Well here we go again, off on another road trip. After doing this four times in the last three years, one would think we had enough, but there are so many things to see on this continent, that we are going exploring once again to find more treasures.

We put Poinciana in our rear view mirror once again on July 9th and headed out. Our first stop was Raleigh for some time with the kids. We then headed up to Massachusetts to get a tour of Scott's new/old house…new to him but built in 1839…and a visit with Max. We then moved on to Chatham, MA on Cape Cod where Steve played golf in Scott’s member/guest tournament at Eastward Ho. They did not win the tournament like they did last year, but Steve did win a $200 skin for being the only contestant to birdie one difficult hole. The weather in Cape Cod was fabulous…cool, crisp, and dry…everything that Florida is not at this time of year. And it was heaven.

Today we began our drive westward, off on another adventure. In our sights, Glacier National Park, in the US and in Canada, and a visit to Banff, Alberta, and Lake Louise, a destination once visited by my parents 60 years ago. I have always wanted to see the Canadian Rockies from the ground, and I am anticipating some incredible views. As always, I pray that we have a great trip, see some wonderful things, do things we have never done before, have fun, remain friends, and return safe and sound. And Lord, please hold my tongue, except when I am writing this blog.

So, the day began in Chatham at 7 AM and the temp was 71 degrees, and by 2:30 PM it was up to 91 degrees.   After kissing everyone good-bye, we began our drive westward to Buffalo, NY over the Mass Pike and the NY Thruway. The word for the day is TOLLS. And did we hit some…about $18 worth of tolls. Halfway across NY we decided to purchase an E-Z Pass which works in many states (but not Florida) and should make life a bit easier.

New England and the north east…so much to say about our old stomping grounds. The NE is a place where there is a Duncan Donuts on almost every corner, where license tags are affixed to both the front as well as the back of cars, where trees of every shade of green, deep and lush, line the highways and cover the rolling hills, where barns are red and the roads are bumpy, where the exit numbers don’t match the mile markers, and where dim cloudy days are common, rain is frequent and temps can range from 45 to 90 on any given day. But it is all too familiar to us and it feels like home.

We followed the Hudson River for a while, drove through the Berkshires, skirted the Catskills and took a brief visit of the Capitol Complex in Albany , NY. As is often the case, the Toyota GPS had us driving in circles and failed to have addresses in the correct cities. If not for my Iphone, we might still be trying to find our way out of Albany. But it was worth the confusion because we saw a very unique Capitol building. The architecture is Romanesque Revival, whatever that means. But it looks like something you would see in Europe…castle-like and very ornate. Of all of the capitol buildings we have visited, this one was truly unique to the US. Albany has changed a lot since I was last there in the early 80’s. And it appears to be for the better.

We traveled over 500 miles today and landed in Buffalo at 4:30 PM. Tomorrow we visit Niagara Falls, where Steve and I spent our honeymoon in February of 1970. We have visited this place a number of times over the years, and expect it to be as magnificent as always.