Goodbye, NYC…Hello, Denver!

My five days on the east coast were just pure heaven. Too soon, it was time to head home.

Do you need to catch up on all the New York City goodness? Find that here.

Thursday morning came, and we were on the hotel shuttle back to the FBO at Teterboro Airport.

Gladys had a great time on the ramp while we stayed. I can’t believe that this trip is over already!

Well, almost over. We are flying home, after a quick fuel stop at Denver Centennial Airport. Then we will wait at our home airport for about an hour before heading north to Bremerton for a long weekend!

Luckily, I brought some Tide. And I know my hotel in Bremerton has laundry facilities!

Just like it always is, the ramp at Meridian Aviation was packed. This airport is a popular place for private airplanes carrying people who need to get into the City.

We got some fuel.

And I got out the blankets, because that always makes a long flight more comfortable!

And soon we were loading the airplane up for our flight towards home!

We were fourth in line for takeoff today, but it went quickly.

And thank goodness that the weather was nice! Teterboro is always the first one to be punished when bad weather happens! We’ve been stuck at the beginning of the runway for hours!

As you can see from the mostly-blue skies, that wasn’t the case today.

There are seven FBOs located at this busy airport, and they are always full!

All the cool people come to Teterboro, obviously.

It was soon our turn for takeoff on Runway 1!

We lined up on the displaced threshold and held until cleared for takeoff. We had to wait for the jet that had just landed to be off the runway before we could roll.

I love this picture…one last glance back at New York City!

Can you see the One World Trade Center?

We climbed through a few cloudy layers before finally breaking out on top in some nice, visual-conditions weather.

And then we came across a rather large body of water.

Hi, Lake Michigan!

I don’t have superior lake knowledge…I just knew that it was Lake Michigan because of this fun city on the western shores!

Can you name that place?

I’ll give you a clue…

In this shot, you can see downtown, O’Hare Airport, and Midway Airport…where we usually land.

You got it!

Clouds are always so pretty from above.

And, apparently, my control yoke needs to be dusted.

Note to self.

We plugged along for several hours at Flight Level 430. Next time that we see the ground, we will be landing on the south side of Denver at Centennial Airport.

And, as you can plainly see, Denver does not mess around with their arrivals!

Sheesh!

Luckily, we were cleared pretty far down the line of the arrival. We didn’t have to fly the whole thing. It helps that we were landing in the middle of the day on a slow Thursday afternoon, right?

I love this picture of the snow-covered fields as we got closer to Denver.

But at least the blue skies were happening here, too.

In fact, it was sixty degrees during our short fueling stay today! That felt like a heat wave after being in chilly New York City for the past five days!

You’ve probably heard how frickin’ huge the new Denver International Airport is. You can plainly see its size from the air as we flew right over it towards Centennial.

Hi, Downtown Denver!

And hello to your pretty snow-capped mountains, too!

Thanks to the tropical temperatures, there wasn’t as much of that nasty white stuff in town.

After we touched down, this Sky Crane helicopter landed right behind us. They don’t have to fly a normal traffic pattern but can simply land on the ramp instead of the runway.

I love Centennial. We purposely stopped here for fuel so our passengers could eat a yummy lunch at The Perfect Landing Restaurant upstairs in the FBO.

Amazingly, there are four FBOs on this little airport. But it’s a popular place for people trying to get into Denver. The international airport is thirty-five miles outside of town!

Here is that Sky Crane after he touched down! Isn’t it huge?!

Everyone in aviation has a sense of humor…the bright orange paint job led them to name it Annie.

We are half-way home! Let’s get some fuel and be on our way!

Macy’s Department Store and A Sweet Manhattan Goodbye

So I think that it’s safe to say that we’ve spent a little time in New York City. I have loved reliving the experience here for you. I think that’s why I blog!

In case you missed it, here are all of the other NYC posts from this past week. I kind of got carried away.

Times Square, I Heart You
Magnolia Cupcakes and Central Park
The American Museum of Natural History
Grand Central Terminal and The New York City Library
Bryant Park and a Nighttime Times Square
West Manhattan and the Intrepid Air and Space Museum
Greenwich Village on my Walk to Molly’s Cupcakes

And, as you can plainly see, there was definitely a cupcake theme for my two days in the City.

I passed this awesome bicycle in front of a little café. If that doesn’t make you want to go inside for some grub, I don’t know what will!

This old drug store sign was just wonderful. A throwback to the olden days. And I bet that church is even older.

This sign just cracked me up. Have you tried his grandmother’s meatballs?! It seems like everyone else has.

We need to get on that already.

Since I had walked west Manhattan on my walk south, I decided to go a little further east for my walk north towards all of the action.

