Dec 27, 2007 Anaheim Calif

Dec 27, 2007: Without a decent costing internet connection until tonight here in Anaheim California I have been unable to post. Will write up the missing days over the next couple days, when we are not in Disneyland.

December 24, 2007 Monday Las Vegas Nevada Day 6
Happy Anniversary Shirleen!!


December 23, 2007 Sunday Las Vegas Nevada Day 5
Started out looking for food, seeing it was around 10:30 am and n coffee as of yet, we went to The Banquet Restaurant right in the Wynn. It is supposed to be the best in town according to Shirleen’s reading. The hanging chandlers were loaded with fruits and vegetables. The foods were more than plentiful beef, seafood, Italian, Spanish. The one most remembered by me was the horseradish that went with the prime beef. It brought tears to my eyes, and I have tasted strong horseradish before, at St. Elmo’s in Indianapolis. Wow.

Shirleen went to find her free 25$ from the Wynn. We finally figured out how to operate the red card given to us. She hit a 50$ 7’s. Walked out with 65.75$.

We visited all the adjoining hotels to look at decorations, most minimal. We had a nice time in The Venetian, brought back memories of Venice. We strolled through a number of stores that had Murano glass and Venetian pictures. So we moved hotels. The Luxor was south of us and the traffic heavy to get there. The pyramid was neat looking and immense internally. The check-in fellow directed me to Starbuck’s for free internet.

Went through the gambling portion in the Luxor and saw a 500,000$ Baccarat invitational tournament. It was towards the end of the games and high stakes were evident. The highest was 76,000$ final bet, won by him and he moves to tomorrows quarter final. Off we went on to see different registration areas. Walking was the way to go. We ended up eating a pizza in the New York - New York hotel. The wine and pizza was great, wish I was hungry enough to eat the main meals. The Il Fornaio a highly rated Italian restaurant. Back to the hotel for the next day, 41st Anniversary Day. - jerr


December 22, 2007 Saturday Las Vegas Nevada Day 4
Reason for not posting, the hotel wants to charge me 12.95$ for 24 hours.
Off this morning at 9 degs, looks like we didn’t leave the cold and snowy weather behind. As we had small drifting along the high lands of Utah, crossing from I-70 to I-15 south. It was a straight 77 mph all the way. We arrived noon and the navigation system took me to the driveway of the Wynn. We were off to a quick noon lunch, but where? End up at the hotels Sugar & Ice restaurant. A nice view of a waterfall. The hamburgers and French fries and potato chips were really good.

Time to check-in but where is the front of this place? We found the slots and figured we were getting closer. Here we found a nice Christmas exhibit of highly white light decorated trees and multiple arches. And here is registration, we were gently ushered to an open smiley clerk. A quick check of Shirleen’s drivers license, she made the reservations, think I found a clue here. He said there were about 9,500 people who worked at the Wynn and more to come as they were expanding on the north of the building. We asked and received a Vegas strip view of the downtown. The highlight of this hotel is the Ferrari and Maserati dealership is housed in the Wynn, they sell at least one Ferrari a day, it is also a garage to do work on those cars for people who drove here. To the room shed our bags, I put my Vegas clothes in the Disneyland suitcase.

We are going to meander down the strip to look at the sights Michelle and Mark told us to see. Well they have done 9 trips, we are trying to do it in one trip and four days. First the Bellagio to check for tickets for O, Circus du Soule. All sold out till Jan 6th. But we were there and found a spectacular Christmas display. Will post the welcome Christmas sign later. It just glistened with highly decorated trees, immense ornaments, deer which were covered with whole walnuts for the brown skin texture. Around the back of the display area was a Chihuly shop, one of a few. We moseyed around the small shop and struck up a conversation with the sales lady, who drew our attention to a special item for the Bellagio store. It was what I was looking for in the glass blowing Island of Murano, Venice Italy. This was a piece made by Chihuly and the master glass blower from there, saw a program about this a number of years ago and that’s where I saw my first Putti, this one in a dish both infused with a light coloring of gold. Cost, 12,000$ another 970$ shipping. Would someone check our door step to see if the package arrived? The saleslady showed us the Christmas card from Chihuly’s family. We went around the corner of that shop and found a chocolate shop, Jean Philippe. It has a six stream cascading white and brown chocolate waterfall. We were tempted to buy some neat chocolate Christmas houses, Santa Clauses and other trinkets to melt in the car on the way back home. The top off to this hotel is the registration area which has a multiple saucer, multiple colored wavy saucer Chihuly work. we walked through many other Hotels and viewed their decorations, next best was Caesar’s Palace with the decorations being dark red blown icicle ornaments hanging from leaf and bark-less tree branches. This decoration followed throughout the hotel. Here we ate supper, not very hungry so we ate in their café at the registration area, nice place to watch people, many talking on cell phones. Shirleen had here French onion soup with a glass of cab and I wonton soup with pork and shrimp wontons, thin noodles, mushrooms and cabbage. Accented with a saucer of highly spiced red sauce, this I used a couple times. Most of mine was eaten with chopsticks, soup with spoon and a pino region wine.
Walked back to the hotel and watched the waterfall exhibit in the Parasol room, really neat highly parasols twirling in the air, the water fall has a colored display with statues in the small pool of a man half submerged and a women walking and visa versa with the other two. Neat display, can be seen from three of their restaurants.

December 21, 2007 Friday Richfield Utah Day 3

Covered 676 miles yesterday, gained an hour and drove late. Today we woke up with 3 inches of snow on the car. Not what I would say was a good way to start the day. Seeing we stayed at a Ramada there was no breakfast included, seeing we had that good meal last night we opted out till later. Off we went and the first flying object we saw after getting on the snow packed hwy was a mature bald eagle flew right over us. Up and down the mountains we went. We stopped at a visitor center and found the Arches National Park were right down the road. So we stopped at Thompson and filled up.

Down 191 we went and got stopped by a semi trailer tipped in the ditch, luckily it was up righted quickly after we arrived. Couple of the guys ahead of us were out and looking through field glasses and were right on top of the accident and said we will move soon. And soon we did.

We stopped south of the park at Moab, neat name, for lunch. Going down the main street I spotted a restaurant to the right, thank goodness the guy behind me was quick on the brake and I made a fast corner. There was The Broken Oar, the parking lot had a couple cars in it and it looked inviting. Inside it was big furniture; Shirleen needed help moving her heavy wooden chair to get in. Randy said to seat ourselves where we wanted. As there were only two other people there it was easy to sit close to the gas fed fireplace. We ordered two glasses of wine, Randy informed us that we could have pop, beer but the wine would have to wait 10 more minutes as they could not serve that before noon. Shirleen’s grilled cheese was a blend of Swiss cheese between two caraway rye pieces of bread and nicely grilled and a side of sweet potato fires. I jumped on a fish and chips, the chips being the sweet potato fries. At the strike of noon Randy delivered our cab and chardonnay. He said that the sweet potatoes are cooked, sliced to a 1/8 inch thickness, rolled in rice flour and sugar, then quickly frozen otherwise they get mushy.

Now up to Arches National Park to view the arches and topography of the region. The area is made of sandstone, they had a couple named. This area was once a salt bed, many times flooded and evaporated with areas with a thousand feet of salt. It takes about 2 hours to do the short visit. The colors were more orange and gray than Sedona or the richness of Hawaii. Shirleen did not see the Bighorn Sheep yesterday and there was a possibility to see some here. Up the hills we went, taking every side road, looking at every shaft of rock and arch in our path. We rounded a corner and Shirleen said look at those three nuns or Monks that was three big rocks close together, they called them Gossipers. Same difference?? Shirleen’s constant comment was, This is awesome!! I found the viewing just great, the snow covered Meant that it was a light snow and outlined the shapes of the following: rocks, shrubs, trees and dead branches was just spectacular, for me that’s a big thing. We thought we would take a look at the Delicate Arch many timed photo’ed by professional’s and us others photo bugs. To get a good photo we took the trail that went up a, what seemed to me, my last trail. Up and up it went, I stopped a couple times and caught my breath. We got to the top and took a couple pictures. There were three, turned out Aussies who were visiting the states. He was taking pixs and the ladies said they had done the two hour trip to the arch. It was ice packed and hard to walk on. We started back and re-viewed the formations.

