we were in Washington, so we've been constantly swarmed by crowds of irritating children? I sometimes wonder if I've ever been so unappreciative of heritage and culture at those ages.
Shut up, I'm an old woman.)
We spent most of our morning and afternoon there, and then we split up to check out places we were interested in. Mom hit the art galleries; dad, Peter and I wanted to take a look at the Museum of the American Indian. Everything about that place was amazing, and my only regret is that we really, REALLY didn't get to see a lot of it before closing time. I was hoping to pick up a good book on Native American beliefs - something like a general reference on systems of religion, worship and philosophy - but there doesn't seem to be one in existence. That saddened me greatly, because the one exhibit we really got to go through tackled that topic, and was so fascinating. ;;
My feet were smarting from the collective pain of constantly walking since Toronto by that period. I think I spent most of the remainder of our last day in bed.
May 27
We got kicked out of the hotel by 12 because of check out times, and since our flight had been pushed back into the evening, we were left to stroll a bit around town and lounge in the lobby until it was time for us to head off. That was the start of all the shit, I believe.
Because of horrendous weather conditions and lots of air traffic, our flight was pushed back at least seven times, which resulted in my family and everyone else waiting for flights coming from New York waiting in the departure area for over four hours. The long delay made us miss our connecting flight to Buffalo (and, subsequently, an extra afternoon and evening with my brother Philip in Niagara on his birthday), so after riding a plane that smelled of piss (no joke; I don't want to think about whatever went in there before we came around), we were forced to putter around for a hotel at 2 in the morning upon our arrival to spend an extra night in NYC. We nailed one, but they dinged my parents for a crapload of money that didn't quite add up to the services and room quality of the place we were stuck with. It was one of those hotels that used to be really classy but is now falling apart all over the place.
At least the shuttle driver who took us over to our hotel was really cool.
In retrospect, the situation really wasn't so bad because I had my family with me. I think I would have been a lot angrier (and maybe a little insecure) if I had been traveling alone. The last delay I had to go through was back in LA, when I flew off for a conference. That wasn't very fun. :\
May 28
Our flight to Buffalo was, thankfully, NOT delayed, and we managed to get our suitcases upon landing without a fuss (they had been checked in the day before and had gotten to the airport way ahead of us). Philip was there to pick us up, along with Russell, one of my white brothers. The road trip going to Niagara was fun. XD
Russell accompanied Peter and I on the Maid of the Mist tour, which was so damned awesome... the last time I had been to see the Falls, I had been very young, so encountering them again at an age where I could truly appreciate their beauty and power was something else entirely. After that, we all spent a night out on the town, checking the place out. They really built a tourist town on the Canadian end! It made me miss the company of my friends back home.
The only solution, it seems, is to come back there with them someday.
May 30
Did some last minute touring of Niagara (Russell, Peter and I hit the Journey Behind the Falls this time and got thoroughly soaked) then went for a pit stop at Niagara-at-the-Lake (lovely little town; got to eat Canada's best ice cream, or so the sign said) before heading home. Didn't get to see Geoff since we arrived pretty late, which kind of sucked. Blame it on all of those damned delays...
Attended Mass with Phil and his family in the evening, then spent the rest of the time settling down and bonding. The little bro and I were dragged out early the very next day to go around the Greater Ontario area, checking out some of the universities that my folks are aiming to send my brother to. I went, of course, because these are the places I will have to seriously consider myself, since we might be moving.
Phil, Peter and I picked Liza and Liana up as soon as we were home so that we could catch Kung Fu Panda 2, which was pretty damned good for a sequel. After that, we picked up ginormous sandwiches for dinner, and the bros and I talked on things - family, growing up, moving out - while waiting for my parents to get home.
This trip, it seems, has been all about thinking back, looking forward and wondering where the hell I am now, in more ways than one. I am occasionally surprised at realizing how I really feel about things, and I'm also becoming increasingly aware of the fact that there's only so much time to do everything I need to do, and all of the other things that I simply want to do.
Interesting, really, this process of getting older.
On other news, I'm on my second (and heaviest) day of my period. I will be in transit. Fun.