Dorothy Piotrowski’s blog

We got up Sunday morning and started our trip home.  The drive was uneventful and we made it back in time for Halloween.

We arrived at the Vistors Centre at the United States Military Academy in West Point around noon.  We asked for a map and they told us that unless we were military personnel, we couldn’t receive one.  They also informed us that we would not be allowed to drive around the Academy either.  This was not sitting well with us because we needed to get into the Academy to see the volleyball game.  They did say that the only way in was to take a tour.  The next tour was leaving in 15 minutes so we decided to take it.  We learned more in 45 minutes that I ever learned in school.  The tour takes you all over the Academy and there are a couple of stops.  We asked the tour guide how we can get back in to see the volleyball game.  She said just drive to the gate and don’t give them too much information.  Armed with that information, we got back to the Vistors Centre and Karen’s brother Ross and his wife Susie were waiting for us.

Before heading in to see the game, we had a quick stop at the West Point Museum and lunch at the Park Restaurant.  We got into our cars and headed to the gates of the Academy.  No problem getting in.  All we had to do was to show photo id.  Once we found the Gillis Field House where the game would be, Karen and I ventured off to do our homework for photography class.  This week’s assignment was composition.

We got back to the field house and watched some awesome volleyball.  The AU Eagles defeated the Army Black Knights 3-1.

We were lucky enough to be able to visit with Liz for a few minutes before their bus headed back to Washington.  She is doing very well there.  She’s a starter on the team.  After saying our goodbyes, we headed over to New Windsor, our stop for the night.

My friend Karen has a niece (Liz) who received a volleyball scholarship to American University in Washington, DC.  This is her second year there.  Last year we drove down to Pennsylvania and New York to see her play.  Karen checked her calendar and realized that she had no meetings on Friday so we decided that we would make the trip down to West Point, New York.  We used Microsoft Streets & Trips to figure out the route.  Once we figured how we would get to West Point, Karen realized that there was a Christmas Tree Shops very close by, like 30 minutes away.  Well … that changes everything.  Especially since we knew that their Halloween decorations would be on sale.

We left Friday at noon and started driving.  Around dinner time, we were trying to decide where we should stop to pick up dinner.  While looking at the Cracker Barrel map, we realized that besides just addresses, there are phone numbers.  Hmmm … could you call ahead and order?  I called and to our surprise … YES … you can call ahead.  We picked up our dinner and continued our journey to Spring Valley.

With a small miscalculation in Streets & Trips and the radar detector, we were fortunate to get to the Christmas Tree Shops before closing.  We spent the next hour wandering around the store.  The Halloween decorations were 50% off.  We bought a few things but decided that we would go back in the morning before heading over to West Point.  We got up and headed back over to the store.  Guess what … Halloween decorations were now 75% off. We filled the shopping cart.

While driving to work one morning, I heard on Country 95.3 that there was going to be a rodeo in Mississauga.  I told Karen and we decided that we should go.  It was the Championships for the Dodge Rodeo.  There are rodeos held in different cities in Ontario over the summer.  There was calf roping, steer wresting, bareback riding and my favourite, bull riding.

Karen has a brother (Rob) who owns his own island up in North Bay on Trout Lake.  The island is called Falconbridge Island and it’s about 10 acres.  The island has no running water or electricity.  They have added a generator so there is some power.  It’s great because the outhouse now has a light and a radio.

Every year, the Maloneys gather with the Barham family (Gary, Cecile, Stephanie and Charlene) to enjoy a fabulous turkey dinner.  This year they were joined by the Maloneys from Ottawa, Karen and myself.

Saturday was spent taking walks around the island and celebrating Rob’s birthday.  Sunday was more walks, camp fire and eating like pigs.  If you’ve ever been to the island, you know that it is basically a 24hour buffet.  All food that is brought to the island must be eaten.

On the way home, Karen and I found a place called High Falls near Bracebridge.  We stopped and practiced what we’ve been learning in photography class.

Oh yes and by the way, I went to the grocery store and bought an apple, bananas, coconut, dog biscuits, ear muffs, fudgesicle, gel, hemorroid cream, ice cream, jalapeno peppers, Kellogg’s corn flakes, licorice, m&m’s, nexiom, orange juice, popcorn, Quizno’s sub, Rolaids, smelly stuff, tomatoes, underwear, venison, watermelon, xenax, Yugoslavian sauce, Zig-Zag rolling papers.