Dave Moves to Austin, TX – August 2002

This is more of a picture record of the drive I took to go from Glens Falls to Austin, and a way to document some of the interesting things which happened along the way.

DAY ONE – LEAVING GLENS FALLS

Even though the lease was technically up at the beginning of August, Heritage Apartment let us go on a “month by month” basis, as I was leaving the area and John’s house wouldn’t be ready for move-in until October.  All my stuff had been boxed up, and “Vampire Kids” (the Wednesday night high-school kids I gamed with) had loaded it up in the moving truck.  While John’s things were still scattered about the place, the only items I had left here was a bedroll, and the clothes I’d be wearing the next couple days.

The day of my departure to Texas, I’d driven down to Albany to pick up Brian, because he was going to ride down with me (as he’d done this the previous year).  Brian had taken a red-eye flight the previous night, so he was coming in first thing in the morning.  The time it took to do that, plus then loading the car on the tow dolly, would eat up some of the day’s travel time.

Thanks to AAA, I had the TripTicks all set for the journey.  I knew what was the basic route I wanted to take, so the TripTicks would provide me with the information to get from one highway to another while bypassing the major cities I’d be passing by.

More than one person had asked me if I was going to stop and see the sights along the way.  I really liked the idea of doing the classic “road trip” here, but when I’m towing my car (“Bete Noire”) behind the truck with all my worldly possessions inside, that really wasn’t the time to leave things unattended for too long.  None of the phone interviews I done before this hadn’t secured employment yet, I was moving to Texas on limited funds.  I needed to stretch the money I had for as long as possible, so frivolous expenses (which included interesting stops along the way) unfortunately weren’t practical.

We’d left Glens Falls behind, and then picked up the New York Thruway going west.  I’d driven this way on the many times going to Syracuse and Rochester, and the few instances to Buffalo, so that was the extent of familiar territory for me.  I blinked as we cross through the only section of Pennsylvania to border on Lake Erie.  One of my earliest memories (which dealt with that aforementioned lake) was asking Mum how does a body of water catch on fire?

Brian and I shared the driving chores.  When it was time to stop for gas, food, or whatever, that was the time we swapped.  My portable radio had music playing in the background (mostly the current radio shows I’d just done on WGFR), but we talked a lot on the way.  Staying on Interstate 90, the first major city we were then coming up on was Cleveland, OH.  We said hi to Drew Carey as we went by.  Beyond that, there wasn’t much I recall about it, as we didn’t stop.  The back windows of the car were rolled down, as that’s where all my plants were.  Sebastian, Azhure, Frost, and Tino all got a whiff of that Middle America air.

After we picked up 71, and started in a south-westerly direction towards Columbus.  When I was sitting in the passenger seat, I could see a sliver of my right rear part of my car in the rearview mirror.  Brian commented that it was just probably how the dolly was riding behind the truck.  I kept watching it, and saw that Bete Noire wasn’t swaying back and forth with the motion of the road, but I was seeing the same portion consistently.  I became greatly concerned that my car wasn’t secured properly.  At the first available rest-stop we pulled in and examined it.  Now, it wasn’t sitting quite right, but the only thing we could do tighten what was there, and add on some additional straps.

It was nearing dark when we reached the beltway around Columbus.  Even though we were awake enough, I didn’t want to be driven along potentially dark roads if there was a chance the car could escape.  On the southwest side of the city, we pulled into a Red Roof Inn for the night.  At that point I got one the phone to Hertz (where the rental was from) to find a location who could check into the situation.  Arrangements were made to take it over to a place on the northeast portion of the city, which was fine with me.  That wasn’t too far out of my way to go for peace of mind.  After all that, it was nice to be able to have a cooling shower and sleep in a bed that night.

DAY TWO – A PROBLEM RESOLVED

The place we went to had a large fleet of trucks, and were competent enough to recognize the dolly we’d been given had faulty straps on the left side.  Most of the weight holding the car on was wrapped around the right tire, as well as the center support hook on the frame.  It was very possible that Bete Noire would need to have an alignment done.  I’d had Pete’s dad do a full work-up on the car before leaving in order to keep having any automotive expenses on my immediate arrival.  Oh, well.  It easily could’ve been worse.

