NY to NH

There was a lamp in the hostel room that I assumed my 'roomate' (who apparently was a diabetic and some sort of holistic musician) would turn out. Turns out he didn't and it sounded like he was opening and closing 3 ring binders all night. It might have been that he kept getting into his insulin cooler but as far as I know you don't 'snack' on insulin so who knows. Needless to say I didn't get a great night's sleep.

I got up and showered and decided I could spare an hour to go out and walk around Buffalo. The night before I had gotten on Wikipedia and read up on Buffalo. Turns out it used to be the 8th largest city in the nation thanks to the combination of the Erie Canal going through it as well as it's growth as a rail and manufacturing hub. Apparently the downturn for the city began in the 1950's with the opening of the St Lawerence Waterway. After that the gradual downturn in American manufacturing and the loss of rail traffic took away most of the jobs and thus the people. In fact, the population now is down to 1890's levels. Wow. There were several sites worth seeing, the best being a war memorial and the radial center of the city including the city hall and the surrounding architecture.



Since I was in the area and had seen the signs for Niagara Falls I decided I might as well take advantage of the proximity and go check it out. Turns out it was a great day for it because unlike the previous day's constant rain the sun was out and it was a warm, pretty day. It was definitely worth the side trip...the falls themselves were beautiful and there were some really nice houses in the area I took some photos of. You could really do a lot there with all of the tours and boats and things and Toronto is right across the river. They also nickle and dime you for everything. $10 to get in and then another $1 to go out on the observation deck. I have no idea how much the various tours and boat trips cost but even a guided hike costs money.



After the falls it was back onto the wonderful tollway system down to Utica. I broke off there and decided to take a detour through the Adirondacks. This was another worthwhile side trip. The area is a mix of public/private land and the state of New York owns the public land. It's interesting to think about the differences in the land usage/ownership between East and West. Back east, most of the land is private/state owned and was purchased from the Indians. At some point we decided that taking by force was a better idea and so the Federal government ends up owning all of it and there are only small inholdings within public lands. Not only that but the Federal government generally has to be coerced to invoke protected status on these lands and/or people get really ticked when this happens. Back East, concerned citizens purchased lands and prompted state governments to protect lands. The roads through the area were awesome 2 lane, rolling roads with gentle curves that would probably be fun to drive in almost any sort of vehicle. I continue to be impressed with the Prius...it really handled nicely and while it's not a Porsche it has enough pep and agility to be fun to drive.

After passing through the Adirondacks I drove through Vermont to New Hampshire. I was sort of blown away by how wide open Vermont is. It really seems like the whole thing is one unbroken forest. Turns out their population is 49th in the nation which helps to explain this feeling. I didn't find any neat place that I could pop in and grab some syrup though so I was a little disappointed in that.

I drove into Hanover, NH and decided that I probably didn't want to stay at the fancy inn abutting the Dartmouth campus so I drove into town and ended up staying at a Days Inn. The lady at the front desk recommended a restaurant attached to a local gas station called 'The Fort'. Wow, this place was awesome. It's a small diner that seems to be frequented by locals, all of whom had the New England accent and seemed to know each other. It was neat to see them interacting. Another huge bonus was the discovery of the grilled muffin!!! I noticed they had some super tasty looking muffins by the door so I asked for one of them and asked if they would heat it up. The waitress asked me if I wanted it grilled. Having never had such a thing I said 'Sure, let's try it out'. Man, it was so good! They cut the muffin in half across the middle, probably a quarter of an inch below the top. I'm pretty sure it was grilled with butter before being served which made it extra delicious. Needless to say I went to bed with a happy belly.

Pics
Niagara Falls
Buffalo

-D