A Beautiful Day to Travel: Chautauqua to Darien

Rhododendrons/Lilacs in Bloom

A wonderfully cool morning, 52 degrees, quite a change from Monday's high of 90, a typical variable week at Chautauqua.  We head off to celebrate  Beth's 45th  birthday today, attend Marisa's hip hop program at her school, two of Mitch's lacrosse games, and help Tyler  study for the SAT's!  A lot to fit in a couple of days.  Cannot wait.

Healthy Hostas

We went out with Ron and Linda Mc Clure last night to toast the beginning of summer, our trip East, their  trip to Germany for ten days.  We had a drink on the porch of the Lenhart Hotel, with a blinding sun make it hard to enjoy the view, but who can complain after the rain and cloudy day's we have been having.  We then went to the Seezhurn House, our favorite bar/restaurant.  Evie had her usual, the chicken sandwich platter, and I had the Wednesday night special, a 10 oz. Delmonico steak, with salad and a side for $9.99, hard to beat.  It was really good and it could become a habit.  We had been going to the VFW on Wednesday's for their wings, but we may have to change our plan for the summer.  Let's see... the Viking Club has Cubans and Ruebens' on Monday's, Taco Tuesday's and Wednesday's we can go back to the Seezhurn for the steak, and the weekend, we'll just have to enjoy eating at home.

Easy drive to Beth and Rami's, 434 miles, seven hours almost exactly.  Clear sailing though New York State, little traffic, beautiful drive, as almost the entire trip is through hills filled with trees, rarely an area without trees, if you don't count the cities.  You forget how green this part of the US is until you drive it at this time of year.  And there's little development in between the few major towns, which makes it even better.  The Catskills, though not that high, around 4000 feet at their zenith, are spectacular because of the forests, lack of development, and streams which either follow or bisect 86 almost the entire way.