Once the straps on both sides of the dolly were replaced, the truck company mounted the car on, and tightened the straps more securely (with power tools) than we could do by hand.  Bete Noire wasn’t going anywhere now, and at this point, I was content to leave him right where he was.  Any thoughts I might’ve had about unhooking him to make a side trip were abandoned.  At this point, I just wanted to get to Austin.

In order to leave Columbus, we had to loop back around the belt-way (so we’d now technically driven around the whole city), so we could pick up Interstate 70 west towards Indianapolis.  Knowing that my car was now in no danger of getting away, we put the pedal to the metal to make up some lost time.  Since I didn’t need to watch the car like a hawk any more, I was able to spend some time taking pictures as we passed by places.  Because I was wearing my Bart Simpson t-shirt, I had to give a laugh as we whizzed past the small city of Springfield.

Soon we’d crossed the state line, and officially entered the Central Time Zone.  There were basically two routes I could’ve taken to get to Texas:  Going west and then south, or going south and then west.  Going south first would’ve had us trying to navigate the Appalachian Mountains around the areas where Deliverance could’ve been set in.  While the terrain would be beautiful to see, it made more sense to take the path of least resistance and go across the flat American heartland.  Besides, I could avoid the worst of the Confederate lands, as I’d be dealing with being a “Yankee” on a regular basis soon enough.

One thing I did notice once we’d left western New York was how flat everything was.  Without the terrain to interfere with you city planning, the urban areas could expand outwards instead of upwards.  I expected there to be more tall buildings than what I’d been seeing on the trip.  I took a picture of the stadium that the Indianapolis Colts played in for Pete.

We made good time across Indiana, and across the very southern tip of Illinois, so soon were coming upon St. Louis.  Technically St. Louis exists on both sides of the Mississippi River.  Since the river is the state boundary between Illinois and Missouri, there are technically two cities called St. Louis next to each other (and from my understanding, they treat themselves as a single municipal entity for the most part).

The Mississippi was a pretty wide river, so I could understand why this had been the lifeline of the central part of the country for so long.  I tried to picture the river flowing backwards, which happened once in recorded history (during the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-1812).  We were kind of looking northward in the shot above as we cross the Mississippi.

I’d really hoped to be able to stop in St. Louis and see the Gateway Arch, as that was the most major landmark which I knew I’d be passing.  (I’m sure had I done a bunch of research beforehand, I would’ve seen some other potentially interesting items.)  We ended up taking a bypass around the city, so we didn’t get anywhere near it.  Brian tried to snap a picture of it as we went over the Mississippi, but a truck just happened to pass by at that time, so the picture turned out to more about my nose than an architectural wonder.

It wasn’t until a short distance after we’d crossed the river that we actually encountered a sign to show we’d entered Missouri.  I wonder if there was a reason for that.  If the state line was the river, I’d think the sign would be as close to shore as possible.  People could really have their heads played with if as they start across the Mississippi passing a sign “Leaving Illinois,” and not see the “Welcome to Missouri” sign until the other side.  That’s make it appear like the Mississippi was a “no man’s land” (like the area between the former Berlin Walls).

From St. Louis, we picked up Interstate 44, which would continue our south-west compass heading.  I found Missouri to be some of the prettiest country we’d driven through the entire trip, with the large number of rolling hills and small mountains.  There weren’t too many big cities we passed through in this section of the state, so it was certainly someplace I found inviting.  (We passed another place called Springfield, which earned another laugh from me.)  Since I was on my way to Texas (and I’d give Austin at least five years before looking at moving somewhere else), I wasn’t going to start looking to see what the job market was in Missouri.  But I would put it on a potential relocation list if I had to go to another part of the country.

