August 4, 2005

Once again, I am unable to load photos of our grand trip to New York City. We left on an early train from Albany, NY and rolled into Penn Station mid-morning. My niece, Laurie and my sister, Gloria went along. The escalators and elevators weren't working and it became quite a feat to haul the suitcase and backpack up and down. I am afraid of the escalators to begin with so you can imagine. We stayed near Central Park which was nice. We saw a play, Mama Mia. Our seats were in the second row orchestra. We could see the young faces very vividly. The dance energy was just wonderful. We had to put cotton in our ears since one of the full-length speakers was close on our right side. When we left the theater, a bicycle-taxi offered us a ride, all three in that narrow seat. It was a hot day and he was peddaling uphill at times. The funniest part was when my sister told him that we would not tip a dead man - to please let us off. A visit that evening to Little Italy for dinner topped off the day. On every corner was a purse vendor and we certainly explored every one to be sure we found just the one we were looking for. Part of the fun of street buying is the bargaining for the appropriate price. Starbucks was graced quite frequently by our presence and since they, too, have a place on every corner, that was convenient. Monday brought a ride in a horse drawn carriage through Central Park, a visit to Ground Zero and more walking/exploring. Caught the late afternoon train back to Albany. The ride along the Hudson River brought back many memories for me since I had been up and down the River a few times on boats many years ago. The two days were enjoyed by all.

I brought Bearfoot back over to my son's in Pawlet the following day where I discovered that my car had a flat tire. I hauled out the compressor and pumped it up only to find it flat again this morning just when I had planned to drive to Rutland to pick up a few things. A local mechanic was called and the tire was plugged and back on in about half an hour. I did my errands and met my other daughter, Jill and my grandson, Joe for lunch at Tapas, a local Rutland pub. It was great seeing them again and gave me a chance to wish them a safe, joyful trip to Maine for a week with their family plus a few extras. They will be 12 in all.

My son and daughter-in-law just bought a speed boat. We have been enjoying rides on Lake St. Catherine each night after dinner. Last night we buzzed Camp Catherine Capers where their daughter, Emily, is for two weeks. There she was on the dock jumping up and down. They let her swim out and go for a 20 min. ride with us. It was good to see her. She has been learning to jump on the horses. Since I rode for years, I have given her lots of advice but yesterday her horse stumbled going over the jump. She actually fell off but landed on her feet.

I went out today with the car and Sebastian to scout out a route for me to bike. I found a fair route that involves quite a bit of steep gravel road and the main highway which has some guard rails. It is 7 miles and I am going to try it tomorrow since it has cooled off a bit. I only wish I had a bike with shocks and wider tires. We went out tonight for a ride up through the cornfields where we saw many deer, some coon and fox. Beautiful sunset too. It is truly beautiful here in these hills. Too bad the winters are so snowy, cold and long.

Young Joe reported that his bean patch has produced more beans than they can freeze or eat. No surprise there!! He is quite the gardener.

More later-