Inseparable Nomads

After all the chaos of moving all our stuff out of Ithaca and into storage in Boston we were more than ready for a vacation!  We had decided that we would still go visit a few people along the first leg of our original trip out west after the decision to move to Boston since we had already promised them we would be coming.  We had planned to go out as far as Chicago to visit Andrew’s friend Dave Beiler but with the two night set back to get our stuff to Boston we had to push everything back two days which would have only given us one night in Chicago.  It was too much of a drive to justify for a single night, so unfortunately we didn’t make it to Chicago.

However, we did manage to visit a fair amount of family over a two week period!  The first leg of the trip brought us back up north to the Rez to visit my mother, family and friends who still live up there.  We stayed at my mother’s from Sunday night ’til Saturday morning, relaxing and visiting.  Here are a few highlights of our time there:

Wind Turbines. There are a bunch of wind turbines on the way back to my house from Plattsburgh, NY.  Andrew was really excited to see these wind turbines up close.  We drove right up to the base of one in the middle of a farmer’s field to check them out and take pictures.

Andrew and the Wind Turbine

Wind Turbines and the Moon

My kitty Pinder passed away. My mother told me upon greeting me at the house and of course I cried.  When I returned from France in 2001 I adopted two kittens, Pinder and Popcorn, brother and sister, and they are the cats I’ve had for the longest ever.  Most of my pets (both cats and dogs) throughout my life end up getting hit on the highway in front of my house and Pinder was claimed by that same force just a few days before our return.  I am still very sad to have to say goodbye.

RIP Pinder

There is a problem with my hearing. I made a few appointments at the clinic while I was home, one regarding the problem I’ve noticed in the past six months or so with my hearing.  I figured I just needed to have them cleaned due to a buildup of wax, but after a few tests it seems that I may have lost my ability to hear lower frequencies.  My doctor claims this is an abnormal progression for a young adult to have in hearing loss (with age we naturally lose hearing in the higher frequencies he said) and I am being referred to an audiologist for more effective testing and diagnosis.  Let’s hope that it’s not something serious!

Rollerblading at Robert Moses State Park. I took Andrew out to the state park for some rollerblading on a nice, rainless evening.  We rollerbladed from the parking lot at Barnhart beach to the Marina and back.  I also showed him the Eisenhower Locks, which he had never seen before.  I forget that they are one of the few “tourist” spots in Massena, NY!

Lunch at East Side Mario’s with my Mother! My mom took us out to eat at East Side Mario’s in Cornwall since Andrew had never been and I hadn’t gone since some point before I went to France in 2007.  I love East Side’s!  It was delicious!  I also dragged Andrew to the mall so I could check out (and weep over) the amazing fashion in Canadian stores.  Le Chateau is my favorite store ever.  I love pretty much everything there right now.

Baby Aiden!! My girlfriend from high school, Heather Gardner (formally Saumier), had her firstborn earlier this year!  Andrew and I got to meet him briefly during another visit but we were lucky to meet with them again to see how he’s grown.  He’s such a cutie and has brought so much love and happiness to Heather and her husband, Rich.  Congratulations!

Rich and baby Aiden

Lake Placid and the Paul Smith’s VIC with Mallyn and Eric. On Thursday we spent the day out with Mallyn and Eric exploring these two attractions in the Adirondacks.  Andrew had never been to the Adirondacks at all and we were blessed with some great weather so we got to enjoy a day of walking around outside with two great friends!  Lake Placid was the more touristic stop during the day since it was home to the Winter Olympic Games twice!  It’s certainly not a big town, but there are a lot of fun and interesting little shops to poke our heads into along the main strip.

Lounging in Lake Placid



Together at Paul Smith's VIC

On our way out of town towards the VIC we stopped at a local gem: Donnelly Farms soft serve ice cream stand!  It is hands down the best soft serve I’ve ever had.  They only offer one flavor daily, twisted with vanilla, and even though we had a rather random flavor, lemon, we were far from disappointed!  Our final stop in the Adirondacks was at Paul Smith’s Visitor’s Interpretive Center to walk the trails through the swamps.  Mallyn and I used to go there all the time with her mother when we were kids and I don’t think I’d been since junior high!  It was such an enjoyable walk and since we got there later in the day we were the only people on the trails which allowed us to see some wildlife (a few herons!) and take a few quality pictures.  What a fun day!

Path through the woods

Heron Swamp Boardwalk

Saturday was the day we packed up and continued onto the next leg of our journey – mom accompanied.  She decided to take Monday off in order to have a long weekend and come down as far as Leisurewood Campgrounds in Akron, NY where our cousin Valerie lives in the summer.  We all spent Saturday night with her, catching up and chatting around the campfire on her grounds.  She has such a cute little peaceful spot there, it’s no wonder she goes back every summer!

Bright and early we headed off to Canton, OH to spend a few days with Andrew’s Grandmother, full story coming in the next post, Part 2!

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 27th, 2009 at 1:51 pm and is filed under Miscellaneous, Nature, Shelby's Family, The Move, Travel, family. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.