The Liberty takes a beating

Our poor little Jeep Liberty has taken a hell of a pounding this last week. We've managed to put over 1,000 miles on the clock in the last seven days alone I'm sure it must be wondering what the hell has been going on!

Firstly we headed off to New York on Sunday. Ian's mum and dad were arriving into JFK that afternoon so we thought we'd make the most of the opportunity and spend the day down there. We got up at about 5.30am to be in Manhattan bright and early. Well, maybe we weren't so bright after such an early start! We got into New York at about 8.30 and parked up in the car park we'd reserved. Weekend parking is super cheap and costs less than $20 a day. Once there, we decided to head into Central Park to have a good look around. It was a beautiful day so it wasn't hard to keep walking, although the heat did take its toll after a while.

You can get thoroughly lost in there though as it's so huge and not very well signposted. We made sure we went to see the space where the winter ice rink is located, making a promise to venture out onto it when the temperature drops (and it probably won't be the only thing to drop once we get those blades on our feet ). We also visited some of the fountains, including the beautiful Bethesda, the Strawberry Fields memorial to John Lennon and one of the main viewing points, Belvedere Castle. We've added the photos to the New York folder.

After a couple of hours wandering around, we decided to try and get up the Empire State Building to get the iconic view of Manhattan from what is now the highest point on the island since the Twin Towers fell. We attempted to jump on the Metro but the closest station was not being served so we had to walk around the corner to another station. As we turned onto the neighbouring street, we stumbled upon a massive Brazilian festival. We still have no idea what it was in aid of, but it was a mass of yellow, green and blue!

After a slow walk down 6th Avenue through the Brazilian crowds, we decided to walk the few more blocks to reach the Empire State. We were expecting a loooonnnnnggg wait, and, although we were stood in line for about an hour, that was a lot better than we expected (three hours is not unheard of ). Ian made the best use of his rather large camera lens to get some good shots.

By the time we got back down it was already 2pm and we were both pretty hungry, so we stopped off for a quick bite before heading back up to Times Square. We really want to do Times Square for New Year (as you do!) but we'll be damned if we're going to stand in the same spot in the freezing cold for about 10 hours, unable to go for food, drink or a wazz . So we set about finding out information from the local restaurants about their costs for the night. It's too early for most of them but we've at least started to assemble an idea of what and where.

From there it was back to the car to make our way over to Long Island (again!) to pick up Mum and Dad Brown. It was a new one for us as they flew with Virgin so it was a completely different terminal. We stood waiting directly opposite the exit...and we waited...and we waited some more. We'd had a text fairly early to say that they were waiting for their luggage, but after a while, we started to get really worried that Customs may have pulled them over for trying to smuggle in some pasties for Ian!!!

As it turned out, there was a real issue with the bags coming off the Virgin flight. They weren't the only ones but they did make it into the final dozen! At long last, 1.5 hours later(!) they emerged from baggage claim, much to our relief!

Monday was Labor Day bank holiday, so we were both able to take some time to show Mum and Dad Brown around. We didn't want to do too much, mindful of the long day they'd had previously.

On Tuesday night, Annalie had to go off to Chicago for an all day meeting on Wednesday. Unfortunately she had no opportunity to see any of the city as the venue was out by O'Hare Airport, nowhere near the downtown area. Her time there consisted of: airport, car hire place, out of town hotel, four (yes FOUR!) different rooms (don't ask), finally settling on one at about 8.45pm, TV and sleep, get up, whole day of meetings (no windows!), car hire place, airport, flight home! Arriving back in Hartford late on Wednesday night .

Ian and his parents made the most of Annalie's disappearance by making their way up to Boston for the day. We haven't managed to go in that direction yet except for flying in and out of the US. They wandered around the harborfront, went to the Cheers bar, and headed up Bunker Hill. They also tried to go to Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox baseball team, but they were playing at home that night so they didn't manage to get that close. Because of all the roads being closed, the sat nav kept telling them to go down certain roads that were blocked off and "Gladys" just wouldn't take no for an answer Finally they got the sat nav untangled from the web she wanted to create and made their way back to Hartford in plenty of time to pick Annalie up from the airport.

