We had planned to head back to Boston for a couple of weeks in August to catch up with family and friends, ride in the ADA Tour de Cure for Diabetes, and go to a bunch of doctor and dentist appointments we’d set up before we left in April.
As things turned out, we extended our stay by a couple of weeks, since daughter Ariana needed thyroid surgery and we wanted to be there to help out after that. We added two weeks in case recovery was longer than expected, but things went very well, so we were able to squeeze in most of a week in Ithaca visiting Ben’s sister’s family there.
In addition, we had to repair a bunch of things that decided to break just as we arrived: a car tire that clipped a curb, a kitchen disposal, and the cables for the garage door. And Ben added a number of unplanned doctor visits to check out some things – all OK in the end, fortunately.
The bike ride was great. We had a team of five and raised a ton of money. Thanks to everyone who contributed! The weather was perfect and we got to chat with old friends and make some new ones.
We went out to dinner several times with old friends, and Ben also got to attend a few networking events where he caught up with some of his business colleagues. Kathy also got together with her own friends (both named Barbara, but neither called that).
The first two weeks we lived in the guest room at our house – Ross, Hollie, and Noah are living there while their house is being renovated (major surgery!). Noah was between summer camp and school, so they dashed off for a few days in Michigan to visit friends there, and the next week Noah went off to “Club Fred”, Hollie’s dad’s place (with cousins and a pool).
Ariana had her surgery on September 1, so we moved over to her place for the rest of our Boston-area time. All went well, though she did get some swelling that led to a long day in the ER to learn that it was all fine.
So after Ben had one final medical “procedure” on the 8th, we rented a car and headed off to Ithaca.
In Ithaca we stayed in the Lake House with Celia and Dan. We had hopes of doing some sailing, but the weather report said we’d have one good day followed by rain for the rest, so we decided that schlepping them down and back up the driveway would not be worth it for just that day. Of course the weather report was totally wrong and there was only the slightest bit of rain. Ah well.
So we focused our activities on hiking (around Stewart Park and the Fall Creek area, and hiking up from lower Treman falls), and kayaking (up to Taughannock, and down to Willow Creek Point). Ithaca has its share of great flora, and we also saw a few birds of note – many mergansers, a little green heron, and a few kingfishers.
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