Jim's 98th Birthday

We had lunch today with our friend Jim Alexander and his daughter Jeannie. Jim turned 98 yesterday. For this and many other reasons, Jim is a hero of ours!

Biking the C&O Canal Towpath II Aug. 2011

Jim Roberts, Jane Butler, Nikki, and Dave enjoy a nice dinner at City Lights restaurant in Cumberland, MD, the evening before our big 62 mile ride to Hancock, MD.

Here we are, ready to go on our big adventure.

Jane preps her camera for the group photo below.

Here we come.

There we go.

East portal of the famous Paw Paw Tunnel. Bikes need to be walked through this 3200' very dark tunnel.

Rest stop at the site of the remains of the Round Top Cement Mill along the canal. It had already rained very hard and we are wet and the trail is very muddy.

But WE DID IT!

A well earned fist pump!

Charlie's Playdate at the Greers

Stephen and Mei Greer and their three children, George, Ashley, and Haley, live in Hong Kong but are spending much of the summer here in Ligonier with Stephen's parents. So we set up a playdate for Charlie to make some new friends.

Charlie was a bit shy and kept to himself at first. Superboy on the Batcycle.

But pretty quickly he was pulling Haley in the wagon. Is that cute, or what?

We picked a lot of blackberries -- very tasty. The dog helped but was not good at sharing.

The kids enjoyed a popsicle break and watched a low flying plane with great interest.

All together now with new friends. Does it get any better than this?

Eagles Mere

After a great week with Chris and Gary we went to Eagles Mere, PA, to visit with our friends John and Alix. One of many highlights of the visit was golf with John.
This is the #5 tee. Very beautiful as long as you don't hit the ball into the water. It is less beautiful if that happens.

Here's John about to crush his drive well over the pond. You go, guy!

This is hole #9, a 214 yard par three. The drop appears to be about 200 ft. It is a fun hole. I bogeyed.

Ft. Pierce, FL

While John and Jessie were here we drove down to Ft. Pierce to see manatees, and by golly a few were there. Always a special treat to see them!

A beautiful statue but no marker to tell us why it was there. We guessed it was to honor the sport fishing industry in Ft. Pierce, but why would we need to guess?

A Seminole family diorama in the history museum.

And here is our tour guide and chef for the gourmet picnic we all enjoyed.

Visit from the DePasquales

John and Jessie came for a visit in late January. During the visit John, with the power invested in him (by him)conferred upon me the status of honorary Italian, for which I am extremely proud and grateful. Sadly, the Italian grandmother or aunt who can really cook has not yet showed up here.

What, me worry???

Lunch with Old Friends

On our way back home from celebrating Mom's birthday in September we stopped in Newport, RI for lunch with Niels and Ann West, whom we have known since our days at Clark in the mid-sixties. Niels is Danish (and a godfather to Brian) and Ann is Irish. Both are very dear to us, and we see them much too rarely.



After lunch we took a walk around the area and came across this really cool sculpture -- very location appropriate!

A Hero of Ours!

Jim Alexander is a very big hero of ours and a man both Nikki and I admire and cherish. In his early life (around 1940) he sailed from Australia to New York with 3 others in a small sailboat with no motor and no communication equipment. Just think about Tierra del Fuego and you will agree that this is a man with True Grit, a Rooster Cogburn of our time. His career was in the newspaper business so he knows the English language and how to use it. Refreshing, eh? In early September he celebrated his 97th birthday. He also gets out on the golf course a couple of times a week. I enjoy playing with him in spite of his constant complaining that he can't hit the ball very far any more. I don't care!

His wonderful daughter Jeannie joined in our dinner party for Jim, as did Henry and Nancy Armstrong.

A Day at Fallingwater

In mid-September our dear friends John and Jessie Depasquale came for a visit. They had never seen Fallingwater, Frank Lloyd Wright's gem located just a half hour drive away. So off we went, cameras in hand.

Even hidden in the woods, the first view is quite spectacular.

The view from the bridge.


There wasn't much water falling, ...... so we went to nearby Ohiopyle to see some really falling water at the falls of the Yough River. It was because of these falls that George Washington abandoned this potential route to Fort Duquesne when he was scouting for the British.

Ohiopyle is also along the Great Allegheny Passage (see above, or is it below?) rails to trails path from Cumberland, MD to Pittsburgh. Here we are posing on the High Bridge just downstream from Ohiopyle.

It was a great day, indeed! We are so lucky to have old friends such as the Depasquales.

The Best Front Porch

Nikki and I have always admired and loved big front porches, although we have never had one. They provide shade, protection from the elements, and offer an ambiance, a coziness, not found indoors. Such is the case with this wonderful wrap-around porch that we enjoyed for a weekend with friends in Eagles Mere, PA. Biggest problem was deciding where to sit! It was a great weekend.