Ricks Rock 'n' Road USA.: Part 3: New York Fun Times

What a place! So much of everything jammed into one spot, given that spot happens to be pretty friggen huge. I think I underestimated the Kilometers to miles conversion.

My short week in New York City has been so much fun and I thought I’d put some thoughts down on laptop before the dirtbagging starts.

Later Australia, You Saucy Minx:

Oh yeah!

The day to leave came so quick in the end, you think you have heaps of time to organise everything and then all of a sudden you’re in the car driving to the airport hoping you haven’t forgotten anything. So shedding more tears than was really necessary I hugged mum, dad and the besty Amanda goodbye, and then another hug, and another, before walking through the departures gate. Twenty hours of traveling later and no sleep for thirty, I found myself in the New York Penn Station bleary eyed and wandering around with no clue of how to get anywhere, let alone where I was staying with friends in Brooklyn. Do I catch the blue line, or the green, or the red? Is it the A, C, E or maybe the G or L, or 1 or 5 trains? I ended up drifting into the Amtrak customer help where I met Ashton, a guy with a thick West Indian accent that I could hardly understand. He just happened to be going the same way and sprinted us down to catch the C train to go straight through to Brooklyn. What a champ. I met my mate Ryland at the station and headed to his and his girlfriend Marie’s couch where I passed out. I spent the next week getting my tourist on as well as finding the ultimate dirtbag climbing van.

Central Park, Museums and M & M’s:

Count the billboards

My first day I was up early, slightly jet lagged but excited to head out and get amongst it. I jumped on the subway with a somewhat vague idea of how to get around and headed to downtown Manhattan. This place is amazing, so many people and so much concentrated into one spot. The architecture is something else, old and with so much history, and tall! Most of the time you don’t see the sun because you’re in a forest of skyscrapers.

I walked north and headed straight to the Empire State Building, which I decided not to climb as apparently there’s better skyline views elsewhere, but had a quick look in the lobby anyways. Then on to the New York Public Library which was great to see. It has an eerie quality to it, very big and loaded with history if you wanted to stop and read all the plaques, which I tried and failed after the first one. I didn’t meet any ghosts though….. first Ghostbusters anyone??

I might have seen the ghost of Bill Murrays career though.

Grand Central station was up next and like everything else in this place its friggen big and lots of people. It was cool but got outta there pretty quick and on to Times Square.

Times Square was something else. If you want to see the next level of consumerism than this is the place. Massive electronic billboards everywhere and shops that are way over the top. The three story M & M store was my favourite (for obvious reasons), with the Hershey store coming a close second. Madame Tussauds was pretty cool if you want to see which celebrities you’re taller than (Brad Pitts got nothin by the way).

Sun doesn't set in Times Square, this was actually taken at 10pm.

Uh-oh, my heart just stopped.

Holy crap the food! So many places to eat here, if it wasn’t for all the walking I would be at least ten kilos heavier right now. The hot tip from the guy in the phone store was to head to Hell’s Kitchen, which is Ninth Avenue from 42^nd to 51^st street (I think). It’s just full of awesome boutique-esc restaurants. I found some traditional New York pizza for dinner which is the size of your forearm and of which I ate my way through copious amounts during the week. Then back on the subway to the couch to pass out for eight hours before day two.

Day two saw me riding the subway all over the place, from Queens to the Bronx, looking at some subpar vans which looked barely road worthy before Heading to The Museum of Natural History in the afternoon which I was really excited about but unfortunately found it a bit ‘meh’. It definitely had some interesting stuff though, the cut of Californian Redwood was an eye opener. Straight out of there to take a stroll through Central Park which again is huge, I needed my GPS to find my way out, no seriously. Finally finding my way out I checked out the FAO Schwarz Toy Store where I managed a sneaky “souveniring” of some candy. Chocolate covered Oreos are a culinary delight by the way.

A few commando rolls past the guards and I was out.

Apparently the best sky view of New York is from the GE Building which is above Rockefella Centre. Forty something stories up and I wasn’t disappointed. Magic panoramic views of Manhatten from one end to the other, with Central Park on one side and the Empire State Building on the other. Awesome.

Crikey its big.

The next view days were pretty much all about car hunting with some sampling of amazing cuisine choices with Marie and some friends of hers. Hometown BBQ slow cooked ribs among the favourites and Marie’s delish homemade curry definitely floated my boat.

By the weekend I still hadn’t found a van and was getting a little anxious. I ended up out in New Jersey on a Saturday looking at a 99 Chevy Astro cargo van and thought screw it, I’ll take it. It was cheap and I was way over talking to used car salesman (these guys suck). Two days later, van bought, I was ready to get moving and thought I’d get a quick oil change first at the local mechanic. A few hours and $1300 later I eventually got on the road *frowny face*.

Buying a car in New York was and absolute shit fight. If anyone is thinking about it make sure you don’t get impatient and be sure the car is checked over before buying. Registration and insurance is a bitch too. Anyways it’s finally done and I’m on my way.

Next Stop - Climbing:

Apart from all the car stuff, New York was rad! Such a cool place and I was so lucky to have friends like Marie and Ryland who put me up for the week, you guys rock my socks. Can’t wait to get back here and hangout.

Finally made it here to Red River Gorge after spending a few days with the awesome Scotty and Lina in Lousiville tricking out the van, but might save that for next blog.

First day climbing will be tomorrow, so psyched to feel some stone under the ol’ fingers. Missing everyone back home but having a blast.

Here's some extra photos I thought you might like.

Laterz J