Erie News Just In...
This weeks breaking news story in Erie is that of a local 27 year old women who used her 4 week old baby as a weapon, to strike her boyfriend whom she was having a disagreement with. The baby was left with a broken skull. What the???

New York, New York
This weekend we took the 7.5 hour drive to New York City. We left lunch time Friday and arrived about 8.30 Friday night. We checked into our hotel, which was very cheap (the doors to the rooms looked like we were about to be locked up for the night), but prime location. That night we had dinner and drinks in a bar before catching a comedy show.

Times Square

Saturday was a huge day. We caught the subway to lower Manhattan, then caught a ferry to see the Statue of Liberty. It isn't that big in real life. Once again, we almost froze to death - it was so cold!

Ryan with Statue of Liberty

We then caught the ferry back and walked to Wall St, which is really nice, walked around the Ground Zero site and then the Brooklyn Bridge.

Intersection of Wall St and Broadway

Christopher 'Camel Toe' Columbus in Wall St

We then visited Chinatown and walked in on their Chinese New Year festivities.

After a serving of dumplings, wontons (Bridie, they were steamed, not deep fried!) and BBQ pork ribs, we caught the subway back to Time Square ready to see the Broadway musical 'Hairspray'. It was a really good show.

The next morning we walked to the Empire State Building, which wasn't very exciting, walked 5th Ave up to Central Park. We spent the morning walking around Central Park and went ice skating (Kristy's first time on ice - no stacks!)

Central Park

'Torvill & Dean', oops i mean Kristy & Ryan on ice!

After this we scoffed 3 hot dogs from a street vendor, followed by a slice of pizza & a bagel.

False and Misleading Information
Some false and misleading information was placed on this blog site. Ryan did NOT spew after his big night out, although he did feel like it. All bets are back on.

You Just Dont See This At Home

Thought we would throw in a few pics from Erie, that you just wouldnt see in down town Newie.

The 'Icicle House'

Ha Ha Ha - Social Hall in Rear. Just thought it was funny!

This truck shovels snow and throws out salt for grip on the roads

The servo is totally covered in snow

Icicles hanging from our bedroom window

Ryan on the sled going over a jump

Bobcat clearing our driveway and our street

Ryan asked me to buy him ear muffs....

Happy Birthday Teagan

Thought we would celebrate your birthday over here too. I hear spewing runs in the Benson family name!!!

The Coldest Day of Our Lives

Saturday we went up Niagara Falls. It was such a nice day in Erie (although still cold) we decided to wear reasonably warm clothes, although nothing over the top. Boy were we sorry. When we got to the American side of the falls, the wind was blowing cold water from the falls everywhere. This didn't help warm the sub-zero temperature at all. Although it was quite nice, we didn't stick around long as Kristy had lost feeling in her chin and couldn't talk properly.

Ryan in front of American side of falls

Me in front of snow covered trees on American side

After a short defrosting car trip, we crossed the border and went to the Canadian side of the falls. The Canada side was much warmer, although still freezing. It is also the prettier side to see the falls.

Ryan in front of falls on Canadian side

Me in front of a cool icy tree

We took the scenic route on the way back - this is frozen Lake Erie

The First to Break in the House

On Sunday, we watched NASCAR at the Buffalo Wild Wings Bar. I had to leave Ryan there cause i was sooo bored. When i returned he was drunk and had made friends with some locals, including 'Chromey' a man from Florida with two chrome front teeth.

Pass out

The next morning Ryan had a spew (i cant believe he christened the house before me!) and had to go to work hung over - unlucky!



For All You Love Birds Out There

Being the romantic he is (ha ha ha), Ryan thought he would treat me to a very romantic heart shaped pizza. This was supposed to feed 1-2 people. We were both full and there was still some left over!

awww - aint he sweet?

The $20 Tribute to Judes

Mother - just a couple of words and one photo

(sorry - cant flip the photo's)

4L port + 5L goon = $20 (+ messy night). Enough Said.

Look Out Erie, Here We Come!

