Author: mchazen

What a strange day.

The reader probably needs a little context here, so let’s rewind the tape. . . 

My grandparents lived in Buffalo, New York.  Grandparents on my mother’s side were gone before I was born.  On my father’s side, after many years of hard work and saving, my grandparents bought the Norwalk Avenue house and lived there for many years.  After World War II, a distant cousin, Erwin, lived with them and worked in the family business.  To support the family, Grandpa rented space in the Broadway Market where he retailed bread and other baked goods.  With determination and a little luck, the business provided a good living for my grandparents and Erwin.  For two summers during my pre-teen years, I lived in Buffalo with my grandparents, worked in the business and learned the fundamentals of capitalism.  It was pretty basic stuff — buy the bread, sell the bread, count the money and pay the bills.  On a good day, there was a little money left for profit.  During my many years of corporate life, surprisingly few executives understood this concept.  But that’s a discussion for another day. . .

Around mid-morning, we left the coach for Buffalo.  The first stop was my grandparents house and I was happy to find the house and neighborhood were being maintained.  We then headed for the Broadway Market via the daily bus route I took as a kid.  What a disappointment.  The once prosperous neighborhoods now contained boarded-up crack houses and abandoned businesses.  Except for the building itself, there was nothing familiar about the Broadway Market.  The character of the market I knew was gone and in the interest of personal safety we quickly left the area.

Next stop was the cemetery to locate my grandparents.  Not really knowing where they were buried, we started to a systematic search that yielded nothing after two hours.  By now, it was time to meet my uncle Marvin, aunt Dorthy and cousin Morrie at their tennis club.  Hopefully, they could give us a clue where to find the missing grandparents.

I was very glad to spend some time with my family and the visit certainly revealed new insights into the early years of my parents marriage.  Between the documents mom kept and conversations with family members, I can now piece together why my father abruptly left Buffalo.  This one visit today clarified some issues and I am now satisfied the truth has been revealed.  There is no doubt Dad made the right decision to leave Buffalo and I am forever in his debt.

After the visit, we returned to the cemetery and Jeanne eventually located the missing grandparents.  I now know where they are and have pictures of the headstones.  So much for a day of nostalgia.  A word of warning for readers who want to poke into their family history: there can be snakes in the woodpile.

We returned to the coach, grilled some chicken and went for a walk.  The grounds were much larger than we thought and include a lake, playgrounds, restaurant and group camping areas.  On our walk, we helped some campers free a snake from the trunk of their car.  Another warning: don’t use the trunk of your car to transport firewood, there can be snakes in the woodpile.

The trip to Buffalo was a two-day drive along I-90 through the Mohawk valley and along the Erie Canal.

There is a lot of history associated with this region of New York, which includes several Revolutionary War battles between British, Indians and Americans.  Driving along the Mohawk river, it is easy to see why the area was important.  The river valley was the best way to access a region that included abundant natural resources and the promise of rich farmlands.  It was certainly an area worth fighting over.  Although much of the countryside has been cleared for farming, there is enough vegetation to see that it had been a dense forest that was perfect for hiding troop movements.  Fighting here must have had its unique challenges.

Herkimer "Diamond" mine. The diamonds are really high clarity quartz.

Jeanne at campground at Herkimer, New York. Stream in background is a tributary to Mohawk river. Watch out for Indians!

We spent the night at a KOA near the small town of Herkimer, New York, close to a “Diamond Mine” that is really a deposit of high clarity quartz.  The campground was situated next to a slow-flowing creek that was perfect for kids floating on inner tubes.  The countryside here is a mix between farms and woodlands and the town looks like it has seen better days.  Not wanting to cook, we headed for Herkimer and randomly picked a small Italian restaurant.  It turned out the owner was from the same Buffalo neighborhood where my grandparents lived.  We visited through the entire meal.  Small world.  So-so meal.

On the second day of the drive, we woke early and got our workout out of the way before hitting the road.  The day turned into an uneventful drive along good roads through pretty countryside.  Slowly, the hills of central New York turned into rolling farmland in the western part of the state.  In the late afternoon, we pulled into a campground near the small town of Akron, New York.  The campground is big and includes a small lake.  The amenities are few (30 amp service, no cable, dump station only), but this is do-able for the few days we’ll be here.

The RV park was a little odd, there were no formal campsites.  Instead there was a big open grassy area with power-poles and water hookups.  I was a little suspicious since there were water puddles scattered about.  With a motorhome that weighed 31,000 pounds, any soft surface is a disaster waiting to happen.

