Wednesday, June 29, 2016

UCAAN Change a Life Road Trip - Day #11 - Sunday June 26th, 2016

Part 2 - New York City 



So prior to us leaving Michigan and heading to Rochester, we heard about the severe weather that hit the east coast. This also included one of our stops, which seemed to receive the worst of it. We planned on heading to West Virginia to visit the Gesundheit Institute in Hillsboro, West Virginia. But due to the storms and hurricanes, we are unable to. Doryn and I are so disappointed because we had hoped to visit with the staff there, help on the land and get a tour of it. But as of right now, it’s not safe to head that way and we have to do what’s best for us to keep safe! 

Now onto today, we had an eventful day to say the least. It was our day to spend with Auntie, since she’d be busy most of the days we’re in NYC.  For breakfast, Doryn and picked up some bagels and coffee and we enjoyed them with goat cheese we got in Winsconsin, delish!!! After breakfast, auntie and I went through some things that she thought would help us raise more funds for UCAAN – great items for gift baskets for silent auctions and more! So, we went through what she had, packed them up and got them ready to ship to my office in California. The three of us walked with 2 of those small basket carts full of our medium boxes and walked them up the street and around the corner to FedEx. Once we shipped them Auntie was so relieved to have that done, as was I. Time for the fun to begin! The walk to Central park was several blocks and being as how I’ve been having some knee issues over the past month or so, Auntie suggested that we take the bus to Central park, while she walked with the dogs. We agreed! So Doryn and I get on the M69 bus and head to the park, talking with the passengers on the bus on the way and beating auntie to the entrance. 

We walked around central park for about 3 hours, taking breaks, enjoying the scenery, people watching, checking out the artists and vendors selling their handmade and printed items. People doing caricatures were lined throughout the park. Auntie asked me if I would want to get one with Doryn, I actually thought it was a good idea so I walked around to see who’s artwork I liked best. I went to one man and he was passed out sleeping, couldn’t wake him up and went to another and he didn’t speak English. Lol. They all seemed a little pricy too, so I opted out this time, plus we had more to walk. Auntie took us to her favorite spots, past the Balto statue, the Friends Waterfall fountain, surrounded by people, the boat house and the small boat pond. Auntie told us that from 9pm to 9am, dog owners are allowed to let their dogs off their leashes, the spot that’s most popular is the “Friends” waterfall fountain because the big dogs love to play in it. Sounds like a wild dog time! ;) So, we walked around the waterfall fountain and saw the large boat area, which was filled with people in paddle boats, enjoying the area. We walked past the boat house, which you’ve guessed it, houses these paddle boat rentals for people to enjoy, the line was pretty long so we didn’t do it this time. Perhaps next time.

We continued to walk, stopping occasionally and just people watching. I think we enjoyed watching people near the small boat pond. Here, people could rent a pretty nice sized toy sail boat for $10/hr with a $20 deposit and sail their boats in a large pond. We saw all sorts of people, even people with larger boats and very small speed boats (which generally are not allowed, because they mess up the other boats). We stayed here probably for the longest and then headed out to take the bus back to the house. 

So I wanted to mention, I haven’t walked this much in forever, mainly because of the different problems and side effects I have from treatments including the herniated disc, degenerative disc disease and now the knee problems. L Because of these things I have learned my limits and tend not to over do it at the risk of injuring myself worse. Now this goes along with most of us who have fought cancer or currently have cancer, we tend to push and push ourselves, even when it’s not good for us. So remember, if you feel the pain, sit down and take a break. Just take it easy! 

Once we got home we relaxed a little and then went out to dinner to one of my favorite spots – Café Luka, which is owned by two brothers, I met 5 years ago – Marc & Johnny. It was wonderful catching up with them and they even spent some time with us while we were there. We talked about UCAAN and what was new, we talked about our frozen dessert and our hopes to utilize it to raise funds for UCAAN; we talked about it all! We enjoyed burgers and just spent a wonderful time together. The guys were so excited when they heard about my frozen dessert they told me they wanted to try it and asked if I could make some for them while I’m in town. I actually took them up on the challenge. So after dinner we all walked to a local health food market and I bought some of the supplies I needed. When we got back to my aunts place I went right to work, creating one of my favorites: Peach Apricot Basil. I didn’t have all the right tools so I improvised with ice cube trays… by the next day they were ready and soooo delicious! Talk about a wonderful day!! Next up… Part 3 – Fancy Food Show Adventures and more.

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