Arrived Guilford

Guilford, Connecticut

Friday, November 18, 2022

Happy 50th Anniversary, Bryan and Susan!

Brian and I took our time rising this morning. I am listening to Sapiens on my iPhone and reading The Gene on my iPad; so, I have plenty of interesting reading to occupy me. Brian went downstairs and brought us back tea, juice and yogurt to accompany our reading.

Later we enjoyed our breakfast of small waffles with scrambled eggs and bacon while having a dining room to ourselves with a view of fresh snow on the phragmites beside the hotel.

We parked near the campus and went for an hour and a half walk around St. Lawrence University and downtown Canton. The Grasse River crosses Main Street and Little River is a delightful winding tributary that runs past the end of the campus. The beautiful red sandstone Cole Hall reading room would be my favourite place to study!

Our four and a half kilometre walk was not sufficient to close the move rings on my Apple Watch. Another six and a half hour drive made for a second sedentary day. Although the first couple of hours were on snow covered roads with snow falling, Brian did not drive us into any ditches. We saw cars and trucks in ditches. Those vehicles probably did not have snow tires as we do.

It was very pretty driving through the Adirondacks. Past Tupper Lake the roads were dry and the sun kept sneaking out from behind the clouds. Upstate New York is beautiful wilderness with cycling lanes, hiking, rivers and lakes for paddling, skiing, lots and lots of forest!

We safely delivered Alex home where we were welcomed with big hug sand a delicious steak dinner with polenta, squash, salad and Julie’s chocolate layer birthday cake.

No snow at Shawn’s. The same cannot be said for Grey County where schools were closed and a foot and a half or more of snow blanketed everything. Adrian has been busy blowing snow. Thanks, Adrian!

Ahead of the Snowstorm

Fairfield Marriott

Canton, New York

Thursday, November 17th, 2022

Happy 90th Birthday, Barb MacNeil!

We always pack lightly; so, our bags were ready before we did our morning routine with smoothie and bagel in bed, yoga and breakfast. Goose could tell we were planning on leaving her, but Adrian will not forget to feed her. We left Adrian with the task of checking on our lemon tree. It must have seventy to eighty buds on it. Since the blossoms may open before our return, Adrian is going to ensure pollination by tickling the blossoms with a Qtip.

It snowed for the first hour and a half of our journey from Cobble Beach but after that we had dry roads which is good as we were on the road for seven hours to get to Canton New York. The storm clouds were hovering over Lake Ontario and we could see them covering the sky behind us and as we crossed the St. Lawrence River at Ogdensburg.

We took our grandson out for dinner at Best Western. The Marriott only has breakfast facilities. I had minestrone soup then Alex helped me finish my grilled chicken BLT on a brioche bun. He still had room for triple chocolate cake after his beef dinner. Ah youth!

We checked out Alex’s room in residence then left him studying for a biology quiz tomorrow. We will pick him up at 11:30 AM then travel another six hours to our son’s in Guilford, Connecticut. Alex is looking forward to having ten days at home.

According to the weather forecast we may be in for big snow tomorrow.

Guilford, CT to Hamilton, ON

Hamilton, Ontario

Tuesday, May 31, 2022

18:21

The drive from Guilford, Connecticut to Hamilton, Ontario took 9 hours in air conditioned comfort. When we stopped at the Metro store just down the road from Brilynn’s, the temperature was 35C. Brian went in and bought shrimp, salad, yogourt and Danishes. We are set for supper and breakfast. I walked around in the parking lot, slowly, to stretch my legs. I am far from completing the rings on my Apple Watch. Maybe it will cool a little for a walk after supper.

As I walked past the Metro store, I heard an employee out for a smoke commenting on the suffocating heat. She said when she retires, she is,icing to the Yukon.

As soon as we arrived I went outside to water plants. Brian turned the air conditioning on. No air in the attic; so, he is not working there!

Brilynn is in Toronto shooting salads. She will not be home for a couple of hours.

Our drive was uneventful except for arriving at a service centre only to be met outside by an employee who told us the Centre was closed because they had no power. The next centre had an ice cream cone for me: Rocky Road. I shared with Brian. Our drive was very green with hundreds of locust trees flowering white. We cannot see as much of waterways at this time of year because of all the trees along the freeway.

