Weela!!
[EDIT: I've put some pictures of the trip up. Check the hyperlinks. I apologize ahead of time for the extreme large size of these images (over half a meg per pic). I don't have Photoshop or any other remotely usable graphics editing utility on my laptop yet. My recommendation? Right click them, bring them up in a new window (or a new tab, if you are one of those uber-hip Firefox users) and wait for them to load while you read on.]
I return, brushing off the snow, from the Grand Tour of the Frozen North. God blessed us with a safe, engaging trip from beginning to end. It was one of those driving types of vacations, something akin to a roadtrip.
My family of 7 (including the grandmother) rented a large 7-person van with ample storage space in the back. We dubbed it the "White Whale 2", since we had owned a very similar vehicle during my high school. I read Moby Dick almost nightly at the hotels, so I couldn't help but think of the fearsome whale of that book when riding inside our van.
I reprint here some writings from the road, for your enjoyment/amusement/blackmail purposes, as you see fit.
December 28, 2004
We awoke at 6 AM and left, as the van was already packed. We drove from Kokomo, Indiana (mid-Indiana, if you care to trace the journey on a map). After about 9 hours of driving, we arrived at our first vacation destination: Niagara Falls. It was really cool, but nothing in size after you've seen the Grand Canyon. I suppose that's true of most things. :D
The falls are certainly best viewed from the Canadian shore, so we got to cross over to Canada to the observation sidewalks. It was frigid. Mist from the falls rose from the thundering cascades, settled on trees, lightposts, banisters, and immediately froze to solid ice.
Not powdery snow, but hard, cold, solid ice. Brrr. Anyway, got some good pictures.
December 29, 2004
Today we woke up in Syracuse, New York. Yes, more hard driving after so many travels just getting to Niagara Falls. Well, today's drive was slightly more forgiving, and certainly more beautiful. We drove to the Atlantic coast in Maine, and meandered along the beaches, looking at lighthouses and skipping about on rocks.
The sea was extremely calm, there were clouds over the ocean, but they began to break for a beautiful sunset over the wooded western coast. We pulled out of the car for pics by a house and lighthouse station on its own little island a mere stone's throw from the continent.
How cool would it be to live there? Inconvenient for obvious reasons, but to be "Master & Commander" of your own little island... totally awesome.
We went to a very nice seafood place, and I had a $9 shrimp plate. Highly delicious. Except they were out of lobster; how is a fancy Maine seafood restaurant out of lobster?! Oh, and clam chowder is cool, by the way.
December 30, 2004
This morning we wake up in, uhm... some city in Maine, it starts with a B. If this missing piece of information *really* bothers you, I would be happy to oblige you with the proper name. In any case, we drove to Boston, Massachusetts.
Now Boston is a really, really, really cool town. Our first stop was Boston Commons, the city's central park and the oldest such park in America. Snow covered every bit of ground not traversed by feet or tires. I really enjoyed the city's vistas, and couldn't keep U2's Vertigo out of my head looking at all those buildings.
The city has a fascinating mix of old and new. Tall skyscrapers would rise up next to eighteenth century meetinghouses of the American Revolution. We walked by old Revolutionary cemetaries, saw the building where independence from Britain was first discussed publically, and ate at a real Boston bistro. I had the best meatball sub of my life.
My little bro and I even went on a street-navigating mission away from the self-guided tour of the city, while our family continued, to refill the parking meter at our van. Parking was difficult to find, and we wanted to keep our spot legally. O:-)
December 31, 2004
We drove from Boston into Pennsylvania, which, by the way, has some gorgeous rural areas. Even mountains! Who'd a thunk. We stopped in Promise Land State Park for a picteresque hike. Highly enjoyable. I even got to stand *on* the Lake of Bruce!
We stayed the night in central Pennsylvania. In the hotel room, my brother and sisters tried finding something semi-entertaining (and family-friendly!) to watch on TV, and finally settled on an opera. Yeah, it was either that or the Three Stooges. Actually, opera isn't so bad when you get into it... I actually enjoyed it quite a bit as it went on. An outing to opera is certainly on my list of things to do some time.
I circumambulated the hotel a few times, sipping my Nestea. The inn was situated atop a hill overlooking the town below, and farther in the distance, I could look up the invisible, dark mountains and see pairs of yellow lights driving up and down the interstate.
It was quiet, a gentle wind nipped the leafless bushes, and the cool temperature felt good after a long shower. It was night, and I recollected that these were the final hours of 2004.
I remember last New Year's Eve, feeling the portent of the moment. I was at home in Texas, drinking cranberry juice and watching fireworks explode from a distant hill. I knew what I wanted for the new year, and was filled with a cautious optimism.
This year was much more ambivalent. It was the New Year, and I had no resolutions. Again, I was presented with a grand new stretch of the unknown, and again I was cautiously optimistic, but without any plans. Maybe I'm just not sure where I'm going, or maybe I'm smarter than to imagine I can know that. Who knows. I have no resolutions.
Death Cab for Cutie's The New Year summed up my feelings pretty well. (The previous post has the lyrics.)
So in the absence of anything concrete, I embrace God's will for the coming year and trust that He will direct my footsteps.