We carefully picked the driest area we could find and prepared the rig for a multi-day stay.

This turned into one of those really busy days.

Out intention was to do our workout in the morning, but it had rained overnight and the campground was a mess.  Time for Plan B, which was to catch up on paperwork and plan our next move.

Around 11:00 AM, the Jeep was ready.  We dropped off the rental car and after a not-too-satisfying consumer experience, liberated the Jeep.  With new tires and the oil leaks fixed, the Jeep is in great shape.  Hopefully, that will be the last of the repairs for a while.

The rest of the day was spent running errands.

Overall, we had a great time in Springfield visiting with family and catching up with friends.  However, it is time to move on and we’re focused on driving across the state to Buffalo.

Suzi was at it again in the kitchen and whipped up some blueberry pancakes from scratch.  Good stuff.

It was time to move on.  Howard and Suzi were very gracious hosts and we very much appreciated the time we spent at their home.  We genuinely had a great time and enjoyed all the comforts of home.  We spent the morning packing up our things, doing some last minute laundry and saying our goodbyes.  Around noon we headed for the coach.

Suzi at home relaxing with knitting.

Howard, Suzi and Alex.

We had not spent much time at the coach and really needed the time to prepare for the road.  The first stop was a nearby Walmart Supercenter to stock up on food and supplies.  We had let the food run low since we expected to be away from the coach for a few days.  We used what was left of the day for the usual hit-the-road stuff that includes washing the windshield, check the oil, check the tires, determine how to wiggle the coach out of the campsite, etc.

Contemporary note:  Jeanne became very adept at guiding me into and out of campsites.  This is trickier than you would think — the guide has to stay in the view of the rear-view mirrors, anticipate the position of the rig and guide the driver using hand signals.  The goal is to park the coach close to the hookups, on level ground, straight in relation to the campsite and avoid any trees or bushes.  It is an art and requires total trust between driver and guide.  

This was a lazy kick-back day.

Our morning workout included a run through the local neighborhood that included shaded streets and gentle grades.  It was nice to run on asphalt for a change.

We caught up on correspondence, updated the computers, took a nap and generally enjoyed the day.  Howard and Suzi had some paperwork and chores to attend to.

That evening, Suzi and Jeanne dined at a fancy new restaurant and rented a Julia Roberts chick-flick to see at home.  Howard, Alex and I went to a movie with some friends to see I, Robot — a great action movie with a good kill ratio.

This was one of those good news and bad news days.

Several months ago, we began to notice a small amount of oil had been leaking from the Jeep.  Since we were going to spend some time in Springfield, it was an opportunity to have the leaks repaired and to perform some other routine service on the Jeep.  We dropped off the Jeep in the morning and in the afternoon, we got “The Call”.  Bottom line, there are three leaks, all fixable, but we would have to hold onto the rental car over the weekend.  No problem.  Jeanne had to make some changes in our schedule, but it should be do-able.  At least the work is covered by the extended warranty.

Howard was working and Suzi had to pick up Alex from computer school, so we spent the afternoon at their house catching up on paperwork, scheduling the next several weeks, updating the computers and doing laundry.  Spending the day at the house was a godsend and we really got a lot done.

That evening, in another stunning display of her culinary skill, Suzi prepared a BBQ pork loin that had been in marinade for what seemed like three weeks.  What a feed!  No knife was needed.  Thankfully the table was cleared before I lost all self-control and schnorked down what was left.  The blueberry cake dessert was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

During dinner, Alex gave a full report on his computer seminar.  The classes were interesting and beneficial.  Surely the information he picked up will help him understand and use computer equipment.

The ping-pong tournament commenced immediately after dinner and East thromped West 2:1.  West demanded a rematch to take place within the next two days.

We woke early, had a quick breakfast and said our goodbyes before heading back to Springfield.  We really enjoyed our stay with Harvey and Gladys and their insights into family history gave us food for thought.

We took a different route back to Springfield and stopped in Stamford, Connecticut to visit with Scott.  Scott was one of the Seagram/Florida group who is currently working for one of the successor companies.  We had a great visit and  really enjoyed the discussion regarding a former co-worker, Mr. T.  At the time, working with the guy wasn’t funny, but in retrospect, the events are hilarious.  How companies allow guys like Mr. T to remain in a management role is beyond comprehension.  I had never seen someone destroy staff morale, drive out good people and tank productivity as fast as this guy did.  To say he was incompetent is charitable.  It is one thing to gripe about a boss, but it something completely different with a group of educated, talented and motivated professionals unanimously agree that someone is a jerk.  Anyway, the visit was therapeutic in a odd sort of way.  There is satisfaction knowing that anyone who had to interact with this guy has moved on — but Mr. T still has to live with himself.  I thank all my Seagram friends for helping put this in perspective.

