The drive from Indian Lake, NY to Boston was HOOOOOTTTT and the air conditioning in the Westy does not currently work. That made for a long drive, especially since one of us (this one) didn't quite know how to drive a manual transmission yet. I had practiced a few times while at Camp and felt somewhat confident that I could handle a wide-open freeway. Unfortunately, the first time we pulled off the road to switch drivers, I pulled back onto the highway and right into bumper-to-bumper traffic waiting to go through a tollbooth. All of 5 minutes into my maiden voyage I did something wrong (I'm still not sure what) and stalled the engine. Despite multiple attempts to restart, the Westy had had enough of this amateur. Tom was eventually able to get her restarted and we rolled over to the shoulder for a bit to let her cool down. That would be the last of my driving until the trip back to Chicago the following weekend.
Anywho - we were headed to Boston for a few nights to visit with my sister and brother-in-law. Tom also happened to have business in Boston and was scheduled for a dinner in the North End (Boston's Italian neighborhood) the night we rolled into town. We spent a little too much time waterskiing that morning and got on the road a little later than intended. We were doing fine, but realized that Tom hadn't brought a sport coat with us on the trip (the Westy doesn't generally call for formal attire). We stopped off at some stores on the way and picked up the needed items. This meant that we were really cutting the time close. Dinner was scheduled for 7pm and the GPS indicated that if we drove DIRECTLY to the restaurant we would arrive at 6:55pm. That would give Tom 5 minutes to change out of sweaty driving clothes and into a dress shirt and jacket in a parking lot in 100 degree heat. Kelly and Joe were going to meet us there and I would have dinner with them separately. I even managed to get us lost in the new North End expressway exchanges (last time I lived there, there were no tunnels!!!) but we made it on time. Kelly and Joe even managed to see us driving by and flagged us down to pick them up on the way to the parking lot. All ended well, Tom had a great meeting with his work people, Kelly and Joe and I had a great meal in the North End, and everyone made it home safely! The next night we went out to a great meal as a foursome and had a fantastic time. It was an awesome visit.
Anywho - we were headed to Boston for a few nights to visit with my sister and brother-in-law. Tom also happened to have business in Boston and was scheduled for a dinner in the North End (Boston's Italian neighborhood) the night we rolled into town. We spent a little too much time waterskiing that morning and got on the road a little later than intended. We were doing fine, but realized that Tom hadn't brought a sport coat with us on the trip (the Westy doesn't generally call for formal attire). We stopped off at some stores on the way and picked up the needed items. This meant that we were really cutting the time close. Dinner was scheduled for 7pm and the GPS indicated that if we drove DIRECTLY to the restaurant we would arrive at 6:55pm. That would give Tom 5 minutes to change out of sweaty driving clothes and into a dress shirt and jacket in a parking lot in 100 degree heat. Kelly and Joe were going to meet us there and I would have dinner with them separately. I even managed to get us lost in the new North End expressway exchanges (last time I lived there, there were no tunnels!!!) but we made it on time. Kelly and Joe even managed to see us driving by and flagged us down to pick them up on the way to the parking lot. All ended well, Tom had a great meeting with his work people, Kelly and Joe and I had a great meal in the North End, and everyone made it home safely! The next night we went out to a great meal as a foursome and had a fantastic time. It was an awesome visit.
Saturday morning we drove to Hyannis to catch the early ferry over to Nantucket for the triathlon. Tom's childhood friend, Bill Burnett, coordinates triathlons and duathlons throughout the state and does a fantastic job. Tom and I both have done the Cohasset Triathlon previously. The swim consisted of a pretty grueling ocean swim, partially against the outgoing tide, then a 14 mile bike and a 3.3 mile run. During the race, Tom and another racer, also named Tom, ended up biking and running side by side and keeping each other motivated. The other Tom was biking solo on a tandem mountain bike! We ended up chatting with him and his family at the end of the race and even met up with him at lunch later in the weekend. The triathlon was a success, even though there was a huge thunderstorm right in the middle of the event. Bill, Jamie, and their team did an awesome job keeping everyone safe and happy throughout. Check out their other events here: Streamline Events.
We spent the next 4 days on Nantucket with the Carneys. Spencer was one of Tom's best men at our wedding and his parents used to own, but now rent a house on the island during the summer. We stayed with the elder Carneys and their two adorable grandchildren for the first two days and then Sue and Spencer joined us for the next two days. Spencer and Tom took their ladies and the little Carneys sailing for an afternoon. The boat was a little on the small side with 6 people aboard, but the wind was great and it was an awesome afternoon. We had an amazing dinner at The Summer House and an amazing after-dinner at The Brotherhood one night. The Carneys were so wonderful and gracious to house us for the few days that we were there. We loved spending time with everyone at the beach and hanging out with them at the house. We hope to be back again soon!
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