Uncategorized – The Haiarts' Adventure

Williams, AZ (Grand Canyon NP)

We had 3 nights in Williams as our “Gateway to the Grand Canyon”, as the sign says on entering the town.

The first day in Williams was a write off. There was a fresh foot of snow. Despite the plows already in full force the roads look treacherous. Dad and I headed out to see how bad they were in the 2WD van, complete with all season tires. It took 50m to stop doing 30kph… not idea for highway driving. A sage lady at the hotel said “I’ll go another day, the Canyon will be there tomorrow”. Wise words from a woman whose advanced age precluded me from being able to say the same about her. Instead we drove around town looking for appropriate snow gear. Luckily we found some boots for the boys and some Wellington boots for Hanika.

We bundled everyone up as best we could and headed for the shops on foot. In addition to the boots we bought a sled to pull the boys around in. I had visions of a leisurely stroll through fresh snow… wrong. Within a block both boys were tossed off by the narrowly shovelled sidewalks! We made it another block before we found a cafe. On the way back the wind picked up and was blowing ice crystals around. Poor Moose was being battered. Defeated, we headed back to the room to play Monopoly.

It was Thanksgiving that day so we went out for dinner at the local Mexican restaurant. They happened to be serving a ham and turkey dinner. We got both boy a plate off the kids menu. At less than half the price of the adult dish we figured it would fill them nicely. I won’t lie, it was the size of the adult meal! Lucky for us we had some Tupperware in the car so we ended up with tomorrow’s lunch at a fraction of the cost!

Over the day and second night a few more inches of snow fell. The road conditions were reported as good. I must admit, for what I consider a pretty remote part of America the plows were great. The roads were in excellent condition apart from scattered slush. The slowest part of the drive as getting INTO the park! I missed the turn off for prepaid vehicles so we were stuck in the slow moving line.

We unpacked everyone from the van and onto the sled and started walking around the South Rim. I’m not sure what it looks like in summer but the Grand Canyon is beautiful in winter. The size of the canyon can’t be overstated. I’ve never seen anything like it. We managed a bit of a walk with the sled before the boys got too cold and we had to turn back. Everyone looked jealous of our setup, especially the poor parents trying to push strollers and wagons through snow! One downside was that snow was piling into the sled and the boys only had sweatpants on.

We had one last dinner at a classic Route 66 diner before setting off the next day for Kanab, UT.

Pensacola, FL

We spent 3 nights in Pensacola on our way to Miami.

Pensacola is a military city on the west side of the panhandle. Naturally we went to the Naval Aviation Museum. As with all good museums, entry was free! They had a wide selection of aircraft on display including an F-14. I tried my hand at a flight simulator that pitched and rolled a full 360 degrees! It was actually a lot of fun despite not being able to engage in a dog fight. Hanika wasn’t game after watching me do multiple barrel rolls.

Otherwise the rest of the time was spent relaxing at the beach. It was Ollie’s first time on sand and he seems to love it. Moose was keen to run in despite the water not being “warm”. I was surprised with how white the beach was. I also hate sand.

Next we drove to Tallahassee.

New York

We arrived from Boston in the afternoon to spend 3 nights in NYC.

For those who don’t know I’ve tried to work out a reasonable budget for this trip. Well, boy was I feeling smug when I found NY accommodation at 80$ a night within walking distance of Central Park! Now imagine my disappointment, and that of Hanika, when we walked into what can only be described as a closet. Let me paint a picture for you. The building and surrounding neighbourhood were fine. There was 24 hour reception which I thought sounded good. The room… dear God the room. Below is a video showing the room.

In front of the chest of drawers was the sink (not located in the bathroom). There was barely enough room to move let alone have kids roaming! Not quite sure what I was expecting. On the bright side the bathroom was spotless. I can’t say the same for the rest of the building. I think it functioned as a long term hostel for being doing it tough. There were signs about for case managers to assist their clients. There were shared “kitchens” with signs warning not to brush teeth in the sink but instead to use the shared bathrooms. Again, we had the ensuite so we were fortunate.

The location was convenient too. It wasn’t the downtown NY experience that Hanika was looking forward to but it was a grittier, more real NY experience of West Harlem. We were 3 blocks from a subway stop, 2 blocks from the grocery store and only 3 blocks from parking.

I decided to book parking ahead of time online. It almost as much as the hotel to valet park the car. Sounds fancy but what it means is once the car goes in you don’t have access to it until you take it out days later. It was still a great idea.

Anyways, after settling in we went for a walk in search of an authentic meal. I got the brisket and Hanika had a burger (not so unique to NY). We ordered enough for left overs the next day which was great.

The following day we did the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. We reserved tickets ahead of time which meant we jumped the queue for security. If you don’t know, which I didn’t, you have to clear airport like screening to get on the ferry to go to the island and again to enter the statue! Our reserved tickets allowed us to bypass the security line to get in the boat which probably saved us 30 minutes, well worth it. We paid to get to the pedestal of the statute which gave a nice view of the city. The crown had sold old and in peak season needs to be booked months ahead of time. The whole trip takes 4-5 hours and we raced through Ellis Island unfortunately. We wandered back up via the 9/11 Memorial pools.

That night we got another babysitter and headed out to dinner with more McGill friends. The poor sitter was accustomed to tiny NY properties so wasn’t too shocked with our “hotel” room.

The next day we wandered around Times Square before catching up with Martin and walking the High Line Park. It’s a disused elevated freight rail track. It was a bloody hot day, 35 degrees in October! Moose gave up for most of it so I ended up carrying him and a backpack on my sweaty shoulders. We stopped for lunch at the Chelsea Markets for a NY bagel. We spent the afternoon in Central park before catching up with friends again for a pizza dinner.

As usual we didn’t spend enough time in one place and the next day we headed to Philadelphia.