North Syracuse, NY

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      The second stay of our adventure was to see my family. Most of them live in central New York. I have two surviving parents and 5 siblings. During our stay we were planning to see my parents, 3 of my siblings (1 sister and 2 brothers), and as many relatives as we could. I have one brother in Harrisburg, PA and another in San Diego, CA. Unfortunately, I was not able to see my brother from Pennsylvania before I left. Tom and I have plans to see my brother in California later on our adventure.

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      On our route to North Syracuse, we stopped at Flying J in Harford, Pa for rest and to refuel our Traveling Talisman. We used 52.683 gallons in 299.2 miles. Gas cost $2.999 per gallon. Originally we were going to stay at the Flying J overnight, but we were ahead of schedule and anxious to get to my parents. As soon as we had lunch and fed Buddy and Benny, we continued to North Syracuse, NY. We arrived at Mom and Dad Pannozo's house at 8:00pm and had traveled 248.00 miles. It was after 10:00 by the time we were done setting up camp. Last summer Tom and I took our Traveling Talisman up to see them. My dad made a special spot for us to park. We had access to electricity and water. The nice thing about parking there were the trees. My mother loves trees. They shaded our main door nicely and gave us privacy.

June 6, 2007

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      As you knew, our last stay was disconnected from the internet. So, Tom spent most of his day getting caught up on business. I spent most of my day getting caught up on personal finances and visiting with my parents. Spending time with my parents is valuable to me. I really needed to talk.

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      Dad got a new job and had to work in the mornings. For over 50 years, my mother always had my fathers' meals ready for him, no matter what time he came home. Tom joined us for lunch when my dad returned from work. Mom made a great lunch and we all talked. Naturally, questions about Our Quest came up. And I reassured them, I was okay. And we were going to be okay. We actually talked from lunch to dinner. My mom loves to dine out, so we went out. When we got back my parents invited Tom and I in for a movie. How could we say no? When the movie was over we retired to our Own Homes.

June 7, 2007

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      In the morning I finished just a few personal finances. From the time we got here the weather has been great. The average day temperature was 80°. I spent the afternoon outside getting Tom's car ready for sale. All morning Tom worked on programming. The majority of things in Tom's car went into storage. I even gave his car a bath. The time had come for Tom to stop working and put his car on the front lawn with the "for sale" sign on it.

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      My sister, Connie came over to visit in the afternoon. She is the same age as Tom. Connie is married, has 4 children and 7 grand children. She was the first born. We went for a walk and talked. It was nice to spend time together, one on one. Our walk and talk lasted more than an hour. When we returned, my dad mentioned my aunt needed a car. He thought Tom and I should call her about Tom's car. Connie wasn't able to stay and talk longer. I mentioned my aunt to Tom and we called her. She wasn't available, so we left a message. Tom went back to work. I visited my parents until dinner. When dinner was ready, Tom joined. After dinner we watched a movie. Every night was movie night. When the movie came to an end, Tom and I retired to our Traveling Talisman.

June 8, 2007

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      My aunt called about Tom's car. We brought his car over for a test drive. She liked it, but wanted to think about it. Later in the day, Tom and I went for some errands, we needed groceries. On our way, we had problems with my van's transmission. I was starting to worry. We haven't even gotten past our second stay and we're having problems. By dinner time my transmission wasn't showing any problems.

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      Mom, Dad, Tom and I met my brother, Paul and his family out for dinner. Paul is married and has 2 children. He was the sixth born. We all ate and talked, making a great evening for our get together. We returned home in good time. A 40 mph thunderstorm was coming, and coming fast. Mom and dad grabbed their patio chairs. Tom and I made a dash for our Traveling Talisman. First it was the small awnings, then the main one. Our main awning was partially out and it needed to be fully extended before retracting. This was not good because we were too close to mom's trees. As the storm got closer, the winds got stronger. It nearly tore our awning. We were able to put the awning in without harm to the awning or mom's trees.

June 9, 2007

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      Dad brought me over to a garage he uses and we scheduled a Monday morning appointment for service on my van. I was dropped off afterward and my dad went to work. Tom and I went shopping for parts to install our new wall sconces. The old sconces were too big. While we were out, Tom planed to get new glasses. We stopped at Lens Crafters and he had his eye exam and bought new glasses. Once our shopping was completed we went back to our Traveling Talisman and installed our new sconces. They were perfect. Tom does most of the decorating. He has a great eye. Just as we were finishing our installation, my mother stopped over to let us know dinner was ready. What perfect timing.

June 10, 2007

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      Mom sent invitations out for a going away party for Tom and I. She was expecting 52 people. I was shocked. The last time we all got together was a family reunion or wedding anniversary. Early in the morning, my mother and I set up for our get together with family, friends and neighbors. Dad picked up my brother Ted. Ted is unmarried with no children. He is the forth born. Altogether, we put up tables and chairs in the fenced in back yard. Paul and his family were the first to arrive. He had to work at 4:00 and needed to leave early. Connie came earlier than expected to help. She had, to my surprise, brought my brother Peter. He had taken a bus from Harrisburg, PA. Peter is married and has no children. He was the third born. It was great to see him before our travel. And it was great he was there with us all. We helped mom with the food and had the grill ready by the time guests arrived. I saw family, I haven't seen in a long time. The fun part for me was giving tours of our Traveling Talisman. The night grew fast and family wished us great adventure as they left. It was a great get together.

June 11, 2007

      Yesterday during our party, my cousin asked to get together about a gift for her mother, my aunt. We talked about my aunt really needing a car. Her car was an 87 and was nickel and dimeing her. Tom and I already knew she was interested, but she didn't have the money. So we made plans to get my Aunt Tom's car. Somehow I forgot my service appointment on my van. Luckily there hadn't been any more signs of problems. Tom and I were going to visit my brother, Paul today. Unfortunately he had to work, so we never made it over.

June 12, 2007

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      My cousin stopped over and we talk again about Tom's car. Tom was still okay with letting his car go to my aunt. And with that, my aunt had a new car. Tom handled it pretty good. I know he really liked his car. Normally Tom isn't a material person, but he took great care of it and it took him every where he needed to go. He had no problems for the 6 years he owned it. The remainder of our day was cleaning and packing up our Traveling Talisman for our departure tomorrow. We like to wash the awnings before we roll them up. Tom always washes the windshield. I tend to the roof and tires. Usually I tend to the sewer, but we were only hooked up to water and electric here. And I always wash the water hose and electric cord before I put them away. I even wash out the outdoor water station. By the time we were done the sun was just about to vanish over the horizon. Tom and I ventured in to see mom and dad again before retiring for the evening.

June 13, 2007

      Our morning was spent talking with my parents during breakfast and coffee. It's not easy saying good bye. My mother never says good bye, it's always "bye for now". Tom and I already had everything packed. We just needed to pull in our slide and connect the van. My mother took lots of pictures as we packed. She even took picture as we drove our Traveling Talisman out of site. I took photos too while we were at my parents. To see more images of our North Syracuse, NY campsite, click here.

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