Las Day in New York City

On our last day in New York, I wanted to keep it simple and relaxed. Our flight did not leave until 7:00 pm so we had a few hours to kill before heading out to the airport. We got up late, showered, got ready, checked out and headed to Coco and Toto to drop precious off for a few hours.

I wanted to take my son to the zoo where the penguins of Madagascar lived at but when I got to the Central Park Zoo I wasn’t sure if that was the correct zoo. We really did not have much time but we got to see the few little animals they have there and my son was frantically looking for Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private and the rest of the gang in the movie and cartoon series. We saw the whole thing in less than an hour but we had fun regardless, there is a sea lion, meerkats, an aviary with tropical birds and penguins!

After we were done we wanted to eat lunch at a nice place but my son opted for the fast food restaurant they had in the zoo. We had chicken fingers and fries which were not really that good but I went along with my son because we had to get back to the hotel and pick up our bags o heat to the airport. We then went to a petting zoo on the side of the main zoo and we needed to get in were the main zoo tickets. This was a more fun place for my son since there were a few kid play and exploring areas and food pellets vending machines for the lamas and goats they had their on display. They even had two big pot belly pigs who were taking a nap when we were there.

One hour later, we walked a few blocks down from Central Park, we passed the Plaza Hotel, bought lottery tickets, got souvenirs and took a taxi to go back to Coco and Toto, we told them how grateful we were for taking care of our dog and we headed back to the Hotel.

My plan was to leave the hotel by 4:00 pm, one hour trip to JFK airport and be there at the right time to catch a plane and it actually worked out as planned. We shared a ride with a couple from Argentina who were there for a wedding.

Once we were checked in to our flight, I had my son sit inside the terminal while I walked Precious out for a last time before we walk to the gate which is a point of no return. She had her last piss in NYC and we headed to our terminal.

Precious behaved well during the flight; five hours and a few White Russians later courtesy of American Airlines we got to Las Vegas right on time. Once we were in our truck and on our way home to the airport all I heard was my son talking of how much fun he had had on our trip. Precious was also excited to be out her bag.

Home was warm and cozy, I was happy everything went as planned and we were safe and sound, we went to sleep right away – an adventure to the big apple had ended.

New York City Trip with my Son and Dog

An Immigrants Story Part I.: The Planning

 I immigrated to this wonderful country eighteen years ago, and even though I am a citizen, I have always wanted to do three things to completely feel American: See the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, See the Rose Parade in Pasadena and eat a hotdog while watching a live game of Los Angeles Dodgers vs. New York City Yankees.

The particular order in which I want to do these three things has not been set in stone, but I finally decided on what I want to do first, and that would be to see the New York City Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade!

The logistics for the trip had to be worked out in an organized way – not because it needs to be done that way – but because I am a control freak and like to have everything planned and set up at least two weeks in advance so I can concentrate on leaving all my work done at the office and have nothing to worry about while I am away.

I have only been in New York once – for a day – with my friend Tammy while we worked at American Airlines a few years back and that was enough to leave a desire in my heart to go back and enjoy it a little more next time I was there.

I first had to work around my time off at the office and my son’s time off at school (my dog’s schedule was not an issue because she is with me all day) I decided to leave on November 23 because my son did not have school on the 24 and one day missed at school was not going to count against him. My office is closed on Thanksgiving Day and the day after so I would only have to miss two work days which I trust the girls can handle without me.

Once I decided on what days I could take off, I started looking into the plane tickets. I wanted to get to NYC at least one day before and stay at least one day after so we had a chance for sightseeing and maybe catch the Lion King or other kid friendly Broadway show.

Being a loyal frequent flyer with an airline pays off, since regardless of what some people think, miles add up. (It took me a few years to accumulate enough miles to take a trip to El Salvador with my son last summer, but we flew for free) I am loyal to American Airlines not only because I worked for them for five years, but because they pretty much fly everywhere I like to go; therefore, I started with their website and since I am a multi-tasker, I had Expedia and Travelocity on two other tabs at the same time. To my surprise American Airlines came through again and it came up as cheapest to travel, Expedia gave me a American flight going and United flight coming back, which was a nice deal but the schedule times on American were most convenient – Remember I am traveling with an 8 years old and a 13 lb Shih Tzu, so the whole idea was to travel at night going to NYC and evening coming back to Las Vegas.

