Do you remember our trip to Cornell and Niagara Falls? That was a special one. I feel like there’s a selection of memories now that live in the recesses of my brain where they are actual significant events that I never felt the need to put into written record previously because there’s no way I’d forget them. But now, as time passes by, perhaps I should start putting these down too. There’s less urgency though that these memories would disappear or fade away. Like our Cambodia trip, or the HK 24th birthday, although, as these come to mind, they certainly live in a dusty area of filed memories and experiences.
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I actually don’t remember the details of how this trip materialized. There is however, a very clear official “start” of this trip in my mind — as we pulled out of the rental car section of 30th Street Penn Station. I rented the car from Avis, which was an adventure in of itself; maybe one of the early times I rented a car (and I was younger than 25), so that comes with restrictions. 30th Street Penn Station is beautiful, but sketch as heck and the initial rental process had plenty of doubts already.
We finally made it though, crossing through that eerie parking lot, located the car, and thankfully with keys that unlocked. We scrambled in, as usual, two giggling girls hoping we don’t get kidnapped. I remember thinking “let the adventure begin!” as we exited and the toll arm went up with the giant warnings DO NOT BACK UP into the tire punctures. We were psyched for the ~4hr drive to Ithaca. I believe it might have been fall break.
You have already met my new boyfriend from over the summer, so while that was of course exciting to see him again and go on a mini trip to Niagara Falls together (also you kept insisting you were chaperoning since we only rented one hotel room for the three of us), it was also exciting to introduce you to another friend I met from the summer. A hotelie. We became very close, so I looked forward to spending time with both friends.
I am sure we had a playlist going and no doubt, some map reading issues (pre-smart phone days), but all in all, the trip up doesn’t bring to mind any mishaps. Perhaps this memory is foggier than I thought….
· We stayed in my boyfriend’s dorm suite and hung out with the nerdy roommates who were very nice
· We made crème brulee
· The three of us went out for one drink at a bar, and the drinks were HUGE and colored (like blues and purples) in these tall glasses that were the Grateful Dead
· We both got very drunk from it — you puked all night in the living room and the roommates were very helpful and caring
· There was a beautiful sunset and we were on a farm area (?) of campus, where there was a gazebo, and we jumped up on the railings / benches and sang “We are sixteen going on seventeen…” while spinning around
· We ate at the hotel school restaurant and were fascinated that students cooked the French fries in the back, as well as running all the operations for the restaurant
· When we started on the drive to Niagara Falls, I lost my temper with the navigator who wasn’t reading the map correctly… tension was dissolved with Maroon 5’s Payphone song
· We crossed the border into Canada and it was a big deal because you left the country for the first time — and this was the reason you finally got a passport
· The rest of the town in Niagara Falls was underwhelming; some carnival place was quiet and empty, the hotel was quite boring and lame. I recall you let me and the boyfriend go for a little walk after dinner ourselves (unchaperoned) and we came back to find you curled up on one of the beds fast asleep.
