Goodbye New York, Hello Washington DC

Our last day in New York, we decided to check the car battery!  Oops, deader than a doornail!  Enter AAA,  Yeah for BCAA!  We called them and they were there within an hour and installed a new battery.  The old one had a bad cell, so couldn't be charged up.  It has been going, we have been pulling the car along with the ignition partly on for over 9000 kms.  So not easy on batteries.  So we had lunch in the RV and headed into town again.

We visited the Empire State Building, went to the observatory that you see in "An Affair to Remember", "Sleepless in Seatle", "Breakfast at Tiffanies", King Kong, and the list goes on.  It was almost a religious experience! lol.  We rented a little audio guide and it was well worth it.  When you look one direction, the audio guide tells you what you are looking at and gives a little story or two.

 There it is from the street.  It was built in 1931, in the depressions years.  It was the tallest building for over 40 years, until the World Trade Center was built.  It also had a plane hit it once, in the 1950's, by mistake.  A few people were killed, but the building is a stong as ever.  To New Yorkers it stands for stability.  It is still the tallest building around its area.  The new world trade center is taller, but it is far enough away that your view is not obstructed by anything all the way around.

 

The lobby, A pretty classy place.

 

Then I went to Macy's.  The biggest one is here.  It's 10 stories, I think.  I only got to 5.  My feet gave out again.  So we went for dinner at a nice Pub and home. 

 

New York was a great experience.  I don't know how anything gets done in such a crowded, crazy place.  The traffic; you would never catch me trying to drive here.  Pedestrians ignore street lights.  I don't know how more aren't killed.  Also, with that crowd, when you are out and about for 12 hours a day, the biggest issue is finding a public washroom!  lol.  We found that Starbucks usually had one, so you just had to buy a coffee and wait in line for 1/2 hour.  No problem.

 

 

So, then we left our campsite in New Jersey and headed to Washington D C.  The challenge of driving around here is not what you think.  The traffic is crazy, but also, there are so many toll roads!  It is very challenging to get anywhere with out breaking the bank!  We were lucky and only paid about $17.  We heard from one couple in Nova Scotia that had driven this way that paid over $200 on Turnpikes.  So those of you that have been complaining about the toll on the Port Mann, consider yourselves lucky!

 



So, Washington!  What a culture shock!  Here, there are many people as well, but everything is so organized and sedate by comparison.  We again took a Hop On Hop Off bus tour.  The guide was talking to some folks at 6;30, the end of the tour, about where to get off.  He said "If you want downtown, get off here, but nothing is happening now."  Ha ha.

We are staying at a campsite called Cherry Hill, about an hour out of town, by bus and subway, but very convenient.  The bus stops right at the campsite. and takes you steps from the subway.  So easy to get around. 

 Very nice subway, fairly clean and fast trains

 Union Station and Columbus Circle

 The Capital Building

 

 Washington Monument, under repair from an Earthquake 2 years ago.

Martin Luther King, This statue, but also a large wall of granite with many of his famous quotes on it.

This is just one example.  It is well done, because it is not the man's face that is significant, but what he said and did.

 

 Thomas Jefferson, he is standing, looking at the White House.  I figure he's saying, hey that's my house!

F D R, a fabulous memorial to him, it is huge, goes on and on. All stone and water, with many of his famous words engraved on the stone.  Same idea as M. L. King, its words and deeds that are immortalized.

 

The Second World War Memorial is so huge, our pictures don't even show it well.  Very well done.

Vietnam War Memorial

 

 

 Korean War Memorial, a black granite wall behind the soldiers has faces etched in it that are actual faces of soldiers

 

 

 Abraham Lincoln.  Fabulous monument, with the Gettysburg Address and his first Inaugaral Speech engraved on the inside of the temple. 

This is his view, to the Washington Monument and the Capital building behind. 

 

 

 

I got to say it.  The United States know how to honour their people.  Acres and acres of monuments, you can hardly walk far enough to see them all.  Quite something to see.

 

So, we were on the go for another 10 hour day.  In New York they were 12 and 13 hour days.  So we am pooped and we are taking a day off today.  Once I am finished blogging, I am going to do laundry and read my book.  It is 33 degrees today, humidex 41, supposed to be even warmer tomorrow.  Glad we have air conditoning.  We are also getting an oil change done on the RV.  The guy just came and will do it here, so we don't have to drive to a place.  Very convenient.

 

New York City, Day 3

Empire State Building

 

New York is amazing!  A friend of mine just made a statement that fit so well (Hope you don't mind, Linda) it Vibrates!  It is big and very densly populated, but a very walkable city, so we have walked and walked and walked.  My feet hurt, my neck hurts from looking up!  There is a subway station just 5 blocks from here, and once on the subway, we are 15 minutes from the Empire State Building.

