full circle

7/11
after many miles of detour getting out of Detroit, we finally hit Ohio. We got a couple interesting photos...

Cleveland, OH... sadly, we have no photos of Cleveland, but we did actually really like it there. will we live there next? stay tuned to find out.

Erie, Pennsylvania... left much to be desired and can be summed up in one word and one punctuation mark - "yuck!" this is sad. we were sure it was going to be cute, or weird, or somewhat interesting, but no.

it's important to note that our return to the state of New York on 7/11 is auspicious, or at least exciting. on 7/11/06 we flew out of Burlington VT with a layover at JFK in NYC en-route to California. welcome home, says NY! or as DB says "our turn has come full circle."

no sense in driving all darn night... we stopped and camped in NY. the next morning as i left the women's showers i was approached by a burly fellow "Are you from California? I noticed you have California license plates. Do you have any mmbmsrmm?" Um, what? Oh... that! No, I don't have any of that.

a few people commented on our car, including a friendly 7yr old riding around on his bike... "I love your car!"

7/12
Niagra Falls, NY... again, another one of those examples of when something looks bigger in the advertisements. the falls were pretty wide, but if you weren't prepared to wait a week to cross the border or pay $10 per person, you couldn't get a view to the bottom. i thought this was a pretty cool view though.

Seneca Falls, NY... we got to visit the Women's History Museum, and the Methodist church where the women's sufferage movement began - Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Fredrick Douglas had met and spoken in this famed meeting house. there was a sculpture trail we meandered along, and as luck would have it there was some live music in the park. we like Seneca Falls and i could easily see us buying a place and settling down in this historic little town. i could also see DB and opening our own brewery or art center in this fine old knitting factory on the river.

Chester, VT... nothin' like having friends along the route. LP made us some wicked-good chicken sandwiches and i definitely nominate and crown him future Food Network Star of America for that one.