The Bonafides Ride On

The Bonafides left Gettysburg Friday, July 8, heading to Niagara Falls, New York.  Smudge told us there was a fireworks display on Friday evenings at the falls, so Rockin’ Rita and I decided to tag along.  We just kept adding to the things we wanted to see, to do and to ride.  At the rate we were going we’d need six months to do it all.

You never know what you will see on the road.  I need one of these to pull behind the bike.

Lucky us.  We found rain again, about 65 miles outside of Gettysburg.  It took us three hours to go 100 miles.  We weren’t making much progress to Niagara as we’d holed up for about an hour.  The storm passed and on we went.

Where we hung out for a while was quite breathtaking.  Imagine what it would be like on a sunny day.

But luckily we had a small pavilion we shared with a few others to wait out the storm a bit.

I was soaked.  I really don’t care to put on rain gear.  I sat forward on my seat trying to get air to my underwear and the back and seat of my pants so they’d dry some.  Not much luck there.  Oh well.  It wasn’t too cold.

We arrived at Niagara Falls just in time for the fireworks.  The crowd was huge, and the whole area was alive.  It was like Vegas with that type of party atmosphere. 

The falls are lit up at night.  As I'd been there before during the day, seeing them like this was a real treat.

What a beautiful display.  The crowd cheered their delight and clapped their hands.  There are lights on the falls, and fireworks were lighting up the sky.  It was awesome. 

This is the kind of fireworks display I like ... big and held for an event rather than shooting over my back yard.

It was a spectacular display.

We weren’t there long, but it was long enough.  It seems like we spend about 20 minutes somewhere before we ride on to the next attraction, and Niagara Falls was no different.

Off we went to find the military housing for the night.  We ended up at a gate that had been closed and Smudge called to find out where we needed to be.  In the meantime, the Military Police showed up.  I was glad I hadn’t headed into the weeds to take care of a nature call.  There were probably cameras all over anyway.  Hold it.  Hold it.  Hold it.

We charmed them and they told us we just needed to go left down the road and go left again.  That was the easy part.  The hard part is always finding the guest housing once you’re on the military installation.  But again the Bonafides prevailed. 

On our last evening together, I remembered something that happened a few days prior.  We had commented on Rabbit Ears having three moms.  Rabbit Ears threw it right back at us … “It’s more like two moms and one angry old aunt!”  That just cracked me up.  In fact, I laughed out loud.  I do believe I like that title, and I used it more than once before we parted ways.   Too soon we’d be separating, and his quirky sense of humor would be lost to us til we got home.

So up and at ‘em, on Saturday, July 9, as Rockin’ Rita and I set out on our own.  It was scary.  We were only half of the Bonafides now and we missed our other traveling companions.  Are we now the Bonatwins?  The run has evolved into something else now … the Friends and Family, Patches and Pins Run.  We’re on a mission to ride, but to also visit people and some Harley shops.  There’s a lot to do, but we’re up to the task.

We were headed to New York City to Flailah and Richid’s for a day.  Richid was going to come meet us as there was no way we wanted to be wandering about that city on our own.  

Once again we hit rain.  We stopped a bit.  It lightened up and we rode on.  I had foot spas in my boots.  I don’t think they’ll ever get dry again.  Maybe it’s time for new ones.

Richid came to meet up with us at a Harley shop that was closed.  Crap.  It was one I’d not been to before.  We were standing around talking when this guy came over to see if we needed some help.  Turns out he’s a friend of Joanna’s from New York City, so we needed a photo for proof. 

There we are with Richid and Joanna's friend, at a Harley shop that should have been open so we could get our pins.

At least the weather going into the city was dry.  Weather was the least of our worries.  New York City drivers are crazy and there are thousands of vehicles.  We’d stopped for gas and some guy asked Rockin’ Rita and me if our license plates were real.  Hah.  Really? 

Here we are.

Somehow Richid got us safely to their building and into the parking garage.  We unloaded and got up to their apartment.  Home and a dog fix for a night, or two as it turned out.

Dog fix.  Goldie had to wear a cone as she'd had some surgery ... but we sure worked around that.

But there was more to the evening.  Richid had set it up for Joanna to come by.  She didn’t know we were there.  He brought her to the laundry room to see Flailah, or so she thought.  Richid had her pose for a photo with Flailah and Rockin’ Rita and I photobombed it.  Actually, we photobombed a video.  It was the best surprise and we screamed our delight like kids, laughing and hugging.  She stayed and visited for a bit but she had to get home.  It was nice to see her and so awesome for Richid and Flailah to arrange the surprise.  Thank you, both. 

The next day (July 10) we decided to go into town.  I really wanted to see the 9-11 memorial and also Lady Liberty up close and personal.  I didn’t need to get on the island.  I didn’t need to climb up in her.  I just wanted to be close to her.

So how were we going to get there?  This would be an adventure.  The New York City subway.  Flailah was going prepared with an extra shirt to keep between her and everything else.  Her advice to us was, “Don’t touch anything.”  That was our mantra for the day.  And we were armed with hand sanitizer. 

Subway ... beneath the ground.  Kind of dark, but we managed. 

Off we went, walking down the street, going down, down, down, to the subway.  How do we get tickets?  We’re the newbies here and don’t know nuttin’ ‘bout nuttin’.  Haha.  Our NYC friends took care of us, and through the gate we went.  Don’t touch anything.  We didn’t, cept for our clothed butts pushing through the entry gate.

