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Bill & Rosemarie 2008 Motor Home Trip
Departed: May 8, Thursday- We got started a day later than expected. This is our first
real trip in the 2006 Fleetwood - Pacearrow. Packing up for a four month trip takes a lot of planning
and work. We got so tired that we could not possibly leave the day we planned.
Our First Stop
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Rancho CA
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We were going to leave bright and early Thursday, but it was about 12:00pm before we
got everything done. Phew, what a job! We drove directly to Rancho California
Outdoor Resort, about 20 miles past Temecula CA. We wanted to make sure
everything worked and we knew how to work everything. All was good in
that area.
Our biggest challenge was our cat A.C. He is 14 years old
and has only been away from home one time and that did not work out so
well. We tried to leave him with our friend Janet and he hid on Janet the
whole time. He was just a kitten then. He has not changed much.
The first day we stopped he quickly found 3 great spots, all of which were very
dangerous for him and the motor home. We covered all the holes and went to bed.
We did not have a good nights sleep. A.C.cried because we covered the holes.
He finally stopped and we thought te was in his bed, but that is when he uncovered
the spot and disappeared under the bed. We left him alone hoping he would reemerge
on his own.We ate breakfast, played golf and then ate dinner but, he did not appear
so we had to take action. This was not easy! We had to lift the bed off its frame then
locate his hiding place. After 10 minutes we spotted a patch of fur in the most remote
corner of a slot. Thank God for wire hangers! (After a lot of poking AC. finally came
out of hiding). I thought after I got all the possible holes covered that was that,
and then I noticed him nosing his way under the dash.We have to keep him in his crate
when we leave him alone until we figure out how to cover all the holes
We played golf yesterday. The golf course was a par 3, beautiful, well kept,
but with the worst markings of any course we have ever been on. We had to make the
longest walks we have ever experienced. It was like walking an 18 hole course
with hills and valleys and the weirdest thing it was only 14 holes. Not our favorite way to play.
We got a good nights sleep. A.C. was kept in his
crate and only woke us one time to use the cat box. We did much better on getting the Saturn in
tow and the home secure. We left around 9:30 and are on our way to Las Vegas
A C Kitty
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Virgin River Gorge
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May 11, 2008 - We arrived in Vegas around 5:00pm. We found our RV Park,
( The Hitching Post on Las Vegas Blvd). no problem. We are so lucky to have
Vicky (short for Victoria, as in Secret) as our guide. I talked Bill into
buying a GPS and we love it. We named her, why not? It takes away the where
do we turn next? It makes finding your next location a breeze. Highly recommended
by our son Tye - Thanks Tye!
Not much to report yet. We did a little shopping and settled in for the night.
Not a good night. A.C. was at it again. I think we should have named him Houdini!
He learned how to unzip his crate and did so 5 times, followed by a lot of crying.
I had to rap the crate in a towel, push it against the wall, put the computer on top
of it and then lie on the floor for 30 minutes and say NO when he tried to escape.
He finally went to sleep and I returned to bed. This cat situation definitely gives
us something to talk about. Bill made my breakfast for Mothers Day. He is so tired
he went back to bed after we ate. Let's see what mothers day will bring for us today!
We went to the Las Vegas Mall. This mall is south of Vegas. It is quite a large mall
with the typical stuff. Shopping is not as much fun as it used to be. Malls in most any
location have the same stores. Boring! They do have a few special local businesses. It
is a good place to stay cool and walk in HOT town. Bill got me a present. I told him I
was not his mother, but I took the gift anyway. Cool new golf shorts.
I spent the evening with my son Shawn and his children. He made a great Mexican
dinner. We had a Karaoke Party. Even Kayl got into the act. I met Dina, a sweet lady
Shawn is dating. I had a great time with the kids.
May 12 2008 - We finally had a good nights sleep. I tied up
all the zippers on the cat crate and we all slept like babies. He was at it again today.
As soon as he got up and had a drink, while we were dressing he disappeared again. I
thought I had covered up every hole, but he found a way to get up into the dashboard.
Oh Joy! He did come out to eat. Today we have to figure out how to cat proof the front of
the coach. Until then he is on a leash. We did not get out of Vegas until 10:30am and
we are on our way to Nephi, Utah to spend the night. We had to clean up the sweet pickle
juice and broken glass from the floor, because I forgot to shore up the refrigerator before we
left. We are driving on I-15 and just passed through Virgin River Gorge. Bill said it is like
driving along the bottom of the Grand Canyon.
May 13, 2008 - We drove over 330 miles and arrived in Nephi around 6:30pm. The scenery on
the 15 is awesome, especially Virgin River Gorge. We settled in for the night at High Country
RV a whopping $12.50 (no TV). The showers were great and that was most important. When we woke
up it was cold around 45 degrees. We left there around 11:00am and drove to Salt Lake City.
We are settled in at The Salt Lake KOA $37.53 a night. We played golf at Rose Park, just a
few miles from the KOA. The course was in good condition. Bill 79 - Ro 92. We started after
3:00 and finished at 6:30. We did some food shopping and went back to our love nest and made dinner.
We have a big day planned for tomorrow.
May 14, 2008 - We started our day at the State Capitol. Magnificent!
Bill really liked this building. It was newly remodeled and had the most
granite and marble we had seen so far. They showed us the retro fitting
for earth quake safety. A major undertaking! We learned that remodeling
capitols was something that was happening all over the USA.
Salt Lake City State Capitol
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Earthquake Retro-fit
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After the capitol tour we went to Temple Square which is in the heart of Salt Lake City.
At Temple Square we knew we would learn everything about the Church of Christ
of the Latter-day Saints (Mormons). What a wonderful place. The grounds are
laden with beautiful flowers, buildings and sweet people. The missionaries
from all over the world spend time at LDS headquarters as part of their
orientation to that religion. We took the North Conference Building Tour.
The 2 missionaries showed us around the grounds.
Rosemarie at Temple Square
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Temple Square
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Bill at Temple Square
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Rosemarie at Temple Square
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We went to the Tabernacle
building; this is a place where you can literally hear a pin drop and the
famous Mormon Tabernacle Choir Sing. We realized there was a lot to see there and
that the choir would be practicing on Thursday night, so we decided to stay an extra
day so we could go to the rehearsal.
We left there and drove 30 miles out of
town to Kennecott Copper Mine. We were impressed with this place. It is the
worlds largest man made excavation and one of only 2 man made places that can
be seen from outer space. We got a greater appreciation for copper and how they
acquire it at this location. We had to wait an hour and one half to get in because
they were doing a big explosion in the pit. We had a picnic in the car and waited.
Nice place to visit and a must see if in Salt Lake City. That was all for
that day.
Kennecott Copper Mine
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Rosemarie & a Truck Tire
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Kennecott Copper Mine
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May 15, 2008- we drove about 25 miles, headed for Antelope Island State Preserve
to see the Great Salt Lake. We drove across the 8 mile long cause way to the
island. My first experience was the smell, not good. The Great Salt Lake is
bout 89 miles long & 14 miles wide is only 33 feet deep and the cause way
was rather dry and stinky. I now realize why there are no businesses or home
stead's near the water. We learned the history of the island. There was a
resort there at one time; I think the smell ended that. We opted not to go
n the water because of time constraints and it was cold. The island was worth
the drive.
Bill with Buffalo on Antelope Island
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Rosemarie and Buffalo
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The 8 Mile Long Causeway
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Jesus Statue Temple Square
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Next we went back to Temple Square. Our first stop was The Tabernacle
Building where we enjoyed a half hour organ concert. The woman who played
was good, but not passionate about her playing. This is one of the largest
organs in the world, very impressive! Then we decided to try a burger at
Apollo's. This is a chain in Utah. That was weird! This burger is a meet
lover's delight. It was filled with corn beef, cheese, a burger, lettuce,
tomato, and their sauce, a once in a life time experience for us. We loved
their fries! We went back to the motor home and took a short rest then went
back to Temple Square. We saw part of the movie on Jesus life and the story
of John Smith and how he started the church. Very interesting! We went to t
he Beehive, home of Brigham Young. We loved this place and our guides were
great. The beehive is a symbol of Utah. Young used this symbol as a sign of
industry and people working together. We ended our day at the rehearsal of
the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. What a great experience. There is a special
sound in the Tabernacle building. It was around 9: 30 pm when we got back.
Seagull Shrine
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Painted to Look Like Oak
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The Choir
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The Organ
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The Choir
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Painted to look like Oak - 100 years ago - Last row
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May 16, 2008 - We took our time getting out of Salt Lake and are on our way
to Rock Springs, Wyoming. We arrived at Wal-Mart in Rock Springs around 4:00pm.
There were 5 motor-homes already there. The people of Rock Springs were really
friendly and helpful. A thing to remember is the GPS. Due to construction, we
had to take a different exit than the GPS (WHO will be referred to as Vicky from
this point forward) wanted us too. Vicky tried to make us go back the way we came.
She was brutal. It was as thought the "Recalculating" statement began to sound upset!
She finally got with the program and took us a different way. We laughed - fun!
We took a long walk after we ate. Our salad was great and made us too full for our
own good. Hence the walk! This town was mainly on one road. All the businesses were
lined up in one row. We had a goal to walk as far as this big balloon that was flying
over a car dealership. The weirdest thing happened; as we approached the balloon it
started to move farther away. Turns out it was attached to a truck and the dealer was
closing and moving the truck to a different location. After our walk we did a little
shopping and turned in after we watched Shrek on the computer. The cat did not wake us up.
I was so pleased until I discovered that he found a way to get under the barricade I made
to keep him out of the dash board. We got 8 yards of fabric to keep him out of there. I will win!
Luckily he came when I called him.
May 17, 2008 - We left our safe haven at Wal-Mart around 8:30 am. Our goal was
to make it to Cheyenne WY. The scenery along I 80 in Wyoming is not all that
great; miles of flat plains or rolling hill, mostly brown or green. The roads
are some of the best we have been on. Bill suggested I drive the motor-home.
I said yes, but I was petrified. I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was on the open road. I drove about 70 miles. Bill was proud of me because he knew how I felt and because I drove anyway. We had programmed Vicky to take us to a specific location, but when we got there we both looked at each other and shook our heads in unison - NO! We reprogrammed Vicky for A & B Camp Grounds, much better, and off we went.
We got hooked up and then we headed for the Airport Golf Course. We stopped at
Arby's for one of their new turkey sandwiches -YUM. Our tee time was 4:11.
We were put with a local guy named John. The course was beautiful, but the greens were like playing on carpet - SLOW. Hard to make a put! John was fun to play with. He was an ex ref for ball games. One good thing at that altitude 8000 feet, the ball really goes a long way. Bill 81 - Ro 98. We did not get done until 8:00pm. It does not get dark there until 9:00pm. We really have started to feel comfortable in our little home on the road; a completely different experience than in the 22 foot Itasca.
May 18, 2008 - We visited the Wyoming State Capitol this morning. It was
really small in comparison. Because it was Sunday we could not go in and get
the full picture. We will have to return a different time. Today is about
driving. We are headed to Kearney NB. We stayed at a Wal-Mart way off the
freeway. We slept like babies; no road noise and the cat slept through the
night(first time).We plan on getting to Lincoln NB on Monday. I will be teaching
a class to the local clown club. I am looking forward to it. A perfect place for the show off in me!
State Capitol - Cheyenne WY
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My best balloon - made May 19.
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May 19, 2008 -We arrived in Lincoln around 11:00am and got settled at
Camp-A-Way. It cost $37.00 a night. Over priced big time, but the going rate
for this place. There are only a few places to stay. We went down town to
take the Capitol tour but decided to have lunch. We found the Noodles &
Company. The food was so tasty, but tinny portions ($16.69). We had to
drive back to the RV Park to get our cameras for the Capitol tour.
We took the very last tour of the day. We had the best tour guide named
Gloria. She was a hoot. She told me she loved it when the local clowns came
to get a proclamation for National Clown Week. I had mentioned I was
teaching Mime to COAI alley # 40. This building is very dark, nothing like Salt Lake.
There were some beautiful mosaic floors and a lot of beautiful art work.
Everything here has a significant meaning. We enjoyed the tour immensely.
They have a different type of governing body. Very interesting! They only
have one house and the people's votes have more power in their system.
It sounded really better than the other states.
After the tour Bill went home and I met Kathy a lady from the clown club.
We went to dinner, her treat. Nice Woman! She escorted me to the clown meeting.
It was awesome. The clowns were so much fun and I had a great time teaching.
There was a lot of laughter. I felt so good at the end of the night.
I stayed for their meeting.
This is the comment that was posted on the Clown COAI Blog:
I am a member of Calliope Clown Alley #40 in Lincoln, Nebraska.
At our Alley meeting Monday night we had a last minute special guest.
Rosemarie Ballard was passing through town and blessed us with a quick 1 1/2
hour "taste" of what she has to offer. Rosemarie is a mime with 25 years
experience. She is also a clown. She travels all over the world teaching
Miming for Clowns at many conventions and conferences.
A few things we learned were handling a ball, flowers (good and bad smelling),
"he loves me, he loves me not", ropes, doors, overall stage presence, miming in
skits, putting a clown spin on miming, and hand exercises. She had a lot of good ideas,
and even performed a few skits for us.
We truly wish that we could have had more time with her, but the alley was pressed
for time, otherwise we would have listened to her all night! It was so generous of her
to make time for us. She also had learning materials for purchase. If anyone
is interested in having her teach we highly recommend her. She really was
inspiring.
Rosemarie's personal website is
www.rosemarieballard.com
www.ieallaboard.org is her production website.
Kathy Rico aka Katie Rose the Clown
Lincoln Clown Club # 40
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Gloria Tour Guide & Visitor Loved the Hat
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Bill in the Supreme Court
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Rosemarie in front of the smallest elevator
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The Ceiling- amazing craftsmanship
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A Door Knob an example of Wood Work
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May 20, 2008 - We got up early and played golf at Mahoney. It was cold and
windy but fun. We wore our heavy wind breakers. It was a nice course and
the greens were better. There was a bit more interesting terrain. We went
down town after golf. By that time the weather was much better. Bill's
watch battery died shortly after we left home. It is a joke with us.