We had not given any thought to ArriveCan until we saw a billboard in Buffalo stating that we needed to have completed ArriveCan to enter Canada. I tried to fill out the form as Brian drove but we could not access the site. The Canada Customs officer told us, she would let us go without quarantine this time but it was now noted on our file that if we had not filled it out the next time, we would have to be tested, quarantine fourteen days, pay a fine…..jail time??? She said it was not because we had not filled in ArriveCan but lucky me, I had been randomly selected to complete the COVID at home PCR test. I have now done that while being observed by an online nurse. Purolator will pickup my kit tomorrow. For the next fourteen days, I have to keep a list of anyone I come into close contact with. Do not expect any hugs anytime soon!

Black and white cats bookmark this trip: we said goodbye to Oats in Guilford and hello to Snoops in Hamilton.

Heading South

Buffalo, NY: Aloft Hotel

March 28, 2022

9 PM

Cozy in bed at the Aloft Hotel in Buffalo, ready to fly away to Key West in the morning. We awoke at home this morning to -12C and white ground. We are more than ready for warm air and water activities.

Crossing the border on the Peace Bridge was very quick. No cars ahead of us in line. The officer looked at our passports, asked where we were going and for how long and wished us a good evening. We are fully vaccinated and were prepared to show documentation but none was asked for.

No one is wearing a mask at the hotel except us.

We had lunch with Brilynn in Hamilton. We brought the necessities to make a pizza. Brilynn made it with chatting assistance from me while Brian finished the wainscoting in the attic. Since our last visit, Brilynn had new windows installed. Every window looks cleaner and the house is much warmer.

We dropped by sister Rosemary’s for a quick visit. We were shocked to see how densely covered my parent’s former property was. Townhouses fill what was a front yard and orchard. The last time we were there the townhouse construction had only just begun on the orchard side,

Niece Rona and sister Susan greeted us with their latest very cute tiny addition, Mia, a dachshund puppy. We had a very good visit at their house over delicious spaghetti primavera and salad. I am always amazed to see what beautiful quilt Susan is creating. Rona has been making delightful cross-stitching. 

I did not close my rings today! Too much sitting! And yet I did not complete all my word puzzles.

A Slow Drive to Guilford

On the Road to Guilford

Thursday, May 17, 2018

When we turned out the lights last night, it sure was dark! When you are in the forest on a moonless night, there is only blackness. And it was quiet: no spring peepers, no owls, no coyotes. 

Our breakfast was awesome. Wanda prepared blini with fresh fruit and blueberry and strawberry jam with scrambled eggs on the side. Delicious! A healthier repast than what we had at the Country Diner. Supper was good, not gourmet, but the amount of gravy on our ground chuck steak with mushrooms and onions was heart-stopping. Brian also had gravy on his fries; I declined. The vegetables offered were peas, cole-slaw, cheese or applesauce. I do not know when the last two became vegetables but we both chose cole-slaw. We were so full we had no room for the enormous ice cream cones being served at the dairy bar next door.

Back at the log cabin, we walked the hilly dirt road, hoping to burn a calorie or two and aid digestion.

We decided to not drive back to Lucifer Falls; we will save a repeat walk there for another day. The first few hours of driving through forested hills was uneventful but refreshingly green in many shades. Sadly after we crossed the Hudson River, we had many, many miles of stop and go traffic on Highway 84.  Very short sections of construction were responsible. Our six hour trip took us nearly eight hours.

We listened to the end of the West Cork series of podcasts about an unresolved murder case in Ireland from twenty years ago.

We were happy to arrive in time for pizza. From the dining room Brian spotted an indigo bunting at the feeder. Shawn did not think he had ever seen one here. The azaleas are dazzling! Agnes is happy to see them getting bigger every year. The hellebores are also very content in this environment as they spread throughout the garden.

This evening we were fortunate to take in Alex’s cello performance in his school’s orchestra concert. Although we concentrated on our grandson’s performance we were very impressed with all of the talent in the grade seven and eight orchestras. Alex also performed with the select orchestra.