Between Super Bowl and Valentines Day?

What a great super bowl.  Competitive, hard fought, lead exchanges, sentimental favorite overcomes bad first quarter to survive, great coaching, and good company.  We watched at Tate and Jeff's with Chris and Loren and conducted the male rite of passage for Chris's son Henry, first superbowl with the "men".  Henry did good for a kindergartner, lasting almost a whole quarter before being distracted by a flying toy helicopter that was also distracting most of the "men".  Think I saw one too many commercials with men in underwear.  Not sure I would ever say that about women in underwear commercials.

Suzy and I spent the early part of the day doing "drive bys' of homes we had seen on the web.  Amazing how misleading some of those pics can be.  We whittled down from 9 down to two we want to go inside.  Still seeing lots more homes coming  on the market at this time the year as people start to get serious again about selling. 

OK, next up, Valentines Day.  Why does it only get a week between it and the superbowl when the  super bowl gets two weeks run up.  Oh, yeah, not that I am a winter sports guy coming from northern Michigan, but there is some games coming up north of Seattle on skiis and skates and such.  Hope I remember to watch as I prepare for Valentine's Day. 

Seven Months, 26,000 miles

It went by too fast, the last seven months.  We pulled the 5th wheel 12,500 miles and drove the truck alone 13,500 miles.  A little over $6,000 for diesel and another $6,000 for renting RV parking spaces.  Averaged 13 miles per gallon of diesel.  Small price to pay for all the memories. 

We are already thinking about future trips to Alaska, Arizona in the winter, and Washington State Parks.  Also would like to park it at a lake site for the summers.  In the meantime we will use it as a temporary home as we look for our non-mobile house.

I mentioned a close call on the last leg of the trip through California.  As we were pulling through LA, keeping up with busy traffic, I-5 was literally falling apart, huge cracks and holes and I had to drive through at 60 mph. That I night noticed a huge amount of wear on one RV tire in back. Later the next day as I was making a turn I saw that tire scraping, and found it worn to the wires at the next stop. Pulled into Les Schwab and replaced the tire and then made an appointment with alignment shop in Redding. Turns out both yokes holding the springs on each side had broken and was lucky that the tires had not blown or 5th wheel dropped off springs on I-5 at 60 mph. Got it all aligned, balanced, new wheel bearing on one wheel, packed all bearings and back on the road with only one day lost. Got heavy duty yokes replacing factory ones and the new ones have zert fittings so I can grease them and keep them strong. Whew! I can just imagine us trying to head up over the Siskiyous and have it break down there at 4700 feet in the snow. Better then new now.

Gig Harbor

We had wonderful dinner/reunion with Tate and Jeff last night.  BBQ'd some sockeye salmon,  almost seemed like we hadn't left ten years ago.  Tate is walking, limp free, and doing steps, the rebuilt knee is looking good.  I like the way the surgeon made the incision to match the one on the opposite knee.  Very artistic and who needs tatoos when they have matching knee scars.  Suzy waited almost an hour before dropping a grandchild comment, an example of her patience in this area.

We found a great "possibility" house yesterday just looking at some open houses.  It is nice to be able to have so much to choose from and so many areas to look at.  Really great to see all the heather in bloom and all the rhody and azalea buds building strength.

100th Blog and We are Home

Good morning Gig Harbor!
After 566 miles of mountain passes, rain, traffic and completed the last leg of our journey yesterday, landing in Gig Harbor, just across Puget Sound from Tacoma, where we will begin our house hunting saga.

This also marks the 100th Blog of the trip.  I think I will keep it going as it is a good form of communication and easy.  Also it provides a quasi journal for me.  Important when your memory has more loopholes then a congressional budget.

566 miles is way too far for one day pulling a 12,000 pound 5th wheel.  Especially if you are crossing a 4700 foot mountain passes and lots of 2-3000 foot passes as well.  But as we got within 200 miles of home it didn't make sense to stop for one night when we were so close.

Suzy hasn't been this excited since I don't know when and I admit I am happy to be back in the NW.  We will now begin work with son in law, Jeff, in finding a new, non-rolling home.  He has many lined up for us already.  We chose Gig Harbor first so we can decide if we like living on the other side of the sound and a distance from Tate and Jeff.

