New York, New York

Back in November, we watched our good friend Ranell's kids for a week, so in May it was her turn to return the favor! I am so glad I have friends willing to do this kind of trade. We chose to go to New York because neither of us had ever been there and my Uncle George has a place in Manhattan and LOVES being the tour guide. We were told not to plan a thing, but of course I found a couple of things before we got there. The first thing we did was run a race through Central Park.

Running is my favorite way to see a new city, and what better way to do it, then to run it with 8,000 other New Yorkers! It was a beautiful race and the only bummer was that Jeff was running on a broken tibia (didn't know it at the time) and had to stop after 2 miles.

I had never been to an art museum, so I was very excited that our "tour" would include the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I could have stayed there for days. It is amazing!

The one plan I made was to go to a taping of David Letterman. I had emailed them months before and got the call 2 days before we left. All I had to do was answer a trivia question. I was reminded why I should never be in a situation where you have to think on your feet! Luckily they still gave us the tickets and we had a fantastic time. I even got emotional as I remembered all the nights I spent watching the show with my dad. Great memories.

Broadway was on the list and the first one we saw was Mary Poppins. We had great seats and I thought it was phenomenal! It was so much fun and even Jeff enjoyed it.

The only bummer about the week was the weather. I apparently took the rain from Oregon and brought it to New York. I left my little town with a week of sunshine (you're welcome Oregon) and we had pretty wet weather. We decided to take off for 2 days to my uncle's getaway in Pennsylvania and it was beautiful and peaceful. Some of my favorite parts of the trip happened there including having our own private chef who made us amazing meals! (and then wouldn't let us clean up!) It was heavenly. We had great conversation and I enjoyed spending time with my Uncle. He is intelligent and an artist and from Cuba and has had many amazing life experiences. He also had fun stories to share about when my dad was little.

The rest of the time in New York was spent enjoying the city sights. We rode on the Staten Island Ferry, took the subway, and walked everywhere you could think of. We ate great food every night and just enjoyed being together. One of the most emotional sites was the Ground Zero Memorial. I was awestruck and subdued thinking of all the lives that were lost on that tragic day.

Our last day we did a "crazy Kelly" trip and took a rental car to Boston. We walked around Boston, which was so cool , including seeing MIT and part of the Freedom trail. We then watched the Red Sox kill the Cubs 15-5 and drove straight back to New York to catch our flight home at 6am the next morning. Crazy end to an awesome week with my sweetheart! I love any time I get with him.

Thanks Ranell for making that week possible! We got back on Bryce's birthday and celebrated at Red Robin and then with our friends the Jensens. Bryce and Melissa share a birthday so it is always fun to see them.