YAK Travels: 2012

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Home

When we got back home, it still wasn't 'normal' per-se, for my dad was away in Germany. Of course, that's when everything seemed to break or go wrong. On the first day, my mom and I went out for a donut run and she accidentally typed in 13 dozen into the self-checkout at the grocery store instead of 13 donuts. Also, I stepped on a gardening instrument and had to get a tetanus shot because it broke the skin (no, Aunt "Rose" - this wasn't a figment of grandma's imagination). And then on a bike ride I went on with my sister and a friend on the day he was set to be back, my bike was messed up and I had to work twice as hard to do anything. I was huffing and puffing on even the straightaways (this may be partially due to the fact I haven't ridden in a while and may be out of shape...).It turned out to be the tires - they weren't fully blown up with air, and the back one was almost slipping off the wheel. But how was I supposed to know? Before we even got to the bike ride, we had some problems loading the bikes and with the bike rack. See how everything falls apart?
On the positive side, my mom, sister, and I also watched both seasons of Downton Abbey within that span of two weeks. I had already seen season 1 and part of season 2, but it was nice to see it all in order, one after another. The ending was amazing, too! I won't spoil it like my piano teacher did, but I would recommend this series - if you aren't already hooked, you will be once you start watching this superbly acted and written show. On Saturday, August 18th, we went and visited the Titanic exhibit at the Henry Ford Museum. It was interesting to see all those artifacts, and see the differences between the different classes. Did you know that, in today's money, the first class tickets were worth tens of thousands of money, the richest being 90,000 $ (if I remember correctly)? Or that a lot more people would have survived - the first few life boats were only a quarter full - but decided to try their luck on the boat. When they realized the ship would sink, there wasn't enough room in the remaining lifeboats. That's pretty sad.
The next Monday was registration for school. I still can't believe that school is almost here! I'm still sleeping in to 10 AM or later - I don't know how I'll get back into a routine of getting up a 6 AM. For now, I'm not trying to think about that. Fortunately, my schedule wasn't messed up, although I did get the worst lunch, B, which splits my fourth hour in half. From experience, I know you never get any work done in either half. I also got the proofs back from my senior pictures. Some are better than others, but what really surprised me was how similar I looked to my sister in the studio pictures. I guess I know why people get us mixed up. The last interesting thing that has happened recently is that my family (minus my brother) went to the DIA (Detroit Institute of Art) yesterday to see the one Vermeer painting that is there on loan from the National Portrait Gallery in Washington DC. It was called "Woman Holding a Balance," which is a self-explanatory description of the painting. Although it was flanked by two paintings of contemporaries, it was clearly superior in every way. It was small and depicted a normal scene, but exuded some magical luminance that seemed to draw me in. It was a beautiful painting. In the same area, we saw some Rembrandt paintings, and although they weren't nearly as good as Vermeer's I did like how he showed emotion, especially in the painting "A Woman Weeping." After touring that area of the museum, we went to another exhibit showing the drawings, prints, and collages of Matisse and Picasso. Although they aren't my favorite artists, they were definitely talented. I liked in some drawings of both, it seemed as if they were unfinished because they picked a certain area to be very detailed and the rest is just a sketch. In one, it was completely shaded by stippling - dotting a lot to make different shades - which impressed me, for I absolutely hate that technique because it's so time-consuming. I hoped to visit the Rivera Court, my favorite part of the DIA, but by that time, the museum was closing up and we were forced out. C'est la vie. If you ever get out in this area, you should go and visit the museum. It is a true gem in the city.

Happy 90th!

