Rend Lake, IL



Sunset over Rend Lake



    Sadly it was time to leave Jessica and Muncie Indiana.  Next time we go to visit the kids, we'll have to do it at a time of year that is warmer, so we can stick around longer.  We had a great visit with her, and made some decisions about the wedding, including the DJ and the venue (Waldenwood, for those of you familiar with it).

    After driving 300 miles, we landed at Rend Lake in Illinois, which is a really pretty area.  Since the weather warmed up a little and the sun was going to shine,  we decided to stay an extra night and spend a day biking.  It was a cool but beautiful sunny day. We spent most of the day biking but we checked out the local artisans shop as well. I was really impressed with everything they had for sale there, so I guess its a good thing we have no room for anything!  Once we got back to the trailer we built a huge fire and watched the sunset. 

We closed up the campground on our own.  We were the only ones there, and they closed for the season the day we left.  Today we drove the 250 miles to Southaven Mississippi, just outside Memphis TN, and we'll be here for a few days.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Muncie, IN

As I type this I realize that once again I blew it.  We have been in Muncie for 2 days, had dinner with Jess and David, her fiance, twice, and I don't have any pictures to show for it! When I am with people I forget to get the camera out. I did take more pictures of Jess when she was trying on her wedding dress though.  It's been a busy 2 days. We spent some time at Jess's apartment with her and her roommates and played some games after dinner.  Yesterday we cooked for David and Jess at the trailer.
   Today it's pouring rain but its about 15 degrees above normal, so at least it isn't snow.   We are going to do some shopping- Jess has to work until 10:30 pm.  Tomorrow we all leave bright and early for Michigan.  I have a doctor's appointment and Jess is coming so that she can take a look at our favorite potential wedding venues before making a decision.

Morgantown, WV

   Hiking in the fall does present a few challenges.  First of all, it's cold outside.  It's been in the low 40s the last two days. Hiking on rocky terrain with leaves on top is another challenge, especially when the leaves are wet, as they were today.  It's also hunting season, which could be pretty challenging, I would think.  We are hiking in the safety zone, but I hope all the deer hunters know that! Every once in a while we can hear shots in the distance. Poor Bambi.


Rock City, Coopers Rock State Forest



        We pulled off the road 2 days ago because the name "Coopers Rock State Forest" sounded intriguing, and we decided to stay for a few days because there is some hiking to be done here, and because we are in Morgantown, home of West Virginia University, so we thought we'd stick around and explore the town.

Our hiking in the forest led us to an old iron furnace that was built in the early 1800s and was used for about 40 years.  Our other destination was Rock City, which was more interesting to me.  There were interesting rock formations, with deep crevices and lots of nooks and crannies.  All in all we hiked about 5 miles today and it felt really good to push it a bit.

Gettysburg, PA



Paul, me and Steve in Gettysburg



Gettysburg was what I call a "Twofer".  Two for the price of one, so to speak.  We got to do sightseeing here but we also got to visit a friend, so we won on both counts.  We met up with Steve, a good friend of mine from high school, and spent the day  at a museum, and viewing the Gettysburg battlefield.

  Viewing the battlefield doesn't really describe what we did very well. The battlefield here was absolutely enormous and we drove around all afternoon checking out different areas.  The Battle at Gettysburg lasted 3 days-July 1-3, 1863, and was the bloodiest battle of the Civil War.  A total of about 165,00 men fought here and about 40,000 men were killed or injured. General Lee was in charge of the Confederate army and at one point in the fighting, it seemed as though they would be the victors.  Unfortunately for them, on the 3rd day of fighting, they advanced across an open field, making several tactical errors along the way, and their troops were decimated  by the Union Army.  Soon after, it was clear that the Union Army would win the day but at a huge cost on both sides.



This wall was as far as the confederates got before essentially
giving up the fight and withdrawing. 

        Left behind afterwards were over 20,000 injured men, that were cared for by a town of only 2500 residents. Most public buildings and many private ones were used as hospitals and the townspeople, including children,  did what they could for the injured soldiers in the weeks following the battle.

      The amount of information here is overwhelming and the stories are endless.  There are over 1300 monuments in this area, all representing something important to someone. One blog entry can't really adequately convey what I have learned about the war, the battle and the people, and I was only here for 2 days!

    Today we took a tour of the Shriver home.  The Shrivers lived here during the civil war.  Mr. Shriver was away serving in the Union army and his wife and two young daughters were left alone in the family home.   As the town started buzzing with the information that the confederate army was closing in, Mrs Shriver decided to take her daughters to her parent's farm outside of town, where she thought they would be safer. Unfortunately it turned out that some of the fiercest fighting took place at the farm, and the farmhouse was quickly made into a makeshift hospital, exposing her and her children to the horrors of the war first hand.  Meanwhile their house in town was taken over by Confederate sharpshooters and although no damage was deliberately done to the house, holes were punched through the bricks, (to shoot out of) there are many bullets still in the walls, and bloodstains are still on the floors.

