Niagara Falls, NY

Several years ago Bobby made out a "bucket list" of places he wanted to visit. I dutifully wrote them down, and within a year I had lost the list.  Yeah, I'm such a good wife. He does remember most of the places on his list, and since most of them are local (as in the state of NC or within a day's drive of NC), we've been trying to visit at least one year.

North Carolina is participating in "Row by Row" this year, which is a HUGE but different type of quilt shop hop. Basically, you go along to see what stores are participating in the state, and if you're visiting that area during the summer, you can go to the store and get a free pattern. The first person from each state to complete 8 rows and use them in a finished quilt wins a grand prize, and the first person to return to a shop with a completed quilt that uses that store's pattern wins a small store prize. While browsing through the states and their Facebook pages, I realized there were TWO shops participating in Niagara Falls...one of the places on MY bucket list. :)  I think you know where this is headed.  We actually had 6 free days in a row on our calendar (well, we did both have to cancel one activity each, but those happen every month and can easily be missed), so we went.
Driving up we went through West Virginia and PA, coming back it was PA and VA, and even though we had planned to visit a historical site in VA on the way home, my absolutely amazing husband surprised me by changing that stop and telling me to find quilt shops on that route. So while I've only completed 2.9 rows, I now have 13 patterns. :)

I've never been that far north before, and had no idea what to expect. I've had several friends tell me that it's hard to find places to eat while traveling north, and to some degree that is correct. Fast food places, other than Subway and the occasional McDonalds, are hard to find. It became a joke in the van as we saw many signs "McDonalds in 3 miles" that we must have a different definition of a mile (we never saw the restaurants...and I was looking for a bathroom!) but we did get to try some different chains and non-chain restaurants that were good.

And I loved the scenery. Somewhere through PA it was like a switch flipped, and suddenly the trees and foliage were different. I kept wishing my Granny was alive so I could photograph the plants to send her and see what she'd say (she knew the names of almost all trees and flowers), but then I started wondering if she'd know them as well.  I've always thought blue spruces were beautiful, and we saw a great number of them.  The houses were also quite different, and I'd like to know the architectural origins behind the tall, skinny two-story structures. And I know it wasn't a city thing, as we passed a large number of farms that had the same style of house. I couldn't help but be reminded of the President's comment the first time he ran for office and actually got to tour the US...I never knew how beautiful America truly was. (That's not a direct quote, but that was his meaning.)  And I get what he was saying. Our country is very diverse and different, but it truly is a beautiful place.

Rainbow Bridge, that passes into Canada. My only disappointment was that since we weren't staying for the night, our passports didn't get stamped, but were only scanned.

Part of the Horseshoe Bend falls. We rode the boat, like the one pictured, up close to the falls, and that was incredibly awesome.

And a view of the Falls from the bridge.

Due to circumstances and our time frame, we didn't go out at night and view the falls (they light the falls up with colored lights at night), nor did we have time in Canada to take the tour behind the Horseshoe falls. But I thoroughly enjoyed what we did get to see and do. Next time I'd like to stay on the Canadian side and walk the streets and check out shops.

The weather took a dip right before we got there, so the temps were in the 60s (the highs) while we were there, which I thoroughly enjoyed, even if my cold-blooded counterpart didn't and had the heat on at the hotel.  We both managed to survive (me the heat and him the coldness outside). Had the weather been nicer, I think I could have sat at one of the observation decks for hours and just watched and listened. It was truly incredible.

I was also reminded of just how blessed Americans are. It was nice and amazing to walk down the streets and hear a multitude of languages flowing around me, from Cantonese and Mandarin to Persian languages to Russian and French. We see a lot of Muslim scarves here in Raleigh, but it was the first time I've ever seen burqas in real life, and we saw quite a few of those, as well as Mennonites, Orthodox Jews, and Hindus. I felt like I was in the middle of the melting pot, and it was nice.

It was a trip worth taking, and one a part of me wouldn't mind doing again. :)

home

Tuesday morning we began a journey to Niagara Falls, NY...one of the places I've always wanted to visit.
We've not quite been home two hours, and I still have a lot to do, so I will just say this: it was worth it, both the drive and views. :)

Pics and thoughts to come later.

electronic files

Today at Bobby's dr's appt we got to go through the process again of verifying/updating his electronic chart. We were starting to get a little concerned they had confused him with one of the other 4 Robert Bryan's charts, even though they had his birthdate and part of his medicine list, as they had him listed as allergic to a medicine he's never taken, and they also listed him as being admitted to the hospital with "back pain".  We laughed and told the dr that was the year of his major surgery for bladder cancer. The doctor insisted it was back pain and I just laughed and asked "How can we go to the hospital for back pain when he has no feeling in that part of his body?" At that point I think the doctor realized why were so flabbergasted and omitted the entry.

And I was reminded again of how telling a doctor/nurse that Bobby is a quadriplegic doesn't always register in their brain. I sometimes wonder if they see him semi-motioning with his arms, and therefore incorrectly assume we don't know what we're talking about. I can't count the number of times during a hospital stay a nurse or therapist has asked him to roll over and seemed exasperated when he said "I can't." or asked him more than once to stand up for something. (We just have his wheelchair in the corner for decoration.) Today as he got to briefly update the doctor on his condition because of the accident (I don't think they keep records that far back), I think the light finally started going on. At least he didn't tell Bobby the importance of exercise today. :)

So we had our laugh for today.  Now if we get asked the same stuff again in six months or they still want to now about his hospital visit for back pain, I will be very concerned. But for now, it's kind of funny. Kind of.

whirlwind

Today as friends from all over are posting Facebook messages about back to school shopping, starting teacher-in-service, and homeschooling preparations/startings, for the first time ever I'm in a bit of my own whirlwind. Usually this time of year is a little hard, as my life is still slowly puttering at it's normal pace, only my friends' lives suddenly take on this somewhat temporary insanity, meaning my people contacts decrease considerably. Not complaining; just stating a fact.

