Follow Dave and Kathy to a family celebration in Rochester, NY (June 27 to July 4, 2019). Nearly everyone was there to celebrate Bruce Ferré's High School Gradulation from Willimason, NY High School. He was the man of the hour and at 18 years, the whole world is before him. (Click any image for a larger view.)
Thursday
June 27

See these images as a video

 With Mitchell still on the road and Tracy busy with graduation preparations, Dave, Kathy, Family Corinna (Corinna, Jared, Dashel, Avanni), and Bruce all met at Orbakers at their picnic grounds for a meal. Bruce, a weight lifter and wrestler, looks great. This was, really, the first time the cousins met each other. Dash impressed us all with ability to "high jump" a picnic table!
Friday
June 28
With truck driver Mitchell stuck on the road with his 18-wheeler truck (he was trying to get home Thursday night but couldn’t) and Tracy still busy with graduation preparations (cooking in advance for the graduation party on Sunday), we had some time for ourselves. Corinna decided to visit some long-time friends and take the kids to Seabreeze Park.
Dave and Kathy took off for the Corning Glass Museum in Corning, NY. First, we found Bernap’s produce stand where we bought a pie, then lunch was at Geneva On the Lake, and then driving along Seneca Lake in the Finger Lakes was profoundly beautiful and GREEN (not much green in Tucson). The Corning Glass Museum was amazing. A drive down Corning historic Market Street (called the Gaffer District) was beautiful.
Soon enough we had to head back to Rochester for a family dinner at the Royal Dynasty restaurant, with everyone there: Dave, Kathy, Family Corinna, and Family Mitchell. Great food and the best company ever.
Saturday
June 29
Graduation day at the Williamson Central School and Bruce was one of the 109 graduates. Congrats to Bruce. He has been accepted at the Monroe Community College to start a program this fall 2019, so it’s great to know he is continued to college.
In the afternoon, we invited Family Corinna to our airbnb with its Zip line and fishing pond. Avanni caught the biggest catch-and-release fish. Congrats Avanni! We then had a nice dinner at nearby Mama Lor's Cafe.
Sunday
June 30
A breakfast with Dave, Kathy, and Family Corinna, at Mr. T’s in Webster, then we all went to the party house in Williamson Town Park to help blow up balloons and to be usefu. All the people, all 40, were family members on Tracy’s side and Mitchell’s side. Aunts, cousins, sisters, and you name it. A real assembly, the kind that doesn’t come along very often. Thanks Mitchell and Tracy for a terrific time. (Click the image for a movie of party images.)
After the party, we met again at the home of Family Mitchell to see the geese, chickens, dogs, various house projects like the new chicken coop under construction and so forth. What a lovely home for Family Mitchell and a nice relaxing visit after this busy time.
Monday
July 1
With Mitch back on the road, and the graduation events over, Dave and Kathy decided that the last drive in the Finger Lakes was so beautiful, that it should be done again, this time as a real estate tour. Dave put together a real estate tour of homes between Geneva and Ithaca. With an eye towards fixer homes, the tour covered the towns between Seneca and Cayuga Lakes, ending at Ithaca. Prices were well below what one might expect in Arizona and there were several temptations, especially the old farm homes with barns, silos, acres of land, and so forth.
After the tour, it was back to Rochester and a celebration dinner with Family Corinna at Bernard's Grove restaurant. This was a meal to remember and such a delight to have this family time together.
Tuesday
July 2
Time today for Dave to visit some dear friends from the time Dave lived in Rochester (1960 to 1985). First, was the real estate columnist Edith Lank, a well known figure in Rochester and beyond, whose real estate advice column continued for more than 40 years. The visit was poignant because Edith had just finished her last column and was, at age 93, unable to meet the column deadline demands.
After a brief lunch at the trendy Park Avenue Paninoteca for Kathy (Nick Tahoe’s for Dave), it was off to see another of Dave’s friends, Virginia Hines, a friend for almost 50 years. At 92 years, Virginia was doing well and still had this winning smile.
Off to the airport (with its new $25 million canopy) to turn in the rental car and prepare for our flight back to Tucson. The flight was delayed 4 hours due to Chicago weather and since we would have missed our connection flight to Tucson by hours, we thought it best to be stuck in Rochester instead of Chicago. American Airlines rescheduled us for two days ahead, making us stuck in Rochester for two additional nights. We settled for the Marriott hotel right at the airport.
Wed.
July 3
With a whole day at hand and having been seduced by the beauty of the Finger Lakes, we decided on another real estate tour, this time the towns between the Seneca and Keuka Lakes, starting in Geneva and ending in Watkins Glen. This is a massive wine region with extensive wine tours and many fine restaurants. The town that impressed the most was Penn Yan, right at the north end of Keuka Lake, and while driving throughout the area, we came across many small produce stands, mostly from Amish and Mennonite farms. Indeed, the Amish were in the fields plowing with horses, or in the buggies on the highway, and we loved their stunning farms and fields.
Another stop along the way was at the Spotted Duck Creamery, with homemade frozen custard that includes duck eggs in the mixture, and Kathy fed the ducks! This place was such a surprise and the frozen custard was excellent and the place has great online reviews.
For lunch in Penn Yan, it was the waterfront restaurant Top of the Lake with excellent fare and service.
Dinner back in Geneva, NY, at Uncle Joe's Pizzeria, a real institution, in business since 1978. Really good, then Rochester again to turn in the rental car.
Thursday
July 4th
All the flights back to Tucson went just fine. The only hitch was the seats we had reserved for the missed flights were not available and we ended up on cattle car seating. No fun, but we got home just fine to our waiting family, cats BenBen and MonaBona, and 106 degrees. Thoughts of the Finger Lakes still giving us ideas for a summer place, but we’ll see.