Home Again

Peg and I arrived home yesterday afternoon after a leisurely 4 hour drive. Four hours to go about 130 miles - I'll say that was leisurely! When one travels along route 302 in NH and Maine - on a Friday - in late summer - and on a nice day - one should expect plenty of traffic, plenty of shoppers in North Conway, NH and Windham, ME , and one might as well take ones time. There really is no other choice. Anyway - we arrived safe and sound and got most of the necessary stuff unloaded.

Now comes the interesting question. When do we go again - and where to? I may or may not be working for the next couple of months so we could be parking the rig down in the Seacoast area of NH for awhile. The detailed negotiations are in full swing and if I were a betting man (and I am) - I would bet that Mikee will stay unemployed for the near future. Then there is a possibility that we may suddenly take off for California to help out my sister and family while they deal with their granson's medical issues. Or, we may stay put for the rest of the calendar year and then head southwest for the winter months. Lots of potential possibilities, much yet to be determined, and lots of issues to consider. In the meantime - we'll get the rig ready to roll again, take care of things that need to be done around the house, and stay flexible.

O Little Town of Bethlehem (Revised 0840 8/28/2009)

-NOTE-

If you read this Blog entry between 8:00 AM and 8:40 AM on Friday Morning - Plans have Changed. See Below!!!

Another day - another beautiful morning! Today, morning is in the White Mountains of New Hampshire in the little town of Bethlehem - hmmm where have I heard that before? Today is also the last full day of our 2009 New York/ New England Summer Adventure. We see on the weather report that tomorrow is going to be a real rainy/windy nasty day - so we have decided to head home today - while the weather is pretty nice.

After we made the short, but very picturesque, drive from Vermont to here in New Hampshire yesterday - we unhitched the Vue and drove down the highway to Franconia Notch State Park to do some sightseeing. We drove around Franconia a little, managed to drive by the campground where we stayed with the kids some 25 years ago, and made our way over to the Flume Gorge. Since we hadn't toured the Flume in our past visits - we decided to pay the fee and take the hike. The Flume itself is a very unique granite walled gorge with a small steam running at the bottom. The hike from the bottom to the top is about 1/4 mile - up a pretty steep slope. You all know how I like uphill hikes - but we took our time and stopped frequently for photo ops. Whether Peggy took any pictures or not - the "photo ops" were a good thing!

Once we finished with our hike at the Flume we drove to the Old Man In The Mountain Historical Site. The last time we were here - so was the "Old Man." This famous granite face landmark fell off its mountainside a number of years ago and the site is now just "Historical." I remember the day I heard the news of the Old Man's falling - it was a sad day for the nation, New England, and certainly for New Hampshire.

After leaving the Old Man we drove to Littleton, visited WalMart to pick up a couple of items, decided to let Applebee's do the cooking for dinner, and then headed back to Bethlehem for a quiet evening.

Our trip has been relatively short, but interesting, fun, and relaxing as well. As always - we'll be glad to be "home." For full-time RVers "Home" is where you park IT. For us - "Home" is where we park US - sometimes in good 'ol Topsham, ME - sometimes in the Blue and White Winnebago.

Hiking and Napping in VT

Brrrrr! The temps are in the low 40s this morning in the mountains of Vermont. It's a good thing I set the heater to come on around 68 degrees last night or we would be popcicles this morning. Since the #2 A/C Unit still is out of commission and is also part of the heat pump system - we are using the propane heater. It's a little hard to believe that only a few days ago we were dealing with 90 degree plus temperatures!

After a nice relaxing morning yesterday we drove over to the Quechee Gorge State Park and stopped into the info center. After looking at their park map of the trail system I noted that that in addition to the trail leading to the bottom of the Gorge that we had walked in years past - there is also a trail that heads north towards Dewey's Pond and a small dam. This dam was the source of power for Dewey's Mill - a wool processing facility from the late 1800s. Since I wasn't looking forward to the elevation change going down the trail to the river's edge (actually it was the trip back up I wasn't looking forward to) I asked the nice older woman in the info center what the elevation change was going down the other trail. "None" she answered. Well that sounded pretty good to me so I convinced Peggy that we should take that hike instead - so off we went. It didn't take too long to figure out that the nice lady LIED to me. Although the drop in elevation was probably a little less than going the other way - it certainly wasn't "None!"

