Trip to Buffalo, June 25-29, 2012.....
Jun. 30th, 2012 04:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
poltr1This past week, I made one last trip to my home town and the house I grew up in, to get the last of my belongings: several long boxes of comic boooks and several Stor-All boxes.
Mon 6/25: Picked up the rental van I was going to use for the trip -- a Ford Edge -- as my Saturn simply wasn't big enough for the task. I took the usual route from Dayton to Buffalo, until I reached Erie, PA. There, I took US 19 into town, to pick up PA route 5 (which becomes NY route 5 at the state line), and drove up along the shoreline of Lake Erie to Buffalo. When I arrived at home, my sister Rosann was already there, with her 4 yellow Labrador retrievers. (I call them "her kids". Their names: Cirque [du Soleil], Seven [of Nine], Cally, and Wendy.) She came up the previous week, and was going through the house one room at a time. Instead of staying in a hotel room, I stayed in my old room. I didn't have A/C, internet, or cable TV, but that was OK.
Tue 6/26: Went through the items in my old bedroom. I had already taken out most of the stuff I wanted. Mom had taken over this bedroom after I moved out. I emptied the dresser drawers and began the arduous task of sorting things out. I also looked under the bed and found more things to sort out. The chest of drawers was already done. Lunch was at Ted's Hot Dogs. That night, I went to the Isle View Inn in Tonawanda for some wings, beer, and clams. The bartender/waitress said she couldn't prepare clams raw (the owner does that), so I have them steamed instead.
Wed 6/27: Continued with the sorting and cleanup. I pulled out the boxes of comic books I had stored under the pool table, and loaded them into the van. I also brought up the board games I wanted to take with me. My cousin Steve came over and helped Rosann remove items from the rafters in the garage. No one had been up there in years, and both were wearing dust masks. I sorted out the medical and financial records for later going-through and/or shredding. Rosann made tacos for lunch. That night, I went to the Scotch & Sirloin in Amherst for a steak dinner. (In all my years growing up in the Buffalo area, I had never been there.) I had a small NY Strip steak, a small bottle of merlot, sauteed mushrooms, and clams on the half shell as an appetizer. The food was OK, but a little on the pricey side. It's a good restaurant for special occasions, but for everyday fare, I'll go elsewhere.
Thu 6/28 Everything that needed to be done was done, so Rosann gave me the day off. I spent a few hours at the City of Tonawanda public library, catching up on email, Facebook, and LJ. I also had a phone interview with a company near Cleveland. But alas, I didn't have enough JavaScript experience for what they wanted me to do. I had lunch at Mighty Taco. I also spent some time (and took some pictures) at Glen Park in Williamsville, and Aqua Lane Park in Tonawanda. Sitting by the lake and getting the cook breeze off the Niagara River -- that's the way to spend a summer afternoon in Buffalo! Dinner was with with my friends Louis and Liz at Anderson's Custard in Tonawanda. (The original plan was to go to Swiston's Beef & Keg, but all they had for food was beef on weck and chili.)
Fri 6/29 The van had already been packed with my belongings, as I had been loading it every day. I loaded my duffel bag of clothes and toiletries, gave the house key to Rosann, and left around 8:30am. I met my friend Darleen for breakfast at the Two Sisters Cafe in Orchard Park. We then went to Chestnut Ridge Park for a nature walk, and a photo opportunity. I then headed home, traveling on US 20 from Hamburg, NY to Painesville, OH. (I wanted to avoid the construction on I-90 in Ohio.) As soon as I got onto I-271, I noticed the clouds getting a little gray and hazy. And there was a storm. While I didn't get caught in it, I was afected by what the storm left behind. A beer truck had overturned on I-71 at around mile marker 134, and traffic was backed up for about 10 miles. I had already made plans with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
rms_butterfly to join her, fuzzyvanman, and pondside for dinner at the Texas Roadhouse in Hillard. My original ETA was 6 pm, and it got pushed back to 7:45 pm. After dinner, I headed for Dayton, and got home around 10:30pm. The storm had come through Dayton as well. I still had power, and there were no large branches on my condo building or property. But a shelf in one of my bedroom closets had collapsed. I found out on the 11:00 news that the folks at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base had cancelled their annual Tattoo due to the weather.
The estate sale is planned for the weekend of July 7-8. After that, painters will come in and either paint the walls or do touch-up work. We may have someone come in and clean the carpets. And then my parents' house will go on sale.
I don't know when -- or even if -- I'll be returning to Buffalo. My parents, and their home, are gone and no longer available to me. I still have relatives and friends there. But I no longer have a home base there. If I do go back, I'll need to stay in a hotel room, or with friends. But I know I'll return someday. I have fond memories of summer time in Buffalo, and it's an excellent place to stay during the summer!