Back up (north) 30 miles to catch I-70. Nice riding until more snow at the passes, 7500 feet or so. Travelling was 50 MPH or so and many cars behind me. One 18 wheeler went around me but later I flew past him. As the storms were in twilight we decided to stop for the evening at Richfield Utah, Comfort Inn. The gal recommended Steve’s Steakhouse, which I would also recommend. The steaks were well prepared but, only in Utah, we had to place our dinner order before we could have our glass of cabernet. That’s the law. Shirleen went small order 5 oz filet, looked like at least 10 to me in comparison to my 10 oz rib eye. Shirleen’s cauliflower/broccoli and my, for the first time in years, a baked potato. We met the owner, 35 year old guy, who said our waitress owned the place, his wife. He asked where we were headed and he said he spent two weeks in Vegas. Off for Vegas tomorrow. jerr

December 20, 2007 Thursday Glenwood Springs Colorado Day 2

We had a late start this morning, wanted to leave before 7 but with the fog we waited till 8 and more daylight. Had a good waffle, seems these are my favorites! As we headed west we began seeing unit trains, coal going east, freight west and passing trains each way. Just out of Fremont I saw a field full of pheasants eating beneath a coating of snow, suspect wheat field as no rubble left, when I say a field full there must have been a swarm, no herd, no covey of 45 or 50 of them.

Stopped at a restaurant gas station to fill up on both. It was on hwy 80 off exit 164, town of Hershey (NE). Shirleen’s grilled cheese with French fries and hot chocolate took care of her needs, my country fried steak with hash browns and gravy with two basted eggs and a super large diet Pepsi. The waitress was pleasant but the food was mediocre, in other words stop there only if you are caught in a snow storm and haven’t ate for two days.

About a hundred miles before Denver I thought, let’s try this OnStar thing. I called and bought 100 minutes of extra call time from the car. Along with that I gave them a destination to Glenwood Springs from, yes she knew where I was. It turned out she was sitting in Toronto, wonder if she knew how fast Shirleen was going? Shirleen passed through Denver with those directions. As we climbed towards Vail we came upon snow flurries. We were glad we were on the side going west, on the east side semi’s were backed up for miles, some putting on chains others sitting. We passed Vail during early evening, the Christmas trees were lite and looked great covered lightly with snow. As we passed Golden Colorado I caught site of a Big Horn Sheep, then a herd and then a single male looking at the traffic about eight feet off the hwy. The ruggedness and snow cover of the mountains was beautiful to look at. As we came into the city where we are staying, off in the night coming toward us from across the canyon was a diesel locomotive pulling coal cars. It was hard to see but the snow behind the train made it visible. What a missed photo, thank god it was to dark, otherwise I would feel bad.

Glenwood Springs Colorado 5740 foot elevation. Tonight we ate at Juicy Lucy’s Steakhouse, may as well, we found a open parking spot right in front of it otherwise it would have been an Italian meal. The onion rings went well before the meal with sourdough bread; Shirleen had a 6 oz Filet with Lucy’s au gratin some of the best we ever had served, and I a 10 oz sirloin with handcut French fries all done perfectly. The wines were a Grayson Cab and mine a E. Guig Cote du Rhone. Great stop which I would recommend without a snow storm or even if you ate an hour before. Tomorrow toward Las Vegas. jerr

End of Year 2007 Travels -- December 19, 2007 Arrived at Fremont Nebraska Day 1

Tomorrow we start our trip to Las Vegas. After Shirleen's bridge we head for Iowa and hopefully into Nebraska. Take off is around 2:30.

Today: Dec 19

We left North Mankato at 2:40 pm. On the way to Worthington using Hiway 60 we saw nine pheasants, one hawk and two deer along with much flat land covered with white. The navigation system followed along with us, as we didn’t try and proram since our hands on class. The temperature was in the lower thirties all the way down. We stopped in Sioux City for a Burger King treat, Shirleen had a Whopper Jr, onion rings and milk; Jerr had a chicken sandwich.

Off we went, down the two lane dark road of Nebraska, Hiway 77. I wonder how many times I have taken this route, too many. We thought we would get a tank of gas and right next to a station was a Sleep Inn, so instead of going to Columbus we stopped here. Decent price when I call Choice Hotel’s from their lobby. Saved 7$ by doing that.

Think we did about 265 miles. Looking at getting a bit past Denver tomorrow. jerr

Monday July 30 Milwaukee Day 17 also read thru July 27

New Today we went to Waukesha to research the Jam.... surname. I had found a reference to some in this area. We found a number of items and one on a Gul's... . Not much of anything else. I had felt that I may find a reference to my great-great grandmother Wilhelmine and son William Jam..... and maybe great-grandmother Margaret. We looked through the state census for 1855 in Waukesha, 1860 Federal census for Jefferson county. We found some Jam... and one Gul's... . We reviewed the local paper of the time “Waukesha Freemen” for all Jam..., Guls..., Kramb.... and Klink's......; some Jam..... entries found and recorded. I was not prepared to research it at this time maybe in a couple weeks when we are back here again. jerr

Sunday July 29 Milwaukee Day 16 - New July 27

New A 349.8 mile day to Milwaukee to meet Michelle. But we had some time so stopped at the Chicago Botanical Garden on the north side of town even though we had been there before. It’s a Sunday and everyone was there, the melting pot of the town was evident, a mixture of languages and ages. We noticed today they had special presentations on Italian cookery sponsored by Barilla; a friend of mine is the QA manager at their Ames location. At that location they bring in durum wheat from Arizona and North Dakota, they mill their own flour for making the pasta at that location. So we decided to take the show in. As we were walking through the colorful gardens, one neat thing was floating planters in the ponds. They were anchored but slowly spun. They were filled with pink petunias.

The Barilla presentation was in a nicely sheltered area with a set of benches. They were all taken by the time we got there but, directly up the center was a walkway and at the top were two places to stand. Now for two people who have sat for the last 14 days this was our spot. At this time we have no idea of what to expect. A Barilla spokesperson gave a nice song and dance about the activities which were to happen along with the chef’s who were going to present different topics. After a scheduling problem the show came on about 30 minutes late, thank god we were late arrivals. The first chef was Art Smith; he has been the chef for Oprah’s birthday party. Apparently they fried chicken for it as he said he felt and smelled like chicken when the day was done. Art had just cooked for Barack Obama the day before. He cooks for many celebs and has a new restaurant in Chicago at 52 W. Elm, Table 52, and seats 30 people.

His preparation for today was Spaghetti with Olive-Pine Nut Tomato Sauce or in the language (Spaghetti con Olive, Pinoli e Pomodoro) for those whom may have an interest in this recipe just e-mail me. He went through the prep of this dish by adding a small quantity of olive oil to the hot pan and roasting the pine nuts. He then crushed the garlic and adding pepper flakes, slow cooked them. He added crushed tomatoes to the sauce mixture and added washed and diced black olives. He made the comment, always stir in the same direction; he had heard that from many chefs. We looked at each other and said I stir in both directions. The pasta was Barilla penne cooked for 10 minutes, check by taking out one and squeezing on the table, if it rebounds, it is cooked, if it is smashed go out and buy Barilla. He combines all and tops with freshly torn basil, as a knife blade can give a metallic taste to the herb and meal. That is why Shirleen tears her lettuce when she makes salad. What was amazing they served a small cupful of this entire to the entire group as he was taking questions? I asked that I noticed he had used partially cooked pasta for the crowd, how do you prepare it? He basically said he would advise not to do it. I then said how my wife and I had a tour of the Ames Barilla plant and had noticed the professionalism.
He had recently been to Africa to teach 100 girls on how to cook; this is at Oprah’s school. He talked about his mother, he would tell her that he had cooked for someone, and she would counter with, you’re looking pale or something totally different. His emphasis was love of family and people close to you. Share your experiences with others and preparing meals for them shows they mean much to you.

He has written a couple cookbooks and his philosophy is to get the families to eat together again. His first book Back to the Table, on the New York Times best sellers list, sounds interesting but not available there. His Back to the Family, subtitle “Food Tastes better Shared with the Ones You Love”, was available and of course we got an autographed edition. It was dedicated to Oprah. As we were standing in line a lady tapped me on the shoulder and asked ‘was it the Ames plant you went through?’ I said yes it was as we knew the QA Manager and I was selling laboratory services. She mentioned that she was the wife of the president of the company and knew Jerry P. she said she would say Hi the next time she saw him and I gave her our courtesy card. She was going to thank Art for his presentation but stood in the autograph line for her turn. When he signed ours I asked if he would like a copy of our German-Bohemian Heritage cookbook, he said he sure would as his mother was Bohemian. He then wrote his address on the bag we put the cookbook into.

To each person who filled out a questioner was given a big cloth shopping bag, much like the Europeans use daily. The bag has big pockets on the sides and of course the name Barilla on it. They had it stuffed with a box of farfalle pasta – the girl’s favorite, a box of Plus penne – multi grain pasta, a large bottle of tomato & basil with imported olive oil and a spaghetti stirring spoon.

