Road Trip 2012 [Warning: image intensive]

[Hoffs]

nice , having lived near chicago i can say its a shame you didnt see it on a good day . we had at least 3 a year ...

cant say i really miss it except there was always something to do . they almost always had some festival going on somewhere and the bus / train system was pretty efficient. buy a day transfer ticket and you could get on or off either, whenever you wanted, as many times as you wanted.
we never took a car . it would cost you more to park it than you'd spend at the fest.

A large part of it comes down to my dislike of large cities, or more to the point crowds. I am not a great fan of New York or London for that reason and I would generally rather avoid somewhere altogether, no matter what the attraction, if it means having to negotiate a throbbing mass of other people. But it was too crowded, too noisy and too expensive and there were panhandlers all over the place. Add to that the foul weather - there was zero visibility at the Sears tower and we had to queue for an hour in drizzle to get into the Art museum - and I really didn't much enjoy it.

[Hoffs]

I'm so glad that you had a safe and enjoyable trip. And thanks for posting the photos. Mt. Willard is about one of the best hikes in the White Mts. for casual visitors as it is relatively easy and the views (as you saw) are excellent for a small mountain.
*Goes back to stirring her cauldron*

It was good to meet you and a nice break on what was a long day of driving. This was the first time we had been to NY state other than in and around the Big Apple, and the countryside was beautiful. I hope the meal you had been cooking turned out okay and was delivered on time.

[Hoffs]

Great pic's Hoffs!!  Hope you hit the Canadian side of the Falls...much more impressive :p

I told him to hit the Canadian side, but after thinking about it, I told him it might be better to stay in the U.S. They had already let him in once, he didn't need to press his luck with another border crossing. 

It was a blast to hang out with you both. Glad you had a nice visit.

Haha. You are not far off the mark though! We seriously thought about going over but didn't fancy the thought of facing the US border people again. They always seem especially intimidating and the one in Boston was particularly bad this year. I'm sure US people have no problem zipping over the border for a little while, but we thought they may be suspicious of foreigners who do it for what would have been just a couple of hours at most.

And it was a great couple of days thanks. We visited Berlin again the day after we left and couldn't resist another meal at the Amish place.

[Hoffs]

They were wonderful pictures.     We really enjoyed them.  If... if you ever do come to Florida you need to go to the space center down at Cocoa.  Ed and I went a few years ago to watch one of the last shuttle flights and toured the center,  Awesome!!   They have a ride there that simulates the shuttle taking off.     Come in the winter the weather is much better. 

We've been to Florida quite a few times already actually, naturally it was THE place to go when the kids were younger. We visited the Kennedy Space Center on one of the visits.

[Mansbeth]

Sweet Hoffs!
Your a class act.
Hope you enjoyed your stay in the states.
Did u get to see our Grand Canyon?
Nice looking family....

[Rob]

Wow, nice pictures, and a very nice telling of your adventures.

It is nice to be able to see so many of the people, and to be able to put a face to the names that come up on my computer screen.

And I must say thank you for sharing it with us.

P.S. - and she is right, if you ever come to Florida, you will want to come in the winter.

[Hoffs]

Sweet Hoffs!
Your a class act.
Hope you enjoyed your stay in the states.
Did u get to see our Grand Canyon?
Nice looking family....

Not on this trip, but we have been there in previous years. Certainly an impressive sight.

[Troop]

It looks like you had a wonderful adventure.  :