September 8, 2015

Catching up a bit on our travels, on Sunday, we rode to Pittsburgh where we stayed at the Pittsburgh Air Reserve Station.  We have stayed there several times when making east-west trips.  We rode up through New Stanton, PA where we will be staying when we go to the US Open golf tournament being played at Oakmont in June.  On Monday morning we had breakfast at DeLuca's Restaurant in Downtown Pittsburgh. We met up with Devin and caught up on goings on since last year when we passed through. 
We then got an early start on the trip to Cincinnati to visit Jane and David.  We had a nice visit. Jane as usual came up with something unique for a meal and the Fried Green Tomato sandwiches were great.  Sharing stories and laughs took up the remainder of the visit.
On Tuesday morning we headed to Springfield where we got in an afternoon tour of the State Capitol (our 27th). 
The Capitol building (including flag) allows them to lay claim to the tallest Capitol building in the country.

This is a balcony view of the Senate chambers where then Senator Barack Obama served the state of Illinois.

Below are two portraits of Lincoln and Douglas that hang in the House Chambers.  Completed in 1869 by artist Aaron Darling they have been hanging in the current state house since 1877.

 

Tomorrow, we will be spending the day visiting other President Lincoln related sites.

September 6, 2015

Hello again everyone.
Today was pretty much a travel day but before we left Carlisle heading towards Pittsburgh, we found the burial site of Molly Pitcher whose last name wasn't Pitcher.  To save a little time, I took a photo of the story for you to read.  Molly Pitcher story

A Memorial to Molly.

Molly "Pitcher" McCauly burial site.

September 5, 2015

With a little more catching up during a front porch breakfast, we got a late start leaving what started as Saybrook colony Connecticut in 1644, later split up into smaller communities but kept and restored many older buildings.  Thanks Pat and Professor Grunko for a pleasant stay.

The remainder of the day was spent on the road heading to Carlisle Pennsylvania.  It was a great day for traveling but after a while driving into the sun when the temps are in the high 80's doesn't seem so much fun at all.
Carlisle has a military history dating back to Revolutionary war times.  Carlisle served as a munitions depot during the Revolutionary War and  eventually developed into the United States Army War College at Carlisle Barracks.
The building where we are staying overnight (Pratt Building) has a history to it.  (Following from Wikipedia... ) United States Army Lieutenant Richard Henry Pratt founded Carlisle Indian Industrial School in 1879 as the first federally supported school for American Indians off a reservation. The United States government maintained the school, housed at Carlisle Barracks as an experiment in educating Native Americans and teaching them to reject tribal culture and to adapt to white society. Richard Henry Pratt retired from the Army in 1903 and from supervising the school as its superintendent in 1904. Athletic hero Jim Thorpe entered the school in 1907 and joined its football team under coach Glenn Warner ("Pop" Warner) in 1908. Playing halfback, Jim Thorpe led the team to startling upset victories over powerhouses Harvard, Army, and the University of Pennsylvania in 1911–12, bringing nationwide attention to the school. Marianne Moore taught there c.1910. Carlisle Indian School closed in 1918.  An old munitions building is right next door.

September 4, 2015

Back again with another great day!
After spending a 2nd night at Tom's sisters, we headed back to the first day of the Fedex Tournament with a fresh loaf of zucchini and blueberry bread.
When we arrived at the tournament, Tom grabbed the camera and we headed to the bus to take us to the course.  When we went to get on, Tom was told that cameras were not allowed but cell phones were. Back to the car to leave the camera. It was still a little chilly so Alice grabbed her fleece to keep warm.
Once at the course, Alice decided that her fleece was not needed so we left it at the Birdies for the Brave hospitality tent.  We then went to the 18th hole, Mickelson's 9th of the day just in time to see him birdie the hole. We then headed over the front side to continue to watch Phil's round.  When Phil was walking down the 2nd fairway, close enough to us, Tom said to Phil "Light it up Phil" to which he gave the thumbs up and then Tom said, "Brady isn't the only story in town" and Tom got a smile and a 2nd thumbs up.  Phil then birdied the hole and again on his 13th hole.

When the round was finished, we decided to head down the road with the next planned stop to see a high school friend in CT. Before we left, we had to go back to the Birdies for the Brave tent and pick up her fleece and grab some water.  When we got there, they were just unpacking the Fedex Cup trophy so we got the opportunity to grab a cell phone picture.

Here is Grammie with her first place trophy for her "Best Quilt Design".

Actually this is the Fedex Cup Trophy which was making it's way around the hospitality tents.  Just think, no fleece this morning and we wouldn't have had this opportunity.

