Big Disappointments and little Blessings

This will be a short blog because it's more of a thought than a full fledged story.

and let me preface it by saying that my sister has told me "enough with the negativity.  I can't take it anymore".  I wanted to say to her "welcome to my world", but I choked back the tears and let her talk.

I have been planning for months a trip back to Colorado in the fall. My Colorado book club is having a retreat to a condo in Frisco next weekend and I have been focussing my dream on going to the retreat to reconnect with my beloved friends as well as to take the opportunity to go to Denver to see Hunter's new apartment as well as to go to our storage locker and ship back to New York some things that will make our apartment feel more like home (Halloween/Christmas decorations, family photos, etc..).  I guess I knew by the 1st week in September that the finances were impossible, but I didn't tell anyone until this past weekened.  I just kept praying that I'd win lotto or some ship would come in.   I even think Jeff thought I was going until I said something to him about my work schedule a few days ago and he said, "I thought you were going home next weekend?"

I had a wonderful birthday on Saturday.  Actually, it was one of the nicest birthdays I can remember.   Very low key.

My friend Charlene and her daughter Jessie invited Cameron and me out to breakfast.  They generously treated us to brunch at my new favorite restaurant The Kitchenette on Amsterdam and 125th Street (shabby chic decor and comfort foods).  We walked home through Morningside Park and stopped by a farmers market near our apartment to buy apples, corn, and eggs. I don't want to gush, but... Charlene and Jessie are earthly angles.   I honestly can't imagine what would have happened to us if they had not taken us on as their friends. 

With my weekday schedule doing verifications for HR Plus, and my evenings and weekends job working for "un-named retailer" I have not  been biking in Central Park with my familly all summer.  I live on 108th and Central Park West so this is riduculous!  I was determined that on my Big 5-0 we would spend a few hours biking come hell or high water.  We did it!  We biked through the park and took a detour via 5th Avenue and 110th to reach the Conseratory Garden which is Central Park's botanical garden. It's paradise in the city.

Afterwards, home.  Nap.  Get dressed for the evening.

I had heard on New York Live, Channel 4 that Max Brenner's was the place to dine for chocoloate lovers.  That would be me.  Jeff made the reservaation. 

We left the house at 7:45 and we had 8:01 reservations down on Broadway and 14th Street.  We never take cab, but... it was my birthday and we were running so late.  Lesson learned.  Take the subway.  $25 dollars and 25 minutes later we made it to the restaurant via yellow cab.   I must admit it was nice being stuck in traffic in midtown Manhattan looking up at St. Patrick's Catherdral and the Empire State as we slowly made our way down 5th Avenue, but the traffic was unexpected and annyong. We made it to the chocolate paradise and had a lovely dinner.  Next time I think we should just go for dessert.  By the time the chocoloate decadence arrived after our meal I was almost to full to eat.  Almost..., but I made room. LOL!

Home.  A nice glass of wine.  And it was done.  Welcome to 50.  It feels pretty good.

Subways, PATH trains, and Rental Cars

On Saturday I had the day off  (Labor Day Weekend).  Feeling like I have been basically cheated of summer due to my work schedule I researched my options very carefully.  In Colorado we loved tubing, be it the Yampa River in Steamboat Springs, the Animas  River in Durango, or Clearkcreek in Golden. And I really missed that last summer.  I think my Google search was river tubing near New York City http://delawarerivertubing.com/.  The search that came up was the" Delaware River Tubing, Co.- Home of the Famous River Hot Dog Man".

We live deep in Manhattan.  And the last time I was out of the city (besides a few day trips to Long Island to Long Beach for a day of surf and sun) was in May when I went to St. Louis to go to my brother Brett's wedding. I had to make this day count. Although I love Camie and would have loved to have spent the day with her going down the lazy river I suggested that she bring a friend to make the day a little more exciting for her.  She invited her friend Carlota, who is a 100% lovely young girl, void of any annoying flaw.  Carlota has lived in New York City her whole live, the daughter of an artist/Soho gallery art director and a fashion designer, so she understands the task of getting out of the city and into the fresh air. The task being the getting there.  I had layed out an affordable plan.  Jeff, Cam, and I understand the art of the budget, so it was wise of Cam to include a friend who does not own a car or have access to a car service to come with us.  When we told Carlota that we would take the #1 train to Chambers Street, the PATH train from World Trade Center to Jersey City, and a rental car from Jersey City to Frenchtown, New Jersey she did not blank an eye.  Like any true New Yorker she appreciated that two and half hours of transportation would transport her from an urban environment to a sleepy Revolutionary War township.

