Anything IV

[fanuilhgkar]

Happy birthday, Pollymath!!!

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[sindatur]

Happy Birthday Polly, hope it's a good one

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Sindatur - The Grey owl Wizzard

[Nommy]

Happy Birthday Pollymath!

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Nommy

[Lyta Alexander]

Happy B-Day Polly!

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[Sycamore Evenstar]

Happy Birthday, Polly!!

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[Wizz]

Hmmph...urg <snort>Huh? Oh! Calendar!
Hi, Pollymath.


Happy Birthday!

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Do not tempt the patience of Wizzards, for they are subtle, and quick to anger.

[Rantarn]

Oops, late again.

Happy Birthday Pollymath!

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Drago Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus

[MightyLady77]

Polly had a good birthday!

She flew into Buffalo Saturday, Aug. 18. I picked her up and drove her back to Erie. We had a nice, albeit late, lunch... wonderful place called Shakespier's, right on Presque Isle Bay. Later in the day I exposed her to the wonders of the Erie County Fair. Smelly in part, but fun and charming in a down-home country way.

Sunday started out lazy until we discovered that finding a copy of the Sunday New York Times was going to require a road trip. (This means I had to drive a whopping 15 minutes to a grocery store on the outskirts of Erie because everything downtown is asleep most of the weekend.) After breakfast and a quick read of our respective hometown papers (yes, I picked up the Erie Sunday paper as long as I was up and out of the house before 5 p.m. on a Sunday) we set out, in the rain no less, for the local amusement park, Waldameer. It was still raining when we got there but had quit by the time we walked from the car to the gate. After a quick cruise around the park, we decided that all day ride passes would be the way to go. And I must say that we did ride! Traditional first ride is the Comet, a short but sweet wooden roller coaster. During the rest of the afternoon we rode the Paratrooper, the Ferris Wheel, skipped the WipeOut (when someone barfed) and then visited the Pirates Cove, a fun house sort of building. We also rode, though not neccessarily in this order, the Tilt-a-Whirl, the Whacky Shack, the Merry Go Round, the Dodge 'Ems, and another ride on the Comet. Polly rode the Ali Baba by herself (let's just say that I can spin all day but heights disturb me). We also managed to play a kids' game called Frying Frogs in which we both won small stuffed seahorses and a race game where you move your car by rolling a ball and sending it down holes to determine how far it moves. Polly won a stuffed purple dragon that sits about 8" high. To end the day we rode Thunder River, a log flume ride. Once again my fear of heights bothered me but hearing Polly muttering, as we went down the first, smaller hill, "why on Earth did I do this" let me know I wasn't alone. We survived and, looking like refugees from a wet t-shirt contest, we headed home.

We had planned to see the fireworks at We Love Erie Days Sunday night. Came time to leave and it was raining again. This time we stayed home and spent the evening talking and planning her birthday present. Knowing that we had an early start and a long day Monday, we were in bed by 11 p.m.!

Monday, Polly's birthday, started out well. We were up, showered, dressed, fed and on the road by 9 a.m. I remembered to wish her a happy birthday early on. Her birthday present would have to wait... it wasn't made yet.

I let Polly drive when we set out. I knew I would be driving the whole way back by myself so I let her drive first, during the easy, all thruway portion of the trip before we hit Buffalo. I knew from driving into Buffalo on Saturday that there was construction ahead so we swapped at the service plaza just outside the city. The plan was that I would drive until we cleared the city traffic around Niagara Falls, Ontario, and then Polly would resume driving. Never happened. We missed the welcome center between Niagara Falls and St. Catherine so I just drove the rest of the way.

Maybe that was for the best. Polly is a wonderful navigator and her comments on exit numbers and distances were running through my mind as I drove back by myself.

Anyway, we traveled on to Stratford, Ontario, through countryside that is much like the countryside in my area... rolling hills and farm land. The worst part of the drive was the couple of downpours that put me on edge as we were trying to find out exits. Just before we got to Shakespeare, the town preceding Stratford, we ran into road construction--re-paving to be exact--that slowed us down. Our regret on that is that it reduced the time I got to spend in Stratford.

Finally, 5 hours after leaving my apartment, we arrived! We gassed the car, dropped off Polly's gear and then walked off to get money, lunch and to see the sights. Unfortunately for my sightseeing, the rain arrived in full force shortly after we set out. We did get money and lunch, but the sightseeing got cut short by both the rain and the time. Right around 4 p.m. I was on the road for an uneventful trip back home. (I made better time on the return trip... if you don't do 85 mph around the Canadian cities, you're a road hazard. Good thing 85 is a number I like.

You will have to wait for Polly's report on how the rest of her birthday went. I'm betting it was great--she really loves being in Stratford for the Shakespeare festival.

And I'll let her tell you about the birthday present if she chooses. All I will tell you is that it's something I made for her this past week and that she will get it tomorrow when I pick her up at the VIA Rail station in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

We will have about 4 hours to kick around Buffalo tomorrow and then she is back on a plane and back to her life in the big city(s).

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MightyLady of the Flame Red Hair
Somebody should have labeled the future 'Some assembly required.'

[Nommy]

Wow Red! Thats one helluva commentary.

Polly, I hope you really enjoyed your birthady. Sounds like you did.

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Nommy

[MightyLady77]

Polly will be posting in the near future. Tonight she was going to unwind from her trip home.

In the meantime, here is a link to the photo I took of her today in the midst of our afternoon.

http://www.treebeard.net/MightyLady/Polly.html

(Oops... forgot where I put it and had to edit the link!)
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MightyLady of the Flame Red Hair
Somebody should have labeled the future 'Some assembly required.'

[This message has been edited by MightyLady77 (edited August 28, 2001).]