On our last day in New York…we drove down to the falls for lunch. I was amazed by all the sunflowers we saw. I’ve lived in Kansas for 9 months now, and I haven’t seen a lot of sunflowers. Maybe one or two popping up by a mailbox. But that’s it! In New York, we drove by fields of tall, lean sunflowers. I snapped these beautiful blossoms in Sanborn.
We also drove by some pretty farm land. Lot’s of cornfields, kinda like Kansas.
We decided to park on the NY side and walk across the US border into Canada.
Mark’s back was a bit sore. I’m grateful he was able to do a lot of walking on our trip to another country. The Canadian dollar is a little stronger in comparison to my last summer trip….but it’s still one looney to 86-US-cents. Not bad.
We did lunch at on Hilton’s outdoor patio. Then we headed down to our favorite Canadian dive bar for drinks and a ballgame. The Wild Mushroom is a kitschy joint but it also managed to avoid the saccharine tourist trap, only a block away. I told the friendly bartender to surprise me with something sweet and fruity. She came up with this drink, “Take off Your Pants.” It’s fruity, citrus notes and I could barely taste the booze. Very dangerous. The bartender claimed “Take off Your Pants” was only available at the Wild Mushroom.
The falls are so massive, I felt the water drops spray my cheeks from this vantage point.
Aunt Maureen had another big dinner on our last night in NY. She fired up sausages and corn on the grill. Terri whipped up coleslaw, german potato salad and other yummy dishes. Kim brought over some divine orange whipped cream dessert with mandarin oranges. I made my salsa paella with smoked sausages. Thankfully, people liked it. I guess I wanted to show Mark’s family that I’m more than a working girl. I could also cook and take care of my hubby’s tummy. A wife is supposed to do that, right? I’m also happy Nate made it to dinner. We got to meet his girlfriend Megan who made some yummy chocolate dipped strawberries. Yes, I gained a little bit of weight after this trip…but no worries, I should be able to squeeze into my dress for Jennie’s and Scott’s wedding.
It was nice to talk to Nate and Mark’s cousin Dave about working graveyard shifts. They understood my weird state of waking…a vampire’s life. But for me, without pale vampire skin. I must admit, sometimes the sun is a little blinding to me, if I’m out and about during the week. I’m amazed how little sleep they need. I need at least 6 hours or I’m miserable at work. Like me, Dave said he needed a dark room to fall asleep in. Dinner conversation also touched on Bucky Phillips – the convict who escaped with a can opener and is accused of fatal shooting a state trooper. This was before the major networks got on the story. Besides being violent to authorities, the situation sounded like a joke to some people. Nate said one cafe offered a free cup of coffee to anyone who brought in Bucky. And in the area where he grew-up, a small group of people elevated him to folk hero status. Some wore “Run Bucky Run” t-shirts. A few weeks later, this story ended up in Topeka, on our evening newscast. Funny how news works out like that. The story traveled from a dinner conversation on our last night in NY onto Kansas television.
Sunrise at Buffalo International. Nice trip. I can’t wait for our next visit to NY. I wonder when other family members and friends from Cali and NY will visit us in Kansas? Hmmm? It’s not just a fly over state people! So…you’re welcome to visit us in Topeka…if you want. But I also understand if you don’t want to. I’ll try to break the news to Daisy. Yeah, think about that. Think about my lonely baby.
There’s plenty of sunflowers in Kansas, you just haven’t been near them.
On the bus ride to my junior high school we drove by fields and fields and fields of sunflowers, very large sunflowers, always facing the sun trying to suck on every ray.
You won’t find sunflowers in Topeka. Too dirty. 😉