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**backpack** · 04-23-2010, 10:29 PM

Did you take a picture of your wife set up?

Are you going to take pictures of you and your son's adventures with your Tom Bihn bags?

That is the question?

Glad to see you back on the forum.

**maverick** · 04-24-2010, 03:21 PM

Originally posted by backpack

Did you take a picture of your wife set up?

Are you going to take pictures of you and your son's adventures with your Tom Bihn bags?

That is the question?

Glad to see you back on the forum.

hi backpack!

we got a couple of pictures at the airport before mona left, but she has the camera that the pictures are on. but she's back monday night, so i'll post the pictures soon.

my son and i went this morning from washington, dc to new york on an amtrak train for a day trip. we're on our way back now.

i hadn't taken an amtrak train in years - probably not since i was in college. i'm happy to report that there is plenty of room in the overhead bins to accommodate any of the tom bihn travel bags, including the aeronaut, tri-star and western flyer. we're traveling coach on regional trains in both directions.

we packed ourselves in the synapse, which fits nicely either in the overhead bins or under the seat in front of us.

it holds a 13" macbook pro in a cache and the power adapter (i'm on-call, but fortunately haven't been bothered so far); a shop bag to hold anything we buy that won't fit in the synapse; our breakfast, which included two bagels, two apples, and two boxes of organic milk; some snacks and juice boxes just in case; two water bottles; a half dozen or so books; pens, pencils and paper for drawing/writing; a panasonic gf1 camera with a 14-45mm lens; and an epipen just in case - which reminds me, i forgot the benadryl.

we spent the day mostly around central park. we didn't get to everything on the agenda, but we didn't expect to either. it was a beautiful day, and central park was a fun place on a day like this. i could have sat all day in any one of the many areas we walked through!

we started at the central park zoo, which is fairly small compared to the national zoo in washington, dc. we liked seeing the seals, the polar bear, the snow leopard and the penguins. though, as usual, something about seeing animals in a zoo just doesn't sit right with me. they don't belong there. they belong in their natural habitat. i understand that some, specially some of the endangered species, would not survive otherwise. but it still doesn't sit right with me.

we were hungry after that and hopped in a cab and went to an asian vegetarian restaurant called gobo on the upper east side. the food was delicious. the portions were bigger than we expected. we sat at a table that was by doors that were open that extended from ceiling to floor. it worked out - jaiden ate well and sat a little and played a little jumping between the restaurant and the sidewalk.

we took a cab back to central park and sat and listened to some live music.

then we walked over to the carousel. we stopped and asked a rickshaw driver for directions to the carousel, which we found to be a 5 minute walk away. he offered to take us there via a half circle around central park for $25, mentioning that we could walk but that there was a lake in the middle. i appreciated his hospitality (cough), but that just didn't sit right with me - specially since i knew it wasn't far, and it was a lovely day and we wanted to walk. oh, and there was a lovely bridge that took us over the lake

.

after the carousel, we started walking towards the museum of natural history to see the dinosaur exhibit and ran into my cousin, his wife and 3 year old son. this was totally random. i knew they live in new york, but i didn't know exactly where, nor did we think of meeting up with them. we found a playground and the boys enjoyed playing together - jaiden wanted to either stay there or bring them back home with us. so we'll definitely plan to get together again.

we didn't make it to the dinosaur exhibit or to the children's museum of manhattan, or to pure foods or babycakes (which both have amazing vegan desserts from what i've heard).

this was jaiden's first time to new york, and he had a wonderful time. we'll definitely plan a longer visit another time.

the first picture was taken at the zoo, and the second by a lake in central park.

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**backpack** · 04-24-2010, 11:31 PM

Thank You for the lovely pictures Maverick.

Jaiden is the most photogenic of Tom Bihn supermodels!

I also truly appreciate your great description of Amtrak and what it can hold.

I took their Washington DC/Baltimore line a couple of years ago.
I remember, now that I had my Brain Bag with me.

I hope to take the same trip, one of these days....
DC to New York.

The train is the way to go since traffic and nightmare parking do not make for a stress free time.

I love carousels, thanks for letting me know about the one in Central Park.

Now, if I understand correctly, you packed only the Synapse and everything fit in it.
The Shop Bag was inside, folded ready to hold the things you might buy on the trip?

**maverick** · 04-25-2010, 05:40 AM

Originally posted by backpack

Thank You for the lovely pictures Maverick.

Jaiden is the most photogenic of Tom Bihn supermodels!

I also truly appreciate your great description of Amtrak and what it can hold.

I took their Washington DC/Baltimore line a couple of years ago.
I remember, now that I had my Brain Bag with me.

I hope to take the same trip, one of these days....
DC to New York.

The train is the way to go since traffic and nightmare parking do not make for a stress free time.

I love carousels, thanks for letting me know about the one in Central Park.

Now, if I understand correctly, you packed only the Synapse and everything fit in it.
The Shop Bag was inside, folded ready to hold the things you might buy on the trip?

i had the camera by the wrist strap when we boarded the train. i could have squeezed it in, but i didn't want to squish our bagels

. but i put it in after we had our breakfast and it fit just fine.

i enjoyed the train ride - it was about 3 and a half hours each way. the acella is faster and makes fewer stops, so it takes less time. jaiden said after we had breakfast that he was ready to get off of the train, but i explained that we weren't there yet. then we started reading and doing some activities and he got distracted. on the way back, he said he wanted the first stop (which was newark, nj) to be our stop. but he also fell asleep soon after that and had a good 2 hour nap on the train ride back.

i guess the flight into jfk or lga is shorter than the train ride, but you have to get there earlier and go through security. it can also cost a bit more than a train if you're planning a last minute trip.

i think our next trip to new york will be a 2 day trip, and we'll pack ourselves into a western flyer.

**Guest** · 04-26-2010, 06:18 AM

I don't know who I envy more - your wife for going to Spain (where exactly, btw?) or you and Jaiden for being able to take the train to NYC.... great pictures! The synapse looks like a great bag.

**maverick** · 04-26-2010, 07:25 AM

Originally posted by peregrina

I don't know who I envy more - your wife for going to Spain (where exactly, btw?) or you and Jaiden for being able to take the train to NYC.... great pictures! The synapse looks like a great bag.

heh! definitely of mona. she was in malaga, spain. she *should* be on her way back. i'm exhausted after playing single parent the last 5 days!

**maverick** · 04-27-2010, 04:09 PM

pictures from spain

the wife is back, and brought us a few pictures...

this first one is of the steel/solar aeronaut and navy/cayenne medium cafe bag. the aeronaut meets iberia airlines' carry-on sizing requirements.

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