On the Road Again

Ashley and i had originally planned to head to NY in late July, but my grandfather's rapidly declining health had us rethinking that plan. We headed up this past Thursday on the 14th after lunch. We drove 540 miles up through DC, Baltimore, Harrisburg PA, and Binghampton before hitting Albany around midnight. Ashley and i visited my grandfather briefly in the hospital. He is going to have to be placed in a hospice care facility, and not be able to go home to be taken care of, much to his growing disappointment. Under his suggestion and that of my gathered family, we made the best of our time there in NY.
We hit a wonderful tiny Italian place on New Scotland Ave, Pasqualle's, for pizza. We went out to Rensellaer to see a few of my father's aunts, whose only flaw is that they have a propensity for calling me Tommy. We stayed the weekend at my Aunt Betty and Uncle Pat's (mom's sister and brother-in-law). i briefly came down with a horrible stomach bug that passed in a day or so, which i probably picked up from the hospital. Ashley and i drove around Albany and the surrounding area and even made it up to Thatcher Park, which was beautiful. We stopped on the way and got wonderful ice cream at Ross's, this little stand with umbrellas and flowers. We got dinner out at another Italian place with Betty and Pat and a tour of the city. We also saw The Painted Veil, which was decent.
Sunday morning, Ashley and i got Brunch with my Aunt Sue and Uncle Gary (dad's sister and brother-in-law) at the 76 Diner. i got one of my favorite treats, their enormous Blueberry muffins. YUM! We then hit the road with my mother's brother to give him a ride down as far as DC and we got back to Richmond around 10:30 last night. It was a bit of a long trip and hard to see my grandfather in such low health and spirits, but i was glad to see him and the family. The weather was beautiful though for all the exploring we did between visits and we'll head back to get to Lake George for a day on the water as soon as we can.