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| The fall leaves were falling fast, but occasionally we'd find a colorful tree! |
Returning to Florida after the cruises was somewhat bittersweet. It was great seeing everyone, especially NaNa who continues to amaze us with her wonderful attitude and sense of humor. It also gave us a firsthand look at the damage left behind from Hurricane's Helene and Milton. It had been several weeks since the storms had hit, and an extensive cleanup was underway. While there was quite a bit of loss of "stuff", all family and friends are safe and that's what matters! It's a long slow process, but the cleanup and restoration efforts are continuing and will be for quite some time.
Ben was wrapping up the camping season up in New York. Shortly after the season closed at the end of October, he was scheduled to attend the annual corporate meeting which was being held in Knoxville. He was needing someone to help by taking care of his sweet dog Allie. Beth and I were happy to help out.
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| She's a sweet dog, but she does shed a lot. Using the vacuum cleaner was a new trick.......it worked a little and she loved it! |
We had the opportunity to spend a bit of time with Ben before he headed to Knoxville, enjoy Allie and catch the last bit of fall in the Southern Tier region of New York. We didn't do anything significant in the two weeks we were in Endwell. There was a trip to the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, a couple of local community theater plays that we enjoyed and almost daily walks in some of the local parks, where the last of the colorful leaves were falling as the temperatures were also dropping.
Corning Museum of Glass
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| If you're in the Corning area, check out the Corning Museum of Glass......... |
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| The museum features great displays and demonstrations. |
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| Celebrating Beth's Birthday at the Cider Mill. It was Ben's treat to Beth and he was kind enough to let me tag along! |
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| Chenango Valley State Park |
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| The leaves in the state park had mostly fallen, but it was a great walk. |
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| Allie enjoyed a couple of walks in Binghamton's Otsiningo City Park. |
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| Post walk relaxing while Beth and I played a game of Scrabble (I lost......again) |
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| Ben and I took in a little high school football playoff action New York style. It was a very entertaining game that the local team won in the last minute. |
We were thrilled to learn from Ben that his park (Binghamton Jellystone) had won the top award for activities based on guest satisfaction surveys. This was quite a great honor to be named the #1 park out of 77 parks across the US and Canada.
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| Being recognized at the annual symposium! |
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| Well deserved! |
Ben is able to work remotely for a period of time once the park closes. He was very fortunate that he was able to find someone to take care of Allie until the end of the year. He flew back with us to Florida where we enjoyed Thanksgiving before heading out on the Great American Road Adventure............stay tuned!