The next day, the first bright day of 2005, we arrived back in Kokomo, Indiana, where I now sit. All in all, a fine trip.
I look forward to coming back to school.
I return, brushing off the snow, from the Grand Tour of the Frozen North. God blessed us with a safe, engaging trip from beginning to end. It was one of those driving types of vacations, something akin to a roadtrip.
My family of 7 (including the grandmother) rented a large 7-person van with ample storage space in the back. We dubbed it the "White Whale 2", since we had owned a very similar vehicle during my high school. I read Moby Dick almost nightly at the hotels, so I couldn't help but think of the fearsome whale of that book when riding inside our van.
I reprint here some writings from the road, for your enjoyment/amusement/blackmail purposes, as you see fit.
December 28, 2004
We awoke at 6 AM and left, as the van was already packed. We drove from Kokomo, Indiana (mid-Indiana, if you care to trace the journey on a map). After about 9 hours of driving, we arrived at our first vacation destination: Niagara Falls. It was really cool, but nothing in size after you've seen the Grand Canyon. I suppose that's true of most things. :D
The falls are certainly best viewed from the Canadian shore, so we got to cross over to Canada to the observation sidewalks. It was frigid. Mist from the falls rose from the thundering cascades, settled on trees, lightposts, banisters, and immediately froze to solid ice.
Not powdery snow, but hard, cold, solid ice. Brrr. Anyway, got some good pictures.
December 29, 2004
Today we woke up in Syracuse, New York. Yes, more hard driving after so many travels just getting to Niagara Falls. Well, today's drive was slightly more forgiving, and certainly more beautiful. We drove to the Atlantic coast in Maine, and meandered along the beaches, looking at lighthouses and skipping about on rocks.
The sea was extremely calm, there were clouds over the ocean, but they began to break for a beautiful sunset over the wooded western coast. We pulled out of the car for pics by a house and lighthouse station on its own little island a mere stone's throw from the continent.
How cool would it be to live there? Inconvenient for obvious reasons, but to be "Master & Commander" of your own little island... totally awesome.
We went to a very nice seafood place, and I had a $9 shrimp plate. Highly delicious. Except they were out of lobster; how is a fancy Maine seafood restaurant out of lobster?! Oh, and clam chowder is cool, by the way.
December 30, 2004
This morning we wake up in, uhm... some city in Maine, it starts with a B. If this missing piece of information *really* bothers you, I would be happy to oblige you with the proper name. In any case, we drove to Boston, Massachusetts.
Now Boston is a really, really, really cool town. Our first stop was Boston Commons, the city's central park and the oldest such park in America. Snow covered every bit of ground not traversed by feet or tires. I really enjoyed the city's vistas, and couldn't keep U2's Vertigo out of my head looking at all those buildings.
The city has a fascinating mix of old and new. Tall skyscrapers would rise up next to eighteenth century meetinghouses of the American Revolution. We walked by old Revolutionary cemetaries, saw the building where independence from Britain was first discussed publically, and ate at a real Boston bistro. I had the best meatball sub of my life.
My little bro and I even went on a street-navigating mission away from the self-guided tour of the city, while our family continued, to refill the parking meter at our van. Parking was difficult to find, and we wanted to keep our spot legally. O:-)
December 31, 2004
We drove from Boston into Pennsylvania, which, by the way, has some gorgeous rural areas. Even mountains! Who'd a thunk. We stopped in Promise Land State Park for a picteresque hike. Highly enjoyable. I even got to stand *on* the Lake of Bruce!
We stayed the night in central Pennsylvania. In the hotel room, my brother and sisters tried finding something semi-entertaining (and family-friendly!) to watch on TV, and finally settled on an opera. Yeah, it was either that or the Three Stooges. Actually, opera isn't so bad when you get into it... I actually enjoyed it quite a bit as it went on. An outing to opera is certainly on my list of things to do some time.
I circumambulated the hotel a few times, sipping my Nestea. The inn was situated atop a hill overlooking the town below, and farther in the distance, I could look up the invisible, dark mountains and see pairs of yellow lights driving up and down the interstate.
It was quiet, a gentle wind nipped the leafless bushes, and the cool temperature felt good after a long shower. It was night, and I recollected that these were the final hours of 2004.
I remember last New Year's Eve, feeling the portent of the moment. I was at home in Texas, drinking cranberry juice and watching fireworks explode from a distant hill. I knew what I wanted for the new year, and was filled with a cautious optimism.
This year was much more ambivalent. It was the New Year, and I had no resolutions. Again, I was presented with a grand new stretch of the unknown, and again I was cautiously optimistic, but without any plans. Maybe I'm just not sure where I'm going, or maybe I'm smarter than to imagine I can know that. Who knows. I have no resolutions.
Death Cab for Cutie's The New Year summed up my feelings pretty well. (The previous post has the lyrics.)
So in the absence of anything concrete, I embrace God's will for the coming year and trust that He will direct my footsteps.
The next day, the first bright day of 2005, we arrived back in Kokomo, Indiana, where I now sit. All in all, a fine trip.
I look forward to coming back to school.