We were making great time, and while on the road we got to watch the sunset.  Brian had taken a couple days off from work, so he was in a hurry to get to Austin.  I needed to look for a job once I got there, but if this trip took an extra day, so be it as far as I was concerned.  Jeff and I had always talked about doing a two-week road trip from Glens Falls to the Grand Canyon and back, as part of research for the novel I was writing.  I’d completed the thing a couple years ago, but if I saw other things which could be worked in for sequel portions, here was my opportunity to make notes.

I was also marking off states as we passed through them, so I could say “I’d been there.”  Taking a look at the road map (which had accompanied my TripTicks), I started plotting a slight detour.  We’d been on Route 44 since St. Louis, and this would cross into Oklahoma right near the tri-state boundary of Missouri, Oklahoma, and Kansas.  I briefly considered could be slip off the highway, and make a short loop into Superman’s home state, and pick up 44 again.  I wanted to do that just to say I’d been to Kansas, but considering the lateness of the hour, that was not the time to leave the well-marked highways for some country road just for a whim.

Once we crossed the Oklahoma border, that was a good place to stop for the night.  We were starting to get tired, and needed to be refreshed for the rest of the drive.  According to the map, we were still miles from the next town, so we just pulled off into the first highway rest area there was.  The rest area was nothing more than an extended shoulder area with a few picnic tables, which bordered on an endless field.  Trying to sleep inside the truck was too stuffy for me, so I told Brian I was going to sleep outside.  He expressed concern that I’d get attacked by some animal if I was out there.  I had my car keys with me, and could crawl in there if the weather got bad, and there were no garbage cans here to attach animals.  And because I laid out my sleeping bag in the area between the truck and the field, there was no chance of someone else pulling in and running me over.

It was a beautiful night, and the weather comfortable.  Because this was such a remote area, there was hardly any light pollution.  There was one light near the highway, and I positioned myself so the truck would block that.  I had a clear few of the stars, much like I had in the field behind my parents’ old place.  During the drive I had a bag of stones I’d gotten from Tim’s store to provide me good energy and a safe trip, but laying there gazing up at the stars was another type of good energy for me.  Yeah, I was still tired, but I still took a moment to appreciate those twinkling points of light above me.

DAY THREE – ARRIVAL IN THE LONE STAR STATE

A nice breeze kept me cool all night, and I didn’t even need to crawl inside my bag.  When I awoke, it was just before dawn.  The sun wasn’t up yet, but the sky was just getting light.  It was a nice compliment to the starry night I just had an enjoyable sleep under.  For a moment I felt like I was camping again, and then I heard the sound of traffic whizzing past me.  I saw that a truck had pulled in behind us sometime during the night.  Apparently I’d been so dead asleep I didn’t notice it.

Breakfast was some of the granola bars and Cliff Bars I had packed in a small ration bag, as well as water bottles left from the previous night.  That would hold us until we got to a commercial drive-through location.  Once we’d left New York, all the roads we’d been travelling on were free.  That was nice, as it showed what was available to any one.  Now that we’d cross into Oklahoma, the highways became tollways.  It was the most direct route, and no where as bad as travelling through New Jersey (where you paid a toll every couple miles).  Oklahoma was pretty flat terrain, and I could see for miles in all directions.

I tried to keep the camera handy to document things which were potentially interesting to me, or would make good stories.  I got a chuckle that as we were driving through Tulsa we passed a place for Scottish Freemasons.  No matter where you go in America, the signs of the Illuminati are everywhere (including the back of our money).  But if there was a shadow organization which was going to take over the government, I felt much more comfortable know it would Scots.  I’ll all for the Kilted New World Order.

As we left Tulsa, I noticed that Route 66 paralleled the highway we were on.  That reinforced that thoughts of how people used to travel the country to see what interesting things were there.  For the most part, the road trip along the American highways became a thing of the past when the Oil Embargo of the 1970s happened, as much as it resulted from the creation of the interstate freeway system.  Old style Route 66 was designed with attractions to get you to stop and stay a bit, while the new highways were designed to get you to your destination sooner.  I like road side distractions when the point of the trip is the drive, otherwise I want to get to my destination so I can enjoy it as soon as possible.