With toasted bagels and Vitamin Waters in tow we headed to Broadway and 110th to the #1 subway to Chambers Street.  We got off on Chambers Street, came up from the subway to walk to the two blocks to the the PATH train entrance at the World Trade Center.  OK, so I digress, but the whole World Trade Center area has a weird vibe.  It has a bizarre muted quality to it.  Perhaps, people are not as loud in that area of the city due the the history, but is has a strange sound quality that no other area of the city has. So we walk the two blocks and look up at the new world trade towers being erected. They are both awe inspiring and terrifying.  I've been looking for a dream job and honestly I'm not sure that I would ever step foot in an elevator in that building.  Too much history or too much fear, I'm not sure which.

On the the PATH train. Four minutes on the train and we were in New Jersey. Actually the view from Jersey City into Manhattan was awesome.  Now we had to walk the two blocks to the Hertz Rental Car Agency.  Understand that just over the river in Manhattan a rental car for one day over Labor Day Weekend is $180 and up, but just over/or under the river in New Jersey the same car is $90, which Jeff had in frequent driver miles.  Hence the subway and PATH train rides.  I don't know if it was the power of Jeff's corporate card or they were simply out of compacts but they upgraded us to a mid size.  The drive was about an hour and a half to Frenchtown, NJ.  New Jersey gets a bad rap due to its industrial area in the north, but the area we were in was gorgeous, old farm houses, old growth forest and historic hamlets.  There was a detour, due to downed power lines, that did take us a bit out of our way, but we found an old graveyard that we stopped at and we met some friendly folks at a gas station that gave us directions to the river outfitters, so it was all good.

The family that owns this company has all bases covered: parking fees, tube rentals, food on the river, and transportation to and from your car.  Actually, it's a brilliant idea.  It's all local and family owned, so gotta give it to the locals for making bank in their own backyard.   I have to say the most ingenious part is the food on the river.  Half way through the four hour tubing trip there is a stop at the "Famous Hot Dog Man".  It is opened to all, but it is part of the tubing package at the Delaware River Tubing Company.  With the package you get a hot dog/or cheeseburger, drink, and chips/candy bar. The stand and grills are set up in the water so that you wade about thigh deep out to the stand to order your food and drinks, which considering the heat was quite refreshing. 

Ready to go!

Cameron has a odd allergy to cold that makes her break out in hives and sure enough when the girls caught up with us for lunch Cam's hands, legs, stomach were bright red.   Of course I forgot to bring along the Benedryl, which made me feel equal parts bad mother and hysterical because I feared what might happen if her hives worsened over the course of the float trip. Spoiler Alert - when she got out of the water five hours after entering she was fine.

At one point I was floating down a particularly lazy part of the river.  I was watching puffy clouds morph into magical objects.  I thought to myself that this would be a perfect time for prayer.  But as I laid my head back and resumed my observation of the clouds I decided I was too relaxed to pray.  And I think that's OK. May-be God's plan for me that day was to do nothing more than watch the clouds.  Sometimes silence is the best form of prayer.

Jeff and I reached the exit points about 45 minutes before Cameron and Carlotta.  Slowly, slowly the girls floated down the river and joined us.  Carlotta had an awesome underwater camera and basically the girls used the float trip as a backdrop for a photo shoot.  Unfortunately, Carlotta has not posted her pics yet to Facebook for me to steal, so I only a one from my lame land locked camera of the girls in the parking lot. 

Five hours after we began the float down the Delaware River.  No worse for the wear.

After we got back to the car and changed out of our damp bathing suits we headed into Frenchtown for dinner.  It's a tiny tourist town, but the historic preservation committee has done an amazing job of preserving this Revolutionary War town.  We found a cafe with outdoor seating which was all well and good until the mosquito started biting me.  After never getting a mosquito bite all summer I was suddenly dinner.  Ugh... The next day I counted six huge bites.  Oh, well, if that's the worst part of any day....

After dinner we headed back to the city.  The girls slept in the car, we stopped and got gas and my 44 oz. diet pepsi, and we listened to top 40 radio.  It was an hour and a half of zen.  We returned our car to the Hertz Agency in Jersey City.  We took a few minutes to observe the view of Manhattan from the Jersy side before re-entery the choas of the city.

Then we got back on the Path Train and headed home via the #1 Train to the Upper West Side. And that's how you do a day out of the city.