Thanksgiving Road Trip - Part One

Dan is in Seattle for a conference and work for almost three weeks. I will let him write all about the fun he is having there, and meanwhile regale you with tales of our own journey!! My cousin invited us up to Ithaca for Thanksgiving, convening with the rest of her family for a few days...I hemmed and hawed about weather and driving, and then we just did it. I drove 9 1/2 hours! By myself! I'm feeling good about that bit of accomplishment, I tell you.  And I don't think I flipped out even once along the way.  There were things I did not love about the drive - the road kill really really really gets me down in a very big way. I am someone who does not really believe that cars are the way we are supposed to be getting around in this world and though I obviously join in the clutter of the roads, I don't love that this is how we are all doing it, and nothing drives (ha) that home more quickly and deeply than a long drive on a major highway during deer rutting season.  That said (and I could say so much more...), our girls are fantastic travelers and good road companions, willing to talk about just about anything, eat the good snacks I bring along and generally not complain more than a titch about their sore bums.  So, one James and the Giant Peach, one Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, one Enormous Crocodile and The Magic Finger (thank you, Roald Dahl), and several folk tales later...we got to New York.

Here is our Welcome Committee: my cousin Jessica's Calvin the Wonderdog, and their housemate's dog, Charlie. Otherwise known by Ani as "the couch".

You've heard that Ithaca is Gorges, right? They were not kidding.  We spent Sunday morning at Lucifer Falls, 10 minutes or so out of town.

The rest of Day One was spent reconnecting with my cousins; both Jessica and Christopher live in this beautiful place...it was awesome.

 The Ithaca Commons, downtown - 

a mushroom sculpture made out of crocheted plastic bags. 

Wow.

 Meeting Hobbes and Mr. Bojangles

My girls are loving getting to know more family, and Ani is (finally?) at an age where she has more comfort with people.  She still thrives on one-on-one interaction, but she seems to enjoy these new people in her life quite a bit.  Eliza, our people-person, family ambassador, is in heaven.