The reasoning behind going at night is because my son is as paranoid as me when the sun comes up and I knew – from a previous experience going to Montreal – that once we got to NYC he was going to be up and ready to explore the city, and in the other hand my dog would sleep all night long and get there around the same time we get up at home every morning.

Non stop flights on JetBlue and other airlines for the exact same days were $200.00 or more expensive than American – again a surprise! I decided on an American Airlines red eye flight   to DFW which leaves Las Vegas at around 12:40 a.m. and then on to La Guardia in New York which would  get to there at around 10:30 a.m.

Wow, I finally got the tickets! Now it was time to make cabin pet reservations for my dog Precious and I was worried because they only allow 7 cabin pets per flight, the American agent that helped me on the phone was nice and the reservation was done in a breeze, not without being advised that there is a $100.00 fee going and same back for her to travel in the cabin with us. At this point I stressed out a little because the carrying kennel she has is too big by two inches and we have to get her a smaller one. I jumped on my internet surfing mode and starting looking at prices and places where to buy a new one, I decided on some options but that will have to wait until a few days before we get to the airport.

Getting a hotel was next – and again – I stayed loyal to one brand because of the perks, free hotel stays, warm chocolate chip cookies and newspaper in the morning upon arrival, free wi-fi and so on. I opened my browser and did a search on Expedia, Travelocity and Hilton honors websites. Expedia came out with hotels I’ve never heard of and so did Travelocity, but then I though that I never been in NYC for more than one day and this time I was going to be there with my son and my dog (I could not go back to when I was a younger man and stayed at hostels when I traveled); I then looked on line for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade route and chose a Hilton within a walking distance from Central Park on midtown that accepted pets.

Just so you know, there are many hotels that take small pets for a non -refundable fee of about $50.00 per stay, then I wonder if that includes cleaning after her if she has an accident in the hotel room.

Ok, I have the plane tickets, pet flight reservation and our hotel for four days; now it is time to search for fun thins to do on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.

I’ve wanted to visit the Statue of Liberty not only for what it means as symbol of this country’s freedoms but for its significance to me as an immigrant, and that was the first place to see that I checked. Unfortunately all of the State Parks and ferries do not allow pets on board, or at their locations; so now, I am in the predicament on what I can do with my son and my dog in New York without having to find a sitter for him, – I mean, for my her.

To my dismay, she is not allowed in the Statue of Liberty Park, ferries, the Empire State Building or the Lion King Theater Show – I understand Broadway shows are off limits but State Parks? They allow dirty- pamper-wearing babies and annoying-misbehaved little kids – Why not dogs? I am a responsible pet owner – I pick after her, or at least I make my son pick after her – So Why Not? Someone is going to be writing a letter to the New York City Mayor pretty soon.

Thank God for the internet and search engines! I found out multiple companies in NYC that handle dog services a la carte, combos and any thinkable service type or preference you may have, understandable I guess because New Yorkers are as much dog lovers as San Franciscans.

Prices were all reasonable but varied according you your needs: hotel sitting, dog walking, home sitting, puppy visiting and on and on and on…after multiple searches and reading policies and procedures, rules and regulations of about ten different companies, I decided on Coco and Toto which charges $30.00 per day Monday through Fridays and $20.00 for a half a day for Doggie Day care which works perfect for me and for the time I need to spend my son.

One thing I ran into while searching for a Doggie Daycare was that many companies only take Residents of New York but Coco and Toto did not have a problem accepting my dog, all I had to do was to fill out a Terms of Agreement form that you download from their website and fax it back with the doggy’s shot records for her to be register with them..

When I though I was done, I remembered that Precious shots were due in November, and – as you know now – I went on an internet search for an economical way to get her all shots before our trip. I found a company named Spay and Neuter Center of Southern Nevada where she got spayed, they offered a shot cocktail for $36.00 including rabies and I did not need an appointment to bring her in.

All I need to do now is pack, but all of us already have winter coats, beanies, gloves and all that is needed to be warm while in NYC, so I just got to put everything in our luggage.

It’s now four days before our trip and I am confident everything is going to be alright, unless the airlines has delays or a mechanical!

By the way, don’t I have enough product placements in this story to get endorsements?

– Just saying!