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Published: March 12th 2014
Enjoying My Visits with Mom
for the 7 weeks I was back in the US.On January 13
thJanice left from Heathrow and flew to Albany, NY via Charlotte to visit family for 7 weeks. Bob stayed in London living on Tsamaya and worked on some boat projects. Just like any house there is always work to get done and never enough time. The problem with major boat projects is that you're living and working in the same space. With Janice away Bob was able to tear the boat part and not have to put it back together every night.
Fortunately when Janice landed in Albany the weather was not bad and she quickly got back in to driving everywhere. As with previous visits back to the states getting Dr. appointments out of the way and checking things off our the shopping list consumes a great deal of time. Although we can buy almost everything in London we find it to be very expensive here. A part for the boat was $147 when purchased in the States. If purchased in London it would've been 153 British pounds. Now that doesn’t sound like much difference until you realize that a British pound is worth 67%!m(MISSING)ore than the US dollar (153 British pounds equals approximately $255). Also
Getting Through the Separation
is so much better with the ability to Skype daily! there are some things you cannot find in England for example; hot dog relish and vanilla flavored coffee mate (one of Bob’s personal favorites). The result of all of this is that although Janice returned to the United States with one suitcase she would be returning with two filled to their 50 pound each limit.
Janice has been spending quite a bit of time visiting with her Mom and doing what she can to help out while there. Janice enjoyed cooking a few times with Mom as we worked at getting a few meals put away in her freezer. Janice also had a chance on the warmer days to go out for lunch with Mom a couple of time which was fun. It was enjoyable to get Mom out for something other than a doctor’s appointment thanks to the weather cooperating. At the senior residence apartments where Mom is living they have monthly dinners and weekly bingo games. A couple of times they needed help with serving the meals so Janice volunteered to do this. Janice found out that Mom has quite a bit of luck as she was the big winner and walked away with $15 one day
The Local Horse Farm
is quite picturesque in this winter scene. we played bingo.
Most of the time has been spent in upstate NY in the Saratoga/Albany NY area, but did manage to make a quick but wonderful trip out to the Finger Lakes area to visit some of our friends. It was a whirlwind trip, but between Saturday afternoon and Monday morning she was able to connect with quite a few. The weekend started off with some winter driving for the first hour, fortunately the weather cleared and the rest of the trip went smoothly. She had a lovely visit and overnight with Mary and Henry whom we first met through Bob at South Seneca School. Sunday started with a visit with a few of our neighbors from Trumansburg – she really appreciated them getting together at one home allowing her to catch up with as many people as possible in her short time there. After a great brunch there she headed down to Cayuga Lake to enjoy lunch and great conversation with Anna and Heinz, friends from our TYC days sailing on Cayuga Lake. The hours flew by quickly and before she knew it she was back in the car and driving to Dan and Kay’s place in
One of Those Snowy Days
in upstate NY - pretty but cold. time for Dan’s birthday dinner and enjoyed a great visit with friends and their family. On Monday she had an appointment in Syracuse to work on taxes but on her way she stopped in Ithaca to have breakfast with Cathy & Eileen. For many years Janice enjoyed walking with these two at lunch time, it was a great break from the work that always piled up on the desk. Janice made it to her appointment in Syracuse by noon and left again about 2PM for the drive back to her sister’s house where she has been staying. She wants to thank everyone for such a wonderful time visiting. It is always so nice to come back to have a chance to catch up with our friends in the TBurg area.
Thanks to her sister Barb, she did get a chance to see some of the areas that she had not been to in a long time. They took a day trip down along the Hudson River as far south at Hyde Park. The scenery was beautiful and they even had a chance to tour FDR’s home, Springwood, which was very informative and a great way to spend the day.
Mary & Henry
are always excellent host -thanks for the great evening & hospitality as always. Another day they took a ride up to the Lake George and Bolton Landing area which she hadn’t been to for a long time. It was beautiful to see the mountains surrounding the lake, even in the winter!
