I'll Cut You.

Bretton Arms Inn

Today the foursome wound its way through New Hampshire, Vermont and a bit of New York, ending up at the Hampton Inn next door to the Albany International Airport.  The girls have very early flights tomorrow, so we'll be out of the hotel by 5:30AM.  Ow.

We had our fourth consecutive meal (dinner, breakfast, dinner, breakfast) at the Inn and it was as good as each of the preceding meals.  KC and I enjoyed the gravy and biscuits while the girls had pancakes and bacon and eggs.  Our waitress, a stunning young beauty of Eastern European descent named Audrey, delivered our meal with style and a smile.

Today was Sherry and my 34th anniversary and we celebrated it over breakfast.  The hotel brought us a biscuit with a candle as well as a card that the staff had signed wishing us a Happy Anniversary.  This place knows how to pamper the guests.

Prior to breakfast, I strolled from the Inn up to the main hotel.  The huge facility is AMAZING...a first class hotel at which rooms begin around $800 a night.  We are told however, that the restaurant at the Inn is far better than the hotel and far less crowded, so we're all happy to be where were are.

By late morning we began the drive back to Albany and we went through a range of small towns, some of which were Norman Rockwell New England visions with historic homes and businesses. Others were prototypes of northern manufacturing towns whose plants were all shuttered, covered with graffiti and smashed windows and whose employees either suffered the consequences of lost middle class wages or moved their families to towns with jobs that paid a living wage.  There was a touch of West Virginia's economic collapse in some of these places.

As we passed through one small town, not especially prosperous looking, we spotted a modest home with a sign in its front yard.  The sign contained a picture of a pair of scissors and the business name, "I'll Cut You".  Evidently somebody thought that was a good name for a hair dressing salon.  To us it sounded like the threat an inner city gang member would make.

The weather showed signs today of the impending heat wave that is about to slide across the eastern half of the country.  The temps were in the mid to high 80's, not my kind of motorcycle weather.  In fact, KC and I have made a decision to cancel the motorcycle portion of this trip and head home.  We'll wait for a better weather window and do a trip from home.

Tomorrow we'll drop the girls at the airport, load the trailer and head south.  Cya all soon!