When I left Inuvik the view from the plane was of snow across the Mackenzie Delta.
The next morning I landed in Manhattan and the view from the plane was quite different. I took a scary taxi ride to Joe and Janet's house. 
I had trouble believing that Janet and Joe actually lived in New York. It just seems so wild to me. But here is proof - a picture of their house.
We ate lunch at this incredible thai vendor near their house and set off on the subway to explore the city. This is a view of Queens from the subway, the neighbourhood where Janet and Joe live.
When we got downtown I was amazed by all the people. These breakdancers were fun. 
Joe said he would have liked to have a picture of me being overwhelmed by the city. Here is Times Square during the day. I was amazed by how beautiful it was. 
We decided to hop on a double decker tour bus to see some of the sights. This was our tour guide, but I've already forgotten his name. He was incredible - I don't think there was anything about the city this guy didn't know. 
We ate at a Thai resturant for dinner - another incredible meal. Janet and Joe were kind enough to go mostly mild on my behalf.
This trip was filled with one wonderful thing after another. But I think it is safe to say the highlight was seeing The Color Purple. We got half price tickets before dinner and sat in the orchestra. The musical was so beautiful, we cried and cried. Which is an excellent review for both Janet and I.
We walked through Times Square at night to get to the subway station, and I was amazed by the lights.
All of this happened on the first day. And I hadn't slept the night before (because I was on a plane and all). Needless to say I crashed pretty hard by the time I got home that night. The next day we moved to the place where Janet and Joe were house sitting - right in Manhattan! It was so fun being so close to the action. The first thing we did was take Casey for a walk through Central Park.
After a long walk in Central Park we tried the tour bus again, but without yesterdays tour guide it just wasn't the same. So we jumped off and visited Janet's campus (that film is still in my camera...), spent too much money at Kate's Paperie, ordered in dinner, and had a relaxing night in mostly watching What Not to Wear. The next day Joe had to go to work, so Janet and I spent my last few hours in New York doing some shopping in SoHo.
There are a few things that surprised me about this trip. First, I never expected to enjoy New York so much. Second, I never expected New Yorkers to be so friendly. Third, I didn't expect to be able to see so much in such a short time. And fourth, you can do lots of things in this city and with a little creativity spend very little money. Well, until you go shopping in SoHo, that is.
Thanks Janet and Joe!
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