Sunday, May 25 – After 6 months, an interminably cold and snowy winter, enough rain to scare Noah and a fractured tooth that took 4 months to fix, we are FINALLY  on the road again.  It seems as though it has been much longer.

This time it’s a road trip, across VT and Central New York to the Finger Lakes, for a week exploring the lakes, trails, waters and wineries of the region with Erin & Dom.  After all, what could be more fun than spending your precious vacation time with your parents/in-laws?

Hey, it wasn’t my idea–Erin is the mastermind of this adventure and she took charge of all the trip planning.  Yes, my little control freak brain wasn’t quite sure about it, but I guess it is time to see what the neophyte has gleaned from the veteran!

They headed up from Philly as we traversed west from NH.  As we were going to be passing through anyway, I took Dan on a nostalgia tour of Schenectady, NY, where I lived and worked when I first graduated from college.  I was hired out of school into GE’s Financial Management Program (aka FMPs), a program that included both work assignments and classes.  While Schenectady was not the most exciting choice for a 22 year old, there were 60 of us in the program, so I have many fond memories of those two years.

Lucky Dan got to see the GE plant, my two apartments and, thanks to the recommendation of my friend (and former roommate) Steve, had a nice brunch in the city, which seems to have revitalized since my time there.  I was genuinely surprised at how little I recognized, but I guess 40 years has a way of doing that.  Still, it was fun to reminisce about the days when I was young and the future seemed limitless.

After that, it was a three hour drive through the hinterlands  of Central New York, towns I had never heard of, some of which time seems to have left behind.  Just as we arrived in Watkins Glen, the skies opened up–after all, what’s a day this spring without a little rain?

We timed it well, Erin and Dom had arrived shortly ahead of us.  As we had no major plans for the evening, we had some drinks and dinner and a pretty, though soggy, walk along the lake front.  A rainbow and beautiful sunset has us hopeful for a brighter day tomorrow so we can explore the area in little more depth and get our first taste of our cruise director’s prowess.

5,313 steps

2.6 miles

Lots of sitting in a car