It was a pretty late finish for all of us on Wednesday, but then it was another early morning start on Thursday as we all trooped off to see Niagara Falls. It was an epic drive, something in the region of 8 hours when you factor in stopping for breakfast and all the comfort breaks . But it was worth it when we got there. The Falls are pretty amazing to see, it's more the sheer power of the water rather than the size of them that impresses you most.

We spent most of Thursday just walking around the various vantage points to get the different perspectives and see where we got the best photos. There's plenty to choose from! We surprised Mum and Dad B with a room for the night as a belated Birthday pressie for Mum B, which we'd specifically chosen for their views of the Falls. They were pretty amazing and you can see photos from the room in the special folder and get an idea from the hotel's website - which doesn't do it justice. You could even watch the Canadian Falls from one of the beds! Mum B was pretty overwhelmed and it was all we could do to drag her away from the window seat.

As we went out to view the Canadian Horseshoe Falls, we stumbled upon such a cute little creature in a black squirrel. We've never heard of black, or possibly brown, squirrels before so we took some pics to prove it to you. The little mites obviously get fed by tourists to encourage interaction as they weren't afraid of us at all. We made sure we didn't do any of that malarky. But we did get up close and personal at times when the inquisitive little buggers came in search of food!

Because of the view from the room, we didn't feel the need to go up any of the towers to get an elevated position over the Falls, we could do that any time We had an especially good view of the Falls by night, when coloured floodlights make them even more of a show. It's very captivating and we sat for a long time just gazing out at this flowing water.

Overnight, a large quantity of the river's flow is diverted through a hydro-electric power station, which is a very environmentally-friendly thing to do. The result is fascinating though as the water levels over the Falls recede substantially, making them much less powerful than their full daytime glory. You might not be able to spot the difference in the photos, but we certainly noticed it from our window on the 20th floor!

On Friday morning we decided that we couldn't go to Niagara Falls without doing the Maid of the Mist. Bright blue ponchos in hand (sorry, but we don't have the photographic evidence!) we got on the first boat of the day and divided ourselves between the two decks, right at the front. Talk about gluttons for punishment!! Annalie managed to engineer the poncho so that she just about had a breathing hole and below the knee exposed!

The trip gives a totally different perspective on the Falls, actually making them even more impressive. You really get to see and feel the power of the water. When the boat pointed its nose into the centre of the Canadian Horseshoe and battled against the mammoth current, the mist started to pour over us. However, the "lovely" ponchos held up pretty well, except for Dad B who managed to get a full frontal soaking! Still, that's what you pay for isn't it?!

After a quick freshen up and change, it was back into the car for the trek back home. We'd spotted an outlet shopping village on the way up that we thought would break the journey nicely, so we pulled in for some retail therapy. Little did we realise how quickly we'd lose track of time in there and we ended up spending about 3 hours wandering around. A few good bargains were had before setting off again.

This time Ian let Annalie drive. Up to this point he'd been at the wheel exclusively, but we think he got a bit fed up with the fact that the three of us took plenty of opportunities for 40 winks to catch up on some lost sleep So he handed the keys over and dropped half the back seat to give himself a self-styled bed to sleep on. He did pretty well as we didn't hear him stir for a good 1.5 hours at least. After the next pit stop, he insisted on resuming his position behind the wheel for the last leg of the journey back to Glastonbury.

We vowed that today (Saturday) would be a day off, and that has been precisely what we've had. Apart from a short trip out to Westfarms Mall for Mum B to hunt down some cheap Levi's that she's been after. Mission Accomplished.

The biggest excitement for today is that we're seeing the tail end of Hurricane Hanna, or is that Tropical Storm Hanna? Anyway, the heavens have opened this afternoon and the place is getting a right pelting. Precisely why Andy Murray's game against Rafael Nadal got rained off. By the looks of things it was the best thing that could have happened to Murray at the time though as he'd lost his early momentum.

Anyway, I don't think the Liberty will get much respite this coming week either. We're off to New York again tomorrow for some sightseeing with Mum and Dad B. Who knows what else will be planned for the rest of the week!