   Of course I have known about the "Gettysburg Address" since I was a child, but only vaguely, as a speech given by President Lincoln during the Civil War.  After the battle at Gettysburg, the North wanted a proper burial for their lost soldiers so the bodies were all moved to a  new cemetery.  President Lincoln was invited to attend the dedication and say a few words, and on November 14,  came to Gettysburg and gave his famous "Address".  The war didn't end until April of 1865, and President Lincoln was assasinated just 2 weeks later.

...♫...on the trail again....♫.

Boy did it feel good to start hiking again.  We did a 3.5 mile hike today, which isn't much, but its a start. The sun was shining and the temperature was in the high 50s- perfect.  My foot handled it ok, but I am tired.  It's been so long since I've been active, and I have lots of "restaurant" pounds to take off.  It was even warm enough to have a fire when we got back to the trailer.  We are at a campground on the PA, NJ, NY border.  Its nothing to write home about, but there are not many campgrounds open this late in the season this far north.

The hike we did was in High Point State Park NJ, which contains, of course, the highest point in New Jersey. There is a Veteran's Memorial at the top of the hill, but strangely enough (since it's Veteran's Day) it wasn't open. Tomorrow we leave here, but we have no idea where we are headed.  Maybe Gettysburg?
       I have spent the last couple of days playing with my "new" phone.  Its been about 10 years since I've really had a brand new phone.  Somehow someone always wants the latest and greatest (Iphone etc) and I get the castoffs.  Usually I don't really care, and thats true this time as well.  My son had a nice smart phone, a vast improvement over my old flip phone. I got to have his phone because of a dilemma he had.  As he said, its similar to when I married Paul, who, at the time, had been working for Ford for 20 years.  Unfortunately when we got married, my car was a  Buick.  He was patient, and waited a few months, but then said it was a little difficult to have a Buick in his driveway, and all the neighbors were teasing him unmercifully.  Since my new car was a brand new Taurus, I didn't complain too much.
       Well, Stephen started his new job with Verizon Wireless, and has been leaving his AT&T phone at home gathering dust. He has no need of a personal phone and in fact it's annoying having two phone numbers, so he gave me his phone and made the move to Verizon.  Of course he is trying to recruit us, but we'll be under contract for quite a while yet.

the view from our window that we never wanted to see...

I guess the good news is that apparently West Virginia, our original destination for last week, got even more snow than we did.  We were originally going to leave MA this morning, but we had decided to stay 2 more days so we could spend tomorrow with Stephen since he has the day off.
Looking out the window this morning, and watching the trees bend in the breeze, I am sure glad we did!
   Its always bittersweet to come home.  I love being here and we have spent a lot of time with friends and family, but the time always feels too short, I never want to leave, and its so crammed with activity, that we are officially exhausted and heartily sick of eating out!  I am thinking that the next time we come, we should try to stay for a month, so we can spend more quality time with everyone.
    We spent some time this week getting Stephen moved into his new apartment, taking advantage of the truck to pick up a new bed and some furniture for him.  Its been a lot of driving for Paul, since Foxboro, the town we are staying in is not all that close to where my friends and family live.  In fact the other night we went out with friends and ended up spending the night at their house rather than drive the hour back to the trailer.
   Yesterday we played tourist and headed to Patriot Place- home of the New England Patriots.  We picked up Stephen and his friend Al and first headed to a restaurant in the complex, to eat lunch and watch the Patriots play.  Unfortunately we watched them lose, but it was still fun to be at Patriot Place to see the game.



View from the CBS Bar- we could see the game on the jumbotron as well as all the TVs.



    After lunch we headed to the "Hall"- a museum full of Patriots memorabilia and interactive exhibits.  It was pretty fun, and informative.



A special Dome dedicated to the "Snow Bowl". (January 19, 2002)- a game that no Patriots fans will ever forget. Although the screen appears white due to a snowstorm, you can see the football flying through the air as Adam Vinatieri kicked a 45 yard field goal. 



Stephen huddling with Tom Brady and the Patriots.  You can hear Brady talking to his teammates.



the footballs from the 21 consecutive games won by the Patriots.



Boston, MA- visiting

    Not much is going on right now that is blog-worthy. We are settled in at our very nice RV park in Foxboro MA, one of the best (and most expensive) we've been in. We spent Sunday with my brothers and sisters, out to lunch at a restaurant, then we went back to my brother's house and watched the Patriots win. 
   Our son Stephen spent the weekend with us in the trailer, so he got to see his best buddy, the cat. Part of the reason I wanted to head to MA right now is because Stephen is transitioning into a new job, and a new apartment, and I wanted to give him a hand getting set up at the new place.



my family-(from the left around the table) my brother Richie, son Stephen, husband Paul, me, sister-in-law Dawn, brother Ray, and sister Debbie

 


the two boys, reunited





  Today is a quiet day- we are hanging out this morning, then doing some errands before meeting up with Stephen again.

Stephen and I at Ray's house