Monday, June 13, 2016

A Gray And Overcast, Morning -- Perfect For A Day Trip To Niagara Falls


Nick, University Of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AK
Peyton, Pittsburg State University, Pittsburg, Kansas
Chris, University Of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AK

Both Evie and I are up just after 6:00, looking for sunshine but getting a gray, cloudy sky and lake. At least the wind has let up some.  It's supposed to be like this all day, a high of 65ยบ and, fortunately, no rain.

Morning Clouds at 7:00
Yesterday began for Evie and me at our usual times, me up around 6:00, Evie around 7:00.  We enjoyed our coffee, listened to NPR, and waited for the guys to wake.  And waited, and waited, until about 10:30, we put on some Eminem, blasted it on our speakers, knocked on their doors and they easily got the message.  Time to get the heck up.  They trudged downstairs, slowly, and Evie had some bagels and orange juice ready, to juice them up.

Hall of Philosophy
Granny Walking The Chautauqua Institution With Her Boys
We then piled into our car and drove off to the Chautauqua Institution for a walk.  We wanted to take the boat but the wind was wild, with whitecaps on the lake.  We took a good hour walk around the grounds, explaining to the boys the unique nature of this small, summer village.  It was a beautiful day for our walk, and all the rhododendrons, the peonies, and lavender were in bloom. And though it was beginning to fill with residents, we met only a couple of families, like us, out for a walk.  By the time we were done, all of us were sweaty and ready for one of Evie's hearty breakfasts.

Breakfast Photo By Peyton Burlingame
The previous evening, Evie had baked some potatoes, so the boys cut them up into squares, and Evie fried them adding a Vidalia onion.  She then got out a couple more frying pans, started the pound of bacon, toasted some bagels in the oven, then sauteed some spinach, before cracking eggs with it, making one of our favorites, spinach with fried eggs.  How she juggled the three or four pans at once is a wonder.  Peyton was so impressed he took a photo of the eggs, spinach and home fries with his iPhone.  By 1:00, we were outside despite the wind, enjoying a 'hearty' breakfast.  The boys loved the spinach with eggs, devoured it, along with the home fries and bagels.  It was nice, too, to  be able to eat outside, on our side lawn, so we could avoid the worst of the wind.
A Great Morning For Breakfast Al Fresco
The rest of the afternoon, we did out own thing, whether relaxing in the house, watching some soccer on TV, sunbathing, even taking a nap.  It was too windy to boat most of the afternoon, too cool to swim.  Around 4:00, I washed my car, then did some work on the bare spots on our lawn.  While I was doing this, Evie and the three boys, started a very competitive game of bean bag, playing two sets of best of three.  All three of the boys are getting quite good and are discovering that even though you may be way behind, because it's so hard to go out, it's easy to come back and win.  I think Evie ended up winning the most, of course.  She's the pro as long as she has a beer.


Nick
My Lovely Wife
We debated whether to take the boat over to the Casino for chicken wings and Evie won out.  So we fought our way through the choppy lake, taking our time, getting somewhat wet though we were smart enough to bring lots of towels.  We were one of only three or four boats on the lake, and there was only one other boat docked at the Casino.  Because it was a Sunday, early in the season, the Casino was not packed with people, so we were waited on quickly.

Wings At The Casino
The kinds of wings have changed drastically over the years, so we now have a choice of ten or 15 varieties.  The most popular and still the best are the medium hot, which most ordered.  They were as good as ever, and with two baskets of fries, we had three happy boys, one happy wife, and me.  And, as Nick knows, it was de riguer to walk down to the shops to get an ice cream cone before going home.
Heading Home, Full of Wings And Ice Cream
Chris Staying Warm
Captain Biff, BHAH
Our trip back was even more choppy then going to Bemus, as Chris hunkered down on the floor, wrapped in a blanket to stay dry and warm.  When we got near our dock, we were protected somewhat from the wind, so I was able to dock the boat easily.

We then spent the rest of the night watching the end The Lives Of Others, the movie we had started the night before.  And we talked them into watching the first episode of a teen series from the 1990's which Evie and I both loved called My So Called Life, with Claire Danes and Jarret Leto (both major stars now), when they were teenagers.  And they seemed to really like it, and wanted to watch more. Around 10:30, as we were going to go up to bed, Nick and Chris got the bright idea that it would be fun to jump in the cold, dark, and windy lake.  So out they went, jumped in and immediately climbed out, laughing at their craziness, how cold it was out in the wind.  That more or less ended the night as Peyton, Evie and I went up to bed but Chris and Nick refreshed from the swim, stayed up watching a movie on Netflix.

It's only 8:30 as I finish this; Peyton is out for a run,  Nick and Chris are still sleeping and Evie's in the kitchen, getting our sandwiches ready for our trip and organizing the fixings for pancakes when they wake up.  We hope to be off by 9:30 at the latest.

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