The tollway we were on (and thereby Route 66) brought us to Oklahoma City, where we picked up Interstate 35 to go south.  This would take us directly to Austin.  I knew there was a Route 66 Park in the area, which was one of the places I would’ve liked to have seen, had the time and financial opportunities been available.  It seemed like a long time, but I knew I was getting close to the end of the drive once we saw the “Welcome to Texas” sign.  Austin was still many hours away.

Interstate 35 runs the length of Texas on the north-south axis.  The first major city we’d be nearing was the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.  Dallas and Fort Worth are two cities that grew huge at the same time, and now have pretty much become one large place (otherwise one would’ve annexed the other).  Interstate 35 split into two junctions north of the area, and rejoined again on the south side.  It’s not really as odd as it sounds, as it was designed to have a section of 35 go to each of the cities proper.

I was driving during this stage.  Brian asked if I had a preference of which of the two junctions I wanted to take, as the travel time wouldn’t make any difference which one we were on.  I used my common phrase of “Right.  Can’t go wrong if you go right.”  There was another reason, as taking 35W would bring us past Argyle, Texas.  As I grew up in Argyle, New York, it would give me a few moments of amusement to cruise past it.

I asked Brian to snap a shot of a road sign or some other landmark to show we’d passed Argyle.  Without pulling over and stopping, the only available shot was a water tower.  (I found it interesting that many Texas communities apparently put their names on the water tower.  Is the area so badly marked that you don’t know where you are at any given time?  For all I knew, it might be the only point of reference on a place that rolls on for miles.)  Brian was able to get a decent shot of the water tower, although my nose was once again prominently featured in the picture.  If I’d thought about it, we would’ve done a series of shot of famous locations with my snout present.  It’d be like the garden gnome photos Leon did when he spent at school year in Europe.

After the DFW area, we eventually passed through Waco (I name I knew from the news a few years back).  Brian commented that when he moved here from New York, he had to change his person license plate because people confused it with the college located here.  That place was “Baylor.”  Brian’s plate was “Balor,” which was major demon types in Dungeons & Dragons (and it was Brian’s favorite).  The Balor itself was a nod to the Balrog from Lord of the Rings, and the two were similar in their nastiness.  As “Balor” was pronounced like you call someone “Al,” and “Baylor” was pronounced like a body of water, I told Brian the reason people were confused was because they were retarded.

Past Waco was the exit for the route which headed towards Killeen, and area I knew well due to my visit the last time here.  We were now getting close to the area where I’d be living.  We entered Round Rock, and passed a water tower with a really interesting picture on it.  We passed it before I could get a picture of the dragon which was there.  Brian said it wasn’t that big of a deal, as it was close enough that I could come over at any time to get it.

We got off Interstate 35 at Round Rock, and picked up Route 620.  I’m used to driving an hour from Glens Falls to get on the New York State Thruway, so I had this misconception that we’d be still on the road for a bit.  Brian reminded me that we’d be at the house within a half-hour.  620 was a main road which connected the northern side of Austin to the Interstate (and the Round Rock area), and we breezed over that pretty fast.  We’d swapped driving, so Brian could do the remainder of the trip, as he knew the specifics of where he was going.  It’d also give me an opportunity to start committing the area to memory (which I didn’t do last time I was here, as it was just a visit).

It was only a couple of quick turns off of 620, and we’d arrived at Bristle Oak Trail.  This section of the housing community had a lot of trees were, but the house I’d be living in had far more trees than any place on the street.  If I hadn’t known any better, I would’ve thought I was moving into a grove.  Bete Noire was unhooked from the dolly, and parked out front.  The truck was then backed into the driveway, so all my stuff could be unloaded.  As he was pulling boxes off, Chaz started bringing stuff to my room.  I told him just to stack everything in the garage, as I’d simply unpack from there, and organize my living space later.  It made sense to drop the truck off at the nearest Hertz associate (and report the incident we had the first day) as soon as possible.  They knocked off some of the rental cost, but not enough to my satisfaction.  I didn’t spend any more time fighting it, because at this point, I other more pressing things to deal with.