A bit down the road and we stopped for a quick visit to see some friends in North Attleboro. Jerry and Lea showed us some pictures of the Canyonlands that we  eventually hope to see.

The green River in the Canyonlands.

A short way from their house is a place that our kids have visited before.

After a short visit in NA, we continued into Connecticut where we met some other friends, one who was Tom's high school classmate.  We stayed there for the evening and got to update each other with goings on in our lives.  They bought a wonderful older house and over the last 2 years have made some functional changes but have kept the house substantially the same.  Having grown up in older houses, we miss what they had for great living spaces.  One of our grandchildren will appreciate their choice of decor.

Tomorrow,on the road again.

September 3, 2015

Hello again.
Today we spent the day at the Deutsche Bank Fedex cup site in Norton Massachusetts.

Today was a practice round that was also a Pro Am tournament.  There were 4 amateurs that were teamed up with a Pro, with 52 teams competing today.  Many of the Pros forego their regular caddy and play with course caddies.  The caddies signed up for a lottery to determine who might caddy for a Pro.
The day was very sunny and hot, but thanks to Birdies for the Brave, a temporary stand was set up to provide the much needed relief.

The next 2 pictures were of the 17th tee and fairway from the stand.

After a lot of walking around the course, we decided on a shaded location to sit and watch the players come through.

Jim Furyk

 Jordan Spieth

 Phil Mickelson

Today was a great day for getting in a lot of walking...and who knows, Grammie might even be found playing a round on the golf course.

Oh, by the way, if Gloria Garmin tells you that you might save 10 minutes driving somewhere...don't do it.  Stick to your original plans.  The drive back through Bean town was actually uneventful, although a little longer than planned.  Tomorrow, Day 1 of the Tournament.

September 2, 2015

Hi everyone.  We are finally back on the road again, this time heading west as far as Utah and down south to New Mexico.

Our Travelocity Troll is the first picture of this blog.

With the van all packed we are now ready to hit the road.  But wait, Where's Grammie?

We made it as far as Danvers, Massachusetts visiting Tom's sister and brother-in-law. We are getting a good nights rest so we can find a parking lot on Route 128 tomorrow, as we are heading to the Deutsche Bank Fedex golf tournament in Norton,  MA. 

April 17, 2015

Hello everyone.
We finally arrived back home on Thursday the 16th after making a stop in Norway and New Gloucester to see our children and grandchildren before heading home.  It lightened up the car load as we dropped off a container full of summer clothes and swimwear used by one family that stayed with us for a week in Cocoa Beach (2 boogie boards and a child seat included).  It also included a big box of clothes from my sister that was dropped off to another daughter... thanks April and Mike.  As clothes sizes change from grandchild to grandchild, they will get a lot of use.  That is convenient when the grandchildren are 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 4 and 3 in age. What great family planning.  Enough grandchildren around to prevent Grammie from thinking about moving to Florida.

Out trip covered 5695 miles and with gas prices lower this year we managed to save 4 cents per mile.  We did manage to bring back home some additional weight equal to about 1 thousandths of a pound per mile over the 8 weeks that we were gone.  We won't say if that was per person or per couple.

We did see both of Tom's sisters in the same final week on our trip back home.  Visiting with them took up one week of the total trip.  We got to see our son Doug in Columbia SC for about 4 hours which made Grammie's day.
Things that were good about the trip were seeing new places (Charleston SC especially) and old (not old but long established) friends.  Together we spent more money on playing golf that we did on buying new new fabric and yarn.  Grammie did find School House Fabrics in Floyd Virginia.  She said that it was the best ever.  Most golf courses don't cost that much (wink).

Things that we would change.  Don't plan to see the Blue Ridge parkway in the Spring.  We did drive through a section on our way back home but felt that it would not be as nearly beautiful as it will be in the Fall.  We tried not to get tied up in planning way ahead to see specific things on certain days which worked out better for us but, when we tried to see friends along the way we realized that things in their lives sometimes change plans to connect and maybe longer planning is more necessary. In the case of long distance travel it means a long time before you see them again...or never seeing them again.

Our best unplanned event was seeing Mike Farrell playing the role of Norman Thayer Jr. in the production of On Golden Pond in Jacksonville Florida and our best planned event was to see a longtime friend of Alice's parents also in Jacksonville who will turn a centenarian on May 29th.  Both wonderful opportunities we jumped at.

We did have several people ask us "When you coming down", meaning moving to Florida and we realized that for us, it will probably be never but, when you get sick of snow, there will continue to be the right time to get away from Maine for a bit.  For us it is still what we look forward to, just to get in the van and go..and to all of those along the way who wished us a safe trip back home,  thanks.  We made it.

