my brother and I went exploring today. now when I say exploring, I don't mean we grabbed a couple headlamps, strapped on packs, and strode off into the sunset. I mean we printed off a stack of maps, locked the car doors, and ventured into downtown buffalo in search of the DMV. after a few wrong turns (how was I supposed to know the scajaquada goes in two directions?) we arrived downtown and managed to navigate the maze of one-way streets with minimal cursing. eventually, we found the building and the 'DMV visitors may park anywhere but here' sign in front of its parking lot. silly me, I had forgotten that there are only four parking spots in buffalo. fortunately, after weaving our way back through those godforsaken one-way streets and feeding a broken meter our only two quarters, we managed to find one of the spots in the corner of a free parking lot ('free' in that it claimed to cost $2.50, but no one was there to collect money. maybe the guy had been mugged.)


now, the time had come to leave the safety of our car's locked doors and strike out on foot. this is where the real adventure started. all the streets in buffalo look the same. deserted building with grafitti on left, dark sketchy alley on right. every once in a while a couple guys standing on the street corner trying to sell you stuff. so we wandered in circles, dodged a few cars (geoffrey), went down one street four times, ran back to the car for a map, and finally made it to the DMV with our bodies and wallets intact, ten minutes before closing.


next time, I'm driving to the DMV in niagara county. or at least bringing a pocket knife for self protection.