Flailah's handling the tickets.  Don't touch anything.

Flailah, Rockin' Rita and me ... riding the subway.  We're still upright, no muggings going on here.  I'm sure we scared folks.

Flailah said our best defense is to act crazy.  We can do that quite well, thank you.

Onto the subway we went, without touching anything.  We hung onto the poles, using our elbows rather than our hands.  We didn’t want any germs.  I looked around.  Well, some of these folks looked rather normal.  Did we look normal?  Hard to say. 

We found our stop and got off, and wandered up to the street above.  We were near the 9-11 memorial site.  I’d wanted to see the memorial, but there really isn’t a whole lot to see as it’s mostly walled off because they’re putting up a bunch of buildings.  The sculpture of the dove is not easy to make out, and I was disappointed.  It wasn’t what I was expecting, and not the memorial I’d hoped to see.

Move along, folks.  Nothing to see here.

This is the only side of the dove I could get.  Oh well.

I took a few random people shots.  Only because I thought the people I saw in New York City were interesting. 

I felt very safe with the Counterterrorism boys there.

I liked this lady's outfit.

So, how would one get this vehicle out of this parking spot?  They park a different kind of way in New York City.

We wandered into the church across the street.  St. Paul’s Chapel, built in 1764, was the tallest building in New York City at the time.  The church is the oldest surviving church building in Manhattan and while currently undergoing renovations, was still open to the public. 

The church is hidden in beautiful trees ... a gorgeous setting.

 

Even undergoing renovation, it's beautiful.  Churches are some of the most spectacular architecture there is.  In 1789, George Washington prayed at St. Paul's after his inauguration as the first president of the United States.

There were a lot of memorials for 9-11 inside, and I even saw some from Alaska.  That made me proud.  Originally the memorials were outside on the church grounds but eventually moved inside.  The chapel officials erected a number of panels, estimating they’d need 15 of them.  They ended up needing 400. 

Our Alaskan kids.  There is hope in this world.



This is just one of many panels of the memorials sent here from around the world.



The Bell of Hope.  This bell was presented to the people of New York City on the one-year anniversary of 9-11, by the Lord Mayor of London and the Archbishop of Canterbury.  It was created  by England's Whitechapel Foundry, that also cast the Liberty Bell and London's Big Ben.  The pedestal base was built locally from eastern brownstone, and beneath the bell, inlaid on the pedestal, is a brass footprint of the World Trade Center Towers.  The bell is rung every Sept. 11, symbolizing the triumph of hope over tragedy.

Outside, the headstones were set in what seemed a haphazard manner but it’s a beautiful church, and was untouched by the 9-11 tragedies, without even a broken window, although the organ suffered smoke and dirt damage.  That has since been refurbished and is in use again.

The headstones at the church ... haphazard?  Some type of order?

We wandered across the street and found the reflecting pools that are a part of the 9-11 memorial site. The names of those who died in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the 2001 attacks, including those who died not only at the World Trade Center, but also at the Pentagon and near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, are inscribed on bronze panels that edge the pools.  

The pools are an oasis in the middle of the city, and there were lots of people around enjoying them.

The waterfalls and pools are each about an acre in size, and are set within the footprints of the original Twin Towers.  More than 400 trees surround the pools, giving those who visit a feeling of peace and serenity.  A calm flowed over me as I watched the water flowing down into the pool, but I also felt a great sadness as I thought about the loss of so many.  I was grateful for the pools as I’d been bothered because the other portion of the memorial was not what I’d imagined. 

The city around us fascinated me.

 

There are beautiful buildings, but I don't want to live amongst them.

Great to visit, but it was time to do something different.

I do the love the buildings, tall ones, short ones.

This was another park, with all kinds of globes.

Each globe had some part of the world on it ... and this one had buildings sticking up.  They were pretty cool.

From there we wandered to see about a boat ride out to Lady Liberty.  We bought tickets from street vendors.  Turns out we couldn’t use them as we’d been told and it was this big, ugly fiasco.  Those tickets are being disputed.  Richid decided to go back home and take care of the animals and Flailah stayed with us.  The three women were on the streets in New York City.  Look out.

Every city seems to have its homeless population.

This guy was pretty patriotic, though.

In the meantime, we found tickets that took us out to the island and seeing the Statue of Liberty was everything I’d wanted to do and exactly how I’d imagined she’d be. 

Spectacular.

She's big, she's bold and she's one of the most beautiful sights I've seen.

The Statue of Liberty ... is located on Liberty Island in New York Harbor.  She's made of copper, wrought iron and steel.  She was dedicated Oct. 28, 1886, and was supposedly a gift to the United States from the people of France. It appears to have been more of a joint effort between the countries to commemorate a lasting friendship.  There are a number of stories ... that she wasn't a gift of France, that she nearly ended up in Boston or Philadelphia, she was supposed to be a lighthouse.  No matter the story, she is a true marvel and symbolizes liberty, freedom and democracy.

I never dreamed I'd see the Statue of Liberty as close as this, and she brings tears to me even now as I think of everything she means to those that have come to this country in the past, including my ancestors, I’m sure. 

The NYPD boat makes me think of the TV show, "Blue Bloods," a favorite.

The skyline is crowded, but I sure enjoyed looking at it.

Flailah had waited for us in the park and did some people watching.  Then it was back to the subway and the apartment as we needed to get ready for our departure the next day.

Yep.  We were staying in Queens.