Greetings from the Capital (of NY)

---

Happy Thanksgiving to All! We are happily ensconsed at Paul's parents' home in Albany, NY where it is warm inside, but very cold outside. One way to keep warm is to RAKE LEAVES! What fun we had raking with Charles; luckily for us he had extra rakes...probably a leftover from Paul's days at home. All leaves are collected and put into paper bags and left curbside. The city picks them up on garbage days. Joan & Charles took us on the Albany Grand Tour which included a trip to the fabulous state museum with its 9-11 exhibit (which Lexie & I had seen 2 yrs. ago) but just as meaningful to see again. Dave & Charles went up into the Corning Building 42 stories up, but I was grounded as I had no ID with me. Joan & I enjoyed a cup of coffee. We have been the happy recipients of Joan's wonderful cooking; she is a great cook! We will leave the motorhome here and rent a car which makes more sense in this weather. Talked to Abby yesterday and she is excited to see us and Timmy. We will stay in a hotel in Lake Placid...which was 7 degrees; it was the coldest place in the continental USA a couple of days ago. Jenn informs us that there will be 27 at our house for dinner. I guess it's a good thing that we will be elsewhere as I know we don't have enough chairs. Still, we will miss being with the whole group. Thank goodness we have Abby to share the holiday with. Well, this is our last planned stop. We will come back to Albany on Sunday, return the car, and start off Monday morning on a route that will take us south then west, all weather driven. We will still take the roads less traveled, but we'll be mindful of the winter conditions. We wish you all a bountiful Thanksgiving with blessings of being with family and friends. We all have so much to be thankful for and you are all a big part of what we are thankful for. love, DWT

---