At Michelle’s home I had their black cat, Basil, swirl around my legs. Michelle asked me to let it do that as the cat has not befriended anyone before. I stood there with my eyes closed saying, ‘I am doing this for my beloved daughter’ I must have said it 6 times or so. What an accomplishment for me. jerr

Saturday July 28 Waterbury Conn to Maumee Ohio Day 15

Again after 649.8 miles from Waterbury to Maumee Ohio it has been a long day. Staying at the same Comfort Inn we stayed in when we came back from Florida. jerr

Update Aug 15 Friday July 27 Orleans Cape Cod Day 14

Will update Sunday when we hit Milwaukee. We ended up going from Cape Cod to Waterbury Conn heavy traffic, much worse than our Mankato Friday traffic. jerr

NEW Aug Update
This morning we are headed up the Cape to visit with a mutual relative and the beauty of the Cape. As we head down from Boston and hook northeast I noticed the sign and it said Plymouth. Figured out it was not a car I had Shirleen see if it was where Plymouth Rock was? Right on, so a detour to see it, as we had time to spare, we thought. We parked our cars close to the rock and National Park person. The rock sets inside a granite portico and metal fenced in area. On the rock is chiseled 1620. The park lady said that the rock was used as a drop off area for the pilgrims. They could only do this when the tide was up. The longboats would approach the rock and the pilgrims would step off onto it and then the beach. She also said the rock is now one third the size it was when they landed here. The government okayed the chipping off of the rock for personal uses. That was stopped in the late 1800’s. When one looked around the area, that was the only rock on the beach, supposedly laid down by the glaciers? We then saw a replica of the Mayflower. Another three mast ship, small but made it to the US anyway.

As time drew nearer to the time we were going to the east coast I began to think about Uncle Lew. He was a vague memory of mine. He was another of the relation that died when I was in the service. We had found the obituary when we visited Key West and in it, it reminded me of the fact that he was buried in Orleans Mass. I went on the net to look up the historical sight for the town. Low and behold there was one, no e-mail contact but a telephone number, I called a recorder and the next day a lady called me. She asked who I what I was looking for, I said I know that my Uncle Lew M. was buried around Orleans. She said M., I said yes, she said I know a lady by that name, Sandy. I said in the obit it says that he had a nephew, Bruce; she said I think her husbands name was Bruce. I noticed past tense. She said she would contact her and that she may be calling me. 45 minutes later I get a phone call and it was Sandy and yes she had married Bruce, he died in 2000. She remembered Aunt Vi and said that she had kept in letter writing contact with the M.’s for many years. We then set up a time and place to meet and a contact e-mail address. I do not use last names to protect confidentiality.

Off to Orleans for our meeting. We just about didn’t make it, I pulled into a lane and a pickup narrowly missed us. Had I not taken a wrong turn and it became 30 minutes past meeting time. Needless to say we were glad to see Sandy sitting on the bench with her green top on for recognition. Shirleen had on a matching apple green top on. It was nice to see her waiting for us. Sandy‘s husband, Bruce, was the nephew of my Uncle Lew M.. We went into the restaurant to have coffee and the New Englander her tea along with the dropped r’s in her speech. Can you believe I ordered a roll and no one else did. But de ja vu, she asked did I want it grilled? This is how Mom would do her couple day old rolls. See it was meant to be. We chatted for 15 minutes or so and I had some things I brought along for Sandy, hoping that there was a historical society that would hold the memorabilia? She was not sure where it will go but she will look over her M. materials and if there is something about Aunt Vi in it she will forward.

Sandy had worked as a shellfish biologist, working in the area of mussel and clams, and became the conservation administrator of Orleans’s Massachusetts. She held that position of shellfish biologist for many years; this eventually gave her the right material for her first book, “Rowing Forward Looking Back”. The book was encouraged by people in this area. Here is her books forward in its entirety and demonstrates her character as we saw it. “In memory of Bruce, a master at practical applications of ideas, who taught me many things. Among them, he taught me to love this place in different ways than I already did, enriching my life immeasurably in the process.” Oh what powerful words and memories this meant for her. The cover of the book has a picture of her white 16 foot row boat, reading her book it turned out to be a sailboat that Bruce had bought. Now she asked, do you mind if we all drive in my van and I will take you tour you around and visit Lew’s grave. Sandy is a wealth of information about the M.s but has little written, we tried to recreate some of what she said but missed much. Another item that I noticed and it also showed her environmental concern, her license plate, it had a tail of a whale, two seagulls flying overhead and the words Preserve the Trust.

Off we went. What a neat way to tour the back roads of a busy busy area of tourism. She took us to a number of harbor’s starting at Fort Hill. This area is to the Atlantic Ocean side. President JF Kennedy designated Cape Cod’s Atlantic side as our National Seashore. Where the beauty of the shifting sands of Nauset Harbor, make the outer bank sands move. This causes the opening of the bank to move and it becomes navigable during high tides possible otherwise but not as easy. We could see the Nauset Light, salt ponds, fisherpersons and lobster trap bobbers. What a sight to take in.

We came to another beach area and parked close to the beach. A man came forward to ask us to move, he then noticed who she was and they talked. He walked away and suddenly she jumped out of the car and went to him by his boat and two dogs. The dogs just sat there and would not get out of the boat, even though they wanted to. She talked to Mike, he has fished for lobster, mussels and other shellfish. His van gave his company name: Stony Is. Sea-Farm, Orleans Mass. Mike has fished these shores for many years and she would like to interview him for her next book. He will add insight to the fishing and decline of that industry. Again many fishing boats, some folk’s harvesting clams and another peaceful setting. I took a picture of a Historical Marker at that beach it said “Snow Shore – Stephen Snow 1644 overlooks Champlain’s July 1605 anchorage: first white man killed by Nawsetts on the beach – his carpenter Malouin of St. Malo. Home Port, Nausets early fishing fleets. Cable landing – direct wire, Orleans to Brest, France.” This is where the telephone cable ran from the US to Europe. Off again we went.

We visited Rock Harbor on Cape Cod Bay. Again a spectacular overview of the seashore or is it bay shore, you get the drift. More fishing boats, people enjoying the nature feeling away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Communing with nature, what a deal. Here we go again. It was interesting to hear how the Cape iced in from the North. This makes for a short spring because the winds blow the ice to the seashore on the Capes bay side and keeps the area cooler. The summers are mild with the winds off the water. The falls are just spectacular with the changing colors of the leaves.

During our transit we visited the cemetery where the M.’s are buried. The M. plots were close to the roadside. Lew’s father James and his mother Agnes was buried in the next row. All gravesites were marked with footstones. Sandy really felt close to a couple of the family, she felt a fondness for Ginny (Bruce’s mother) and Ida (Freddies (officially known as Norman – Lew’s brothers) wife these were the ultimate women and held themselves more aristocratically than others. This reminded me of Aunt Vi also. Lew’s marker had moss growing on it. I had brought along a couple hosta plants from his wife’s grave, those were from the family Klink's..... grave, with a white fringe and medium green inside. I had taken off the dirt and wrapped them in damp paper towels, much like I did the ones from the Czech Republic in 1995. I unwrapped the plants and spotted new roots growing even though the plants had been in the trunk and had not seen the light of day since we left Minnesota. I planted the hosta’s and felt I made a connection for the two.

We now went to see Portanimicut Landing to see Pleasant Bay. It had a boat launching area and a scenic overlook of boats, big houses and a channel to an inside bay. A sign said Fragile Marsh – No Crossing.

Many homes were decorated with flowers and shrubs, some just beautiful dark blue hydrangeas were evident, again, all over. The Cape Cod home of double windows on each side of the door, half Cape’s with a set of doors on one side and three quarter with two windows on one side and one on the other. Salt boxes were square and the north facing roofs that went almost to the ground. We drove sandy single lane back roads and made sure if we were to make a turn it was headed right, so as not to go against traffic as I had earlier. Her home is set back from the road and covered by trees. She was given this house from an intricate set of circumstances. Bruce’s Aunt Ruth, my Uncle Lew’s sister, and Uncle had lived in the house, he dies, she marries another man, she then dies and the man one relative removed, not related, gave Sandy her Aunt’s house, and this is the one she now lives in, what a generous man he was. Sandy and her mother and four sisters used to have their summer vacations in their Aunt’s rented cottage on Cape Cod, at that time she said the place had no running water and no inside bathroom. She remembers how they liked getting back home for the conveniences. This cottage is currently the storage shed set back from the highway.

Sandy had to get us back to the cars; she had a memorial service to go to early that afternoon. In this short period of time we grew together because of our commonality, we hugged each other and said Good Bye. She indicated she had wanted to come to Minnesota and the surrounding states. If she does I certainly hope she stays with us so we can return the hospitality she had given us.

We headed north; she said a nice place to look at was Wellfleet Harbor. We decided to eat there; we pulled into a, what looked like a restaurant and a group of people told us to go to the Bookstore restaurant. They said it might be full so we just headed north. We saw a restaurant that looked semi busy and yup it was the Bookstore & Restaurant. Did we luck out, there were no tables open outside on the first floor and were seated on the second floor veranda. A clear look into the harbor, many fishing boats came while we were seated. I ordered a appetizer of Oysters Rockefeller, spinach and a white sauce covering the oyster and shell and baked. Not bad a 7 out of 10. Shirleen ordered, you guessed it a lobster roll, Jim a Clam Strip Special and I sole and chips.

