It's taken ages, but here at last are some pics from my New Year trip to America! So lovely to spend a bit more time with John's absolutely wonderful mom, a truly delightful soul :) Great to catch up with the whole family over there & to get to stay out at the lake (Lake Lotawana in Missouri) again. No bald eagles this time, but we did enjoy a few visits from the (ginormous!) Great Blue Heron... Fun too to see how crazy these 'Markans get over Xmas lights - yikes!
We were entertained daily by the ongoing battle between the liquid & solid phases of water out on the lake. Each morning there'd be new ice stretching inward from the shore, trying to claim as much of the surface as possible before the morning sun could resume it's fight for the liquid cause.
Although viciously cold most mornings, it was endlessly fascinating to go outside & play around with the ice in its intriguing array of forms. "Non-destructive testing" wasn't a hallmark of our experimental approach ;)
The way my flights worked out, I ended up with about half a night to kill in New York on my way home. Sad to be leaving, hauling all my luggage (admittedly there wasn't much, but still) & not exactly dressed for a windy 14 F (-10 C, ignoring wind chill), it still seemed silly to waste the opportunity to explore so I caught a Super Shuttle into the city & hopped off near Times Square. Very cool to see all that & thanks to Starbucks for the life-sustaining latte that saved my hands when my gloves couldn't!
When all enthusiasm for stomping around the freezing city abandoned me, I caught a cab to JFK & tackled my next challenge: passing several more hours while waiting for the SAA check-in counter to open. Turns out I probably could've gone straight into the lounge (as it's actually outside security!) & made myself at home, but instead I earned my "dodgy airport-sleeper" badge - albeit via a rather miserable attempt... Ah, the many joys of travel :)
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