Chuck & Nancy

Bus Accident
Several times a year we go with friends on a bus trip to New York City. This past week we went down on a truly gorgeous spring day. On the way down a large bird, probably a cormorant, flew into our windshield! It sounded like a shot or a rock .. It was quite shocking. Our bus driver is terrific and never flinched. It delayed us briefly and we had to change buses but not a major inconvenience. You can see the large dent the bird made in the windshield.

New York Auto Show

We had a great time browsing the New York Auto Show. It is really an enjoyable event.

The minicooper paint jobs are really terrific. And there were lots of mini convertibles to be seen.

The above vehicle is fascinating .. it is a totally unmanned robot based on a Volkswagen Touareg. It is nicknamed Stanley. It is a driverless car that can scan any terrain and pick out a drivable course. It won the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge - a 130 mile race across the Mohave’s roughest deserts, mountains and tunnels. For nearly 7 hours it successfully navigated the rocks and ravines of the Nevada desert course beating 22 other vehicles.
The first year of this competition the vehicles couldn’t conquer 5 miles .. this one finished the full 130 miles!

My friend Laura’s cousin’s son worked on “Stanley” at Stamford. Click here: Photos: On the road to robot endurance race CNET News.com You can see pictures of Stanley in training!

Washington Park was mobbed with young people on this lovely spring day.

The flowering trees are spectacular .. we meandered down to Greenwich Village and then Soho.

Spring in NYC is very exciting.

Soho has gorgeous iron facades ..

Galleries in Soho everywhere ..

We end the day in Times Square .. it’s like noplace else!