We Are Still Here

It's been a while since I last blogged but ran into a serious case of "writer's block".  I had things to say but just didn't feel like blogging so I took some time off.

In the last blog I mentioned we attended the wedding of our grandson Jared to Hannah, the love of his life.  We've been to many, many weddings over the course of our lives but this one was really one to remember.  The wedding venue was directly in the path of Hurricane Matthew and the wedding on October 8 was when it hit us.  We had almost 9" of rain and winds around 25-30mph all day.  Since the wedding was outside under a canopy and on grass, it quickly turned into a quagmire of mud and rain.

It was touch and go if the wedding would even be held since the canopy company would not assemble the cover if the wind was over 30mph.  Their concern was the 100' X 50' canopy would come down.  The caterer had 8 events that day and 7 of them were cancelled.  Since we were lower and had trees to shield us a little, they went on with the wedding.

Gerry, me and Barbara (proud mother of groom)

 Barbara and Henry were beaming with joy to see their last child getting married.  They were on cloud nine all day and it showed in their smiling faces.

Henry, Jared & Barbara

 Aw mom, do we really have to do this?  Yep!

Jared & Barbara

 Our granddaughter Stephanie and grandson Sean were in the wedding party along with Taylor (Sean's wife).  Picture below.

Shawn, Stephanie, Henry, Barbara, Jared, Hannah, Taylor, Sean & Ryan

 We even got into the picture taking.  This picture was taken with our camera and I think the photographer may have a better one.  She wanted us all scrunched up close much like she did with all the other ones.

Jared & Hannah 1st dance of the evening.

 It was a mess walking from the covered porch area to the canopy in the rain.  We were shielded a little by umbrellas that kept some of the rain off of us, but not the sideway gusts.  After we got under cover we gave the umbrella to an assistant who carried it back to the porch for the next use. 

The dance floor was in the center of the tent and that is where the wedding party entered.    It was slow going since the grassy area we had to walk on quickly turned into a mess.  It looked like a herd of cattle walked in ahead of us.

The buffet meal was served at the other end of the tent and that entailed walking in the mud up there to get our meal.  I decided early on that one trip was going to have to do for me and I got two glasses of wine.  They also had light beer for the beer drinkers but I've never liked light beer so wine was my drink of choice.

After the meal we enjoyed the music of a great DJ and the younger generation danced the night away.  Of course grandma Gerry joined in on the dancing and had a ball.  I don't know where she got the energy but she does love to dance. 

Typical mud trail under the tent.

 We had a great time at the wedding and loved seeing our grandson get hitched.  I wore my dark tennis shoes and didn't worry about the mud except to help Gerry navigate (pun intended) around.

The very nice large house for the wedding wound up having water come through the walls and puddle up.  The floors were covered in mud and I can't imagine how much work will go into cleaning up the place.  Under normal circumstances it wouldn't be a problem, but these weren't in that category.

Like I said earlier, it truly was a wedding to remember.  We drove back to the motorhome and had to drive around downed trees and the closure of I-95. (THE 95 for those of you from California).   It was strange to be on the highway with no traffic.  Luckily, the closure came at our exit so that wasn't a problem for us.  

It was a relief to get back to the motorhome, get out of our wet clothes and sit by the fireplace.

That was our day, how was yours?

Jared & Hannah Wedding Rehearsal In The Rain

We had two events about to collide on Friday, October 7, 2016.  Hurricane Matthew was heading for us and we were heading to the wedding rehearsal for grandson Jared and Hannah.  It was touch and go for the wedding since it was to be held outside, and if the winds exceeded 30mph they couldn't put up the 100 x 50ft tent.  There wasn't room in the house to hold the wedding and guests, so everyone was on pins and needles.

Jared had his boat at Lake Gaston and had to remove it since the Hurricane was heading our way.  He also needed to take it back to his boat slip on Lake Norman near his home.  

Barbara and I helped them by staying out of the way.  The spot where we're standing was covered by about a foot of water on Monday after the hurricane came through.  There were small fish swimming around the spot.  The deck behind us was under water and not usable.

We went back to the very large house where the wedding and reception were held.  It was take some picture time of the wedding party and grandmothers.

Granddaughter Stephanie on left next to Taylor (wife of grandson Sean) and Hannah in white dress.

Gerry, Hannah & Elizabeth (Jared's paternal grandmother)

 
It started raining hard about the time we held the rehearsal and everyone had to walk through the rain to the tent.  The bridesmaids all wore boots or sandals and waded through the mud.