A new chapter of my life was now beginning, with untold possibilities that hadn’t existed in Glens Falls.  Sure there were places to explore, and I’d do that as I went to job interviews.  There were people in Austin who in the future would be my new friends.  I said I’d give Austin five years before considering going anywhere else.  That’s a reasonable amount of time to either be in a job that I enjoy or have met someone I want to share my life with (or both).  I’m looking forward to see this place has to offer.

For current information on the places mentioned:

            Glens Falls, NY:  http://www.cityofglensfalls.com/

WGFR Radio (Glens Falls, NY):  http://www.wgfr.org/

Lake Erie Fire:  http://www.environmentalcouncil.org/priorities/article.php?x=264

Drew Carey Show:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Drew_Carey_Show

Indianapolis Colts Stadium:  http://www.lucasoilstadium.com/

New Madrid Earthquakes:  http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/states/events/1811-1812.php

Gateway Arch (St. Louis):  http://www.gatewayarch.com/

Route 66:  http://www.historic66.com/

Argyle, TX:  http://www.argyletx.com/town/Town-of-Argyle.html

Argyle, NY:  http://www.argyleny.com/

Balor (Demon):  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balor_(Dungeons_%26_Dragons)

Baylor (University):  http://www.baylor.edu/

Round Rock, TX:  http://www.roundrocktexas.gov/

Austin, TX:  http://austintexas.gov/

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Keri’s Bomber Flight (Glens Falls, NY) – July 2002

This isn’t a “place that Dave went,” but the contents I feel are interesting enough to share as an entry.  I make that determination as the views of the Adirondack Mountains, and the way they were obtained, as way to remind people to be aware of fun opportunities when they appear.

The ringing of the phone woke me up Sunday morning far earlier than I would’ve preferred.  Yeah, the sun was up, but answered with my customary too-early greeting of “Considering how early it is to wake me up, somebody better be dead.”  It surprised the crap out of my co-worker Sara.  She was calling to let me know that Keri had won the Bomber Raffle, and the flight was today.

It took a moment for the mental fuzziness to clear.  Last Friday, I went with a bunch of my co-workers to Davidson Brothers for a gathering, as they knew I’d be leaving the company soon (as I was moving to Texas next month).  There was a raffle to win a ride on a B-17 “Flying Fortress” bomber, and we’d all put our names in the hat.  It seemed when the drawing held late last night, Keri won, so she was heading up to the Glens Falls Airport for it.

While she couldn’t take anyone with her on the ride, once she got there the flight crew let her know the plane was open for inspection beforehand.  Keri called a couple people who she thought might be interested in seeing it, and Sara reminded her this was something I’d probably like.  It sounded like fun, and was glad I was notified, so any annoyance I had of being woken up had quickly vanished.  I threw on some clothes and a hat, and was soon at the Airport.

The bomber was known as Sentimental Journey, and was part of the “Arizona Wing” division of the Commemorative Air Force (CAF, formerly known as the “Confederate Air Force”).  The CAF started as a group of WW2 enthusiasts salvaging and reconditioning planes from the era as a hobby.  They’d get the planes in working order, and fly them around the country from air show to air show.  Interest in the aircraft swelled, as it began a manner of historical preservation.  Along the way, as the organization grew and became more respected, they changed their name to what it is now.

I’d actually heard of the “Confederate Air Force” before, thanks to being the subject of an issue of the late 1980s comic series Airboy (which also had an informational piece about the CAF there).  Being able to interact with something I’d only heard about was very exciting for me.

With the plane parked on the tarmac, we were allowed access to just about every portion.  The cockpit was roped off, but it was nice to see that the original-era equipment had not been replaced by modern conveniences.  The hatch to enter inside the plane was small, and the interior cramped.  That was a vivid reminder of how being produced during war-time, there was no place for frills and other comforts.