Honey what time is it? 7:30. We both depend on his watch for time. We had
a lot of laughs! We decided to stay at the same place. It was clean and safe,
but a lot of road noise and the cat woke us up again.
Longaberger 8 Stories High
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Basket Company Wyoming
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Rosemarie at the Capitol
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The Capitol
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Spring Flowers at the Capitol
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In honor of Wyoming Women
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May 21, 2008 -We drove to Des Moines, Iowa. We got here fairly early.
It was not easy to find a place to stay. When we did arrive at Griffieons
Farm that is exactly what we found. The women I talked to said it would seem
weird, but she knew we would love the place. It was only 22.50 so we decided
to take a chance. After we were directed to a location behind the farm house
we were really happy. This is a beautiful location; quiet, clean and private.
We found out about a golf course a few miles from here. It was awesome, the
best so far. Toad Valley! That is right! We did not see one toad, but did
see amazing grounds and it only cost $22.50 each. What a deal! Bill - 83 __Ro - 99.
After golf we took our showers in the brand new locker rooms at the RV Park
and went to bed. This traveling can take a lot out of a person
May 22, 2008 - After a great night's sleep (The cat was quiet and no road noise)
we went to the Iowa State Capitol in Des Moines. This is a beautiful place;
the floors, the walls, fixtures, and the furnishings. It was like stepping
back in history! We had a guided tour with a 5th grade group. We took lots
of pictures. It was all so amazing. I got to go up this spiral stair case,
way up into the dome and look down. This is a place of interest and
considered one of the top 4 capitols in the country. My friend Bon Bon said
it was one of her favorites and I agree. We treated our self to Pizza Hut
and went back to our pad, literally! We decided to stay another night.
There was a bad storm the second night. There was a tornado watch.
Iowa State Capitol
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Floor Tile
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The Law Library
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Beautiful Library
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On Tour in the Governors Office
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The House of Represeantives
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Looking Up Into the Dome
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Looking Down From the Dome
Rosemarie Climbed to the Top
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In the City of Des Moines they
have Many Above Sidewalk Passages
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Bill Waiting For Rosemarie
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May 23, 2008 - We drove all day and drove into Peru, Illinois Wal-Mart late
in the afternoon. There was a Kohl's store in the same shopping center and
they were having a Memorial Day sale. We were freezing. We decided to pick up
a few warm cloths. We were both getting tired of the black cords we brought
with us. There were some great bargains and we took total advantage. We also
did some food shopping at Wal-Mart. I made some sandwiches and we watched the
rest of Shrek 2. We had a great nights sleep. We were way off the freeway.
We had to go back to Kohl's in the morning. There were a few items calling out
all night that wanted to come with us.
May 25, 2008 - We drove to Joliet, Illinois; about 45 miles from downtown Chicago.
We stayed at the Empress Casino RV Park($22.00 per). We arrived early enough to drive
into town. We ate at Denny's on our way to Chicago. We were bad, but the chicken fried
steak and meatloaf was great! We had no idea where we were going, but ended up finding
a great parking place at a meter in what is considered one of the great eating sections
of town and not too far from the action. We were so lucky! It was around 4 PM so we could
go off with out worrying about paying high parking lot prices and after 6pm the parking
meter was free. We took a long walk headed for what we thought was the Sears Tower. Turned
out, it was the John Hancock building. We did not go to the observation deck 103 stories
up, because we did that in1979 on our trip with the kids. From there we walked up Michigan Ave.
The city was bustling with lots of tourists from all over the world. We stopped in at the Water
Tower Building and the Pumping Station and gathered information about the city. The Water Tower
Building houses a restaurant, information center and theatre company.
Chicago is a great city.What we saw was clean and the people were friendly.
I think the wind keeps blowing all the junk away. We stopped in at the Sports Authority to look around. The store is advertised as the WALL OF FAME!
They have hand prints of famous athletes in concrete on the walls. I took a picture of
Michael Jordan's hands. Some of the prints were so big it was hard to believe
they were real. Bill's hand got lost inside when he compared his size with there's.
Michael Jordan's Hand Prints
On the Wall of Fame
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We got back to the park and went to the casino.
It was decorated in an Egyptian motif. We played Wheel of Fortune and after we lost $13.00 we quit.
Bill had better luck at the Crap Table. The table was as cold as the slot machines and Bill played the
don't pass line. The dice went around the table 4 times and not one person got the number they needed.
They all crapped or sevened out! Bill won $95.00 and as soon as the table changed he quit. We walked away winners.
May 25, 2008 - We had a wonderful day! We headed for down town around 8:00am. We programmed Vicky to
take us to the Hard Rock Café. It was near where we were yesterday. She got us there OK, but while trying
to find a parking place we ended up back on the freeway. We turned her on again and she took us back.
We finally found a spot one block over from where we were the day before. Meters are free on Sunday Yah!
We were about 2 blocks from the Double Decker Trolley tour Station # 13. We paid our $29.00 each and headed
out.
Double Decker Tour Bus Chicago
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The tour came with a free tee shirt which we had to pick up at stop # 2, Millennium Park, a free Hershey
barat stop #11 The Water Tower and free Griffith popcorn at stop # 10 The Magnificent Mile. The pop corn was
out of this world. We got the Chicago mix; half caramel and half cheese. This is with out a doubt the best popcorn
in the world. We wish we had more time to spend. We could get off and on the bus at will, because the buses
came by and picked up people every 10 minutes. We only got off a few times. The bus stopped at: #1 Sears Tower;
we got of and went to the 110th floor. The visibility was pretty good., #2 Millennium Park: we got our tee shirt
and saw the Beam, a very cool reflecting sculpture.
Bill is Waving in the Middle of Beam
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Picture from under the Beam
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That is us taking a picture - Beam
This art object looks like a flying saucer
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Stop # 3 Wacker South: we got off here and went on the Ethnic Tour.
This tour went through China Town,
Gateway to China Town
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Little Italy, the Jewish & the Polish quarters, all so clean. We also went by
Oprah Studio.
Oprah's Studio
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(Chicago is Oprah Heaven. Her TV Show is on 3 times a day) We learned all about Wacker Streets. There
are North, South, East, West, and upper & lower Wacker Streets in the heart of Chicago. This street
has been filmed in a lot of movies. There have been a lot of famous chase
and crashes filmed in the Wacker Street location. #4 -The Theatre District, # 5 -Art Institute,
#6-Hilton Towers, #7 -Field & Natural History Museums, #8 - Sheraton Hotel,
#9 - Navy Pier, One could spend a whole day here, #10 - Magnificent Mile(we walked here the day before),
#11 - Water Tower(we went here the day before), #12 - Hancock Center, #13 - River North(back
where we started, We learned a lot about the history of Chicago and saw all their
wonderful architecture. We got done with the tour around 4:00pm and headed for our car.
Fabulous Chicago
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Awesome Chicago
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The Famous Apollo Theatre
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Rosemarie & Alan Willy at Dinner
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Bill & Chicago Skyline
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Trump Tower Being Built & Rosemarie
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From there we drove to Calumet City and picked up my friend and first voice
coach, Alan Willy. He moved away from San Diego around 16 years ago. He was
the Musical Director for Bill Virchis at Southwester College. We had a nice
dinner at a Mexican restaurant in Calumet City. We laughed and talked about
old times and old friends and got caught up. I wished he had never moved away
and I think he feels the same way. It was sad to say good buy. He said he would
come and visit. I hope he gets to do that. We went back to the RV Park in hopes
of getting a good nights sleep. We were going for about 14 hours and were sooo
tired. That did not happen. There was a big rain. It is hard to sleep in a motor h
ome in the rain. There was also a threat of a tornado. It was scary! The cat was
a mess. Bill had to get up with him and calm him down. We were lucky the tornado
hit north east of us. Seven people were killed. We did stay in bed until 9:00am.
No harm, no foul!
May 26, 2008 - We are on our way toward Indianapolis, Indiana. There is a lot of
traffic. People returning home from the holiday I suspect. We headed for a Wal-Mart
outside the city. It seemed to far out of the way so we chose a different location.
We were happy to get there; it was a long day on the road. Not at all eventful!
We pulled into the lot and felt good about the location. We filled up the gas
tanks @ $3.88.9. We got a Wal-Mart card and that saved us 3c a gallon. We put the
cat barricade up and went to do our shopping. Altogether we spent about $500.00 on
gas food and that included $200.00 for our next gas purchase. As soon as we got
back to our home the security guard stopped and asked us how we liked our shopping,
then she informed us we could not stay there for more that 2 hours. By this time
it was getting dark. We decided to eat our dinner there and wash all the produce
before we left. We were so upset. There was a sign that said 18 wheelers could
not stay over night, but nothing about motor homes. This meant taking the barricade
apart uncovering the windows, putting in the slide outs. What a pain. All they needed
was a sign and we would have left. The guard said it was a city ordinance, nothing
to do with the store directly. We drove about 16 miles to a different store. As soon
as we pulled into the lot the security guy came speeding over to us. We had just finished
reading the signs that say security cameras are in use. We looked at each other with
hopeless abandon. The guard said "Are you planning on spending the night?" We said
"YES" He said he wanted us to park over there. Whew! We went through the settling
in process again, but this time it was for real.
May 27, 2008 - Today we headed for the state capitol. We really liked this building.
It is very light and airy. We were not able to take a guided tour, but did a self
guided tour. I am impressed with all the plains states. They all recognize women for
there work in equality for all citizens. We were there for almost an hour.
We were starving and pulled into a food center. Four Pizza place and we did not notice
anything else. Oh well! It was delicious. We headed for Indy Race Track. Bill was
in heaven.
Indianapolis Speedway
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We took a bus tour and drove on the 2 &one half mile tract. It is known as the
"The Brick Yard" For many years the track had 3,200,000, bricks (nine lb each) as a track.
There are only a few rows of bricks still showing at the start/finish line. The track is
covered with asphalt. This is a completely different track from Daytona. The inclines on
the banks were not as steep. We spent a lot of time in the museum. They had so many cars
from many different years to enjoy. We got to sit in a new style Indy car. A wonderful
camera opt, but we forgot the camera. That was our second time for the camera. We had a
nice day then drove 32 miles out of town to Jellystone Camp ground. On a scale of one to
ten it rates 0. The park has a Yogi Bear theme with a big statue of the bear and some cute s
igns as you enter, but forget the bathrooms. You know the push the button shower you have at
the beach? That is what they have here, forget about adjusting the temperature. We will
be showering in our motor home today. Tomorrow we head for Ohio after we play golf at
Royal Hylands Golf Club.
May 28, 2008 - Got up early this morning even thought our alarm clock failed us big time.
We had a tee time at Royal Hylands Golf Course out side of Indianapolis. We parked our
home at the course in the overflow parking lot. To save time I drove the car separately.
We just made our tee time. This is a beautiful course and in great shape. We had a ball.
Lots of challenges! Bill -82 _ Ro - 95.
We decided to drive to Richmond Indiana and visit
my cousin Robert. Richmond is the home town of my second cousin Dan Mitrione. He was
police chief there before he was hired to go to South America. He has the distinction
of being one of the first Americans held hostage and murdered in South. America.
Robert is a lot of fun and I look forward to spending time with him and Marla. We got
to town around 3:30 and headed for Kohl's. We had 2 ten dollar gift cards to use up
by a certain date. Robert called just as we finished shopping and said he was at home.
We did not expect them to be home until 5:00 pm. What a great reunion! Robert gave me
a big bear hug and lifted me off the ground. What a wonderful welcome.
Robert & Marla
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Rosemarie & Robert
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What a beautiful colonial style home they have. They have had to do a lot of work,
but the place looks great. Marla made this delightful hot brae and pecan dip and
other tasty veggies & cheese. We talked and got reacquainted and Yum Yum!
They took us to an old fashion grocery store named Marie Mitrione's. I was kind of
excited when I met a cousin of mine Rick Fuller. His grandmother's Name was Marie Mitrione
and that is where he got the name.
Maria Mitrione's
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Sign
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Great Deli
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We ended up going out to dinner, Roberts treat.
After dinner we went back to their home and met Andy Cecere He is the person who hired Dan
Mitrione to be police chief of Richmond. They were good friends. I took some video of him
telling all about Dan and the concert Frank Sinatra and Jerry Lewis gave to raise money for
Dan's 9 children so they would be guaranteed an education. He answered a lot of my
questions about the incident. He was a charming, well spoken man. All in all it was a
great visit
May 29, 2008 Friday - Marla had a wonderful breakfast ready for us when we woke up.
Fresh fruit & home made poppy seed and cranberry breads. We slept in our motor home.
It was so quiet and we slept like babies. We got out of there around 10:30 and drove
to Columbus Ohio. We stopped at Cross Creek RV Park in Delaware, Ohio. When we got
in we wanted to play golf, but had a hard time finding a place. There were more
golf courses there than any place we have ever seen before, but they were all full.
We decided Ohioans must love the game. We finally ended up at Royal America Golf Course.
It was so sweet. We loved this course. The ground was hard and the balls rolled forever.
Bill 83 - Ro 90. We did not finish until 8:30. We did not play the complete back nine.
It got to be so very slow. We decided to go back and play the front 4 holes over again.
I did not want to do that, but Bill talked me into it. I was glad we did because we were
both getting frustrated with how slow the people in front of us were. We ate at Taco Bell
before we played; just OK and we were starving. We went to bed early.
May 30, 2008 Saturday - We had a scare when we got up. We could not find the cat.
He did it again. He found a way under the barricade and did not answer our beckoning.
I got all upset and was quite relieved when I found him. We went to the Ohio State Capitol
around 12:00 pm after doing laundry. We did a self guided walking tour. I was so
disappointed, because we both decided a tour with a guide is the best way to get an
understanding of the building. We finally joined a 6 grade tour around 12:30. This
is our least favorite capitol so far. It was modeled after the Greek ancients. Not
very impressive!
Columbus
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The cool thing was they were having an exhibit of art work that was a tribute to
some men from Ohio who died in Iraq War. They even had their boots on display.
This brought a tear to my eye.
Columbus
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This building was constructed with absolutely no infra structure: no metal,
no water no electric. The center of the building had a large empty courtyard to
facilitate bringing light into the offices. There have been many renovations to
this building. They added all of the necessary infra structure and put a cool
elevator in one of the empty chambers.
