Day 40

This morning we were on the 7:30 shuttle with stunt man Lou behind the wheel. Jim had blood work to do but that was it for the day. After labs we waited 45 minutes and returned on the 9:00 shuttle. We planned on having a late breakfast when we got back but as I started walking down the hall to the kitchen I was hit with the odor of fried sausage and bacon cooking. It filled the entire hall from one end to the other. I knew Larry was at it again. Larry and Val are our carnivorous next door neighbors. Val is the one I mentioned earlier who has diarrhea of the mouth. Jim can only take about 5 minutes of her before his head begins to hurt. They are a very nice couple and the first people we met when we arrived to the Hope Lodge. Val is recovering from a transplant and poor Larry is a little out of his element in the kitchen. She does not have much of an appetite except for milk, meat, eggs, pancakes and yogurt. Larry on the other hand likes to eat anything and everything. Val says she can never keep leftovers in the refrigerator at home. Larry cooks eggs and bacon for her most mornings but he doesn't use the fan or clean the stove of the splatters of grease when he is done. He has a reddish face and round belly and he always walks around in his shorts and dark socks, no shoes. Val always has a story to tell. She has a house in Maine and he has one on Long Island. They are both divorced and are not married to each other but they live together alternating houses I think. Larry is kind hearted and does his best to take care of his Val. She is a little spit fire sitting back at the table and letting him do everything for her. I waited for them to leave the kitchen then went back in to make brunch for us.

This afternoon we had our first visitor since we have been at the Hope Lodge. Mike and Laura's daughter, Kathryn, was in New York and she was sweet enough to stop by for a visit. We sat out on the terrace on the 6th floor at first until it started to sprinkle. Then we moved into the lounge area. The 6th floor is where guests are entertained. Visitors are not allowed on the residential floors. Kathryn recently graduated from college and she plans on moving to New York in July. It was great catching up with her and we might be seeing her again after she moves up here later in the summer.
That was the highlight of our day. Later in the afternoon I walked to Whole Foods by myself for a couple of things. It started raining on my way home.

Sandy was at the river house today doing a few things to help us out and she noticed there had been a visitor recently. She found two piles of bear scat in the yard near the main house. The animal was after the bird feeder. Look closely at the puncture wounds in the plastic. Oh boy.