Nueva York: It's a jungle out there

So I may have to wander a little from the main idea of this site during this post, but trust me this was as great an "outdoor" adventure as I have ever had.

First let me start by saying that we went for a hike. We flew across the country for a hike. This was the kind of hike that leaves the quads burning, the lungs wheezing and the mouth so dry you can't spit. Yet at the same time the view is so breath taking that you forget about the pain and price you paid to get to where you are, you just savor in the moment. That is how I felt when I finally made it to tier reserved section 6, row X, seat 1. That is how I felt when I saw with my own eyes "The House the Ruth Built" being played in by living legends. What a moment that was.

This isn't a blog about baseball. We did, however, manage to see two games between the Yankees and the Twins as well as a game between the Mets and the Phillies. But this isn't about that. This is about two young men, kids really, striking out into the unknown trying to find something. I think we found it.

What we found in the end may not be what we were looking for. I knew from the moment that the trip to New York was planned that we would see things that we had never experienced before. I knew that there would be a little culture shock involved. I even knew that there might be a little danger in the living and traveling arraignments that we had made. What I didn't know was that our adventure, in the end, would make me appreciate my roots even more. I began to appreciate the west and it's wide openness. I began to realize that not everyone was as lucky as I was in having a loving family that cared about where I was and what I was doing. I definitely found gratitude for my education and endless potential ahead of me upon graduation. I began to savor the experiences that I have had in the out of doors that many people I encountered may never have the chance to experience.

All of this did not come at once though, and some of it I am just realizing now as I thumb through the 300+ pictures that we took (mostly Dan took the pictures). You see, at first I was in awe, then astonishment at the sheer density and massiveness of the city itself. Sure we have all seen pictures, and who hasn't caught one of the episodes of Law and Order on TNT played 24/7? But when you make it up to the first train platform and look out over the city you realize that it is not just Hollywood exaggerating the truth. It is for real.

Here is a list of a few things that we did in New York that just added to my experience:

• Rode the transit system, a lot
• Visited all five Boroughs of New York
  
• Bought and ate a hotdog from a street vendor
• Enjoyed the music of a homeless person trying to work for thier money
• Went to the top of the Empire State Building
• Walked down Broadway
• Explored Central Park
• Rode the Staten Island Ferry past the Statue of Liberty
• Visited numerous cathedrals around the city
• Visited cemeteries older then this country
• Stood where Washington stood when he gave the first inaugral adress
• Saw the Manhattan Temple
  
• Wandered through the American Museum of Natural History
• Walked by the New York Stock Exchange
• Moseyed through China town and Little Italy
• Heard at least 15 different languages
• Saw games at Yankee and Shea Stadiums before they are torn down
• Saw Ground zero for myself and took in the magnitude of what happened there
• Payed some Asian man $20 for a poor charcoal rendition of myself
• Almost witnessed a mutiny on a city bus
• Had a conversation with a drunk man on the subway, who in the end offered me a beer
• Viewed some of the coolest and worst graffiti ever sprayed on a brick wall
• At at the "Coffee Shop" from Seinfeld
• Ate real New York Pizza
• Got lost, found our way, got lost some more

I wish I had the words to really express what we experienced in New York, but I don't I think you should go there and see it for yourself. But especially you should see Yankee Stadium. There is no place on earth like it. Here are a few of the pictures that we took. Click on the slide show to view the web album.



If you want to know more about this trip you can email your question to casualoutdoorsman@gmail.com or simply comment below.