Thursday, June 30, 2011

Milne as in Kiln - June 29th

Today, we em-bark-ed on a quick trip to Plymouth, Connecticut to visit Daddy's childhood friend, Jerry Milne.  This was a short day - only about a 3 hour drive.

Beautiful views along the parkway in northern Queens, NY.  Who would have guessed?

Didn't anyone have spell check? I'm sure they meant to say, "Frog's Neck". 

Nice day to cross a bridge.
Gas is expensive in NY.

We arrived in Plymouth, Connecticut, at Daddy's friend Jerry Milne's (as in kiln) house. 

This is my Uncle Jerry standing with Daddy. Unfortunately, Auntie Cathy was out-of-town.

Jerry is head of the Connecticut Bureau of Forestry, and also makes maple syrup and grows Christmas trees.

Daddy says that Jerry is one of the smartest friends he has.

Jerry and his family own this 110 yr old house, surrounded, appropriately, by lots of forest!  It was originally owned by a Union Soldier.  (Mommy NEVER thought she be standing in the home of a UNION soldier!)

Plymouth, Conn, and all the surrounding area is full of American history. This is the town of Thomaston - it's known for its clock making starting in 1803 when Eli Terry opened a factory.  Thomaston was originally known as Plymouth Hollow, but its name was changed to Thomaston to honor Seth Thomas, another clock maker.

This is a war memorial to Union Soldiers.

Jerry also made his own wooden kayaks.

Jerry decided to take Mommy & Daddy kayaking on a nearby river.
There really wasn't room for me. So I took a long nap back at the hotel.

They set off down the Bantam River, guided by their very own forest ranger!
This land was donated by the White's Woods Memorial Foundation.

Jerry and Daddy in the handmade wooden kayaks.  Doesn't Jerry look like Abe Lincoln?  That's good, because he often portrays Abe in local community presentations! 
This picture just say, "Ah-h-h-h-h"?

A big beaver swam by.  Dam!  I missed it.

Mommy and Daddy lookin' good among the water vegetation.


The Bantam River opens into this beautiful expanse of the Bantam Lake.

A helping hand is needed to get off the river!
 After the kayak trip, Mommy & Daddy thanked Uncle Jerry for such a beautiful and wonderful trip. Then they came back to the hotel to rescue me - driving through historic old towns - traveling on all roads named "Main Street".  It was a good thing, too. I was doing the pee-pee dance by the time they got back.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

"I want to be a part of it . . ." - New York - June 25th - 29th

We left the quiet of Twin Lakes, PA and crossed the Delaware River into New Jersey as we headed toward the hustle and bustle of the "Big Apple".
Newark, NJ

We fed KYOTEE in Jersey City, NJ. Gasoline was $3.68 per gallon.

Hey - it's the Holland Tunnel. I saw it in the movie Analyze That.

Lower Manhattan - Financial District.
Coming up on the Freedom Tower - replacing the World Trade Center.

Here's a closer look at the Freedom Tower that's being built.

This is one of the many ethnic stores throughout the NYC area.  It's often hard to tell what country we are in!

Entering the Battery Tunnel into Brooklyn, NY.

There's the Brooklyn Bridge. Want to buy it?

McCarren Park. Is this the same guy that the Las Vegas airport is named for? What did he do?

There are no painted lines to separate traffic into lanes.   I also discovered that NYC traffic signals are merely suggestions.


Does a tree grow in Brooklyn?


I am now an official "city dog".

Daddy called this "mecca".
I met another cousin, Andrew Cohen.  He is CEO of a software company in NY, and a really smart guy.


Daddy and cousin Drew took a beer tour to learn about this famous brewery.  There's even a book about it called, Beer School, and it is one of the very successful micro-breweries in the past 25 years.


The tour begins...

Kegs of the different beers are filled in this building, which pre-dates the Civil War.


Here are the bottling machines.




Now it's time to sample the brews!

Mmmmmm Beer.  Bring me another.


Hey Bartender!

How many have I had?

One more please.
I think that was one too many.

They may have to carry me out.
Hope I don't have a hangover!
Urban art.

 
Better urban art.
  
Midtown tunnel?  How many tunnels do they have?  We took the L.I.E. (Long Island Expressway) to see Uncle Glenn & Auntie Michele Meyers.

KYOTEE wanted a snack, but for $4.05 per gallon in Syosset, NY - he'll have to wait.

Hey - those are the space ships from Men In Black!
These were built as part of the 1964 World's Fair in Flushing Meadows, Queens, NY.

Wow, more cousins!  This is Melissa Meyers, Daddy's brother Glenn's little girl.


Uncle Glenn and Auntie Michele Meyers also have a fur child, cousin Maggie.
This is my cousin Gregg Meyers.  He played goalie in a Lacrosse tournament in Farmingdale, L.I.

My cousin Matthew Meyers was a consultant to Mommy & Daddy, explaining this sport.  Matthew used to play Lacrosse, too.  Uncle Glenn has a nice camera.

The "Face-off."


Gregg blocked this shot with his head!

It looks like cousin Matthew is playing the didgeridoo. Actually, he's just chewing on the bottom of a Lacrosse stick. I've got some chew sticks I can share with him if he wants. They'll taste better than a Lacrosse stick.


Men Folk.  Uncle Glenn, Cousin Matthew, Cousin Gregg, & Daddy.

My cousin, Missy, & I are going to play lawn tennis. 
I serve first.

Sharing the finer points of the game.
Auntie Michele and Cousin Matthew are umpires for us.
From Atlanta to New York - I'm on a lawn tennis tour.

Then we met with even MORE family!
Cousin Merri Krufky also joined us for dinner.
This is cousin Doug Meyer and his son Robbie Meyer (my second cousin).
We got into a serious game of HedBanz.
 Cousin Missy is the Princess of the game.
I'm discovering that it's really fun to have cousins.  This trip is showing me that I have LOTS of 2-legged and 4-legged cousins.  I love them all.
Cousin Doug Meyer also has a new fur-baby named, Sophie.
Cousin Lucy is smaller than me. She barks a lot, but she's really cute.

Cousin Matthew has a set of electric drums. Sometimes you can hear them and sometimes you can't. How does he do that?

Geese on the side of Jericho Turnpike. What ARE they thinking?  Hello-o-o-o. Cars. Squish!

I'm really going to miss my cousin, Missy. She is so much fun to play with.  She also took me to Petco for more toys!
When you're having so much fun, it's always hard to leave.  That's how I'm feeling now. Hopefully, they'll come visit us soon.