Off to the west, wanted to find the house, Wing fort house, Pat S.’s great??????-grandfather built in Sandwich, Mass. We did not see the house as by the time we realized it, it was long gone and back behind us. We drove through some awful traffic, of course, it was Friday night. We came to many dead stops and it carried on for many miles. We found a motel room advertised and pulled into Waterbury Conn. We decided to get a couple of beers and as it was in an Italian restaurant, Nino’s Trattoria, we ordered a Margareta pizza, tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and basil. Look at the order of the ingredients, the color is from the Italian flag for Queen Margareta. Our waitress, Laura - an older lady and making a little pin money, gave us the ok to drink beer alone, as she has too. When she brought our second beer over, they were really full, she said she sipped a little out so it wouldn’t spill. Neat lady.

Off for the west in the morning, destination unknown. jerr

Thursday July 26 Boston Day 13

So what did we do today? Off to the MBTA – subway- via the van from the Comfort Inn. We take a round trip pass to the trolley. It costs 3.40$ for one. We board the red line at JFK/UofMass, the orange to state and finally the exit at the aquarium where the trolley homeports. We take it to stop 3 to view the ship.

We thought the best thing to do was go to the USS Constitution “Old Iron Sides” for a tour http://www.oldironsides.com/. It is still an active Navy vessel built in 1797. It was built to defend the American shipping interests in the Mediterranean Sea.

A white hat gave the tour, a nice young man whom truly loves his duty. You look at the full three mast vessel. The sides were built with two layers of white oak and one layer from a live oak, the sides were two feet deep and pined every six inches or so. I learned during our southeast trip this winter that a live oak only grows to around South Carolina, the leaves fall during the year not all at once like ours. This growing pattern causes a density to this wood that approaches three to four times the strength of oak alone. The ship can run 13+ knots, highest mast 220 ft., displacement 2,200 tons and a length of 204 ft. I noticed it drew 21 feet of water below line. The masts have rolled canvas sheets that weigh 1,100 pounds and 25 people to roll but 4 to 5 to unroll. We walked around the deck admiring the well polished brass, well coiled rope and cannons. Everything you look at is just plain thick and big. There were two 24-pound “Bow Chasers”, 20 – 32-pounders called “Carronades” crew of 4 to 9 sailors.

We went below deck to the cannon deck. 32 – 24-pounder “Long Guns” each taking a crew of 6 to 14 sailors to man. The shell could travel about a mile, the recoil was about 9 feet; this allowed them to reload the cannon.

The sailor talked about the famous battle the Constitution was involved in. It involved the British frigate HMS Guerriere. The English were firing cannon balls at the Constitution but they we were said to bounce off or embed in the side. When it came alongside, the Captain said ‘hold aim’ it meant not to fire, they asked when do we, it turned out that it was about 25 yards from the ship. The order to fire came and all fired at once, the noise and black powder smoke thick in the air. Some sailors lost there hearing totally, some lost some of it for a while, like I did in the engine room I suspect, and some had blood running from their ears. The cannon balls were delivered to the gun by 8 year old boys, whom ran on watered down sand for better traction, to give the men the 24 pound cannon balls. After the Constitution fired all the masts of the ship were blown off and the US brought the survivors on board. That is when one sailor said ‘is it made of iron?’

Under this deck were the ships quarters. The 30 boys eight year olds slept on the deck, sailors in hammocks, amidships were the marines, aft of that was the officer quarters, private small doors to their bunks. The captain was on the second deck and had two living quarters, as he may have dignitaries on board. Big desk, large bed area and a chart desk.

We went back up to the main deck and the sailor said that the ship was going into dry dock. He also said they are not paid sea pay; they go out one to four times a year but not far from port. It turns out to be the oldest dry dock #1 where it has been before. A civilian told us that they were going to re-plate the copper underside; no one else had mentioned it but later saw a picture of that fact. The ship had in its heyday 500 or so hands, but I noticed only three small life boats, one by the captain’s deck, surprise.

This to me was an exciting tour. We also went through the neat museum. Again like Niagara Falls, the ship was big and powerful, we heard this morning that the river runs 25 miles per hour to the falls.

We decide to board the trolley to go and eat around Faneuil Hall area. As we walked to the front of the Hall we noticed many people coming from the second floor. All were well dressed and carrying a parchment and an American flag in their hand or pocket. I approached a young gal, turns out from Santo Domingo, turns out she has lived in America for 14 years, yes, this was her day to become an American and she couldn't say enough about how people should love this country, saying this with ters in her eyes. Her enthusiasm was catching and we looked at each other and said we take it for granted. The second floor of Faneuil Hall a historic Boston structure fondly called "The Cradle of Liberty," because of its association with American Revolutionary figures Samuel Adams and James Otis.

We ate at the oldest restaurant in America, ye olde UNION OYSTER HOUSE est. 1826. It was rustic and we were seated upstairs, even though we would have liked to sit at the oyster bar, no backs on the chairs. Shirleen ordered a Boston Scrod (a scrod is a young cod) and fries with a Hacienda cabernet, Jim fish cakes with Boston baked beans which we all thought were great with a tangy molasses taste. I had a tough time deciding, ended up ordering the fish platter, with a piece of haddock, shrimp, scallops, deep fried oysters, clams and a choice and tasty Colonial Ale.

We walked around this area and found a monument to the six million Jews whom were annihilated by Hitler. It, like other monuments like this, is inspiring but morbid. It is hard to think that someone could do this as the world looked on.

We took a walk through Quincy Market, many vendors of many types of foods. We boarded the trolley for a return trip and had another good guide. Back to square one, and we decided we wanted to sit and sip. We went to Legal Seafood on the wharf and ordered a drink and were told that we needed to order food, Shirleen quickly said, we will have coconut shrimp then. The gal was from Milwaukee and studying sports law. Our sips were Shirleen a Miller light, Jim a draft Sam Adams and I a real Budweiser. We then went back and decided the route back to home once we leave Cape Cod. Then my writing this up, again I have left many things out of here about the wonderful Boston experience, later perhaps.

Tomorrow I meet up with Sandy M. in Orleans, she will show me my Uncle Lew’s grave site. Then we turn west and are home bound. - jerr

Thursday July 26 Boston Day 13

So what did we do today? Off to the MBTA – subway- via the van from the Comfort Inn. We take a round trip pass to the trolley. It costs 3.40$ for one. We board the red line at JFK/UofMass, the orange to state and finally the exit at the aquarium where the trolley homeports. We take it to stop 3 to view the ship.

We thought the best thing to do was go to the USS Constitution “Old Iron Sides” for a tour www.oldironsides.com. It is still an active Navy vessel built in 1797. It was built to defend the American shipping interests in the Mediterranean Sea.

A white hat gave the tour, a nice young man whom truly loves his duty. You look at the full three mast vessel. The sides were built with two layers of white oak and one layer from a live oak, the sides were two feet deep and pined every six inches or so. I learned during our southeast trip this winter that a live oak only grows to around South Carolina, the leaves fall during the year not all at once like ours. This growing pattern causes a density to this wood that approaches three to four times the strength of oak alone. The ship can run 13+ knots, highest mast 220 ft., displacement 2,200 tons and a length of 204 ft. I noticed it drew 21 feet of water below line. The masts have rolled canvas sheets that weigh 1,100 pounds and 25 people to roll but 4 to 5 to unroll. We walked around the deck admiring the well polished brass, well coiled rope and cannons. Everything you look at is just plain thick and big. There were two 24-pound “Bow Chasers”, 20 – 32-pounders called “Carronades” crew of 4 to 9 sailors.

We went below deck to the cannon deck. 32 – 24-pounder “Long Guns” each taking a crew of 6 to 14 sailors to man. The shell could travel about a mile, the recoil was about 9 feet; this allowed them to reload the cannon.

The sailor talked about the famous battle the Constitution was involved in. It involved the British frigate HMS Guerriere. The English were firing cannon balls at the Constitution but they we were said to bounce off or embed in the side. When it came alongside, the Captain said ‘hold aim’ it meant not to fire, they asked when do we, it turned out that it was about 25 yards from the ship. The order to fire came and all fired at once, the noise and black powder smoke thick in the air. Some sailors lost there hearing totally, some lost some of it for a while, like I did in the engine room I suspect, and some had blood running from their ears. The cannon balls were delivered to the gun by 8 year old boys, whom ran on watered down sand for better traction, to give the men the 24 pound cannon balls. After the Constitution fired all the masts of the ship were blown off and the US brought the survivors on board. That is when one sailor said ‘is it made of iron?’