The bomb bay doors were currently open, and there were a pair of dummy bombs strapped in.  The narrow catwalk which went from the front of the plane to the tail had nothing but a loose rope to keep you from tumbling over the side.  Anyone who flew a mission on this were very brave to start with, but those that stationed here in the belly were more so.

There was a bubble on the bottom with a gun placement, where the smallest of the crew got to be.  During a firefight, whoever was assigned there would be squeezed inside, with no protection by the glass around him.  The husband of my co-worker Sue commented how this made him think of Amazing Stories where the kid in the bottom bubble was saved when some inflatable wheels popped out from the bottom.  I much preferred the truer story which was presented in Memphis Belle.

For about a half-hour we were look at the plane, crawl around inside it, and talk with the pilots.  As it came close to take-off time, Keri commented that she’d picked up a disposable camera on the way to take pictures, but didn’t think the 200 speed film inside (and limited ability to focus) would take very good shots.  I handed her my camera to use, as the auto-focus and 400 speed film would capture better images.  The day was clear, with hardly any clouds, so she should have excellent visibility.  We were then shooed off the tarmac, as Keri was secured inside the plane.

One by one, each of the engines started and revived up to appropriate speed.  It was loud just being a few hundred feet away from it, can’t imagine what it sounded like inside.  Other co-workers took pictures as the plane got itself into position, then taxied down the run way, and lifted into the air.  The noise level continued to be high until it got some altitude, and headed northward.

The B-17 Flying Fortress is made entirely of metal, so the power put out by the engines to get it off the ground, and keep it in the air, was considerable.  We talked about how loud it would sound when a whole squadron of these things flew overhead on a raid.  Once the bomber was out of sight, we went inside the café inside the control tower to await Keri’s return.  This flight was scheduled to last about an hour, so there was time for a quick lunch.  I took the opportunity also to speak to some of the CAF representatives to get some information, and buy a shirt with Sentimental Journey’s picture on it.

We were notified when the bomber was on its way back in, so we rushed back outside to watch it land.  Once Keri has disembarked, she was rather ecstatic about how great of an experience it’d been.  She commented she was too busy enjoying the first part of the ride before she remembered she had cameras with her.  She’d been sitting at the side gun battery, and had headphones on to muffle the noise, but it was still extremely loud inside.  A hollow metal structure does not to dampen sound.  We were excited to have our film developed to see how the pictures turned out.

Sentimental Journey had taken a route which paralleled the Northway for a bit, and then turned towards the interior of the Adirondack Park.  The route of the plane then went in the other direction so it could fly over Lake George on the return portion of the trip.  Keri said the view was fabulous, as she could see peaks for miles and miles.  She thought this was an awesome way to spend the morning, as it’d been a beautiful day for it.  Unfortunately the bomber wasn’t remaining in the area for long.  Every single one of us would’ve forked out the cash for a ride right then and there.

When we looked at the pictures afterwards, we had fun seeing where she’d gone.  Some shots had clear landmarks in them (like Tongue Mountain, right on the shores of Lake George)…

While others were a bit more difficult to make out, due to the angle of the shot.  This one was probably Long Lake.

Pictures which captured both the mountains and water without any evidence of man-made settlements were some of the most interesting shots, because it was a glimpse of history.  Large sections of the Adirondack Park have never had habitation, and have pretty much remained unchanged for hundreds of years.

Even the sections of Lake George that have evidence of civilization (like looking at the point here, where the Sagamore is located), show how small of an amount of the land is developed.  This is a clear example of the beauty the Adirondack Park has; what the visitors came here to enjoy, and what the locals get to see every day.

I’m glad that I able to be part (and lend my camera) of Keri’s journey, as the pictures here would be some of the last shots I’d have of the Adirondacks for the foreseeable future.