With the West coast tour nearly complete, we drove back to Hollywood (via the OC) for 1 last night.

We finally found the Hollywood Sign

We stayed in a nice place right on Hollywood Boulevard, which was very convenient. It was a fairly quiet night considering the long day of flights ahead of us the next day. Plus a lot of places were taped off for the Grammy's.

Next stop Erie

The flight to Erie was via Philadelphia which was our first real taste of the cold ambiance. A short two hour layover and we were off to the white glaze of Erie. We were greeted by Rod Morrison, another UGL employee who is over here with his family for a similar secondment. As luck would have it Kristy's bags did not arrive. This is apparently a common treat in Erie as the planes are quite small and do not accommodate the extra large luggage most people bring with them when coming to a cold place.

The first night was spent at a local hotel which was by far the best that we had experienced yet. Rod gave us a guided tour of the town the following day which included a visit to some local pubs with "Randy" and "Dirk" (common American names) as well as a trip to the close by ski feilds. The runs although not long, are reasonable quality and operate unitl 10pm every night.

Fisherman fishing on the frozen Lake Erie

The car next door is snowed in

The first day in Erie was spectacular with sunlight all day and fresh snow over town. The day finished with a introduction to our home for the next 6 months. She's a beauty. No renovating required.

The frozen lake

Kristy on the toboggan (about to hit the tree)

Our hot rod of choice is a Pontiac GP, Hot Red. Not bad for a rental. Currently it is snowing and will continue over night (expecting about 15 inches over the next day or so) which should make the initial driving on the snow/ice even more challenging. Kristy even managed to lock us out of the house the second night we were here. We had dinner at Rod and Cheryl's house until the property manager came home to open the house with the spare key. She went to try her key to see if she had the right one, when she said 'how about i try the key in the door first?' - Kristy left the key in the front door for hours! Below are some shots of our new home (for 6 months).

Our House

The loungeroom

The kitchen

Our bedroom verandah is snowed in

Our room

Vegas Baby - Yeah!

After our one day two nights in San Fran, we made another 10 hour trip to Vegas (below are some of the wind mills we saw on the trip). The first night we spent wandering the casino's and blowing our money. We stayed in the Luxor, which was a giant pyramid filled with Egyptian themeing.

The next morning we woke up (relatively) early and drove 5 hours over the Hoover Dam (yes, where i ALMOST got in someone elses car) on the way to the Grand Canyon. The Canyon was awesome.

Ryan and I at the Grand Canyon

We could only spend 45 minutes there cause we had to turn around and drive back. The sun set over the Arizona mountains on the way home, so by the time we were about 60 miles from Vegas, it was dark and their was a giant light projecting in to the sky from all the lights in Vegas!

Light in the sky 60 miles out of Vegas

Ryan and i thought we should see a show while we were in town, so the tickets we got were to a topless musical/dance show. It was interesting, but the topless ladies were rather old-ish (just like the casion waitresses (sorry no camera's were allowes at the show) who are wearing skirts that are WAY to short and low cut for their age demographic!). After this, we hit some more casiono's and lost some more money, before calling it a night.

The Casino's in Vegas

Onward and Upward to San Francisco

After 2 days in LA, we hit the road for a 10 hour scenic drive up the West Coast to San Fran. It was a really pretty drive and drove through towns such as Malibu and Santa Barbara. Along the way we stopped off at an elephant seal colony - they were so cute. Ryan tries to impersonate the noises they make (sounds a bit like Richie's kookaburra).

The Views along the trip

We caught a tram to Fisherman's wharf and hit the bike's and cycled across the Golden Gate Bridge. The views were awesome, although was a bit sore after 14km or so ride.

After we reached the other side of the bridge, we caught the ferry back and went past Alcatraz.

San Fran had steep streets that the trams use (just like the movies where cars race along the steep hills)

We spent the rest of the day wandering the streets of San Fran, by the end of the day we think we walked or trammed every street in the city. We visited the world's most crookedest street.

Here is a pic of the kind of food we had to eat (although we didn't eat this thing. It just goes to show why there is an obesity problem).