April 16, 2013

Hi all.

Just a brief note to start off the morning.

Sitting in the coffee shop, a wounded warrior comes in with both legs missing below the knee who rode a modified cycle similar tho the one pictured yesterday.  He had finished the race well ahead of the drastic event that took place.

Then two women came in a bit after, one blind, accompanied by her guide dog and the other woman with her helping the blind woman around.  Both of them ran in the race yesterday but were stopped a quarter mile from the finish line.  Both did not finish.  Congratulations to these unknown people for working so hard to race in the marathon despite their disabilities.  The Boston Marathon is such a wonderful event for the city of Boston.

Have a good day everyone...see some of you soon.

We saw all of the grandchildren at the Maine State Museum this afternoon and it was so wonderful to have them glad to see us....and no we didn't have pockets full of candy or money to spend in the museum store...just great hugs for us.  So wonderful.
Since the fridge was empty we had our evening meal in Augusta.  No cajun, no spicy creole...just Maine seafood.  To tell you the truth, it is still the best.  If you go down south, Tom might add that the spices they add are the best...but haven't lived there for a long time, what would he know.

We checked the mail, made a to do list, stacked up all the magazines that we care to read, are thinking of breaking open the piggy bank because the oil tank reads empty, and can now just rest and relax. 

Will start looking at the rest of the pictures and post a few more....maybe tomorrow, maybe the next day.

Thanks everyone who wondered.... while we were in Boston.

Alice and Tom

April 15, 2013

Boston Marathon Day

We woke up early and joined up with Tom's sister and brother-in-law to see the yearly marathon.  Tom's brother Bob ran a respectable 3:32:59.  We have quite a few pictures so enjoy if you have never been there.

Eight of us were there to catch a glimpse of Bob.  We waited patiently around mile 17.

 There were 20 wounded warriors staying in the same hotel where we were.
They were in great spirits and happy to have participated.

 The first female runner we saw was really setting a great pace, although she didn't finish first.

She was followed a 100 yards back by a pack of contenders.

About10 minutes later the first wave of men.

Another warrior.

 The guy in yellow beats his dad to the finish line every year.

Another wave of the top runners.

A soldier, prior to the race completes the marathon with a 50 pound rucksack

 Don't worry kids, Grammie has a musical instrument for each grandchild.

Bob, later enjoying a post race meal with family and friends. 

Need noisemakers and memorabilia?

Raising money for cancer research.  

A throng of runners coming over a hill.When you have about 22,000 runners, they tend to bunch up.

Another wounded warrior.

A marathon on stilts, but not on a run.

 Family meeting area on Stuart St. after the race.

Bob and Tina finally get back together in the family meeting area.  Bob looked great after the race. 

If you come to pick out someone in particular, make sure that they wear something unusual, they will be easier to find.

A great day in Boston.

Home tomorrow.

April 14, 2013

Hi everyone.  An enjoyable day in Boston.  We arrived at the Constitution Inn and down in the lobby were several bikes.  This bike looks like it could be close to the front of the starting line in the Boston Marathon tomorrow.
On the floor below us there are members of a wounded warrior group in town for the weekend. Several of them will be riding in the race tomorrow. This afternoon they were at the Red Sox game.  The Red Sox treated them to a 5-0 win...and almost a no hitter.  This particular bike will be ridden by a double amputee.

It is easy to find the way around the city, as long as you don't mind walking.  We walked to North Station, bought MBTA tickets for tomorrow and continue to walk over to the Quincy Market area.

Now this is what you call a seasonal beer.  26.2 ale.  A good way to cheer on the runners.  While we were there we got a call...something about a meal for the runners.  We almost  felt guilty as we were getting ready to have our own runners meal... Ice Cream  at the Faneiul Hall Food Mart.

  

The sign reads Headquarters of the Revolution.  Supposedly the revolution was overheard here with Webster and Revere in attendance.
 

 Bunker monument to commemorate the Battle of Bunker Hill fought on Breed's Hill.

 After 57 days away, we finally found the way towards home...but first, getting lost again in the midst of the crowds at the Boston Marathon.
  

Happy Patriots Day tomorrow.

April 13, 2013

Hi all, we are getting very close to being back home...but we are not there just yet.  We made the trip from West Point to Danvers and are visiting Tom's sister.  We went out for the evening to listen to a local band.  We have a relative that plays in the band and they were only 3 miles away.  For more, they have a website... Don't Call Me Shirley.  They are popular in the local area and are pretty much booked every weekend.  The dance floor was packed and the music... great.

Sunday we are headed into Boston for 2 days to try to get a glimpse of Tom's brother Bob who will be running in the Boston Marathon for the first time.  For more info, and for those that may have ipads or smartphones, there is an app at  Boston Athletic Association  to download and track the runners at different intervals during the race course.  Bob's bib number is 13572.   We also have a cousin Tom Trytek who has made this an annual event for many years.  His bib number is 6902.

Sorry there are no pictures for the blog today but at least you know we are safe...right?

Thanks for viewing.

Tom and Alice    

April 12, 2013

Hi everyone.  I guess some of Tom's comments about the Maine weather may have caught the ire of folks back home.....we awoke to heavy rain this morning...and 44 degrees.

The lousy weather made it a good day for indoor activities so that's what we did today.  Before leaving Easton PA, the home of Crayola Crayons  Crayola Factory tours we went to another quilt shop. 


After the quilt thing-a-ma-jig or whatever, we headed to the USGA Headquarters in Bernard Township, NJ.
Seriously though, Alice has had a wonderful time visiting the quilt and fabric shops around the area.  She often commented about how the Amish people really underprice the quilts for the time invested in them.