A real bonus came near the end of Janice’s stay as she re-connected with a cousin she hadn’t seen in a very long time. Nancy was able to travel up from Texas before Janice returned to London so they had a large family gathering with lots of her relatives on her mother’s side of the family. It was great to have had this opportunity to catch up with all of them again. Thanks Nancy for making the effort to travel north, especially in winter!
Thanks have to go to Peter and Barb for opening up their home to Janice for these 7 weeks. We do know how our lifestyle of cruising and not having a home back in the US makes it difficult for those back in the US as we always need to find a place to live when visiting. Thanks for your flexibility and hospitality in letting Janice stay with you this year!
The time went all
Friends In TBurg
were great in having a group gathering so I could see more of them as my time there was short - thanks so much! too fast in one way as she thoroughly enjoyed catching up with family and friends, but in another way it seemed a very long time to be separated from Bob as this was the longest we have been apart. Thankfully the ability to Skype each other was a big help, we typically talked to each other twice each day. Of course this meant that Bob normally didn’t get to bed until two in the morning London time, a small price to pay.
Janice's original plans were to leave NY on Monday, March 3
rd, but the storm named Titan had other plans. Fortunately for her both flights had weather advisories so she was able to postpone the flights for one day so she didn’t get stuck sitting in an airport along the way or have to pay for the change of flight.
The first leg of the journey was from Albany to Philadelphia which fortunately didn’t get as much snow as had been predicted. The plane actually left the ground at Philadelphia ahead of schedule and with over 55 mile per hour tailwinds the pilot was able to shorten the journey to London by a full hour. As we
A Great Lunch & Visit
with our sailing friends, Anna & Heinz - thanks! came over England it was so good to be able to look down and see fields of green instead of the white snow that she had left back in the US. Bob met her at Heathrow in order to help Janice back to the marina with the two fifty pound bags of luggage that she returned with. On the hour long tube ride back to the center of London it was great to see the flowering trees in bloom and the green grass everywhere. How nice it was to return to spring and of course best of all Bob!
What did Bob do during this 7 week period? Fortunately we have made many friends in the marina and he received quite a few invitations over for dinner or to go out to the local pub for a brew and of course those traditional fish and chips. One day Bob went out with a couple of friends to the Royal Air Force Museum which he thoroughly enjoyed. It was filled with a wide variety of airplanes and he learned more about the history of these planes and the Royal Air Force. Janice came back to see that quite a bit
Taughannock Falls
is beautiful no matter what the season - this was no exception! of woodwork in the galley and our new teak cockpit table had been varnished while she was away. Many of the other jobs that were done were important to be done but are not easily seen. The mixing elbow on the engine was removed, cleaned and replaced. More “fun” was removing, cleaning and replacing the heat exchanger. Our family car, the dinghy, had been losing air, so repairs were done to that too as we will need to depend on it this season for getting back and forth to shore. Many of the electrical breakers were reorganized in the electrical panel and work had to be done to try to diagnose some problems with our chart plotter. Work still continues on that one. The sail cover had been damaged so the sewing needles came out for the repairs to be completed. The Chinese New Year occurred while Janice was away so Bob checked out the festivities, but it was so crowded that he didn’t stay too long. The cruisers here in St. Katharine Docks meet each Monday morning for coffee and exchanging ideas so Bob made it these each week. We belong to an organization, Cruising Association, which offers numerous
Feeling Welcome at a Birthday
family celebration - thanks for making me feel so welcome & your hospitality - Dan & Kay seminars and talks in London. Janice would have liked to attend, but had to miss out on these – fortunately Bob made it to the talks on cruising in the Baltic as well as in the French Canals.
Janice took the first couple of days back in London to catch up on sleep, but now is enjoying being back in the city with all that it has to offer. The other day we went to the visitor center to check on what the offerings are for the month of March – will have to check it out and plan out what we want to see before we leave here the end of this month.
The plan currently is to leave the center of London and head to another marina further south for a few weeks. We will then start seriously checking the weather to see when we will want to start our sailing season and head over to the Netherlands and then on to the Baltic. Time will tell and as always we will keep you posted on our journey.
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