2 runaways...and I am not talking about the boys!

The Douger and I (and the non-detachable son) ran away to New York for a whole week.   It was so fun to have all the time in the world to talk, relax, enjoy the fall weather (see colors I've never seen on trees before), and catch up with each other.  We had an action packed trip and covered a lot of ground.

We picked up our set of wheels, much to Doug's delight all they had in stock that day was a Mustang....and headed out with no real itinerary.  

  We started up North and toured Niagara Falls from both the American and Canadian sides and by boat.

So, so amazing and breathtaking. (And wet!)            

Next we spend a day in Palmyra touring some of the LDS Church History Sites.  One of my favorite parts of Palmyra (second to the Sacred Grove) was our little Bed and Breakfast we stayed in.  

Next stop, Ithaca, New York to visit Ben and Paige.  

Who knew, but Ithaca is home to SO MANY beautiful water walls.  We had so much fun driving/hiking around in the gorgeous Fall leaves.  

We got the royal Tour de Cornell (including our personal Bell tower concert!) and saw the places where Ben is passing his days away.  

After Ithaca, we drove the Mustang down to NYC and traded it in for some authentic Subway passes so we could do it the real way! :) 

We divided Central Park into 2 days so we could do it justice.  

Lovely! 

 The view from the "Top of the Rock"  is phenomenal...but still probably not worth the steep elevator ride price.  At the bottom of the Rockefeller Center they had just opened the outdoor skating several days earlier.  Not surprising...we were pretty much professional. :)  

We loved wondering through F.A.O. Schwarz and Times Square.  We hit up 2 Broadway Plays and loved every minute of them both.   Go Harry Potter!  He was so great.  Besides casting spells, he can really sing and dance too!

We had a beautiful sunset on the Brooklyn Bridge.  We opted to view the Statue of Liberty from the bridge and spend our night at at the 9/11 Twin Tower Memorial instead.  Bottom right hand corner you can see Lady Liberty under the sun.  (You can always click on collage to make it bigger...)

Minus the 1 hour kidney stone scare I had, the freak out (from the Douger that is...) to get the rental car returned  in time, and the crazy morning getting up at 3:45am to catch our flight home...getting lost...and almost missing our flight by minutes...it was the PERFECT trip!  

  

P.S. We owe a huge thanks to our wonderful hosts: the Lewis' and Hyde's! 

And an even bigger thanks to the Reber's and Aunt Di for watching the boys for a whole week! 

P.S.S.  ...still dreaming of Grimaldi's Pizzeria daily.