THE ROVING POLLOCKS
September - October 2011
Michigan

What the hey??? What happened to June 2010 through August 2011? Last we heard you were leaving Michigan heading west toward Iowa in June of 2010. There must be a law against jumping ahead!

Easy gang. We still plan to go back and give you all the highlights of Iowa, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico (Balloon Fiesta) Arizona, California, Oregon, Washington, Oregon, Utah, South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the UP of Michigan. Ya, you bethcha.

But the last month in Michigan was pretty action packed…and more importantly it is recent enough that we actually remember what happened. This is a pretty detailed chronicle of the month. As such, it may be of limited interest to many. However, it may be OK for Cedar Springs High School Classmates, family, and a few select others. So here goes…

We crossed the Mackinac Bridge on September 2 headed for Leland, Michigan. We were aiming to meet up with Bill‘s ‘little’ brother, Bob who was to turn 60 on September 5 - Labor Day. We also were going to catch up with Pat Pollock and Mark Rodak in Leland…Pat being my late ‘big’ brother, Mac’s widow and Mark her ‘new’ husband. We were last in Leland for their wedding in May 1, 2010. We spent the weekend celebrating Bob’s 60th and Pat’s emancipation from the task of turning over the summer rental of Katie-Connor Cottage. It is now a long term rental. We had a lot of fun playing Farkel, enjoying good food and just enjoying being in Leland.

Bob and Mark














Tuesday, September 6 was Bill’s high school pal, Ivan Opperman’s 66th birthday so off we went to Camp Opperman…Ivan and Janis Opperman’s front yard. It is a real treat to see Ivan and Janis again. We had a wonderful steak birthday dinner for Ivan with his brother Jim his wife Louise, daughter Kara and family and Janis. We missed Ivan’s mom, Marie, who passed away earlier this year.

Gisela and Ivan

Janis and Gisela

Wednesday morning was the monthly CSHS Class of ‘63 breakfast at Arnie’s in Rockford. Saw Joyce Nelson Jones, her brother Ted, Nancy MacAnally Hanna and husband Don, Pat Dunn LaMore, Gaylen Demarest, and Ivan.

Class of ‘63

Later in the week we had a quick visit from Esther Bolthouse Clark who was in Michgan on a house hunting tour looking for a summer place. She stopped by to purchase some of Gisela’s jewelry for a friend.



The next big event was on Friday night…a fish fry! Chick Salisbury brought his traveling deep fat fryer over and cooked about 25 pounds of pan fish that Ivan, Jerry Heiss and Chick caught and Ivan and Janis, God bless them, cleaned. The fish and the onion rings were wonderful. Most of the fish were small fillets; but a few were pan fried fish with all the bones still in place. Bill apparently committed a cardinal sin by attacking it with a knife and fork rather than doing the Michigan finger food method of eating and deboning it. Ivan kindly pointed out the error of his ways…Thanks, Ivan

Chick and Bill


The first event of the Cedar Springs Red Flannel Festival was a wine tasting on Saturday, September 10. We were designated as VIPs for the event by Michele Tracy-Andres who is a real dynamo as the festival chairperson. It was great to finally meet her in person after a couple of years of online communications.

It was a real treat to catch up with Dorothy Bishop who is a real icon in the Red Flannel Festival world. She is a former parade Grand Marshal and has built more floats than you can shake a stick at.

We also met up with the parade Grand Marshal, Gary Gust and his wife. Lolly. Gary and Bill were the number 1 and 2 singles players on the CSHS tennis team in ‘62. Gary went on to play tennis for Ferris State University and Bill was the number 1 singles player at CSHS the next year and went on to Captain the Notre Dame freshman tennis team in 63/64. They met again in the Cedar Springs men’s tournament that summer. As Bill recalls, he won that match.

We spent the better part of a month in Site 1 at Camp Opperman. We did make a speed run in the car - Wally - (as in Wally and the Beav) when Gisela’s mom had an attack of atrial fibrulation that resulted in her moving to a nursing home. We left on Tuesday to make the move and got back to Michigan on Friday…just in time to go to the Notre Dame/Michigan State football game in Indiana.

Bill bought Bob and Ivan tickets to the game for their respective birthdays. Ivan and Bill left early to pick up Bob in Kalamazoo and stop at Sweetwater Bakery for APPLE FRITTERS. Unfortunately, they had run out by the time we got there. They pressed on to Indiana arriving around noon for a 3:30 kickoff. Ivan was all decked out in his MSU regalia but he was not alone. Ivan, for those who don’t know, or who have forgotten, is the guy who got four ND guys…Sugnet, Finneran, Smith, and Pollock, tickets to the Game of the Century - ND vs. MSU 1966. (I know, Weaver, you lined us up with dates, which we ignored as we headed back to ND after the disappointing tie. Sorry…)

The Golden Dome

Ivan and Bill

Ivan was a bit disappointed as the Irish beat the Spartans like a rented mule…but these things happen. 
This tells the tale

After the game they did see Tom Rhoads and Jim Ryan, two members of the 1966 National Championship team (tie notwithstanding); also saw Nick Eddy, George Geodeke, Rocky Bleier, Jim Lynch, Dave Martin, John Horney who were all there for a reunion of the ‘66 team. They and the rest of the team along with Coach Ara Parsegian were introduced before the game.


Kathie and Tom Rhoads, Mary and Jim Ryan

Bill, Bob, and Ivan made what is becoming a traditional stop in Three Rivers at the KFC on our way home. If you didn’t know, you can hit a KFC just before closing and get some real bargains…some of the stuff will just get thrown out…three piece dinners became five piece dinners. Bill doesn’t care what anyone says…KFC makes good fried chicken.

We spent a delightful evening with Gaylen and Diane Demarest who came Ivan’s for dinner. It was fun to catch up with them…even if Gaylen did admit that the help he offered on the float wasn’t gonna happen. He forgot they had plans that week. Your loss, Gaylen.

Bill also made his annual pilgrimage to the Cedar Springs Museum and visited with Betty Heiss, queen of Cedar Springs genealogy, Tanya Eldred and Sally Grannis Grayvold. It is always a treat to catch up with everyone.

We also were able to visit Cliff and Bonnie Bedore in Greenville where they were visiting Cliff’s parents. We both traveled long distances from Virginia and Maryland to get together in Michigan.

