A whirlwind trip to the Northeast

As if the trip across the country was not enough, we decided to take a whirlwind trip up to NY to see family and friends before work and school began. So after fixing up the major rooms in the trailer, we headed the nearly 600 miles to western NY to see the Hadley folks. It was the peak of leaf peeping as we headed through WV. Chris exclaimed on every turn, "Isn't that beautiful." We had a good visit with mom and dad. We celebrated dad's birthday, met their new pastor, visited a museum in Jamestown, and enjoyed roaming through the remainder of the fall colors on the property. I enjoyed playing a real piano and Chris enjoyed shooting his muzzleloader for the first time in about 8 months.

After the trip to Cherry Creek, we headed to Vestal to see my brother Jeff and his family. Their youngest referred to us as the people on the refrigerator so we needed to fix that. We had a nice visit with all of them. They too let us get out for some much needed walks - to see their new church and a nature walk at the local park. We did puzzles, played legos, and sampled the local Pat Mitchells ice cream (it was REALLY good).

Next we were on to Cobleskill for church with our friends from Albany - Matt and Kelly. Their little church was going to meet in their home because they lacked a furnace at the church, but they braved 55 degree temps in the sanctuary so that I could play for the service (they are pretty tough). That night we did meet in their home and Chris preached. We had a good time catching up with them and being encouraged at God's faithfulness despite our lack of faith. We also enjoyed meeting their children and their church family.

Our last stop was Elizabethtown, PA to visit our friends from WA. On our way, we stopped in Clarks Summit, PA for some Friendly's. I had a tremendous grilled chicken salad and amazingly left the Vienna mocha fudge in the freezer. We arrived to see our friend in PA and had an awesome visit. We met their newest member, Josiah and Chris was able to visit Hershey, PA for the first time. Our friends took us on a tour trolley that stuffed us full of all kinds of Hershey products - YUM! We also enjoyed meeting all their church family that we had heard so much about in WA and seeing their new home.

We enjoyed our visit, but it sure was nice to get home and back into things again. Time to finish the trailer!