The girl in the red boots was smart and brought useful boots to the wedding and they were needed.  Eventually they all had on boots.

The rain came down hard about this time and everyone went back into the house for dinner and drinks.  They had prepared a low-country-boil for dinner with all the sides and fixin's.  I can't eat shrimp so I concentrated on the sausage in the meal.  There was a nice cake with icing in the East Carolina Univ. colors.  Jared is a graduate of ECU.

We left the party after dark and drove back to the motor home.  It was eerie driving on I-95 as we were the only car on the road.  They had the highway blocked due to flooding from our exit, south. We lucked out and made it through there all right.

It was raining quite hard by now and the winds were in the 25+ mph range and blowing sideways.  The road leading to the campground was also blocked with cones due to water running over the road.  I could see it wasn't that deep and we drove through it with no trouble.  Later they closed the road with a DOT truck there enforcing the closure.

This is getting to be a habit with us since last Thanksgiving we were caught in a huge storm in the Arlington, TX  area and had to leave the campground because of flooding.  And you wonder why we love the desert so much.

That was our day and Saturday was even more difficult, but I will blog about that tomorrow.

Leaving The Cabin

October 4, 2016

We finally got the motor home loaded and closed up the cabin for the season.  Actually, Cassie and Jack will use it this month on the weekends and they will winterize it for us.

It was touch and go if we were going to be able to get back on the road since we had a lot of rain the week before departure.  The motor home sits on a gravel driveway and it is a very tight fit to get it on the road.  I have to go back and forth with the motor home to be able to make a very sharp turn because there are trees on both sides.  They were calling for rain on Wednesday so it was imperative we leave no later than Tuesday.  We made it onto the lane and just ahead of the next bout of rain.

We drove to just north of Richmond, VA and stopped at the Americamps RV Resort.  Our campsite was labeled VIP 1 and it 
 was just a gravel pull through with full hookups for $50/night.  Not much competition in the area and it's near Kings Dominion park.  They didn't have cable tv but it wasn't a problem since we visited with our friends Carolyn & Mann.  We always have a lot to talk about with them and the conversations just flowed.  It was great to see them but we had a tight schedule and were heading down to North Carolina and wanted to beat the arrival of Hurricane Matthew. 

It was a short ride down to Roanoke Rapids, NC and we pulled into our reserved site at the RV Resort at Carolina Crossroads.  We had a nice pull through except for the bushes on the driver's side.  They were too close and it was difficult to hook up the sewer hose.  

We arrived on Thursday just before Hurricane Matthew arrived on Friday.  Cassie, Jack and Belle joined us on Friday.  The wedding rehearsal was on Friday with the dinner Friday night.  I will go into more detail how we made out in a huge tent with rain and 25 mph winds whipping around in the next blog.  It was interesting to say the least.

I didn't have a good internet connection the last few days and it was impossible to put a blog out there.  We now have a good 4G connection so I will try and blog a little more often when we do something interesting.

 

Good News and Bad News Today

We had a full day with a 225 mile round trip for doctor appointments near where we used to live in Montgomery County, MD.  Gerry and I both have doctors that we trust and make the drive down there each year for our yearly exams.

First the good news.  My urologist guaranteed me that I wouldn't die of prostate cancer.  I had seed implants and radiation a number of years ago and have been fine since then.  My PSA numbers went up about .1 this past year and I asked him about it.  Nothing to be concerned about was his answer since normal results will vary a few tenths from year to year.  My results were super good and that is when he guaranteed me I wouldn't die from prostate cancer.  WHEW!  Then he said something else would have to do the job.  He does have a wicked sense of humor and that is one of the things I like about him, plus he is a super great urologist.

The bad news came when Gerry went in for her yearly ear exam.  A number of years ago she needed surgery on one ear and her ENT Doctor performed it successfully.  He wants her to have it checked each year to ensure all is well.  He said it looked great and even better than in the past.   Then the bad news came.  He has decided that he is tired of dealing with medicare and the insurance companies and is retiring to Florida where he will teach at a University down there.  Gerry really trusts him and is very sad to see him leave the practice.  

We have had 4 doctors in the past couple years give up their practice due to heavy government burdens put on them resulting in increased cost to run the business and decreased income due to gov't requirements.  It doesn't look good for the medical profession and their patients in the future.

After the 2nd appointment we stopped by Total Wine & Beer and picked up some wine to carry us over into October.  They have the best prices around and their wine selection is great.  Maybe the wine will help Gerry through her sadness.  

