Return from Vacation

I'm back from my week at camp up in the Adirondacks. I had a great time and the weather was superb (which is a rarity late in August). The days were sunny and hot and we only had one evening of rain. The nights were cool and a few days started out in the 40's, but went up into the 70's and even 80's by mid-day.

My primary goal was to stain the camp which I started on Sunday and finished by Wednesday. 3o hours of painting, but I actually enjoyed it. It was just me and my dog Jessi hanging out together. She would just sit for hours and wait patiently while I worked until I stopped to take a break. Then we would take a hike, go for a swim or her favorite- take the boat out for a spin.

Here are a couple of pictures of my finished work. It turned out great and I even had time to take another day to prune out the trees and branches to let the sun shine in and keep our waterfront view nice and clear.

On Wednesday evening, Jennifer came up to camp and we went out to dinner at our favorite little spot in Mountain View only a mile away. Thursday was our wedding anniversary so we drove to Lake Placid for a round of golf, shopping and a nice dinner. The rest of the week and weekend was for playing and relaxing which I was very good at.

A well deserved afternoon nap

Not sure why, but one morning I got the urge to swim across the Lake, which is something I have wanted to try since I was a kid. With my niece in the kayak by my side, I set out on my journey. 40 minutes later I reached the other side and accomplished my goal. Must have been all the Olympic competition I had been watching that inspired me to "go for the gold"!
Hanging out on the front deck of Jennifer's camp next door.

While I was away, our State legislature passed a mid-year State budget reduction plan that will have a negative impact on our Kirkhaven revenue. It will be a few days before we know the details of the budget cuts and what, if any, action we may have to take in response. What a nice welcome back and way to get back into the swing of work. Should be an interesting next couple of weeks, so check back with my Blog for updates and follow-up.