That is the same church, just looking back. My feet are pretty tired, though, so I don’t think that I timed myself for those few blocks.

Sweet! We’re heading up The Avenue of the Americas today!

I even passed a TJ Maxx and helped myself in. I found a nice, comfy chair in the home department and sat for a solid twenty minutes to rest my legs.

It’s been a lot of walking the past few days! I would say around ten miles each day, and oh-so fun!

6th Avenue is a very busy street with lots of action.

Shopping action, that is. It was pure heaven!

I’m not much of a McDonald’s fan (read: I hate it), but it happened to get in the way of this lovely picture of more old NYC apartment buildings with their respective water tanks on top.

I just love this look! Do you think that they still use the tanks?

I was introduced to the Manhattan Mall today, though I didn’t go inside.

The sky tower connecting the buildings was pretty neat, though. There are lots of these in Seattle…one of my other favorite cities to wander!

I’m not sure how JCPenny is failing with such prime real estate! Have you been inside one lately? It’s pretty cool with the mini shops.

And you can see the world’s largest department store peeking out in this picture. Can you dig it?

Ta da!

For some strange reason, I’ve never been here before. I’ve never been so close to this Macy’s, even though I saw it from the observation of the Empire State Building last September when I visited this wonderful city.

I decided to go inside, just to say that I had been there. But it was so packed with people inside that I quickly found an exit and was on my way.

Buying a $500 purse wasn’t really on my to-do list today, so why waste time inside?

The famous decorated window was all decked out for Spring, even though it was a chilly forty-seven degrees today.

I would love to see these at Christmas! I’ll probably have to do that trip without Hubby, since I don’t think that he would care to see the Macy’s Christmas Window Displays.

This shot was very rushed, as there were a million people on the sidewalk. I didn’t want to be in the way for long.

But I love the original sign for the store.

Old meets new, remember? I love it!

Speaking of love, hi, Old Friend!

Can you believe that intense radio antenna on top of the Empire State Building? That thing can transmit for quite a distance!

The Haier Building was originally a bank, built in 1922. After bank deregulation in the early eighties, the 16th largest bank in the nation went out of business. Haier bought and renamed the building in 2000.

But it’s old. And cool.

It was a Thursday evening, and the City was packed and full of life.

Especially in this neck of the woods.

Hi, Times Square!

I had ulterior motives for returning to Times Square tonight…

But this was my main reason. Dinner at the Rickshaw Dumpling Stand!

Hey, it was healthy, cheap, and delicious. Why not come back!

I love steamed edamame. I sat at a small table just to the side of the stand to eat my dinner tonight. Right in the heart of Times Square.

It’s a perfect place for people-watching, by the way.

Since I had pork dumplings yesterday, I decided to try the chicken tonight.

I loved the pork way more, but this was such a yummy dinner! I wish that I had one right now!

After dinner, I decided to meander towards the Port Authority Bus Terminal to eventually make my way back over to my hotel in New Jersey.

Look at these cool circle lights! They have “Times Sq.” written on them from who-knows-when! I bet that they are really old.

I love the neat old buildings, but I really love the old signs, too.

Look at all of the gothic detail of this building. Isn’t that gorgeous?

The building with the jumbotron of Smart Cars is the bus terminal in Times Square. I’ve had a pretty fruitful few days in the city, but I’m beat!

Sunset is always such a nice time to take pictures. These buildings are all lit up, thanks to the setting sun behind me.

And, if you’re a Cake Boss fan, then you’re in luck! They just opened a café/bakery on the corner of the Port Authority building!

I can’t stand the show because of all the yelling at each other. It’s too dysfunctional for my taste, but the cakes are always pretty!

Here is one of the many entrances to the bus station.

I should have looked at my watch to figure out why it was so busy. It was about six o’clock on a Thursday evening…rush hour!

I walked up to my bus gate, only to see a line about half a mile long. Wowsers!

So I decided to wait an hour or so to let the rush hour crowd die down.

I bought a hot chocolate and sipped it on a chair in Bryant Park. By this pretty fountain.

Yes, the same Bryant Park from the previous day, where I explored a little of The New York Public Library.

You can see the back of the library here.

Aren’t those buildings so pretty in the sunset?

But I knew that it would get even cooler after the sun disappeared, so I was thankful for my diet splurge…a hot chocolate to keep me warm.

Around eight o’clock, I thought that I would give the Port Authority another chance. Had the crowds died down enough to catch a bus?

It was still pretty busy, but not nearly as bad as a few hours before.

My old, achy legs were ready for some rest. But man, this was a heavenly few days in the City! I can’t get enough of this place!

Any favorite things from our trip to NYC?