The Marble Stairs
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Tribute to the West
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The Senate Ohio
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The House of Representatives Ohio
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Model of the Original Capitol
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The Dome
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We parked at a meter so Bill had to leave a bit before me to get back to the car.
We ate the most awesome tuna sandwich at Subway. It was so good we can not wait to
have another one. I had fun with the ladies who created these masterpieces and we
even took their picture.
The Makers of the Best Subway Tuna Sandwich
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The Best Tuna Sandwich
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After lunch we headed for The Santa Maria., as in The Nina,
The Piñata, and The Santa Maria. The City of Columbus wanted to do something special
to honor Christopher Columbus so they had a ship yard in Albany NY build a recreation
of Christopher's ship. The tour took 50 minutes. The guy who did the tour was an ex
military man. We finally know what "Farther Beans" are as they were a staple food
for the voyagers. We really liked the tour and I thank those guys who took the big
risk and discovered America.
The Santa Marie
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The Santa Marie and Rosemarie
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The Santa Marie
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The Santa Marie
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Tour Guide
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Statue of Christopher Columbus
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Bill was tickled by two other sight in Columbus: An empty Costco Gas Station and The
Fifth Third Bank
The Fifth Third Bank
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Would you California's believe this Costco
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This night, we were in one of the biggest storms in Ohio.
The wind and rain were scary. We turned on the TV in the middle of the night to find
out we were in a tornado warning. Bill could not sleep. I woke up a lot but did get
some rest. After breakfast we headed out.
May 31, 2008 Saturday - We decided to sleep in to get ready for a long drive.
We added a few new locations to our original plan so we could see the Pennsylvania
State Capitol. We heard it was the best one ever and we wanted to see it. We just
drove all day. To a Wal-Mart in Washington PA
June 1, 2008, Sunday - We drove from Wal-Mart in Washington, PA, where we left
our Motor Home, 20 miles from Pittsburg. When we got to Pittsburg we drove around
and took a good look at the city of bridges. Boy do they ever have a lot of
beautiful bridges.
The Rivers of Pittsburgh
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Down Town
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Pittsburgh Skyline
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Downtown Pittsburgh
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Beautiful Pittsburgh
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Breathtaking Building
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The Rest of the Building
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We viewed the Three River Stadium from Duquesne Incline. The
stadium and the bridges make sense when you look at the typography. There are 3
rivers that meet at the stadium.
Three-river Stadium
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We took a ride on the Duquesne Incline Cable Car which has been around since
1877. At this historical site we saw pictures of the city before smog laws came into
being. You could hardly see your hand in front of your face. You could not see the
sun and you could not be sure if it was day or night. The news clippings stated that
there were a lot of folks who suffered because of the smog way back in 1906.
The pictures were shocking. Today the skis are clear. We were amazed that this was
going on so long ago. This is a mining area and coal and steel mills were the culprits.
We drove back to Washington and put the car in tow and headed for Harrisburg around
12:00pm. We spent about 3 hours in Pittsburgh. We left Pittsburgh and headed for Harrisburg.
PA. We drove most of the day with a stop for home made sandwiches. We checked into Harrisburg
East Camp Ground around 5:00pm. We were beat and it was too late to do anything
and we were so tired from the night before.
The Duquesne Incline Sign
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The Duquesne Incline Inside
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Bill & Duquesne Incline
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June 2, 2008 Monday - Today we were treated to the best Capitol building of all.
It was worth the 160 mile detour. Wow! The people who created this masterpiece
are to be congratulated forever. The art work and the details of this beautiful
place took my breath away. It is not exactly Versailles but came in a close second.
We toured with 20 sixth graders and their chaperones. They were a nice quite respectful
group.
The State Capitol Harrisburg, PA
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View looking down the street from the Capitol
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Statue depicting bad choices and unhappy people
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Statues at the Entrance of the Capitol Showing Good & Happy
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Gorgous Stairs of the Capitol
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Interior Dome
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Interior Beauty
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Attention to Detail
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Wood Work
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Wood Work
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The Senate
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The House
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We came back to our home and had lunch then went to play golf at Dauphin Highlands.
It was a spectacular place. Great conditions and hill & dales all over! Putting was a
challenge! Bill - 82 -Ro - 102. We golfed with Larry: a short, black, minister from
Charleston, SC. He was nice but really slowed us down.
June 3, 2008 Tuesday - This morning we drove the car to Hershey PA.
We went on the free How Chocolate is Made tour and paid $10.90 to go to the
3D movie experience. We were tickled with air blast and bubbles. I wish we
could have done the real tour the way it was before the big amusement park
was built. The tour they have now is complete, but not the real factory.
It is more like Disney Land. These pictures were taken on the Chocklet tour.
Choclate Museum
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The Singing Cows
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Lots of Choclate
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Hershey Kisses
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We went back to get the motor home at the RV park and are on our way to Gettysburg PA.
A fun side story. When we checked into the RV Park the woman was in a really bad mood.
I walked in with Doctor Chicken (a funny looking rubber chicken with no feathers.
He is one of my favorite props). The woman rolled her eyes in disfavor. Bill took
an immediate dislike to her and I was disappointed not to get the smiles I usually
get when I am accompanied by Dr Chicken. We checked in and shared our mutual feelings
about her. I was not willing to give up and decided to go back to her office with my
rubber Dr. Cow(He is funny looking and I can make him talk) When I went in she did a
one second smile and I knew I had her. That is when she told me all about her bad day
and the fact she really did not like cows or chickens, that she had had all she ever
wanted when she was a little girl. Then she told me she did like panda bears. Before
we went to Hershey I decided to stop in with a balloon Bear that I made for her. She
said "You little stinker" I think I made her day and this is always fun for me and
Bill got a big kick out of it too. She wants us to stop back there if we are ever in
the neighborhood. We drove to Gettysburg and arrived around 5:00pm. Our hopes for staying
at Wal-Mart were dashed when we saw the sign no overnight parking. It was understandable
because the parking lot was not as big as usual. We decided to stay at Artillery
Ridge Camp Resort. They are members of Camp Club, so we saved a little money.
Artillery Ridge Camp Resort
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There was a big storm but we had a good nights sleep. I made a salad on the way
here so we did not have dinner concerns. The camp ground offered a war-room
experience. We entered this large room with a huge miniature of the battle grounds.
There was a light show which helped explain exactly how things progressed at the
battles. There were miniature soldiers, horses, trees, fences, just everything you
could think of. This would help explain what we might see tomorrow.
June 4, 2008 Wednesday - This was a wonderful day. There was a threat of
rain, but it did not put a damper on our plans. We got up bright and early and
headed for the Battlefield Tour. We signed up for the value pack which included
the bus tour, the trolley, and three other attractions. We went on a Double Decker
Bus and got the seats in the front on top. We drove all though the battlefields
while listening to an audio explanation of what happened in every area. The tour
lasted 2 hours with two ten minute stops. This was a relaxing kind of fun!
Pictures from the battlle fields
Special Fences
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Miles of Battle Fields
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One of the Largest Monuments
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After the bus tour we walked into down town about 10 blocks and found a place to eat.
The Plaza was right on the down town circle. Bill ordered the beef soup and it was
fabulous. It reminded me of what my Grandmother Daire used to make. We both ordered
BBQ sandwiches and were kind of disappointed when the order came. The sandwich
looked just like a Sloppy Joe. Everything was great after our first bite because it
was delicious.
The Circle
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Downtown
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The Plaza
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We met 3 men who were on their vacation. They were dressed in costumes
from the Civil War period. They were doing a recreation of the war with many others from
all over the USA. They also were involved in World War recreations.
Fun Guys
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We walked back to the tour center and took another cool trolley ride to the Gettysburg
Battle Theatre. Here we saw another version of the battle. First we saw another light
show about the war then a film using footage from present day recreations. From there
we walked a half mile to the American Civil War Museum. Here they had a dark room and
we entered and took our seats. They had life size mannequins in full military garb.
They lit up 4 different scenes and told the story about Lee and one of the generals
who's leg was amputated. At first he was left for dead but was found alive.
He lived to serve his country in the legislative branch of government after the war.
Bill really wanted to go here because they advertise they would have President
Lincoln doing the Gettysburg address. We were treated to Lincoln ascending from the
floor and reciting the Gettysburg Address. He was a brilliant man and his words
should be known by all men. All of this was informative. We walked a half mile in
the rain back to the Gettysburg Battle Theatre to get the Trolley back. We did take
our umbrellas. The walk was so nice. We love to walk in the rain. We arrived back at
the center and went across the street to the hall of Hall of Presidents Museum. This
was very cool. They had full sized mannequins of all the presidents. There were 3
rooms to hold them all. Each president told of his accomplishments or failures. Some
of the likenesses were pretty good. After the presidents we went upstairs where they
had all of the first ladies in there inaugural gowns. They were not at all like the
real people, but still nice. By this time it was too late to go anyplace else. We
had gotten a ride from the RV Park to the Tour center and the last ride back was at
5:00pm. We wanted to go to the Soldiers National Museum so we decided to return the
next day. We had a little time so we walked to Rita's for an Italian Ice. Yum! We
had not had one since our trip to Philadelphia a few years ago. We got our ride back
and both fell a sleep from exhaustio. These are the picture we took at the Battle fields
June 5, 2008 Thursday - We took our time this morning and had a great breakfast.
I thought it was Sunday; bacon, egg, fruit, and a hot pocket. We drove to the
tour center to go to our last prepaid museum the Soldiers National Museum.
We spent a lot of time there. If you like miniatures this is a great place.
They had all the major battles dating back to the Vikings all in miniature. I
know my brother Tony would love this place. They also had life size statues and
stories to go along with it. This building was used to house orphans of the civil
war. After that we walked back to Rita's for another Italian Ice then back to the
motor home. We got everything picked up and are heading for my brother Tony and
Shirley's home in Leesburg VA. The drive was pleasant. We arrived around 4:30pm
and my brother had made the best ravioli and salad for dinner. We had a great
reunion. After dinner we played Spinner. Shirley was the winner big time. Bill
and I had no luck. I made a lot of balloons for Tony & Shirley
Pictures take at My Brothers Home
June 6, 2008 Friday - Tony made us Belgium waffles with strawberries and boysenberry
syrup Yum! Our cloths are getting tighter by the moment. Tony is the cook and
Shirley is the awesome assistant. In the kitchen there are two signs; The Queen
Does Not Cook & I Love the Cook. That about says it all!
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We did not get out of the house until after 1:00pm and we headed for the Mall. We had a ball at the
mall. We shopped until I dropped. We went to Costco and ate dinner. We love that.
We had what else Pizza (not again) and hot dogs. We found some GOT TO HAVE IT DEALS
and we did have it. It was fun. We came home and played The Marble Game. It was a
game that Shirley's brother in-law Don passed on to them. It was a great evening
and Rosemarie & partner Shirley were the winners of the night. My brother made the
game board. I would love to have one. Did not go to bed until 11:15.
June 7, 2008 Saturday - My brother did it again with an amazing breakfast. I do
not know what he had in the scrambled eggs because he does not like anyone in the
kitchen when he is cooking. The poison is not working yet Tony! We were treated
to a long drive about 70 miles around the area. We went to Harpers Ferry. This is
where John Brown was hung after he held the armory to protest the treatment of
In the building in above photo you see a building within a building. The historical societ
would not allow the distruction of the original wall so they built the addition around the old wall
I saw a machine that is credited with being the first to make shot guns. We walked
over a bridge over the Shenandoah River where it meets the Potomac. We stood on
a piece of land in West Virginia and to our right was Virginia and on the left
Maryland. There were lots of folks floating, boating, and fishing. Unfortunately
it was so hot today. I wanted to get into the air conditioning.
We drove to Winchester Virginia and ate at Five Guys Burgers and Fries; really good and
reasonably priced. We played the marble game again this night and Shirley & I
won 2 out of three. We are looking forward to a rematch.
June 8, 2008 Sunday - We had a great Sunday. We got up late and went to church.
We really enjoyed the service. Shirley told us about the format of the service.
Gary Hameick the pastor started in 2003 at the beginning of the bible and is near
the end of the Old Testament at present. I found out I can go on line at
http://www.cornerstonechapel.net/ and listen to his sermons and I will be doing
just that. He gives the past history, explanation, the future uses and present
day understanding. I wanted to pack him up and take him with us. Tony made BBQ
ribs, coleslaw, and baked potato for dinner. We just hung out and in the evening
Bill taught them Oh Hell a card game. We enjoyed our evening and I was the winner.
This is the first time Rosemarie has ever won at this game. What a shock. It is
good to win!
The Marble Game
June 9, 2008 Monday - Bill and I played Golf in the morning. We could not find
our balls. The grass was too long. We did like the course and had fun. We went
out at 7:00am and it got hot as the day went by. We quit just in time. We did a
bit of shopping, had foot long tuna at Subway in Leesburg and played cards again.
I won again. A girl could get used to this. I really did not even know how to act.
I asked Bill if I was a good winner and he said yes. I am glad because I hate
poor sports. We are a bit tired after all the travel and are glad to be here
relaxing with family.
June 10, 2008 Tuesday - Got up really late today. Shirley and Tony are so good.
They offered to let the cat stay in the bathroom down stairs. It would be hot enough
to kill the cat out in the motor home. The temperature is over 100 by the end of the
day and that is with all the windows open. Each day I have to comb the cat out 2 times.
We feed him 2 times and pet him 6 to 8 times. He is doing great. I know if he ever
get out of the bathroom he will find a hiding place and we will never find him. We
are resting again today. It is just too hot to go outside and play. We played golf
again on Thursday, same place same time. Thank God they cut the grass. It was more
fun. The greens were so slow.
June 16, 2008 - We are at my brother Mike's home. We arrived here on Saturday
the fourteenth in the after noon. I am sure we overstayed our visit at Tony's home.
They were very gracious and we had a wonderful time with them. We had fun shopping
and eating and especially playing games. We played late into the evening. It got a
bit competitive for me and I found out I do not like to lose to brothers when they
heckle. Thank God there was not much of that. It was a good rest after a long trip.
