This morning, I woke up at 0615 and started teleworking immediately. I ate breakfast in hotel lobby again (0800) and extended my stay through Saturday morning. After my meal, I resumed teleworking (meetings) and took another break at lunch time (1200) to pick up lunch at nearby Arby's. Back to teleworking for the rest of the afternoon. Along the way, I texted Eileen to see if she still wanted to go skiing after work but she replied that she tied up with her job. Too bad... At 1500, I left the hotel and drove (via the snowy Morley-Potsdam Road) to Canton so I could check out the Remington Recreational Trail, which I’d heard was good for cross country skiing. When I arrived (1515), however, I found that someone had completely plowed and sanded the surface - this was NOT going to suit my needs... Fortunately, the trail was adjacent to a huge golf course (Partridge Run Country Club). Even though they hadn’t done any grooming, I had miles and miles of fairways to ski. For once this week, there was plenty of sunlight and temps were in the 20s. The only evidence of humans I saw after departing the clubhouse was the ghostly remnants of someone’s snowshoe prints - the wind had nearly smoothed them away in most places. I did see some interesting animal kingdom storylines playing out in the snow, though; in one place, I saw the prints of a four legged creature (probably a white tailed deer) that had made a series of long, rapid strides across the field. Rabbit tracks were plentiful too. Deep drifts (8ish inches deep) made it difficult in places but my skis broke good trail during my nearly two hours of remaining daylight. Saw some deer along the edge of the fairways and later ran into a lady with her friendly dogs. Before I was done, I’d made a nearly complete circuit of the course (3.5 miles) and enjoyed plenty of peaceful solitude. Colder temps are coming so it was good to get another day on skis. I was finishing (1700), Eileen started texting about me joining her family for dinner (pizza). I gladly accepted the offer and drove (via NY-310) into Canton to gas at the Valero (1715). After that, I continued (via US-11) to Potsdam. Mollie called and we talked for a little while. After stopping briefly at my hotel to get a quick shower, I headed towards Eileen's house. I talked to Erin on the way. By 1750, I was at Eileen's and visited with her, Scott and Heidi. At about 1830, Eileen and I went to pick up the food at Little Italy Pizzeria. Back at her house again, we enjoyed a delicious meal (HUGE pizza, wings and garlic knots). Last night, I'd learned that Eileen hadn't seen the movie "Rudy" before so we found it on Tubi. After it was over, she told me she enjoyed it. We then played with the dogs until around 2100. When I noticed that Eileen was out of firewood, I moved some from outside the house so she could keep her woodstove going through the night. After that, I headed back to the hotel and spend about 30 minutes walking nearby (to limber up my heel). Back in my room, I read and relaxed until bed time (2300). I'm getting spoiled with these nice days away from the Upper Valley...
