Making Waves

Wavetron '62

Cousin Jump

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Our nephew Jamie got married over the weekend. He and his bride Becca asked G to be the guest book attendant. G was honored and excited, because she'd never been part of a wedding before. She couldn't believe they had a corsage and a wedding party gift for her on top of it all. It turned out to be a beautiful day and a great reception, where she did a lot of dancing. Her first experience with a wedding was a positive one!

Guest book attendant

Doing the Macarena

Basin Head Provincial Park, Prince Edward Island

Crabbing

Fortress against the tide

Not as cold as it looks

Beach Baby

Fundy Trail, New Brunswick

Melvin Beach

St. Martins, New Brunswick

Caves at low tide

Acadia National Park, Maine

Thunder Hole

Ellsworth, Maine

Muffins and coffee with our hosts at the Twilite Motel

Guard Duty

In the 20 years we've lived in this house, we have never had a problem with mice. Our first cat, Marlowe, caught two in his 11-year mousing career. Luna, who is seven, has bagged assorted beetles, moths and flies, but nothing mammalian. Until this summer. She's caught two mice since the middle of June. Yesterday she was sitting sentry again in the kitchen, as she did before her previous two catches. Don't know why this is. Perhaps the exceedingly wet period this spring drove them indoors? The lowest barn cat population ever? Luna's hunting instinct kicked in? We'll be leaving in a few days for vacation, strangely enough, to a place called "Souris," which is French for ... you guessed it ... "field mouse."

Luna on Red Alert

In the Kitchen

Dan's cousin Maureen was here for her annual visit to Uncle Fred & Aunt Joan's. As usual, it was marked by lots of Mexican train dominoes and a big dinner.

Aunt Joan & G making dumplings

The hubbub of the kitchen

Steel City

G & I had a four-hour layover in Pittsburgh on the way back, from 8 p.m. to midnight. We knew from the previous trip that unlike the other four train stations we'd been in, it was not new and comfortable. Fortunately for us, my friend Mark rescued us by picking us up, letting us hang out at his house and giving us a night tour (the view from Mount Washington was stunning and the highlight of G's entire trip). A big "Dziękuję" to him for the hospitality.

Entrance to Mark's neighborhood. How great is that sign?

G (sporting local wear) & Mark

End of Visit

The last thing we always do before we leave my mom & dad's is get a photo of them with G. This trip was no exception.

Gettysburg

For several years I've been trying to convince G to go to Gettysburg (locally pronounced "Get-tiss-burg," not "Get-tees-burg") with me. This trip, she finally relented. My dad, she and I took a day trip a few days after the anniversary of the battle. We spent most of our time in the great new Visitors Center and then did a self-guided auto tour of the battlefield. Driving the battlefield brought a better understanding of the topography and how the battles were fought. It was a blazing hot day; it made us think what it must have been like to be wearing wool uniforms instead of shorts and T-shirts. There was so much to see and do that we will have to go back on our next trip east.

Pop-Pop & G in the lobby of the new Visitors Center

G in the Gettysburg Address Room (Sam Waterston's voice continuously loops the speech - he emphasizes "people" and not "of," "by" and "for")

Pop-Pop & G in the shadow of Robert E. Lee at Virginia Memorial

Revolution!

My hometown got a minor league baseball team called the Revolution two years ago. My dad took us to a game on Free Cap Night. What a fun, inexpensive family activity. We had a blast, despite (or maybe because of!) the guy two rows behind us who was a loud know-it-all.

Pop-Pop & G sporting Revolution caps in the outfield of Sovereign Stadium

We're Back

G & I were at my mom & dad's for more than 3 weeks. It was the longest I'd been there since 1980! We would have liked to stay longer, but it was hard being away from Dan for so long, and it was also dodgy trying to reschedule our Amtrak tickets. The trains were packed, I suppose because of gas prices and the idea that train travel is fun. I would like to disabuse you of that notion if you have it! Amtrak does NOT own the tracks west of Pittsburgh, so freight trains have the right-of-way. On the trip out we sat outside of South Bend, Indiana, for 7 hours! We were thankful that we had the sleeper car. Amtrak put those of us traveling east on a BUS in Pittsburgh so that we could make train connections in Harrisburg. It took us 33 hours to get to my folks' house. The trip back wasn't as quite as bad, although it had its moments. We're glad to be home.

G at the beginning of our voyage ... little did she know what an odyssey it would turn out to be!

Our Excellent Adventure

G & I are heading out to Nana & Pop-Pop's for a fortnight. (I'm allowed to use that term because Wimbeldon is under way!) We are taking the train, which we are excited about, because: 1) It is the mode of transportation, according to the NY Times, due to gas prices and airline cutbacks; 2) I'm not driving; 3) We've only done short-distance rides in the past; and 4) I was able to upgrade to a sleeper room on one of the legs of the journey. I'll try to post once we get there, but if I don't, see you when we get back!


Picture us instead of them in this "superliner roomette"

Strawberry Moon

More Canoeing

The water keeps rising here. Dan & G went canoeing again. The water was deep enough in some places that they couldn't find the bottom with an oar, even when putting an arm into the water with it. At least they are paddling around for fun ... we have friends who have to park their car on the dry part of the road and canoe to their house.

Dan & G canoeing on the still-expanding river overflow (in the foreground: what's still above water in our cow pasture)

In the Marsh

Pushing Off