Summary of statistics from the trip will follow in the next blog.  Everything you wanted to know about traveling the U.S. in quantifiable hard data.  Also a harrowing tale of what could have been with the trailer that wasn't, and hasn't been told yet, as it happened two days ago.

But suffice to say for now, we had a great trip, saw more then we ever thought possible, met interesting people, learned  to live in very close proximity to each other in a retired  mode, and did it all without an accident.  Cheers

I can smell the douglas fir!

We are within striking range of the NW!  About 600 miles is all that's left.  Had a tire go bad the fifth wheel yesterday.  A bad tire will do that.  Got into Les Schwab in Orland and had a new tire on and back on the road in less then 30 minutes.  Will get an alignment this morning in Redding and be back on the road before noon. 

We are so excited about the next phase, finding a house in Seattle.  Suzy has been keeping current with the market via the internet and we have some possibilities. 

Jet is getting excited too.  He is getting so close that he is carefully smelling all pee at rest stops to make sure none of them are old ones of his.  He still thinks we are going to Boise, so he is in for a surprise.

Texas, Texas, Texas

Since leaving New Orleans a week ago we have been in Texas.  We had a great stop at sister Helen and Dave's in Georgetown north of Austin.  They showed us all the sites in the Hill Country of central Texas.  Its an area I have longed to visit.  We enjoyed being in a house again and all that comes with that, Helen is a great cook.  Saw the LBJ library in downtown Austin, amazing place and free, unusual for a presidential library.  LBJ got more done then most presidents but unfortunately will be remembered more for the Viet Nam war.  His impact on education, civil rights, health care, and many more important issues are truly a lasting legacy for this great Texan.  We visited his ranch outside Johnson City, TX and his family gravesite there.  After a great hike in the hill country we stopped for some Texas BBQ.  Wow, that is good.  It is a toss up between NC BBQ and TX BBQ for best BBQ in the country but those two are way ahead of the rest.

Texas is 880 miles wide along higway 10 but the first 100 miles almost did us in.  Actually just 20 miles going around Houston.  A semi driver decided to play squish the RV off the road where two lanes became one in construction zone.  Having the right of way does you know good when a semi decides to crowd you out of a lane.  I have no idea how we stayed on the road but just as my pants were drying out, a pick up pulled in front of me and slammed on its brakes for stalled traffic.  Once again I don't know how I was able to stop and avoid this guy, but by this time it was over I had decided to cross Houston off my places to ever visit again.

The horse has caught smell of the barn (Seattle) and our trip is finding itself going into warp speed.  We are getting to the point where we are far enough west to be able to say we can come back via our new home in Seattle, so our pace is quickening.  We now have to be sure we avoid snow until crossing the Siskiyous in Northern CA and Southern Oregon.  Heading into Arizona today should end worries about snow for a while. 

The French Quarter

Sure love this town with all its old buildings and big trees.  Shirtsleeve weather as we walked about the French Quarter yesterday.  On Bourbon street I wanted to go in and see if the topless dancers were also in shirt sleeves but Suzy insisted they would be so no need to check.  Took the trolley through the Garden district and its old homes, laurel and live oaks, spanish moss and French influence.  Beautiful place, Suzy loving seeing all the old homes, me loving not having to drive. 

Life is good. 

Happy Martin Luther King Day All!

Headed into New Orleans to tour the town this morning.  Day started rather unusually, heard Jet growling at the door, and went to investigate.  Some folks walking by in their PJs didn't seem all that unusual.  Wait, those aren't PJs they are convict red and white striped clothes.  Its the convicts picking up the trash.  I had heard Louisiana had some rather different penal institutions.  Anyway works for us.  As Jet and I ran down the nature trail and out on to the alligator boardwalk we noticed more inmates cleaning, raking and keeping the place in good order. 

Nice spot on shores of Lake Ponchatrain just across causeway from NO.  And the cheapest we have stayed at, a state park full facilities and nine dollars a night.  They know how to treat their senior citizens here in Louisiana. 

Daylight in the Panhandle

Here on the soggy shores of Lake Seminole, where the Chatahoochee River is dammed up making the lake.  The Chatahoochee is in the alma mater song for Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, "Far across the Chatahoochee to the Upatoi, stands our loyal alma mater, Benning School for Boys, Onward ever, backward never, faithfully........(you get the idea).  Can't tell you how many times I was hazed in a mess hall of 400 and standing on the table singing this song solo.  What doesn't kill you will make you stronger or  will keep you alive until Viet Nam, or so they said.  So the Chatahoochee brings back memories galore.  Spent many a night camped on its banks playing war games in the red Georgia clay.

