i never liked pink: Home Again

We returned from vacation on Sunday and it was a hard landing. Monday at 7am Johnny went in for chemo and Tuesday at 7am I had my 6 month check up with my Oncologist. The good news- both of us had good blood work. Johnny had his “easiest” chemo session so far- it seems we’ve gotten a little better at mitigating the nausea, and my next appointment is just a check up in six months.

And in other health news, my brother Roger is home and recovering from his colon surgery. He’s “ecstatic” with the results and only has a little tenderness. He’s taking care of himself and he’s able to go to his favorite local restaurants.

So that leaves me with a little recap of the vacation trip. A huge surprise was Saratoga Springs. It’s a booming town filled with great restaurants, a famous race track, tourism and we happened to stumble into the 28^th annual Adirondack National Car Show. But what we loved were the 21 public mineral springs in various locations throughout the town. No two tastes exactly alike, each one has its own distinct flavor and purported health benefits so we loaded up!

We loved Vermont, New Hampshire, and Upstate New York. We checked out Million Dollar Beach at Lake George but the dogs really loved Charlie’s Bark Park at our RV camp. It was the first time either one of us saw Dartmouth University and Dog Mountain/Dog Chapel in Saint Johnsbury was a great little stop.

Now we know the difference between the Green Mountains of Vermont and the White Mountains of New Hampshire. And we’re still talking about a little Brazilian restaurant we stumbled into in Littleton, New Hampshire that served great homemade food.

If we would have known how beautiful Lake Champlain was we would have organized our trip to spend more time there. What we saw of it was breath taking and we happened to be reading the book, Valiant Ambition about the relationship between Benedict Arnold and George Washington. The events in the book took place at Lake Champlain 240 years ago during the same week that we were there. A very fun little tie in.

Another great stop was at the Roundhouse Bakery and Café. It has been popularized by the author Jon Katz and we were very excited to finally have the chance to see Cambridge, New York and eat in the café. After speaking with the owner, Scott Carrino he invited us to his home/bakery. We couldn’t believe that he invited two people he had just met to his home. But we’re sure glad he did. Here’s a link to his property for anyone who wants to check it out: http://www.pompanuck.org/

Our last stop was a visit with an old college friend, Jackie and her husband, Jim and then we were on our way home.

So we’ll bore you with a few of our favorite vacation photos. Thanks for all the care and prayers. We love you all!