On Saturday night I stayed home with the six great nieces and nephews. We ate pizza
and I taught them to make balloon dogs and then we danced. I had a lot of fun and
Bill got to view the PGA Open in a different room. All went well. Sunday was really
busy. After breakfast we went to the grocery store and then made food for a BBQ. We
went to a LONG LONG recital to see Caitlin dance. I think it was too long. Bill and
Mike left after she danced because we had food in the car and Mike was concerned it
would go bad. Lucky for them they got to go home. She only was in one dance and we
stayed and saw 3 hours of strangers dancing. The dancing was good but it was much too
long.
June 21, 2008 - We left my brothers home after we ate Belgium Waffles with
the family. It was close to noon. We had a wonderful time at Mike's home. It was
awesome. We were there at the same time Mike JR and Ross Ann and the 3 children were
visiting from Texas. This is the second year we have had the opportunity to see them.
I went with Mike JR & family + Joan Marie to George Washington's Home at Mt. Vernon.
George was quite a guy. If you have an opportunity to visit his home you should. The
Ford foundation has invested a lot of money to make this a good experience for visitors.
Bill stayed home to see the US Open Play Offs.
Mt Vernon - George Washington's Home
We all went as a family to The National
Marine Tribute Museum and Kings Dominium. The National Marine Tribute Museum was very nice.
I would be proud to be a Marine.
The Marine Museum
A World War 1 Monument
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Other Visitors
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The Proud & The Brave
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Rosemarie with Great Nephew & Niece Concentration
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We had a lot of fun at Kings Dominion. We road a lot of roller-coasters and were
turned ever which way but loose. I think Bill and I had decided a long time ago
that we would not ride them any more but we forgot. We were the way cool Aunt and
Uncle and Great Aunt and Great Uncle of all times. My neck is still sore.
Kings Dominion
Bill & Rosemarie
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Mike & Joan
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Bill & Rosemarie
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Joan & Mike
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Chel & Tommy
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Mike & Rossann
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We are on this ride
Don't ask me why!
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I enlarged us - left hand corner for proof
The 3 kids to my left are Great Nephew & Nieces
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Bill, me, Mike and Mike JR played golf at Aquia Harbor Golf Course. We played
there a few years ago as well. There are only 9 holes, but if you decide to play 18
holes you start at different places for the back nine. Bill had 90 Ro 106. The greens
in Virginia are very slow so our putting was off. Bill, Mike, Mike JR played at Meadows
Farms. Bill said the course was beautiful especially the 13th hole (a par 3 on the
4th hole on the Waterfalls Course). It had a magnificent, huge waterfall he drove his
cart under and then walked over a bridge to get to the green. It also has the longest
hole in the US, a par 6, 841 yards from the blues.
We girls went shopping at Kohl's. I picked up a blue pair of shorts and
black pants with white dots and 2 sun dresses. I had been eying the dresses at a
few other Kohl's, but thought them to expensive. They had a great sale.
My patience was rewarded. They were on the hunt for blue and green frocks
for their family picture. We all found what we were looking for. I also
got my toe nails done earlier that day. We ate, drank, laughed, talked, and enjoyed
being together. Total acceptance is a wonderful thing. I also spent one day painting
faces of the six kids. It was so much fun.
Madison & Aunt Ro
Don't ask me why!
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Close up
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Kaytlan & Aunt Ro
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Close up
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Ryleigh & Aunt Ro
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Close up
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Trevor & Aunt Ro
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Close up
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Matthew & Aunt Ro
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Close up
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Artist at Work
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Artist being painted
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Today we are on our way to Philadelphia. We have already spent $21.00 on tolls.
Welcome to the East Coast. We got to Traukone Camp Grounds around 5 PM. The path to
the camp grounds was not good for big RV's. We had to go over a wooden covered bridge.
Covered Bridge
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When got there we discovered our ladder was ripped off from the top. Bill had to get
up there and take the broken piece off. Our electrical plug from the car had come off
and dragged on the road. We can still use it but it is not pretty. This was a real
camp ground. We were in the woods, out in the boonies. Too add insult to injury they
tried to overcharge us. I did like walking around there. It was really pretty. There
was a small body of water and the people there were really friendly.
I got a kick out of this picture of a Version Phone Booth. How times have changed!
Modern Times?
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June 23, 2008 - Yesterday was a great day. We got to Philadelphia around
11:30. So much for an early start! We wanted to go the new Constitution Hall but it
did not open until 12:00pm.
Bill in front of Constitution Hall
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We went to the visitor's center across the street. We
saw two films, each lasted around 20 minutes. The first one was actors dressed in
period clothes who portrayed the leaders of the time. Benjamin Franklin was the
narrator. He was reflecting on the action of the day. The film was very well done
by the History Channel. It gave a clear picture of our original leaders and there
dilemmas. The second film was also really good. It told the story of 4 real people
(2 men & 2 women) and what they went thought at the time. These 4 folks either
wrote diary's or letters and their stories are true. It really showed the dilemmas
of the time. Some were for the revolution and other were not because of loyalty to
England. We wanted to go to Independence Hall but we realized too late that we need
a timed ticket to see it. All the time slots were filled. We were glad that we had
seen it in 1979.
Independance Hall
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I can still see it in my mind. We did see the Liberty Bell. We had
to get into line and it took about 30 minutes. They had a lot of information in the
building as well as the bell.
Liberty Bell
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The Bell is Behind Rosemarie and the Window
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From there we went back to Constitution Hall. It cost
around $11.00 each and $2.00 for and audio guide. We enjoyed a 20 minute presentation
with a live actor about the writing and reasons behind the Constitution. This is a
very high tech place. You might say an experience. All kinds of films from the past
about freedom and the people who helped create our freedom. They also had one big
room with a recreation of the signing of the Constitution. All the men involved were
there in big Bronzes statues. We were free to walk among them and take pictures. The
audio tour had information about every man and what he said that day. It was amazing.
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After we left there we were starving. We walked to try to find a place to eat. We did
not see anything so we went to a WaWa (like a AMPM) and got a salad and hot dog.
We ate on a news paper stand box. We each had our own. They make a great table and the
ambiance was quite interesting. I must confess to a big pretzel also. I did share it with
Bill.
Eating in Style
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We later discovered that if we had walked one block further we would have found a
huge food court and could have had our pick of restaurants. After we stuffed our
faces we drove to the famous stairs of Rocky Balboa. We did go to the top and have
pictures to prove it. They have a statue of Sylvester as Rocky there now. We have
fond memories of this place. I could almost see our kids running up the stairs and
then, off course, the victory pose.
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We had a great time in 1979 and this day as well.
Philadelphia has changed a lot since our last visit in 1979. I think we liked it
better before. We were able to see everything close up. There was not all the fu fu
like now. It was simpler. I think, no matter what, you can not help but walk away
from there with a sense of patriotism and pride in America. We are reminded that our
freedom is not really free. The revolutionary war lasted 8 years and many died for us.
Great Bronze of Ben Franklin
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Betsy Ross's House
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Here is where they make the money for me and my honey
The Mint
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This is the Place
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Mad Money
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We drove back to our love nest to take a shower. I would not shower there. I did not
like the rest area. NOT clean! We got a late start the next day. We straightened
out the over charge took a walk and headed for New Jersey.
June 26, 2008 - New York, New York a heck of a town! Before I can talk about
NY I need you to know we did not go over the covered bridge when we left our last
camp site. We drove to my Aunt Rosemary's condo in Montville, NJ. She said we could
park there. When we drove in we thought she had lost it. We could not maneuver with
the car in tow so we had to take it off before we could drive in the lot. After we
rounded this one corner we were ecstatic. There was a huge place to park right across
from her door. She made lasagna for dinner. She always made us feel welcome when we
were kids and nothing has changed.
Rosemarie & Aunt Rosemary
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After dinner we went out front of her place and
I met some of her neighbors. They were delightful! This group were all single women.
(Widows) I just started making balloons and this young man came by with his dog.
As we were talking Bill came and whispered in my ear that we had to leave. Oh great!
It was after 9:00pm and there were no parks any where around there. I was shocked.
What would we do? Well the young man, Scott said "just sit tight". He said he was
going to make a call. When he returned he said we could park at the fire station. I
wanted to explode with joy! He explained he was a volunteer fire fighter and a police
man. He had called the fire and police chiefs and got permission for us to park there
as long as we wanted. It was overwhelming. These acts are not expected and so appreciated.
We were blessed. We feel so protected by our maker's. Devine Intervention? We followed
Scott to a wonderful spot and settled in for the night. He even plugged in our electricity
for us so we could keep the cat cool while we went into the city. We got a great
nights sleep, feeling loved and humbled. My Aunt Ro suggested we take a bus into
the city. She took us for a dry to the bus stop and we bought round trip tickets for
the next day. We got an early start and were at the bus stop at 8:15. It took us about
55 minutes to get to the Port of Authority. What a great way to go. We were in the
heart of down town and had none of the usual worries. We wanted to take a city bus tour
and as soon as we got our bearings (I was holding tight to Bill telling him to stay
right by me) We rounded the first corner and there was an agent, right there. Devine
Intervention again! We decided on a $49.00 - 48 hour pass per person. There were 4
different tours offered and we could go on all of them within 48 hours. They also
included a 75 minute harbor cruse and entrance to 2 museums. We decided on the Down
town Tour first. I had called Richmond Shepard (Mime) because I wanted to meet him. His
theatre was on the tour route. He is one of my Mime teachers. Not directly, but through
books, DVD and my teacher Bill Virchis was his student. Richmond is 79 years old and
meeting him would be a thrill for me. We started our tour after figuring out where we need
to get off. We had a lunch date set up with Richmond. I was so excited and nervous. What
if he did not like me or my work? We had exchanged DVDs and I really liked his stuff.
What if he did not like mine? We were so impressed by NY right away. It was clean
and so very busy. We sat like kings & queens at the top of the 2 story bus just taking it
all in. The sights, the sounds, the people, there is no place on earth that we have been
to like NY. AWESOME!
Our first stop was Ground Zero. We walked all the way around
reflecting on that horrible day. We met a girl from India. She was on her last day
in the US. I thought she was brave to be sight seeing all by her self. We walked
with her and enjoyed her company and we observed the work that was in progress.
That is one big hole. We parted ways as she headed for Battery Park and the Statue
of Liberty
Ground 0
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Construction June 2008
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Monument to the Firefighters from 9 11
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This is inside The Financial Building next to ground 0
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Richmond's wanted us to meat him at his theatre on 26th St. We had to walk about
12 New York blocks to get to his place. The excitement grew as we turned the
corner and there was a sign "Richmond Shepard Theatre" We walked in and there
he was. There were nice warm greetings and we were off to eat. He is a delightful
man, just as genuine as could be. He was kind and was just as attentive to Bill
as myself. We three talked about our work, or families, and our art. He bought
our lunch, to my surprise. I resisted at first, but then he said we could buy him
a lobster when he came to San Diego.
Richmond & Rosemarie
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June 2008
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The Theatre
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The Art
Work
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I hope that he will come some day. He also
gave us a print of one of his paintings. We spent a couple of hours together and
it was fabulous. More that I expected! His theatre was small. He is 79 years old.
I find that quite amazing. If I met him and did not know who he was I would say he
was a little old man. He has taken good care of him self but he has still aged. After
he starts talking you can not help but being impressed with his attitude and his
accomplishments. He loves the arts and is still excited about life. He has been and
will continue to be someone I will look up to.
We walked back to the bus stop and
continued our tour. The bus ride took a long time and we saw a lot. We traveled
through every neighborhood on the Down Town Tour. The day slipped away and we both
felt tired. We decided to go back to NJ and return to NY the next day. We took the
bus back through the Lincoln Tunnel and then stopped at the store to buy tickets for
the next day. We headed back to Aunt Rosemary's and to our surprise her grandson
Daniel was also visiting. She tried to feed us as is the Italian custom. I promised
my aunts friends I would finish making balloons for them and I sat outside and fulfilled
my promise while Bill spent time with Daniel. I wanted to talk to Scott and let him
know we were going to stay for another day. He said that would not be a problem.
We got a good night's sleep, got up bright and rested and headed back to NY City.
We felt a lot more comfortable the second day and knew exactly where we were going.
We had to walk a long way to the way to get to the boat dock. We decided to do that
first. We got there around 10:45am and the seventy five minute boat ride disembarked
at 11:00am. Perfect timing! The ride was great. It was a beautiful sun filled day
with a nice breeze. We saw the City from the water and then sailed by the wonderful
Statue of Liberty. She never looked better! They have cleaned her up and she has a
new flame. She looks great. It seems like all over our country government and our
people are cleaning up our precious national land marks and historical sights.
This was most evident in NY City. I can remember being at Time Square in the 60's
and my cloths got filthy and so was the city. After the boat ride we had lunch at
Ray's Pizza. We had to walk a lot to find it, but it was worth it. I thought Bill's
face would fall off when he had to pay the bill. It cost $12.00 for two slices of the
"Special meat lovers". I thought it well worth it, but Bill is still in shock. After
the pizza we went to a store we saw the day before. They had fresh fruit and cut and
cleaned veggies. We each got what we wanted and each little container cost more than
$6.00. (Again, good food, worth every penny!)
We got back on the bus and then stopped
at Central Park. It is awesome! We were so impressed. There was a shower while we were
eating lunch and everything in the park was glistening and so clean. It used to have
a bad reputation and the city did not have the funds to maintain it. This small group
of women asked permission to fix and maintain a little piece of the park and now they
formed a non profit organization and maintain it all. It is a beautiful thing what
people can do or are inspired to do. We walked and enjoyed the beautiful sights.
Bill in Central Park
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The Flowers
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More Flowers
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Everything was Beautiful
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Monument to George Gershwin
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Imagine a tribute from Yoko For John Lennon
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A Monument for Daniel Webster
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A Make Shift Monument for Victims of 9 11
Ceramic Tiles on a fence near a police station
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AH! A Ride through the Park?
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After we had our fill we got back on the bus. Our next stop was the Empire State
Building. Bill had never been there, but I had. I was so disappointed in this experience.
They were and have been under construction for a long time. I remember it being so
beautiful, but it was not now. I was disappointed because I wanted the experience to
be good for Bill. I hope they get it completed soon. I think it is an embarrassment
to NY and the US.