I'd like to say that the hiatus in posting has been due to me being incredibly busy, but that isn't really the case. In reality, I haven't been doing really anything for the past month and been enjoying the physical and mental break immensely. Going back to the beginning of the month, my family drove down to Kansas City on Thursday, August 9th. We got in super late - 3 AM - and I immediately fell asleep. The plan was to celebrate my grandmother's 90th birthday the entire weekend, but that was not to be. Unfortunately, she fell and broke her arm, so we had to change our plans. The next day, we spent the afternoon visiting her at the hospital. In the interest of her privacy, I won't say much more, but one funny story to come out of this was that when my brother visited her, my grandmother kept insisting that every nurse that passed by was his girlfriend. Also, she said everyone looked good - even the priest that came and visited her. So it wasn't completely a sad visit.
On Saturday, I spent some time with my mom and sister on the Plaza shopping, which was a nice interlude. I got this awesome dress from Anthropologie and a mustache t-shirt from Gap (one of the nicest and largest I've been to). Side note - I don't know what it is about mustaches, but they are awesome. I am seriously addicted. So, even though the shirt was a men's size medium and slightly big on me, I had to have it. We then met up with my dad, and we all drove out to Independence, Missouri, which is near where my grandparents live and where Hi-boy's - the best and only fast food restaurant I'll eat at - is located. I got a Jr. hamburger and Reces peanut butter cup cyclone (like a blizzard), and my family shared fries, tater-tots, and the always delicious onion rings. Though not a very healthy meal, it was definitely one of my favorite while in the area. The entire family was together, so we decided to go through with the planned fancy birthday dinner at the Capital Grill on the Plaza. Even though we weren't paying, I thought some of the prices were a bit exorbitant. So, I munched on the shared appetizers - all delicious - and got what I thought would be a salad (and was the cheapest thing on the menu). It was actually two big tomato slices with hunks of mozzarella cheese and a few scattered basil leaves and other tomatoes. Yet, since I had filled up on the starters, it was actually perfect. I did try my dad's steak, and, as expected, it was very good - tender and flavorful. For dessert, I munched on my mom's gigantic slice of cake, which was also good, but I was so full by this time that I couldn't eat much. My thoughts on the restaurant was that though very good, it was a bit too expensive for my tastes and the menu a bit limited.
At the end, we watched a slide show/video that Uncle "Frank" and my cousin put together of pictures of my grandma and family. It was nice to see all those vintage pictures of my mom's family and myself (occasionally), and I found it well thought out and executed. Too bad the birthday girl couldn't be there to see it. We had to drive back home that Sunday after church because my dad was leaving for Germany the next day for work. All in all, it was nice to see everyone, especially those who I haven't seen in years.

Monday, July 23, 2012

Lake Pictures

Kingsley Looking at the Lake

Gizmo

Boating at the Lake

Kingsley and Gizmo Sleeping

The one restaurant we at lunch at

My yummy cupcake!

Seneca Falls, New York Pictures

Women's Hall of Fame

Restaurant we ate lunch at

Location of Women's Rights Convention

Cooperstown, New York Pictures

Accommodations in Cooperstown, New York

Baseball Hall of Fame

Art Museum in Cooperstown

Wood Carving by a Prisoner!

Beading by Native Americans

Bakery where we got our breakfasts

Vermont and New Hampshire

Here are a few pictures from the end of our Northeastern Vacation - when we stopped at Norwich, Vermont and Hanover, New Hampshire, the home of Dartmouth College.

Our Hotel in Norwich, Vermont

Dartmouth Hall

Restaurant in Hanover, New Hampshire

Side Attraction we stopped at

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Down at the Lake

Today, it was quite hot outside - at lunch, the car read 100 degrees! It's been so hot and dry down here for a month or so that the lake level is down at least several feet and we couldn't put on our own fireworks show. But more on that later. Well, for the past few days, I have gotten into a rhythm. I wake up around 6:30 AM (yeah, this really hasn't been the sleeping in vacation I expected) to go for a walk with my dad and Kingsley because that's the only time it's cool enough, eat breakfast (so far, pancakes, omlettes, and french toast courtesy of my dad), put on my swim suit, and go down to the lake. Once down there, I have swam, tubed behind the boat (the waverunner is broken), and gone on boat rides. One time when I was tubing with my much younger cousin, the new tube, which I haven't gotten used to yet, almost flipped, but I made a great save by shifting my weight more to the middle. With my cousin OMY, the same happened, and then on another turn, I was thrown off, and skipped across the water like a rock. Let me tell you, I was sure I was going to develop a bruise on my thigh, it hurt so bad.
Then, on the Fourth of July, I went on my first ride on Aunt "Rose" and oldest uncle's pontoon boat. Up to now, our timing had always been bad, and missed the opportunity, but we finally got to experience it. I must say, I was expecting it to be extremely slow, but it wasn't too bad. The only problems were the only station on the radio was country music and the sun beat down on our faces. I had to completely cover myself with a towel to make sure I didn't burn. As I said before, since it has been so dry, we weren't able to set off our own fireworks. Understandably, we weren't too excited about the notion of burning down a house or trees. So, we went down to the helicopter pad nearby, where we were supposed to be able to see the fireworks put on by the city of Shell Knob, but it was a dud. Since we couldn't see anything by the time they were supposed to start, we left early enough to miss them, and late enough to miss the ones going off across the lake, when sitting on the back deck. A bit disappointing, but I guess that's not really what the day is supposed to be about. We did get a batch of iced cookies from a neighbor out of the deal, as well as a good viewing of the orange, almost full moon.
Today, we had reservations for us all to go out to lunch to celebrate an early birthday of one of my aunts. Since the reservation was at 11:00 AM, and many didn't get up until 9 AM, most didn't go down to the lake beforehand. But I kind of wanted to cool off and get away from all the drama at the house, so I went down with my dad for an hour. It was actually kind of nice just sitting in the water, taking, with no one to interrupt. Then we went to Nonna's Nummies, a new restaurant in town that I have never been too. I didn't know what to expect, but it was quite nice. They were very friendly and accommodating. I got a chicken panini and a huge "Death by Chocolate" cupcake (I wanted chocolate and peanut butter cup, but they were out). Both were filling and delicious. I hope to go back some other time, maybe next year. From there, we went to the Old Church Gallery, a store that sells rocks and minerals samples and jewelery. I got this beautiful snowflake obsidian necklace that wasn't too expensive. There were some emeralds and rubies that were hundreds of dollars, but I obviously didn't get those. After a quick trip to the Red Barn, a flea market, we went back to the lake house and down to the lake. Good times at Table Rock Lake - too bad tomorrow is our last day here :(

