A Reasonably Relaxing Weekend

Well, to some extent our weekend was some what relaxing, although we did manage to squeeze in a 4 hour return drive on Saturday and a 6 hour (return) drive in on Sunday.

Friday afternoon we had a few drinks at a bar with Ryan's boss and some of his work mates - not sure what the occasion was, just an excuse to have a few drinks! We sampled some traditional American appetisers - mushroom poppers and jalapeno & cheese poppers - all battered and deep fried, then dipped in ranch dressing!

After ducking home for dinner (and a quick skateboard around the estate), we headed over to Luis' (from Ryan's work) house for a few more drinks, before heading to a bar down town.

Saturday morning we hit the local golf course, with Tarun and Luis for 9 holes - wasn't that a sight to see! Considering Ryan has only played a handful of games in his lifetime, and Kristy has never ever played. We didn't even bother to keep score, although Ryan had a really good second round, getting the ball in the hole after 4 shots, and not all Kristy's hits were air swings - in fact the ball even went reasonable distances when she hit it!

In our golf buggy - we almost rolled it a couple of times!

Kristy with a hunk of grass dug up from her golf swing

Ryan lining up a shot

After golf, it was back to our place for a barbie. The BBQ we used had no hot plate though, only a grill like element, which made it really hard to cook on!

The 4 of us then drove 2hrs North to Buffalo for the afternoon, where Luis was to give us a guided tour. We started off with a coffee in an area like Beaumont Street, then had a look at the neo-Gothic post office building, a bank with a dome made out of 14,000 24 carat gold leafs, the building where the 'Buffalo Wing' originated, as well as a local bar! There were Buffalo Sabres (ice hockey) fans everywhere - the ice hockey grand final (in Buffalo) had just finished. Buffalo lost.

The bank with a 24 carat gold dome

Ryan, Tarun and Luis in Buffalo

The old neo-Gothic post office building

We then drove a bit further in town for dinner at a yummy Thai/Vietnamese restaurant.

Sunday morning we drove 3 hours East to Northern Central Pennsylvania (PA) to the PA Grand Canyon. We stopped for lunch in a quiet little gas lantern lit town not far from the canyon at an old school diner. We each ordered a roast chicken meal. What we got instead was chicken and mashed potato absolutely smothered in a white gravy sauce, with a side bowl of mixed veggies floating in butter! Sounds nice doest it?

The PA Grand Canyon is behind us. Ryan is becoming a master at taking our own photos!

Another shot of the Canyon

We then drove around the canyon - it was pretty, nothing like the Grand Canyon in Arizona though! This canyon was like a big valley with a river running through the middle, and is covered in trees.