New Year's wkd 2006/2007 (Olean, NY)
Monday, January 01, 2007
Finally, a new entry in the travel blog! It’s not like I haven’t traveled since September, I have, believe me. I blame my fateful post-cross-country trip request. I suggested there be a yearlong halt on all travel. The next thing I knew I had two trips to DC and a trip to NY planned before the end of the year.
I love DC, but the trips are hardly noteworthy. You may say the same for this little vacation to NY, but I don’t see how. It was the wedding celebrated ‘round the world. I would include photos, but alas what few I think I can salvage will take quite a bit of PhotoShop that I haven’t had time for yet. I’ll take some of the blame, but really the majority goes to my sucky digital camera. It’s relatively new, but I wish I’d waited just a little longer and bought something different/better. I may just revert back to my film camera, but anyway this blog is about my travels abroad this weekend, not my camera.
Where shall I start? How about the freshman dorm of GU? It’s where I met the bride (B). We had a wide variety of naughty nymphs on our floor – one was named after the location she was conceived and another collected engagement rings. But B’s roommate was special (read: generally weird and literally smelly). We opened our room as an escape for B until she could get a new room and roommate. B was in a sorority and generally more social than I – I’ll never forget the ∆X parties with her though. Sophomore year we shared a room, but otherwise I think we’d both like to forget that apartment that year (my bad). I’m really glad we’ve stayed in touch.
A couple years ago, she decided to leave her worries in the US and take a European tour with some friends. They chose Contiki tours which caters to 18-35 year olds and they opted to see a handful of countries. I hope I’m telling the story correctly, but I believe it was one of the first days that she noticed him (P). They shared a seat on the bus and time in every country. When she returned home I heard about her trip and P. Next time we spoke I was still hearing about P and how they remained in contact. After a couple trips to the US for him and a couple to Australia for her they were engaged. For the past few months she’s been planning a long distance wedding while working on her Visa requirements. She’s moving to Brisbane! It’s so exciting, but I’ll miss her so much! We don’t talk everyday or even every week, and I only see her a handful of times (at most) a year, but she’s here and soon she’ll be there.
After a half day of work on Thursday (which included a promotion – woohoo!) we dropped the dogs off at camp and began making our way to Olean, NY. We thought we’d take some time out for nostalgia and stay in our old hometown – glorious ole’ West Middlesex. We arrived late and only drove around a little. My first real job was a pharmacy assistant at Bob’s Pharmacy. It has since closed. It was tough keeping up with the Wal-Marts, groceries, and chain drugstores. You could count the number of privately owned, small-town pharmacies left in PA on your fingers. By now, you can probably count them on one hand if any are left. This place had been a pharmacy for decades, though Bob had only owned it a few years. At some point after the heyday of pharmacy soda shops, the place was divided in half and a beauty salon was next door. It’s gone too. I was shocked to see that in the pharmacy’s place was a tattoo shop. I was also surprised that it wasn’t open.
The next morning we continued the trip down memory lane and had breakfast at the local Eat-n-Park (buffet of course). We took backroads through Conneaut Lake before getting on the interstate to Erie and finally Olean. I expected Olean to be a small town, however, it was larger than I expected and significantly larger than West Middlesex. Olean is the home of Cutco cutlery. We stayed in the Old Library Inn which was next door to the old library itself and the location for that afternoon's wedding. The groomsmen were dressed and being photographed when we arrived. I had hours left to get ready but this freaked me out and I hurried around unpacking, curling my hair, ironing, curling my hair (yes, twice, it refuses to hold curl), etc. D just stared as he wanted to relax and knew he had time – and that I did too. I did eventually calm down and even took some time to watch the group get photos taken. The wedding took place in the Old Library Restaurant which was beautiful. The reception immediately followed upstairs (yummy Jerusalem artichokes that share some of the blame for the holiday weight gain). B’s friends are all so great. I love spending time with them in DC and the reception was a blast with them. P’s Aussie friends and family were great too.
Saturday, D & I went up to Niagara Falls. We tired of the falls quickly. For one, you couldn’t even see the Canadian Falls from Goat Island because the mist was so thick (and tall). Another reason was that it was cold and sleeting. We quickly looked for indoor activities - like the casino. This time, the slots were not a reverse ATM for me - I won!!! I didn't win big, but I tripled my meager starting amount and happily cashed out. D tripled his slightly larger starting amount and we left. Next we stopped at the Butterfly Conservatory. It was fun, but really the Franklin Park Conservatory here is just as good, if not better. It made me appreciate what's in my own backyard. We tried to escape the custom’s traffic by finding a less popular route back. We made a wrong turn though so our options were the Rainbow or Peace bridges. We opted for the second in hopes it’d be faster, but it was not. And it took forever to get there because the road to the QEW was closed off due to an accident. It was a nice drive though.
Sunday was New Year's Eve and D's birthday. After breakfast, we headed to B’s family’s camp. We hiked about and found a bare spot on the hillside to plant some saplings. These were the favors from the wedding (well, the leftovers). It was cold. I would have been fine if I had worn better shoes. My Pumas were mostly mesh. After planting, we went to lunch at a maple farm (don’t order the tuna melt). It had a maple store and I got a great item – a palm tree shaped cookie cutter. I can’t wait to use it. I also got the obligatory maple sugar candy. D got some fudge. We had a few hours for napping between lunch and the arrival of dinner and the limo. Everyone was riding in style to Ellicottville to celebrate New Year’s Eve. Well, the tuna fish came back to haunt D and he split his time that evening between bed and bathroom. He feels better now, but not great. It sucks to get sick, let alone on your birthday. The brightside is this time he didn't wind up in the hospital. I was a good wife, and I stayed at the B&B to make sure he was okay. I hoped he would feel better and we’d join the crowd, but that didn’t happen so I watched the ball drop on TV and then went to bed.
The drive home was uneventful. We drove through Presque Isle and walked on the beach briefly. We could see the rain moving across the lake and knew we’d be driving through it soon. What amazed me was not how cold it was on the lake – I expected that, but how much colder it was more than a 100 miles south at home. We picked up our doggies, which smelled like dog because of their camp experience. So baths were required and now they smell like basenji again. Ahhh.
I will not repeat my request to not travel. I love to travel. I’m already thinking St. John in May. Girls’ trip to the beach – who’s with me? Don’t worry about D; he’s already got his sight set on a family trip to Sin City sans me - sounds fair.
Congratulations B & P!
Happy New Year to all!
posted by Shannon @ 1.1.07,
