So my parents sold my childhood home! It was a bit of a shock. They have wanted to move away from the Mountain for a while; they put the house on the market a few times when I was younger but it never sold. I used to say I would rather they burn it down than let anyone else live in it. But they found a wonderful buyer that was very excited to own that house. The buyer loves the Mountain and has a lot of great plans for the house I grew up in. I had a few chances to go home before they moved out. I was put to work of course, helping pack up bins, and going through lots of my stuff. My mom kept things from when I was an infant to present day. It was a wonderful trip down memory lane, and it was helpful to mom for me to throw away some things, so it was less to move. I even had the opportunity to use my trailer packing and tying down skills again! My parents were able to move out slowly over several months since the buyer is such an awesome guy. They would load up the trailer and Dad’s truck, drive up there, spend the weekend, unload and then come back to the mountain and do it all over again.
The new house is in upstate NY above Albany. They live near Lake George. That is my favorite place on earth and I am so excited my parents live so close. Now everytime I come visit I can go into Lake George village and eat pizza or drink local beer and just enjoy the views of the lake, mountains and boats that take people on tours. I told Mom that I would fly out from Utah to help her move but they had to take me to Lake George Village. I went up once alone in early October and again later in October but Jesse also flew out to NY to join me and help us set up some things at the new house. Mom, Dad and I loaded up the trailer and we drove up to the new house. We had a day before Jesse got there so Dad and I explored while Mom did some work at home. We unpacked and I helped set up what would be “my” room at the new house. That made it feel less foreign for Mom. The next day we headed up to Albany to get Jesse from the airport. We found some place to grab some dinner on the way home and had a nice evening.
The next day we helped Dad set up an outdoor soft sided shed. It was quite the project and thank goodness Jesse was there. I was not tall enough and Dad and I would have struggled getting it assembled and standing. It took a while but we finished it. Our reward for all our hard work was a trip to the village. Dad dropped us off so we could enjoy a beer and also maybe a whiskey tasting at Lake George Distillery. I love showing Jesse around the place that I spent so much of my childhood. I have so many memories playing in the arcade and eating my way through town. We went to have a drink and a snack at the Moose Tooth Grill. We also stopped at the winery and did a wine tasting. Since our little wine kit was stolen, we bought a new set and picked up a bottle of wine to have with dinner. Jesse was going to cook for my parents; it is something they really enjoy. Our last stop was the distillery and we bought a bottle of bourbon to bring home and share with Dad.
We had one more stop to make, Oscar’s the famous butcher in Warrensburg where we grabbed some pre dinner snacks of cheese and sausage. Jesse had a bit more to pick up so we also went to Price Chopper. After all our goodies were bought we went home and snacked while Jesse cooked. He made a wonderful dinner that my parents really enjoyed. We had a great evening in my parent’s new home. The next day we had to fly back to Utah and Dad took the long way to the airport so I could get one more look at Lake George.
Hopefully we helped make some new memories so it feels more like home. It is a great place and my Dad finally has the garage he always wanted as well as a nice, flat yard. It has a nice big kitchen and two bathrooms! The McDuffie family has always only had one bathroom so this is pretty awesome. I am so happy for my parents and I look forward to many more visits.
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