We spent the next week in Saratoga Springs, New York, where Daniel’s dad lives. We spent the week there with his dad and his step-mom, Cynthia.

We stayed in their beautiful house, where we particuarly enjoyed their huge back yard for Winnie to run around in, and their shower which featured a built-in steam room.

They’ve also got a 2 year old pup named Ranger. Winnie got along with him fairly well, though it was a bit contentious at times. This was not one of those times:

On our first full day there we went with Daniel’s dad to “Grant’s Cabin”, which is a cabin near Saratoga Springs where President Ulysses S. Grant spent the final weeks of his life. Daniel read a biography of Grant a couple years ago and gained a fondness for him, so he enjoyed that quite a bit.

We then headed up to nearby Lake George, a very touristy town right on a beautiful lake. We stopped at a cute little pet shop while there and got Winnie a cookie, which probably makes that her favorite place on the trip so far.

The rest of the week we hung around the house and went to downtown Saratoga Springs a number of times. The town felt like just the right size to us - not too big and not too small. Saratoga Springs is definitely a place we could imagine ourselves living in one day.

We also really liked nearby Saratoga Spa State Park, which was just a couple miles from Daniel’s dad and had trails, fields, an apmhitheatre, and some historical buildings, making for a great place to walk Winnie and go on some runs.

• How much we’d like to visit again: 8/10. It’s beautiful and Daniel’s dad lives here.
• How much we’d like to live here: 8/10. This was the perfect sized town for us with a great downtown and great outdoor spaces. We also really liked one particular grocery store there (Market 32).