Today’s tidbit: “The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time.” — Abraham Lincoln

In my Reflection post I mentioned a lot has been going on but one of the good things that came out of it is having time to travel. My mom is now living in Albany, NY where most of her family is so I don’t see her as often as I see my dad. She took 3 weeks off to travel to Seattle, Vancouver and Alaska (part for a travel agent conference and part for a divorce/new life celebration). While she was gone, I decided to drive up to NY (June 24– July 2) to help take care of her dog, Cody as well as spend time with my Aunt, who recently had knee surgery, and my grandparents who are in a nursing home.

Along with spending time with family, I was able to enjoy my Aunts pool + stop by one of my favorite gluten free places, Sherry Lynn’s (their website KILLS me though) + watch the towns firework show + capture the beauty of my grandma/mom’s gardens + visit a beautiful rose garden + Sammy had doggie dates with Cody and the neighbors dog, Nina (pictures of the dogs coming in part 2, later this week).

Sneak peek image:

Be sure to click below to read more and check out more pictures. Enjoy!

Normally I only come to NY for a few days. I’ll admit it wasn’t ever my number one place to visit using my time off… but now I could drive up with my dog, Sammy and stay as long as I wanted. I don’t think I’ve done that since high school and I have to say it was a good change of pace and scenery. It was great being able to help out and spend time with everyone. I know how much it meant! You have to make every day count. Of course I was there with my camera, snapping away. Below are some pictures of my time there.

Starting with a sunny drive there with a stop at a farmers stand for some fresh fruit.

Moving on to fun in the pool + seeing family + fireworks. My cousin and his wife and daughter now live in Wisconsin but were visiting at the same time. It was great seeing them and I was able to go to a belated wedding celebration (a lot of their family couldn’t make it to the wedding there so they had a party in NY, wearing their wedding attire so everyone could see). They made a special trip to surprise my grandpa at the nursing home and he couldn’t stop smiling! On my way home, the road was closed for fireworks so I pulled over and watched an early 4th of July celebration!

On to the beautiful rose gardens I went to with my Aunt and Grandma. We were there for 15 minutes before it started raining!

And finally, until my next post, the beautiful landscaping… the backyard of my grandparents old house/where my mom is staying now. I always remember the beautiful gardens, as they both like to landscape, and wanted to capture it playing with my camera setting.

It was a beautiful sunny drive there but a dark, rainy drive most of the way back to VA. When I was in VA there was a beautiful sunset! I tried to capture it while I was driving.

Are you all flowered out? I love taking the time to stop and capture the natural beauty! I will be posting part 2 with doggie play date pictures in the next few days! Check back in soon.