The following weekend was the kickoff of the Cedar Springs Red Flannel Festival…What the heck is that all about you ask. The full explanation can be found at http://redflannelfestival.org/wp/about-2/history/ .

On Friday, September 23, Tom and Jil Mohr arrived at Camp Opperman. It was great to see them again. We last saw them in late 2010 in Benson, Arizona. Tom and Bill headed off to the Cedar Springs Red Hawk football game. Cedar triumphed. At the end of the third quarter they had a person from the stands come on the field and try to kick a field goal. Tom thought it would be neat if I did that the next week. So he talked to some people and I was in as the ‘guy from the stands.‘ More on that later.

Saturday dawned on the Red Flannel Festival Chili Cook Off. Bill entered his Texas Red Flannel Chili that was so well received in the west. Bill learned that Ivan knew what he talking about when he said people in Michigan demand beans in their chili. The winning chili was very good and it had beans and onions and tomatoes, and big hunks of peppers. It was more like a chili stew. Lessons learned: 1. Listen to Ivan. 2. Don’t send real Texas chili up against Michigan chili in Michigan. It was a fun day even if Wild Willie and his Chili was not appreciated.

Saturday night was a double header. First, there was the traditional “Lumberjack Supper.” Salt Pork, Ham, Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Lumberjack Gravy…A real treat was seeing Bill’s first grade teacher, Marge Clark. She recognized Bill…hard to believe he hasn’t changed some since first grade.



Marge Clark on left; Royalty on right

Tom and Bill went on to the Red Flannel Queen Pageant. Bill was able to get Tom some backstage access for his photography. By the end of the pageant, he was the official photographer. Here you see him practicing his art:



Sunday brought us a reunion of Bill’s cousins on his mother’s side. We gathered in less that perfect weather at Holland State Park on Lake Michigan; eight of nine surviving cousins. The location is where all of us spent some of our summers in the 40’s and 50’s…at Grandpa and Grandma MacGregor’s cottage at Ottawa Beach on Lake Mackatawa.. It was great to catch up with everyone and meet some spouses that we didn’t know. We just kept talking and talking and talking…



Tom and Jil spent a few days taking in the sites in Grand Rapids and its Art Prize event. Tom thought he might enter his photographic art next year. We were aiming toward the weekend…the big Red Flannel Day on Saturday. The major task was to build the float. Yes indeed, we entered a Pollock’s Store Float in the Parade. Gisela continued preparing for her - Mostly Wire’s - first indoor craft show.

We also managed to squeeze in our annual golf outing at the Whitefish Lake Golf Club. Gisela drives the cart and Ivan, Janis, and Bill played. Well Ivan and Janis played. Bill did manage to chip in a thirty footer from the fringe so he’ll be back again.

Tom designed the float. Converting an 18 foot long trailer used for delivering trees into a proper float was no simple thing. A bunch of 2 X 2’s, a few 2 X 4’s and some decorative trim plus two days of work got the job done. This photo tells the story:

On Thursday, we hosted Don Koster for our annual steak fry. Don managed the Pollock’s Store men’s department from the mid-1950’s to the mid-1960’s. They had some fun, crazy times back then and never tire of reliving them.

A cold, windy and blustery night greeted us on Friday night for the Football game. The whole gang -Ivan, Janis, Tom, Jil, Gisela, and Bob turned out to watch Bill attempt his field goal. Bill was introduced as the guy who quarterbacked the Red Hawks to a 14-7 win over Fremont 50 years ago that week. The wind was threatening to blow the ball off the tee; Jeff Gust said some thing like “Hurry, we only have 45 seconds.” Long story, short - wide right. Blame it on the 25 MPH wind. Bill did make 5 out of 7 in practice.



Saturday dawned as a perfect Michigan fall day. First Tom and Jil, Bill and Gisela found the craft show venue after a few missed turns. After all, none of the school building were there when Bill went to school here. Tom and Bill set up the grids and departed to finish up on the float.

Just before the Parade Bill, Tom, and Brother Bob got our trailer in line then whipped into town to meet Michele Tracy-Andres. She wanted Bill to be interviewed by a PBS TV crew for a feature on the Festival. “Old” Bill’s job was to give them the history of Red Flannel Day, which he did. It is supposed to air in Michigan next June.


We then raced back to the lineup to finish trimming the float. All was in readiness for the 3:00 PM start. We were joined by Ivan’s daughter Kristen, her husband Anthony who drove the truck, and their six kids. Three of the kids joined Bill, Bob, Tom and Jil on the float…you gotta have some cute kids.


Bill and Bob finish decorating the float

Jil and Tom Mohr

The parade was fun. The people with grey hair smiled and waved; the younger people looked at us like we had two heads. You see, Pollock’s Store ceased to operate in 1974 so if you were under, say 50, you didn’t have any memory of it. Sue Grannis Harrison, the parade announcer put it all into perspective telling the crowd about how the Pollock and Allchin families supported the Red Flannel theme for many years as the owners of the “Original Red Flannel Store.”

Passing Pollock’s Store Location


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Passing Bill's old house

Gisela’s craft show experience wasn’t so fun. Lots of compliments on her jewelry but not many buyers. We think the economy in Michigan isn’t conducive to selling jewelry.

On Sunday, October 2, exhausted but happy we departed Camp Opperman for Virginia after having our usual goodbye breakfast with the Oppermans. This time we were also joined by Bob. Tom and Jil took of at first light after a hot breakfast compliments of Ivan and Janis. They drove the 1800 plus miles to Arizona in less than four days…

All in all it was an action packed month. We headed back to Virginia for the fall and holiday season before beginning another year of travel and adventure in 2012.

THE ROVING POLLOCKS
2010

Bill's note: Well, I guess I have really painted myself into a corner this time: I have gone over a year without writing anything about our travels. That’s no problem if I don’t ever intend to write another thing about the Pollock’s Rovings. However, since I have not made that decision and every now and then someone…today it was Penny Pelzer…says ”Are you keeping a journal?” or “You should write a book.” Or “Why don’t you do your travelogues any more?”, I have decided to draw a line in the sand and get back to it.

A few caveats: Even with Gisela’s help, I will probably forget some things and thus, fail to mention some people. For that I apologize in advance. I will also probably get some things wrong and some stuff will be made up to make the story better…that’s just the Irish in me…you know, the Blarney (Yes, I have kissed the Blarney Stone.) Last, Gisela helps me a lot with this and deserves tons of credit and none of the blame for the errors. That is mine alone and is usually caused by refusal to listen to her advice. Having said all that let’s get on with it.