The Empire State Building
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Other Pictures we think are interesting
One of the Oldest and Only Original Subway Entrances Left in NYC
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The New Entrance
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Time Square
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Time Square
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These are the MOST Expensive Advertising Bill Boards in the World
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N Y City has Some Interesting Building Designs
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These Buildings are made from Metal Molds
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There are Many Metal Buildings in the City
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The Famous Macy's
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China Town NYC
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A Weird NY Museum
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This Art Work is made from the Drill Bits Used to Dig the Under Water Tunnels (Holland Tunnel)
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Jefferson's Tomb
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The New York Opera
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A Monument for the Garment District
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This Church is built with stone only
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The Doors are only opened once a year
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This Church Took many years to build - It was built the ancient way
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We returned to the bus and stayed aboard until the end. We realized
that my camera had fallen out of my purse on the last bus. I took the wind out of my
sails. I was so upset with my self. We started talking to the supervisor as soon as
we got off the bus and he said someone had it and would return soon. We waited until
9:00 pm but he did not return. We have our fingers crossed that it will return to us.
Lucky we downloaded the pictures that morning so we did not loose everything. We
walked to Rockefeller Center and all around NY City. So very wonderful! This is the
best. Better than Paris or London. Nothing like NY City There was a lot of upset
over the camera but we put it in Gods hands and went on our way. We got a bus back
to NJ and had a good nights sleep. The next day we took Aunt Rosemary out to breakfast
at IHOP. She is a doll! Then we headed for my moms in upstate NY.
July 3, 2008 - We got to moms OK and we have been busy every since. We are
parked next to the drive way between Aunt Mary's and my Moms. We are level for the
first time. The weather is more cool than hot. The cat is happy being in our home
and not in a strange place. We have electricity, thanks Mom. We have 2 fans running
and it is comfortable most of the time. We spent time with Jane (friend since
elementary school) & her hubby Dave. We entertained them in our motor home.
That was fun! Bill made Mud Slides and we enjoyed their company.
Bill & Rosemarie
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Jane & Dave
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Bill, Rosemarie, Jane & Dave
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Rosemarie & Jane
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The best thing is on Monday, June 30th my Aunt Alice, Cousins Peter, Linda, Joni & Bev
Hicks came from Mass for a visit. It was great! We went to Olive Garden for lunch.
Some of my other cousins came as well Jimmy, wife Michelle, Donna, her daughter
Renee, Alan, Shawn, Louise & George, Aunt Mary, Uncle Fran, Aunt Jean, Me & Bill,
and my Mom. We had a wonderful time together. After we ate we went to Aunt Mary's.
I made a few balloons and we just did family. I love that. Fit like a glove.
Family
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Family
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Mom, Bill & Rosemarie
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Aunt Mary, cousins Jim & Michelle
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Aunt Jean, Aunt Alice & cousin Peter
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Cousin Jim with Me
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July 5, 2008 - Been busy! Yesterday we had a great 4th . My sister called
and we planned an impromptu picnic at Mom's. It all went together like clock work.
My niece Jamie and hubby TJ came and brought broccoli salad. We bought chicken and
Connie cooked it. I also made baked beans and they were delicious. Connie made the
best potato Salad. Bill Connie's hubby came with TJ on their motor cycles. Connie
also had her granddaughter with her. We all ate too much. Later that day we went
swimming and had desert with Aunt Mary, Uncle Fran, Aunt Jean and Mom at Mom's house.
It was a great day. Everyone helped with the clean up.
Sister Connie & Bill
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Uncle Fran, Aunt Mary & Aunt Jean
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Today Bill and I played golf at Queensbury. Bill had 77 (5 over par) I got 92. It was fun. I may be a real golfer
yet. $58.00. I have been helping my Mom. She needs a lot of help. I have taken her
to the doctors; worked with her on the computer; cut her hair; cut her toe nails;
helped with the mail and many other things. It is hard to see her get old. She can
not see or hear very well. No matter where we go everyone knows Marie. It is very
impressive! When we were in NY City, I dropped my camera on the tour bus. It was
located and I was told the camera would be mailed to me. It is a long story but the
camera seemed to disappear. I started to think I would never get the camera back and
then we called Senator Betty Little. She just happens to be a friend of Mom's. I
asked if they could call like it was an official call. Shortly after that I talked
to the super at the company and he said he would have the camera on the 4th and mail
it to me. I still have high hopes of getting it back. The night before last, Bill
and I went to the movies to see Hancock. We loved it. It was funny, sweet and
entertaining. We went shopping at the mall and Bill got a new shirt, I got a blouse
and we got Mom a beach towel.
July 13, 2008 - We are driving toward Boston from Maine. We had a great
time there. We left Hudson Falls. July7th. We found a real camp ground 11 miles
from York Beach. It was heavenly. The temperature was cool and it was shady and.
full of trees. On our way to Maine we stopped near Concord New Hampshire. We found
The Circle 9 campground for only $15.00 a night -SCORE! It was nice and we were
right near the pool. We had a metered shower and did not know how to work it
properly. (me or Bill) We took cold showers OUCH! We had dinner at the site and
played games into the night. We went to the state capitol the next day. They have
the smallest one we have been in yet. There were a lot of pictures of politicians,
ex governors, and hero's on the walls. They had a large Hall of Flags. There were
flags that were almost dust. They only had self guided tours that day. Some of
the people were on vacation. We spent a lot of time in the visitors' center.
They had a wall full of campaign buttons that went way back; several historical
dioramas; a display on the state flowers and the like; gift shop; and a cool map
model display of the area made by a 4th grade class. It had light switches and
mini landscapes that worked together. Very cool! The state of New Hampshire has
the largest House of Representative in the country. There was nothing special
about this capitol but the people there were really nice. Next we went on a
Trolley trip around the city. It was only the second day for the trolley operation
and cost only $1.00 each. We had a nice time and made friends along the way. Mom
was getting tired. She did really well. We did a bit of walking and she hung in
there with us. We ended our excursion at Pizza Hut (Yes pizza again and cloths are
getting tight).The weather was hot so a cool dip in the pool upon return was in
order.
The New Hampshire State Capitol
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Daniel Webster
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Another Bell Copy, Mom & Bill
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Mom in front of the State Capitol
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Me & Mom at the Capitol
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Campaign Buttons
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In The Visitors Center
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Next day we headed for Maine. After we arrived in Maine we paid for 2 days
at Gregoire's Campground and we then headed for the Beach.
Our Camp Sight at Wells Beach, Maine
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It was my Moms wish to go
and remember our past time. We had some memorable vacations there when we were kids.
We had to really search to find the Light House where we use to hang out.
When we finally stopped we saw a long beach first. There were 100's of people at
the beach. We were disappointed because the pier was gone! We had fun on that pier.
When we reached the light house we parked. It was so scenic and peaceful.
York Beach
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Near the Light House
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See the movie!
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There was an artist sketching the light house and the island it was perched on.
Great Artist
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There was a
nice breeze. Bill & I explored the rocks while Mom sat with a gentleman she made
friends with. We took pictures and video then headed for the little shopping area.
The place had changed completely. It was hard to recognize. The one think that was
still the same was the salt water taffy. They were still making it at the same store.
Fun to observe and we did. We walked around, went to a few shops and then back home,
had dinner and played games. We got a late start the next day. We went back to the
small beach and shopping area. Guess what we did? Shopping is so much fun! We ate at
the restaurant that housed the taffy and candy shop. Our olfactory were working over
time! Mom and I had the lobster and crab rolls while Bill enjoyed the turkey club.
We walked on the beach and found a comfortable spot. We held Mom up and walked her
into the ocean knee high. She wanted the salt water to help her psoriasis. She and
Bill sat on the beach while I attempted to go further into the water. There were ice
cubes floating in the water. I could NOT bring myself to go under. By the time I
emerged from the water I was numb from the waist down. After a while we took Mom in
for a second time. It was a lovely day full of new memories of York Beach.
York Beach
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The water was so cold but Mom and I went in
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York Beach
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Love the Sun
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We decided
to stay for 2 more days. The next day we headed north in the car exploring. The
coast line is very rugged and full of inlets. There is not a coastal rout that goes
by the ocean, but the scenery is great. We stopped at a 7/11 and this nice guy
explained the route to us. He headed us in the direction of Kennebunkport, Old
Orchard Beach, and sugested we eat at the Lobster Shack on 2 Lights Road in Cape
Elizabeth. It was a challenge to locate all these places, but we were successful.
We drove through the first two spots heading for the Lobster Shack. We had to stop
for directions several times, so needless to say when we finally arrived we were elated.
This is a great spot. The ocean view, the amazing rock formations (petrified trees)
and the great food made for a wonderful experience. They cooked the live lobster
in plain view. We were fortunate that we met a couple from Texas and they helped
us with lobster eating. There is a definite method to the mess. They were a great
couple and we laughed as we compared our travel experiences. My Mom sat and drank in
the beauty of the coast line and watched as Bill and I explored the rocky
terrain and the tide pools. We would come back to this spot.
At the Lobster Shack
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Point Elisabeth
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Stone Seats
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Stone Art at the Lobster Shack
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We Met the Lobster
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He Loves Us
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Old Orchard Beach
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July 15, 2008 - We are leaving the Boston area today on our way back to
Mom's home. Let's see where was I? Oh yes… After we left our great lobster bash
we returned to Old Orchard Beach. This is a great tourist spot. We shopped and
walked on the boardwalk as we enjoyed the best caramel corn ever. This is a great
spot if you like that kind of place and we do. We wish we could have had a few
drinks and enjoyed the music on the pier but not possible this time. That is the
kind of thing we would do if we were just two. We went back to Wells and played
games into the night.
The next day was a bit different. When we got up and Mom
went to use her breathing machine it was not working properly. One of the hose
connections had a crack. After we got ready for the day we had to find a
replacement. Everything was closed. It was Saturday. We went to an Urgent care
and after a time one of the nurses gave us the part for free. By this time the
weekend traffic near the beach was like rush hour traffic. We decided to forget
the beach. I was disappointed because there were some gifts I wanted to buy. Oh
Well!
Our second plan went into high gear. We went shopping and got the goodies
to make shrimp scampi. We had a great time preparing and eating this fabulous
feast. There were no bugs in the park so we set a nice table and there are no words
to express this experience. Memories in the making! We ate, drank wine and enjoyed.
After eating, I grabbed a large soft Frisbee from storage. Bill and I worked up a
sweat. There is nothing like playing in the woods. Mom surprised us and did the
dishes. This day started out a bit rough but ended up great. After dark we played
Spinner. I got killed in this game and I was so tired I wanted to quit.
The next day we headed for Boston. This was our first visit to this city.
This was a short drive. We stopped at Wompatuck State Park. This is a huge, fabulous
park. There are bike trails, hiking trails and many camp sites. They only offered 20 amps
electricity. They had Shower rooms, water and a dumping station available and
that was AOK! It was only $17.00 per night. It is a highly wooded area with lots
of shade. We arrived earlier enough to drive the 40 minutes into Boston. We drove
around and sized up the situation. It took a long time to figure it all out and get
the touring information we needed. Boston is a sweet city. It has a lot of culture,
history and the Freedom Trail (2 and 1.2 mile historical walk). Boston is 70% fill.
When you see it that fact is hard to believe. There are a lot of high-rises but only
a few sky-scrappers. There are lots of our founding Fathers buried there and
visitors can get up close and personal with the likes of Benjamin Franklin.
It was a weird experience trying to find the City Trolley Tours or any information
centers. I had to get out of the car and walk around and ask. I ran around quite
a bit then schazm! I found the information booth. Then I met up with Bill and Mom
down by the harbor and we took a walk and a look around. We had a nice drive back
to the park. It seemed like every time we went in or out of the city our GPS Vicky
took us a different route. We decided to go on line and we found Old Town Trolley
Tours and we got tickets. We saved $10.00 buying on line. It cost $86.00 for the 3
of us. It was a great day and perfect way when traveling with super seniors. We saw
the entire city from the safety of the trolley. We did get off to do the Capitol
Building. We had a beautiful college girl Jamie as a tour guide. This was the
longest tour so far. They have some beautiful marble, different from the other
capitols. We like this building a lot.
July 22, 2008 - We have been very busy. Today we are on our way to
Shelburne, Vermont, near Burlington. I am teaching a mime class. Audrey/Whimsy
the Clown moved here a little over a year ago. She has arranged the meeting and
is covering our expenses. I am excited! I love to teach and know it will be a
great time. Bill will play golf while I teach. We are having a small pizza party
after the class. She has arranged for us to stay at a bed and breakfast that was
featured in Better Holmes's and Garden's. I love that!Let's see, where were we?
Boston! After we did our tour we had lunch at Cheers restaurant. There are two
Cheers restaurants in Boston. The real one is in the basement of a hotel. We ate
at the copy cat (exact replica) restaurant that is in the square in down town.
Perfect for a copy cat like me! It was fun to eat there and the food was reasonable.
My mom was not familiar with the TV show, but she enjoyed it anyways. We lost all our
pictures from Boston. What a bummer!
We plan on returning for a more in-depth experience at a later date. The next
day we headed for Holyoke Mass. We had a short visit with my Aunt Alice at the
family furniture store and visited with my cousin Jobbie and my Cousin Linda's
sons, then home.
Mom and my Second Cousins
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While at Mom's house we got to see some old friends. We were
treated to Mexican food in Hudson Falls by Dave and Jane Capron. We had a great
time catching up and reminiscing. I got to visit Gail at her home. She is having
a hard time. Leg problems! It was nice to see her. I consider her my child hood
savior. WE have spent time with my Aunts Mary & Jeanie, and my sister Connie.
We attended my 45th class reunion. Last Friday we met up with many class mates
for a get-together at the Nights of Columbus.
Class Reunion
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We had a fun Night
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A rainy day at Lake George
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Rosemarie and Cheryl
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Rosemarie and her racoon at Lake George
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Husbands - Jim, Dave and Bill
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Jane and Dave
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High School Friends Jane and Eleanor
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He Loves Us
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Rosemarie collecting friends along the way
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It was fun! I got everyone to sing.
Members of the class kept begging me to sing so I finally did and everyone sang
Delia with me. On Saturday we had a disappointing dinner at The Queensberry Hotel.
The gathering was fun, but I would have enjoyed it more if my friends Jane, Eleanor,
and Gail had attended. I pray they will come to the 50th.