We continued down the trail following the Gorge to the dam which appears to still house a small hydroelectric station and then we continued down the path to Dewey's Pond and then walked across the causeway to the opposite side of the Pond. The walk probably wasn't more than 3/4 of a mile and it was certainly scenic. After taking a break sitting on a couple of rocks on the far side of the pond we headed back up the trail and managed to make it up the "None" elevation change back to the car. Even though the temps were in the mid 70s with a cloud cover - we were both pretty sweaty when we got back so we decided to forego a previously considered trip to do some tourist shopping. So instead we drove back to the motorhome and had a small lunch followed by a nap for Peggy and some time on the internet for me.

Today we plan on heading a bit north and east to the Franconia area of the White Mountains in New Hampshire. We visited this area many years ago on our first motorhome trip with the kids. I'm guessing that trip was about 25 years ago and the motorhome was a 26' rented unit from U-Haul. We had fun that trip and we hope to have more of the same this time.

Well it looks like Mikee may be going back to work for a couple of months. I have been contacted by some folks who want me to help out on a project in Seabrook, New Hampshire over the next couple of months. Since the timing looks pretty good and it's not far from home - I think I may take them up on the offer if we can work out the details. If it all comes together I think we may set up the motorhome down in Seabrook and Peggy can spend some time down there and/or I'll commute back home on the weekends. A lot of details yet to be figured out - ya'll will have to stay tuned and find out what happens. I can't wait to figure it all out myself!

Quechee, VT

Yesterday was a slow day - especially for a travel day. As advertised - we left Lake George around 10:00 or so and made the 100 mile drive to the Quechee/White River Junction, VT area and arrived here about 1:00 PM. We stopped for lunch at the VT Info Center on the NY/VT border, but other than that, we made the drive straight through. Route 4 was in good shape and except for some tight quarters due to some road construction on Route 149 around Ft. Ann - the trip went pretty well.

We are staying at a very nice KOA here in Quechee - just east of the Quechee Gorge. After settling in at the KOA we took a drive in the car and visited Quechee Gorge where we took a few pictures but didn't take the trail down to the bottom of the gorge. Peggy wants to save that for today. I want to save that for the 12th of Never. I explained that we already took that hike around 15 years ago. She explained that she did't care. I'll tell you how I lost the argument in tomorrow's entry. After our visit to the top of Quechee Gorge we drove over to Woodstock, VT to visit a few covered bridges in the area and take some pictures - and then we made the trip back to Quechee. On the way back we made a stop into the State Park just east of the Gorge. The State Park is a very nice Army Corps of Engineer Campground with really big sites. There are no "facilities" at the sites but the campground would it be a nice place to stop for a few days and at about half the cost of what we are paying at the KOA - maybe on a future trip. 

Today we plan on a bit of sightseeing and probably a hike down (and back up!) into a Gorge to see a river up close that I've already seen but need to experience again. I know Darrell/Judy - "the hill is my friend!!"

Goofing Off - Again

Today is a travel day again as Peggy and I say our short term goodbyes to the Pattersons here in Lake George. We look forward to seeing them again in Maine in a couple of weeks!

Yesterday was a very comfortable day weather-wise and we pretty much filled the day with leisure. Peggy and Judy did a little running about in the AM while Darrell and I generally goofed off. That was followed by Peggy and I doing some serious goofing off in the afternoon including taking a long walk around the campground before heading over to the Pattersons for a nice dinner, another post-dinner walk about, and some great conversation. All-in-All a fun day here in the Adirondacks.

Today we plan on a short drive of about a hundred miles over curvy Route 4 to Quechee, Vermont on the VT/NH border. We plan on staying a couple of nights - seeing the sights - and doing some more general goofing off. We haven't traveled through Vermont in several years so I am looking forward to seeing the pretty countryside - even if I have to pay close attention to the curvy road at the same time! New England really is a pretty area in the summer and fall. And speaking of fall - much to Peggy's angst we have seen several maple trees starting to turn bright red. It's still summer here - but fall is not far away. I noticed the temp this morning was right around 60 degrees. I love this time of year!

