I saw my garage floor for the first time in two weeks and got to move the car inside!


YES!

Had a phone call from an old friend. Former college "Hall of Fame" basketball coach.Great conversation,talked a bit about the dream team 2 playing now.

Staying with your peaceful memories of your childhood Sunday drives with your dad (which I also remember well....in the days before congested New Jersey highways and speeding cars).....we just enjoyed our third trip north this summer, taking our youngest grandbaby north to visit her Vermont cousins and watching the world roll by through the eyes of a one year old.

What a delightful child, even after eight hours of flight time to get to us from Colorado.....just to watch the thought process of a one year old baby girl exploring her new surroundings, playing and figuring out her new toys and just loving Vermont.............but the best fun was meeting the three older cousins again and being the center of everyone's attention........she brought joy to everyone.......topped off by a belated 1st b.day dinner at the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, Vermont (home of the Sound of Music family)......another day had her first ice cream cone; petted baby animals on farms and just enjoyed it all. Simple pleasures.

Miraculously, all the RAIN and HUMIDITY Vermont has had did stop DEAD during our three trips up.......

Children and grandchildren do keep us young at heart......and that's very positive. Not to mention seeing the beauty of our Green Mountain State where there are more cows than people........a very different world than New Jersey for sure.

This is our "bubble". We spent our first 25 years in New Jersey and our past 42 years in Vermont. TV no doubt "down the road".....

But as my mom would say when visiting, "Vermont is God's Country"; she later retired here and enjoyed 30 years before passing; is buried in the Green Mountains.....far away from N.J.

Since all three visits north were extended trips, staying over for 4 to 5 days, we were able to see the terrible damage done by "Hurricane IRENE" last August when torrential rains wiped out roads and bridges connecting tiny villages, leaving people along the middle of the state unable to get down off their mountain towns.......either east or west......BUT NOW THE NEW ROADS AND BRIDGES are being completed.........the river embankments have been shored up.........all positive developements.
We still did see houses and barns "tilted" off their foundations..........

Anyway, these picturesque quaint memories of our beautiful green mountains , horse shows, cows and other farm animals, will last us through the winter months.........as will the memories of the fun loving 4 grandchildren and new one on the way. All are wonderful children and a joy to behold. Enjoyed our adult children and their spouses as well.

Our "kids" have been out on their own, first off to universities, then off to BIG CITIES for jobs.......for at least 20 to 25 years, but when we all are able to get together, we do realize the importance of family and its continuity. Next year we'll have another graduation.....not high school commencement like last month, but a grandson off to middle school.....they grow up so quickly.

Back in our own town, before taking our son and his wife and baby to the airport, it was quite obvious to him and us that all of our neighbors who had known us and him for years before he was even born, taught him in high school and whose own children we had watched grow up from infants..........came together again. A great reunion.

There is something to be said for either returning or remaining in your home town.........like wintering in Florida but returning "home" to the oldest roots. I know that will not be a popular "thought" with those who perhaps have no children, but it's a reason we are NOT rushing into selling our home........still thinking which option is better for us....fulltime or part time.

Last night the wife and I took a 5 mile walk on a rail-to-trail along the Allegheny river in western Pennsylvania. A rabbit ran across our path. she yelled and I jumped straight up in the air. We laughed and will remember that for a long time.

Your neck of the woods has been hit quite often the past several years with these unusually severe storms; we have family in that area and all over the state of N.J. Northern N.J. also has had its share of flooding the past few years and lately power outages/trees down etc. Ditto for the middle of the state.

It is devastating, but yet inspiring to see neighbors and even strangers pitching in to help. God Bless.

I'm not looking at a map...so is that the river that separates Pennsylvania from Ohio???

Once, coming from VT on N.Y. 80 we turned left at ERIE, PA which as you know is on the Great Lakes, and drove south I guess along a river that separated Pennsylvania and Ohio.......we went a little too far, into West Virginia, came to a mine shaft and operation.....turned around and then followed the KENTUCKY BORDER which is still the OHIO RIVER????? towards Cincinnati.

It was lovely countryside all the way. Enroute home that way, we went through all the Mennonite and Amish countryside. Very very pretty.

When we lived in N.J. we always would take day trips to Lancaster County Pennsylvania to treat our parents to dinner in the Amish restaurants. I noticed the other day that there are quite nice 55+ retirement homes being built.......again, pretty landscapes.

We also used to go to Valley Forge and Gettysburg when younger........
Pennsylvania is a truly beautiful state.

Had my first hole-in-one Sunday night on the 6th hole at Bonita Pass. It was getting dark so we did not see it go in the hole. After looking "everywhere" my wife decided to check the hole. To our surprise--there it was!!!!! Hope it doesn't take 65 years for the second one.

Gary

:agree: reading these posts is putting a smile on my face.

Getting positive private message feedback is comforting, to say the least.