The last reports of substance that we wrote and posted to the Roving Pollocks blog: http://rovingpollocks.blogspot.com - was about the fall and early winter of 2009. These included our foray to the Big Apple and our cameo with Al Roker on the Today show. Many of you, including Bill’s own children, did not even know about Al Roker and the Guy in the Lobster Hat. That’s because many of you, including Bill’s own children, won’t click on a link in an email to go to our blog. Some will go to the blog but not click on links in the blog. So for those of you who missed it, go to YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?=vbb6Z0b9By5A and see our 15 seconds of fame.




We also alluded to our ‘roadside rip-off’ following another brake failure just before Thanksgiving 2009 on our way to the Chambers Farm Pow-Wow Boomerang in Florida. Again without boring you with details, we received a refund of $1000 thanks to Investigator Moon who investigates violations of the Florida Motor Vehicle Repair Act. The good news is we have not had another brake failure or fire since then thanks to Walt’s Brakes in Ocala who got us the right calipers.

Paul, Yvette and William flew to Orlando to visit Disney World and take a Disney Cruise with Brian and Judith, Yvette's Dad and Step-mom. We took the opportunity to pick them up at the airport, take them to dinner and then deliver them to their hotel. Actually, the whole thing was an excuse for Bill to buy another hat...this time it was a Mickey Mouse ears hat that he claimed was for William. In the final analysis, William did end up with the hat but Bill really wanted to keep it...he looked so good in it. Right!


We left the Beav in Florida in early December 2009 and hustled back to Virginia in Wally (our Jeep) for the Holidays – Wally and the Beav…get it? – We had to get the cabin back in shape for a stream of visitors. All was going well until about five days before Christmas when it happened. A “two-footer.” Yes, that’s right, two feet of snow. It took four two-hour shoveling sessions to clear our one hundred foot long driveway. The first three sessions, 10:00 PM, 1:00 AM, and 4:00 AM, were handled by Bill. The last at 9:00 AM was accomplished by Gisela and the best neighbors on the planet, Scott and Missy White, who are also young and fit. Yes, folks, Gisela got suited up and shoveled…mumbling ‘never again…no way…no how.’ (Other mumbles are not printable.) We did succeed in getting things clear and got Ann and Dwayne in for Christmas.












However, because the mountain was still pretty nasty with ice and snow we took our New Year’s celebration with Don and Kathee Larmee to their house in Virginia Beach. We had the usual wonderful dinner thanks to Kathee and Gisela followed by the usual idiotic lowering of the Acorn at midnight by Don and Bill. When will they ever grow up…never if we are lucky.


















We continued heading south stopping by to see Paul, Yvette and William in Kill Devil Hills, NC. We heard all about their Disney Cruise, a mixed review, and just enjoyed more family time. It was then on to Florida.

When we returned to the Beav in Orange Lake we found that the hydronic heating system was leaking diesel fuel. Sooo it was back to Wildwood for more repairs. We had previously spent a week there before we went north for the holidays…the good part of that visit was we met Johnnie Depp’s father, John. The bad part was the mucho dollars we left behind.

While we were in Wildwood we took the opportunity to visit our former High Knob neighbors, Tim and Louise Fahey at their new house in The Villages. They were pretty darn happy to have finally realized their dream.

We pretty much stayed parked at near Ocala until we started our move north in the spring. We made a circuit of Florida and actually stayed in a motel at Clearwater Beach while attending the Tampa RV show with Ron and Ginny Norton. There we ran into Boomers Mary Lane and Elaine Cannell who we had last seen in Virginia in October. We turned south to visit Liz Banta for a few days. While there we saw Bob and Francie Storey and Bob and Peggy Bloom. From there we made a run down to Marathon in the Keys to visit John and Ellen Albin and our favorite Westie, Piper. On our way and while there, we saw the impact of the freezing weather. Acres of dead tomato plants around Homestead, the devastation visited on the sea turtles in the Gulf of Florida and the massive fish kills in the Everglades…well fed ‘gators. We visited the Turtle Hospital in Marathon and heard the story of how they rescued over a hundred sea turtles that had be shocked by the cold waters of the Gulf where normal water temperatures in the seventies dropped into the forties.









There were two big events in February. Bill’s birthday which we celebrated by going on a short cruise to the Bahamas with Ron and Ginny Norton. Good food, conversation and lots of Pegs and Jokers with good friends.

The other big event was a Cedar Springs High School Class of 1963 mini-reunion at our RV park at Orange Lake, Florida. We had Ivan and Janis Opperman, Chuck and Mary Crosby, Art and Penny Pelzer and the Pollocks. We almost had Shirley Duncan but her sister broke her arm so she had to stay with her on the Gulf Coast. We were able to conjure up an online video conversation with Lisa Van Someren. What fun!


Along came March and it was time to move west to one of our favorite destinations, Betty’s RV Park in Abbeville, LA. We rendezvoused with Ron and Ginny Norton at a park on the Suwannee River…as in ‘Way down upon the …’. We proceed to the Apalachicola, Florida area where we stopped at an RV ‘resort’ that we heard about at the Tampa RV show. It was a work in progress but the owners were very friendly and accommodating. It was located in the town of Carabelle, which was a work where progress had come to an abrupt halt. Several half completed developments that had fallen on hard times. The first night we were there the owners prepared and served a whole bunch of topped oysters that were great. The next night one of the park residents prepared homemade pasta. The owners whipped up a tomato vodka sauce for the pasta…this was beginning to look like a future ‘Betty’s.’ Until the next morning that is, when we were scheduled to move on but Ginny and Bill we soooo sick they could hardly move. They both stayed in bed all day. We are not sure it was the vodka sauce since Ron and Gisela appeared to be unaffected but to this day Bill can’t even look at a jar of the stuff in the grocery store. We did get to enjoy some famous Apalachicola oysters at Papa Joe’s on the waterfront. Worth the trip to sample some of the country’s best oysters.

After a day in bed we were able to continue on to the Pensacola Elks and then on to Foley, Alabama where we went in search of an old established Elks lodge with a new RV parking area. Turns out it was a new Elks Lodge building with an old run down RV parking area. But it was just down the road from a Dodge Dealer which was good because Ron and Ginny’s drive shaft decided to give up the ghost. A high point of our Alabama stop was a visit to Fairhope and lunch in a restaurant that had been featured on the food network…OK, so it was on’ Diners, Drive-ins and Dives’ but it was still good.

From there we made a beeline to Betty’s with a brief overnight stop at a Sam’s Club in Slidell, Louisiana. At Betty’s we were meeting up with other good friends who had journeyed from the west, Tom and Jil Mohr, Geoff and Nancy Justiss, and Chris Christianson. We were gonna let the good times role in Cajun country. And we did. Being at Betty’s is always a treat. Betty goes out of her way to make sure all her visitors have a great time. We enjoyed lots of crawfish, took a great swamp tour on Lake Martin, savored the Po’ Boy sandwiches at Bon Creole in New Iberia (Dave Robicheaux and James Lee Burke’s hometown), enjoyed some great Cajun music by Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys at a Catfish festival in Washington, LA…food and music - two great themes of Cajun country.



For nearly a year before arriving at Betty’s, Gisela has been making Jewelry. It is made with sterling silver, brass and copper wire and various beads and stones. She took a few classes and enjoyed the artistry of making each pendant, necklace, bracelet, and ring. We began to be faced with the problem of what to do with the accumulating art. Our stop at Betty’s, presented the beginning of the solution. Another guest at Betty’s brought out her beading to show the group. Gisela showed some of her work and …lo and behold…people asked if she would sell a couple of pieces…which, of course, she did. That marked the beginning of what is now a budding small business: MostlyWire, Jewelry Handcrafted by Gisela. She now has an online shop on ETSY, www.mostlywire.etsy.com and she is now selling at street fairs, craft shows, farmers markets, etc., as we travel. More on that later.

With much regret we departed Betty’s and went our separate ways although Geoff and Nancy, Chris and ourselves headed for New Orleans for a few days. During our visit to Betty’s and NO, both Geoff and then Nancy were fighting some sort of malady that kept one or both in quarantine most of the time. Nevertheless Geoff and Bill were able to tour the World War II museum and Gisela and Chris took a city tour that showed the lingering devastation from Hurricane Katrina.

While in NO, we received word that Bill’s daughter, Ann’s husband, Dwayne’s mom, Ginger Carpenter passed away after a long battle with various respiratory ailments. We hit the road for Virginia in order to get to Fredericksburg for the funeral. We did arrive in time for Ginger’s funeral and we were glad to be able to express our condolences in person to Dwayne and his dad, Lee.

The only excitement on the trip north was when another motor home decided to plunge its left side into our driver’s side mirror while we were stopped at a Flying J truck stop in Alabama. Just another aspect of the RV lifestyle. Upon arrival in Front Royal, we off loaded our stuff, took the motor home to the body shop to have the mirror repainted, and then put it in storage for a whole three weeks during which we checked on Gisela’s mom who is at an Alzheimer’s facility nearby, visited Paul and Family and Ann and Dwayne before heading for Michigan for Pat Pollock’s wedding. Pat is Bill’s brother, Mac’s widow. She and Mark Rodak were married in Lake Leelanau, Michigan on May 1. We were really glad we could be there.

We then took the motor home down to Rockford to Camp Opperman, AKA Shaner Avenue Nursery where celebrated Gisela’s Birthday on May 3.

Leaving the Beav there we returned to Virginia for a few weeks of additional medical, dental and family visiting. The biggest event was Mostly Wire’s (Gisela’s) first ever craft show. It was the Front Royal Wine and Craft show. And it was a success…that is, she took in more than the entry fee.

When we returned we enjoyed visiting Ivan and Janis and their family for a week or so. After which, we headed for Kalamazoo to visit Bill’s Brother, Bob, and to join up with Geoff and Nancy again. This time they were both healthy! And we took a trip to Elkhart, IN to see the RV Museum and visited the fabulous Frederick Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids. We also were able to visit Gisela's pal Rosie Brock in Saint Joe, Michigan.

By mid June we were on the brink of our great “Summer out West.” That will be the subject of the next installment of our 2010 report.

2010 Rovings of the Pollocks

Absent popular demand, since not a single loyal reader of the Roving Pollocks blog noticed that I did not publish a single word in all of 2010, (or if they did they decided not to mention it to me), I am committed to chronicling all of 2010 to get caught up before 2011 rings in.  That gives me four days.  Yikes!!!!

Here you see Bill working with some fellow Boomer bloggers to learn how to use Windows Live Writer so that blogging will be easier, faster, and better. 

THE ROVING POLLOCKS
2009 FALLISH

It has only been a couple of months since we last reported on our travel and travails. The latter has been winning as you shall soon see.

After our brief auto trip to North Carolina to visit our Grandson William, and his parents and to Virginia beach to catch up with Don and Kathee Larmee, we returned to the warmth of our mountain cabin …and our hot tub.

The first order of business was to get Pollock's Midway B & B into shape for the semi-annual visit from John and Ellen Albin (John’s lovely wife) and Piper, the wonder Westie. The Albins were migrating from Maine to the Florida Keys winter fishing grounds…at least John was. Our place is midway between. We had our usual great time hosting them. This time we explored historic Leesburg, Virginia and the less than historic nearby outlet mall. We did some windshield touring in the Virginia piedmont and Gisela prepared some gourmet chow.

This is Bill and John - Lobster Heads both.

Falling leaves, cooler days, and earlier sunsets told us that we better start thinking about our trip south before we were caught by falling snows, cold days and 4:00 PM sunsets. We had some work to do to get the motor home in shape for the winter.

We had been having problems with the tail lights on our “toad” vehicle, the Jeep nicknamed Wally (goes with the Beaver motorhome nicknamed the Beav. Any one out there that does not understand Wally and the Beav is too young to be reading this.) We thought the problem was in the motorhome wiring so we sought out an expert on towing stuff. He rewired the motorhome and replaced a gizzmo that combines two lights into one wire. We then hooked it up to the car…and promptly blew up the new gizzmo. We concluded that Wally was the culprit and took it to the trailer expert. He did some rewiring to make the system simpler and more fool-proof…just what Bill needed. Now it was time to return the Beav to get a new gizzmo. Turns our our selection of experts was a tad misguided because it was discovered that he had wired the first gizzmo up incorrectly. Thanks to Cliff Bedore for spending countless hours trying to make sense of our gizzmos and how they should be wired up. I learned that if you mention a technical problem to Cliff he does not like to see it remain unsolved. Thanks, Cliff. Our towing stuff expert did come through in the end and showed that his ethics exceeded his gizzmo wiring savvy since he more than made up for this mis-wiring by fixing it and giving us a new top of the line gizzmo for free. We really came to value small town America business ethics as shall be seen a bit later.

Back to our travails. On our way to deliver the Beav to the towing stuff expert, Gisela, who was following in Wally radioed to Bill, “White Smoke, White Smoke, White Smoke.” That would be OK if White Smoke was Bill’s call sign, you know like Navy fighter pilots call signs. Tom Cruise was Hollywood in Top Gun, John McCain…Playboy, and there was Booger. But it’s not. Bill’s call sign is Bill or sometimes "Hey, you." That meant White Smoke was a sign of... Big Trouble. Bill pulled the Beav over on the shoulder of Interstate 66 and went to look at the business end where the engine and transmission are located. He noted the location of the fire extinguisher on his way aft. However, the source of the White Smoke was soon evident…it came from engine coolant flashing on a hot engine and transmission. It seems that the folks that assembled the Beav back in 2001 ran a forty foot hose from the rear radiator to the dash heater a little bit too close to the hot exhaust system and after eight years that part of the hose was terminally dried out and it cracked under pressure. We love roadside repairs. If you refer back to March 2007 in this blog you can learn why. (Hint: Double front brake lock-up in the middle of the Florida Keys.) In this case it turns out that the hose could be spliced and after doing that and adding four gallons of coolant we were on our way. Did I mention that is was the expensive, long-life coolant…roughly $30 a gallon? Did I mention that roadside repairs always cost twice as much as repairs done in the shop? Well it was and they did.

But by the early days of November Wally and the Beav were loaded out, the hot tub was drained and winterized, we had our last dinner with Scott and Missy White, the best neighbors on this or any other planet, we said goodbye to our mountain amigos at the Coffee and Bagels Club and headed for Richmond. We spent nearly a week visiting with Bill’s daughter Ann and her husband, Dwayne. It was really great to be able to spend time with them.

Leaving Richmond, we headed for the Great Outdoors RV Resort near Titusville, Florida area and a rendezvous with Ron and Ginny Norton. Our visit was a bit different from past visits in that Ginny was taking pain pills instead of drinking wine. It seems that a “routine procedure” went wrong resulting in surgery and a long period of convalescence without wine. We still enjoyed our four days in the area. We were reacquainted with Pegs and Jokers and had some good seafood at the world famous, Dixie Crossroads. Never heard of it you say? OK, so, maybe it’s only fairly well known to snow birds in eastern Brevard County…good seafood nevertheless.

After four days with Ron and Ginny, we said our fairwells and see you laters, and headed for a Thanksgiving Indian Pow Wow near Fort McCoy, Florida. We were having the second annual, east coast, Escapee Boomer Thanksgiving ‘rang hosted by Cynthia Lee. As we drove east along State Route 40, we smelled something funny…but not as in 'funny ha ha.' Funny as in 'Oh, no, not again.' We stopped, inspected, sniffed, checked the front wheels for excessive heat and did not find the tell tale symptoms of brake lock-up. Relieved, we proceeded. A few miles later the smell was back and just like on the overseas highway in the Keys, there was no safe place to pull over. So we proceeded until we found one a couple of miles up the road at an abandoned doctors office now occupied by a guy selling Jerky. No mistaking the problem now. Thank you, Mac McCoy, known in RV circles as The Fire Guy. Mac had refilled our big foam extinguisher discharged in Michigan in the summer of 2008 when the left front wheel locked up and caught fire. This time it extinguished the fire in the right front wheel. We then headed down a familiar path. Call the Camping World Road Service. Get a mobile repair guy dispatched, etc. etc. etc.

This road side repair was the “mother of all roadside repairs.” We can’t go into detail about it because it is now under investigation by the Florida Attorney General, in litigation in small claims court, the subject of a Camping World Road Service complaint and a disputed MasterCard charge. You should be glad that the detail is not being provided…the complaint to the state of Florida runs over thirty pages. The good news neither us nor anyone else was killed or injured because we found the woefully negligent repair before the right front wheel came off a 29,000 pound Beav towing a 4800 pound Wally sending them crashing into a day care center. We took the Beav to another brake shop to have the melted ABS sensor replaced. The technician crept out from under the Beav (he was lying on a creeper, thus he crept.) and said, “Did you know one of the two bolts that holds the caliper on is sheared off? Well, folks, that and the fact the some astute price analysis by an old Navy contracting officer uncovered a serious case of “rip off” lead us to the current state of litigation, etc. No small town America business ethics here. More like ‘let's do defective repair work and then cheat those rich dummies driving those big motorhomes.‘ Stay tuned for the next chapter. Who knows, we may make it all the way to “Judge Judy.”


The Pow Wow Boomerang was great fun. We again met up with our old Boomer Amigo, Chris Christiansen and her dog Rufus. Chris had spent the summer in the Canadian Maritime Provinces had stopped to visit for a long weekend in Virginia on her way South. A big event on that visit was a Trader Joe's and Wegman's shopping spree. Chris was a bit starved for that sort of shopping since there is nothing comparable in Newfoundland. We also visited Chateau O’Brien in Markham, VA where we saved Chris from buying an $80 bottle of wine. Actually we were hoping she would. The Pow Wow featured a free Thanksgiving dinner of smoked turkey and wonderful stuffing but no gravy or mashed potatoes. Bill was told he should feel fortunate because the Indians at the first Thanksgiving served Swan and Maize according to his Cedar Springs High School classmate, Lisa Van Someren who has been living is the same state as Plymouth Rock since the 1970’s, and therefore, knows all about such things. We also got in a great boat ride on the Saint John’s River thanks to Chris’ friend, Barry, whose brother has a house on the river in Palatka.

At long last we headed for our winter nesting grounds on the banks of Orange Lake (what isn’t named “orange” or “gator” in Florida?) We arrived just in time to celebrate Jim Jaudon’s birthday with him and his lovely wife, Anne. Bill and Jim were ‘mates in the Navy. Can’t really say shipmates since they served together in buildings not ships. You know, like the Pentagon and Headquarters, Naval Material Command…buildings all.

