Once in awhile-now and again-this is us

here’s a few more pictures from martha and ray’s phones.

hi from grand central station

we wore our jill and jerry shirts

like mother like son

the object of their desire

martha at moma

we found the coolest place to have breakfast one day. we only walked thirteen blocks to get there

the object of my desire

the reflection of st. patricks on nearby buildings. great shot.

i forgot to mention this building is the  famous dakota.

you saw ours, here’s the others

look at all those bricks

martha’s albuquerque  blanket

all the progress they made on that rooftop

so we’ll say good-bye for now

bye-bye

don’t look so sad ray, we can go again next year. we can take that cruise around the island, a carriage ride in central park, madam tusauds, the empire state building, rockefeller center, walk the brooklyn bridge, ………………………………

i’m ready.  what month should we go this time ray.? how about may? or maybe at christmas when it’s snowing?

so our wonderful trip came to an end. thank you karl, sandy and kasandra for all you did while we were in your city. we had great weather very few glitches and great experiences. it was fun getting to know you guys. we all seemed to get along swell. i wouldn’t be surprised if ray wants to do it again, we did miss a few things.

jerry and i go to las vegas next month.

stay tuned if you can stand another blog of sin city

love, jilly

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we’ve been on trains several times and had forgotten how rough they can be at times. we all got a few bumps and bruises. jerry got his arm in the way of a moving door and got a bad scrape. i was getting in a suitcase on the floor on my knees and the train did a big sway and i fell into the suitcase and got a bad bruise on my upper arm. but check it out.

almost a heart

this is the bathroom in our handicapped room. we had it going too. in the roomette you had to lift one of the steps to the bunk to use the toilet under it. (i wish i would have take a picture).

and the this is the sitting area which makes into a bed with a bunk above it of the handicapped room. also about the size of the whole roomette we had.

we had the dome car on this train

the dining car where we spent a lot of time. the food was always good.

but we had to climb the stair to get there.

you see a lot of this out the window on the train

and then it become this

and then this

we had a short stop in albuquerque. we got off the train and i bought a handmade backpack. ray bought martha a blanket. of course it was purple.

smokers love these stops. there is no smoking anywhere on the train. if you are caught, they stop the train, even if it is in the middle of nowhere, they call the police, put you off the train and the police deal with you. no one broke the rules on our trip.

i still wonder what happens to all these buildings along the tracks that once served a useful purpose. they fascinate me. look at all that brick going to waste.

martha is going to download some of her pictures on a flashdrive. i hope to get that soon and share a few pictures of hers.

stay tuned for a few more odds and ends.

love, jilly

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karl and sandy got us another escalade to take us to penn station tuesday. they walked, and got there the same time we did. new york traffic is brutal.

we got on the train about 2:50.  we didn’t have the handicapped room this time (long story). we had what they call a roomette. we were so uncomfortable i took no pictures. i couldn’t wait to get off of it.

as i said before, it’s very hard to take pictures from a speeding train. we passed so many special places and beautiful landscapes that i couldn’t capture. believe me i tried. those will remain special places and beautiful landscapes with just us.

here’s a few i snapped, sorry they are so dark. i have to get a new camera.

we switched trains again in chicago. martha and ray stayed in and we stepped outside the terminal and  i took a few pictures.

when you have a sleeper you get to wait in the vip lounge.

the chicago river runs through downtown. it has an interesting history

the bridge over the river

notice the traffic signal? six lights.

we got on the southwest chief again to come home. we got our handicapped room again, long story again, and were very happy.

stay tuned, jilly

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on the subway

on the way to the ferry. we ate up there?

at the statue of liberty

ray ringing the bell of hope at st. pauls chapel

we had the best waiter at the hotel 

going to comic con

we had fun playing who could pick the right elevator coming up

and still playing the kissing game

i want to thank kara for our emergency fund. every trip she slips us an envelope with emergency money, or, it can be used for fun. we had no emergency this trip kara, but boy did we have fun.

