Trip to see Jeff

We had a great, if whirlwind, trip to visit Jeff & Shannon last weekend. We left at 5:30 PM Friday, only an hour or so later than we had hoped/planned. We stopped for dinner in Davison with great-grandparents, then drove another three hours to stop at a hotel in Ontario. Since neither James nor Maggie were falling asleep in the car, despite it approaching midnight, and Mom and Dad were falling asleep, it seemed prudent to stop short of our original goal of Niagara.

We didn't get a very early start in the morning. We woke at 7:45, but getting everyone organized, fed and out of the hotel took until 9:30 AM. Then, another hour down the road, we reached Niagara Falls so of course we had to stop. We kept the stop to an hour, but hustled the kids from the parking lot down the viewing sidewalk, and back again. Maybe a future trip will allow for more sightseeing.

Since I didn't have any Canadian quarters, the kids couldn't use this gadget, but they still had fun trying.

Back on the road, we crossed back to the US around noon and were dismayed to realize just how wide New York really is. Finally pulled into Jeff's and Shannon's a bit after 8 PM. Ready to be done driving.

We went out for an evening walk around campus and the kids had a blast. Other faculty families were out and about, and the kids made quick friends with an exuberant young dog named Friday. They also discovered the piles of outdoor kids' toys left as semi-communal property by other staff families. They tore around the quad on the scooters, played chase and fetch with the dog, and generally ran 14 hours of car time out of their bodies before a late bedtime.

Sunday, Jeremy and Jeff took John and Maggie on a short  hike while James and Helen slept in. After a nice brunch, courtesy of the dining hall, we all took a longer hike up Mount Sugarloaf. Jeff had been told it was "90 minutes maximum, round-trip." Apparently his informant wasn't walking with 4 young kids going in different directions at all times. Also, not sure that we found the most direct route to the top. Still, had a nice walk and enjoyed the views from the top - 270 degree panoramas from the observation tower. Was good exercise and pretty scenery, but felt a bit wrong to call the peak a "Mount" when it was less than 900 feet elevation.  :)

Next, we went to a corn maze. Good fun for all, though John and Maggie were more excited about getting pony rides. I didn't have my camera out for that stop, so maybe Jeff will supply photos later. Finally, we stopped at Bub's BBQ  for dinner. It's tagline was "Pig out in style" and it was exactly the kind of hole-in-the wall you might imagine from those two  pieces of information. Still, food was pretty good. Uncle Jeff must be slowing down as he gets old, because after that, we called it a day, and had the kids tucked in bed before 9 PM!

Monday, we spent a long time touring campus with Jeff. We helped him water plants in his student lab, saw the old cemetery, mooched a ride on the groundskeeper's golf cart for John and Maggie, and other fun stuff. We had a late lunch in the dining hall again. (A person could get used to having someone else cook and clean up after every meal - it was like the best parts of college living.)

James really liked the campus tour, especially what he saw in Uncle Jeff's lab, which included some biology, physics, and engineering special projects. He asked me when he would be able to enroll here as a student. ("Um... sorry, but ... true answer is - never. Unless, perhaps, Uncle Jeff can adopt you to get the faculty rate.")

Denise was a very friendly groundskeeper,

The kids love posing for photos when they can clown around.

John's attachment to the scooters on campus was a bit unnatural.

Jeff tried to show the kids how the sundial worked. Would have been easier if we had seen any sun. James was still pondering it, apparently.

On the "green roof" of the newly built,m LEED-certified science building where Jeff works.

A dormitory on campus.

A different style building - another dormitory.

Finally we got organized to tour a couple of the museum homes of historic Deerfield. As far as I can tell, the  entire town/village consists only of museum buildings, school buildings, extra homes for faculty housing, and the post office, church, and inn (closed for renovations after floods). Very quiet place. We toured a house restored to styles of mid-1700s to late 1800s (different eras in different rooms). We weren't the best tourists; the poor docent became a bit flustered by the kids' unique style of zone offense. Their questions and comments were rapid-fire and apparently random in order. At least the were engaged. The docent remarked when we finished that our 30-minute tour had somehow lasted for 60 minutes.

Next the kids got to try carding and weaving at the hands-on shop. All went well until the 60-ish woman bully pushed John out of line - twice - leading to him not getting a turn with the coping saw before closing. I was really quite proud of him for handling it well - to a point - but a 4-year-old has his limits. The inevitable tantrum was stemmed by a quick cell-phone call to Grandpa Glen who promised to bring his coping saw for John to try when we got back. Whew! 

Maggie carding wool

and James, too

Maggie tries weaving at the loom

And there is a glimpse of the bully, top right

Jeremy helps John in the woodworking shop

Intent on their work. John has the rasp while waiting (in vain) for a turn with the coping saw that Maggie is using. Ooh, look, in the background, behind Jenny, there is the bully again.

The restaurant we enjoyed Monday night.

We wrapped up the visit with a nice dinner out at The People's Pint - good local food with unique but tasty menu items. Since it was a brewery, the adults tried the house beers, and the kids got the house-brewed root beer. We finished with expensive but very tasty desserts (flourless chocolate cake; chocolate peppermint cloud cake; apple crisp). The real icing on the cake, though (so to speak) was when Jeff & Shannon told the kids about a new baby expected in April. They were very excited! Then back for bed (for the kids) while we packed up the car and Jeff had dorm duty.

Tuesday morning we crept away in the dark, on the road by 6:45 AM. The kids were understandably a bit grumpy at the early departure. John complained that we never got a chance to go swimming, even though we brought suits. Maggie complained that we never got to out to an ice cream shop, even though I had said we could on the way out. (We did just run out of time in our 2 fun-packed days.) James immediately piped in with his own gripe, though I can't recall  now what it was. 

Fortunately, the moods improved with a few hours and breakfast. Maggie told me at the first rest stop, "Mom. this was the best vacation I have ever had!" Not a bad rating for such a quick trip! I asked her why and she reeled off all the good things (I believe in her increasing order of importance): "I got to go to [through] Canada for the first time, it was my first time ever in New York or Massachusetts, I got to see Niagara Falls, I got to take TWO hikes in the mountains, I got to ride a pony, I got to play with the dogs and scooters, I got to see Uncle Jeff and Aunt Shannon, and I got to find out that we are getting a new cousin!" (Without a doubt, this last item pushed this trip into rock star status for her.)


We pushed hard all day, and the kids were troopers. The MP3 players loaded up with audiobooks helped. We arrived home at 9:15 PM, even despite a wrong turn at Port Huron that cost us a half hour or so. (Better signs definitely are in order there!)

A great time was had by all. We were gone 100 hours, and spent only about 28 of those in the car!