2 of 3: Endicott

Our first stop in the Triple Cities was at Wegmans, the regional grocery store chain that makes me proud of upstate NY. We picked up some lunch and a few groceries for the week. We never did eat those clementines: sorry, Mom. From there we went to my parents' house, the only house I lived in for the first 18 years of my life. We made dinner that night: stuffed pizza reminiscent of Zachary's in Oakland. We coated the bottom of a deep-dish cast-iron pan with dough. We layered peppers, mushrooms, onions, roasted tomatoes, garlic and cheese on top of that. Then we put another layer of dough on top, sealing the dough layers together. Finally, we coated that with sauce. After baking for 20 minutes in the oven, we pulled out a beautifully imperfect pizza that tasted like success.

We spent Tuesday with Joe. He introduced us to big-screened high-def Beautiful Katamari. The Xbox version of our favorite video game. For those interested and unfamiliar, check out the trailer for a glimpse at the Japanese craziness...

That night Joe joined us as we made dinner (risotto fungi) for my sister Michelle and her family. The next morning we took off to Ithaca with my mom and Erica. We did a little shopping in the commons and met Jesse for lunch. We ate at the Mate Factor. I forgot to take any pictures of our outing that day, but luckily we saw all of those people again, so stay tuned.

It wasn't until Thursday morning that we really wished we had our own, properly-fitting winter gear on hand. The local kids must have been wearing white socks to bed, inside out, or whatever superstition they depend on because there weren't no school that day. And it was a good thing. It started snowing sometime between 8 and 9 and it didn't stop until late day. This was the view we had when we woke up that day. (The Pacific-time thing kept us on an up-late schedule.)

The Friday morning before we left Oakland we had gone for a run with Apollo. I wore a tank top and Andy wore shorts. Our next bout of good exercise happened as we shoveled my parent's driveway and brushed off the cars. As a novelty event when we were on "vacation", this was pretty fun...

While we shoveled, my mom stayed inside baking. She made apricot bars, a German-chocolate log and this pecan cheese cake. For someone who lacks a sweet tooth, she bakes like a pro...

The desserts were meant for an open house at Andy's parents' house on Thursday. The snow forced a hold on that until Friday. We did brave the roads that day just enough to drive the 3 miles from my family's house to Andy's. We split this trip up into 3 nights at one house, and the rest at the other, and Thursday was the switch day. Once we got there and hung out for a while, we borrowed another set of clothes and slid down the hill to visit Andy's grandparents....

It was beautiful outside. The snow was at its best: bright white and still falling. This was better than being there for a green Christmas. Andy's grandmother had put up red ribbons all over the house, adding to the festive weather.

Just past their home, across the street, is a wall that lines the river. We walked down there before our visit to check out the scenery. Andy compulsively pulled out his pitching arm at the sight of holes in the trees and a ground thick with snowball makings.

Before we got too wet and cold we went inside for some grandparent time. As expected, we were served delicious coffee and treats. We sat around and chatted for a little while before we retired to the living room.

Andy's grandfather searched through his collection of VHS tapes for a copy of the episode of The Amazing Race that took place in Holland. Andy's Pake (grandfather in the Frisian language) is Dutch and he and Andy's grandmother raised their family in the Netherlands until Andy's dad was 8 years old. This heritage made this particular bit of reality TV extra entertaining. The teams of racers were faced with various Dutch-themed obstacles such as biking around the flat terrain, and jumping over the irrigation ditches like pole vaulters.

The ditch leaping was the best part, mostly because of Andy's grandfather's enthusiasm. We learned that this is a past time of Dutch children who spend their time running through the fields they are located in. Pake described how he played this way as a youth. Here's a still from the episode that I found on the CBS website...

If I remember correctly, only one (of 10) of the jumpers made it over the ditch without falling in the mud. The mud was thick and black, making it extra funny when people didn't make it over. This simple pleasure was hugely entertaining to Pake, even after seeing it all happen before. His laughter at that moment reminded me of Andy's dad and Andy laughing at their own jokes, too. The men in their family don't really need anyone to get a kick out of themselves, but an audience does seem to add to their fun.

We admired Andy's grandmother's flowers in the window sill as we got up to leave. At age 85, she keeps a much better house than we do if you are judging on cleanliness and greenery.

We headed back out into the snow after the sun had gone down. Our way was lit by houses decked out in Christmas lighting, blanketed in snow.

The intersection of Main Street in Union looked magical under the street lights and white cover.

When we got back home we found Andy's mom cleaning the snow off her driveway. We took over the job because she will surely end up with plenty of unwanted opportunities to shovel snow later in the season.

The open house that was originally scheduled for Thursday happened on Friday instead. Jackie had to work for most of the day, so Andy, John, Andy's grandmother Mary and me were put to the task of throwing the event.

I ditched the working crew for a few hours to go to see Kate at work. Instead of remembering to take a picture of Kate that first time we hung out, I took a picture of our lunch, instead...

4 slices of Rossi's sheet pizza. So good. Two red, one plain white and one white with broccoli. Hardly healthy, but totally worth it.

Just before 4PM the guests started showing up. We spent the rest of the evening socializing with friends and family...

After all the "adults" went to bed, Joe, Andy, Jesse, her boyfriend Serhan and I stayed up and chatted in the parlor. Jesse and Serhan had to make it back to Ithaca that night, so they left shortly after that. Then Erica came over around 11:30 and we hung out watching Lynchland and having some pretty meaningful conversation until 3 in the morning. We left really satisfied with with who we got to see in while we were there, with the exception of missing Rob and Katie, but that's where the weather comes into play again. Another nor'easter was on the horizon, letting snow screw up our plans once again.

Next stop, Hudson, NH...