Goofing Off

Time to catch up.

Yesterday we planned to drive east to Schenectady - and we did - but the park where we had planned to stay the night was full so we decided to continue our trek and drove the remaining 80 or so miles to Lake George where we checked-in here at Lake George Escape RV Resort a day early. After checking in and setting up camp we met up with Darrell and Judy and then drove the short distance to the Lucky Star Cafe in Warrensburg and had some great burgers and fries. We finished the day with a bit of visiting, watched the NASCAR Race in Bristol, TN, and had a great nights sleep.

This morning we started off with a trip to WalMart to reload the larder here in the motorhome. After fininshing that important chore we walked over to the Patterson rig and Peggy and Judy visited while Darrell and I performed a repair on his DC power system. The afternoon was spent doing other necessary chores like laundry and other such fun stuff.

This evening Peggy and I hosted the Pattersons for dinner. Peggy made a new (to us) shrimp taco recipe that turned out great and then we spent some more time visiting while listening to the pitter-patter of raindrops on the roof of the RV. It must be summertime in upstate NY because it seems everytime we are here in the summer - we are always dodging (or not) thunderstorms. Oh well - it keeps the dust down I guess.

Tomorrow we have more of the same planned. Goof off - visit some and enjoy good company - followed by more goofing off. It's a tough job - but the Maineiacs are up to the task!

Genealogy is Hard Work

Yesterday we had a super busy day! We started off the day with a trip south through Olean to the local attraction - Rock City. You may remember that we visited Rock City on Lookout Mountain in Georgia (or was it Tennessee? - it was pretty close) a year or so ago - but this Rock City was in NY - but almost in Pennsylvania! This one was a similar formation of large rocks - not anywhere near as big in area - but an interesting formation anyway. Our walk through Rock City was a little damp as a rainstorm was moving through - but we managed to make the hike without getting too drenched and without slipping too much on the wet moss covered rocks. Whew - that was enough exercise for the day!

Next we made an interesting drive of about 40 miles to Belmont, NY. The drive was interesting because we let Lola (the GPS) do the driving and she took us on some pretty remote roads through some really pretty NY farmland. We made the trip to Belmont for two reasons: 1) because a few Evingham's were supposed to be buried in the local cemetery and; 2) because it is the County Seat of Allegany County and I wanted to look at their census records for the mid 1800s when I believe my ancestors were in this area. We found the cemetery first and believe it or not - I found the Evingham's I was looking for in a pretty big cemetery and without a cemetery map!! I'm not sure yet how these folks are related to me but I'm sure they are somehow. After saying our respects to these 19th century relatives - Peggy and I spent an hour or so looking through the original census records for the area from the 1855, 1860, 1865, and 1870 census'. It seems that New York performed a census every 5 years (at least in those days) in addition to the every 10 year federal census. With a bit of good guessing and some pure luck we were able to find entries documenting that my Great Grandfather William lived in nearby Scio, NY in 1860 (age 2 years), and 1865 (age 7 years) along with his father William, mother Jane, 3 older sisters, and 1 older brother. Since these Evringham's (then spelled Evingham) also lived in Scio in 1855 - it is pretty apparent that my Great Grandfather was born there as well. We also learned that my Great-Great Grandfather William was born in nearby Livingston County and that Great-Great Grandmother Jane was born in, also nearby, Niagara County. Pretty exciting - huh!

After leaving Belmont we decided we had to drive to Scio and see what it looked like - so we did. It looks a lot like the rest of the area - rolling hills - lots of trees - beautiful valleys and lots of small farms After finishing our genealogy research for the day we headed back to our homebase in Franklinville to settle in for the evening and ride out a pretty loud and rainy thunderstorm.