Under this deck were the ships quarters. The 30 boys eight year olds slept on the deck, sailors in hammocks, amidships were the marines, aft of that was the officer quarters, private small doors to their bunks. The captain was on the second deck and had two living quarters, as he may have dignitaries on board. Big desk, large bed area and a chart desk.

We went back up to the main deck and the sailor said that the ship was going into dry dock. He also said they are not paid sea pay; they go out one to four times a year but not far from port. It turns out to be the oldest dry dock #1 where it has been before. A civilian told us that they were going to re-plate the copper underside; no one else had mentioned it but later saw a picture of that fact. The ship had in its heyday 500 or so hands, but I noticed only three small life boats, one by the captain’s deck, surprise.

This to me was an exciting tour. We also went through the neat museum. Again like Niagara Falls, the ship was big and powerful, we heard this morning that the river runs 25 miles per hour to the falls.

We decide to board the trolley to go and eat around Faneuil Hall area. We ate at the oldest restaurant in America, ye olde UNION OYSTER HOUSE est. 1826. It was rustic and we were seated upstairs, even though we would have liked to sit at the oyster bar, no backs on the chairs. Shirleen ordered a Boston Scrod (a scrod is a young cod) and fries with a Hacienda cabernet, Jim fish cakes with Boston baked beans which we all thought were great with a tangy molasses taste. I had a tough time deciding, ended up ordering the fish platter, with a piece of haddock, shrimp, scallops, deep fried oysters, clams and a choice and tasty Colonial Ale.

We walked around this area and found a monument to the six million Jews whom were annihilated by Hitler. It, like other monuments like this, is inspiring but morbid. It is hard to think that someone could do this as the world looked on.

We took a walk through Quincy Market, many vendors of many types of foods. We boarded the trolley for a return trip and had another good guide. Back to square one, and we decided we wanted to sit and sip. We went to Legal Seafood on the wharf and ordered a drink and were told that we needed to order food, Shirleen quickly said, we will have coconut shrimp then. The gal was from Milwaukee and studying sports law. Our sips were Shirleen a Miller light, Jim a draft Sam Adams and I a real Budweiser. We then went back and decided the route back to home once we leave Cape Cod. Then my writing this up, again I have left many things out of here about the wonderful Boston experience, later perhaps. jerr

Wednesday July 25 Southborough to Boston Day 12

We left the hotel about 8:30 thinking we would miss a lot of traffic. We may have but it was hard to tell. We got into downtown Boston and went to look for a lace to park. I leaned over to Shirleen’s side and asked a cabbie next to us where a certain street was and he smiled and said next light left. We turned into an underground lot, it was 36$, the attendant said there was another lot for 22$ two blocks down. That was awful nice of him to direct us to a competitor’s lot! We arrived there and it was after 9 so the deal didn’t count, but it was only 32$. It was the International Building. We arrived on street level and we were meet with a floor to ceiling marble look. Just downright beautiful.

We wandered down to the trolley ticket sales. I asked the gal if she had the orange and green trolley tickets, I said we had discount tickets for it and she said go across the street, they are there. Third nice person. Our intention is to ride the route and figure out hat we will do the next day. On stop 15 we ate at Legal Seafood – Park Square, we wanted to judge it against the one Steve and Mary Ann took us to in West Palm Beach. Shirleen ordered a glass of Jekel cabernet with a Lobster roll, freshly shucked native lobster, a light celery mayo on a stuffed brioche bun, a side of fries and orzo for me. It was laced with red pepper and black olives - yummy. Jim had Legal’s Signature Crab Cake. It was piled high with Maryland lump crab, mustard sauce, greens tossed with tomatoes, pine nuts and vinaigrette, lightly breaded. I pursued the fish and chips, three succulent pieces of cod, done to a super moist inside and light breading with a side of cole slaw with a glass of Conundrum – a chardonnay and pinot grigio – sweeter than chardonnay but a pleasant surprise.

We took a walk through the Boston Commons area, people sunbathing, running through sprinklers, eating and some homeless staking out this evenings rest spot. Next door to the Commons is a garden, they were sprinkling the plantings during the mid day sun, but what beautiful flower arrangements. At one of the gates was a bronze statue of George Washington on his horse. We walked up the block and at its end was the opening shot of Cheers, the canopy leading down the stairs, the bar was never in the building but the quaintness of the outside of the building brought Boston’s uniqueness to the sitcom.

We went back on board the trolley and came to the beginning spot. Shirleen mentioned we should have a beer and her, a soda. We obliged her with the request. We sat for a half hour cooling down from the temperature and high humidity. As we walked toward the parking lot we looked at the 5 o’clock traffic and said let’s sit down for awhile, wait it out and maybe eat something. Here was The Times Irish Pub and Restaurant, we sat outside and Jim and I had a bowl of there prestigious clam chowder, as they had won a couple of citywide chowder awards. The traffic was light for the first two miles then tightened up again and became downright difficult to figure out what was going on and where to go.

We went to our cars and headed south. The directions looked straight forward but turned out to be complicated. After driving up and down and back and forth we arrived, Jim 15 minutes later.

It will take some writing to talk about the many sights we saw today and will see tomorrow. Hope to do that tomorrow. jerr

Tuesday July 24 Houlton Maine to Southborough Mass Day 11

An early start for Pat and Dave, as he is going to visit his brother in PA and maybe dad in Iowa. We traveled down the road at a good speed passing many a beware of moose. Some other animals I forgot to mention was a dead porcupine.

The fun stop was at the Old Town canoe factory. Jim had one of the Old Town canvas canoes with his brother years ago. The canvas is medium green and the inside varnished wood – what a great look. The new canvas canoe’s cost 4,000$. The unfortunate thing about that canoe was that on a cold late November last fishing trip of the year they went broadside and hit a tree stump. The boys could not get out as the ice kept breaking when they tried to get out. As luck would have it they came to an incoming stream and were able to get their way out. They made it to a farmhouse and the people warmed them up.

We got back on the road and stopped hours later for gas and food at a Burger King and Pizza. Not a note worthy lunch. Dave and Pat split off at Marlborough and we proceeded into town. But just as we pulled off the highway a C6, the cure for cancer one pulled ahead and we caught up at a light I asked how do we get there. He said follow me. We pulled up to the area and there was corvette parking we were ushered into. We had to pay 10$ to look at the cars but well worth it. They had cars from 1953 up to 1991’s, all colors and types. A feast for the eye’s.

Off we went to Southborough we went to find the grave of our best man at our wedding and pay respects to his memory. We found the cemetery where my old Navy friend John Lewis Cochrane was buried. He helped mature me, well as much as one could, and helped me become a qualified submariner on the Tecumseh. His grave stone had the same hosta’s as the Klink's.... hosta’s I have in the trunk for Lew’s grave from Aunt Vi’s grave.

We found a place to eat close to the Comfort Inn. The 1790 Colonial Restaurant House was a stately old building. We started with a glass of wine and a crab cake, a 5 on a scale of 0 to 10. The dinners were much better. Shirleen had a filet and sweet potato fries, Jim a scallop casserole, I had quick seared scallops, with crab claws on top of risotto rice and three crossed asparagus with a liberal amount of béarnaise sauce to cover the rice. This brought the meal up to an 8.

Off to Boston tomorrow, hope to miss the traffic by a later start. jerr

Monday July 23 Halifax to Houlton Maine Day 10

One thing I forgot two nights ago, after Shirleen’s split lobster she and I split a Belgium chocolate and cream fondue heated by a small flame, we dipped sliced orange, apple, cantaloupe and strawberries into. Of course this reminded us of the two old people we meet in Furth Im Wald Germany 1993/95.

The day was full sunshine all the way. I have not remembered to mention the wildlife we have seen. Not much, many blackbirds, some of the following, a robin, ravens, eagle, possum, and many seagulls. Not much other.

We had filled up the day before and figured we could make it to the USA without another fill. As we cruised down the Trans Canadian highway we looked for a lunch spot. We stopped at McCready’s Restaurant and the main order was the two haddock fillets with fries, Pat had a club sandwich. I ordered the special type fries – poutin fries – they consist of fries, smothered with gravy and topped with mozzarella cheese. This was a well traveled top as many cars and cycles where there, and all tables and the counter where we ate was full with people waiting to be seated anywhere.

Down the pike we went. There were many Moose signs but none spotted. Many parts of the highway was fenced by a high fence with door ways that opened toward the forest, thought maybe it is for animals that get out of the fenced in area and a way to get back?

We approached the boarder and had a great guard. He asked the regular do you have this and that. He then asked if we were traveling with a group, yes the one ahead and the guy (Jim) in the next lane. He said you drove from Minnesota? loaded question. I said we went up to the end of Nova Scotia and headed to Boston. Nice visit with him and off we went.