We barely got oriented at Grand Lake RV and Golf Resort before it was time to head to Wildwood, Florida for the Grand Opening of Alliance RV Repair Center. The party was fun but we probably would not have gone if we did not have an appointment to have a few things fixed on the Beav. Five days and a few thou lighter in the bank account we returned to Grand Lake. It was the 20 labor hour “strip and seal” that got us. Remember the eight year old hose. Well, the same goes for eight year old roof caulk and sealant on windows, etc. Hopefully, we have put an end to the many nagging water leaks that have been plaguing us lately.

After a day at Grand Lake, we headed for Orlando International Airport to meet…. Mr. Cuteness himself, William Pollock V (Bill being IV), and his traveling companions, one of whom resembled Bill’s son and the other the nice girl with the French sounding name that Bill’s son married. We had a nice dinner together and took them to their hotel at Cocoa Beach where they were meeting up with Yvette’s dad, Brian and his lovely wife, Judith, who were taking William V and his parents on a Disney Cruise out of Port Canaveral. Lucky them. We did a RON -military lingo for remain over night- at Patrick Air Force Base. Lucked into a Distinguished Visitor Quarters suite right on the Atlantic Ocean for 48 bucks a night…pretty nice compared to the Super 8 down the road for twice that. The Air Force does a nice job with amenities.

Grandson William V and Son Paul



Another Silly Hat

We then headed back to Grand Lake for a couple of days before buttoning up the Beav and shooting up I-95 in Wally to spend Christmas and New Years with family and Friends.

We hope this finds you all well. We were saddened to hear of the passing of two alumni of the Navy Submarine acquisition community, Floyd Bedsole and Ed Washington. Our deepest sympathy goes out to Delores Washington and Floyd’s family.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,

Bill and Gisela

The Roving Pollocks - Summer 2009 Part II

Because we spent a couple of extra weeks in Virginia getting Gisela’s mom resettled, we missed the opportunity to visit with ND classmate John Lancaster and his wife, Chris in beautiful Potsdam, NY. We couldn’t make our schedules mesh…we’ll try again.

We, instead, proceeded to Maine via Elks lodges in Frackville, PA and Hudson, MA. We parked at the Fairgrounds in Cumberland Center for three weeks and for most of that time had the whole place to ourselves. It was a good location for exploring the Portland area and is near our friends at Forrest Lake and in Yarmouth. We had seen the fairgrounds over the years and had tried to find out if we could park there but could never find a way to contact them. This year we discovered a web site http://www.cumberlandfair.com/ and clicked on camping. We emailed them inquiring about a site, prices, etc. They came back and said that even for two weeks it would be $35 per night. We responded that we thought that was high for water and electric …30 amp… and a dump station…no security or other amenities. They responded with an offer of a weekly rate of $100 and offered to put in 50 amps at our site. For Maine in the summer, that is pretty darn good…better that anything except the some Elks lodges. Most full hookup campgrounds we have used in the same general area run $800 per month or more. For our RV friends, if you are interested you can email Bill Fischer, the campground manager, at: camping@cumberlandfair.com or call him at: 207-829 3283

We love Maine! We have been visiting there almost every other summer for the past ten or more years. This year we hit the ground running. As soon as we were parked, we headed for Day’s Lobster Pound. Three 1 1/8 pound lobsters, steamed…$18.…total. That’s a whole lot better than the $18 cup of coffee we “enjoyed” in San Marco Square, Venice, Italy. You can see the impact of our lobster quest…Lobster head.

On our second day, which weather-wise was the first day of Summer (August 6), we were invited to go sailing on Casco Bay with our friends John and Ellen Albin on their friend Robin’s boat. It was an absolutely perfect day. There is something special about looking at the rock-bound coast of Maine from offshore. Like this view of the Portland Head Light:

John and Bill enjoy boating together…It goes back to their days at Navy Officer Candidate School where they spent a bit of the Summer of ‘67 boating on Narragansett Bay and doing other fun Navy things.

The next day we gathered at our friend Liz Banta’s Forrest Lake cottage for a family gathering. The lake is small and quiet…you know a lake is quiet if it has loons . We love loons, too.

We joined Liz on the Casco Bay mail boat ride, had chowder at Gilbert's, took pictures of the Portland Head Light, had lunch at DiMillo’s (Liz loves their bread pudding), had lunch at Five Islands Lobster Company with Bill’s nephew James and James’ daughter, Katie who drove up from Danvers, MA, and took a day trip to Rangely with John, Ellen, and their wonderful Westie, Piper and, of course, had lunch. We love Five Islands.

It is east of Bath and is the most picturesque place in Maine to have lunch…and we love lunch.

Gisela had fun adventures at Caravan beads in Portland and discovered the Beading Path in Freeport. She enjoyed some quiet moments with her beads and wire. Her inventory is really growing….between tools, supplies, books and completed projects, we may need a larger motor home.

We visited the Christmas Tree Store in South Portland which sells everything under the sun except Christmas Trees or any Christmas stuff at that time of year. Bill was thrilled to find a Weber grill cookbook for $3. Bill loves to make lunch…or dinner on his Weber grill. Gisela found enough bargains to entice her to return again and plan a visit to another branch in Hagerstown, MD.

We traveled to Cornish, ME with Liz and her friends, Stan and Lucia. Cornish is the home of the biggest and best fried seafood platter on the planet. It is so big that three people can share it and still need to take home a doggie bag. In the name of good health, we settled for baked Haddock…I thought Bill was going to cry…He loves Cornish fried clams, shrimp, haddock, oysters, etc., etc., etc., Did I say fried clams? Maybe next time?

We did have some neighbors at the fairgrounds during the big Maine craft show. A few of them came by RV and some tent camped. We had a lot of neighbors, most of them canines, when the dog show came to the fairgrounds. We had never seen a dog show. This one did not seem to be designed for outside spectators. It was a competition much like you see once a year on television …the Westminster Dog Show from New York. Judges judging dogs, handlers handling dogs, some obedience trials, lots of people up early grooming dogs, etc. It was curious seeing handlers in coat and tie or skirts in a rural fairground field. People were very focused on their dogs and the competition. We did not see many smiles or get many greetings as we walked around. They had their ‘game faces’ on. Lots of beautiful dogs…six barking boxers outside your window at 6:00 AM tells you there is a dog show somewhere nearby.

In the small world department, we ran into fellow Escapee Boomers (RV Club) Mary Lane and Elaine Cannel in the Portland Wal-Mart. They had just spent the summer in the Canadian Maritime Provinces, primarily in Newfoundland. More on them later.