We also went to a movie in
Queensberry and saw Hancock. Nice flick! We are leaving Shelburne Vermont in the rain on route 22a South heading back to Moms. We had a wonderful experience here. We arrived around 2:00 pm. We hooked up with Audrey at the Subway shop and she led us to the B & B. I believe the name of the place was The Barn House. The original owner's name was Mc Donald's and the farm was referred to as Old Mc Donald's Farm. Yes we did sing the song! How could you not? The owners Phyllis & Paul Austin were delightful. The place was so unique and artistic we spent a lot of time looking at all the delightful decoration. A few examples: pitch forks were used as curtain hangers, Wall decorations were farm equipment parts, unique hangers of all types, wood art work made by Paul (tables shaped like dogs), lot of fluffy pillows and many other objects of interest. We slept on a magnetic mattress, and showered in a large wooded walled bath tub. There were no shower curtains. I imagined I was in the woods. A different kind of clean up! After we checked in Audrey led Bill to Kwiniaska Golf Club and I went with her to her home. Things there were very busy! Her friends were preparing food for the dinner after the Mime workshop. She and I spent time catching up. She and Ruth share ownership of a lovely home. They both work from home and have separate offices. It was a fun workshop. There were 13 people in attendance. When I asked them to give their names and their reasons for coming, most of them said they wanted to have fun. I taught the class with that in mind. I worked for 2 hours and I think everyone had a good time and learned a lot of things they had never seen or heard before. We ended at 7:00 pm. I glanced out the window and saw Bill approaching. I could not believe my eyes! He was soaking wet from his shoulders to the middle of his body. I asked him if he got rained on and he said no. He told me he walked the 18 holes. What I saw was sweat! He golfed 85 and was proud of him self for walking and he saved $32.00. We were both tired when we got back to the B & B, but showers were in order. We slept fairly good considering we forgot our Tylenol PM. We were treated to a wonderful breakfast and the honor of getting to know Phyllis & Paul (soufflé, sausage, home made preserves & fresh corn bread) All and all great memories thanks to Audrey & Ruth. It is good to have an art form that can be shared any place.
We returned from Vermont back to my Mom's place. I got some great comments from
Audrey thanking me and saying some nice things about my work. It was a great
experience especially the B & B.
Picture of the B & B, and Audry and some of
the people who attended the workshop
The Farm
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Street Sign
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The Farm
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Our Sitting Room
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Our Garden
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The Owners Paul & Phylis
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Rosemarie & Phylis
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Audrey & Rosemarie
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A fun gang
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After we returned we enjoyed the rain and that
is what it did most of the time. We tried to golf, but were rained out twice.
We had more visits with family. Connie came for dinner with her husband.
We also had Aunt Jeanie, Aunt Mary and Uncle Fran. Mom made stuffed pork chops,
corn, salad and Aunt Mary made pie. Yum! We all ate too much, again. One night we
went to Stewarts, Make Your Own Sundaes, with friends Jane & Dave. We had a great
time. After the pig-out we went home and played the Marble Game. Good memories and
lots of fun.
July 28, 2008 Monday- It was hard to say good buy to Mom, but after a
month it was time for us to head home. I hated to see my Mom cry. I know at her
age I may not see her again. We made great memories. I spent the last two days
correcting her life story and then Bill corrected it again. We headed for Buffalo,
NY. We stayed in Akron which is about 32 miles out side the city. We drove
straight across the state. That was not our original plan.
July 29, 2008 Tuesday: The next day we went on the Eire Canal Boat Ride.
It was relaxing. We experienced going though the locks! On our way up the canal
we went though two different stages. First we enter the Lock, then the huge doors
close. Water is pumped into the lock really fast. It takes less than 10 minutes
to raise the water level twenty six feet. You go through this process two times
and are raised 52 feet. It is amazing to realize that was made in 1800 something
and dug by hand. Then on your return the opposite happens. The water is pumped
out lowering you 52 feet. There were a few buildings along the shores that were
made of the stone they removed from the canal bed. The historical society has
passed law to prevent further destruction of these few remaining treasures.
One five mile stretch was a total rock bed and was dug by hand. It took them
many years to complete. You can see the complete story on the History Channel.
Picture of the Erie Canal
The Locks
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The original Locks (not in use)
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Plants will grow anywhere
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They call this the upside down bridge
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We came home after our excursion so I could rest. I was teaching the clown club
from Buffalo that evening. I had an amazing night. I arrived at 6:30pm and
finished at 9:00pm. I had a blast. This was a wonderful group of Clowns.
The Corn E Clown group
A great group
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This is what was written about the evening and posted on line:
Clowns of Erie County, had the pleasure to host a mime workshop with Rosemarie
Ballard tonight. Talk about impressed! Whoa! This woman is XX years old (nine
years older than I am) and can run circles around me. She's in tip top shape and
looks 20 years younger than she is. What an inspiration!!!
The workshop was unreal. She taught us everything from tug of war, the
wall, skits, and so much more in our short time together. Rosemarie is
unbelievably talented. She's not just a mime, but a clown, dancer,
actress, etc. Personally, I think she's one of the most inspiring and
well versed people we've had at our alley. If anyone is on her route
around the country, you have to have her come to your alley or club.
You won't believe the information and education you'll get from her!!
Kudos to Rosemarie! And a big thanks from the Corn E Clowns!!!!
Punkin (Connie)
I went to bed happy and Bill got a well needed evening alone. Our next
day July 30th was a blast. We went to Niagara Falls.
I captured this butterfly shot. It was moving when I took the picture
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We drove up to a perfect
free two hour parking place. From there we walked to Goat Island. That is the
island that separates The US from Canada. We decided to buy $10.00 tickets so
we could take the elevator down and see The Cave of the Winds. We were surprised
because as soon as we got our tickets they directed us to a room where we were
given sandals. They are great rubber type sandals that have Niagara Falls written
on them. They also gave us a bag for our shoes and a yellow light weight rain cover.
Soooo cool! We put on our covers and shoes and we descended down.We were informed
that there was no cave in reality. What? Oh Well! We walked right near the American
Falls on reddish orange colored wooden steps. Down & across, Awesome! We finally
came to The Hurricane Deck where the water from the falls took us over. We
recommend this as a thing to experience.
We are heading for The Cave of the Winds
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The Niagara River - Rosemarie
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The Niagara River - Bill
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We lost the rest of the pictures from the falls - we do have it on DVD
We ascended from the lower level and
walked back to our car in a wonderful lightning and thunder storm. We moved the
car a few feet (we had two more free hours) and headed for an obvious tourist trap
to find food - the Niagara Visitors Center. We were pleasantly surprised to find
a Mexican man with his restaurant at that location and we enjoyed a great $17.00
lunch and well worth every penny. After that we headed for the Maiden of the Mist.
We have both experienced this before, but this day it seemed more amazing.
It humbles you to float so close to such an unreal natural wonder. We talked to
a lot of different travelers that day and I especially enjoyed the four people
who were touring on Motor Cycles. They looked scary but were so nice.
After all that walking we were so tired, but we mustered up the energy to return
to our car. We headed for the Kazoo factory in Eden NY. It took about forty five
minutes to get there. We did get to see a lot of Lake Erie on the way, NICE. It
is like an ocean. The factory was just OK. We did buy a few Kazoos and enjoyed
the lady who worked there. We got there around 3:00pm. That was too late to see
the 100 year old machines working. The employees go home at that time. They have
people with special needs working at the factory. Bill forgot to lock the car
and I ran into some of the workers. They were being picked put by vans for people
with special needs. I thought that was great. Man helping man! We were both beat
and hit the hay early.
July 31, 2008 This was a traveling day. We drove as far as my Uncle Franks
home in Ohio. They do not live too far off the main road. They said we could park
in their back yard. NOT! My Uncle was standing out side when we arrived. I was
saddened and shocked at his appearance. He has been close to death in the past
month and he looked it. He has lost most of his teeth and is really thin. He
could not see us and did not hear very well either. Aunt Iva was in a little
better shape. This visit was a sad time for me. I don't think I will see him
again on this earth. We met his grand son Joe and I talked with his son Frank.
We did not feel comfortable staying too long. After about an hour we left. Bill
had to park a block away in an empty lot. We drove away with heavy hearts.
I did not take pictures
We arrived at the wrong camp ground and were redirected to Windy Hill R V and golf
stop. We set up a tee time for 3:00pm. What a nice course. The greens were the
best we had seen since we left home. We played until 7:30. Bill- 83 Ro - 92 We
were so tired we did not even take a shower, but went straight to bed. We liked
it there so we decided to stay another day. We had a stay and play package. We
got RV hook up and two rounds of Golf with a cart for a total of $49.00 per day.
We were parked right next to a golf green.
Parked near one of the greens
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Loved the shadow - I was wearing my Minnie Hat
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Bill loved the grass
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August 1, 2008 Friday - This is the first Day of National Clown Week. Much
to Bill distress I wore my Minnie Mouse hat and my big tie to the golf course.
I decided if I could not be at home to celebrate that I would make the best of
it while on the road. The folks at the course got a kick out of the idea and I
had a picture taken with the owner Lilia. I took Doctor Chicken along for the
ride.
The driver - Dr Chicken
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With Lidia the Owner of the course
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We had a good round although I played better the day before.
Bill - 81 Ro - 99. I informed everyone I met that this was National Clown Week.
After golf we headed to Down Town Conneaut- population 8,000. We stopped at
Quzinos for lunch and the ladies there loved my look. Then we went to The Golden
Dawn Supermarket (expensive). Needless to say my hat and tie created some
interest in who & why. This silly look helped start conversations with a lot of
the natives. We went down to the water front and I had to stick my big toe into
Lake Erie. I was surprised the water was warm. This is a nice little typical all
American town.
In Front of the Moose Lodge
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August 2, 2008 Saturday - We took out time, had a great breakfast (Bill
made an omelet and yogurt with fruit) We got out of the park around 10:30. We are
driving across Ohio today headed for Frankfort, Kentucky. We ate in so I did not
get to be much of a clown today, but I am still wearing my Hat. We spent the
night at Wal-Mart in Florence Kentucky. Bill said if he were to ever move to
Kentucky he would want to move here. It is a beautiful place close to Cincinnati
( A wonderful town). We went shopping had dinner and went to bed. We both slept
great. This was a quiet spot. In the morning we went back into the store. On our
way back to the motor home we passed by 6 guys walking toward the store. One guy
was caring a big net. My curiosity got the best of me, so I had to ask, What's
up? They told me they had caught a possum in the garden shop and were returning
it to the wild. That must have been some possum? Six big men and one net! Curious!
We got organized and headed for Frankfort.
August 3, 2008 - We arrived in Frankfort at Elkhorn Camp Grounds.
We arrived too early and could not hook up at the site they assigned us, but we
parked in a temporary spot, plugged in (for the cat) and went touring. Lunch
first! We had to do it! What else would you eat in Kentucky? You guessed it
Kentucky Fried Chicken! We visited the Colonel and had their Senior Buffet.
This was the best chicken we ever ate. It is times like these that we wish we
did not care about out health. This chicken dripped in greasy fattening pleasure.
We did restrain our selves by limiting ourselves to 2 pieces. Remember this was a
buffet! After out chicken-buds were content we went to the State Capitol. They do
not have a tour guide on Sundays. We got a self guided tour. This is a beautiful
place. The Vermont marble is showcased here. The view from one end to the other
is very impressive. We took our time and enjoyed the art work as we walked up and
down the white marble (with light blue veins running through it) stair cases. We
returned to camp and got settled in. We enjoyed the pool and went to bed. The
camp ground was nice and we were parked with a lot of other people. I guess
because of the high prices of gas not to many people are traveling. We have had
no problems getting places to stay and most places are fairly empty.
August 4 2008 - My birthday. What a great day. We started our day at
The Waffle House in Frankfort, KY. I was wearing my Minnie Mouse Hat with a
red and white striped tie. Bill fixed the knot for me. It was perfect. I had my
balloon bag in tow. I had instant raptor with the waitress and proceeded to make
her a twisty balloon with a red heart. While in the process I kept hitting the
guy seated behind me in the head with the balloon. Bill, using an embarrassed
tone of voice, let me know what was happening. A quick I'm sorry did the trick.
The waitress was elated. I decided to make the guy a balloon. I did not tell him
my plan. While in the process of my creation a hand came from behind me trying to
take the balloon. We all laughed as I explained I was making the balloon for him
anyway. The waitress put on a wonderful version of Happy Birthday over the loud
speaker. I made a few more balloons and we had a great breakfast. Several groups
of people came and left while we were there. Another group sat behind us. One of
the men was having a birthday also. I told them that it was my birthday as well
then, the woman made a loud comment. She said in a negative tone that explains
your outfit. I felt sorry for her judgmental attitude. After I told them it was
National Clown Week she changed her attitude. Next we went to play golf at Juniper
Hill Golf Course.
Happy Birthday Rosemarie
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Lots of people admired my outfit and that gave me another
opportunity to talk about Clown Week. Would you believe I finally broke 90? I
golfed 87 and Bill had 79. This was a great game although we got lost on one hole.
Next we visited the Toyota Factory. Wow! We were overwhelmed with this amazing
place. We went through and saw cars made starting from the spools of steel being
stamped into car parts to engines being dropped into position. They make their
plastic parts starting from melting plastic balls in one machine then that melted
plastic is molded into the parts needed. We saw the paint shop and the assembly
lines. A new car comes off the production lin every 55 seconds after only 20 hours
in creation. We were driven around in small carts, 4 people in a cart, two in
each row and there were eight carts together. They were like a little train.
We zipped around the place and we were directed to throw our eyes one way, cast
them another direction, peak through this or that opening. The women who gave us
the tour was fun with her Kentucky accent. The tour took an hour. We were not
allowed to take any pictures. We could not even carry a purse or phone. We really
enjoyed this hour. After the tour we went shopping and Bill got a couple of great s
hirts. We had a Subway and then we went to see The Dark Night. WOW! It was awesome. It lived
up to all the positive hype we were hearing from everyone. All through the day
my phone rang. I received birthday greetings from everyone I love. I heard from
all my children and all my grand kids except for 3. All the calls helped make for
a great day. I also got emails from friends. I really miss everyone but this is
a fabulous opportunity. It is a dream comes true.