This morning we decided to modify our previous plans a bit and we headed north towards Buffalo and Rochester, Ny instead of back along the way we came. Since we learned that GGGF William was born in Livingston County - we thought we would go visit the Livingston County Historian - look through their records - and see what else we could learn. We arrived in Mount Morris to visit the County Historian around 3:30 PM and looked through more census records from 1820, 1830, and 1840 where we found evidence of Everingham's (notice the spelling difference again - census takers weren't real particular about such things and since GGGF William and GGGM Jane were both listed in the previous census records as unable to read or write - the name spelling was often different). One entry for a Jonathan Everingham was particularly interesting as it sorta fits with some other info I previously have found. It is suspected that this Jonathan was the father of my GGGF William - but I have some more research to do on this suspicion. Anyway - this Jonathan character lived in Dansville, NY in 1820. We left the historian's office around 4:30 - drove about 20 miles south to visit Dansville where we found the same sort of beautiful green hills, valleys, and small farms - and then headed back to our new home base in Byron, NY.

Boy - this chasing ancestors can be hard work!!

With this new info in hand I declare our genealogy researching over for now. Tomorrow we plan on heading east towards Schenectady where I plan on staying tomorrow night before we head north again to Lake George where we will be invading the rest and relaxation of Darrell and Judy who will have had at least one day of rest since all their grankids left town.

Take a breath you two - we are on our way.

Spooking in Cattaraugus County

Yesterday was a very nice day here in the mountains of western New York. Partly cloudy, around 80 degrees, and even the humidity wasn't too bad. Peg and I got a slow start yesterday and I did manage to get in some more AC Unit troubleshooting in the morning. I think I have the problem narrowed down to a run capacitor on the 2nd AC Unit and I could swap the #1 and #2 unit capacitors to be sure but that looks like a bit of a hassle - so I think I will just try to find a replacement someplace between here and home and give that a try.

After we got going yesterday we drove to Olean, NY which is probably the largest city in the area. Olean grew up as a transportation hub because of its location near the Allegany River and since a couple of railroads were built through there in the late 1880s. But Olean's real claim to fame is its connection to the oil industry! It seems that the first discovery of crude oil on the North American continent occurred near here and helped to name Olean as a derivative of the Latin word for oil. I have found evidence that my ancestors on the Evringham side were in this area in the 1850 to 1880 era and my Aunt gave me a number of pictures that were taken at a couple of portrait studios in Olean back in that era - so we decided to check out the local Historical and Preservation Society to see what we could find. The Society is housed in a very old and beautiful Victorian style house in downtown Olean. We toured the museum, talked to the curator, and spent some time looking through some old references seeing what, if any information we could find about the Evringhams (or Evingham as spelled by some of the family in those days). We didn't find much about my ancestors but the museum was very interesting. Since the local library was right across the street we spent some time in their local history area and looked in some more references with similar success.

After leaving Olean we drove to the smaller town of Cuba, NY where I have found census information from 1850 showing that my great grandfather had lived there as a child. We checked out some more references at the local library with no real success, drove around town a bit, and then headed over to Belmont and Amity, NY to check out that area as well. We finally headed back to the campground here in Franklinville and got "home" around 6 PM. It was a long day of "spooking" around - but fun nonetheless. We plan on getting out and doing some more "spooking" today - who knows what we might find!

I should have mentioned yesterday that although we are in a pretty remote area of NY - our communication capabilities are super here! Our cell phone coverage here in the campground is full scale and so is my mobile broadband signal! I saw a cell tower on a nearby hill that must have Verizon equipment. All that and cable TV too - right here in the enchanted mountains of Cattaraugus County, NY - life certainly is good for us Maineiacs.

I think the plan is to leave here tomorrow and travel a hundred or so miles back east to check out some more old Evringham haunts for a day or so and then head north to Lake George to visit with Darrell and Judy Patterson - our full-timing friends who are finishing up their summer workamping jobs. It has been several months since we last saw them in March in Alabama and we are looking forward to our visit!

Staying Put (For a Few Days Anyway)

Yesterday we made it further West to Franklinville, NY. Franklinville is in the Western NY mountain region just a little east of Allegheny State Park. We expect to stay here for a few days while we do a bit of exploring in the area, searching out some Evringham ancestors and generally enjoying the sights. We'll try and take some pictures during our outings so we can post a few - what we have seen of the area so far is very nice. Lots of hills, valleys, streams and trees.

