----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, October 08, 2001 =
5:04
AM
Subject: Yippie! My wife no =
longer hates
my bus!!!
There are =
milestones in every
marriage. Wedding day, birth of a child, buying the first house
together, getting a phone call from an old girlfriend that doesn't =
know you've
been married for three years - you get the picture. =
So early yesterday morning, my wife says =
she wants to
do something together as a family. She suggested we load up the =
kids,
pack a picnic lunch, and head southeast to the Finger Lakes region. =
Wine
country, antique shops, and the fall colors. I asked if we could =
take
the bus just because that's exactly what the darn thing was designed =
for.
After a few minutes of thought, she agreed. We left the =
house at
10:00 on Sunday morning, taking NY Rte. 5 & 20 East to Geneva, NY, =
then NY
Rte. 14 South to Watkins Glen, stopping at various shops and wineries =
along
the way. The weather was crisp with intermittant rain and a few =
flakes
of snow. The colors were wonderful and the kids really got a =
kick out of
running wild amongst the grape vines of the west side of Seneca Lake. =
We
stopped for a picnic lunch in Dresden, NY, pulling over into a little =
parking
spot overlooking the lake, and pulling up the table in the bus. =
It was a
cozy affair but no one complained. The kids thought it was =
cool.
After wandering about the =
shops of
Watkins Glen for an hour or two, we set out West on NY Rte. 23, bound =
for
Hammondsport on Keuka Lake. We walked around there for a while =
then
headed up to the Bully Hill Vineyards, which was like rummaging around =
an
older relatives basement - all sorts of interesting things to see and =
stuff
for the kids to do. We got there late so the activities were =
winding
down. The kids did get to a hey ride which was a trip highlight =
for
them.
To save time on =
the return
trip, we caught I-390 in Bath, NY, headed north to Dansville/Wayland =
where we
picked up NY Rte. 15 for the remainder of the drive into =
Rochester.
The bus ran great! No =
problems or
unforseen catastrophies. We all had fun and saw about eight =
other buses
of various years, including one VERY nice, cream and green late 70's =
Westy in
the parking lot of one of the wineries. My son Dan, ever =
vigilant of
other buses, even saw two that were parked in driveways at various =
points
along the trip. I knew my marriage took a turn when my wife =
started to
wave at the other buses, after about the third of fourth one we =
passed.
Once home, I asked her what she thought about the trip. =
She said
it was fun and she couldn't believe how much more could be seen when =
riding
the bus. All those windows coupled with the fact that we didn't =
seem to
go very fast... (I allowed her this one dig...). More =
importantly,
she said she'd do it again. This from a women that hates - =
loathes is
perhaps a better word - VW's.
Alan
Bosch
& Phred ('88
Wolfsburg)