But this year is different. We left for our trip last week with several chores/jobs I needed to do still undone. So I'm playing catch-up in addition to the many things I have coming up in the next few weeks. Add to that the normal unexpected things of life (a funeral, a dead chicken and a dog in time out, a chicken that hung itself by its toe in the pen's overhead hawk prevention netting - which is recovering quite well, I think) and life gets even crazier.

And I'm reminded a little of our visit to Monticello, the homeplace of Thomas Jefferson. His house was a continuous work in progress, and was even partially torn down and rebuilt at one point. So I'm thinking back to that today as things start to seem impossible and a bit overwhelming.  It doesn't all have to be done today. The world will not stop revolving if it doesn't get done or even if I miss a deadline.

Until then, I have tomatoes to can, a quilt square to finish, a kitchen and bathroom to clean, plus a floor full of mud/dirt/grass clippings that needs sweeping up...again. Countin' it all joy. :)

conjoined at the eye

I was quite surprised while shelling to find two peas didn't separate.  Turns out their eyes were connected! I don't think I've ever seen this before!

Woodrow Wilson Library and Frontier Farm Museum

Prior to last week's vacation, I had never visited a presidential library. I was expecting a museum, but also, well, a library. I knew you wouldn't be able to check books out or anything like that, but I did expect to be able to read or view copies of the President's writings. Turns out, it's just a museum. Perhaps his writings are stored there, but we only saw one example of them.

One very cool story we did learn, though, was that Wilson was homeschooled by his father, who was an Episcopalian pastor. Many people advised him to give up on Woodrow, then called Tommy (his first name is Thomas), as he didn't master his alphabet until the age of 9.  He wasn't really reading until the age of 11 or 12. And yet, he later learned to read in other languages as well. Scholars today tend to think he might have been dyslexic. Whatever his learning disability was, writing was difficult for him. He taught himself how to write in shorthand, and found it much easier. All of his presidential writings (as well as most adult writings) are in shorthand.

And for the record, Wilson was born in Straunton, VA, but they moved away to Georgia when he was less than two years old. His opposition to World War I was a result of his growing up in a South decimated from the Civil War (his father was a chaplain to troops and their house/manse and church was used as a field hospital for both sides).

Also in Staunton is the Frontier Farm Museum. We could have easily spent half a day or more there, though we barely had two hours. Basically, there are miniscule farms detailing how early settlers in Virginia lived both in their native country and in their early years in Virginia. Old world settings from Germany, Ireland, England, and West Africa were amazing. I was give out before we made it to the early America circle, and stopped at the gift shop while Bobby raced on to the American side. He said there were actually more workers and animals there and we could have spent a good two hours there alone. There was a young girl, about ten, there with her parent (who was a worker), and he enjoyed asking her questions. This place was definitely worth the entry fee.

I had seen German buildings in Old Salem, which are somewhat similar to old English farmhouses, but the Irish house was a delight.

Who doesn't love a stone wall? (Besides Robert Frost)

Check out those gate posts (and matching barn)

And that lovely stone wall...is actually a pig enclosure...ugh...the smell on a hot day!

The one lone sheep and cows were across the field and the chickens were in the barn, but the CAT was in the house.  We also saw geese (like ours) at the English farm house, as well as cows, and the goats weren't enclosed into the African settlement yet, the Germans had a cow and lots of chickens, and Bobby said the American farm also had cows and pigs and chickens. I don't think we saw a dog, though.

I didn't take pictures of the super quaint restaurant where we ate breakfast that morning, but the ladies sitting next to us (think old men who meet regularly at coffee shops) were absolutely hysterical to listen to. Their conversation constantly hopped from one current event to the next (and every other one was a celebrity situation), and the table had at least one conservative and one liberal who were not afraid of disagreeing with the other. When one tartly said to the other, "WELL! That's YOUR opinion" we were trying very hard not to burst out laughing. They were quite entertaining. And of course, as we get ready to leave, the owner is beginning to set up for lunch, and she brings out these chocolate pies that rival Meadow's Restaurant - the meringue was HUGE. For a minute I thought Bobby was going to stay.

Antique shops, quilt shops, used book stores, home cooking restaurants (we ate supper at a place that had the most awesome homemade rolls!), a presidential library and cool museums...Staunton, VA was definitely a place worth visiting.

last week

For our anniversary last week, we headed towards the Shanandoah Valley in Virginia. It was awesome. In many ways it reminded me of Tennessee (the steep hills and pastures), and the huge houses in the valley areas reminded me of the houses in Washington DC and Richmond, VA. There were quite a few mansions and plantation style houses, but in the smaller outlying areas, there were also small farmhouses on vast pastures and farmland.

As far as small towns go, Staunton and Culpeper are two places I would gladly spend two days in checking out. As Bobby said, our half a day at each place barely scratched the surfaces. Well, we actually spent almost a whole day in Staunton, but still, we could have spent much more time there.

But my favorite pictures from the trip come from our one hour on Skyline Drive (the same road as the Blueridge Parkway, only you have to pay to get on it).

and this is the second deer

from the ride out...his antlers look so fuzzy!

Sadly, there's no picture of the bunny rabbit from that drive...