An Unplanned Adventure

This past weekend turned out to be a blast, yet nothing that happened had been planned.  My original plan was to drive up to my father's house in the Catskills to visit with him and my sister Carole who is in America for the month of August from her home in England.  I took a suit with me as I planned to drive my father down to Summit, NJ on Saturday to attend a funeral and then drive him back up the Catskills the same day.

Well, my father wanted none of my assistance.  Even though driving is a struggle for him, and a round trip drive to Summit and back with a funeral in between would make for a very long day, he insisted on doing it himself.  He fears that if he starts giving in to offers of driving assistance, he will quickly lose his mobility entirely.  He left Saturday around 11am and Carole and I just crossed our fingers that everything would turn out OK.  She and I decided to run to town to get the fixings for a gourmet dinner -- swordfish steaks, fresh corn-on-the cob and Russet potatoes.  We got back to the house around 2pm and the afternoon was spent reading and reminiscing about our childhood.

As we were beginning to get dinner started, I received a phone call from my partner telling me he was done with the airplane for the weekend.  Due to unfortunate timing during her previous visits, Carole had never gotten a chance to fly with me.  I asked if she would be interested in taking a flight the next day and she jumped at the chance.  We decided to eat and then drive down to my house in Bedford that evening, take a trip in the morning on Sunday and then I would drop her back off in the Catskills in the afternoon.  Our meal was fantastic and we hit the road about 7:30pm.

The sun was low in the sky as we left, but it was still quite warm.  I had the top down on the M3 as it was a beautiful summer evening for a drive.  The road along the Delaware River from Barryville to Port Jervis is a two-lane winding affair that is wonderful at highlighting the superior handling of the BMW M3.  Since we were not in a hurry, I decided to avoid highways as much as possible and take the scenic route home. After a brief ride on 84 East and 17 East, we took the Bear Mountain Parkway to the Bear Mountain Bridge and then route 202 and route 35.  Traffic was light and we made it home in about 2 hours.

Kelsey and Dave Flynn at Sand Bar & Grill

My daughter Kelsey and her boyfriend were there when we got home and the four of us decided that a day trip to Martha's Vineyard was in order.  We left the airport around 11am and arrived at MVY around noon.  The flight was made in "severe clear" conditions with unlimited visibility.  I think Carole truly enjoyed the ride.  We took the public bus to Oak Bluffs (only $2) and had lunch at the Sand Bar & Grill. We toured the streets and shops and got ice cream at the Carousel Ice Cream shop where a "child size" cone is two large scoops -- I can't imagine what the "large" must be.  It was time to head back to the airport for our trip to Sullivan County Airport (MSV) to drop off Carole. My father and about 25 locals met us at the airport.  The locals were a Hasidic group that come up to the Catskills from the city on weekends and enjoy bringing the children to the airport to watch planes. They get very excited about arrivals and they made us feel like we were important!  Very funny.

We arrived back at White Plains airport around 6pm and headed immediately to a neighbors barbecue for some of the best pulled pork and spare ribs I've had in ages.  It was the perfect end to a fantastic weekend!  And totally different than I'd thought on Friday -- perhaps that added to my enjoyment.