Shuffle off to Buffalo, and CT, and MA, and...

So I'm in Buffalo, NY right now. I got in a few hours ago. Where have I been in the last week? It's more, where have I NOT been...

It's easiest if you look at this map to get a scale of where I've been and what I've seen in just 4 days or so.

Wed I got in at 10pm and had to drive in the dark an hour and a half to find where I was going down along the coast of Connecticut. THank goodness for GPS! I have relied on this sooooo much this trip. I love it. Google maps are one thing, GPS is so much better. I was staying at my sales rep's condo. She lives alone with her cat overlooking a gorgeous lake within a mile of the famous Mystic CT Aquarium (which I couldn't go see since i was teaching).

I taught all day on Thursday in Mystic CT, then Friday I did a shorter training session back up near the airport where I flew into, so another 1 1/2 hrs driving back up to Hartford. Then I drove up to my sister's in Pittsfield Mass. I met her at her school where my nephew had play practice, so we sat around during rehearsal, had a quick pizza dinner, then ran off to my nephew's band concert.

Saturday we drove to Boston, since my sister's ward had a temple trip there. It is a very small temple, about half the size of P-town's and it was packed because it was a Saturday. Here I am in front of the lovely Boston Temple. It is only 9 years old, and the interior decor feels very clean and modern. Their stained glass is simple yet elegant. I'm sure that if the flowers were in bloom it would be even prettier.

My sis. lives about 2 1/2 hrs from Boston, so we were driving all day to get there and back. Then we got home, ran errands, and headed to bed. It was my nephew's birthday, but he was never home for us to celebrate.

Here's a picture I worked up of my niece, Hannah. I was showing her some of the simple things you could do in photoshop to turn ordinary photos into things that look like they were custom designed. She loved it!

Today I had to get going back to the airport by 10am so I could return the rental car. Here's a photo I shot of one of the beautiful churches that dot the New England landscape. Everything was rolling hills, piles of shoveled snow, and it was bitterly cold with the wind. They thought it was warmer than usual. This is why I could never live there. All their grass was dead and brown. It looked like our lawns look in August. I'd rather have my green lawns from Sept-June rather than April thru October, since i know that with a little water I could have my lawn green the other 3 months whereas they have no hope of green during their brown season.

I flew from Hartford down to Philadelphia and then up here to Buffalo. Here is my view from the airplane window of the frozen great lake. It's starting to melt around the edges, and you can see the other cracks, but that's a lot of Ice.

The lakes around my sister's house were still covered in ice, but they said it was kinda risky walking out on it this time of year. Lots of people were out on the ice though. I guess the ice gets a couple feet thick in the winter. BRRR! I can only imagine how many people have fallen into frozen lakes and died! My father used to tell me about how int he wintertime they would take their old Model T ford out on the ice after church and drive around in circles, skidding around on the ice. After seeing where my father grew up and the ice in march I really can believe it.

I had Korean food at a little place across the street- I've never had it before. I loved my main course, but the side dishes were odd. The little Korean man brought me a tiny bowl of every odd thing under the sun and I tried a bite of each. THe only thing I liked was the broccoli, which is saying something, since I HATE broccoli. The main dish was some marinated, fried pork and rice. It was great. Now I wish I had some good american dessert to cleanse my palate.

It's late, and I need to get to bed. I miss everyone, but I still have 3 more days and one more country before I'm home. Tomorrow after my class I drive up to Niagra Falls and then on to Toronto. Sleep well!