Tom & Gerry's sister Darlene meet us for dinner since it was close to where they live, and we selected Olive Garden.  It was very noisy there with two large groups drowning out everyone else.  They should put them in a separate area so they can make all the noise they want and not bother others.  We managed to talk over them and enjoyed seeing Tom & Darlene.   

The meals were great as usual and they were so large that we had to bring a doggy bag back home with us.  It looks like a lasagna lunch for us on Thursday.   

I have an eye appointment Thursday and another with my GP on Monday in regard to the blood clot and hopefully that will be it for a while.  They are both close to us and I am grateful we found them near the cabin.    

Assuming all goes well we are planning on traveling down to Roanoke Rapids on October 3.  We will stop for a few days and visit with our good friends Carolyn & Mann and then continue on so we can join in the wedding festivities for the marriage of our grandson Jared to his sweetheart Hannah on October 8th.  It will be a fun time for all seeing the family members once again.

That was our day and some of our plans for the next few weeks.  At least we will be back on the road again and seeing new sights or visiting old favorites.  

A Travel Through Time

1978 was an interesting time for me while working for USAID.  I was a project manager on many different projects and was still able to take a vacation that summer.

Larry Jr. was 7 years old and he was a good traveler so we decided to take a journey through the New England states.  At the time we had a Ford Pickup and an Apache Buffalo tent trailer.  I had modified the trailer by adding some storage bins, a kitchen box and other changes.   The Ford truck had a camper shell on it and Larry Jr spent most of the time back there playing while we drove down the road.  Yes I know, he wasn't in a seat belt.

1978 Ford F-150  $5500 new

We wanted to show Larry Jr some historical sites in the US along with some fun places.  He loved Watkins Glen, Ft Ticonderoga, Cooperstown and the baseball Hall of Fame.  He already was a Pittsburgh Pirates baseball fan and was thrilled to see how many Pirates were enshrined there.

We saw many historical sites on our three week trip and had a great time.  Many sites dated back to the 1700s and the Revolutionary War.  250 years of history in three weeks.

In October I had the opportunity to work for about 3 months in Cairo, Egypt and eagerly agreed to the TDY.  I had a layover in Rome on the way there and took advantage of that to take a whirlwind tour of Rome.  The next day when I arrived at the airport to leave for Cairo the airport workers were on strike.  Back to the hotel and then catch the bus back to downtown Rome for more sightseeing.  

Coliseum on the right.

Spanish Steps

I took many photos while I was there but don't want to overload the blog with them.  Other than visiting Rome I did have an interesting experience.  There was a big conference going on at the hotel but I didn't pay attention to it since I was in a hurry to get downtown.  The next day while I was waiting for the bus a woman about my age came up and asked if I was going downtown to tour the city.  She said she went yesterday and the Roman men pinched her so often she couldn't sit down and wondered if she could go with me.  No problem, so off we went.

I was a walker back in those days and must have walked 10 miles checking out the buildings and monuments that dated back about 2000 years.  On the bus ride back I asked her what she was doing in Rome and she said she was there for a Sexology Conference that was going on in the hotel.   A WHAT??  She explained a little of what she did (very professional with a PHD) on the way back.  You never know who you will meet while traveling.

Then it was on to Cairo, Egypt for the actual TDY.  I am a history buff and loved Egypt.  The US & Egypt had good relations back then and Americans were more than welcome there.  I am sure there were some people who didn't like to see us, but for the most part I didn't see any negative attitude toward Americans.

There is too much to write about the TDY so I will just present some of the highlights.  Gerry joined me for three weeks while our daughters watched Larry Jr.  It was the first time in over 20 years that we were free of kids and on our own.

We toured Cairo in depth, visited the Pyramids, Alexandria, the bazaar, had custom made leather coats made ( Gerry still has hers), ate at different restaurants and had a great time.  It was her first time overseas and she adapted to it like a duck to water.  That was when we decided we wanted to work and live overseas and we accomplished that in 1982 when I joined the Foreign Service and was sent to Abidjan, Ivory Coast.

I took over 500 photos on the trip and scanned a number of them into digital format over the past couple years.  

Oxen working an old old water wheel for irrigation

Old Roman theater in Alexandria

Hard to imagine how good shape it was in for being 1500 yrs old

Gerry all tired out from walking all over Alexandria

It was an interesting time for me since I experienced seeing some of the US history (250 yrs), Roman history (2000 yrs) and Egyptian history that dated back to 4500BC.  It sure makes you wonder how long things we build now will last when we tear down football stadiums because they are too old at 25 yrs.  

That was what I did 38 years ago, what did you do?