Out of Luck

Saturday, July 8

We grabbed breakfast this morning from Aloha Specialties, where SPAM and Portuguese sausage rule! On our way to UNLV for the second day of games, we stopped by Leilani's Attic to see if they carried the yummy cornflake cookies that we had on Kauaʻi in 2021. No dice.

After going thru security, we headed straight over to Cox Pavilion for the Miami-Boston game. M and J were sporting their UCLA gear since their fellow Bruin, Jaime Jaquez, Jr., was drafted by the Heat a couple weeks ago. Unfortunately, after we sat down, we quickly figured out that Jaime wasn't going to play at all because he wasn't even dressed during warmups. Bummer. 

Disappointed Bruins

Generational Talent

Even though M and J are now officially adults, it's nice to know that they still are up for going places with us. Guess it helps that Mom and Dad are picking up the tab for the hotel room, meals, and tickets to watch two days of NBA Summer League games in Las Vegas. Ha! But since both of them are gainfully employed this summer, they can play in the casino with their own hard-earned cash.

Because M needed to work remotely this morning, we picked up the boys in LA yesterday evening and started the drive to Vegas from there, stopping in Victorville for dinner at Freddy's and arriving at our hotel close to midnight. However, the late hour was not a deterrent for J, who was eager to make his donation to the house coffers since he wasn't old enough yet to gamble the last time we were here. M and R went with, but this tired driver kept her money and went to bed.

A Small Bite of the Big Apple

All in all, this was a jam-packed but very fun trip! 

Escape from New York

To start off our last day in New York City, we walked with MH over to Central Park, stopping by Grabstein's Bagels on the way. We sat on a bench near the East Meadow to enjoy our picks. My toasted bagel with a schmear of cream cheese was sooo good!

From the Seashore to Saint Paul's

Yesterday's festivities didn't end with the reception. The father of the bride convinced R and two other buddies to join him for late night Korean fried chicken at Pelicana Chicken in Bayside (open 'til 2AM!). Guess R and RH thought they could still eat like they did when they were college roommates, which was more than *30* years ago?! 🤣

As much as I would have liked to join them, I stayed behind to finish packing and get some sleep because I knew that we had a lot of driving ahead of us. Even though it's nowhere near the mileage we usually cover on a typical road trip, today would be our longest day in the car on this vacation. 

160 miles

Get Me to the Church On Time

Today was the primary reason for our trip to New York... the wedding of our dear friends' daughter! Since the ceremony wasn't taking place until later this afternoon, I figured we had some time to squeeze in a visit to yet another nearby national park unit, Sagamore Hill National Historic Site.

☑ #174 of 424 NPS units for me (#168 for R)

Unfortunately, I goofed up the date when tickets for guided tours of the Roosevelt home would become available online. When I checked the website in mid-May, tickets for the 10:00AM tour were already sold out, and there was only one spot left at 11:00AM, which I immediately nabbed. To complicate matters further, the visitor center/museum didn't open until 11:00AM, so we wouldn't be able to go through the exhibits there beforehand either. Doh! 🤦🏻‍♀️