Buffalo weekend: getting there

This past Thursday I drove to Buffalo for the sad occasion of my Aunt Elizabeth's funeral. I made the trip alone driving from Princeton, so I took the scenic route on the way there stopping in different places to stretch my legs and get out of the car. The first place was in Ithaca, NY to eat at Moosewood (the vegetarian cafe made world famous from their cookbooks). I sat at the cafe and got their Moussaka, but I have to say that my favorite part of the meal was their amazing house salad dressing which is a creamy basil - it made even a simple side salad outstanding. After browsing the gift shop I treated myself to an iced Chai for the road - Delicious!

On the way out of Ithaca I drove past the Finger Lakes School of Massage, Namaste Montessori School, a midwives clinic and a local CSA farm with a huge peace sign on the barn. I called my sister-in-law Jill and said "I think we should consider retiring here, we'd fit right in". She agreed.

Also on the way out of town I drove past a sign that said "View the Falls - 1 mile". I was in a wandering mood and the weather wasn't too bad, so I decided to take a short detour. It was well worth it. I stopped at a view point for Taughannock Falls. There had recently been a lot of snow melt, so the falls were roaring and the river below was churning. It was loud even from far away.

I continued to take the scenic route through the Finger Lakes region, heading north toward I-90. I drove through Amish country and saw an actual horse and buggy, but didn't take a photo of that. This is all I got:

It was raining off and on, but the drive was OK until I got about 20 miles outside of Buffalo and hit rush-hour traffic and lots of snow. And it was super windy the entire drive, even in my little Corolla I could feel the wind pushing me around the road.

I got to the hotel just before 6pm, so it ended up being about a 9 hour travel day, but not too bad with all of the stops.

Even though the occasion was a sad one, it was still good to be with family and to be reminded of those strong bonds. After the mass on Friday morning, which was beautiful and very moving, I spent the rest of the day not only with my immediate family (My parents and both of my brothers also made the trip) but with extended family that I don't get to see very often. We all agreed that the next time we get together like this should be for a much happier occasion.