The motel we are staying at had a bar, we visited for a beer and found a couple living in New Jersey came from Aurora and Hibbing MN. They alo knew about Schell’s beer. Dinner was to be had down the line. Turned out to be Governer’s bakery and restaurant. The food was a 4 on a 10 scale, Shirleen had a grilled cheese sandwich, I a half and half or whole belly clams and haddock. A good coleslaw and I had their poutine fries – theirs were fries covered with gravy no cheese.

Back to the motel, early start tomorrow for Southborough Mass, with a stop at Old Town canoe. jerr

Sunday July 22 Halifax Day 9

Went over the bridge to Halifax for the beautiful sun lit day. We went to church to the St. Mary’s Cathedral Basilica built in 1784. The mass was similar to ours at home in content but, there are parts in Latin, in song and liturgy, standing after the presentation of the Eucharist. Believe it or not all versus of the songs. We lit a vigil light for our parents. Shirleen, Jim and I went down to the wharf to find Pat and Dave. We spotted their Vette in a parking lot and we went there also. We walked around the wharf towards the area they were to meet us. Tied up at the dock was a Canadian Corvette, that is a ship not car. We hung around the area we were to meet them and I looked up to the front of the street and there they were walking past us a block away. We hooked up and went to find a place to eat.

We ate at the wharf at Murphy’s on the Water. Ladies had a lobster wrap and the men had a seafood casserole, it consisted of salmon, shrimp, haddock and lobster with a crust on top. We then split up and Shirleen and I went to some of the stores and looked around. We were headed to the parking lot and sat at a bench by the wharf. Another couple sat down close to us and we started a conversation. They were from a favorite city of ours, Montreal. We chatted and when we mentioned Boston as our next stop they mentioned Legal Seafood as a good restaurant. We had eaten at one in West Palm Beach a couple years ago. We hooked up with the other group and went to the City Garden. It was a four block square area. The weeping elm trees, statues and gazebo were striking. The flowers were sculptured on raised beds, beauty abound.

The other group went back to the motel, we had hours to go. Our first stop was up the clock hill to the Citadel. The Citadel is an old fortress with a dramatic city overview, people in costume and many old cannons. We lucked out because it cost 11,50$ each but seeing it was only 15 minutes left to be open, the lady guard let us park where the buses do and left us in for nothing. I ended up buying a lead 1700’s soldier.

We then headed around the city streets to look at the old houses and character of the city. Well time for dinner, we had heard that the best seafood restaurant is the 5 Fishermen, http://www.fivefishermen.com/. With dinner we have a nice salad bar along with a plate of mussels, some of the best I have had. Shirleen had a cabernet and a nice piece of Slow Roasted Sambro Halibut - $38 leeks vinaigrette, lobster & mascarpone ravioli, lobster oil; I Five Fishermen Bouillabaisse - $36 a celebrated “Provençal” style seafood stew with spicy garlic rouille, packed with salmon, haddock, scallops, shrimp with small red potatoes, green beans, red pepper and mushrooms in a tasty not spicy tomato base, just plain yummy.

Back to the motel, jumped on the bridge and threw our 75 cents into the change hopper, well it didn’t take dimes and nickels?? Threw them in again and off we went. Hope they understood? We took the first right, just like yesterday but everything looked different. Did I tell you there re two bridges, well we recognized the road because it was the one we used going downtown Dartmouth last night. Tomorrow we head to Houlton Maine 326 miles away, got to remember our passports. jerr

Saturday July 21 from Hawkesbury NS to Halifax Day 8

Our intention was to eat about a half hour out, well we were still on the main highway. We decided to take a run through the center of the province on highway 7. It is a two lane road, twisty and curvy. Saw a group of 6 C5 Vette’s going north probably for the weekend. Beautiful lakes and rivers were passed. We were still traveling south and found a town, Sherbrooke, there we found the Sherbrooke Village Inn. What a pleasant surprise. Fresh strawberry pancakes, French toast, scrambled eggs with sausage and Jerry had a special order lobster scrambled egg plate with deep fried half inch potatoes and she made me take anther meat so I could order the #1 with lobster. It was worth the asking, went back to the lady cooking the meals and thanked her, she was pleasantly surprised and said they try to take all orders.

Down along the southern seacoast, plenty of fog and rain. Just outside Dartmouth we came to a stop and heard sirens. After sitting there for a couple minutes we realized we were being held up by a parade. People with umbrellas some without and rain, did I say rain, plenty. It took at least 25 minutes for us to get going again.

To get to Halifax from Dartmouth we pay a toll of 75 cents each way. We drove through the town looking at what we will tour tomorrow. We then headed to Fairview cemetery that had 122 people from the Titanic buried their. The cemetery was well marked and in just one area. The readings on some of the gravestones where poetic and about the life of the individual. Many were not marked with a name just a body number, spooky just like the movie. We also ran into another parade, gay rights, we didn’t participate.

Back to our side of the river for dinner. We stopped for gas, 67$, seemed like a lot to me. We ate at MacAskills Restaurant. When we went their there was a rock concert going on so we had to park 5 blocks away. We had a nice view of the harbor and the tour boat coming in to take on and off passengers. Appetizers coconut shrimp, scallops wraped in bacon – Jim, Dave’s escargot. Pat and Shirleen ordered a split of lobster, accompanied by three root veggies one with a curry. The boys ordered the seafood treasure, with a piece of salmon, haddock, two scallops, two shrimp. The wine was a Grand Pre Marechal Foch (grape name), Hardy’s Shiraz Cab.

Now the rain has come and we walked back to the cars in a downpour, picked up the ladies and back to the room for the night. Tomorrow we tour Halifax. jerr

Friday July 20 around Cape Breton from Hawkesbury NS Day 7

This morning Jerry led without having any idea where he was to go, so as always we winged it. We were headed around the south of the bay and took a junket to Isle Madame, (Petit-de-Grat Island) named after the Queen of England mid 1800’s. Arichat is the oldest fishing village in the province, on Cape Breton Island. But wanted to find a place to eat breakfast. We were pulled over at a somewhat open restaurant and Dave asked some young men pulling into the place to look at our cars, where to eat breakfast. We followed them to a restaurant on the bottom road, Gulliver’s Café 226 9680; we would never have found it, as we were on the top road. I asked them to accompany us to breakfast and begrudgingly the tallest one said that’s hard to turn down. Here we met two very nice young men, maybe 19 or so. The talkative one was Kolton and the other Todd. The place was super clean and two friendly wait-staff. We ordered, the breakfasts came with toast, potatoes, some had scrambled, Dave had yes a bright yellow yoke looking at ya, mine were poached the right way in water and swirled, meats ranged with sausages cut and fried on the bias, mine was bologna – fits doesn’t it. Todd had French toast, using ketchup and syrup on it. The conversation then began, Colton worked in a lobster holding farm, and they could keep 1.5 million pounds of lobster. The pay is 11.21$ and up to 12 hour days and work three or so months then they can’t lobster fish for a couple months. He was headed to a commercial college to work heavy machinery in Alberta. Now lives with parents, his dad drives truck his mom works in physical therapy. He is living in a cottage of theirs and is paying rent that becomes part of the purchase price. Todd works as a hand on a fishing boat and fishes for haddock and others. Breakfast done we went outside and took pixs of them sitting in the Vette’s. Off they went and us the other way.

We took an off crinkly road to the fishing villages on the outer drive, didn’t find them as it was so foggy but interesting ride. Stopped at Rita’s Tea House, she is a singer Rita O’Neal. Cute place to take a break as we did, almost all had tea.

Off to Louisbourg, Cape Breton Island, furtherest southeast in the Americas, ate at the Lobster House, a delicious seafood chowder with fried clams and Shirleen had a strawberry rhubarb pie. It was right on the water. I had a glass of Jost vineyard chardonnay wine. jostwine.com on the northern coast above Truro NS.

At the top of the Island at Little Bras d’Or we considered our turning home point. Jim had 2455 miles logged to date.

We stopped at Baddeck (Baudeck) for a rest room break. That turned to a refreshment break. Jim and I had a Guiness; Shirleen a grasshopper and Pat and Dave a brandy Alexander. The last three drinks are typically made with ice cream in the US but ccording to the New York Book of Bartending it is made with crem, I read the passage after the bartender brought the book. We thought because we are from the Midwest they use ice cream in ours – haha.

