Toilets and Turtles

July 14, 2008

We took off early from the Dagen house after a warm send off and a great breakfast...how much better than homemade jam is there? We were on the road by 7:30am, so it was a our first really early start. Part way there we stopped off at a rest area to stretch our legs. They had handicapped picnic tables that we used. There wasn't really a line for them and I didn't want to hike up through the wet grass to the other ones.

After mom came back from the restroom, she told me that she had a new pet peeve--low toilets! She can't figure out if the toilets are getting LOWER or if she's just getting older. She

has concluded (and I agree) that she is probably not getting

TALLER, so there must be another explanation. I went in and used the restroom and did agree that they were low, but I've been feeling that for some time also.

We arrived in Ithaca at about 12:30, so it was exactly 5 hours. We used the map to override Thea's directions ("Thea" is the GPS) and go more directly, but on less travelled roads. There was some great scenery. We ate lunch with Molly and then headed out to Lower Buttermilk Falls. There was a hike of many steep stairs on the far end of the falls. We went up about 50 steps together and then Mom and Molly stopped while I hiked up 150 more. Apparently, I could have kept going for about a mile, but I turned around because they were waiting.

For dinner, we went to the famous Moosewood Restaurant in Ithaca. I had a lentil dish with Mango Chutney and the others had stuffed portobello mushrooms. We walked around the

Ithaca Commons and a group was starting to warm-up for an outdoor contradance. It was nice to hear "Nancy music" with Molly. There was also a store with t-shirts. Many of them were plays on the city phrase, "Ithaca is Gorges." There were 2 shirts that were next to each other and I missed the pun, but my mom got it. Here's the visual:

After our walk, we indulged one more time and went to Purity Ice Cream. We each ordered a sundae: Mom-Chocolate Chip Cookie, Molly-Carmel Overload, and Kimberly-Turtle. We were waiting for our sundaes and they came out 1 at a time, even though we ordered together. When we were just waiting for mine, Mom said, "We're just waiting for the Turtle. I guess it's slow!" We all had a good laugh!