Saturday June 28

We got up early this morning and took off for New York. We didn't tell the girls anything except Gettysburg. It was a long drive. Traffic was horrible. No one cared that it was Saturday. We headed across a bridge from NJ to Staten Island., then across to Manhattan. As we were driving, I looked across the water an there she was - the Statue of Liberty.

The sun was shining on her and she was all lit up. I spotted it first and cried. We crossed over right into Battery Park, to see it up close. Well, we ran for tickets and caught the very next ferry. We were the last ones on. We sailed out to Liberty Island. She was spectacular.

We walked around a while and went back to get on the ferry. It started to rain. Then it poured. And it poured. All the way back to the parking garage. Puddles a foot deep - we looked like we swam back from Liberty Island. We were soaked - everything was soaked. We turned out of the parking garage and right there in front of us was Ground Zero. Very moving - a huge void. Our car seats were still wet in the morning. We only brought dry shirts, sox and underwear - we had to hang out our pants to dry - then ironed them in the morning and layed our shoes across the AC. Dave and Kendra's were still wet in the morning. From the island, we headed to Central Park. Right up 5th Ave in NY traffic. That was an experience! We drove up one end of Central Park. It was so big and right down the middle of town. We found the Empire State building too. It was really huge. And really pretty. We made it out of town and found our way to PA - Bethlehem - to spend the night. Very cute town and very nice pillows.