“Back on the Road Again…” or rather, “Back on my Blog Again!” It’s been awhile since I’ve written anything, and I keep telling myself that it’s time to start writing again. The dilemma…what to write about And so, I thought to myself, “I will write about my trip to New York, actually more about being able to see my kids again.”

Smile

I can’t believe how much I actually miss having Tina around. As I was riding around Saratoga Springs with her, I thought, “Wow, she is so grown up. When was it that she turned into a young woman? She was just starting Kindergarten ” Nonetheless, here I am 20 years later visiting her in New York. She has settled in with Ricky (her brother) quite well, and although I miss having him at home too, he’s been gone for awhile, and it’s not quite so fresh. They have set up their apartment snug and inviting…of course the TV and Ricky’s computer are the center of the family/livingroom. All the little things I had to remind them of at home: take out the trash, scoop the cat litter, put the dishes away, do your laundry…were all being taken of. It must come with being in control of your own place! (I did have to go out and buy a coffee pot as neither one of them drinks coffee and I drink enough for the whole family.) Ricky’s solution was to just stop at Starbucks, but at 5-6 cups a day I thought that was a bit too pricey!

Saratoga Springs is a quaint little town (city) depending on how you look at it. It’s beautiful…trees, flowers, water…and everything was in bloom. It’s actually a tourist town where the main attraction is horse racing, much like Ruidoso. After a bit of research, we were able to find out that the Saratoga racetrack is the oldest in the nation. However, the racing season hadn’t gotten under way yet. Cart racing was starting in the next couple of weeks, but I’m not much into horse racing anyway.

Congress Park

There is a beautiful park with tall trees, lots of green grass, running water, a small wooden bridge, statues, and of all things, an enclosed carousel (for kids to ride). Tina mentioned that one of the great things about living in a tourist town was that everything is kept clean, colorful and planted (shops were planting flowers around their places as were walking around). We spent the afternoon walking through the park, taking pictures with Tim’s mom, sisters and niece.

We also enjoyed a scrumptious lunch at “Little India,” one of Tina’s favorite places to eat. (Here in El Paso, she loves the “India Palace.”) Mmm, Chicken Tikka Masala…tasty in both restaurants.

Downtown Saratoga Springs was again like walking through downtown Ruidoso. Small shops flanked both sides of the street and traffic during peak times could come to a standstill. We liked to just park and walk up one side and down the other, stopping for a cool treat from Cold Stone Creamery or the Italian Gelato deli; a tasty bite of fudge or a warm cup of coffee. During one of our little walks, I saw a squirrel and said, “Oh look, a little gray squirrel!” Ricky’s comment was, “Tourists!” And it’s not even like I’ve never seen a squirrel before. They were all over the place in Germany!

We took a one-day trip to Syracuse to visit with Tim’s brother, Andy, his wife, Lorien and our niece and nephew, Elli and Trace. After a wonderful barbecue, we spent the afternoon on the Nintendo Wii. Wow, those little ones (they’re 7 and 9) were hard to keep up with. I felt out of shape and exhausted after some of the games. Time to retire to the chairs on the deck and just visit and catch up on life!

During a drive back to the apartment one afternoon, Tina looked out the car window and literally started “freaking out.”
     “Oh my gosh! Stop the car! It’s R2-D2! There’s a Stormtrooper! Stop the car! I have to go see it!” Of course, we couldn’t just stop the car. We were right in the middle of downtown traffic. Sure enough though, she had seen right…R2-D2 and a Stormtrooper were standing outside the convention hall. We had to turn around, park and go check it out.

In the evenings, we watched TV as a family (Ricky played his computer games in the background) or we played cards…things we had stopped doing here in El Paso…