Day Twenty-nine

Day twenty-nine was bookwork day - gotta work sometime!  The only trip for the day was a drive to Ovid to the post office to pick up the mail.  Ovid is a VERY small town, with a Dollar General store, and I stopped at their grocery store, Big M, for a couple of items.  There are a lot of Amish living in this area, and I saw one horse and carriage in town.

Day Twenty-eight

Day twenty-eight found us heading to NY state – camping in a town called Ovid which is on Cayuga Lake, and near Rochester and Syracuse.  We were sad to leave Pepere’s house, but also excited to be back on the road.  It was a nice uneventful trip, and we are all setup and settled in for the night.  Relax time!

Day Twenty-seven

Day twenty-seven was a slow starter, since Jim and his Dad stayed up most of the night talking.  J  We all went to the new Connecticut Science Center in Hartford – Jim’s dad had free passes for the whole family.  It was a beautiful place!  Sam had a blast with all of the interactive exhibits.  We spent the whole day there, and it was great!  I think we all learned something new.

After dinner, we watched some old home movies – Sam was so excited to see himself as a baby!  There were some more videos of a boat cruise we took around Manhatten Island with Jim’s dad and his brother, Robert, in July of 2000.  Sam said Jim and I looked different – no way!  J  Some solemn moments came when we saw the twin towers in place.  At one point, Jim’s dad placed the camera inside it’s bag while it was still running, and that was a hoot!  Sam wanted to see that again and again!  Ha Ha!!

Some older movies were then pulled out showing Jim when he was about three years old, along with two of his sisters, and his mother.  Sam and I really got a kick out of watching those!  The biggest shocker came when one shot showed Jim’s dad – OMG!  George – you are the spitting image of your father!!  You could be twins!  Wow!

Day Twenty-six

Day twenty-six and it was time to leave our home away from home.  After a leisurely morning, we packed up the rig and headed down the road to Manchester, CT to visit Jim’s dad.  We were sad to be leaving!  We arrived at his Dad’s house, and parked the rig in his driveway/parking lot.  His dad told us about a festival they were having on the river in Hartford with food, bands, and fireworks, so we opted to head out.  What a crowd!!  We all snagged something to eat at the food booths while working our way in the direction of the river.  After finding a spot, we settled in for a little while to watch the fireworks display.

The fireworks were actually being sent up from barges in the river, and police boat presence was overwhelming!  What an awesome fireworks display!  Music was played to accompany the display, and it was awesome!  The best display I have ever witnessed live!  Quite the crunch to work our way out of there afterward, but we made it home, where Sam and I dropped into bed.

Day Twenty-five

Day twenty-five and it was time for mini-golf at Chuckster’s!  Jim, Luella and Madison met us at the campground, and we all drove out to Chuckster’s.  We started off with some racing kart action – Jim and Maddie blew us away!  I was s-l-o-w-l-y closing in, but there weren’t enough hours in the day for me to catch them.  J

We went on to play some mini-golf at the place that boasts the “longest mini-golf hole on the planet.”  Although I am not sure how to verify this claim, it was REALLY long! 

James got a hole-in-one on one hole, and went on to win the game!  I somehow managed to come in second – and this from two people who never golf!  Go figure!  He got a free turn at the batting cages for his prize.  A stop at TGI Friday’s for lunch was just the ticket.

Afterwards, the gang went on a couple more geocache jaunts (while I went to my favorite store, Wal-Mart).  Everyone came over to Grammy’s later for a pizza night – Domino’s!  YUM!

Day Twenty-four

Day twenty-four – we took Madison with us to the Audubon Nature Center to check out the latest animal news and updates made since our last visit.  They have this cool observation tower that we checked out, but no one spotted any birds patrolling the skies.  Afterward, we hiked around the wooded grounds and kept our eyes open for any wildlife. 

Sam is good at spotting different mushrooms and toadstools, and we took several pics of different species along the way.  A little stop at Turkey Pond gave the kids a chance to wade in the water, where Sam came thisclose to capturing a bullfrog!  We saw two garter snakes enjoying a little sunshine on the rocks until they saw us.

At the end of the trail hiking, we did a little geocaching.  After several minutes of searching through the woods, Maddie found the first one!  Way to go, Maddie!  We duly recorded our names on the enclosed paper and put it back in place.  We sought a second one, but after more than thirty minutes of searching, we decided to call it a day.  Our feet had carried us about five miles that day, and we were a little tired!  We met Jim (Maddie’s dad) at the campground, and the kids took a dip in the pool.  Ahhh!

Day Twenty-three

Day twenty-three – Sam went with his Aunt Luella and cousin Madison to a water park called Liquid Planet.  Jim and I opted to stay home and do some bookwork and relax.  We later heard that Sam swam all the way out to raft/slide in the middle of the lake and enjoyed the big slide.  Woo hoo!  Later, we all went to Grammy’s and she made her famous American Chop Suey for all.  We chowed down!  YUM!