North East Expedition

Getting out of San Francisco was a lot harder than getting in. We were both randomly selected for the full security search treatment, including going through a machine that blows puffs of air all over your body and having all our hand luggage manually searched. We nearly freaked out when we got to Toronto and Rob discovered that he had left his 6-inch mercator knife in his hand-luggage -the scary bit was that the security men going through his bag never found it.

Rob’s cousin Michael met us at the flash airport in Toronto and whisked us to his beautiful home where Sheila greeted us with a lovely meal. Over the course of 3 days and several whiskies, Michael got Rob hooked on big league baseball. Mike and Sheila were wonderful tour guides, and we enjoyed going to see Niagara Falls, a place I had wanted to go since I was about 8 years old and read about Blondini crossing it on a tightrope. Now I have seen the falls – and they are magnificent – I cannot believe that any sane person would even momentarily contemplate crossing them by any method. We went up to the falls in a boat called the Maid of the Mist, and the force of the water was unbelievable. We were provided with ponchos to protect us from the spray, but they were useless, and we all got completely saturated – it was just like being under a high pressure hose. We also visited an incredible butterfly sanctuary nearby, and next day Michael took us to the excellent Museum of Toronto, and up the CNN tower for a panoramic view of the city.

Flying into New York city was an absolute thrill – the day was perfect and we flew very low over the Statue of Liberty and Manhattan Island. What a city! It truly is an exciting place, and we quickly immersed ourselves in the tourist culture. Broadway, Times Square, Central Park, Waldorf Hotel, Carnegie Hall, the subway, Brooklyn Bridge at night, the impossibly large Metropolitan Museum.


We stayed in a hostel right in the middle of Manhattan, an absolute dive but brilliant location. Rob could simultaneously touch opposite walls of our room, and we couldn’t open the door properly when our luggage and we were all inside. The room opposite was blocked off with yellow tape with a warning sign – Rob reckoned it was being fumigated for bedbugs, and when he saw them hauling out the mattress next day he was convinced. Arrgh – but we survived.

We took the train up to Albany alongside the Hudson river bordered by glowing autumn colours. Pete and Tina met us and looked after us, took us hiking in the lovely Catskill Mountains with some of their friends and lent us a car so we could visit the Adirondaks.

We had originally planned to camp, but thank goodness we changed our minds and took a motel room as next morning we awoke to a white wonderland. It was freezing!!

We returned to Albany where we enjoyed soaking in the spa pool under the stars and sharing many a fine wine with Pete and Tina, as well as touring much of the local area which is just stunning in the autumn. A highlight was meeting Pete and Tina's surrogate grandparents Greg and Rosalie, and visiting the Albany Museum with them where Greg showed us around the amazing displays and models he has built over the years. Outstanding.