Wisconsin for a week

My trip to northern Wisconsin was great.  It was a nice distraction from the fact that I had just left Dave in NYC.  We had no internet, no phone service, just a phone card.  I was luckily able to call Dave from the phone in the pool area every night during his first week by himself.  The weather took a turn for the worst and after a record-breaking summer that was hotter than the depths of hell, the moment I got a chance to be on the water, temperatures dropped and it rained.  We got in a few days of boating and I tubed.  For some reason, I lack pictures from this trip, but here we go.

Aunties, Grandma, and my mom playing cards in the pool area.

 We did a lot of puzzle-making when it was raining.  This is our second puzzle.  The first one, of the Tetons, proved impossible and we quit.  This one was much more fun.  This is my brother.  He lives in Massachusetts where he's working on a PhD. 

Tyler and puzzle

Drinks + hot tub=happy women:  Cousin Jennifer and I

We played Ticket to Ride and Settlers of Catan about a million times.  From left to right:  brother, cousin Jennifer, me, cousins Michael and Ryan

Because I have no outdoor pictures of me the place, I had to grab this oldy but goody from 2009:

Huge fish with Afton

Nice work if you can get Some

It was our last day together in New York City, August 2, and Dave had to work.  I met up with my old college roommate and high school friend, Jessica.  We grabbed some lunch near Time Square.  I needed a dress for that night.  I had packed for three weeks of activities:  a week of moving/camping, a week of NYC, and a week on vacation in Wisconsin at the beach.  All of this fit in a carry-on bag. The thing that didn't make the list was a cute outfit for dressing up.  We went into Forever 21 and I found two cute dresses, both less than $25.  Score!

We then realized that the TKTS booth was hours from opening, so she took me on the subway to Brooklyn where she lives and the other TKTS booth was.  The view from the above-ground-bridge subway was awesome!  I had never seen the financial district before!  The 9/11 memorial building was so huge, but still under construction.  The part of Brooklyn that I saw was really nice.  I grabbed two tickets to a Broadway show, then took the subway back to Dave's place.  I bought a few hair pins and met Dave at the bus stop.  We made tacos for dinner, I got all dressed up, and we headed for the subway.

We had second row, center seats at "Nice work if you can get it" with Matthew Broderick!  It was a really funny show.  I thoroughly enjoyed it!  After the show, we walked around Time Square, taking in the scene.  We found THE place to get ice cream and got a shake to share. 

Me trying to take it all in.

Me at Time Square after the Broadway show.

WOW!

You can see the entrance to our show in the background. 

The next morning I had a flight to Wisconsin.  Dave walked me to the bus that took me to LaGuardia.  There were tears.  I got on the bus and waved to him as we drove by his bus to school.  I don't want to relive that, not even a little bit.  The bus through Harlem sobered me up a bit and I arrived at the airport totally lost and running late.  I managed to find a place to print my boarding pass, get through security, grab a salad for lunch (but no fork, doh!) and get on the plane with no time to spare.  I arrived in Wisconsin where my dad picked me up from the airport.  We were on our way to our annual family vacation "up north" the next day and I was just in time to greet my mom and brother and head to Joe's Foxhut for pizza, a family tradition for all pre-holiday activities.

Enjoying New York City

Backtracking to the end of July, where we left off... Dave was all moved in and we had a few days to enjoy New York City before he started work.

His neighborhood

A park along the Hudson River.

The hat reads:  Westy Life.

Cathedral just a few blocks down the street from his place.

My first time in northern central park. 

Park right by Dave's place.  He lives up on the cliff.

Stopped in Harlem to get some iced tea. 

 

 

After exploring things on our own, we got a call from Brent, one of our closest friends from Boulder.  He was in NJ for a work trip and wanted to visit the city for his weekend day off!  We showed him Dave's place, then went downtown to the time square area and had some Irish Bar dinner before sending him back home on the train.  Dave and I later discovered a K-mart next to Penn Station and picked up a few things. 

Brent and Dave at Rockefeller Center

South Central Park. 

Library on campus

Central Park

 Dave's parents visited us again to do some touristy stuff before I left.  We walked from Dave's place to a deli, through the cathedral, to central park, to the Guggenheim, to the top of the Guggenheim, to the MoMa, then all the way back on foot!  It was just beautiful!

We went to the Guggenheim to see Picasso and some other cool art with Dave's parents. 

We stopped by the MoMA(?) to sit before walking back to Dave's place (a few miles). 

Central Park.  We're maybe on mile 5 for the day at this point.

 We made it all the way back to campus and had dinner at a fabulous French restaurant.  We definitely made the most of Dave's last days off before his new job started that Wednesday!

The bus to his work picks up just down the street and around the corner from where he lives.  I walked him to the bus, then went to find some internet access at Starbucks before running home as it rained.  After Dave's first day, we got some schwag at the bookstore, grabbed some dinner (AMAZING gluten free asian chicken wraps), and I gave Dave a quick haircut.  Only one day left together!!!