Tom

Today was much busier than I expected it to be. We woke really early, around six am. Since we had gone to bed around 8:30, and we both slept like logs, we got plenty of sleep and were quite peppy when we woke up.

We went in search of breakfast and found that two places I knew about were not yet open. We got directions from one of them where they were doing their prep for a later opening to a coffee shop that opened at seven am called Bedford Hill. We went there and had a really delicious breakfast and really good cappuccinos.

Next stop back at the airbnb to pick up our huge bag of laundry. We spent the morning at the local laundromat washing and drying everything. I love going home with cleen clothes instead of a pile of dirties.

Then it was time to travel to Manhattan to see Tom. He is my first husband, Jason's dad, and a good friend. His wife Joan couldn't come along so just Tom came down. It took him three hours to get here! He drove to a train station and took a train from Columbia County where he and Joan live. We expected an easy trip ourselves - the G train, transfer to the 7 and ride right into the station. That isn't what happened though because there was some kind of switch problem with the 7 and it wasn't running. Luckily I had brought my subway map and I was able to get us there but it included lots of walking that we hadn't expected.

We did finally arrive and had a delicious lunch/dinner with Tom at the Oyster Bar, a restaurant in Grand Central Station. We had a lovely meal and talked the whole time. After lunch, Tom headed back north on the train and we started home only to find that the 7 subway was still out of commission. It took some doing, with help from a very nice young fellow, to find our way back home again. In the end we had walked four miles and taken 17 sets of stairs. (This is what my iPhone said we did and I believe it.)

It was an added bonus that we happened to pass Ethan on the street as we were coming home. I was hoping to see him before we headed back to Washington and there he was. Ethan is one of two sons of one of my closest friends, who happens to be here visiting Jason. He lives in Argentina and Montana and is a cowboy, a real one. I knew he was here visiting but he's been off doing stuff when we've been visiting with Jason, so I didn't think we'd see him. But we did and had a lovely chat before he continued on his way to Manhattan for a family birthday party.

Extra photo: Grand Central Station.