Don't remember the Alligator Flag plant then.  We saw it in action here.  One foot leaf plant that when an alligator swims by it, waves like a flag in warning.  Lots of  great vegetation, the Bald Cypress, reminds me of myself in so many ways, tall, strong, bald on top, and an evergreen that drops its needles in the winter. 

I felt a bit like a truck driver yesterday after hauling for 470 miles.  Twice our normal mileage, I thought the park was east of  Tallahasse not west.  Not sure how the truck drivers can do that all day, day in day out.  Cars cutting in front of you, thinking you can stop on a dime, passing you on the left, just making the whole drive a bit edgey.  But a good nights sleep cures all.

First day in Central Time Zone since July.  Wonder if that long of an exposure in the Eastern zone will have too many ill effects.  A good time zone will do that.  I have discovered on this trip though that I am a Pacific Coast Time Zone guy, I like my football on early and over early.

Heading for Home

Today we will head north from the tip of Florida on the first day of our trip back to the NW.  We have no idea how long this will take, could be a month or two or more.  Time will tell, but must confess that we are both spending more time thinking about a new house back in the NW than ever before on this trip.

Today would have been my mom's 95th birthday.  Happy Birthday Peg!  Now to figure out what to wear on the first day of our return journey, mom would have known!

Happy Trails

Daylight in the Swamp!

My first impression of the Everglades from a distance was that this could be Africa.  Grasslands and a canopy in the distance.  Actually this was part of the Everglades that had dried up because of the over development north of the Everglades.  Much has been done to mitigate this drought and signs of new life are everywhere.

We walked out on a boardwalk deep into a section of a state preserve and marveled at the diversity of the plant life.  And birds apparently do very well here.  Huge birds of all kinds and lots of waterfowl that may be wintering here. 

The alligators were quite lethargic due mostly to the cold weather they have been experiencing for almost two weeks.  A good alligator will be lethargic when I am in the swamp.  One of the coolest things was a marine trail that goes from the west side all the way down and around through the everglades.  Lots of parked vehicles with empty canoe and kayak trailers.  There are campsites, presumably on dry ground along the route.

My dad used to announce morning by saying "Daylight in the swamp!"  That would work very well here in the everglades. 

Daylight in the Swamp!

Koreshan Historic State Park

Located on the Estero River south of Ft. Myers and just north of Naples this is another of Florida's beautiful state parks of which there are hundreds, and all very nice.  All under 30 bucks a night and most of great hiking trails and beach or river access.  This one, Koreshan was the gift of the Koreshan "cult" in the 60's.  This group set up camp here in the late 1800's and lived without modern conveniences for most of their time.  They folded and gave the land to the state.  They believed the universe  was at the core of the earth, I had not thought of that.  They lived peacefully and practically and the land is testament to their care.  The state continues to keep it up beautifully.

Now if it would heat up a little and if all the old people would come out, I could believe we are in Florida.  Wait I might be one of them.  I feel pretty young here actually. 

Suzy has contacted an inner ear infection that has turned her ear fluid into molasses.  Makes hearing very difficult (but also good cookies) and she speaks real quietly thinking she is shouting.  Which makes my hearing bad, so we make a good old couple, "what was that dear? " She is on meds and getting better by staying prone.  She is getting cabin fever but one more day should do it.  Then its off to the Everglades.  Meantime I am taking care of all my mechanical maintenance duties.

We are also spending lots of time on the internet looking at houses in Seattle.  That is starting to look more in focus as we begin to wind up our trip.  Exciting times ahead.

Cheers

Will You Still Love Me When I'm 64?

You gotta love the Beattles on your 64th Birthday!  "Will you still love me, will you still need me, when I'm 64?  Will you still need me, will you still  feed me when I am 64? " The good news is the answer is yes.  Suzy still loves me and needs me.  The feed part we traded years ago as I love cooking. 

Fate has us in a Melbourne Beach, FL mobile home park and I don't feel old at all here, as I think the average age is 80 plus.  Good place to be when you are 64.  Had trouble getting my rig backed into tight spot and an old truck driver came over and helped me get it in nicely.  The other folks around were just worried that I might run over their Mexican flower pot or their garden hose.  Not much help.

