Prowling my world, camera in hand

The main event during week 32 was our trip to the USA. I had not seen my son since he moved across the Atlantic in September 2013, so I was obviously looking forward to seeing him. He now lives in Orchard Park, just outside Buffalo in western New York.

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We flew to New York via London, departing on Monday midday from Barajas airport in Madrid:

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We arrived at JFK around 6:30 pm on Monday evening. Around an hour later it became clear that 2 of our 3 suitcases had not made it. By the time we had filed the report with the airline and picked up our rental car, it was close to 9 pm. We set out on the 430 mile drive to Buffalo, but decided that it did not make sense to take risks to arrive at our son’s place at 3 or 4 am, so instead we spent the night at a motel in some small town north of New York and continued on our way the next morning. Here is Monica with our rental car at the parking lot of a supermarket somewhere in the Catskills:

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By early afternoon, we were in upstate New York, driving through nice villages with farms like this one:

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We arrived at Moses’s apartment while he was at work, but he had left a key for us at the rental office. We relaxed for a couple of hours, and then he came home to a joyous reunion. That evening, we went out for a dinner of beer and wings (what else?!) at a local sports bar:

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One of the joys of visiting the US for a beer enthusiast like me is the enormous variety of craft beers that has become available during the past 10-15 years. This is the beer section at the local Wegmans supermarket in Orchard Park. Pure paradise:

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Orchard Park is the home of the Buffalo Bills NFL team; in fact, my son lives about 1 mile from the Ralph Wilson Stadium where the Bills play:

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These days, exercise is an important part of my day, so within 24 hours of arriving in Orchard Park, I had visited the gym my son uses and signed up for 2 weeks at the princely price of $20:

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On Friday we drove down to the shore of Lake Erie:

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The weather was beautiful and people were enjoying the lake:

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We decided to have lunch at this lakeside restaurant:

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It turned out that our delightful waitress was Polish:

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The main event of the week for Moses was on Saturday, when he was competing in a powerlifting event in Rochester. He was really pleased that we were there to cheer him on:

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Warming up before the first event, the squat:

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The scorekeeper/announcer and her helper:

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Then it was time for Moses’s squat:

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The sign has been given, the lift is successful, smile on Moses’s face:

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Scorekeeper’s little dog takes a break:

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It is a long day, so there is time for a nap:

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My wife and daughter took their siesta on the grass outside:

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Lots of people were taking lots of pictures of “their” competitors:

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For the competitors, there is also a lot of waiting around:

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Moses performing in the second discipline, the bench press:

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Powerlifting is male-dominated sport, but there were a few, very impressive, women:

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The deadlift is Moses’s strongest discipline, and he set a new personal best in his third lift, with 570 lbs:

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Two delightful spectators:

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Event over, a group photo of the lifters with their trophies is taken:

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The next day, we drove up to Niagara Falls. I have been there many times, but not recently. It is somewhat tacky and touristy but the falls themselves are an awesome sight:

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Couple looking at the falls:

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Tourists paying good money to get very wet:

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Overall view of the Horseshoe Falls (the main falls, on the Canadian side):

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After visiting the falls, we drove to the nearby town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, the centre of southern Ontario’s wine industry. Here is the entrance to one of the biggest wineries, Peller:

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Besides the wineries, there is also a small craft brewery, Oast House Brewers:

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I tasted their ale and would not let go of the bottle: