Hannah my 14 year old and youngest came with me to the states. We had such a great time together. Left Sydney on the 15th August. 23 hours and 8 movies later we finally arrived at JFK airport. ( I forgot to mention the hickup at L A airport with customs, fingerprints and the rest of security facilities. Things have certainly changed since last time I travelled. ) We didn't take the cab to Manhattan but ventured on the subway pulling one big suitcase each plus some bits n' pieces. Fools, I say, fools ! Mind you, Hannah was excited to see some young african/americans that could well pass for 'ganstas'. We stayed one night on 39th St. at the small but clean, Americana Inn. Well, of course it ended up a late night all around TimeSquare. Hannah announced that she wouldn't mind living in New York for a couple of years. We saw some more of TimeSquare the next morning before nearly missing the bus to Binghamton. More than 3 hours with half that time spent chatting with an elderly resonably sober gentleman, actually I stood for the listening while he did the chatting. Jetlag got the better of me, thankfully. But I did catch some of the beautiful scenery before I fell asleep.

Lauren, daughter of Cindy Malchoff, picked us up and dropped us of at the Binghamton Regency Hotel. It was such a good feeling to finally reach our destination. We dressed for the cocktail evening. Ended up at one of the round tables with Janet Anderson, Mindy ( from Teddy Bear and friends, lovely Robin, Linda, Charlotte, Judy and Ginger ( Piece Parade ) with hubby Jay and daughter Claire. A very social and friendly night. I enjoyed every minute of it. Slept well that night, Hannah did. I pretty much stared into the ceiling most of the night.

The next morning some went to the Glass Museum not to far away, I think. The rest of us stayed back at the hotel for the sake of two speakers. Susan Quinlan shared her vast knowledge on pop-up books and it was really interesting. John J. Lamb, an ex homicide detective, turned author of Bear Collector mysteries, took over after Susan. I really enjoyed listening to John. After that we had lunch and then it was time to set up our tables. Thankyou to Robin who so graciously took me to the postoffice so I could chase for boxes. I won't hold it against her that she first dropped me of at the courthouse, seeing it carried the American flag and had Post Office embedded in the rendered wall. The security guard wasn't very helpful with providing boxes though.

I was slower than normal to get my table done. Cindy had to kindly kick me out to go and get dressed for the evening. Finally at 5.30 we all got to come in to a finished hall with all the Gallery Bears. So much creativity !!!!!! You Bear Artists out there. I think you are incredible. I still didn't get to see the other collectors tables, far to busy at mine. We had lovely dinner that night and ate more than we should have. The sorbet in particular was a real success at our table. Unfortunatley I felt quite dazed, due to sleep deprivation. The auction went well and some lucky winners went home with prizes.

Hannah & I on the Saturday Show

Carole, Hannah with her 'I love NY bear' & Terri

Marion and her Robin, my gallery piece, sold on the friday night

Darlene, who know how to give a good neck massage, and Cindy, the incredible organiser.

Saturday started with buffet breakfast and coffee, lots of coffee. Hannah had had yet another great night's sleep and I had finished another book. It was a busy and great day. Met more lovely americans. Bears found new homes. We found time to socialise with other artists in the afternoon and finally have a look at all the tables. Can't remember packing up at the end of the day, I was truly in LaLaland by 3pm. We enjoyed the cook out at the Zoo in the late afternoon. Most of us had a walk around to check out the inhabitants. Once back at the hotel I vistited with some of my new friends to listen to a show n' tell session of their newly collected and adopted bears. Fell into bed and finally slept.

Ginger ( Piece Parade ) with her Gallery piece

Thanks Sharon for keeping me on track

Karen O'Brien at her table

We left by bus, for Manhattan early next morning. Checked in at the hotel ( Mayfair New York Hotel 49th St/8th Ave, small but clean, cheap, central and very friendly ). We took the subway up to Harlem to go worshipping at the Abyssinian Baptist Church up. We missed out since the church was full, which is, for me personally, the great disappointment with our trip . We spent most of the day in the neighbourhood, where they celebrated Harlem Festival Week with music and markets.

I had to drag Hannah out of bed next monring to make an early ferry out to Libery Island, where we took a closer look at the ' Lady in the harbour' from a frogs perspective. Then it was Ellis Island to look for my grand fathers signature as an immigrant in 1923. There we were told that everyone wants to se the ' immigrants' book ' that appear in the movie ' Hitch' with Will Smith. We did too, but as you may have guessed, it doesn't exist.

After all the lining up for hours, finally some space !!

Hannah with a much smaller Statue and $ 5 less in her pocket

Once back at Battery Park we visited the National Museum of American Indians. Small but interesting. We walked passed Wall St and the Bull and Ground Zero. Finally found a Starbucks Coffee where we could rest our feet. I have never walked so much in my life as I did in NYC and never experienced blisters of that size either. We walked to Central Park and through Central Park, all of 5th Ave, All of Bleeper St. We queued for hours to to the 86th floor of Empire State building. We checked out all the shops from Time Square along brodaway down to Lafayette.We discovered that in Manhattan one slice of Pizza is quite sufficient as a meal in itself so is a Pretzel, that coffee at Starbucks tastes better, that Toys'r us have a really big dinosaur and swedish lollies, that jeans are cheap, that Macey's isn't our thing, that there's a really cool Vintage Clothing Shop with a big old lounge and incredible dresses. We learnt to tip, to get a cab, to walk fast, ( Well, Hannah learnt that, I already know how to walk fast. ). We learnt that it's good to know a little about a broadway show before you accept free tickets to see it.

The last night we saw a Broadway show, that I had payed for, " The colour purple ' with Fantasia in the leading role. She is fantastic as are all the other actors. We loved it !!!!!

When it was time to leave we were ready to go home. I used to be a city girl but that's a long time ago. Hannah decided in the end that she prefers the beach and the waves. Hannah slept nearly all the way home. I watched another 6 movies.

We love New York City but home is home.