Do have to admit that this park isn't what we were looking for when I picked it out.  But its an adventure, this RVing and somewhat like a box of chocolates.  Heading for the west coast and another state park on Sunday so will have less cement and more flora and fauna.

Cheers

Two New Explorers and Florida

I was driving by the Fountain of Youth today and it made me think of Ponce de Leon, aka, Dave Kendal.  Then I remembered our run with Meg and Rusty and the dogs in Paris Mountain State Park outside Greenville, SC where Meg and Rusty got us lost and added miles and minutes to our run, and lots of up hill running we didn't have to do.  I promised them explorers' names in the tradition of the lost running leaders from Seattle, Steve Martin, Magellan, Les Soule, Vasgo de Gama and of course Dave or Poncey as we call him.

Anyway because Rusty works at Duke with many business men from India I have dubbed him Marco Polo.  And because I like the name Amerigo, I dubbed Meg, Amerigo Vespucci, who North America is named after.  So there you have it, two new explorers.  You too can be an explorer and obtain a moniker just like these famous folks, all you have to do is take people on a run and get them lost so that they get mad at you and very tired. Simple.

We are spending our last day in St Augustine, FL today and will head for Melbourne Beach tomorrow.  It is close to Cape Canavaral and we want to visit.  I hear if you talk to the right guys they will shoot off a space shuttle while you are there.  Either that or a couple of bottle rockets.  Anyway still cool and breezy in Florida.  Suzy is upset that she will not get to try out the new string bikini she bought for the Florida Beaches.  Supposed to warm up next week.

The Decade Part Four 2009

2009


This is getting easier on the memory as we approach 2010. 2009 was dominated by our plans to sell the house and tour the U.S. and Canada. First I had to work myself out of a job which I was able to do by March. Amazing how clients get to relying on a consultant and it makes it hard to get out of a project. Anyway, URS and Tom parted company and Tom took on a full time job of selling the house and finding a new rolling one.

Two storage units later the house was staged and sold in one day, actually half a day. Now the pressure was on as the new owners wanted to move in by mid May. Craig’s List proved a Godsend as Tom found a used diesel pickup and a used Montana fifth wheel within a month. Tate and Jeff came to Boise to help load the heavy stuff into storage and Suzy and I moved into the 5th wheel in a park in Meridian on May 18. Still a month left for Suzy to retire and for Tom to learn the basics of RVing.

Tate graduated from Seattle University with a Masters in counseling in June and we all celebrated. Then we all went to Manistique, Michigan for a super Slining family reunion and 90th birthday party for my Uncle Charlie. It was great seeing the whole family gather together and share stories. An added bonus what the wedding proposal Rusty made to Meghan at the lighthouse on the end of the breakwater in Lake Michigan. It is the same breakwater that I used to sneak out on and fish and catch perch before I was ten years old.

For the remainder of 2009’s story you will have to check the blogs which are on ssawbridge.blogspot.com

So then it was time to return to Boise and hit the road that we find ourselves on this morning. We have pulled the trailer 8,000 miles so far and are about as far as you can get from Seattle and still be in the U.S.. We look forward to the remainder of our trip through Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Oregon and Washington.

23 degrees in Savannah this morning, so it must be time to go further south, although Florida is only 50 miles away so it can't be much warmer there.  Keep the propane tanks topped off!  Cheers

The Decade Part Three, The Boise Years

Good Morning South Carolina.  Nasty head cold still hanging on today.  Neck is getting tired of holding up a 50 pound head full of snot!  Not a pretty picture I paint.  Sorry but have lost patience with this little inconvenience.  Frozen water pipe this morning to thaw out.  All these folks headed to Florida in the park are moving fast.  We hear it is cold in northern Florida as well so what's the hurry.  Too much Spanish moss and live oak lined streets to enjoy here in Savannah and rural SC.

2006


Only half way through the decade and I am getting tired. Got to slow down. Best way to do that would be to retire which I did on January 1, 2006. Little would I know how quickly retirement would become work. But first Meg and I made a cross country ski trip back to the UP through Yellowstone’s trails, Minnesota’s ski resorts and Active Backwoods Resorts where nephew Eric and Angela hosted our visit with more skiing then we could handle. We quickly skied our way into shape and then it was back to Boston for Meg and Tom skied his way back to Boise. Projects on the new house occupied Tom’s first months of retirement and when these were done he made his way to Seattle to work on Tate and Jeff’s house, or at least to start that project.

