Arrival

Made it safely to the new place after a few phone calls to L and MANY helpful folks.

The plane ride went smoothly and was very quick. The landing portion was a bit rough, and by a bit, I mean the roughest. The nine-ish year-old girl sitting next to me likened it to Coney Island...as she was thoroughly enjoying the turbulence. I, on the other hand, had to use every last bit I had to keep down the lightly salted peanuts I ate earlier on the ride. After getting tossed around a bit in the air, we touched down. The 9-ish year-old's mother proclaimed that we were out of harm's way, just in time for us to skid on the runway at about a 30 degree angle. That was new. BUT all of us passengers, including the cat sitting behind me, made it to LaGuardia safely.
Coming into NYC was a sight to behold. You know you're in the city when you swoop in over the Statue of Liberty (which pretty much takes up the entire island it stands on). We flew over Brooklyn (I knew because I've studied NYC on Google maps extensively...so much so that I was able to pick out the park across the street from "home") and then Manhattan came into view. Incredible.


Took the M60 bus to Astoria (note: no dollars or pennies when paying for your ride and transfers don't work on the subways, as the "nice" bus driver informed me after I asked for one) and pondered for a couple minutes about how I was going to haul 2 rather large suitcases up many flight of stairs to the subway (ummmm, I thought subways were underground? Not always, apparently).

I was about half-way through my ascent when someone asked if he could help. I clearly must have considered myself to be in a pretty rough place because I agreed to take him up on his offer. He not only took my heaviest bag, but paid my fare (only a Metro card is accepted on the subways, and obviously I did not have one), and directed me to exactly where I needed to go. I found out he was from Bloomington, so he passed it off as Minnesota Nice and wouldn't accept my return payment. Truly a blessing, so I named him Cam (Christmas Angel Man) :) and silently gave him a "G-bless" before parting ways.

After a stint with Cam on the Q to Times Square, I took the R into Brooklyn and arrived at my 3-month home around 3:30 p.m. After scoping out the gym, unpacking to Zac Brown Band Pandora radio, and meeting some neighbors, L and I made our way to find some burritos. We happened upon a great place a few blocks away. 5th Ave. is the place to be in the neighborhood.

As a reflect on the day, all I can say is that "moving" to NYC is like running a marathon: I can't believe that just happened.