Chris has
pressured me into blogging about our trip to Buffalo. I don't really want to, but here it goes.
First, we had a wonderful time at the
WEPCo barbecue. I didn't want to leave. We drove to Farmington late Saturday night. We stayed with our great friends, who took us to the airport at 5:45 am. Yuck. Only true friends would do that!
My cold had spread from my head to my chest and I felt pretty awful the whole trip; I think it tainted my experience. Not to mention anything of great draw, we'd already seen. My favorite saying the whole trip was, "I'm a celebrity, get me out of here!" (No, we don't watch the show, but it's fun to say! Try it whenever you're stuck where you don't want to be.)
Monday was basically shot to heck by Chris's interview. He interviewed at 9:30, and didn't get back to the hotel until almost noon. We had planned to visit Niagra that afternoon, but after the interview they wanted him to meet with the president of the college and the VP of academic affairs at 2:00. I read tourist information and took a nap in the car while he met with them. Isn't it annoying that the reason for the trip would consume our whole day?! I thought so, too! ;-)
We had planned to visit the Darwin Martin complex after he finished that, but I had gotten the wrong address. Instead, we spent the afternoon driving around downtown Buffalo, trying to find our way out and getting annoyed at the "
Buffalo Bisons." Adding an 's' to a plural? Argh!
We ate dinner at a random restaurant. I note this only because we saw a lady that had been on our flight from Atlanta to Buffalo. Her name was Trudy (I overheard a conversation she had on her phone while waiting in Atlanta, and learned a bit about her). Bizarre to see and recognize someone from our flight.
Tuesday was our church history site day. First stop was the visitor's center. (I don't know what's going on with this picture, and attempts to fix it have been fruitless.)
Hill Cumorah
Smith Farm- Log Home, Frame Home, and Sacred Grove beyond the field
Just about four years ago, Chris and I visited these sites, along with my future father-in-law. Our first visit was just a stop off on our cross-country drive/move, and it was on a Sunday. This time we had more time to enjoy it. I wish we would have taken the time to serve in the Palmyra temple, but I guess that will have to wait until our next visit, if there is one.
We had time to find and visit the Whitmer farm in Fayette.
As we we driving around, trying to find the place, we saw some Amish girls working their fields. We stopped at their little roadside stand, but weren't willing to leave big bills in the change box in exchange for some chocolate whoopie pies. Plus, that money was our toll money. I hate toll roads and toll bridges. It feels like such a rip-off to pay to drive on a road (that isn't any nicer than most roads out west.)
Wednesday was our last day in Buffalo. We went to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls that morning. (On our previous visit, we saw the American side.) We have about thirty more pictures of us at Niagara. In the words of Tim Russert, a native Buffaloian, "Niagara Falls... wasn't much of a draw. It was certainly something to see, but once we had seen it, even from the Canadian side, which was a lot nicer, we felt no great desire to return." Amen. We fully documented our visit to the Canadian side, and now we never have to go back.
In an effort to save money, we had bought two gift certificates to restaurants in Buffalo during an 80% off sale at
Restaurant.com. We weren't able to use one because of funky hours, but at Mackie's we got to try deep fried pickles. I was scared off by them, but our waitress brought us two, just to try.
We might not have had wings in Buffalo, but now we can say we've eaten deep fried pickes.
That afternoon we made it to the
Darwin Martin complex for our tour. I was severely disappointed in the house tour. I'm a fan of Frank Lloyd Wright, but the renovations are just in the beginning stages (thanks for the tour of the retro 60s kitchen. Just what I wanted to see after I paid $15 to tour FLW architecture) and our docent was a little cuckoo. It looks great from the outside, which is all you see on brochures and websites, which is a little deceiving. And they just spent millions building a pavilion next door. Why not start with the house, you know, what people actually come to see!?
We finished out our time in Buffalo killing time at Target. Chris walked two miles while we were there. He had four miles on the marathon training schedule, but he didn't feel like running them. He got in two while we toured Niagra, and finished up his mileage going around Target, and then weaving in and out of every aisle. I think they are his slowest miles yet in his training.
Our amazing friends picked us up from the airport at midnight. Then made us breakfast Thursday morning. I think they deserve a medal for all the hassle! They said it was just payment for
their visit last summer, but it was still mighty nice of them.
Chris felt really good about his interview, and the job is right in the direction he would like to go. Like a terrible wife, I think I'm rooting against him. I didn't like Buffalo. Chris told them he could be available early to mid-July. I'm not sure about that. Perhaps if they helped pay relocation costs, I could be swayed. They've been checking Chris's references, so we'll see if I actually have anything to worry about.
Hyrum Freedom 15k on the Fourth of July: Finishing tenths of a second behind Chod, even though they didn't run together during the race
Declo Days 5 Mile Hammer Run: Just a good warm-up for another 13
No Big Deal, right?
No Big Deal, right?