In May we returned to Boston to watch Meg graduate with a masters in public health from Tufts and one in something else too. Tom then drove her to UNC at Chapel Hill for her start on a doctorate. We would see her again in the summer for Gabe and TJ’s wedding in Wenatchee, and then again on Labor Day weekend in Seattle when Tate and Jeff tied the knot. The whole fam damily showed up and got them off to a rousing start to their new life. Life is moving to fast I was thinking.

I began remodeling work on Suzy’s sister Teri and Al’s house in Olympia in the fall, commuting from Boise every few weeks. It was a bigger job then I thought but it was fun to work with Teri and Al and share their little trailer as we made the house livable. Finished my part of the project before Christmas and headed back to Boise to rest. Meg and Tate and Jeff joined us for Christmas and we played in the snow.

2007

The year began with a full scale assault on the basement of Tate and Jeff’s house in Seattle. I commuted to Boise every few weeks and Jeff and I and his dad Frank made significant progress in turning the unfinished basement dungeon into a new living area with bath, laundry room, bedroom, and family room. Jeff and I pushed the Crispy Crème stock to new highs as we stopped every time on the way back from material runs. About the time we were finishing the basement I got a job offer from a consulting company to do some work in Seattle. The pay was good and the challenge better so I took it on. We spent Thanksgiving with Jeff and Tate before Christmas in Boise. Not sure I like this working again but Suzy has another year to vest in Idaho’s system so we shall see. Besides the skiing is good as Gabe and TJ joined Meg and I for a trip up to a backcountry yurt on Banner ridge where we spent a few cozy nights.

2008

Looks like this year will be another working year as a new consulting job stretches out from a couple months to the whole year. Suzy and I joined the boisterous crowd in Boise to listen to Barrack Obama inspire the crowd. What vision and hope! In June, Meg and I rode the Lance Armstrong Cancer Fund Raiser in Portland. It was a 100 mile day and Meg pulled me home the last 15 miles as I sucked on to her rear tired and whimpered. After the ride we joined Les and Steve and did a ride through Oregon’s covered bridges, think we did ten bridges and 120 miles or was it 120 bridges in ten miles? July saw the 90th birthday of Suzy’s mom, Marge in Olympia where a family reunion was also held. Good to see everyone again and to marvel how young a 90 year old mother Suzy has. Thanksgiving was in Seattle at Tate and Jeff’s again and we enjoyed the young folks enthusiasm. Christmas in Seattle was special as Meghan brought her new friend, Rusty. We had been wanting to meet Rusty and could easily see how Meghan had fallen for him. After Christmas, Rusty, Meg, Gabe, TJ, and I went back to another back country yurt in the Idaho mountains. We started the trip in to the yurt in a blizzard and it didn’t stop snowing for 36 hours. We broke a lot of trail and ate like dogs. What a great way to spend time in the winter.

Happy 61st Birthday Steve and the Decade part two

Brother Steve would have been 61 today.  We still miss him and think of him often.  Rest easy brother.

The Decade continued, Part Two


2003

The year started with a New Years trip to Garmisch to meet Gabe and TJ (they were working at the ski hill there) for the turn of the year. We enjoyed seeing them again and on European soil. Then year turned with the death of my dad, just 60 days after my mom died. We joined my dad’s brothers, Jim and Charlie, at Judy’s in Cincinnati where we all agreed what a tough ole bugger dad was. It was hard returning to Germany in January after these losses.

Suzy and I visited Stonehenge in February, a place we had always been interested in seeing. Meg and Tate joined us for spring break in the Provence where we really enjoyed the rural French life. The key success of the trip was making it back to Wiesbaden with the BMW which was on its last legs. Tate and I had a great trip to Stockholm in May. Good to get away just the two of us before she went back to the states in June.