 The home of the USGA was originally a private residence, and now it is home to the USGA Museum.  Other buildings have been built on the property to house the testing of equipment and the USGA Admin Headquarters. More has been added to the original home to include the Arnold Palmer room which was added in 2005.

Each year, companies that make golf balls must have them approved before used in tournaments played under USGA Rules. The balls are kept for 3 years before being cleared out and sent to schools to use.

 

We went to the Equipment testing center and were impressed with the equipment used to test balls and clubs.  This one checks clubhead size.

This piece of equipment tests the time of ball contact with the clubhead...measures in microseconds.

 The piece of equipment used to test ball speed called Iron Byron has been retired and replaced by Iron Rugge, named after its devoleper.  It swings at a consistent 120 miles per hour.

 

The computer results of the golf balls selected show the clubhead speed at the bottom.(119.9 mph)..and the speed of the ball which in this case was 257.15 feet per second.

 You can see how much the equipment has changed the average driving distance since 1996.

Some 3000 new clubs per year also have to be tested and approved for play.  Many of them don't meet the obvious rules for club design. This one had a sole plate that opened to reveal a mini grass cutter inside.  A no go from the first glance.

These are other clubs that didn't fit the obvious description and
specifications in the rules and didn't go on to the testing bench.

These were the irons and putter that Francis Ouimet used to win the 1913 US Open
at the Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts.

As part of the testing, even the surface gets a close inspection checking for grooves that are too sharp.

And golfers and equipment go through all this for what?  The prize.  This one being the US Seniors Championship.

There is a wonderful library on site to pore through the many volumes of records...but the more important ones are visually displayed.  Two of Tom's favorites are shown here.

Just one more picture to add.  It was seen on a license plate seen in New Jersey.  

I think it says it all.  

We do care

 
Our daughter, Caroline, along with the rest of the team, will be running in the Twilight 5K on June 13th, in Portland, with a friend that has been stricken with this terrible disease. The money raised will help to continue the fight against Cancer. The money raised from their efforts will be kept in Maine. Tom will not be doing his Dempsey Challenge this fall so if there is anyone who would still like to donate to the cause in another venue, the link for her is  Caroline's TwiLight 5K

Thanks all.  Off to see my sister the Ice Skater.

April 11, 2013

Hi everyone.

We finally made it to Lancaster County Pennsylvania where there are wonderful quilt shops and lots of high quality fabric sold at very reasonable prices, if you go to the Amish stores.  We sure feel sorry for the lady that was also in the first place we visited. We overheard her asking about Miller's Quilts.  The lady asked the young salesperson where Miller's Quilts were and she gave the lady good directions and also told her that Miller's had good prices.  After going to Miller's later we learned how helpful and complimentary the young saleslady was to other quilt and fabric businesses in the area.  But if the truth be known the lady looking for better prices probably found out that the Amish people have well made and cheaper quilts that are hand quilted and not machine done. 

The following pictures were taken at the Quilt museum in Intercourse, PA.

Today was a shirt, shorts and sandals day.  Tomorrow we cross the border into New England.  Save some snow for us.

April 10, 2013

Howdeeee!  Oh that Minnie Pearl...what a sweetheart.
Another great day in Pennsylvania.  A great day for growing tobacco leaves in the Lancaster Amish area.

Today we took a tour of the Pennsylvania Capitol and also the National Civil War Museum which covered the history of the war from beginning to end.

The Pennsylvania Capitol building has got to be the most beautiful one that we have seen.  The outside grounds were well taken care of and the inside was very ornate with statues of well known people besides politicians.  Some of them may have even been educators, painters etc.  A lot of the upper works were finished in 23 karat gold leaf.

This is the main staircase where today, football players with great talent,  were being recognized for that talent and going on to  higher education rather than the prose (!)  For those that had been to Graceland, you could have almost mistaken these stairs for Elvis's.

The top of the rotunda is 272 feet above floor level and was really grand.

All of the main floor in the building was a pictoral history of the state done in tile.  This one happens to be of the steel industry.  Can you imagine Gov LeRage pulling up floor tiles because it might represent workers who might be unionized?

This is the Senate chamber that houses 50 senators.  Notice the ornateness of the chandeliers and the artwork in the background.  The Roll call vote is still done here the old fashioned way.  A verbal Aye or Nay.

The Majority Leaders desk made out of imported mahogany.

A stained glass window representing the Media.  Can you imagine a missing window?

The House chambers with 203 representatives.  All PC computers were alike.  They even had a couple of Pages going around opening them up and turning on the power.  Electronic votes shown on the boards on the wall.  Their name shows up in either red or green.

This is one of several 2 ton chandeliers in the house and senate chambers

The grounds outside were very colorful.  I thought I heard that they borrowed money from the education budget to pay for the flowers. (?)

These 2 stickers are for the annual exhaust emissions testing, and the right one reads "Annual Inspection Sticker".  I was wondering where it would go if you didn't have a windshield.

At the National Civil War Museum, which covered all of the Civil War, many real artifacts were kept here or on loan.   Can you guess whose stovepipe hat hatbox this might have belonged to?

The state of Maine during the war had 73,000 volunteers, which is the greatest number in proportion to all the other Northern states.  This on is of the Maine 7th Company.  Maine also was the home of 31 Generals during war.

There was also a traveling exhibit featuring Col Joshua L Chamberlain and told of his part in the battles.  There is a book titles Joshua L Chamberlain  A Life in Letters that gives his description of the accounts of the war.

I just thought I would end todays pictures with this quote.

Many of you have heard of a book called Tobacco Road...tomorrow it will be Quiltshop Road.

Good night John Boy.