September 30, 2012

Laundry day!  After spending a couple of hours in a really yucky laundromat, we're back on track.

We took the subway again, with the idea of going to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  Our subway had a problem.  At one of the stations the doors would not open.  After 15 or 20 minutes, they were opened manually and everyone was asked to get out and wait for the next car.  Rather than waiting, we decided to walk up Madison Avenue.  It was a fun walk.  Since it was Sunday, a lot of the people out were locals rather than the tourists we shad seen on Fifth Avenue.

At home we always enjoy seeing the outrageous women's shoes in the ads in the New York Times.  So we decided to see what we could find.  Here's our choice for the winner.  It gives new meaning to the term 'spike heels.'

By the time we got to the museum, we had decided to walk in Central Park instead.  It was a lovely day, with a few clouds.  But first we had lunch at a neat cafe on Madison Avenue.

We had a nice walk in Central Park.  It was Sunday, so it was fairly crowded, but it's such an amazing place.  We even got in a little birding.

 

 

We took the subway back to the hotel and went to Pad Thai for supper.  

Total miles walked today:  7.3

September 29, 2012

After a surprisingly quiet night, considering that we had our window open, we had breakfast downstairs, along with about a hundred other people.  On the street below us we noticed a lot of white vans, each with a guy sorting and piling packages on the sidewalk.  As we walked by we saw that they were from many different businesses, including Amazon.  It appears that the business across the street is some sort of delivery service.

The other interesting thing we found in the neighborhood is multilevel parking lots. This one was next door.

After breakfast we took the subway to Brooklyn to visit the New York Transit Museum.  It's located underground in an old unused subway station.  It was really neat.  There were lots of old trolley and subway cars, plus a lot of displays with the history of mass transit in New York.

 

From the museum we hopped on the subway again and rode to Washington Square.

 The pigeon guy was amazing.

This guy was doing sidewalk art with powdered chalk he held in his hand.

 After lunch we walked along Fifth Avenue to the New York City library.

There they had an exhibit showing how New Yorkers ate lunch over the years.  It was everything from hot dog carts and the automat to the Four Seasons restaurant.

We continued up Fifth Avenue to Tiffany's, where we saw the 128 carat yellow Tiffany diamond.  The photo doesn't do it justice.

We took the subway back to the hotel.  Miles walked:  6.9

September 28, 2012

We awoke in Erie, Pennsylvania.  As we ate our breakfast in the dining car we passed many vineyards.  One of our table mates told us they were wine grapes.  Somewhere in New York state it started to rain lightly.  It didn't last, but it continued to be cloudy.  The last part of the trip, along the Hudson River, was especially pretty.

As the sun was going down we passed under the George Washington Bridge.

We arrived at Penn Station in New York on time at 6:30 p.m.
Total miles this leg:  959.

From the station we walked a few blocks to our hotel.  Our room is on the 12th floor and faces the street.  From our window we can see the Empire State Building.

After dinner we decided to walk to Times Square.  It was fun, but somewhat overwhelming, with all the people.  So we returned to our room and went to bed.

September 27, 2012

We awoke to a beautiful sunrise in Devil's Lake, North Dakota, now four hours late.  There's frost on the ground and the trees and lakes are lovely.  We crossed the Mississippi River at Grand Forks and continued to follow the river for miles.  The fall colors are spectacular.

We continued through Wisconsin and Illinois.  We arrived in Chicago three hours and twenty minutes late.  Total miles this leg:  2,255.

We grabbed a quick supper, then boarded the Lakeshore Limited. As first class passengers we were invited to board the train early for wine, cheese and fruit.  The train left at 9:30 p.m., just as we were getting ready for bed.

September 26, 2012

We awoke this morning in Whitefish, Montana.  It's a beautiful sunny morning.  We traveled through Glacier National Park.  The aspen trees are golden.

As the day went on, the clouds moved in and the scenery became bleak.

We arrived in Havre, Montana, around 1:00, a little early.  But right after that stop we started to lose time.  There had been a recent freight train derailment and there was a lot of track work, which slowed us down.  By evening we were three hours late.

Train Trip - September 25, 2012

We're setting out on a train trip around the country.  Our first leg is on the Empire Builder from Portland to Chicago.  We decided to see if we could do the entire trip without riding in a car.  So we took the Cherriots bus to the Salem bus terminal downtown, then walked to the train station, which was about a half mile away.  The plan was to take the Cascades, the commuter train, to Portland, but because of track work we ended up taking a bus to Portland instead.

We arrived in Portland with several hours to spare.  Total miles this leg: 52.

We did some walking around the city.  Portland has lots of brightly colored street cars.

We had lunch and then went to Powell's bookstore.

After tea in the Metropolitan Lounge in the station, we boarded the Empire Builder and left right on time at 4:45.  Because we were only half of the eventual Empire Builder (the other half is coming from Seattle) we did not have a dining car.  We were served a very nice cold supper. David had his wine ready.

Some time during the night we connected to the other part of the train in Spokane, so by morning we were able to have breakfast in the dining car.

Paddling - September 13, 2012

After Randy and Romana's visit, and hearing about their kayaking, we got all jazzed to go for a canoe paddle.  We don't own a canoe anymore, so we went to Devil's Lake in Lincoln City and rented one.  We had it for four hours, but we couldn't last more than two.  It's been a long time since we went canoeing, and our paddling muscles, not to mention our rear ends, were not up to the challenge.  But we still had fun. The weather was perfect, sunny and about 70 degrees.

We had hoped to see some interesting birds, but the only ducks we saw were mallards. 

We had lunch at McMenamins in Lincoln City, then went south to Depot Bay, hoping to see something interesting there. Again, no interesting birds, just gulls and cormorants.  But we did see several migrating whales. 

We continued south to Newport, then headed inland.  As we drove toward Corvallis, the temperature rose rapidly to 88 degrees. We stopped in Corvallis for tea and a pastry, then drove home.

We'll definitely try canoeing again, but now we know our limitations.