Week 1

28 April, Tuesday, Hudson, NH to Syrcuse, NY: We left home on this sunny morning, and our first stop was at the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, MA. There we donated a box of my Bubbe Altke's Yiddish books and a picture done in Yiddish Calligraphy. We didn't have time for a tour of the Center, but will do that another time. We drove on the highway as far as Albany. From there we took Route 20 to Cazenovia...a nostalgia drive recalling the trips we made along that route when Buzz was at Cornell. We arrived in Syracuse to a warm welcome from our sister-in-law Dorothy and Bill Shuff. We all went out to dinner with Buzz's sister, Jean, and her son, Alan. After dinner we went back to the "Shuff B&B" for coffee and dessert as an early birthday celebration for Buzz. It was good to spend time with a contingent of the Brody family.

29 April, Wednesday, Syracuse, NY to Springfield, OH: More beautiful weather. We said our "thank-yous" and "good-byes" and headed west. We traveled along Lake Erie and then southwest. We stopped at several antique shops...didn't buy...had our usual picnic lunch at a rest area, and made our way to Springfield, OH where we spent the night. Ate a delicious BBQ dinner at Rudy's, and had enough leftover for our picnic tomorrow. Spring is much further along here than at home.

30 April, Thursday, Springfield, OH to Columbia, MO: We are really enjoying driving in this beautiful weather. I called my sister this morning to give her birthday greetings. Modern technology is such fun. I keep in touch by phone, Facebook, email, and have a WhatsApp group with our daughters and Ami. The landscape is not as flat as I had anticipated. There are undulating hills and trees in full leaf. Buzz is enjoying the 70-75 MPH speed limits! Antique malls beckon, and we stop occasionally. The best purchase we have made is a bottle of windex and a microfiber cloth. We clean the windshield of bugs a couple of times a day!

1 May, Friday, Columbia, MO to Salina, KS: The landscape has gotten flatter. Buzz says its like the Australian outback with more trees. It feels like you can see forever as you look at the road ahead. There is an occasional oil field and some huge wind farms with turbines too numerous to count. We stopped in the small town of Altamont where there are four antique stores, a gun shop, a bakery and not much else! The late afternoon found us in Salina. We made the first mistake of the trip and used a coupon for an Econolodge. The place was a dump! The redeeming feature of Salina was Martinelli's Little Italy where we had an excellent meal.

2 May, Saturday, Salina, KS to Denver, CO: We awoke to a cool breeze and some rain this morning. We packed the car and were on our way by 8am. The landscape is even flatter. There are miles of fields in every direction. Farmers are plowing and planting. My favorite sign of the day said: "One Kansas farmer feeds 155 people and you." We stopped to have our picnic at the rest area in Arriba, CO. We were surprised to learn it is pronounced AIR-uh-buh by the locals. The area is known as the prairie land of Colorado. I didn't expect such flat land in Colorado. Even though the day remained cloudy and it rained intermittently, our first view of the snow capped Rocky Mountains as we began our ascent toward Denver was awesome. We checked in to a lovely hotel, and I did laundry while Buzz just relaxed. This evening we had a quick meal and attended a solo cello concert in a church. The cellist is a "new agey" kind of guy hoping to save the world through music. He played non-stop for about an hour. I found the continuous music very relaxing, Buzz not so much. He is such a good sport about these things.

3 May, Sunday, Denver: We went to a synagogue street fair this morning at B'nai Havura, a small Reconstructionist congregation. There were some nice crafts and the requisite piano performance by an 8 yer old congregant. I took their bulletin for ideas! then we drove to Loveland. Buzz went to a gun show, and I found a nail salon...even the mundane is important. Back at our hotel, it was time for a nap for Buzz while I figured out how to import my photos to iphoto on my new laptop. We capped off our stay in Denver with dinner at Max's Wine Dive. The delicious food and excellent service should bode well for our friend Jon Horowitz and his partners. Tomorrow we head for Moab, UT.