Slept great in the tower and woke to a bright, clear, crisp autumn morning.

Bruce whipped up delicious pancakes from flour he made from dried beans, nuts, peas, eggs, Bisquick, vanilla flavored silk – fantastic, light and so tasty. Melon, bananas, and a carrot-berry juice topped off the memorable breakfast.

We enjoyed the hour or so that we spent with Heidi and Charlie, but we had to say our farewells so that we could make the hour-long drive to Boston to return the rental car and check into the Hampton Inn near Logan Airport in preparation for our return flight to Tucson tomorrow.

It was difficult saying goodbye to my quiet and intelligent friend Charlie. I have known him for over 25 years and although we haven’t kept in touch, Charlie is most certainly a one-of-a-kind “man’s man.” He is, among other things, a master stone mason, builder, inventor, alchemist, dreamer and tamer of dragons. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, and Bruce is more than a little proud of his oldest son.

So we hugged Bruce, took one last photo, said farewell and headed north.

We hit terrible traffic 20 miles west of Boston and the traffic never let up, even after we dropped the rental car off the jumped into a cab. It was bumper-to-bumper to Logan Airport and the Hampon Inn.

No sooner had we checked into our room than Carol discovered a tick burrowing into her arm. We spent the next two hours dealing with that (crossing horrendous traffic by foot to get tools we needed at Walgreens, then digging the creature out,) then drifted down to the hotel bar for dinner and recuperative drinks. We spent the time reminiscing about the past magic two weeks and reviewing photos.

It has been a magnificent journey through a lovely, cool, albeit wet, New England autumn, but the highlight most certainly was the time we spent with Bruce, Charlie and Heidi.

Grabbed dinner in the hotel bar, chatted with a couple from San Diego on their way to a two-week cruise, then fell fast asleep dreaming of the past two-week’s adventures.

Next Day