Some of my favorite drives:
NY Seaway Trail: http://www.seawaytrail.com/
OH Lake Erie Coastal Ohio Trail: http://byways.org/explore/byways/59836/
Mon 6/25: Picked up the rental van I was going to use for the trip -- a Ford Edge -- as my Saturn simply wasn't big enough for the task. I took the usual route from Dayton to Buffalo, until I reached Erie, PA. There, I took US 19 into town, to pick up PA route 5 (which becomes NY route 5 at the state line), and drove up along the shoreline of Lake Erie to Buffalo. When I arrived at home, my sister Rosann was already there, with her 4 yellow Labrador retrievers. (I call them "her kids". Their names: Cirque [du Soleil], Seven [of Nine], Cally, and Wendy.) She came up the previous week, and was going through the house one room at a time. Instead of staying in a hotel room, I stayed in my old room. I didn't have A/C, internet, or cable TV, but that was OK.
Tue 6/26: Went through the items in my old bedroom. I had already taken out most of the stuff I wanted. Mom had taken over this bedroom after I moved out. I emptied the dresser drawers and began the arduous task of sorting things out. I also looked under the bed and found more things to sort out. The chest of drawers was already done. Lunch was at Ted's Hot Dogs. That night, I went to the Isle View Inn in Tonawanda for some wings, beer, and clams. The bartender/waitress said she couldn't prepare clams raw (the owner does that), so I have them steamed instead.
Wed 6/27: Continued with the sorting and cleanup. I pulled out the boxes of comic books I had stored under the pool table, and loaded them into the van. I also brought up the board games I wanted to take with me. My cousin Steve came over and helped Rosann remove items from the rafters in the garage. No one had been up there in years, and both were wearing dust masks. I sorted out the medical and financial records for later going-through and/or shredding. Rosann made tacos for lunch. That night, I went to the Scotch & Sirloin in Amherst for a steak dinner. (In all my years growing up in the Buffalo area, I had never been there.) I had a small NY Strip steak, a small bottle of merlot, sauteed mushrooms, and clams on the half shell as an appetizer. The food was OK, but a little on the pricey side. It's a good restaurant for special occasions, but for everyday fare, I'll go elsewhere.
Thu 6/28 Everything that needed to be done was done, so Rosann gave me the day off. I spent a few hours at the City of Tonawanda public library, catching up on email, Facebook, and LJ. I also had a phone interview with a company near Cleveland. But alas, I didn't have enough JavaScript experience for what they wanted me to do. I had lunch at Mighty Taco. I also spent some time (and took some pictures) at Glen Park in Williamsville, and Aqua Lane Park in Tonawanda. Sitting by the lake and getting the cook breeze off the Niagara River -- that's the way to spend a summer afternoon in Buffalo! Dinner was with with my friends Louis and Liz at Anderson's Custard in Tonawanda. (The original plan was to go to Swiston's Beef & Keg, but all they had for food was beef on weck and chili.)
Fri 6/29 The van had already been packed with my belongings, as I had been loading it every day. I loaded my duffel bag of clothes and toiletries, gave the house key to Rosann, and left around 8:30am. I met my friend Darleen for breakfast at the Two Sisters Cafe in Orchard Park. We then went to Chestnut Ridge Park for a nature walk, and a photo opportunity. I then headed home, traveling on US 20 from Hamburg, NY to Painesville, OH. (I wanted to avoid the construction on I-90 in Ohio.) As soon as I got onto I-271, I noticed the clouds getting a little gray and hazy. And there was a storm. While I didn't get caught in it, I was afected by what the storm left behind. A beer truck had overturned on I-71 at around mile marker 134, and traffic was backed up for about 10 miles. I had already made plans with
rms_butterfly to join her, fuzzyvanman, and pondside for dinner at the Texas Roadhouse in Hillard. My original ETA was 6 pm, and it got pushed back to 7:45 pm. After dinner, I headed for Dayton, and got home around 10:30pm. The storm had come through Dayton as well. I still had power, and there were no large branches on my condo building or property. But a shelf in one of my bedroom closets had collapsed. I found out on the 11:00 news that the folks at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base had cancelled their annual Tattoo due to the weather. The estate sale is planned for the weekend of July 7-8. After that, painters will come in and either paint the walls or do touch-up work. We may have someone come in and clean the carpets. And then my parents' house will go on sale.
I don't know when -- or even if -- I'll be returning to Buffalo. My parents, and their home, are gone and no longer available to me. I still have relatives and friends there. But I no longer have a home base there. If I do go back, I'll need to stay in a hotel room, or with friends. But I know I'll return someday. I have fond memories of summer time in Buffalo, and it's an excellent place to stay during the summer!
Some of my favorite drives:
NY Seaway Trail: http://www.seawaytrail.com/
OH Lake Erie Coastal Ohio Trail: http://byways.org/explore/byways/59836/
