Back East, or Home as some would say....

Carol and I had a delightful 2 weeks with friends and family, one of the best vacations we have ever had. Our first few days were at Bertrand's, located right in the village of Clayton (where my 50th class reunion was held) only steps away from the St. Lawrence. The next six were in a wonderful, but very small, cottage (formerly a 2 car garage, maybe) beautifully fixed up as a guest house for an $898,000 lake property on Cayuga Lake. From there we went further upscale to a semi expensive B&B in Schroon Lake (The Silver Spruce) where our hosts gave us wonderful breakfasts and good hospitality in a VERY comfortable king room. So from double motel beds to queen size comfort with a beautiful lake view (see photo) to a king room with huge whirlpool (good for my rheumatoid arthritic body) and good meals in two weeks. We got to see nearly 60 old friends including the reunion, most of our NY relatives, and drove 1400 rental car miles through various and scenic delights and NY weather types from cold and rainy to sunny and hot! All with beautiful NY greenery, which was hard to get used to at first (claustrophobia would describe our reaction) but we will miss it here in dry dusty Tucson. Not for long, of course. We're back where you can see for 50 miles at a glance. A school mate picked us up in Albany the first day, and we convoyed to Clayton. She and another schoolmate shared a room (2 gals) in the same motel and we got to hang out with them for 3 days. Reunion and great boat ride on the St. Lawrence with my class, then on to the lake and 6 days of relaxing solitude, interspersed with visits with friends and relatives. Then off to Schroon Lake where we visited with a classmate from nearby Ticonderoga who wasn't able to "reune" with us. Then back to Albany where we stayed overnight with the same young lady who went north with us, and who gave us a great tour of an area we hadn't ever seen closely, including Union College and a stop at the recently renovated theater in Schenectady. The latter was of interest to me as a 14 year stage vet, acting, directing and set design/building. Our flight to Tucson from Albany, albeit departing at 5:45 am, was smooth and "homeland security" problem free. I just love walking around in my socks on "clean" airport security floors, don't you? Foot powder, anyone?