A McLobster at McDonald’s, theycost 6.23$CN. They are only made in the Maritime Provinces and Maine, because of the cost. The serving was as expected, hot dog bun up and opened faced, filled with lettuce and a generous helping of lobster claw meat with celery and mayo. Better than the ones a couple days ago in Maine. jerr

Thursday July 19 off to Hawkesbury NS Day 6

We hit the road and could travel over mostly 4 lane roads. The tar was patchy and bumpy like our winters give us. We paid 1.05 CN dollars a liter for gas, best deal we found here. That is about 3.60$ per gallon. We got into town and headed down to the wharf for the tall ships. The largest was a 284 ton three master carrying a crew of 33. There are some regulars on the crew, but there are quite a few for only two weeks. A gal from Chicago, 43 told us another lady 69 years old had been on since November, but she was only there for the two weeks. We toured the boat; alternate power was a diesel engine. But a neat vessel. Shirleen could not get over the many coils of rope that were used in the sails. We got to look over the upper deck and could see beneath decks was cramped. There were three other vessels. Two newer one with two sails and only two visible boat hands. Then there was an old maybe 60 foot two sail boat, looked like an old seafaring war ship. The men looked tough from the sea and life they live. We were able to watch them set to sea. As they were pushing off, the boats man, got his lines undone in the wrong order. This caused the captain to swear profusely at him but the worst was yet to come. This hand was on the pier and the boat was getting further away so he was pulling it in and the captain was worried about hitting the pier with the bow, then he realized the hand was too far from the boat to get on and he pulled it closer then the captain said get on. Well the deck hand jumped into the bat but grabbed for a rope net line and fell against the rail of the boat. He had a tough time getting to come to and a couple guys grabbed him and hauled him on board. He looked pretty peaked and walked around the deck trying to shake it off. Not sure what happened next as they went to the other side of the bay.

We decided to eat at the restaurant attached to the hotel. With a town of 3,400 people not much of a selection for restaurants. They had a special on wings, an 8 rating, good onion rings and four of them had fish and chips, heavily breaded haddock with French fires. I, Jerr, had a pan fried haddock fillet with fresh fried veggies and sweet potato fries. I made the best choice this time. Along with some Stella Artois beer a good meal everything considered. Our mission tomorrow is to see if the McDonalds across the street has A McLobster roll sandwich. We have it on creditable tales, Jim’s brother Mike, said they have them and we did see a sign stating that fact. But we will have to check it out further. Tomorrow we head to the north east part of Nova Scotia, Sydney and come back around the north side of the inner lake. jerr

Wednesday July 18 off to Saint John’s New Brunswick Day 5

What was forgotten about our first day activity? As we were traveling through the slow part of Chicago we were going to cross to another highway. Dave’s GPS said to go right, even though we knew better we followed its guidance. Well it took us off road a eighth of a block but through a toll stop. The toll stop was unmanned and the right two slots were for the I-pass, a card reader for prepaid toll’s, we blew through the I-pass lanes, all three of us. Being second I noticed the mistake as they had a change booth to the left. Being the concerned citizens we are and having seen a sign that had a website indicating it can be used for paying toll offenses we logged on that evening. We three had to give a credit card number to pay the thirty cents that we didn’t deposit. We even got a think you from the state for our response, automated of course. We thought we will be coming back through there and they will probably photo catch our cars.

We hit the trail out of spendy Bar Harbor and to the north woods of Maine. The traffic was light and easy except for a couple of maneuvers. The border crossing went without a hitch. Where are you going, how long are you going to be gone, do you have any liquor or tobacco? I said a small bottle of wine and she said get going. We went up the street slowly and I passed a white Corvette, I said Hi, he said a real nice way to travel isn’t it? I said it sure was. We then proceeded to stop at the corner light, wrong lane for going straight ahead, but went anyhow. Picked up some New Brunswick material to read.

It is funny to travel at a 110 K/Hr, 70 MPH, but seems faster. We made good time to our Mariners Inn in Chance Bay, 10 miles outside St. John NB. It was about 7 miles in and off the road. Turns out to be on a bay with the high tides of the Bay of Fundy. Its highest tide is 53 feet, what a change of depth. The Inn was high off the bay with its ruggedness beneath us and the pines surrounding the small Inn. The accommodations were breath taking, rooms with lace this and that, bed facing the open window overlooking the bay. They had evening meals available and we decided to eat in.

But before that we decided to go to the reversing falls in St. John. During high tide the water rushes into the river at 2.2 million gallons per second. In a small narrows the water rushes around the large rocks and produces eddy currents and whirlpools. It is a neat sight. Shirleen saw Sam the seal in the bay. We then traveled to the city as we saw a city market. This market sells fresh meats, veggies, cheese, paintings, and much more. I struck up a conversation with a meat cutter, he said have you ever tried DULSE? I said what he said this and picked up a handful. I could see it was dried seaweed. I took some and began to chew it and chew it and chew it. Shirleen tried it but found a garbage container to discard it. It is salty and tough. The sign said: it is a vegetable grown at low tide, grown on rocks, harvested by hand and sun dried for 6 hours. They had it in bags and bulk. As the guy said you have to acquire a taste for it. They eat it like potato chips or toasted and used in soups and salads as a seasoning. It is harvested from June to November.

They have a nice city central park and its inhabitants were finding their spot for the night. A couple statues adorned the grounds along with a large metal cupola; the garden was decked out in many flower gardens. We then went past St John’s Church, an Anglican church made out of ships ballast. Four pretty balusters that supposedly had carved heads of many parishioners on its gables. Back to the Inn 25 minutes away, but a fun curvy road to follow.

We arrived in time for our 7 pm meal. We had placed the order before we all left for downtown. Shirleen had the haddock special, Pat the seafood bisque, Dave and Jim the haddock special and I a seafood – lobster, shrimp, scallops and haddock stuffed cannelloni with ricotta cheese. Wine to go around and Dave and Pat had a two layer chocolate cake with a filling of hazelnut and cheese filling. What a treat all had. The chef and a picture of the bay can be found at marinerstable.com. The night was cool and the patter of rain hit our sliding glass window sometime during the night. The breakfast was coffee and breads with delicious strawberry and orange marmalade jams. Off to Hawkesbury Nova Scotia. Jerr

Tuesday July 17 off to Bar Harbor Maine Day 4

We pulled into this nice little seaside area and Dave hail down a cop. Ask where to park and he said to eat at The Landings Restaurant and Marina right alongside the parking area and next to the police station. I had a fried clam roll with homemade potato chips served in a paper bag which absorbed the fat from them but looked really gross and fatty, they were not hot and fresh like Chips in Ankeny Iowa. The others had the lobster roll with chips. The sandwich was much smaller than they were 20 years ago and cost much more. Walking back to the cars we noticed some novice painters painting the marina scene. Pat had a nice chat with them.

That evening we asked the desk clerk where to eat freshly prepared lobster? We are pointed back 4 miles to a roadside restaurant considered one of the best live preps in the Bar Harbor area. Dave ate a 4 lb lobster and I had a 3 lb lobster, the gals a lb lobster as was Jims. Of course we had a bag of mahogany clams to go with it. The table looked like a battle zone, we feel we won as body parts of those lobsters were strewn all over with butter running freely down every morsel that hit our mouth. Some ate sweet corn some had coleslaw. This was a great stop, looked like a dump and had wood picnic tables with old rubberized table cloths. We had to take a run to the grocery store to get some wine for the dinner. That was fine as we had to wait 25 minutes for the lobsters to cook. It is different to see the food alive before you eat it but that didn’t slow us down.

After that our journey went to downtown Bar Harbor. Has that changed over the last 20 years, walked around and had a beverage. The old large houses bring charm to that area. jerr

Monday July 16 off to Concord New Hampshire Day 3

Off earlish for the next point. We ate at another Burger King, about enough of them. The roads the last half of the trip were two lanes and the scenery much like northern Minnesota but more hills and valleys. We stopped at a small village, girls went shopping and the men split. Some went for ice cream and some for malt beverages. Being with the latter we found a brew pub. We were served a sampler, some good some not so good. They did not carry Schell’s, I asked. Off down the two lane roads again. Had a semi pull to much into my lane but just moved to my right and he jerked back to his side. No increase in my heart rate at all but different. That night we ate at the Common Man in Concord. It was a homey restaurant, Dave ordered escargot (snails) and I mussels. The men ate them and Jim said it was a first for him. Shirleen had a filet mignon, Pat salmon, Dave and Jim scallops, Jerry macaroni and 4 cheeses. Meals were decent, salmon was a little dry. Off to bed. - jerr

Sunday July 15 off to Niagara Falls Day 2

We start off early for the Falls. We enter Ontario coming out through Port Huron. Easy check through. We did another Burger King thing at noon, I ordered the wrong thing a crispy chicken club with ukky bacon on a sandwich. It’s a pretty long drive but we made it mid day to the Falls. We are on the Canadian side where the picture taking horseshoe falls. It was a sun lite day as we meandered the heavy crowd. The wall to the falls passed many colorful flower gardens. The view of the American side falls is a ridge beneath it layered with many broken large rocks with beautiful splashing water. The wisps of water go up and many rainbows are generated. I talked the group into walking up to the head of the main falls. From there one sees the full power of the water going over the falls. The view up the river is just plain assume.