I also want to spend some time doing some more troubleshooting on the 2nd Air Conditioner problem. It has cooled off considerably and the high today is forecasted to be only about 80 degrees - but I know that won't last - so getting the AC fixed is still a priority for me!

We hope everybody is having a great day !!!

Spoiled - and Lovin It

Day Two finds the Maineiacs near Davenport, NY. Where is Davenport you ask??? well it's near Oneonta of course. We made the relatively short drive this morning/early afternoon, arriving here around 2 PM. Davenport is right next door to the middle of nowhere. Here at the campground we have zero TV signals and one bar once in awhile on our cell phone, but we do have an internet connection! It may be slow - but it does work.

It was another hot and muggy day during our travels today. I did some amount of troubleshooting on our #2 air conditioner early this morning and it looks like I can rule out a bad start capacitor. We survived the day again on 1 AC unit but I hope it doesn't get any hotter. I don't do hot and muggy very well without a little help from good ol refrigeration. I'm spoiled, I know it, and I probably wont change.

On the good news front - I reset the knock sensor trouble code that was causing the check engine light yesterday and it didn't return during today's travels. I still think it will return - but hopefully it will hold off until we get home and I can deal with it then.

So tomorrow we'll be off again further west and a little more south in NY. It ought to be interesting. We will be traveling through country we haven't seen before and through an area where my ancestors on the Evringham side once called home. I wonder how they dealt with the heat and humidity in the mid 1800s - they probably weren't as spoiled as me!

On-The-Road Again

Well - we're on-the-road. We left Topsham around noon after Peg did her Sunday School thing and then a lunch at the Fairground Cafe with Stacy and Kaj. We made it as far as around Springfield, MA where we decided to call it a day. The drive did not go without its interesting moments - lots of Sunday going home traffic on a hot and humid New England day - stop and go traffic pretty much all along our route on the Mass Turnpike and a couple of technical hiccups we'll have to deal with.

First of all - it appears that one of our air conditioning units is not working. It's a good thing that we have two 120 Volt AC units as well as the engine driven dash unit! It was pretty warm today - around 90 or so - and we needed to run the generator and the one 120 Volt unit along with the dash unit to stay comfortable. I suspect the #2 120 Volt unit has a fried start capacitor - I'll need to check that out some time in the next day or so. The second problem appeared about 20 miles before we reached our destination when the "Check Engine" light came on. The engine was running fine so we finished our trip and got set up here at the campground before I broke out the diagnostic scan tool and found out that the engine knock sensor was causing a fault code. I reset the fault code and we'll see how things go tomorrow ... but these things don't tend to fix themselves so I'll probably be looking to replace the knock sensor before too long.

Oh well - these motorhomes are intricate devices with lots of things that can go wrong - so if this is the worse that it gets - we can deal with it!

All-in-all a safe day - good weather - and we got where we were headed.

I also got to check out my new broadband wireless internet set-up here in the motorhome - and it works great!! It's nice not having to worry about whether or not the campground has a wireless system - and whether or not it works.

Tomorrow - Destination someplace in Southern New York

Helping The Economy

August sure is turning out to be a better month weather-wise than July. We have had a couple of rain showers this last week but the weather has been generally very nice - a little humid earlier in the week but not too bad lately. The really good news is that the long range forecast looks like more of the same.

Well the motorhome is pretty well ready to go. The wax job is done, the Tire Pressure Monitor sensors are on, the water system has been flushed and re-filled, and the few tools I take have been reloaded. All we have left is to load some clothes and food and we're ready to roll. Preparing for a trip in the summer is a whole lot easier that in February!! I did accomplish one "upgrade" last week when I went out and purchased a small portable air compressor at Home Depot to carry in the rig. I have been carrying a portable combination DC Power Supply/Jump Starter/AC Inverter/DC Compressor gadget that I find is pretty handy - but the Small DC Compressor takes forever to add a few pounds to those big 22.5" tires at around 100 pounds. Since I am kind off a nut about checking and adjusting tire air pressure - I decided I wanted a better compressor. The unit I bought is AC powered, puts out 135 pounds, and fits quite nicely in one of our side compartments. It's really not all that heavy and even has wheels and a retractable handle if one wants to move it around. I know - ya'll think Mikee just wanted a new gadget - well I did - and now the national economy is a little better off.