August 5, 2008 - We got to Louisville in a few hours and went to the
Louisville slugger Factory. Wow, What an operation. We got to hold "A Rod's" bat.
He will use this bat this year. We saw many famous players' bats and learned a
lot about this industry. This is a great place for kids with lot of hands on
activities and a lot of baseball history. They also have a super bating cage,
ten pitches for a dollar. The batting cages are the real thing.
Louisville Slugger In Kentucky
We got caught
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Fit like a golve
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Making a play for the pitcher
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A HUGH Bat
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Big Bat
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Then we went to Churchhill Downs and took a tour. There is a lot of history
there. They boast having the longest running sporting event in America.
They have a nice museum. We got there too late to see everything.
Churchhill Downs
The place is over 100 years old. This is inside
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This is out front
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The Winner's Circle
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Each year they do a statue of the winner of the Kentucky Derby.
This is the 2008'winner Big Brown and Big Bill
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Hats from the Kentucky Derby
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We were staying at Otter Creek Park. This was another real camp site in the woods.
There was a really bad storm and Bill could not sleep. The sky was white with
light and it seemed like the Greek gods were at it. Boom Bang! I slept like a
baby other than when Bill woke me up to tell me about the storm and after I had
the experience I went to sleep.
August 6, 2008 - Today we drove from Louisville KY toward Bowling Green
KY. We found Singing Hills RV Park in Cave City. This is a tourist city. They
have a lot of caves for touring. We asked the R V Park Owner about the caves. We
told him we had been to Carlsbad Caverns and he suggested we skip the caves. We
were both in need of rest and it was to hot to golf. We ate and rested and
decided to visit Dinosaur World as recommended by the RV Park owner. We could
not believe how much fun this park was. It only cost $10.00 each. They had a
museum with a lot of fossils and bones. There was a movie about the life of one
dinosaur that was great. We walked on a shady trail. Ever few yards we ran into
another species. We were impressed by the over 100 different creatures we ran
into on the walk. We had no ides there were that many species. The sculptures
were colorful, artistically displayed and there was information about each
species. The two hours we spent there were well worth our time. I think kids
would really love this experience.
Dinosaur World
Who Knew? We had no idea there were so many different dinos
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The beautiful drive to the RV Park
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August 7, 2008 Thursday - This was Corvette Day. The Corvette assembly
plant is in Boiling Green, KY and that is the only reason we are here. We got to
the factory a few minutes after eight. We got tickets and reservations on-line.
We were scheduled for 9:00am, the first tour of the day. They have even more
restrictions here than at the Toyota factory. We had to have closed toed shoes
and were not able to carry anything. Only children over 7 years old were able to
tour. We watched a movie about the factory while we were waiting. This was a walking
tour and took an hour. We had an intern as our guide. This tour had a completely
different kind of energy. We strolled along stopping occasionally for facts and
observations. They were making $100,000.00 Cadillac X L R's as well as Vetts.
I was invited to sit in a brand new X L R while it was still on the production
line. They had me start the engine and raise and lower the convertible top. I was
honored to be chosen out of the 30 people on the tour. It is a beautiful car.
When we got to the Vetts I was invited to start one of those as well. I suggested
they give someone else an opportunity as I had been picked already. Felt Nice!
We like this experience and we feel blessed to own a Millennium Yellow 2001 Coupe.
After the tour we drove across the way to the National Corvette Museum. Bill had
big eyes as he looked at all the cars. It was cool because they had an area
called the Nursery. In this section new cars were waiting for their parents to
pick them up. Next to each car there was a sign with the new owner's names and the
delivery date. When you buy a new Corvette you have the option of picking it up
at the museum after a VIP tour of the assembly plant. It was fun to see the people
picking up their cars. There were a couple of things that really stood out. There
was a recreation of a 50's Mobil Station and a sign that explained the history of
gas Stations. Bill exclaimed he had never heard that before. I was captivated by
a film that showed the creation of the first fiberglass Corvette. It was amazing.
It took eight men to make one body part. They were working against time and air
bubbles. After we left there I went and took a good look at one of the first built
cars, a white Vett with red upholstery. There were only 150 of these built. On
close examination you could see cracks all though the body. That was it for that
day.
The Corvette Museum
This is the History of Gas Stations
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August 8 2008 - We drove all day and did an overnight at Sikeston,
MO RV Park. It was overpriced and the place only had one dirty women's and one
dirty men's room with one shower in each room. The laundry room was dirty and the
cost of doing laundry was ridiculous. Our site was nice and we did have cable, so
we got to see the opening ceremonies of the Olympics.
August 9, 2008 - We drove all day again and ended up in Branson, MO.
Although we arrived at 5:00pm we did not get to Branson Ozark Country Campground
until 7:00pm. It took us one hour to get off the highway and another hour to
drive 6 miles to the park. Branson was hosting some kind of car cruising event
that night and there were scores of people. I was saddened by a call I got from
Michelle, my friend Diane Gates' daughter. She informed me that my 65 year old
friend had passed away from cancer. I was shocked! Diane never told me she was
sick. We had not talked in a while and I think she wanted to spare me the pain.
We have been friends for over 30 years. We were kindred spirits! I will miss her
greatly. I spent my day writing a poem and it will be read at her service.
Because of our trip I can not be there in person. Diane was a passionate dancer.
I stated in the poem "When the wind dances in the sky. I will imagine it is you,
My Friend Diane, gliding by - Dance Diane Dance.
August 10, 2008 Sunday - The camp grounds here are among the best. The
owner was so nice and helpful. We have a great spot in the trees. After breakfast
we did laundry here. Awesome laundry room! We spent our morning doing laundry
and looking over all the things that are happening here. If you like to be
entertained this is the place. They have so many reasonably priced shows it is
hard to decide on what to see. We are going to see the Chinese Circus tonight.
If we could not go to Beijing we figured this would be the next best thing.
Today we ate at a fabulous Mexican Restaurant, Poncho Vila's. Our taste buds
were ecstatic. I ate so slowly and for me that is a miracle. I wanted the
pleasure to last. I recommend you store that info in your brain and if you ever
come here, go there and eat. You will thank me. After we ate we went down to the
River Walk. We just looked around and planed on going again before we leave. It
is all new and beautiful.We did go to the Circus. WOW! One jaw dropping event
after the other! I did not think I could be that repeatedly excited. One amazing
feat after the other! We sat there at the edge of our seats the whole night. It
took an hour to calm down after the show. The young people from China really
entertain and astonish the audience.
Branson
We got our passport for a fun time in Branson
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A Big trubute
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For the romantic in us
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An attraction that gives the history of that fatal day
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There are many miniture golf places in Branson. One fancier than the next
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The Liverpool Legions
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August 11, 2008 - Monday - After we did our shopping we played golf at
Thousand Hill Executive Golf Course. This was a very challenging experience. It
was cart path only. Ouch! We were in the hills for sure. What a workout?
Bill - 72 Ro - 86. We got a special price $70.00 for 2 after 12:00pm with a cart.
We had fun but, I don't think we would play there again, too hard on the legs.
There were no shows that we wanted to see, open on Monday.
August 12, 2008 -Tuesday - This was a weird day for us. We were
relationship challenged. Considering we have been on the road for over three
months I guess it was bound to happen. The two children in us were brats for an
hour. It was over directions. I guess that makes us normal. Darn! The day was
full. First we went to the River Walk. Very nice! Then we had BBQ at The Rib Crib.
Yum! We split a meal and were both satisfied. At 3:00pm we went to see Pace Arrow.
It was just OK. It only cost $27.50. They had a great comedian. He was the show
as far as we were concerned. We thought they were too casual and their singing
was good but not special. They changed their cloths a lot. I liked that. We did
a little shopping after the performance then we took a rest. In the evening were
treated to an excellent show. We saw the Liverpool Legends. They were awesome.
They put on a great show. They did three stages of the Beatles lives with hair
and costumes to match. They were darling. That is a perfect word to use. You just
have to like them: Great musicians, great voices and great stage presence. The
show only cost $27.50 and worth much more.
August 13th 2008 - Wednesday - We got up bright and early around 6:30am.
We wanted to be on the road by 9:00am. We met our goal and proceeded to go
through our routine. First I check phone messages. I got a voice mail that I did
not want. It was Wanda Peltzar asking us to call her. I could tell by the tone of
voice it was not good news. Unfortunately I was right. Our dear friend Mitch
passed away on Monday. Mitch was a special guy. He had gone through surgery and
cancer treatments but it was pneumonia that got him. We are devastated. We have
spent many July 4th celebrating with Mitch and Wanda. We have broke bread with
them on many Christmas eves as well. He was twinkle toes. They are both great
folk dancers and especially good at Polka. I met them at the roller-skating rink.
We skated together for years until the rink closed. They were in their 70's then.
I sang for them at their 60th wedding anniversary. Mitch was a real man. A great
friend and he will be missed by many people. We love you Mitch. They say things
like this come in 3's I hope not.
We drove to Grantville - Hilltop Campground near Topeka. This is the RV
campground of cats. The owner had many cats. AC sat in the windows getting an
eye full. There was a lagoon there - at least that is what they called it. It
was an above ground septic system. We had never heard of such a thing. The women
explained that the place was built in the 40's and they knew what they were doing
back then. She said it never smelled and she never had any trouble with it. It
was covered in duck weed (never heard of it either). It was a pretty green water
plant, but we did not get to close. I was a bit uncomfortable being any where near
it, although it was fenced in.
August 14th 2008 Thursday - Topeka - Up early to golf at Lake Shawnee.
Beautiful course - Bill 82 Ro 95. After golf and lunch we went to the Kansas
State Capitol. I was excited to take the Dome Tour. I had to climb 296 steps to
the top. Bill chose not to go and he did the History tour. I think Bill missed
out, the climb was worth it. We were on the inside of the dome. Once we reached
the top we got to go outside and walk on a balcony and have a great view of the
city. When I went up to the Dome I had a young man named Joey accompany me at his
grandmother's request. He made for an extra fun excursion. The stairs were
suspended in mid air. He got a little scared so I helped him get through it.
They are restoring the Capitol. I guess in the 70's a lot of the paintings were
covered with white paint. Sad! They are putting everything back to its beautiful
self. The part they had finished was beautiful. In the passage way to the dome
there was a lot of graffiti. Some of it has been there for over 100 years. They
plan on restoring it as well. For many years the Dome was open to everyone with
no guards. Some people just have to do it. I don't know why. I guess they want
to leave their mark. DA!
The Kansas State Capitol
The House
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The Senate
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These are the stairs I climbed
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This is the top of the dome from inside.
People see the other side from inside the capitol
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Inside the dome. Another view of the stairs.
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My Tour Guide
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Alone at the top of the Capitol
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August 15th 2008 Friday - We had a great start today. We said good-by
to the cats and left them a gift of cat food. AC decided he did not like that
kind any more. Even if I hid it in with the other food he would pick it out and
drop it on the floor. We drove all day and ended up across the Colorado border.
Bill drove over three hundred miles to Shady Grove Campgrounds in Seibert,
Colorado. The guy there was really nice. We had showers and went to bed. Long
Day On The Road!
August 16th 2008 Saturday - We only had to drive 130 miles to get to
Englewood's Flying Saucer RV Park. My main reason for going to the Denver Area
was to visit my friend Skittles the Clown (Molly). The weird thing is that with
out even trying we ended up only a few miles from her home and the park where we
were invited to a picnic on the 17th. When Molly got done with work after 7:00pm
she came over. She was driving her little clown car. The car plays music on
external speakers and has balloon art painted on the body, very nice. Molly has
bright orange hair and she was in Clown. I could see her coming and I was so
happy. We made plans for the next day. I knew she made a special effort. She had
done several parties this day and I knew she was tired and the hugs were
especially great.
August 17th 2006 Sunday - Today was a fun day. We got up a bit late. We had
just enough time to eat and make it to the Colorado Clowns annual picnic at Cushing
Park in Denver by the COAI Alley # 39 The Colorado Clowns. Skiddles (Molly) invited
us. She is the president of the alley. I was hoping to teach there, but Molly did
not get a response from club members to indicate their interest so we were going
to attend to have fun. What a great group, both in number and personalities. There
were so many people in attendance. I was impressed. Molly did a great job of leading
the meeting after lunch. She was kind and introduced me and Bill to everyone. She offered
them the option of having me teach a Mime class so it happened just as I had hoped
for. After we did a goofy game where by using certain letters from your name you were
given a new and improved name, mine was Stinky Diaper Brain. Bill was on the phone
with the kids so he missed out. After everyone got their new names we voted on whose
name was the funniest. We also did extra large bubbles. Then my time came. Everyone
got into it. It was a hard venue. The grass was wet, so the people had to stand between
the non movable picnic tables. I was in heaven teaching. I had a great response from
everyone and did sell some DVDs. I think everyone enjoyed themselves. Molly was so
kind. She said I made the picnic. That was after she pied me. She said she could not resist.
It was my first time to have a shaving cream pie. I only wish my mouth was closed at the
time.( if there is ever a time when it is closed) If I was ever going to be pied with
shaving cream I glad it was Molly and I will never forget it.
The Denver Clowns
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Me and Molly
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Skiddles Office
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Bill headed for the motor
home before me so Molly took me back via a short stop at her home. I fell in love with
the eatable back yard (that was what her husband called it). They have the biggest sun
flowers I have ever seen and I left with plums, grapes and peaches. Ya! I finally got
to see her office. It is the best. She has a creative spirit and you know that
for sure after you visit her home. It was a great day. It was an over stimulating
day and I had a hard time falling asleep.
August 18th 2008 Monday - We got up really early and went down town. We wanted to
do the US Mint Tour at 8:00am. They had given out all the reserved spots, but we
thought we would try anyway. We were the first ones there and we got lucky. A lot
of people did not show up so we got to go in and see them make pennies. It was an
interesting 30 minutes. After that we headed for the capitol. We got there just
in time to make the 9:00am dome tour. There were only 96 steps. Bill came along.
It was nice, but not as much fun as Kansas. They have gone high tech here. They
have an area known as Mr. Brown's ___. There are videos there and in other
locations that give the history. There is a lot of information about the history
of the 29th state?
