Our last post left off in New Mexico. Hang on because you might get dizzy from this trip. So from Roswell, New Mexico, we beelined it to Edmond, Oklahoma with 477 miles under our belt for the day. This was a super long day but sometimes these long days are necessary. What was fun about this trip is we traveled through Clovis, New Mexico. I know it doesn’t sound fun but we are from Clovis, California so we wanted to see the other Clovis. We only stopped at the Love’s for a restroom break and gas.
From Clovis, New Mexico we went through Amarillo, Texas and only stopped for gas and the restroom at the TA travel center. Then we pressed on to Oklahoma and stopped at a Boondockers Welcome for the night. It was a long day traveling almost 9 hours but it was so worth it. This was our first experience with Boondockers Welcome and we literally stayed in someone’s driveway. There’s no cost when staying at a Boondocker’s site, which is really nice. Our only concern was what weather we might encounter. Thankfully the weather was good, and our host was great to chat with. We love our Harvest Host membership and adding Boondocker’s Welcome to the mix makes it an even more attractive option for saving more and getting out to new places.
The next morning we got an early start at 8am and continued east. A quick and easy fuel stop in Kansas and we were back on our way. We arrived at our campground Basswood Resort in Platte City, Missouri around 7 pm https://basswoodresort.com/. This looks like a fun family oriented resort with themed weekends. We didn’t have the opportunity to enjoy it due to family obligations and work schedules, but hope to swing back around here sometime in the future.
We’ve split up!
The next morning, Andrew drove me to the airport at 6 am for a 8am flight out of Kansas City International Airport. I don’t fly too often so I worry about getting lost in the airport and not finding my gate. Well this time I had no trouble and plenty of time.
My family obligation was our 20 year old daughter was flying to New York City and we didn’t want her traveling to the big city alone. So mama bear left her home on the road for a few days to play in the Big Apple for the first time. It was so awesome to share this experience with her, it was both of our first time.
New York City
We immediately got an Uber and our driver was awesome in pointing out all the highlights and what we should see. New York drivers are in a class of their own and what I took away from New York is 1. You have to honk your horn all the time, I think it is a sport. 2 You have to double park if it is a short amount of time.
Radio City Music Hall
So you may be asking, “why on earth did two California girls head to the brisk temps of NYC?” Can you say Radio City Rockettes???? Yep, Topanga had an audition with the Rockettes and what an amazing adventure it was! Although she didn’t make the team this year she learned so much and is so looking forward to giving it another shot next year.
The siGHTS of New York City
With only one and a half days to see NYC, we were limited on what we could do but we crammed in as much as we could. We did so much walking and one of us learned the ways of the subway system.
Of course I had to introduce my daughter to FAO Schwartz.
Times square
We found this lovely park in the middle of the city. This was so unexpected!
Of course we had to go check out Victoria’s Secret. It had 3 floors with the top being a lounge and you can have champagne while your resting!
The New York City Library looked so awesome on the outside, we had to go inside to check it out and we found a really cool museum. The marble inside was just beautiful. The museum had a wide collection of things from a portrait of Benjamin Franklin, to ancient cuneiform on clay tablets, to the original Winnie the Pooh and friends. They started off looking not so cuddly. I’m glad they developed into the lush cuddly characters we know today, but it was still cool to see the originals!
Ground zero
I had no idea what to expect here, all I know is that I didn’t want to see the museum. The grounds are beautiful and it is so moving and emotional. I was not directly impacted by 9/11 but hearing the stories and seeing the pictures was more than enough for me. Topanga was not even alive when this happened but we felt like we needed to go and pay our respects.
So there are two fountains to represent the towers. One fountain was running and the other was under renovations for cleaning. You can see how big these are with the people on the other side of the fountain and the worker inside the fountain. Each fountain around the ledge has the names of those that perished in the 9/11 tragedies.
World Trade Center Scultures
These sculptures are on display for only a year and we were lucky enough to stumble upon them. A Wild Life For Wildlife is part of the broader ‘Love The Last’ project, a social movement driven by public art to raise awareness, funds and support for endangered animals across the world, encouraging people to take action before we lose these animals forever. A Wild Life For Wildlife serves as a beacon for a brighter future. https://gillieandmarc.com/blogs/find-our-art/a-wild-life-for-wildlife
New York food
I had a shot with my bruschetta, while Topanga had a grilled chicken noodle bowl.
A broadway show
We didn’t feel like we could pass up the opportunity to see a Broadway show in New York city. So with having a dance major, can you guess which show we had to see? She was dying to see Chicago! It was a very good show, she was floating for awhile!
Ohio
While I was playing in New York, Andrew was traveling form Missouri to Ohio. After my trip, Andrew picked me up at the Cleveland airport. Stayed tuned for our adventures in Ohio, you don’t want to miss it!