New York City

***Before we start here, we need a small disclaimer.  There is concern that the Stunt Bear is being treated poorly.  Hellllllllllooooo, this is what Stunt Bears do.  They make sure that the "Star" doesn't get hurt, or messed up.  Sharen is kinda high maintenance, and may follow her predecessor to a museum.  Stunt Bear wants everyone to know that she is just fine, and is a highly trained professional.  Kids, do NOT try these things at home ... Or anywhere else!

New YORK, NEW YORK!!!

We always think the last visit here is the best visit we will ever have until we get to this year's visit!  Maaaaaan!

We stayed at Fort Wadsworth and checked out the sites for two days, courtesy of the USCG & the NYPD.  We even had the same room as last year, in the barracks with the Troops.

This is where you feel how long you've been on the road ... Laundry can't be avoided anymore, and time is fit in to the schedule for personal & vehicle maintenance.  We sleep in, and actually have 1 day that we can try to relax with no official visits ... Now, that's what we plan.  But by now you should have an inkling that it is hard to plan a lot on this tour.  You have to live it, not just plan it. 

We didn't get in til really late after taking the delay to experience Gettysburg.  So we got some good sleep, did laundry, then couldn't resist the call of the city.  So we drove down to the pier.  Did we mention it was Fleet Week?  Uniforms everywhere!

First we had to convince the guards that we were okay.  Personally we hoped they'd want to search the van, cuz it would've made a great photo op!  lol

We got hooked up with NYPD and got the van inside the gate so we could get over to make a presentation to the Staten Island NYPD.  We had another Honor Shirt. 

This shirt was presented on behalf of the 54th MP CO out of Fort Lewis.  This unit has been very supportive of H2H.  Major Daniel has been wonderful!  And it only seemed perfect to hook up the 54th MP's with NYPD.

They were very appreciative, and even some of the officers who absolutely do not like their photo taken, posed to show their respect for this gesture from our Army Troops.  One of the officers gave up his 9/11 NYPD pin and placed it on Sharen.

We had fun ticketing them all and caught a couple off guard with that maneuver.  As ever, they were gracious and warm, and we loved meeting each of them.

One of the female officers drove us over to the ferry and JeeNee got her first ride on the Staten Island Ferry and view of the Statue of Liberty.  That is such a cool first.

And we stepped into the city and strolled the streets of the most amazing place!

Day 1 (& 2) found us at Ground Zero.  We visited one of our favorites, 10 House.  These poor guys can not even open the bay doors without getting swamped. 

But they did open the doors, let us take pix, and were gracious as ever.  They also showed us all around, and even took us up to the roof for a better view of Ground Zero.  Sadly, in 3 years, there really is no progress.

The firefighters unveiled their own memorial, and let us know that there was another to be revealed shortly after our visit.  Their hearts are obvious in this tribute inside the bay.

They also made our day when they pulled the 10 Truck out ... Twice!  And we got to share the experience with 2 young Marines, and a couple of Sailors.  It was so cool to see their faces when we asked them to climb up onto the rig for pix, and the firefighters let them raise the ladder.  This is why we love these guys!

We also got back to our boys at 24/5 ... Much love & respect here.  they were the first to open their door for us in FDNY and we see them every year.  (We still have a gift from the Troops for them, but it just got to us, so we will get that out.)

We met another of the DiTrani Clan, this one with FDNY ... the other 3 are NYPD ... talk about a tradition of service!  Mom & Dad must be proud.  This time Stunt Bear got to play darts with to boys on Foster.  She says they cheated.  Sigh.

But we also got to spend time with the "Pirates of NYC"!  The rides were unreal!  This was the most fun we had in NYC.  Banzai and the guys took great care of us, took us around, got us our first Nathan's hotdog, introduced us to the alligator, fed us, and kept us laughing.  If you ever get the chance, you need to meet the Pirates!  From the (ahem, lol) cheeky Chief, to the orneriest guys on the road, this stop was phenomenal!  And it was our Tillamook Heroes that got us set up with them.  Who knew?!

To Banzai, Chief D, and all the rest of our FDNYPD Heroes ... WE LOVE YOU!  Thank you for making this stop so amazing  We will see you next year!

lj