The Denver State Capitol
The Capitol and Bill
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The Republican Convention 2008 was held in the white building in the background
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Back of the building
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We walked to the top of the dome
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We headed back to the Motor Home to get ready to leave. Molly came by to get
a hug and say our good buys. I will see her in November at WRCA. We got out of
there around noon.
August 19, 2008 Tuesday - We stayed at Cedar Rail Campground in Raton,
NM. The two guys who own it are very sweet. We did not get there until after
6:00pm. We stopped along the way and ate. We had stopped at Costco in Denver
and it was great. I think we have been experiencing Costco withdrawal. We have
not been to a Costco for at least 2 months. We picked up two chickens and I
fixed chicken for our meal. It has been a long time so it tasted extra good.
We were tired so the showers in a fabulous bathroom made the day end up perfect.
We decided to stay at this location because it was only 13 miles inside New
Mexico and we had not played golf in Colorado yet. We tried to find a place to
play yesterday, but all of the courses were out side our budget or cart path
only. This morning we drove the car to the Trinidad Golf Course. It was Rocky
Mountain High in Colorado. We were at 6200 elevation. We both felt tired but we
did it Bill 85 - Ro 97. Talk about lucky! We played 18 holes riding for a whopping
$28.00. They had a two for one special. After golf we hit the Subway for a great
sandwich. We drove back and packed up and are on our way to Santa Fe, NM. Another
thing worth mentioning: My computer cord has been acting up so on Saturday we
stopped at Best Buy to get a new one. We were both floored! They charged $113.00
for the cord. Bill suggested he try to repair the plug. A new plug coat $5.95.
We did not have anything to loose. My guy did it! This was our second cord repair
the first being the cord for the braking system. We saved over $200.00 fixing
theses our selves.
Bill just yelled LOOK. We were passing a huge herd of Bison.
That was a first for both of us. We are traveling on Rote I 25 S in New Mexico. WOW!
August 22, 2008 - We are leaving Albuquerque today and what a great time we had.
We did not stop in Santa Fe as planned. We could not find a place we both agreed
on and could not get a break on an overnight stay. I think some of the parks are
dumb. This one place we called and they said they had a lot of sights available
but were not willing to give the camp club discount at that time of year. So they
would rather have no money than get some money. Dumb! We bought gas at Sam's Club
and saved 10c a gallon. I asked one of the customers if we could use her Sam's Club Card.
She was so nice. I explained to here that we had been able to use our Wal-Mart Card,
but it wound not work here with out a membership card. We saved about $10.00.
We drove all the way to Albuquerque. Bee Bee and her husband Bill wanted us to park
our motor home in front of their home and plug in. We were going to stay at an RV Park
there but they really wanted us to stay. We arrived there around 9:30 and found them.
It was a bit hard because the area was rezoned and Vicky could not help us. They live on
a new street with empty lots and not much light. They had to come and rescue our lost buns.
After greetings we settled in for the night. Bonita (Bee Bee) surprised us the next day
and took a day off from work.
The two Bills
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Rosemarie and Bee Bee
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Rosemarie and Fran - Fran helped convince me to come to Albuquerque - Thanks Fran
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Her Bill made us a great breakfast and Bee Bee escorted
my Bill and me to old town. Her Bill stayed at home with their Mom. She is a woman
of 85 and they do not like to leave her alone for an extended period of time. We had
a wonderful day strolling through the shops in Old Town. Then we went to the Art Museum.
We spent quite a bit of time there. It is really nice. Out front they have a huge sculpture
of Cervantes head looking up. It was a rough gray clay like substance.
Art work in Old Town - Cervantes
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Old Town Art
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Shopping with Bee Bee
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We saw a film of Taos NM done in 1907. It had no sound or voice over, but we were amazed
to view something filmed so long ago. We also saw a film about the history of Albuquerque.
After all that walking we went home for a rest. That evening Bee Bee was Painting Faces
at Red Robin and the 2 Bills and I went with her. We ate while she worked.
It was fun watching her work. She is and excellent entertainer and artist. The three of
us ate and talked for the 2 hours of her shift.
Great Butterfly
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Bee Bee with a customer
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They are a great couple. It is
always nice to be with people who love and respect each other. The next day Bee
Bee had to go to work. My Bill wanted me to play golf, but I was going to teach that
night for 3 hours and though it best to conserve my energy. I made the right
decision as it was in the 90's that day. Bill golfed at Arroyo Del Oso. They
advertise themselves as President Clintons' favorite place to play in Albuquerque.
Bill loved the fast greens. He said the greens were similar to Coronado, CA. Bill
Clinton plays there as well. He was teamed up with 3 other men and enjoyed himself.
Score - 85. Two of the guys were not very good and Bill enjoyed being the teacher
I took a 45 minute walk to the Rio Grand River with Bee Bee's Bill. Also, in the
morning a lot of hot air balloons take off in their area. Love that!
I was excited to teach but what's new! We had a reasonable turn out and they
were a great group. I am always amazed at folks when they jump in with both
feet and play 100%. I did not cover all that I was hoping to. I got into a
laughing jag. I love when that happens. When my stomach was hurting so much
I had to work hard to stop my self. I think they thought I was acting. After
we arrived home Bee Bee said her good bys. She is amazing. She gets up at 5:00am
so she can leave by 6:00am and rides her bike for one hour to work, and then she
works all day and rides one hour home in the NM desert heat. I met her at
convention a few years ago and liked her right away. This is the second time we
have visited as we passed through NM. She is a dear and I know we will keep in
touch.
Albuquerqu Clownse:
Marianne Robinson - Dianne Rossbach - Fran Archibeque - Me - Benita Brennan
Midge Nichelson - Teresa Silva - Janet Dominguez - Dorothy Carroll
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These are the comments from the Clowns in Albuquerque
Hi Rosemarie
…
On behalf of the Monday Night Clowns in Albuquerque, I would like to say MIL GRACIAS,
a thousand thanks for the fantastic, fun, funny, fabulous, festive, friendly,
first-rate and finest mime class we have ever attended! Your professionalism and
humorous presentation was appreciated. Rose Marie, you are a clown at heart and
you were so patient with us and yet encouraging. You are a model to mime. Anyone
who has a chance to be in a class with you will be truly blessed. We had a wonderful
time laughing and learning. The individual teaching was inspiring and helpful to
each one of us. We are all so glad that you took the time to come to
Albuquerque...and hope you will return soon for another class.Until next time,
Fran aka Feathers the Clown and the Monday Night Clowns
Today we are driving all day and will stop over night on our way to Sedona,
AZ. We made it around 300 miles to Meteor Creator RV Park. This place had the
best bathrooms. We each had a separate room with all the amenities. Heaven!
It was dark when we decided to shower. The owner said there were bears sighted
around there. As we approached to bath house I saw a Bear. The only thing was it
was a painting on the building. I was only frightened for a moment.
August 23, 2008 Friday - We had a good start. I made scrambled egg & bacon
sandwiches for breakfast. Great! We had to go look at the Crater. Wow, this is a
huge hole. There is a museum, theatre, gift shop and the crater and we enjoyed
all of it. We hope we are never around when and if a meteor hits the Earth again.
There was some cool hands on stuff for the kid in all of us. It cost us $22.00(senior
and RV Park discounts).
Meteor Creator
Look for the people
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View point
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The two Lovers - No leap
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We drove to Sedona and arrived around 2:00pm. We stayed at
Dead Horse RV Park (State Park).
Dead Horse Ranch R V State Park
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It is 17 miles south west of the city. As soon
as we got situated and ate we headed for Sedona. We knew we wanted to hike in Oak
Creek Canyon in the morning so we decided to drive there first. It is 15 miles north
of Sedona on highway 89A. As we drove by Sedona we were amazed at all the changes
that have taken place. All the older buildings have new faces and the new stuff
is beautiful. There are a lot of new businesses. The colors of the buildings are
like the backdrop of the scenery. I love the reddish color of clay. Everything
has the South Western theme.
Art work in Sedona
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The place we wanted to hike was also redone. I was
lucky to spot it. They now charge $8.00 to park there. We drove back and went
through Sedona again this time a bit southeast to Bell Rock. We love it there.
Last time we were there a couple was getting married. I ask them if they had a
singer and they did not so I volunteered and they said yes. I sang Your Mine and
We Belong Together. A nice memory! The best thing is it rained while we were on
the ride to Oak Creek and the temperature dropped form 104 to 85 degrees. YES! We
had not planned hiking Bell Rock, but because the temperature was so good we decided
to go for it. Bill said we could only go for a short walk, but we were out there
for two hours. We really enjoyed this place. They say the vortexes there give people
a sense of peace and we believe it. We had our fill of rock stacking and headed for
town. Most of the businesses were closed so we just looked around. We did buy a magnet. That was it for the day. We tried to see the Olympics on TV through the cutting in and
August 25, 2008 - We went to the Salt River Recreation Tubing. What a
blast. We got there at 8:50 am and got our tickets - $14.00 each. It was $10.00
the last time we went. The money covers tube rental and a bus ride up river.
They also pick you up and return you to your car. We have been there 2 times
before, but this was the best. The water was clean and much higher than last time.
The flow was 13.75. We were there in June last year (water flow 11.75) and I
don't think they cleaned from the year before. I can not for the life of me
understand why people litter. I wish everyone would honor this beautiful country.
I think they are ignorant or dumb. We were on the river for about three and a
half hours. The temperature was wonderful. The best thing: As we were floating
we saw an unusual sight in the distance. At first we though it was people on
horse back. As we got closer we realized there were no people. We had come
across 14 wild mustangs. They were beautiful and we were thrilled. This was an
unexpected pleasure. At one point after we passed they had a short stampede.
This created white water around their hoofs. The sound was exciting. We did not
know for sure that they were wild until our bus driver told us upon our return
ride. We traveled a short distance and there were seven more wild horse including
two folds. We will try to remember these pictures. We do not have a waterproof
camera so no shots taken. There were tall reeds along the shore and the horses
were among the reeds. Just like a movie. After the river ride we rested and then
swam in the pool and had dinner. We ate leftovers and cleaned up a lot of
different foods. It was a smorgasbord. We watched a bit of the Democratic
Convention and went to sleep. We have had a lot of exercise in the fast few days.
August 26, 2008 -We were not sure if we would drive home or stop in Yuma
and we decided to stop. What a mistake. It was so hot. I decided to make pasta
for dinner, another huge mistake. The coach took 3 hours to cool down. We were
putting frozen cloths on ourselves to keep cool. The dinner was great, but not
worth the heat it caused.
August 27, 2008 - We are on our way home 118 miles to go. We are sorry
we did not drive home yesterday, and ecstatic we will be home today. We arrived
early and started unpacking. This is a big job, but not as hard as packing.
We had planned on stopping in Yuma for the Labor Day holiday but changed our
mind because we got there to early. Our new idea was to take the motor home
back, unpack, take a days rest and then drive the car back to Bill & Lori's
second home in Yuma. This was a good plan. I think the cat was really happy
about our decision. A C was happy to see his home and the temperature in Yuma
would have done him in for sure. I must say I loved the cat before this trip,
but now I love and respect him. He was a real trooper and became a good traveler
as well.
We were on our way to Yuma around 6:00am Sunday morning. The trip took about
3 hours. We were surprised because the temperature was at least 10 degrees cooler than
when we were there a few days ago. We were happy to see our grandson Austin.
He has grown so much in just a few months. We got everything ready and headed
for a day of fun on the river. We took a long boat ride. I think we traveled
more that 25 miles. We stopped and took a little hike to an old minor's cabin.
Picture Op! The scenery was breathtaking. We were not alone. Many other people had
the same idea. We all took pictures of each other then off we went even further up rive.
Lot of great pictures
If you can not decide use them all
Bill Hupp keeping guard on the boat
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He changed his mind and joined us, Yah!
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Old Miners Camp
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The happy couple Bill & Lori Hupp
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Pictures taken on our hike
Lori's husband Bill (we sure have a lot of Bills in our life) knows all the in
and outs of the river and he is a great driver. He was looking for just the right
spot. There were many other people out to have fun as well. All the sandy spots
on the rivers edge and the sand bars were full. We found a great spot way up the
river and had lunch. We swam and hung out. It was great. After a time we decided
to float back down river. It was so much fun and very relaxing. We hung out near
the boat accompanied by one big tube that was attached to the boat.
It is fun to float
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A kind of strange thing happened. Bill Hupp said it was a first for them. There was a
thunder and lightning storm. We could see it in the distance. When the lightning
got to close we made a quick exit from the water. This was very exciting. It
rained so hard that it was hard to drive the boat. The water was pelting us like
B Bs. Austin and I took refuge under the float. We finally got a head of the
storm and continued our fabulous float.
This is the rain
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Austin & Mema staying dry
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This is Bill in the rain
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He is checking the prop
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Austin learning to drive
Lori looks great as a teacher
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It was quite late when we got back to
the house. What a great day! Bill Hupp made a very tasty chicken & veggies
stir-fry dinner and Lori made some awesome Bloody Marys. I had made a Quasi
Marble game on cardboard and we taught them to play. Lori and her assistant
Austin teamed up with me and the two Bills were partners. We played 2 rounds
and each team won one round. We all went to bed tired and happy. The next day
was great as well. Bill Hupp made fruit smoothies. Then Lori made us blueberry
pancakes (YUM) and Austin and I played Wii. I was a happy camper because they
know how much I enjoy my morning coffee and despite the fact that they don't
drink coffee they made sure I had coffee. Boy did I feel special. After a swim
in the pool we had a play off marble game and the Bills won. Darn!
We went to one of Bill, Lori & Austin's favorite resturant for the Mexican Buffet.
We all ate too much and did not enjoy the after gas. Oh Well!
After lunch we headed for San Diego. What a great way to end a long and wonderful
trip
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Here is the too full crew
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This trip has been a blessing. We are so thankful for this opportunity. We got
to see so many wonderful sights, have wonderful experiences, and spend time with
family, friends and meet new people. We have this log for our memories. If you
have read this entire thing WOW! We are glad to share our thoughts and this trip
with you. We hope to have good fortune and great health in our futures and wish
the same for you.
We are blessed and take this opportunity to
Thank Our Almighty God for his Glory and Blessings
Bill & Rosemarie
END
