New York, here I come!

Just finished my first week at The Culinary, as it's affectionately called. It's been a great week - a bit of a roller coaster ride of emotions after two weeks of saying goodbye and packing up my household. Amazing how much you can accumulate in 18 years and I worry about finding a place to put it all in New York. But don't let me get ahead of myself.... First, I had to get there....

The trip here was uneventful and I was so grateful to have the company of my friend Joanne Talarek for the ride. We started out at 11 a.m. last Friday with just a few tears and a cloudy, rainy sky. We crossed from Michigan to Ohio at 11:40 a.m. Joanne took the wheel at 3 p.m. - she also took down the fuzzy dice from the rear-view mirror. I decided it was time to leave them behind as well. My sister Cathy's angel is still there to watch over me though. And my friend Patty's chocolate chip biscotti were a nice treat too!

Pennsylvania welcomed us at 4 p.m. and Joanne just kept driving. We passed Punxatawney but didn't see Phil - guess January 22 is too early for him to come out. We finally stopped for the night in Lamar, Pennsylvania, at 7:00 p.m. We figured we'd come nearly 2/3 of the way, as planned, and Saturday's drive would be easier and shorter!

We woke up on Saturday morning to a crystal clear blue sky and a heavy layer of frost on the car. The sun seemed warm and bright and I felt lighter - a big smile on my face. Put the past behind - look to the future. We chuckled our way through Oscar Wilde's Lord Arthur Seville's Crime and learned a new word - cheiromantist, a palm-reader. Actually, we discovered later he'd made the word up!

The sign for Exit 26 said "Promised Land" but since we weren't in New York yet, we decided to keep going. Finally, New York State welcomed us. Another hour and we'd be there - across the Hudson River and north on Route 9 to the Marriott Residence Inn (my temporary home for the next 30 days). I only made one wrong turn at the very end, and that's because I was talking on the phone to my sister Diane. Mileage total = 631.

We unpacked and Joanne helped me feather my nest a bit to make the place seem homey. It's actually very comfortable (and now there's flowers on the table and a bowl of fruit on the counter). We took a drive to campus since it was still day light and I'm so glad we did. I had planned on taking Joanne to lunch there on Sunday, but while poking around the bookstore we found out everything is closed on Sunday. Guess that's a good excuse for getting Joanne back soon! We went a little further up the road to Rhinebeck for dinner and stumbled on the oldest Inn in America. For real, George Washington slept there, really. I think there'll be a lot of that kind of discovery around here - what fun!

Sunday morning - cloudy again. After touring "villages" up and down the Hudson River, trying to get my bearings, we stopped for lunch. The rainy weather matched my mood as I prepared to say goodbye to Joanne. In a few short hours, I'd be completely on my own and it was starting to sink in. Home Alone - in New York!! After dropping Joanne at the airport in Newburgh (about 30 minutes from Poughkeepsie - where the hotel is), I took a side trip south to Beacon. It's a delightful village with a very nice Main Street. I stopped at a Farmer's Market that just happened to be housed in a building with a fireplace - made by Pete Seeger. Seems there are a lot of celebrities that make their homes, or have second homes, in these little villages along the Hudson. It's far enough away from the City to be quiet and quaint, but close enough to be acessible.

Dinner was leftovers - now that made me feel at home - and I went to sleep truly excited about my new job and looking forward to getting up early and getting to work. Great feeling - being excited about going to work. I highly recommend it!

Next installment - first week on the job - how will I keep ever the pounds off when I'm surrounded my fabulous food all day?!!