So long, farewell, au wiedersen...

Well, last week we promised you an update of the rafting trip so here goes.

Ian and Colin had a fairly straightforward journey up to Jackman in Maine, although it was still a 7 hour journey. No major hazards to report along the way and they were safely there for beer o'clock!

The weekend was a roaring success, both on and off the water. During the day there were plenty of decent rapids and the river level was pretty high, what with the combination of rain and the dam release. It made for an interesting journey at some points. The first day was good because nobody went in the water, but on the Sunday, the guides were doing everything in their power to get people in Needless to say there were plenty of swims for people.

On dry land there was plenty of booze and good food to keep people full. One of the guys got up at 2.30am to set up a smoker to cook a pork joint. The pulled pork that was then ready at dinner time was superb, extremely succulent and well worth the wait.

On the way back, the pair decided to venture into Canada as Jackman is only 15 miles from the border as it is. They decided to make it worthwhile by going via Quebec, which added a few hours to the journey but was well worth it. A very traditional town with plenty to see and do, it was a shame they just had half an hour or so. They didn't want to park up as they didn't have any Canadian $s to pay for it. Still, it didn't stop Colin from purchasing a new guitar! Apparently it's about half the price than the UK so I guess you can't blame him. Not sure what the Girls will make of it though!

Once Ian and Colin were back in CT, there was just one more day and then we headed back to New York to get them on their return flight. We decided to head into Manhattan for a couple of hours just to show them some of the key sites and maybe get up one of the towers. Or at least that was the plan! Unfortunately we got held up in traffic on the way down there and ended up arriving about an hour late. On the way, however, we did see a van that was advertising a taste of home (only those with a knowledge of Middleton will know what we mean!).

Still, we were parked right around the corner from Times Square so we took them to the Hard Rock Cafe there for lunch. Colin was in his element looking at all the famous guitars there. The most stunning thing about the menu was the calorie count! Each of the dishes stated its calories and there were even salads that topped 1,400 The most calorific was fajitas which weighed in at a wopping 1,900. To ensure our bodies didn't overload we all went for reasonable sensible options, but even these were 700+.

To walk off some of those calories, we took a stroll down Broadway where we were given dessert, some free smoothies and non-fat yogurts. As we reached the intersection with 6th Avenue, the Empire State Building came into good view for us, it was just a shame we didn't have time to go up it and we also passed the original Macys store.

Then it was back into the car to drive down towards "Ground Zero" to show where the twin towers once stood. The building project is moving along rapidly, even since our last visit in April. But there isn't much to see as the site is surrounded.

Finally it was time to get across to Long Island and down to JFK. Although our satnav said it was a 20 minute journey, the typical New York traffic meant that it turned into an hour. It wasn't a problem as we'd already checked them in online so it was just a case of dropping the bags off and picking up the boarding cards. That was a relatively painless exercise, although Colin had to say goodbye to his new toy and hope it arrived safely at the other end. Then it was a tearful goodbye as we left them to go through to the departure lounge.

With the parents back home, Annalie decided to continue her vacation for the remainder of the week. It's been relatively quiet, just getting some bits done. We both had personal training sessions with a gym trainer to get ourselves a bit of motivation to get down there more often, and at least do the right stuff while we're there.

We also decided to go for a quick round of golf back at Minnechaug, seeing as we hadn't been there in a while. It wasn't the best round for either of us, and although we got caught in a very light shower, the round was generally dry and even very sunny towards the end. Annalie managed to lose about 6 balls on the last hole and we couldn't really understand why! We think that another visit to the golf coach is in order.

Finally we went shopping to West Farms Mall again so Annalie could buy a new wheelie case for her travels. She wanted one she could put her laptop in and take on board as carrying it on her shoulder gets quite sore. Anyway, she found one on sale at Macys that suits her needs well. Thank you Mum