Monday, October 24, 2011

Flying low at 53
















Who knew I would have so much to say about a trip home? I thought it would be pretty uneventful, just getting the job done and being home. Was I wrong. Firstly with our usual grace 0800 turned in to 1100, but it was worth it. Well sort of, it was rather ironic, but after attending a half day on intentional burns, I think I got scalded by the water in the hotel. And while I personally appreciate the opportunity to make that decision for myself and am a sinner because my own hot water at home is turned to “hottest”, I am not a hotel. It is a situation where a child could quickly sustain burns. So note to self, send a letter to Hyatt Montreal! Jodi wanted one last chance to get a photo of a church I had mentioned in an earlier blog , we checked out, and trekked off to get that photo. On the way she spied croissants and suggested we stop for breakfast before hitting the road. Needless to say she lured me right in! I had an almond croissant rather than plain and oops, this one is not as good as the ones in Paris. We purchased two plain ones for the road, which escaped the clutches of border patrol, but more about that later.

On the way out of the hotel I wanted one last chance to use the facilities and we stopped in the WC at the bar of the hotel, just because it was on the way to the parking garage. Never miss a chance to be a crapper checker! It was the most awesome bathroom I have seen in a long time. It was hard to photo, but the sink was on long “trough” with faucets hanging out of the wall, in the foreground of the trough, was a long flat stone which was a little angled back towards the wall (and the drains) with soap dispensers sitting at the back of that long stone. On the other wall were butterflies cut from beer cans, some which acted as light shades. It was amazing and I wished I had used it before. What does that say about me that I like to use cool bathrooms, I wonder?

I was a bit concerned at getting the car out of the garage as we had watched people struggle with the payment booth all week, but it gladly and easily took our $105.00 automobile hotel bill payment and off we went. I had to stop and take a few photos of some lovely old houses as we left town. I truly think driving in Montreal much easier than Paris! We had decided to get across the borer as soon as possible because we had less things to struggle with in the states, such as currency conversion, phone charges and Delores Gramin. So we crossed at Alexandria Bay, New York. There is a huge bridge we crossed and the scenery was breathtaking, of course no photos because of the railings, but still. We were one of the lucky winners selected for auto inspection and it was a mess. They directed us to a area to park the car, hand over they keys and just walk away from all our possessions, just like that. We were allowed to take our purses and wear a jacket, which they never inspected. The guy was an ass and I tried to joke a bit with him that I needed some kind direction, because I was a “driving across the border virgin”, but he could not even participate in any kindness. This all makes me a nervous wreck because my “good girl” syndrome kicks in and we truly do operate under “guilty until proven innocent” at these check points. The guy inside was even less appealing, and Jodi did not find my joke about a dead insect I had noticed on the dash at all amusing, the poor critter had been there for about a week and I thought it pretty funny, apparently he did not, nor did she. For a dead bug he was pretty well traveled. I also pointed out that it was Jodi’s BD, something he could have noticed had he been paying attention and wished her happy BD, but I had to help him with that too! Geesh, and I pay his salary! ON the way out, there was one guy that was friendly and kind, THANK GOD, or I might have to write another letter! Seriously, I always think we do a lot of posturing, but the bad guys do what they are going to do one way or the other.

About now I am hungry again and we begin looking for a NON-chain eating establishment. I was about to believe I was going to be forced to participate in a chain restaurant experience, and out of nowhere appeared the little Mom and Pop place I think they have 2 stores there. Stefanos was awesome, I had an amazing angel hair pasta with red cream sauce and italian sausage, and Jodi had an calzone. The waitress did not bring my bread ( I had a “meal” with salad pasta and bread) and I was glad I Jodi wend and nagged for me as it was amazing bread! Of course we wished we had one at home! During our meal Jodi realized that she is out of memory on her Cannon, Oh Lord, here we go again, out of memory, out of energy, both are BAD!

The rest of the way was pretty much uneventful, we saw the most beautiful sunset of the trip and Jodi did her level best to capture it. I am continually amazed at the beauty of our earth and reminded how much we need to be caretakers of it, the lovely trees, the grassy slopes, the lakes and rivers, the sunrises and sunsets!

We decided to take a quick peek at Niagara falls because I had not been there before and got a room at the Holiday Inn, Jodi had to poke fun that I would chain hotel it!

It was to a good experience though, some idiot decided to move tables from a room across the hall from ours at 10:30 at night! I felt obliged to give him the hairy eyeball, what a dope!

The restaurant for a hotel restaurant was ok. I had cream of chicken soup and Jodi had the pot roast meal of the day, though she was not thrilled with her beef and the gravy, she liked the potato and vegetables on the side. Off to Niagara Falls!

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