Beer anad Wine Tours

Today, Betty and I went on several tours in the Cooperstown, NY, area. One of the stops was at the Ommegang Brewery where we watched them bottle the beer and then had a chance to taste some of the fine Belgium-style brews. In the center picture you can see us with a bottle of "Three Philosophers."

In the bottom picture, we are with Meghan at the Bear Pond Winery. We had lunch there and tasted some of the local wines. Meghan was a lot of fun and we really enjoyed meeting her.
Betty is still wearing her Colorado Rockies shirt that she wore yesterday on the tour at the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Warmest regards, Gus

Cooperstown, NY

This picture shows Betty and me outside the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, NY. Cousins Jim and Pat brought us here today. It was fun to learn some of the history of the game of baseball and see many of the artifacts collected over the years. Jim had to see the plaque for the induction of Urban "Red" Faber, a pitcher for the Chicago White Sox. Red Faber grew up in Cascade, IA, the hometown of Jim.
Warmest regards, Gus

Niagara Falls

I visited Niagara Falls yesterday, and you can see the American Falls right behind me and Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian side in the background. Cousins Jim and Pat were here 44 years ago and again about 15 years ago. I am sitting on railing in Niagara Falls State Park (NY), the oldest state park in America. Even though school is still in session, there were quite a few tourists.
I hope everyone has a safe holiday this weekend.
Warmest regards, Gus

East Otto, New York

Here are a couple of photos from Allegany Mountain Resort, East Otto, NY. We have great views of Rainbow Lake. We arrived here two days ago (5/18) in the rain. The resort is quiet now, but will probably get busy this weekend; it will be very busy over Memorial Day weekend.
East Otto is about 40 miles south of Buffalo.

I like to fly the New Mexico flag and see how many people can identify it--very few can do so.

Warmest regards, Gus

Pennsylvania Cousins

Yesterday I went to the Log Cabin Inn (Zelienople, PA) to meet Cousin Pat's cousin Elaine and Elaine's husband Ron. Pat and Elaine had a great time catching up on family happenings, sharing photographs, and everyone had a great meal. Pat's mother and Elaine's mother were sisters. Pat and Elaine are now the matriarchs of that side of the family.

Elaine was born in Pittsburgh and she and Ron have always lived in the Pittsburgh area.
Tomorrow we are driving north to the Buffalo, NY, area.

Warmest regards, Gus

B2 at Whiteman AFB

I am visiting at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, and like this B2 model hanging in the administration building. I did see two B2s taking off yesterday and it is really amazing to see them fly. It just doesn't seem like 440,000 pounds of equipment should fly!
Warmest regards, Gus

Paxico, Kansas

We drove across Kansas today, or were blown across. Jim wishes it had been a tail-wind instead of a cross-wind. I think I saw some Longhorn cattle from Texas that blew across Oklahoma and landed in Kansas!

Because of the wind, cousin Jim stopped a little early today and we found a neat little town called Paxico (about 30 miles west of Topeka) . Jim and Pat tasted some wine at the Wyldewood Cellars winery and bought some cheese and sausage that is make locally. Many of the wines are made from berries: blackberries, elderberries, etc. The winery also sells elderberry concentrate, which they claim is "nature's option" for allergies, arthritis, asthma, colds and flu, constipation, diabetes, excema, and viral infections.

Since I don't suffer from any of these ailments, I didn't try the "cure." But if I find some good snake oil....

Warmest regards, Gus