We were in Texas as November began. Then headed to Florida. The weather was beautiful even though all the Roys said they were having a cold snap.
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| Dad's first (and maybe his main...) objective is to head straight to the Wing House and procure some famous/favorite wings. They did not disappoint! |
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| Grandpa Roy was as Grandpa Roy as ever. Healthy and happy. |
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| I had to throw this pic in. I still had tomatoes on the vine in November!!!! I picked all the green ones before our hardest freeze and we are still eating vine fresh tomatoes in December! |
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| Next we met up with these two cuties in Denver. |
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| And headed to New York City. It was raining when we got there but the Empire State Bldg still looked cool. |
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| We had real New York pizza which is very different from Pizza Hut but we liked it. |
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| Next day we went to see this lovely lady! |
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| Eliana-mouse loved it all. |
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| The new World Trade Center 1. Manhattan is an island of tall buildings. I don't think I saw anything that was less than 3 stories. |
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| We went to Ellis Island where all immigrants entered the US until the mid 1950s. Our very ancestors were in this building! |
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| Eliana was enjoying her first ferry boat ride. |
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| Lunch was at a typical hot dog stand. Not cheap--3 dogs--$16! |
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| We spent the rest of the day in art museums, the main reason we came to NYC. Summer knows ALOT about art and made the whole museum scene so much more enjoyable and entertaining. |
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| We saw some very unique pieces... |
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| and some very famous pieces... |
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| and some pieces Summer has loved since she was very little. The impressive thing was we were RIGHT THERE next to them, no glass, no ropes, it was up close! I was so shocked to see painting from the 1600's right there in front of my nose in perfect condition. So amazing. |
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| We did all our travels via the subway system. This is Grand Central Station which was right by our hotel. It is grand and central and every picture we have we are all looking up in amazement. |
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| Sum negotiating a cool subway gate. |
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| Hmmmm...can't get this pic to move. It's from the art museum. I guess even shooting is art??? Maybe it's appropriate it's stuck in the middle of the subway pics. |
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| People in NY were super nice and helpful. Someone always gave up their seat so Sum and Eliana could sit. |
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| The famous Time's square. It is so light there you can almost feel the heat of all the billboards. |
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| Our last day we went to the 9/11 Memorial. It is a beautiful tribute to all who lost their lives. |
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| One of my favorite's was the Survivor Tree. The only tree to survive the attack. It has scars from debris but it is thriving. A great living memorial of the American spirit. |
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| You can see the names behind Sum. They go all the way around both reflecting waterfall pools that are made in the footprints of the two towers. So many people. |
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| These are the two people Dad knew. Jason Dahl who he flew in with the night before and LeRoy Homer who was an Academy grad. |
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| We were supposed to go to Chicago but flights clanked so we went home and made (Sum did) this cute band of happiness! |
It was an amazing trip to what can seem like a foreign country at times. We loved having Sum share a tiny portion of all she's learned with us and can't wait for her to have that diploma in her hand! Thanks Sum!