It was with a heavy heart that we broke camp near the end of August and headed back to Virginia to check on Gisela’s mom. We hated to leave Maine but it was time and Winter was just around the corner up there. We don’t do cold, snow ice, etc.

We spent a couple of weeks in Virginia. Bill ran down to Richmond and spent the day with his daughter, Ann. She showed off the ‘book’ she is putting together on one Arthur L. Vissers, a real character she ran across while doing genealogical research in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. It is hard to briefly define him but maybe saying that he had thirteen wives...three at a time…twice, was a Texas, Ranger and an auto mechanic as autos were being invented early in the 20th century gives you a flavor for old Art. It is an amazing story. It was great to see Ann and Dwayne.

Richard and Sarah Shong, Boomers whom we had not seen for several years were in the area and we caught up with them at a combination BBQ competition and Blue Grass Festival in nearby West Virginia.

The next big event was a car trip to New York City to visit Tom and Jil Mohr who had just returned from two years in Vencie…the land of the $18 cup of coffee. We drove to Staten Island and parked our car at the Navy Lodge at Fort Wadsworth, the former home of the Navy Exchange (PX) Command (NEXCOM). Why is there still a Navy Lodge 15 years after NEXCOM moved to Norfolk, VA? Beats the heck out of us but we’re glad it’s there.

We hopped on the free Staten Island Ferry and were met by Tom and Jil when we disembarked in Manhattan. Of course we passed by the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island on our crossing. Gisela had a similar view in 1957 as her family entered New York harbor however, she was too young to remember it. It is possible that she remembers it in German and not in English?

We stayed in a building overlooking the World Trade Center site which was where Tom and Jil lived before 9/11. The building survived but the 23 apartments were all filled with debris and required over 18 months to be made habitable again. By then, Tom and Jil had decided to become full time RV’ers. They were staying with friends in their old building and we were able to stay in another apartment in the same building. Building…I guess we learned about ‘buildings’ from Seinfeld as well as other aspects of living in Manhattan.

The WTC site is still largely a hole in the ground.. It was sobering to look down on it from seven floors above and remember that day.

We had a fabulous five days in the Big Apple. The first night we went out for Indian food…a wonderful meal in a small, neighborhood restaurant. The next day we took a city bus tour of Manhattan that had been written up in the NY Times. We were riding with New Yorkers rather than tourists from Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin and Michigan. We went all the way to The Cloisters which Bill instantly recognized as the location of the closing scene of the movie, Coogan’s Bluff, starring Lee J. Cobb and a very young Clint Eastwood. We had lunch…yes, lunch again…in a little local Greek diner, walked the sidewalk in front of the Apollo Theater in Harlem, zipped by Central Park and too many other familiar landmarks to mention. We also wandered through the Union Square street market. Wow, what a market…they had it all. Gisela was so taken with it all she mentioned getting an apartment .

On Sunday, we took in a great show at the Planetarium in the Museum of Natural History, and had Sunday brunch in Tribeca with Dylan Ratigan of MSNBC (he was at the next table… we recognized him…he doesn’t know us from a bag of hammers.). We capped off the day with a wonderful gourmet Mexican dinner at one of Tom and Jil’s favorite restaurants. All the appetizers and entrées were unique but clearly Mexican. No Taco Bell stuff here.

Early Monday morning found us heading uptown to Rockefeller Center with Tom Mohr to participate in the Today show. By that we mean standing around the plaza with folks from all over the country holding up signs, waving and hollering in an attempt to get on television. Did we have our own sign? Nooooo, we did not. Everyone had a sign. But we had ….the guy in the Lobster Hat. Did it work? You’re darn tootin’ it worked. As the photo clearly shows:

To see our whole seven seconds of fame go to YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bb6Zob9By5A. What fun.

After our TV debut we headed for Broadway and breakfast at Ellen's Stardust Diner. Here the wait staff are all aspiring Broadway musical stars. You get lots of great singing with your eggs and toast. Tom was obviously impressed.

It is amazing how many musically talented people there are who will never get their big break. Is it better to have no talent that to be very talented and disappointed? Bill says that he would vote to have some musical talent however he knows that voting for it will not help him. He is hopelessly untalented musically. We finished Monday with a wonderful home cooked meal at Tom and Jil’s friend Susan’s apartment.

Tuesday morning found us on a boat heading for Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. We only went ashore at Ellis for the tour. We took the audio tour which added a lot of texture to the exhibits. Tuesday’s other big event was attending a taping of the David Letterman Show. We were there two days before Dave’s big confession. It was fun but you have the feeling that you are not much more that a prop expected to laugh and applaud on cue. As soon as the taping is over the exits open and you are out on the sidewalk two minutes later.

We headed back to Staten Island on the ferry and had a horrible cab ride back to the Navy Lodge. On the way Gisela got a call that her mom had pneumonia and had been admitted to the hospital. We drove straight to the hospital the next day, It was sad…we are not sure her mom recognized us. We mentioned to her she had pneumonia. She said that nobody told her that. It was not clear to us that she realized she was in the hospital. Good news was that the pneumonia was not severe and she was released after a couple of days.

We left the hospital and went directly to the Elks Club in Front Royal where Mary and Elaine were parked. We really appreciated their hospitality. Appetizers, dinner, wine…just what we needed after a long day on the road and several hours at the hospital…Thanks, Mary and Elaine. We were able to return the favor by entertaining them for dinner at our cabin before they headed south.

We, too, headed south for a visit with Bill’s son, Paul, daughter-in-law Yvette, and GRANDSON, William…Mr. Cuteness himself. We had a great time and were just thrilled that William is no longer pooping his pants…Yea, William! We had lots of fun going to gymnastics, the beach, the park, etc.



We also stopped off in Virginia Beach for a catch-up visit with Don and Kathee Larmee. Good friends, Good food, Good wine, Good time. We will see them again for New Year’s Eve.

We were also able to give our neighbors, Scott and Missy White a ride to Dulles Airport for their two week trip to Croatia. We take turns doing this plus we watch each others house. We get the best of that deal since we are gone eight months and they are gone about one month. They are terrific neighbors and we are lucky to have them.

