I Love Subway

I love trains, and metros, and whatever else you want to call it. I've used public transportation everywhere I have lived. But New York, I bow down to your public transit.

I bow and bask and bathe in it's glory and ease. The great thing about visiting family in a new place is that they have the lay of the land. My sister is a train wizard.

But before I get ahead of myself, we started the day off on much humbler transportation.



The village trolley. It doesn't run all the time and me being around was the perfect excuse to be weird together and ride it along with the other geriatrics and 4 year-old boys. It was fun to drive through Tuckahoe before heading to the Metro North train.

The cool thing about my sister's location is that she is only a twenty minute train ride into the City, but far enough away that she still has a car to get to work and use on the weekends if she travels. Following her lead I hoped on the train and off we went.



They were doing construction, so we were a little held up but I didn't mind since I had no preconceived ideas. The most interesting part of the Metro North train is heading south, you can see things change as you approach the Bronx. Buildings (projects) spring up and everything gets a little closer together. I sound like a country bumpkin when I say this, but it just shocks me how so many people can be living on top of each other like that.

Of course, first things first- Grand Central!

To ride the subway you have to find a magical portal. You enter at one hole.



 Make your way through a buzzing sea of thousands of humans. Jump on a long steel train.



Then pop out in a completely different world that is still somehow part of New York City.

I never could've done it myself but you just follow Ali's lead. And somehow she always knows which portal to go through, which tracks to be at, and which side to hop on. It must be pretty obvious that she knows because people kept asking her for directions. Like a boss. If you happen to be in NYC without my wizard sister, try using the CityMapper app. So much magic. 

And no tourist on the subway would be complete without a picture of the funny and information signs on the subway. "Poles are for your safety, not your latest routine." 

Read about our day in the City over at this post. 

It blows my mind how the subway can get you anywhere. Anywhere! It seems like there is no part of Manhattan that can't be accessed by the secret underground world of moving capsules. 

As I was walking in the crowded city streets, I thought about all the layers of trains and tracks below my feet. And I wondered at any given time how the number of people below ground compared to the number of people above ground. Can someone look in to that for me please?

Moving?

Ross and I knew that our lease was coming up for our current apartment. And I really want a new apartment. See how I didn't say "I want to move"? Because I am smarter than that. We move about once a year. And it doesn't get easier. This is well documented on this blog. Maybe I should even consider a new title. Instead of "Petersens Beyond the Sea" it should be, "Petersens Moving Again." Yeah. I like that.

You know what else I like? Box hoarding. At work I am the individual responsible for ordering supplies for our department.

All I see is potential

Which means I get to dispose of boxes and packing supplies. Or shamefully haul it home instead of to the dumpster. Ross will come to pick me up and be like,

"What's that for?"

And instead of angrily being like, "YOU MADE MY LIFE THIS WAY!" I just tell him to not worry about it. So I'm like, moving?



This shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone, including myself, but the search for an apartment has been incredibly un-fruitful. Just rotting fruit-full. Being consistently plagued by paste-eating apartment managers has been the most frustrating. We've gone to look at a few places, but it seems nothing is going to pan out. This serious conversation happened.



Part of me is panicking because I already gleefully kissed (what I thought to be) my bus-riding days goodbye. You know the days of missing the bus, or running to the bus in 95 degree heat, or ending up walking home in sandals because the bus drove by. Yeah those days. I thought they were over. As I begin to admit defeat, I find myself gazing into the distance, staring at my bus-misadventure-riddled future thinking....

Red Butte Gardens & Razz the Rattler

I decided before the beginning of this week that I would spend the night aty sister's place in SLC Friday night. So that afternoon, armed with my newly acquired phone and spare change (also newly acquired) Ross dropped me off at the train station with just enough time to buy my ticket and play around with the panorama function on the camera.

Not bad for my first but I still think I like this one better. 

I know some people don't like public transportation, I am not one of those people. Especially having not been behind the wheel for almost two years I was actually a little relieved I wouldn't be navigating the one-way, wide streets of downtown SLC. 

I had never rode the Front Runner train before, but if there is one thing I've learned from life, it's the affirmation to the old adage, "When in Rome, do as the Romans." 

So with the help of a friendly UTA man, and following the herd, I made it to Temple Square where my sister works. There were only about a dozen brides and their wedding parties. So Flash took the opportunity to get some photos himself. 

I found my way to my sister's office. She told me I could wait in the east lobby by some murals. Getting a little over zealous with my new phone, I used fancily used the compass the find east. Cos, you know, how could I miss this HUGE Jesus mural and lobby with a couple dozen couches. 

Please note the cute grandma who scared me half to death by ghosting up on me and sitting RIGHT BEHIND me in this huge lobby. I have personal space issues #evenatthatdistance. 

After a quick hello to the ever beautiful sister I headed to City Creek, an outdoor but also indoor shopping mall. I of course found too many good things. 

But the best treasure of all was an impromptu meeting with my best friend Pip!! It's been years since we have seen each other and that's just too long. It was a short visit but now that she lives in Utah I can see her any time. Hooray! 

Earlier this week I asked Rissa if she had been to Red Butte Gardens, because I was considering going to a concert there. Funny thing, just the next day her coworker invited her to go the the Gardens Friday. Lucky for me she extended the invite. 

After dinner we moseyed over to Red Butte Gardens to meet Rissa's friends. 

I love gardens, and I love plants and flowers. Also, I love strolls. Red Butte ended up being my little bit of Heaven on Earth in Utah. 

I haven't ever lived in Utah long enough to be mad I haven't done certain outings (like this) but I am glad I discovered The Garden as soon as I have. It was a very beautiful and magical place. We went in the evening and the sun was playing on all the plants and flowers. 

The variety here seems almost endless. Succulents, cacti, hibiscus, roses, lillies, herbs, veggies, fruits, and more. 

There are awesome gardens for children, and even little lizards benches. Here is my sister on a Gila monster that looks like Toothless. 

Also, not far from here Rissa almost sat on a rattlesnake. 

We called him Razz cos he was near a raspberry bush. 

The Gardens also have an amazing view of Salt Lake City. It was really beautiful with the sun setting. 

As you can tell, I had about a million pictures by this point. It's hard to choose which ones to post. I also had ample opportunity to try out my panorama picture effect.

Every part was so beautiful. I can't wait to go back and explore some more. My favorite plant was this one, the Dragon Arum.

It traps in bugs and you can see them all squirming inside of the plant. Super creepy.

Not creepy? Beautiful sisters, color coordinated, in a gorgeous garden!

After the gardens we went home and watched Finding Nemo, and crashed.

I am so excited to see what adventures tomorrow brings.