Monday, July 2, 2012

End and a Beginning

Well, we didn't get to rest for very long. On Wednesday, we drove home from Cooperstown, and we (my dad, brother, and I) are already on vacation again. The drive home wasn't too bad. For breakfast, we went to Schneider’s Bakery, which was right next to our inn. I got a sprinkled donut, which was much, much better than anything our inn had to offer. Since the drive wasn't too long, we decided to stop at Seneca Falls, so that we could see the Women's Rights National Historical Park. The first place we saw, though, was the Women's Hall of Fame. Naturally, we went there, as well. Though not nearly as expansive as the baseball hall of fame, it was still interesting to read the biographies of all the people who had been elected. I was especially interested to see all the women in the field of science, most of which were in the medical field or physicist. A few names I recognized were Elizabeth Blackwell (whose sister was also in there), Rachel Carson, and Grace Hopper. Others I knew the women's accomplishments, but not the actual people. In the end though, I wasn't able to read everything that I wanted, for my family wanted to continue on. We ate lunch (the last on the trip) at Downtown Deli, which was right down the street and was recommended by the lady at the Hall of Fame. They also told us to share a sandwich, and when we got there, we saw why - the corned beef sandwich that I shared with my sister was like two completely different sandwiches, that's who large the bread was. Since we were running a bit late, and my dad had to go to work the next day, we then only went to the visitor's center for the Women's Rights National Historical Park. It was much like the Minute Man National Historical Park, in that all the locations to see were spread out across town. We did see a short video on the history of women's rights and the convention that was held there, as well as the reproduction (I think) of the church where said convention was located. On our last cross over to Canada, the border crossing took forever and the person was very thorough, but other than that, the trip home was pretty smooth. We got home about 11:30 PM, and the final mileage was about 3,528 miles (this is an approximation, for I forgot to look at the odometer as soon as we got home).

We had a few days of rest at home, I read Oedipus the King for school (man, that story is really messed up!), and then we were off again. My mom and sister had to stay for my sister's college orientation, so they had to stay home. But the rest of us were good to go. My brother wanted to leave immediately on Saturday, but I insisted on staying until after going to my friend's graduation party (where we arrived when we thought was fashionably late, but actually was too early). So, we compromised and drove partway to Plainfield, Indiana, about five hours from home and nine hours from Uncle "Frank's" lake house on Table Rock Lake in southern Missouri. On Sunday, we got up early, ate our continental breakfast, and started driving. This is the first vacation without my mom and sister, so it was kind of weird being just us three. I even drove partway, for the first time on vacation. God bless the person who invented cruise control - who knew it could be so useful! On the way, we saw llamas on the side of the road, as well as a bunch of cows clumped under the few trees around, since it was so hot. We did not, though, see the "JESUS" billboard I have wanted a picture of for so long. I don't know if it is still there, or we just missed it, but I was really hoping this would be the time.

Since we arrived relatively early in the day - about 2:45 PM, Central Time, we still had time to go to the lake and swim. Man, did that water feel good when it is so hot outside! My uncle even got out his brand new tube, and we went tubing behind his boat. Unlike the previous tube, this tube was the kind where you lay on it and hold onto the handles, so we fell off a bunch of times. My brother or I fell off every single turn, even though we weren't going that fast. One time, my bikini bottoms almost fell off, and I decided that was more important than holding on. Another time, I was practically pushed off by my brother, who claimed I did the same. Still, it was quite fun, perhaps more so since we fell off. Hopefully, we can do more today!

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Cooperstown, New York

It's the final night of our Northeastern trip, and for the second night in the row, we are in Cooperstown, New York, the home of the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. We drove here yesterday, a quick drive from our previous stop of Norwich, Vermont. For breakfast, my mom went right down the road to King Arthur's Flour and picked up some tasty goody baked goods. I ate a cinnamon roll and a cinnamon muffin that tasted and looked just like ones that I have had before at Zingerman's.

