July 22, 2008

I woke up a little before 5am after Dad peeked his head in the
room and said, "It's time to get up."

Scott and I spent the night at Mom and Dad's house, and
I immediately sprang out from the covers. The sleep I usually crave
was not appealing to me today. Today was the day we would leave for
New York City.

We all pretty much had everything all packed, so all we had to do
was finish up what was in the refrigerator and toss the bags in the
van.

We left the house a little after 5:20. I brought along a strawberry
banana Dannon Fusion for the van ride to the airport.
When we were a few blocks from Grandma and Grandpa's house, Mom called
Grandpa and told him that we were close.
After pulling onto Borah street, we saw Grandpa; with all his morning
energy stride out from the house.

We arrived at the airport and Grandpa took the van back to Nampa.
After printing out our tickets, we headed for the security line.
Everyone got through smoothly except for Scott. Something in his bag
needed closer inspection. So a security lady with blue latex gloves
went through Scott's bag.

After Scott re-packed his backpack we headed to the gate.

We were still quite early, so Mom, Scott and I viewed the art gallery at the Boise Airport.

At the appointed time, everyone gathered on the plane and settled
down for the ride.

I was fortunate enough to have a window seat.

When we were over Yellowstone National Park, I took a photo of
all the snow still nestled there.

From New York City

After landing in Minneapolis, I realized that I forgot to enjoy my
yogurt drink. My computer did not recognize the airport internet, so I
whipped out dad's iTouch and typed out an email to Grandpa asking him
to enjoy the drink for me.

I was not assigned a window seat at Minneapolis, but I was able from
my middle seat to notice Lake Michigan, Lake Erie, and as we began our
descent, the massive metropolis of New York City.

After we landed, Dad bought MetroCards and we headed to the bus
stop. After hopping on the bus, Dad asked the lady behind him where to
get out for the train.
She gave excellent directions, and we were able to find the
train station with ease. The train in this part of Queens is on an
elevated track above the street. As I entered the stairway, I
immediately realized that this train system was well used.

A few weeks before the trip, I had scoured Google Earth focusing on
the city. So I was familiar with the buildings I saw on the left and
right of the train. We noticed the Hotel ( La Quinta ) from the train
and exited at the next stop.

After we deposited our bags, we left the hotel and skipped up the
steps to meet the train for a ride into Manhattan.

Before traveling under the East River, the train dipped under
ground. When we stepped out of the train at the Times Square station,
we were hit with the intense underground heat of the subway. We found our way out of the station to
the surface in Times Square where the air was more tolerable. I was amazed at the mass of people there.
So many people. So many enormous buildings. So many giant high
definition screens!

From New York City