We parked our house at the airport for $6 a day while flying to New York

My original flight wasn't allowed to leave Austin due to bad weather at the other end...

So I shuttled back to the parking lot, extended the slide, and camped overnight until my 7am flight the next morning.

In the meantime, Debbie was in Washington DC visiting her sister for a few days.

The license plate is even more expressive than the bumper stickers.

Andy Goldworthy's latest earthen artwork being constructed at the National Gallery of Art.

Cool, hollow rock domes with a glass wall down the middle.

Charts on the wall described the dimensions desired for each level.

An overview of the partially-finished domes which are held together without cement.

Debbie's art shot.

View of NYC from the air.

We stayed at the Days Hotel in midtown. Not a bad spot, but thumbs down on this place's desk staff.

Debbie bumped into her friend Sarah from Texas on the streets of Manhattan. What are the odds?

One of a series of contorted new skyscrapers around Times Square.

More multifaceted architecture.

Hodgepodge of colors and shapes.

Giant mural/advertisement by New Yorker magazine contributor Bruce McCall.

The Empire State peeking out.

Empire State Building

New York Stock Exchange entrance, thoroughly barricaded and uninviting.

'Twas chilly in Chinatown.

SpongeBob, helping to deter crime.

Debbie toured the Gates on several days, starting Thursday.

Here's how they looked on a gloomy day with a little leftover snow.

Not very crowded this day.

No, it can't be...

...but yes... it's Cheeto-gate!

Debbie went back again Friday, a brilliant, sunny, and occasionally breezy day.

Idyllic setting for a walk.

Harlem Meer.

Fresh white snow made for a striking contrast with the orange gates.

Good thing the gates are there to mark the path.

Peaceful stroll through a series of wide, quiet gates.

Gates through the snowy, leafless trees.

Potent afternoon shadows playing on the fabric.

Carey's first tour of the gates came on a mostly-gloomy Saturday.

Christo put these at just the right height to allow people to delight in barely touching them.

They came by bus and by bike.

Tower and gate.

Windows and gate.

Sun and gates.

Lake and gates.

Debbie and gates.

I found a bit of natural orange along the path and got a bunch of tourists all excited.

Also found this adorable little snowman hiding in a tree.

A rock -- whoopee!

Gates criss-crossing.

Gates dead-ending.

Strangers Gate took on a new meaning.

A wind gust whips them into life.

Nice hem.

Gates through the bare trees, just like Christo envisioned.

Debbie hearts Gate.

Big British Snowmonster.

Shimmering reflections in the water.

The quackers in Harlem Meer weren't too impressed.

Hey, we're freezing out here!!!

Carey teasing a hapless snowman.

Some Gates clinging to a steep hillside.

Debbie has the route to herself for a bit.

Things tended to get more crowded the further south you went.

Gates near and gates far.

Perfect row of gates.

For those who disapprove, here's a nice ungated path for ya.

A few hearty souls managed to play a little tennis amidst all the orange.

Volunteers handed out fabric samples, and untangled gates using poles with tennis balls on the end.

All volunteers got one of these special jackets, autographed by Christo and Jeanne Claude.

Inspiration for the gates color?

Emergency Gate Repair Krew arrives to help a gate in distress.

They unbolt it from the base, lift the sucker up, and replace the wounded part.

"Nothing to see here, move along!"

Sunday started off with juicy hamburgers and a hand-drawn momento of "the posse's" visit to the gates on the wall.

Sunday's beautiful weather brought out New York's famed huddled masses.

The gates took on yet another vibe with thousands of people streaming under them.

Very nice interplay with nature's canopy overhead.

Everybody was striving to capture the spectacle in their own way.

Modern art meets modern architecture.

Striking mix of gray urbanity, black and white limbs, and blazing orange linen.

Looked like Masoom but it's not.

Sun, shadows, sky, snow, and saffron.

Rows and rows and rows and rows.

Gates indicate the way.

Ever wonder what that fabric looks like up close?...

Backlit.

Frontlit.

The beans went with us on Sunday also, here helping to welcome tourists to Central Park.

The beans teed-up like a football.

The beans disguised as refuse.

The beans striving to keep refrigerated.

The beans standing guard over a slumbering companion.

The beans paying their respects to Jim Henson's memory.

The beans in danger of being snatched, or worse, their image poached.

Monday morning, and it's time to take it all down forever after a two week run.

Very dense section around a tunnel.

Without volunteers to tend them constantly, the gates quickly became tangled by the wind.

Gloomy, icy, deserted sidewalks and tangled gates seemed a fitting way to have the exhibit close.

Each gate sat on two very heavy steel bases temporarily placed along the paths.

Aluminum castings with carriage bolt shims supported the vertical pieces and permitted angular adjustment.

I was almost arrested for lifting the base and taking these pictures. Seriously.

Teams went from gate to gate. The girl on the right was a real spaz.

Human counterweight while lowering.

Cleverly padded bucket to rest it on while disassembling the top.

This dude was the wrench master.

The teams seemed to be having a lot of fun despite the frigid temperatures.

A forklift brigade moved in to start removing the steel bases.

Aluminum pieces were moved on hand carts.

All materials were collected and grouped together for recycling.

The pieces themselves were strangely artistic.

Steel bases stacked up.

Welded aluminum corners.

All work was done by volunteers paid, albeit modestly, by the artists. A great show, thanks folks!