Breakfast at The Roxbury Motel |
After another lovely night’s sleep, we awoke to another
beautifully sunny day, there was a slight cocktail headache lurking but it
wasn’t too bad. We went up to the office/kitchen and had a nice breakfast –
there was a nice selection of pastries and jams, granola and yogurt, muffins,
cereals, cheeses and meats to choose from, we had a pretty controlled amount of
food, sat in the breakfast room and ate while we enjoyed views of the
mountains.
Greg, the lovely and slightly camp owner of The Roxbury came
to say hello and we had a nice chat with him. We told him how much we loved the
motel, he was very happy to hear this, as he’d just read a review online
suggesting the bed wasn’t comfortable and the place wasn’t as good as hoped. We
assured him that the person that wrote that was an idiot and obviously someone
that is impossible to please, as the place was perfect; this put a smile on his
face. He told us a little bit about the area and what they were planning to do
with a new building next door that they’d recently bought. We wished we could
stay for longer, or come back, it’s definitely the sort of place that would
receive repeat visits if we didn’t have to pay so much for flights over. Greg
did offer us a tour of the other rooms once people had checked out, but
unfortunately we had to get back on the road and get driving to New York. We’ll
just have to save up and visit again so that we can see the sci-fi themed
suite.
View from the deck at The Roxbury Motel |
Cool and funky: The Roxbury Motel |
During our journey, we stopped off for a loo break at a
garage in a small town in the middle of nowhere. The cashier asked where we
were from and we had a little chat about our journey and she told us of her
desire to leave the country and travel. When we got back in the car we discussed
how nice the people we’d met over the past few days had been, and we thought we
hadn’t done them justice on the blog, so we decided to let you know again how
nice everyone has been and how happy we’ve been to meet some real Americans.
Scenic drive |
(Laura is too tired to write the rest, so it’s Natalie here again…)
The journey out of the Catskills was very pretty. The sun was shining, the sky
was blue with little fluffy clouds, the mountains seemed to go on for miles
into the distance and were covered in tress just coming into bud. On the road
we commented that despite driving for almost 1,000 miles, we still hadn’t seen
another Beast on the road (a Ford Flex to give it it’s proper name) and at that
point we were then over taken by two in the space of half an hour! Rare, but
not that rare.
After 3 hours of driving we arrived at Sunset Hill Shooting
Range. We were ever so slightly apprehensive that a mad man with a gun might
kill us all in a crazy rampage, so we were both a bit nervous. We showed our
ID, signed a disclaimer (which, er, I didn’t fully read) and donned our
protective eyeglasses and ear defenders. We then sat for five minutes waiting
for an instructor to become free, all the while watching and being deafened by
the gunshots from the other shooters on the range.
After a while our instructor introduced himself. We both
instantly forget his name, so we’ll call him Mike. After explaining how things
work (we pick a gun to shoot, he marks our card to say what we shot, we pay at
the end), Mike asked us what we’d like to shoot first. We all agreed some sort
of handgun, so Mike recommended we try a Beretta 9mm. It’s got a low recoil and
it’s a nice easy gun to start with. Laura was up first and Mike explained how
to hold the gun, what stance to use and how to line up the sights. Laura fired
off her 7 shots and did pretty well, getting one bang on centre. I was up next
and did a little better, getting 5 out of 7 in the centre and the other 2 just
outside. The sensation of firing a gun was very exciting, but also quite scary,
knowing how much power you had in your hands.
Laura and the 1911-A1 |
Natalie and massive big gun! |
It was quite satisfying to see the results of how well we shot.
The next gun we fired was an AR-15. This was much more powerful, but you were
just shooting bits of wood, so not quite as satisfying. I then fired an even
bigger gun (Laura opted not shoot this one) and it had a wicked recoil. Good
fun though. Up next was a 12 gauge shotgun which had to be pumped after firing.
The last gun we shot was a 1911-A1 handgun which was harder
to aim than the Beretta, so we both shot worse. After that we decided we’d shot
(and spent!) enough so we paid and made a quick getaway before something bad
happened. It’s daft that we were scared as I’m sure statistics prove that gun
ranges are safer than just regular places, but we both breathed a sigh of
relief as we drove away and the sounds of cracking gunshots disappeared.
After a few more hours of driving we approached New York
City. That first glimpse of the skyline was magical, although the buildings
didn’t really seem that big from where we were! We drove through the Lincoln
Tunnel and emerged into crazy traffic. I had to battle my way into the correct
lane and get onto a street heading uptown. We only had about 40 minutes before
the car needed dropping of, so we went straight to the garage. When we found
it, we suddenly realised we hadn’t filled it up with fuel! Returning it empty
would result in a big surcharge so we hastily reprogrammed the sat-nav and
headed to the nearest gas station. We found it, got the car filled up and
returned it just in time. Phew!
Crazy traffic when we got to NYC |
A short tax ride later (really short in fact – 9 blocks) we
arrived outside Andy’s Deli where the keys for our apartment were waiting in an
envelope behind the counter. After fumbling with the keys and locks for 10
minutes and negotiating the four flights of stairs with two suitcases, we
finally made it into our home for the next 5 days.
The NYC apartment (after we'd messed it up with our stuff) |
The view from the bed |
The apartment is on West 74th Street on the Upper West Side. It's on the top floor so it has 14ft ceilings
and a bed that is reached with a ladder. The décor is eclectic, shabby chic.
Lots of arty prints, 50s signs, cool records and white-washed brick walls. The
kitchen looks like it’s been there since the 50s too! It’s nice though and a
lot cheaper than a hotel.
We were both knackered after the 6 hours of driving, but
there was no time to rest. The big city awaited us! So we headed out in search
of Times Square and some food.
Times Square |
After spending the last few days in smaller towns and having
driven 1,100 miles on quiet roads, suddenly being thrust into crazy traffic and
crowds seemed really jarring. I think we were both a bit tired and very hungry,
so everything seemed a bit scary and big and fast.
Singing waitress at Ellen's Stardust Diner |
Ellen's Stardust Diner in New York City |
After that we headed home and relaxed in the apartment
before climbing the ladder to bed.
Phew, I can hardly keep up with you two. You'll need a holiday to recover from this one. Love you, mum x x x
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