Upstate NY

As most of my friends (and most of the northern VA area) know, I am from Texas.  Born and raised in Houston, and my parents, and their parents, and their parents, are from Texas.  I'm proud of my heritage, and would have it no other way.  What few people know, is that I have a few clusters of relatives who live elsewhere.  My step-mom's parents and sister live in Kentucky, and my step-dad's kids live in Glens Falls, NY.  Their house is in the Adirondack mountains a short drive from Saratoga, where the horse races take place.  I've been several times to visit them, the most recent being this past weekend when my step-dad, mom, and step-brother were up there as well. 

The drive is long from Great Falls - it took me about eight hours total.  Diego made the journey with me and he was an excellent passenger.  With him and my iPod, the eight hours went by pretty fast and before I knew it, the New Jersey turnpike turned into 87 to Albany and the Adirondacks were rising out of the horizon in the distance.

While I was there this weekend, we played poker, shopped a bit in Saratoga, and Ralph (my step-sister Susan's husband) and I serenaded everyone on our guitars (or tried to!).  My visits with this side of the family aren't frequent enough and are always too short.  But, we always make the most of our time together, and this past weekend was no exception.

Here is a video of all the animals we had with us this weekend, sans Susan's African Gray parrot named Ivan (he's not into having his picture taken).