Empire State Entertainment

While River hung out in the UWS apartment with his new bestie, Michael, 

I had the luxury of walking around NYC without worrying about a leash. It was heaven.
I saw lots of new construction, like this spot that was a scaffolding for so long, I forgot what it looked like before that. Now it looks like this.

At one point, I was almost entirely surrounded by construction sites. It seems that 10th Avenue, around 31st, 32nd, 33rd Streets is thriving! 

I took Babe into Mini of Manhattan and left her there for two days. They replaced the brake pads and I got to spend two glorious days not worrying about parking in Manhattan.
For most of my time there, the weather was nice. Some days it was a little on the hot and humid side, but nothing too terrible. Some of the nights got a bit muggy, but that had as much to do with ventilation in the apartment as the weather.
And then one day is was pouring rain. I grabbed an umbrella and trudged right on through.

On the morning of my departure, I was parked right out in front of the building, so that I could load in and take off without delay. I had to move the car at 7am or get a ticket, so that was plenty of motivation to get out of bed when the alarm went off at 6am.

It was a long day of driving.

I stopped for gas in New Jersey, where they pump it for you, by law. And I stopped for a burger in Corning at Friendly's. I looked around for something better, and even went to a place that had been closed down, so I finally settled on this chain. I blogged about it here. 

I was jokingly wondering if the town of Corning had anything to do with the cooking ware of the same name, but then I saw a sign for the Corning Museum of Glass, and thought maybe it was actually true. 

But the reward at the end of our long haul was Niagara Falls. I parked and took River into the fray. I didn't see any signs saying "No Dogs" but I didn't see any other dogs, either. We enjoyed the park for about half an hour without incident.
There was a lot of noise and activity, so he was getting charged up, but he was handling it well, and I was giving him opportunities to release.
I saw the spray from the falls miles down the highway!
Seeing it up close was tremendous, but I think the better view is from the Canada side. I'd also love to take one of the boat tours where you get the feel the spray!

Due to the time of day, I could only shoot into the sun. It made for some dramatic lighting

All day today, and most of the week I was in NYC, my horrible 2008 shoulder injury was rearing its ugly head again. I hadn't suffered any ill effects from it in a long time, but it has just started to ache again, in the same way it did when it first happened. It's painful, but what's even more frustrating is that it is very deep and hard to access. It feels like it needs to be massaged or released but I can't get to it. It also feels like my arm is overly loose. The scapular humeral joint feels hypermobile and unstable.

So, not only was it an extra long, eight plus hours of driving today, but I was squirming in pain and trying to wiggle myself a self-massage the whole time. I'm exhausted.

I got to the Motel 6 and checked into the room where I am now typing on my free wi-fi thanks to AARP. (it's good to be 50!)