thanks to all of you who left comments. it makes my day to hear someone likes the pictures.

we still have four days on the train, so stay tuned

jilly

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we couldn’t see that thing sticking out of the building this morning because it was so foggy.

i read an article about that strange thing. it’s going to be called the ‘hudson yards observation deck’. slated to soar in 2019, the open air, 100 story observation deck isn’t for acrophobes. but everyone else can enjoy unobstructed views of the hudson river and skyline as well as a restaurant serving bites at 1,000 feet. you were right tony.

i just think it shold have been a different shape. the first time i saw it when we got here i thought of the planes going into the world trade center.

i guess i should have shown you this view of the times building  too

we saw times square  while walking to grand central station

so many people

the new years eve ball, it won’t be long now

the steam that heats the city. you see these everywhere

grand central station

the very famous ceiling

one of the several couples posing for pictures

martha was happy, she got to see the apple store at the station. she even got to touch the new phone and watch. i know what you’re thinking, she didn’t get to buy them?  no.

we walked back to the hotel. i think it was four miles there and back.

this is a different logo than i’ve see before

i took a picture of jerry at the walgreens in times square for his buddies at our walgreens by our house. 

 comic con is going on here in new york. 

our new york stay is winding down. we will leave tomorrow. i haven’t got my carriage ride yet. it’s foggy again today. maybe it will clear up.

stay tuned, jilly

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karl sent me this beautiful picture from one of sandy and his walks. they walk everywhere getting in 5 to 10 miles a day on the streets of new york. maybe even more.

my colors

i wonder how many people work in here nowadays

red light

green light

they actually do this?

outside a chase bank

empty bicycle renting racks

haven’t seem many of these

open loading doors on the sidewalks

a papaya dog (seinfeld)

yummies inside

money inside

we’re going to grand central station today.

stay tuned, jilly

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there are seven buildings in different stages of construction that we can see from our 35th floor of the doubletree.

the four tallest ones

and these two tall ones

and this one on the left

we’ve been watching them build the water tower on this one. it’s a source of water for the floors above the 7th.  the city will only pump water that high. water towers are everywhere in the city. this is another interesting story to google. after watching a few you tube videos we no longer drink the water. i’m sure hotels take care of their water towers though.

i love the position of the flag in this picture

wa la 

i think there will be another skysrcaper here soon.

i have a few more pictures for only in new york

stay tuned

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we met swatch coming out of the elevator on our way up the elevator. jerry thought the real swatch had died and they replaced him. he was happy to know this is still the real swatch. yes, jerry  watches project runway  with  me.

martha finally made it to the mood in new york.

and instantly found what she wanted. (you’ll see what she bought later). but she didn’t stop there. she found a few more items.

it took me a while but i found a nifty pair of scissors.

some pictures i took outside mood.

one of the storefronts

these small firehouses are all over the city.

a truck left while we were waiting

karl and sandy met us at mood, and from there we went to one of there favorite diners. ‘ellen’s stardust diner’. the owner hires broadway hopefuls and lets them work between interviews, acting school, jobs, etc. a high percentage of them go on to be broadway regulars.  each one of them between serving, gets up on stage and sings a popular broadway song. i took a video of our waitress.  it can’t be put on my blog without getting an upgrade so i don’t have a picture. she sang ”memories’. we had hot diggity dogs for lunch.

i did get this picture taken…….

what’s next? i don’t know

but stay tuned, jilly

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we took a cab on wednesday. we wanted to have at least one ride in a new york taxi.

he took us to the front door of st. patricks cathedral.

mass was going on so we couldn’t sit in the pews, but we could walk around the perimeter.

these murals, which are on all the walls, are all made out of mosaics.

this is for you mom.  since i was a child i saw this picture in your wallet. i have it in my wallet now.

i lit a candle for you mom,  praying you are in peace. we left a small donation as i know you would have.

we took another taxi to mood.

stay tuned, jilly

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