On September 26th, Cindy and I returned to Beatitude II after a stint of working in Wisconsin and visiting family in Ohio. We were happy to have a couple of more days to visit with our son and his wife, and our grandson, James. The first day back, we were blessed to spend the entire day babysitting James while his parents worked. We cherished every moment we were able to be with him.

Yia Yia and James

Playing ball with Pappous

Being entertained by Pappous

Thursday, the 28th, marked the end of my 59th trip around the sun. We celebrated with a drive up into the Adirondack Mountains of northern New York. Although, we were hoping to see some brilliant fall colors, Mother Nature would not cooperate. Surprisingly, the colors were barely changing. I think we were two weeks too early. Nonetheless, the mountain vistas were beautiful. We stopped in Lake Placid, home to two Winter Olympics and the site of the Miracle on Ice in the 1982 games, for lunch.

Adirondack Lake

Olympic Training Facility in Lake Placid; Two Impressively-High Ski Jumps

Our Lunchtime View of Mirror Lake in Lake Placid

Italian Restaurant on Mirror Lake

Downtown Lake Placid

Driving through the Adirondacks

The Highest Peaks of the Adirondacks in the distance, including the 5,344 ft. high, Mt. Marcy

Another Adirondack Lake

Beauty surrounded by beauty.

The ride through the Adirondacks took most of the day. We returned to Albany just before 6 p.m., where we met with Jeremiah, Francesca, and James for a birthday dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. We enjoyed a good meal and treasured our last moments with our grandbaby. The next morning, we would leave for western New York.

Fran, James, and Jeremy at my Cheesecake Factory Birthday Celebration

Cherishing our last few moments with James

About to have some birthday cheesecake