For current information on the places visited:

            Davidson Brothers:  http://www.davidsonbrothers.com/

Commemorative Air Force:  http://www.commemorativeairforce.org/

Arizona Wing & Sentimental Journey:  http://azcaf.org/pages/sentjourn.html

Adirondack Park:  http://visitadirondacks.com/

Sagamore Resort:  http://www.thesagamore.com/

            ###  30  ###

New York City (Empire State Building) – June 2002

Now that I was going to be moving to Austin, TX, soon, I was spending the free time that I had to see people that I might not be able to see for awhile.  Those that I could see on day trips were easy to do, but for those who lived farther away, that would require an overnight or weekend trip.  Two of the people I’d made arrangements to see were Ellen and Gary, two of my friends from AOL’s “LaPub” chat room.  I hadn’t seen them since Live NorthEast 2K (held in Saratoga, back in 2000’s Memorial Day weekend).  Since the buildings Ellen and Gary lived in where located too far from each other, I could see them both in a single trip.

It’s only about a three hour drive to where Ellen lived, which was a section just north of Yonkers (thus north of Manhattan).  Pretty much once I’d crossed the Hudson River at the Tappan Zee Bridge, I was only minutes away from my destination.  Ellen’s apartment was on the fifth floor of an eight story building, which was located on the side of a hill.  The area around her front door faced a bunch of trees, while the view from her balcony was of the Palisades Interstate Park across the river in New Jersey.

I timed my arrival for lunch, so we’d gotten sandwiches at a local deli, and then spent some time swimming and relaxing at the pool in her complex.  A little bit later, Gary and his spouse Kathy stopped by, as this was the customary Friday night hang-out spot.  Ellen had her own karaoke machine, and our small group made fools of ourselves all night for fun.  The following night, Ellen and I would be joining Gary’s family for dinner at their Manhattan condo, so this would be the more relaxed of the two nights.

The main thrust of the weekend was Ellen and I spending the day in Manhattan.  The only other times I’d been to New York City (not counting flying in and out of LaGuardia for the 1984 France trip) was day trips during high school (during the late 1980s).  During those times, New York City was dank and overcast, the people rude and unfriendly, and generally not a hospitable place.  Obviously since I’d been there last, the city had been cleaned up and revitalized, much in part to actions of Mayor Rudy Giuliani.  It was a nice sunny day here, the streets were clean and safe, and the people far more friendly than I’d seen before.  I could now understand why someone would actually want to live in this “concrete jungle.”  While I still knew that anything shown on Friends and Mad About You was pure fantasy, there was a nugget of reality they’d been built upon.

We’d driven to a place just south of Central Park, and then took a taxi the rest of the way downtown towards where the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center had been. At this point, it was a big hole in the ground, with a fence around it to keep people from falling in.  There was about as much to see here as there was at a construction site had just broken ground.  I wasn’t enough of a ghoul to want to hang around the area where pictures and mementos had been tacked up dedicated to those who were lost (and most of those weren’t even there ten months after 9/11).  We didn’t even get out of the taxi.

Now the taxi ride itself was pretty wild, and is something which everyone should experience if they ever get to New York City.  The best way to describe it was like a billiards ball bouncing all over the table.  We were going a pretty decent speed, and never decelerated to make turns; even when we were swapping lanes, it felt like we had moved sideways in a sharp motion.  Think of any roller coaster you’ve ever been on, where the forces are pressing you against the seat, and you’ll get an idea of the ride we had.

One trick that Ellen told me was not to give your exact destination to the cab driver, as they could “make a few extra turns” to circle around a bit before delivering you (and thereby increasing the fare).  She’d simply give an intersection close to where she wanted to be (“Fifth and Main,” for example), and then pay attention to the route the cabbie was taking.  If she was getting close to where she wanted to be, or saw the taxi was starting to meander a bit, she’d let him know that was far enough, and exit there.  While the driver might be annoyed he didn’t get the fare he’d anticipated on, someone else would be hopping in the cab within a few minutes (and thereby a chance to earn more).

We got dropped off in the vicinity of the Empire State Building, and walked the rest of the way.  Ellen was obviously upset when we were near the WTC site (and I knew all too well why), so I understood the reason why she didn’t want to go up in that tall building.  She told me to take as long as I wanted, and she’d be hanging out nearby.  I’d take enough time to enjoy myself, but it wouldn’t be as long as if she was up there with me.  It still didn’t feel right for her to hang at the Starbucks across the way for an hour or so as I got a birds-eye view of the city.

