Homesteading, Urban Style!: Long awaited, and much needed.....

With the family life, school, and marriage going non stop, Kevin and I have both been feeling stressed over the last few months.

My mama came for a visit from Tennessee (ah how I miss "home"!) on Sunday and she plans to stay for 2 weeks. I didnt want to waste time, or put things off any longer. We needed a VACATION!

I had been trying to plan a vacation and just couldnt make anything pan out around my mama being here, classes, Abagael starting school again this month, doctor appointments, baby sitting obligations and so on.

Tuesday morning I called to see if we could get a car rental. My plan was to go to Maine with the family and take my mama along. Kevin, Abagael, and I vacationed in New Hampshire in 2004 and we LOVED it! While we were there, we also went to Maine and Salem, M.A. on Halloween!

So I wanted to go back. We needed to rent a car because I never like to take our own car when we take looooonnnnnnnnggggg trips because if our car were by chance to break down, we must wait to have it repaired, if a rental breaks down, they give you another instantly and our vacation doesnt have to be delayed at all.

So, I called Enterprise rent a car....they could have me a car by 5:30 p.m. I made the reservation and we went to get the car.

We get there, they dont have our car, they offer to drive Kevin to another store to pick up a car that they arranged for us. By the time that they get Kevin to the other store, they had rented out the car that they were suppose to be holding for us.

Before Kevin left to get the other car, I asked the salesman 3 times if this new car is going to hold 2 carseats and an adult in the back. He assure me that it will.

Kevin shows up at home with a Hyundai Accent. This does NOT, I assure you it does NOT hold 2 carseats and an adult....NOT. EVEN. CLOSE.

By this time it is 6:20 p.m. I call the store to complain and see if we can get a larger car....the store is closed....at 6 p.m. I quickly start looking over the paperwork to find a number where I can talk to someone...all I get is reservations. They can do nothing for the car that I already have, but they do offer the number for the airport location becuase they are open 24 hours a day. Perhaps they can help.

I call them, its automated, it transfers me right back to the reservation center. I do this 3 times and then throw in the towel.

Not wanting to delay our trip (and because of the tight schedule....we NEEDED to get going) I forego the carseat for Abagael (she is almost 7, and its only a booster) and cram everyone in the back seat. We get about 120 miles out and decide that it is just too small to continue.

At 8 a.m. the following day, I am in the door to Enterprise. I an NONE too happy and I explain the situation, the salesman who assured me that I could fit everyone is VERY helpful and gets into a car that is perfect! Our new car is a Pontiac G6 which proved to be just what we needed for the trip, and we were given a 10 percent discount for all of the misunderstanding.

I will certainly use this same company again :)

So we were on the road by 9 a.m. Because we lost the time overnight because of the car, our destination is now New York City! Long Island to be exact!

In a grand total of 36 hours, we did all of the following AND drove 1400 miles!!!!

Abagael is soooooooo happy!

We first stop at Buckeye Lake

My flower child MUST have flowers

By 10:30 a.m.

By noon, everyone had to be moved around

By 1 p.m.

We passed by dinner.....and breakfast....

While in P.A. I notice a storm coming in over the mountain

Which led to...

As soon as the rain stopped, we stopped to stretch our legs

By 6 p.m.

It was around 10 p.m. before we got into the city

I found an excellent hotel in Long Island, and the cost was great! Well, great for the loaction. We didnt make reservations for a room, we were just going to wing it. I should NOT have done that. At 1 a.m. I was looking for a room, going from hotel to hotel comparing prices.

The cheapest we found was $15 per hour or $79 for the night with free adult movies. Uh, thanks but no thanks :)

We ended up staying at a four points hotel. It was amazing! Worth the $170 for the night. Worth every single penny!

A morning after shot. The picture does NOT do the room justice. I was too tired at 2 a.m. to take a picture. The beds were full of huge pillows! The whole room was again, amazing!

Because we were so close to Amityville, Kevin and my mama couldnt pass up the chance. They work hard together with my laptop to find directions for the house.

And....ta dah.....The fruit of their labor.
(There just happened to be a lawn service there working the lawn...they all had a nice chuckle at us)

And then we were off to Jones Beach! The temp. outside was 90 and it was only 10 a.m.!

We were then off to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty!

The "Twin Towers" used to fill in the empty space!

Kevin purchasing our tickets for the tour....
(By the way, this cost is minimal! $12 for adults and $5 for children 4 and over. And this includes Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty and the ferry ride)

View from the ferry

Ellis Island proved NOT to be the place for Abagael. She rushed herself to the door and caught her toe on the door. The doors are heavy glass with metal on the bottom. She was wearing flip flops.

Although I considered capturing a picture of her wound right then for the scrap book, I decided to wait. We cleaned the wound, and got some band aids. I waited until the next day to take a picture.

I took her instantly for ice cream after we cleaned the toe, and stopped the tears.
And woundnt ya know ......

Her ice cream fell off the cone and on to her lap. Again it was 90 outside and she was sitting outside with her ice cream.

All pictures of Abagael past this point, sport a huge stain :)

Abagael in the entry of Ellis Island