On the way too New York, we drove five minutes away from the hotel to Hanover, New Hampshire (I know, didn't we just leave there?) to visit Dartmouth. We were under the impression that it had an engineering program, seeing as it does have a school of engineering, but after going on the tour and going to the admission talk, it seems like it does not - at least not a bachelor program. So that knocks it automatically out of consideration, even though the campus was pretty, which I could tell through the clouds and rain. One thing that I did find interesting was their language programs, which stress a verbal component and seem actually produce fluency in the students. That would be nice if our own programs were like that... Also, apparently, at homecoming they have a two-story bonfire and at winter carnival, a gigantic snow sculpture. Sounds unsafe, at least the former, but would be exciting to see. Still, per tradition, we bought a t-shirt at the Dartmouth Co-op. The one my sister got said "Thing 1," the Dr. Seuss character, in addition to a coffee cup with the same slogan. At first the abundance of Dr. Seuss paraphernalia confused us, but apparently, he went to Dartmouth. Their medical school is even named after him. Who would have known? We also learned that it was here where the pen name "Seuss" -which is actually his middle name - first appeared, after being banned from the school humor newspaper for drinking.

For lunch we went to Molly's, which was recommended by our hotel. For once, a recommendation that we got from our hotel worked out, for not only was the food tasty, but, after a brief wait to be seated (a busy restaurant is never a bad thing), they were incredibly fast. Not only was there an abundance of delicious bread served, but my maple-caramelized turkey burger was equally tasty. After finally leaving Hanover, which was a quintessential quaint New England town, we went back into Vermont and all went to King Arthur's Flour. Who knew there were so many types of flours and flavorings? Not I. After a drive of a few hours, we finally made it to our last leg of the trip - Cooperstown. It was 7 PM by the time that we got there and got everything unpacked, so the place where we planned to eat was closed. Instead, we walked around town - where almost everything is baseball related (I wonder why...) - and went to Stagecoach Coffee, which also had ice cream, and decided to skip dinner for dessert. Never a bad idea, in my book.

Today, I woke up, hoping for a hearty breakfast at the Inn at Cooperstown, where we are staying. My mom had billed it as reminiscent of the Metievier Inn, the place we always stay at on Mackinac Island, a place with delicious and homemade, but still self-serve breakfast. Instead, I was disappointed by the fruit, toast, and so-so muffins. I mean, who serves corn muffins for breakfast? Maybe I'm getting spoiled with all the homemade meals from the bed and breakfasts on this trip, but fortunately, my mom still had some goodies from King Arthur's Flour, so I supplemented my meal with that. Afterwards, we, of course, went to the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Man, was there a lot of information there. I don't really follow baseball, so it was all a bit overwhelming, especially when the numerous players mentioned started to run into each other. Still, it was quite interesting and cool to see the actual Hall of Fame plaques of such famous people like Babe Ruth and Jackie Robinson. One of the things I noticed was everyone was wearing their home team paraphernalia - I mean, we know you like baseball because you are there, but do you have to flaunt it? After visiting the entire second floor, we tried to look up information on my grandfather - his contract, stats, and the like - but apparently there was another person with the exact same name, whose information might have been mixed up with the things we were looking for. In fact, the researchers weren’t that helpful at all, and my mom had to look through the record books herself. Needless to say, we didn't find much.

Even though we hadn't seen the third floor, we decided - since it was 2:30 PM already - to get lunch and see the Fenimore Art Museum. My mom had seen the porch where the cafe was located, looking out at Otsego Lake, and thought it was a good place to eat. While the food was good, it wasn't really a restaurant, for the food was more pre-made that she had believed. My dad dropped off my brother at the inn (he didn't want to go), we toured the museum. Though we had come there for the American impressionism exhibit - where my favorite paintings were "The Red Maple" and "Child in Sunlight", both by Willard Leroy Metclaf - the other exhibits were equally interesting and beautiful. My favorite were the modern-day linotype pictures of Gettysburg, which were hauntingly beautiful and captured the feeling of the place perfectly, and the intricate workmanship of the beaded and quill work in their extensive Native American exhibit. We were kicked out at 5 PM when the museum closed, but then went back to the Baseball Hall of Fame, which is open to 9, and finished the 3rd floor, which shows the many records made and broken throughout the years. I tried to read everyone, but my dad pushed me along. I could have been there for more than 3 hours. I did like the video they had of Abbot and Costello's "Who's on First" skit, which never gets old. In the gift shop, I was amused by a book of Yogi Berra quotes - those really are ridiculous, like "We don't know where we are going, but we are making good time" (the story of my life!) - as well as a baseball uniform that had the name "Who" and the number 1. Finally done with the day's activities, we once again went to the Stagecoach Coffee for ice cream and a sandwich. Tomorrow it's home for Michigan. I'm going to miss our travels!