What Happened Up North

To be honest, folks, I'm losing my interest in blogging about this. It seems like such an overwhelming task and I've been putting it off for so long. My apologies. Here are some highlights from the trip.

I saw my Aunt and Uncle for dinner on Monday night. Ate souvlaki and a pint of ice cream. It was great. Then, I headed in to Buffalo. Buffalo, tacky and tacky and rusty as it is, will always be a city in which I feel at ease. I include Niagara Falls in with Buffalo. I know, they're separate cities. They never were in my mind. Is Buffalo my favourite city? No. That would have to be Toronto. But Buffalo is home.

So, the plan was to spend several nights with my friend, Snowflake. Snowflake has two cats (Pestilence and Morgan) and perhaps the most comfortable couch in the city. Here's Pesty.



Tuesday, I visited with some nuns and saw RedHeadedGirl. RedHeadedGirl has been working at Marjim Manor -- she slings wine and tells the ghost story of the manor. It's a lovely place -- used to be a convent and it's right there on Lake Ontario.





RedHeadedGirl and I went to see Olcott Beach on Lake Ontario. It was so clear, you could see Toronto there to the left of RHG -- unfortunately, it didn't show up in the photo. The sky over Buffalo was the same colour as the lake in this picture. Very gray.



RHG and I at at the Shirt Factory. Then, I ate with Snowflake at a Thai-Vietnamese place, Saigon Bangkok. Yum. I'm not kidding when I say I ate my way across the state.

The next day, Snowflake and I went to Zoar Valley. I have to say, I could die in Zoar and be happy. It's one of my all-time favourite places. Just look at these pictures!



Check this out. There's a sign for access right there by a THREE FOOT drop. Yeah. I'm thinking Zoar wasn't created with the ADA in mind. I'm not saying everyone doesn't deserve to see it, I'm saying that I wouldn't want to be responsible for getting a wheelchair down there.



More Zoar:























And we had white pizza with broccoli, tomatoes and onions at Julie's.



Then, Snowflake let me run him around some of my old haunts -- like where we used to go swim.





This is a new bridge being built over the gorge. If you look closely, down at the lower right, there's a yellow strip-y thing. It's a staircase. A three story staircase.



And Morgan, who I renamed Soporific.



Thursday, I went to see RentedLife and her husband. Rented and her husband have two cats (Jack and Gracie) and perhaps the most comfortable couch in the city. Here is Gracie:



They taught me this wonderful game called Dutch Blitz. It's a great game -- I taught it to Mom and Dad and C even likes it. We ate Indian and on Friday, we walked around the Our Lady of Victory (Father Baker) Basilica.





Fr. Baker has finally been laid to rest in the church proper. He is moving towards sainthood. It would be neat to have a saint from Buffalo.



Visited a few more friends.



And, on the way out of the state, hit Sand Hill.



Back in Ohio, Dad cooked.



Hygienically.



I got to hang out with an awesome librarian I met at Peabody two summers ago and was pleased to meet her family. (I'd like to point out right here that EVERYONE was wonderfully hospitable.) And sunsets in Ohio are gorgeous -- because it's flat.



Of course, Mom and Dad took me to Holmes County, where I got to shop at Keim Lumber, Heini's Cheese, and Lehman's. We ate at our favourite restaurant -- one with a date bread pudding that would motivate me to, oh, I don't know, pick my nose in public? It's damn fine.

We got to see a zorse.



And a HUGE horse.





Back at the homestead, Mom and I took time to smell the flowers.





And Dad took me for ice cream one more time before I left.



On my way home, I stopped to see my roommate from college -- a trip I've been threatening to make for a dozen years, now. She has a fine husband and two gorgeous boys -- who are all boy and all love. I've never seen children who look so exactly like both parents before.

It was a wonderful trip -- more wonderful than I have the patience to blog about. I hope to get back to the blog thing. I'm hoping to foresake Facebook, but I'm also starting-up a tech blog and heading back to work. So, who knows. Thanks for sticking by me. :)