Oh - I also helped Nan buy a new car this week! It seems she decided last weekend that she needed a new car to replace her 1995 Ford Explorer that looks brand new and only had 72,000 miles on it. Since my sister Jamie and BIL Ernie are more than pretty busy lately helping out with their grandson Derek who is in the hospital several hundred miles away in Sacramento recovering from surgery - I did a little leg work on the internet and gave Nan a few suggestions on models to look at - on Wednesday. I got a call from Jamie on Thursday telling me they (Nan) bought a new Honda CRV on Thursday. Nan sure doesn't waste any time once her mind is made up does she!!

This brings me to my rant of the week. Since our federal government decided to spend a couple more billion $$ on its "Cash For Clunkers" program - and since Nan's Explorer was considered an "Clunker" and therefore eligible for "free" government cash - Nan took the cash and the Explorer will now have to be destroyed. TRUST ME - although the Explorer was some 14 years old - it was not a "Clunker"!! So here's how I see the deal ...

1. Nan got about the same deal on the new CRV that she would have gotten with a regular trade-in deal and normal haggling on the sticker price.

2. Nan now has to pay income tax on the $4,500 dollars of "free" government money.

3. The dealership lost out on a used car sale.

4. Somebody lost an opportunity to get a really nice used car.

5. The overall impact to the world's environment over the next 100 years is imperceptible at best and debatable at that.

6. Taxpayers of the future will now foot the bill for this expensive Bad Deal For America.

OK - I'm done now.

Bottom Line ... Nan likes her new car!!!

Big News!

We have managed to stay busy over the past few days with Peggy finishing up VBS and me finishing up the window trim painting project and then moving on to preparing the motorhome for travel. I brought the rig home last Thursday and started the process by washing off 6 weeks or so of dirt and grime and then moved on to the wax job. I waxed the rig in March while we were in Alabama but I didn't like the results of the job I did on one side - so being the weird clean vehicle freak that I am ... I decided the whole thing needed to be waxed again - after all you can't just wax one side ya know! I have just a little more to complete today and that job will be done - until I decide it needs it again!

So what else is happening with us here in good ol' Maine. Let's see ... Eric and Brian had their birthdays last week, the sun has been out almost everyday this week, and Stacy got engaged this weekend! Yup - you heard me right - it seems that Kaj proposed to her while they where in Boston on Saturday (more specifically at Fenway Park) and she said yes - so I guess it's official - beautiful ring and all! She and Kaj both sounded excited - her mom and I were only somewhat surprised but really happy for her - and Kaj. Once the excitement of the engagement wears off a bit they can start the next phase - wedding planning. Sometimes this can be one of the tough parts but I have faith that they will make it through just fine. As for mom and I ... we'll try and be good parents and only help when asked. We made it through "empty nest" syndrome so I suppose we can make it through seeing our youngest move on to the next exciting phase of her life.

With all that going on in the background we will load up the motorhome and head west on Sunday afternoon for our relatively short trip to Southwestern New York and other points in New England. We're looking forward to it!

So Many Decisions

After the rain on our BBQ last Friday the weather has turned pretty nice and it looks like real summer this week. It appears that Peggy and her VBS gang ordered a nice week for their fun and they were rewarded!