Suzy and I visited Normandy in July where the American cemetery told the story of that sad history. The French were still paying respects to the American war dead. Suzy and I went to Paris in July for the 100th Tour de France. It was spectacular with all the old winners parading the streets. Lance won another, was it the sixth or fifth? Meg, Suzy and I went to eastern Italy in late July and stayed on an olive farm and toured the countryside before going south to Rome. The three of us also went to Poland for a week in September and stayed in a farmhouse with a family that spoke four languages but English was not one of them, such fun. Our time was drawing short in Europe so we wound down our travels before returning to Seattle on Halloween 2003.

2004

After three months in Seattle, Tom and Suzy decided to relocate to Boise, ID, where Tom was spending most of his work time. Suzy quickly got a job as a middle school counselor and we moved into our new home overlooking town in July. We loved the small town atmosphere, the outdoor hiking and biking and Tom really loved the skiing. Suzy quickly turned her job into a high school counseling job at Meridian High School. Tom and Tate started training for the Olympia marathon by running the Sunflower run in Mazama and Twisp. Steve Walls joined Les and I for this run also. Les and I made our way to Anchorage to hike and bike with Steve in June. We burned our candle at both ends and covered a big patch of Alaska. Tragically after we returned, Steve was killed in an automobile accident. We still miss him as he was the smile on our faces as we ran. And he still causes us to smile. October saw us traveling to Ironwood, MI for nephew Jason and Linda’s wedding and then later to Phoenix for nephew Bob’s nuptials.

2005

We were settling in nicely in Boise as the year began. Family visiting loved our new digs and the recreation including skiing, tubing the river, running the foothills and biking the parks and riverside. Tom and Suzy made a relaxing trip to Boston to visit Meghan who working her grad studies at Tufts. Niece Caitlin and Aaron were married in San Francisco and the whole family gathered to enjoy their happy day. Tom’s ankle finally gave out and he had it fused in July. So much for that month, but the results were good and he was up and at them in the fall. Tate and Jeff bought their first house in September and got engaged too. Tom returned to the UP in the fall to join the family as we interned the ashes of mom and dad in a small creek behind our old hunting camp in the Tula forest. Their passing finally seemed to come into focus as we accomplished their last wishes in the Michigan forest.

to be continued.....

Happy New Decade!

Happy New Year Everyone and Happy Decade as Well! I thought I would take a look back on the previous decade over the next few blogs. A nostalgic trip for me and hope I don’t bore you all to death.


The Decade (In installments)

2000

When this decade started it is safe to say I was a “home boy”. Other than an all expense paid trip to Viet Nam I had not ventured outside North America. I was very content and busy working and enjoying life in the NW. My dad and mom had been doing lots of stateside RV traveling and my older brother and sister were experienced world travelers but it didn’t seem to be in my genes.

I think a trip to visit Meghan in Honduras in July 2000 opened my eyes to the joys of travel and the wonderful people out there waiting to meet you. Actually I had applied for a tour of duty in Europe with my agency about this time and was accepted just as Tatum and I left for Honduras. Suzy stayed behind to start the packing and details for selling our home of 26 years in Seattle.

I left for Germany in October and Suzy followed in December of 2000 after retiring as an educator after 30 years (she started teaching at age 10). We spent New Year’s Eve 2001 in a small German village, just getting our feet on the ground in a strange but wonderful country.

2001

What a great year this was as we settled into our little row house in Naurod, Germany and Tom started his work travels on the European continent. Suzy started volunteering at the local DODS high school and worked that into a full time teaching job; so much for retirement. Meghan joined us in Germany on her return from the Peace Corps and Tatum graduated from WWU and went on to a volunteer job with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps in Nashville. 9-11 found us blown away by the German peoples’ compassion. We spent New Year’s Eve 2002 in Austria at a farm house above Kitzbuhl. Then it was on to the Czech Republic and Kharlovary for some spa and snow treatments.

2002

Suzy converts her teaching job to a high school counseling position and we spend lots of time in Belgium looking for old worn out things. The whole family spends spring break in Cinque Terra on the western Italian coast. Tate returns to the states afterwards. Tom expands his travels off the continent to Africa and on the continent to Bosnia, the Ukraine (accompanied by Meg and Tate), Moscow accompanied by Meg and again with Suzy. Suzy and Tom travel to all the Scandinavian countries in July, Tom’s running buddies from the states join him and Tatum for the Berlin Marathon in September. Meg’s Achilles injury keeps her sidelined. My mom died in November and the family circled the wagons in Cincinnati and supported each other and my dad.



To be continued……..