One sad note: In September Bill had reconnected with a long lost friend, John Songster, through Facebook. He had exchanged emails with John and nearly missed stopping by for a visit on our way back from New York City. A few weeks later, Bill learned that John had passed away suddenly on October 15. John was the Senior Instructor/Professor of Naval Science at the Notre Dame Navy ROTC unit when Bill was in college circa 1966-67. John, or Lieutenant Commander Songster as he was known then, was a bachelor who enjoyed spending time outside the classroom with the Midshipmen that he was educating and training for Navy life. There were lasagna parties at his apartment, staff meetings at the Linebacker Bar where we hatched the ill fated plot to kidnap the US Military Academy Mules when Army came to South Bend to play ND in football, an introduction to Michael's Bar in South Philadelphia during a trip to the Notre Dame - Navy game, etc. The gang thought so much of John that we invited him, along with First Sergeant Jim Barnett, the Assistant Marine Instructor, to attend our 25th reunion in 1992. John taught us many valuable lessons that helped us all in our careers and our lives. We all lost track of John after he retired from civilian life about ten years ago. We were all excited to find him again but alas...

That pretty much covers the last half of the summer and closes out September and a bit of October.

Roving Pollocks - Summer 2009 Part I

The Summer travel season began in late June when we left Virginia and headed toward Wisconsin and Gisela's family reunion in Milwaukee. Our first stop along the way was Dayton, Ohio where we visited the famed United States Air Force Museum at Wright (as in Orville and Wilbur)-Patterson (as in I don't know enough USAF history) Air Force Base. It lived up to all expectations. We have also visited the new Smithsonian Air and Space Museum near Dulles Airport and the U.S. Navy Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida but the Air Force Museum was probably the best - although they were all very impressive, if you like all that airplane stuff. We are partial to submarines but it is not easy to get a lot of different submarines in one building.

From Dayton we headed to Milwaukee but gave Chicago a wide berth. The idea of driving a motorhome towing a Jeep Grand Cherokee up the Dan Ryan Expressway makes us break out in a cold sweat. We found a county park just north of Racine that was just great....we had a quarter acre all to our selves.

Before the reunion festivities began we were able to get together with Don and Sandy Hempson who we had not seen since their daughter's wedding in Washington about five years ago. Don and Bill served in the Navy together and were carpool mates. It was really fun to catch up with their lives. Staying in touch with friends and family is a major reason for our travels.

The reunion was terrific. This was a Leck family reunion, Gisela's Mother's side of the family. They came to Wisconsin from Germany in the late 1800's. The patriarch, Ludwig (say Ludvig) was a brother to Gisela's grandfather Cornelius Leck. Gisela's mom and dad were sponsored by Ludwig and came to Wisconsin in 1957 when Gisela was five. Ludwig and his wife, Millie had six children so that five generations later there is a pretty good bunch of Lecks available for a reunion as you can see from this group photo. They came from as far away as Arizona...and Gisela's first cousin, Anne and her husband, Michael came all the way from Germany.






During the weekend a large group of us toured the Harley Davidson Museum, had a reunion picnic in a park on the shores of Lake Michigan and hung out at the hotel catching up on everyone's lives and meeting the newer generations of the family.

After the reunion, Michael and Anne stayed with us in the motorhome for a couple of nights. We took them to Lake Geneva and to Summerfest in Milwaukee. They are fun loving people and we really enjoyed our time with them. We were able to send Inge, Anne's older sister, birthday greetings back in Germany.

Gisela also had the time of her life at the best bead shop she had ever been to. Bill called it the $100 store but what the heck....it was priceless.

As Anne and Michael headed north toward the Minneapolis airport and their flight home, we headed south... acutaly southwest to avoid Chicago again so we could go east to Michigan. We paid another annual visit to Camp Opperman near Bill's hometown of Cedar Springs. We had a great time, enjoyed Ivan's mom's baked goods (at 91 Marie still bakes a mean apple pie.), visited with Don Koster, and spent the fourth of July in Ludington at Ivan's brother, Steve and his wife Karen. They have a really neat log home in the woods. It was a real treat to see some of our European traveling companions, Jim and Louise Opperman and John and Jan Simmons. We also had dinner in Grand Rapids with high school classmates, Chuck and Mary Crosby, Gaylen and Diane Demarest, and Ivan and Janis. We were having such a good time they nearly closed the restaurant with us still inside.

As instructed by Bill's daughter, Ann, we spent many hours in the Grand Rapids Library and at Saint Andrews Cemetery tracking down Bill's mother's side of the family...the MacGregors and the Rogers and Giblins from Scotland and Ireland respectively. We also made a day trip to Saginaw to meet up with Bill's cousins Bonnie and Jimmie MacGregor who he had not seen since the late 1980's. Bonnie had a treasure trove of family pictures that are just fabulous. We made plans to meet next summer at Ottawa Beach near Holland, Michigan where Grandpa MacGregor had a cottage.


After a whirlwind week with Ivan and his lovely wife, Janis, who also knows her way around the kitchen, we headed south to Kalamazoo to have a much smaller family reunion of Pollocks. We visited Bill's brother, Bob. Our sister-in-law Pat Pollock (brother Mac's widow) and her friend, Mark came down from Leland in her motorhome. We really had a nice time together.

In mid-July we left Kalamazoo to head back to Virginia to visit Gisela's mother who was in an assisted living facility. On the way we stopped in Lima, Ohio for a Beaver Ambassador Club rally. The highpoint was Gisela winning the appetizer competition with her famous Italian Cheese Terrine. Bill was amazed to discover what is left of the once proud Kewpee Hamburger empire in Lima. They were one of the two earliest fast food chains in America founded in Flint, Michigan in the 1920's. They were hurt by the depression and rationing of beef in WW II, but one of their customers of their Kalamazoo location was a young boy named Dave Thomas who used their square burgers and Frosty (nee Frostee) as the foundation of his franchise...Wendy's. Kwepee's in Grand Rapids was a big part of Bill and his brothers' childhood memories. That speaks volumes, doesn't it?

When we returned to Virginia it became obvious that Gisela's mom's dementia had progressed beyond the point where assisted living was appropriate. It took a couple of weeks but we were able to find a new facility specializing in Alzheimer's disease with which we were very favorably impressed. We saw some that were pretty bad so we were really pleased to find Greenfield Reflections in nearby Strasburg, Virginia. It was kind of rough emotionally to go through this but we feel good about it now that it is done. Alzheimer's is really tough on the family as anyone who has been touched by it knows.

In early August we headed up to Maine. What did we have for dinner the first night we arrived?



We will fill you in on that part of the summer in our next post including more on the Guy in the Lobster Hat.