Back to the Lake

It's Monday morning, all are still sleeping, and it looks like a nice day here in Bristow.  After the girls head off to school, we will begin our drive back to the lake.  Jill and Drew  got back last night around 8:00, in time to see the girls and the second half of the Super Bowl.  Though both were very tired, they had a great time in Colorado Springs, their friends there are the best.  They have not been able to make friends like that yet here in Bristow, perhaps because they are still new here and they have lots of family within minutes which is great, too.

The weather report looks decent, perhaps some snow, but not much accumulation, and still in the 30's, but tomorrow, things are going to get much colder all through Western NY and PA.  It's going to be hard to leave the girls, as usual, but we are only 7 hours away, so we will be back soon enough, I'm sure.  They are an absolute delight to be around.  And they cannot get enough of their Granny, nor does she ever tire of doing things with them.  Halle, for instance, has really blossomed as a reader, writer, and computer nerd because Evie has worked with her all week on spelling, on sight words, on practicing her spelling on the computer and saving the results.  Halle learns quickly and loves to learn and be praised; Evie is amazing at all of this, a great teacher.

The pictures above are from October when we visited, when Coco was still a baby.  He looks so small in these pictures.

We got back around 4:00, again, a fairly easy drive though the last half of the trip was pretty ugly, foggy, gray, rain/sleet mix and the sides of the highways were black with mud and cinders.  The little picturesque towns all look run down and poor this time of year, with no green, just gray and dirt and emptiness.  One wonders who lives in the homes, what they do for a living, how they can stand living in these places, kind of nowhere towns, where a 7/11 is the only game in town.  I guess Chautauqua ain't much different really except we have a lake, I suppose, but down town Jamestown is not something to brag about though it was once a beautiful downtown.  It took us a little under 7 hours as usual, and it was around 338 miles this time, longer going for some reason.

Here at the lake it's 32 degrees, gray and foggy as I cannot even see Long Point it's so foggy right now and just can make out Tom's Point.  It feels good to be home and no the house had no problems with snow while we were gone.  It's always a worry, with so much snow, then thawing, then more snow.