Wednesday morning, we got a Hop On - Hop Off bus tour and saw many sights around town.  We took the uptown and downtown tours, with lunch in between.  The guides were entertaining and informative.  Very good tours.  New Yorkers that we have met are very friendly and upbeat.  There are alot of hustlers on the streets trying to get you to buy tickets for tours or whatever, but they are pleasant enough and leave you alone if you say no thanks.  I don't know how these folks make it in this city, probably 14 per apartment.  We have never felt unsafe.  We have been walking the streets until 10 at night.  No problem.

Some facts we found out.  Average monthly rent in Manhattan - $4000;  Average price of an apartment - $1.46 million.  Parking signs-  Special - $8.45 / 1/2 hour.  $46 per day.  Subway, $2.25/trip - cheap

Flatiron building

The new Tower One, World Trade Centre, almost completed.  Is the tallest building in the United States.

 Neat looking building, Looks like twisted metal.

Diana Ross once lived here.



United Nations

 

 Rockerfeller Centre

 We then had dinner in a little brewery close to Time Square and then got on the night tour bus!

 The financial district at night, and the Brooklin Bridge as we are driving over the Manhattan Bridge.

 Time Square at night is actually daylight!  very bright and full of people.  This is an area that never sleeps. The subway runs 24 hours a day.

Empire state building

More Times Square

 

The next day we started with a harbour cruise.

 Note Empire State building

 Tower One, WTC

 Two Canadians in New York

The Statue of Liberty.

 

Then last night we went to a wonderful musical,  The Jersey Boys, all about the Four Seasons.  Great music.  We will probably stand in line, if our feet work tomorrow, and see if we can get tickets for another production.

 

Today we visited Ground Zero. It is quite moving.  The memorial is very tasteful.  A fountain for each building that is the size of the footprint of the towers, water runs down around the perimeter and then disappears into infinity.On the rim of each fountain is the names of the victims of 9/11.  It is surrounded by White Oak trees.  The lower building behind the fountain in this picture is going to be the museum, which isn't open as yet.

 The new Tower One, behind the memorial

 The Surviving Tree, a Pear tree that survived 9/11 and has been nurtured and replanted at the site.  It's stump was found in the rubble, about 8 feet tall, burned and broken.  It sat on a garbage pile for a month, and a worker noticed it had buds on it, so he took it to a nursery in Brooklin and they nurtured it and it came back! 

 

 

 Memorial to the Firemen and Police

 

Then we walked past city hall to the Brooklin Bridge

 



 On the steps of the Court house.  We see this building every week on Blue Bloods.

 

 

 We then walked across the Brooklin Street Bridge.  This bridge was built 130 years ago, unbelievable.  You walk above the traffic in the middle of the bridge, not on the edge.  It was quite neat.

 

Then we went to Central Park and spent time just sitting as we couldn't walk any more.  At 6 pm we met some very dear friends from Penticton that are in New York as well, and went to a pub for dinner.  It was so good to see someone from home again!  We had a lovely visit, then walked past Times Square (Again) to the subway (about 20 blocks) and home. 

This are the beams from the 9/11 memorial as seen from the campsite, our front window!

 

Goodnight.  I'm pooped.

New York City - we made it

Hi all,  the day started great.  We were hooking up the car by 9:30, so were hoping to get a good start to New York.  Then the hookup for the lights on the CRV wouldn't work, probably a broken wire.  So another camper, bless their hearts, had an extra, so we bought it from them and started out.  Next was stop for Propane.  A car is parked where we need to be, so wait!  Finally pulled out of the Campground at 10:45.  Then we get on the road and the CRV is saying low battery!  Stop to check.  Then an accident on the highway, stopped for that, no exit, more than an hour just creaping along.  Then-----

Monsoon rain on the interstate towards New York.  it just poured!  had to slow down big time.

 



Stressful drive on multilane highways!  Chris is my hero.

The Tappan Zee Bridge to New Jersey side.  Note the sky has cleared.  not a great picture, but you can't really pull over here.  lol

We got to our campground at close to 6 pm.  So a long 4-hour drive. lol.  (That's how long it was supposed to take. )

This shot is taken a 2 minute walk from our RV parking spot. The site is a parking lot, as I said before.  But we are looking at the skyline from the front window of our RV!  And it is quiet here, except for the sound of the halyards on the sail boats behind us!  So we are spending the evening going over New York info, trying to figure out what to do tomorrow.  The ferry is right here, takes you to New York in 15 minutes, but then you have to figure out how to get around from there.  We will keep you posted.