Final Chapter Of Our Vacation

  Glendale, Arizona, United States
Saturday, September 29, 2007

It felt so good to sleep in for once, but we still had two very important stops to make before catching our flight home.  So, we packed our bags, ate a hearty breakfast at the hotel, and drove to the Pine Lawn Cemetery in Farmingdale to visit John's grandparents' grave, Frank & Julia La Bua.  The office gave us detailed maps and plot numbers and we located their gravesite easily.  Flowers were laid and a photo taken for remembrance.
 
Next we drove a short distance to visit John's Aunt Rose and Uncle Frank Padavan who live in Massapequa. 

004 Aunt Rose, John, Uncle Frank

Even though John hadn't seen them in maybe 30 years, they welcomed us with open arms.  We were fed a delicious lunch of rolls, cheeses, turkey and prosciutto.  We also had some delectable crumb cake with cannoli cream filling that Uncle Frank had his friend, a baker, make for this special occasion.  Oh, I can still taste that cake and wish I had a piece right now!  Time flew as we heard stories of John's grandparents (Aunt Rose's parents) and his father.  Thanks Aunt Rose & Uncle Frank!
 
All too quickly our visit came to an end and we left for the Islip McArthur Airport.  Our return flight took us to Philadelphia then a connecting flight back to Phoenix.  Back in Phoenix we located all of our suitcases (whew) and hopped on a Super Shuttle van that delivered us to our front door.  Our younger cat Princess came wandering out and cautiously looked up at faces she hadn't seen in almost 3 weeks.  She eventually meowed her welcome then promptly began the arduous task of sniffing our luggage and wondering where in the world we had been and why it took so long for us to come back.  The older cat, Meemo, refused to greet us and was found sulking and pouting on the coffee table.  For the rest of the evening, they suddenly became affectionate lap cats, purring and hardly letting us out of their sight!
 
Now that our vacation is over, it's time to unpack, do laundry and return to work.  We had a wonderful time, made new friends, learned new travel tips, and look forward to reliving our memories of all the places we've seen.