NYC (2001)

One of the 2 stops to New York--early morning in DC.

Booking flight for the funeral was a clusterfuck; of course United had no record of the credit from our cancelled tickets earl;y last month when Donna's mom wound up in intensive care and we cancelled trip to New York. And bereavement discount is a joke (@$75 off.) Faire on US Air wound up costing almost 2x as much as my daughter's flying out of LAX while I was leaving from Oakland--and she had 1 stop each way and I had 2. (Also paid $10-15 more each connection to get a CHOICE seat, which just meant not sitting in the middle seat.) Later, when my flight back home was delayed and I raced from LaGuardia to Newark to get on the last plane of the day, that every flight now is 10% overbooked. The beauty of air travel.

I've been back to NYC once in the last 20 years--forget if this is the Whitestone or Throgs Neck. To college I went over one of these bridges daily. I thought dats Da Bronx in the background, Dr. Dave indicates its really Long Island.

The two most important landmarks in New York when I was growing up were Shea Stadium and Yankee Stadium (NEVER saw the hallowed Polo Grounds as when I was a kid train upstate passed under a bluff so Polo Grounds were hidden and it was torn down by time I was a teen) Ironically, landed near where Shea used to be and trip to upstate passes by Yankee Stadium--both stadiums were replaced by newer versions in the last couple of years.

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Arrival started off with a bang. Car that was supposed to pick up daughter/ me at airport was no where to be found and driver/ company could barely speak English. When finally spotted guy waving cell phone 6 islands over, cab almost mowed us down in the crosswalk which had me slam my hand into its side. Driver then had no idea where Donna's aunt lived--who had hired them.

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Driving follies continued the next day when limo service got lost going to the cemetery.

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Luckily found someone who could drive when I was going home and flight at LaGuardia (Queens) was delayed and I couldn't make connecting flights, so US Air sent me to Newark (New Jersey.) Only problem is that in a direct line Manhattan lays in the middle, and car driver told me we'd never make it if he had to try to get thru Manhattan and the tunnel's, we'd need to circumnavigate Manhattan, which we did, but had good conversation with older Spanish gentleman and he got me to Newark beautifully.

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New York City was MUCH cleaner than I had ever seen it, and I was shocked at the "$350 fine for honking" signs all around--as honking while driving was ingrained in NY'ers when I was growing up. Maybe next year I'll have to go back for a real visit--I still have my walking tour plans from last month.

Hudson sure gets rustic just a half hour North of New York City.

Something you don't see alot of in California--brick and stone structures are everywhere.

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In the last week Donna was at hopsital when her mom was taken off of life support, and then there were problems flying the body up to New York--though burial arrangements were supposely all prearranged and prepaid (not nearly all). Funeral was hard on Donna but after the last few months of false hopes and scrambling every time things took a downturn, she handled everything well. Having our daughters around sure helped, along with brother-in-law putting everyone up and was great host in a trying time.

Large backyard near my brother-in-law has some interesting things in the front yard.

Quiet time with Donna with her brother a few days after funeral and after the well wishers left.

Cute dog that added needed levity to the stay at brother-in-laws house.