I Love New York/Virginia is for Lovers

The Rabbit Family drove up to New York on July 16 to visit family. It usually takes us about 11 hours to get to my parents' house. We tend to take a lot of breaks to use the restroom and stretch our legs out. We always stop for lunch at the Perkins in Hazelton, PA. It's become a tradition almost. Ran into some rain and the always-present construction driving up I-81 through Pennsylvania.

We spent Friday hanging out at my wife's parents' boat on Oneida Lake. It's defininately a lot cooler up in NY compared to the heat of Virginia. I know everyone in the northeast has complained about the lack of a summer but the cool air was actually refreshing for me. We played some putt-putt and otherwise just chilled out and relaxed. It was also my father-in-law's birthday so we had a little celebration for that.

Saturday was a nicer day weather-wise. We went down to the playground at my old elementary school. My son and I had some fun climbing trees in my parents' front yard when we got back. My wife left in the afternoon to drive to Rochester to visit her friends from when we used to live there. My son and I hung out at my parents and explored in the back yard. He really liked walking barefoot in the soft grass and checking out the local insects. Ate dinner on my parents' recently remodeled deck. They had a new composite deck put in to replace the old wooden deck. Turned out really nice. After dinner, we went to Nicky Doodles on Rt 365 out towards the Turning Stone Casino. They have some great soft serve ice cream that at a good price. My wife came home very late that night and wasn't feeling well. To make a long story short, we ended up going to the ER to have her checked out.

Back to the lake on Sunday. My wife felt better to start the day off. We went for a boat ride on Oneida Lake, stopped at Eddie's for some chocolate cream pie, and walked around Sylvan Beach. My MIL bought a souvenir t-shirt for Boo Jr. Later that afternoon, my wife started feeling pretty crappy again so we headed back to my parents' house. My son stayed with my inlaws (as was the plan) and slept on the boat that night.

Given how poorly my wife was feeling, we felt it was best to cut the trip short and head back home on Monday. It was heart wrenching the following morning when we went to pick my son up and tell him we were heading home. He cried about how we told him we were spending 10 days in NY and that he didn't have a chance to give Grampa and Doddin a hug goodbye. To try and make up for cutting the trip short, we made a detour in Hershey, PA to visit Chocolate World. I was pleasantly surprised to see that parking (first two hours) and the factory tour was free. We bought some souvenirs from there as well. That seemed to lift Boo Jr's spirits some. My wife felt OK on the drive home and was quite the trooper.

We made another decision on the fly to stay overnight in Winchester, VA and visit Luray Caverns the following morning. Staying overnight in the hotel was a big treat for Boo Jr. I'm glad we did the caverns as a side trip on the way home. Even though the caverns were great, I don't think it would be worth a 2+ hour trip in and of itself. We ended up getting in to Richmond around 5:00 on Tuesday, and Lisa was starting to feel really crappy again. That seemed to validate cutting our original trip plans short.

We did some additional things at home to make up for what we missed out in NY. One thing we did was go to the Richmond Zoo. It's always a treat to feed the giraffes and see all the other animals there.

My wife saw her doctor, and between her and the ER doctor in NY, they believe that my wife caught some food poisoning. Fortunately, my wife is now feeling much better.

So it was back to work today. My son was really upset this morning when I left. He always misses me when I'm at work, but especially so now after being home for 10 days.

I'll post some pictures in a future post.