April 13, 2015

Good evening everyone.  We didn't get lost for the last 4 days.We spent them at Tom's sister Kathy and Steve's house helping them to get settled.  We got a new floor put down in one of the rooms and worked hard to get the wallpaper off in the master bathroom.  There is still a lot of work to do there but it sure gave them a boost to get the house where they want it to be.

Today we made our final plans for the end of this trip.  We left Columbia and ended up in Salem, VA which is real handy to the Blue Ridge Parkway.  We originally wanted to do all of it this trip but, after finding part of it closed and trees still on the way to reaching full springtime beauty we decided to hold off until a later time.  There are Rhododendron plants all around but none have bloomed.

On the sides of the highway, the Redbud trees are most prominent right now.

We drove a 20 mile section of the Blue Ridge Parkway on the way to Salem and found another couple who were willing to trade camera duty.

With about 4700 miles down and about 900 left we decided it's time to be home.  Two more stops along the way will put us back home on Thursday.  Tomorrow it's goodbye to the shorts and sandals for a while.

April 8, 2015

Good evening all.
Yesterday when we were visiting Geoff and Georgia, they told us about a play at the Alhambra in Jacksonville.  It was a dinner theater and play of the movie On Golden Pond.  We decided to go and were very pleased that we did.  Mike Farrell (M.A.S.H.) was wonderful playing the part of Norman Thayer Jr.  There were many funny lines from the movie and some added lines that were very funny as well.  A great evening. For more, see Alhambra

Thanks for keep an eye out for Grammie

April 7, 2015

Good evening everyone.
We finally left Cocoa Beach and headed to Tavares where we met up with Tom's sister.  After a couple of nights there we headed through the Ocala National Forest over to Port Orange.  We took a short hike on the Timicuan trail at Alexander Springs which brought us out to some crystal clear water in a stream. It is a popular spot for locals to do a bit of canoeing.  On the trail, we saw several different types and colors of reptiles.

We then headed to Port Orange where we have been for the last day visiting some friends who live there.  We got a chance to see some Sand Cranes.

Later on we drove into Daytona where we ate at the North Turn Bar and Grill famously known as the location for the Daytona Beach Race.  The Reuben fish sandwich was great.  Later we took a walk on the
boardwalk.

 The boardwalk was not terribly crowded so we went to find an Ice Cream.

Tomorrow we are going to a Dinner show in Jacksonville.  More tomorrow.

April 3, 2015

Good evening everyone.
Yesterday morning we dropped off our daughter and family at the airport.  After a delay at JFK they finally made it home safely.  It was a pleasure to have them with us for the week.

Today Tom's sister and husband drove down for a visit and are staying with us for only one night as we are leaving Cocoa Beach tomorrow and begin our trek north.

We took a walk on the beach and even though college break is over, there were more people on the beach than ever.  There is a surfing competition going on and there are quite a few competitors here.  For more info, click on the link  Sundance Ranch
This person was working an a maze that was about 3 times of what you see.

 Although this picture was taken after dark, the camera managed to do whatever it wanted.  Actaully the camera takes a series of pics and creates a picture from it.

 In this picture, you are looking at the same moon as we are.  Is your view different from ours?

 We had our dinner at the Fat Kahuna.  It is a very small mom-pop restaurant that had 5 tables for 4 people and bar seats for another 10 people inside and 3 more tables out on the sidewalk.  It was recommended by friends and the meal did not disappoint.  Even though there were plenty of restaurants around the area there were people waiting on the sidewalk waiting for their chance to eat.

Thanks for following us and Have a Happy Easter weekend. 

April 1, 2015

Good evening everyone.
Today was the last day of vacation for our daughter Caroline and family.
We went to Ron Jons today.  It features summer wear as well  as tourist things and also surfing equipment.  It kept the kids occupied looking at things while the parents were busy saying "put that back".

 Dad, do you really want me to cover up my Red Sox hat???

When you are given the responsibility to keep track of a 4 year old you better either stay sharp or put the store in lockdown.

 On a walk back from shopping, Grammie found a good picture spot.

 

This last sequence features a last couple of late afternoon hours at the beach as well as a goodby to the ocean.

 The beginnings of a new activity?

 Goodby beach.

 Priceless

One last thought.  Yes today was April Fool's Day.  Who would have thought that  9 and 7 year olds would be clever enough to come up with a joke to play on Grampie.  Well, their Dad and Grampie were some what surprised when they came out to give us a Double Stuffed Oreo. Definitely a favorite. Got to admit that it did look pretty good until we went to take a bite.  The stuffing had been replaced with toothpaste.  Good work girls.  We still love you.