The lobby for the Empire State Building had a specific elevator for those who wanted to go right to the Main Deck (the 86th Floor), so that’s they way I went.  (There was also an option to go to the Top Deck, which was the 102^nd Floor, but it was a bit more than I wanted to spend on this trip.)  The area at the Main Deck is very spacious, so a lot of people could hang out there and not feel crowded.  The tower, which gives the building the remainder of its height (and contains the Top Deck), was deigned to be a tether for zeppelins, when it was thought those airships would be the major mode of travel between American and Europe (a little incident awhile back in Lakehurst, NJ, but a kibosh on that).

The walls of the observation area of the Main Deck were only about five feet high in most places, because that’s where the gangplanks to the zeppelins would open up to.  It was a few decades later, after enough people tried to fly off the side, did the Empire State Building construct metal grates (with a top that curved inward) to prevent that from happening.  For those determined enough to scale the bars, guards stationed along the area would keep that from happening.

I maneuvered myself in various points along the way in order to take my panoramic shots.  Since I didn’t want the safety bars in the way, I positioned my camera between them as to not have any obstructions.

One of the first pictures I took was a southern exposure, so I could match that up with what the tour guide was telling people.  The most frequently asked question was where had the Twin Towers been?  I’ll describe it similar to way the tour guide said it, using the picture below as the reference.  Follow the street that’s in the center of the picture back as far as it goes, and there’s a square black building there.  Look to the right of the building’s edge, and slight above its top, you’ll see a similar-sized black building (looking like its all by itself, as there’s nothing around it).  The towers were behind that building (as it would’ve appeared, from this vantage point, to be overlapping the center, inner portions.  The tour guide had a flip-book with comparative photos to show the difference, so I hope I did as well as he did.

I soaked up the views in all directions, and noted how many of the buildings I recognized.  And of course, since I’m a comic book geek at heart, I tried to imagine Marvel super-heroes flying around this skyline (as most of DC’s major heroes were stationed in fictional cities).  A nice, fun thing for you to do would be to see what buildings you knew.

After I rejoined Ellen back on the ground level, we walked a few blocks up as some of the streets were closed for little festival.  Local and national vendors were set up, and doing live demonstrations of their products, just like you’d see on those late-night infomercials.  While some of the stuff was interesting, there was nothing I needed (certainly as I’d be moving across country in a few short months).

One guy was hawking a hand-cranked food processor, and telling us how well it chopped vegetables via his headset microphone.  He looked at us and asked who cooked in the house-hold.  Ellen commented that she only had a kitchen because it came with the place, so I acknowledged the guy.  My cooking skills are limited not because I don’t know how, but because there’s not a lot of effort I chose to put into making a meal for just myself (I do pretty decent when I’m putting something on for someone, though).  I had to admit, it looked pretty neat, but it wasn’t anything I couldn’t live without.

We then went back to Ellen’s flat to hang out before meeting Gary’s family for dinner.  While not really travel information, I did find it interesting to listen in on the major topic of conversation which was had (as I’m someone who doesn’t live very close to NYC).  The main discussion was the emergency plans, what should they do, and where they’d rendezvous, should a 9/11-like situation happen again.  There wasn’t any hysteria or concern here, just some frank matter-of-fact planning to be prepared for the future.

After breakfast the next morning I headed back to Glens Falls, as Ellen had to pack for a business trip she needed to go on.  Had that not been dropped in her lap the week before I came down, we would’ve had a few more days for her to show me around the area.  There’s so much to see, and places which are within easy reach to go to.  Even though I had no idea when I’d be able to get back, I was still glad of the time I was able to spend down there with friends.

For current information on the places visited:

            Tappan Zee Bridge:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tappan_Zee_Bridge

Palisades Interstate Park:  http://www.njpalisades.org/

Empire State Building:  http://www.esbnyc.com/buy_tickets.asp?gclid=CKTkyLX9y7gCFUdo7AodvUAANw

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