It's been back to projects for Mikee since the birthday celebrations and grandkid visits finished up. I managed to complete all the prep work for sealing the driveway the other day (pothole repair, crack sealing, depression filling) and now I'm ready for the final sealcoat step. Since I need to bring the motorhome home for a few days before our trip - I think I will put off the final step until after we get home. I babysat the window installers yesterday as they removed the six original equipment (1958 or so) push out awning style windows in the 1st floor bedrooms and replaced them with new vinyl replacement crank out style awning windows. The new windows are double pane, argon filled, low E type windows that should be a lot more energy efficient than the old ones and we like the fact that these can be opened with the crank while the screens remain in place. With the old windows we had to remove the screen in order to operate the windows! The windows had to be custom fit to the openings and therefore some new wood trim pieces were required. That means that Mikee has a new project to prep and paint the new trim. I have managed to get the priming and caulking prep part done but I will probably have to wait until tomorrow to finish the final painting.

Peggy and I have been discussing our future travel plans. It looks like we are both on-board for a snowbird trip to Arizona this winter. Right now it looks like we would leave Maine sometime after Christmas and head south. Now the question is "How far South - How Fast?" Do we swing through the Southeast again before heading west? Or do we head pretty much southeast on a more direct route to Arizona? We'll have to think about that for a few months. When we get to AZ we plan on staying awhile at the Escapees Co-Op RV Park in Benson for a few weeks, maybe a couple weeks in Tucson, maybe a few more weeks up towards Phoenix. Did you notice the large number of "maybe's." Wait - there's more ... then comes the real tough part ... when do we come home? We want to get to California and visit relatives again next year - there is a high school reunion that would be fun to get to in August - I need to help BIL Ernie get his '55 Cameo put back together. So do we come home to Maine in the Spring and turn around and head west again a few month later? Or do we simply head northwest from AZ and not come home until the fall!?

So many "want to do's," so many miles, only so much money, and so little time. Wait a minute! ... I take that back ... we have plenty of time! Now if I can only get a government bailout to help with that pesky money issue.

History

As predicted - the rain moved in just about the time the 2nd Annual State O' Maine July-August Great Birthday Bash BBQ was set to begin so we quickly moved to plan B. While Mikee managed to keep the ribs, burgers, and dogs from burning on the BBQ out in the rain - Nicky and Peggy set up a pretty efficient buffet line in the kitchen - the extension leaves went in the dining room table and viola ... the party moved in-doors. It's too bad the weather didn't cooperate but I think a good visit was had by all. Brian and the Gang made it back to NJ yesterday and things quickly returned to "normal" around here ... but boy did it get quiet all of a sudden! Grandkids are great!! We can't wait until our next visit.


We were pretty negligent in taking pictures while the NJ gang was here but I did manage to get one that Brian took at the beach earlier in the week so I'm posting that one along with one Stacy put on my computer of her and Kaj at Niagara Falls a few weeks ago and one of Eric and Jen at Wolfe Neck State Park they took yesterday. They don't know that I took it from Jen's Facebook page ... but then that will teach them to let me on Facebook and then to let me be their "friend."

















As most of you know - I have been interested in "history" for some time and have been dabbling in genealogy for the last couple of years. My latest genealogy project has been to research my ancestors on my mother's side - and more particularly - on her mother's side - the Ricci family of El Dorado, California. As it turns out - the Riccis go back to the 1848-1850 Gold Rush days in central California. Most of my research was done on the internet and I was able to find a great amount of information from searchable on-line newspaper sources and from an on-line version of a history book about the early days in El Dorado County that was published in the 1880's. I also came across a reference to a book titled "Along the Georgetown Divide" by Georgia Gardner. Since the book referenced the Ricci Family I really wanted to read it and I was able to find a used copy on Amazon.com ... so I ordered it and received it the other day. The book is really closer to a booklet, amatuerishly published and bound - and consists of 50 very short stories about the history of a relatively small area of the California foothills where gold was discovered in 1849 and the California Gold Rush began. The stories were written (by hand originally) by a then 87 year old woman (in 1993) who had lived in the area all her life, who herself was an amateur historian, and who was encouraged by others to put her memories on paper. The stories are a fantastic window into how life really was in the days of the Gold Rush and the 100 years or so that followed. My only point in sharing this here is to encourage anybody who reads this, especially my own kids, to learn what they can - when they can - about history. It's clear to me now (it certainly wasn't when I was going to school or even when I was their age) that you simply can not fully understand the world around you unless you know how you got there.