visit to scott's parents in new york

Memories of our upstate New York trip:

I can see as we get older, that our visit’s will be tucked in with aging parents, marrying children and new grandchildren. I feel grateful for these everyday kind of days with Becky and will grab them when I can. 

Packing the trailer and taking pictures of our Tennessee hillbilly load. Packing Bear up in his dog crate… he didn’t like it too much. Plenty of Bear potty stops along the way… for us too. Scott programmed “Siri” on his phone to say “Yes Master” when he speaks. Walking out of McDonalds with my hot fudge sundae in hand, Becky giggles at me and say’s, “You still like that ice cream, don’t you?”. Picking up an Ebay wave runner on the way in the dark and discovering we had a shredded flat tire on the trailer… Using a cell phone flashlight, the owner of the wave runner asked, “Would you like a real flashlight?” Hot dog at the truck stop for a late dinner. Becky holds her own with her engineer husband Scott and can easily exchange information without getting emotional, as they figure out our route. Virginia. West Virginia.  Maryland. Pennsylvania. New Jersey and then New York to Scott’s parents.

Their home is just like I pictured and Chuck and Lillian made me feel so welcomed and loved. It was like stepping back in time. The home was built by Chuck’s grandfather and you can just feel the generations of family in it. Nuts. Everywhere. Black Walnuts, Hickory, Butternut, English Walnut, Chinese Chestnuts, Italian Chestnuts, American Chestnuts. Their trees were full of them and our days were filled with the sounds of dropping nuts all around us and we were surrounded by buckets of gathered nuts, ready for winter. Chuck loves his nuts. Fall leaves. Canadian Geese on the pond. Becky’s hot cocoa. The sweetness of Lillian. Chuck’s Biscuits and Gravy. Talking around the table. Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup. Making homemade apple pie.  Nap on the couch.  Sweet Potato and Praline Pie.  Bringing home an old “Caution Children at Play” metal sign from Chuck. Walking with Becky. Off Shore Pier for a fish dinner. Pizza dinner at Perry and Darshan’s home and making apple beer. Putting together a puzzle. Scott didn’t bring a razor and Becky likes his facial hair… she smiles and comments about it a lot. Their dog Tippy is pretty cute and gets along with Bear.  Bear’s coat is a tangled mess of burr’s from farm life here in New York.

Picked up fencing from a man, on the way home in Atlantic City, NJ, another of  Scott’s ebay finds. He was a very tiny man and I couldn’t figure out how he was going to pull the overhead doors down because he couldn’t reach the rope. There were no buckets nearby to stand on. Of all the things to ponder about, but this is what a long road trip does to your brain.  We have gone on many toll roads and a bridge and they sure charge an arm, a leg and then some…  the roads are very bumpy and I wonder where the money is going, because it isn’t going to repairs. Scott’s traffic language is keeping us awake. He lets us both know that the driver’s on the road are moron’s and he has a low tolerance for idiot driver’s with attention deficit.  I however, just want to get home alive.

We stopped for a long road delay. Traffic came to  a stop. We were down to a block of Jarlsberg cheese and fruit leather. Our two bags of chips are long gone. 7pm and we had not stopped for food. Yet.  We wondered how we can possibly travel with no junk food. If we didn’t stop at all, the Garmin said we will be home at 3:40am. However, I think we may welcome the sunrise as we head home.  Becky is driving next. Granted, I am not a good driver, but I told Becky that this is where my talent comes in… what talent is that? she asked, seemingly unimpressed.  I am a night owl and will keep you awake. I may eat my weight in junk food all night, but I will keep you awake : ) New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, then home to Tennessee.

Scott nearly hit a car in the Cracker Barrel parking lot and said what any driver would say, “*%#! Where did that car come from?” Then he turned the corner and clipped a car with a lady sitting in it. Not happy. But it ended well, with the women from both parties humored and thankful it wasn’t worse.  We stopped for a late dinner break at Cracker Barrell and continued on home and pulled in at 6:45am. Home sweet home.