On the Road

The Fourth of the July weekend this year was a crazy one! Beth and I left home on Friday morning and went directly to a big picnic at my Aunt Becky's house. A good chunk of my Dad's family was there so we got to catch up with cousins and aunts and uncles that we hadn't seen in a year or more. Plus I finally got to see my grandparents after far too long.

That evening we headed up to Keuka Lake where my Grandfather owns a house and a cottage. My parents, my brother, my sister, my nephew and Beth and I all stayed in the tiny three-bedroom cottage. Tim was nice enough to sleep on the futon in the living room, since he pretty much sleeps through anything. (Although I believe he was pretty relieved when Beth and I left so he could have his bedroom back.)

Saturday morning I ran the Finger Lakes Fifties 25K (see below) and Beth and the rest of my family went to The Windmill (a huge flea market near Penn Yan). The rest of the day we chilled out talking with my mom's brothers and sisters who were visiting the lake for the big Shore Acres Picnic.

Sunday I was finally able to spend some quality time with my nephew, Daniel --who spit up on me. I guess that's what I get for holding an 11-month old upside-down...

That afternoon we left Keuka Lake and headed West to visit Beth's family in Meadville. Beth's brother Dwayne and his wife and son were making a rare visit from California, and we really couldn't miss that, since we might not see them for another year. While in Meadville we were able to visit some fun spots we've been before like Hank's and the Linesville Spillway, "where the ducks walk on the fish", plus we managed to even fit in a little fishing in the gravel pit way up the woods.

"Where the ducks walk on the fish"

Beth and I really enjoyed Linesville - and it was especially fun to see Dwayne's five year old son, Brandon experience for the first time. To see those giant carp fight over scraps of bread...I don't think there's anything like it anywhere.

On the way home we stopped in Mt. Pleasant to see Beth's grandmother who was in the hospital. She was so happy to see Beth!

Now we're back home, and while it's great to see so many people we love, and visit old familiar places to do familiar things, all the travel took a lot out of us and we're happy to be sleeping in our own bed.

I know there aren't a lot of pictures - Beth wants them all for her blog....