Scott, Marty and Captain Morgan during a visit to Stamford, Connecticut.

Jeanne updating diary at Howard and Suzi's house.

Ever since the flat tire in North Carolina, we were concerned about the tires on the Jeep and before leaving for New York, we ordered a new set of Bridgestone tires.  On our return trip to Springfield, a call to the tire store revealed the tires had arrived.  We headed right for the store to have the tires installed.  What a difference!  No more shaking at high speeds.  No more howling road noise.  No more slipping on wet pavement.  It was one of those things you put off, but once done, you wonder what took you so long.

After an excellent dinner with Howard and Suzi at one of the local cafes, we headed for the coach and slept soundly.

Contemporary note:  The tires sucked.  Somehow, they were totally unsuitable for the jeep.  They howled on the highway and had a tendency to wander.  In the camera, I could see the jeep slowly weaving down the highway.  We suffered with them before finally replacing them in Colorado Springs with a more suitable highway tire.  

After our morning workout, we stopped by Harvey’s office before having lunch at a local deli.

We were pleasantly surprised with the train ride into New York.  The Long Island Rail Road had materially improved the quality of their service and rail cars.  However, the subways were a different story and were worse than we remembered.  Eventually, we made our way to where the World Trade Center once stood.  The site is hard to describe.  What strikes you is the gaping hole in the ground.  The destruction must have been unbelievable.  Even the buildings surrounding the site were severely damaged and were under repair.  The subway station had reopened, but you could clearly see subway trains operating at one side of the site.  At one time they were several stories underground but now they are exposed.  We did take some pictures, but small digital photos don’t do justice to the site.

World Trade Center site.

Another view of WTC, notice the subway trains are running, but are exposed.

Rebuilding at WTC site.

Jeanne and Susan after dinner.

Marty and Susan.

Leaving the WTC, we headed for Susan’s apartment and got caught in a finger-of-god thunderstorm.  Arriving drenched, we had an excellent dinner and fun visit with Susan.  We caught up on old times, discussed what was currently happening in our lives and speculated about the future.  It could have gone on for hours.  We can do this with close friends — after a long separation you just pick up where you left off.  Much too soon, we had to cut it short and began our trip back to Long Island.  It was close to midnight by the time we got to bed.

We have little good to say about the drive to Long Island.

There was so much road construction, the highway department should have posted signs for the road sections that weren’t torn up.  What a mess.  Eventually, we arrived at our destination.

After visiting with Uncle Harvey and Aunt Gladys, we met Ron and Jason at a local kabob place and enjoyed an excellent dinner.  We then retired to Cousin Cindy and Ron’s house for dessert and to view a DVD of family movies.

Aside:  When preparing mom’s house for sale, we came across about thirty 8mm home movies.  Not really knowing what to do with them, we asked some local digital movie processors if they could be transferred from film to digital media.  This is America, where anything is possible for a price.  The studio, which did a lot of digital processing for Sony, was able to record the movies to DVD. Apparently it was just in time since some of the movies were beginning to deteriorate.  The DVD contained images taken from the late 1940s through the late 1950s.

Harvey and Gladys was able to identify most of the people on the DVD.  It was certainly a walk down memory lane for them and the past is not documented for future generations.  We returned to Harvey’s house to prepare for our foray into New York City the next day.

We woke early to do our workout.  The run was along a country road shaded by trees.  The run was easy until I realized it was all uphill back to the campground.  What a struggle.  After cleaning up we set out to visit Ann and Richard at their home in the Berkshires.

After a drive through beautiful countryside, we met Richard in the small town of Otis.  Following Richard to his house, the roads got smaller and smaller until we were on a gravel country road.  Their home is situated on a gentle hillside completely surrounded by tall trees.  They had made many improvements to the property over the years and their home was cozy and functional.  Ann prepared an excellent salmon lunch which we enjoyed among the trees on the porch.

We couldn’t pass up their offer to show us around the area.  First stop was a pottery studio where the potter uses a Japanese style kiln to fire his wares.  What a character.  We also stopped at Tanglewood, which is a venue dedicated to music and includes a really nice outdoor area for concerts.  We very much enjoyed the day with Ann and Richard and look forward to seeing them again.

After saying goodbye, we returned to the coach to prepare for our trip to New York.