Holiday Inn Ithaca, Ny

... City with me sometime next week but sadly I don't think it’s going to happen. Had burgers for dinner (at Five Guys, Burgers and Fries) and then popped into Barnes and Noble to use their free wi-fi, still no internet at home till tomorrow. Was pretty late when we left so had a snack when we got in and a little more TV. It’s such a relief to have real tea, wasn’t sure how I was going to cope!

We'd agreed on a slow start this week while I’m recovering from such a long trip so had a nice cooked breakfast and then headed out to the supermarket to pick up some food and use the free wi-fi (internet won’t get hooked up till Thursday). I was most amused to find that in the foreign food aisle they had an Irish ...

Very early start, quick cup of tea and shower then off to the airport. Check in and time for my last cup of tea in England and a croissant to share. A very brave goodbye with Kate and then off through security, complete with a last minute list of things to pick up in the airport shops (Kate is very good at organising me with lists!).<br><br>Flight was fine, I ended up sitting next ...

... on the side of the road along the way, hit by cars. You seldom see that in Canada.<br><br>Arriving in Elmira, I checked into the hotel and went out for a drive around town. Its a sleepy little down, running along side the Chemung River. Both sides of the river are developed, and there are several bridges across the river. <br><br>First Night had dinner at Pudgies Pizza, greasy pizza and surprisingly good. <br><br><br><br><br><br><br>

... I was hoping to get a chance to meet Baby Poland, but alas, I will have to wait until we return for a visit! <br><br>And so ends this chapter in our families life and we are off to a new adventure. Thanks to all of the amazing friends we have made during our time here, we will all leave a piece of our hearts here!

... who dropped her laundry basket and it slid two blocks down the hill on the ice. In between those hills are the gorges with waterfalls tumbling down the rocks. The one pictured supposedly has Carl Sagan's astronomy lab at the top which he bought from Cornell.<br><br>People also plant gardens everywhere they can: both flower and vegetable. As we walked to the falls they sidewalks on either side were filled with flowers and vegetables.<br>

... the car, because when we got to our campsite, it was a nasty mud pit. We put all of our Rubbermaids on the picnic table and covered them up with a tarp and bungee cords so that we would not have to do it later if it started to rain again. (And it did.)<br>- Drove Robie back to the airport. Said our goodbyes for real this time. <br>- Drove back into town in the pouring rain. Circled Ithaca three times trying to find ...

... his wine tours in Ithaca. Lynette and David, the innkeepers, were gracious and saw to our every need and then some. The inn itself is fabulous. They opened 10 years ago and have been hit ever since. Their breakfasts are creative culinary at its best and their desserts are "to die for." We are taking several recipes home with us. <br><br><br> <br>We walked down the street to ...

So we've arrived in Ithaca in upstate New York which we reached by Greyhound. It took about 5 hrs with a change at crazy ***** red neck town Binghampton. No one else got off the bus at this point apart from two women with mullets Billy Ray Cyrus would have been jealous of. So naturally before our connecting bus showed up I quickly nipped into a local barbers to be mullified, just so I can nicely fit in. (pics ...

... arid land dweller from Western Australia. The density of the trees, the greenness of the foliage, the sheer volume of water...stunning. This has to be the most beautiful part of the world I have ever seen. It exactly fitted my mental image of North America which I developed as a boy reading stories about Indians and trappers in the woods, especially the works of James Fenimore Cooper. No surprise, because those stories were set here. It is jus that I assumed this world was gone ...