Dinner this evening was at another Italian restaurant, La Bruschetta, in an unassuming area of Niagara Falls, three businesses down from where we were staying. We ordered appetizers: parmesan and sausage stuffed yellow peppers, and bruschetta with tomatoes and blue cheese finished by a couple Heinekens and an order of veal with spinach and a red sauce with ziti pasta with a white sauce. Just great.

Saturday July 14 Saturday off to Kalamazoo Day 1

Saturday July 14 Saturday off to Kalamazoo Day 1
The trip started at 6:30 am for the east coast. Jim H. and Pat and Dave met at The Happy Chef”. We stopped first at the Wisc rest stop right over the boarder for a convenience stop. Off for the east. The next stop through the lower hills of Wisc and a stop for fuel, car and people. When we were filling the cars in Janesville Wisc a voice came over the CB “what are you people from Mankato up to”. Turned out to be the three cars from twin cities that we were to meet in Kalamazoo later that afternoon. Ate at Burger King, enough said. Now we are headed to Chicago. We stayed in groups of three. The traffic was horrific for a Saturday, we drove really slowly as we passed through town. Then off we were to Kalamazoo. We found a neat place to eat, of course, at a Italian restaurant called Bennuchi’s right across the street from the motel. We had a starter of crab cakes, on a scale of 0 – 10, a 3 too much breading. The freshly made potato chips were good. Shirleen, Dave S. and I had parmesan crusted whitefish, a great choice with more fish to come. jerr

Why no Blog July 16, 2007

Well the first day we did 583 miles, ate and went to bed. Next day to Niagra Falls beautiful powerful falls long lines in check points at boarder. Got to motel and ate and it is 1030. Up at 6 breakfast at 7 wheels up at 730. No time to get in depth about some neat eatteries but later. Today to New Hampshire, Concord. Going through the hills and some spectacular scenery.
jerr

April 9, Monday Morning Day 43 headed for the shed!

Jerry Says he gained 3 pounds. Shirleen has not said anything.
jerr

April 8, Sunday Day 42 staying in Waukesha – Radisson free night

Happy Easter!!!

We went to church at St. Dominick’s in Brookfield. This is a beautiful church and an inspiring priest for the service. Shirleen and I have found our Wisconsin home church. The mosaic of Christ behind the alter is in the gold through lite pink colors, with intervening browns. The rest of the church has limestone rock, much like the Mankato stuff. They had an interesting part of the Easter service that had the congregation come forward and dip some water from a big tank and bless themselves with it. This is a big church, must have 3,000 parishioners and as we walked out I asked the old man behind us how old the church was, he said 50 years and he was one of the proud origin families, he was Ed Schmitz.

We went to Michelle’s and had a nice brunch with omelets with mushrooms and mine had his homemade salsa in it, Michelle made from scratch hash browns accompanied with center cut bacon. We sat around and viewed many of the trip photos. Then time for Easter ham, mash potatoes, sweet sour gravy, carrots with basil and sweetener, and corn. We had the nice Riesling Spatlatze.

Head for the shed tomorrow morning. - jerr

April 7 Saturday Day 41 staying in Brookfield WI – Hampton Inn free night

Happy Birthday Denny, 63, ain’t bad for a guy that looks as good as you do!!!!

The four of us left Mark’s house and headed north. We went to Kohler to eat lunch at the Kohler American Club. We split an order of nachos, Mark remarked that the order was much less than the there order we saw at another table. We all joined in, pretty good although the bottom of the plate had lots of small broke chips. Michelle and Mark split a Ruben, I also had a Ruben and Shirleen had a three cheese beer soup. The Rubens were made by using two pieces of dark rye and layered with sliced corn beef grilled with a dab of sauerkraut and thousand island dressing on it, when heated through, the two pieces are flipped on each other and cut. Then they are stacked on each other with a toothpick and olive on top.

We then toured the rest of the hotel and saw the other restaurant. The hotel is a five star; don’t know who counted them, and a good restaurant. The head chef has a six course meal for 80$ with wine 130$. The menu looked really good and top shelf.

Kohler has a show room of its products. We saw many toilets, bathtubs, kitchens and room displays. They also make portable standby gas engines and air conditioning. If you are in the area it is a must to see.

We went back to the house and sat down and rested for a while. We got home and got an unexpected call from Joe. He is on 30 hour leave and Mary, Dan, Em and Luke are down there. We had a nice conversation. He has four weeks left, then two weeks of clean-up. He then waits for an opening in the airborne after which he will be deployed to Washington DC.

We then decided to go out to eat. We went close by, I settled for the Weissgerber’s Gasthaus Inn in Waukesha. It is part of a number of restaurants owned by this family. We had a couple steins of Maibock Spaten beer from Munich, Shirleen her cabernet. We passed on the onion rings and the kids had aa prime rib, Shirleen a petite filet and I Wiener Schnitzel with spaetzels with a nice blend of string beans and thinly sliced carrots. Good food, recommended. When Mark G and his family were with us here years ago, Danielle slept on the floor by the table. jerr

April 6 Friday Day 40 tonight staying in Brookfield WI – Hampton Inn free nights

Visited Mark and Priscilla at their home in Round Lake IL. We arrived right on time. Priscilla is in the middle of a graduation blanket for her granddaughter, she is able to use her new computer guided sewing machine. She has embroidered neat animals on the corners of the squares. One of the squares has a picture of her, when young, and it is five generations. Not many can hit that. It is a pretty pink colored boarder around the squares. Mark has a nice brand new Harley!! Who said second childhood? But what a nice rumble when he lights it off. We ate at The Whistle Stop in Fox Lake, another railroad memorabilia stuffed restaurant. It had most sizes of model rail along with some life size elements. Shirleen had warm grilled bacon ham cheese sandwich, Priscilla a Ruben, Mark a crispy chicken salad, as the Mahi Mahi was frozen, I a home style ham and cheese omelet with crispy hash browns and English muffin. We came back to there house and looked at the emerging hosta’s, looked at his thoughts on the stream alongside of the house.

Off for Brookfield, we took highway 45, the countryside road. We got to Walgreen’s right as she was getting off. Off to her house we went for our upcoming fish fry. Mark had found a new place for us to try. Turned out it was The New Fox & Hounds Restaurant around Holy Hill WI, half hour or so from their place. The restaurant had been shut down for some time and now has new owners. We started off with beverages, Shirleen’s house cabernet, Mark and I bloody Mary’s and a schnit of beer, and Michelle had a large glass of water. We ordered their sliced deep fried onions and a nice ranch dressing. The cod used in their fish fry were thick pieces, fur of them, almost more than I can eat, accompanied by fries. Michelle had a ribeye steak. All were pleased with the food, service was slow but, there were many many people there.
More tomorrow. jerr

April 5 Thursday Day 39 tonight staying in Gurnee IL – Comfort Inn free night

Happy Birthday Emily, my my how you have aged!! Love jerr/Shirleen
``` if you read this before 9:41 I added many things.
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Well the road warriors got out of the gate about 11 am, as that would be 10 am in the time zone we would sleep in tonight. Maumee was a place I had been in my Hubbard travels, we visited the Andersons and looked at how they applied fat and vitamins to their dog food. In order to save the hard cash we had left and no ATM withdraw, we took off on highway 20. as we traveled down the Ohio highway I noticed a sign that may not have been appropriate for Easter time – For Sale Bunnies, dead or alive. What else can I say, don’t eat the brown eggs.

Time for lunch, we thought we would eat heavy this afternoon and picked our favorite restaurant in Middlebury Indiana, Das Dutchman Essenhaus. We have eaten there with the family in the old days and Michelle has dragged Mark Karbo there also. They now have two ways of dining, by the menu or family style. We picked family style so we could pig out for the day. All you can eat broasted chicken, really really good; mashed potatoes, noodles, gravy and green beans topped off by a dessert of 29 assorted pies. Of course I even had one and what did I do but ordered one that cost an extra 75cents, had I known that I would have done differently, mine was a apple turnover, Shirleen’s a chocolate, peanut butter, banana pie – she said it was just scrumptious. I said I have never heard her say there was a bad dessert. They have really added to the place, besides all the craft stuff they have a conference center. We looked through the gift shop. Shirleen found some cute aprons. Upon closer inspection she saw they were made in china for Walmart, someone didn’t check there tags closely!! On their placemats is the following, the same comment we heard yesterday at Lancaster. Amish country, we will do our best to offer you the hospitality that reflects our own conviction that God desires all of His creation to live in harmony. That is what our guide yester said about their deire to live in harmony. The following prayer was also included.
Give thanks for the fullness
Of days spent together,
The friends that we pray
Will be with us forever,
The feelings we’ve shared,
The food and good fun,
With faith that God’s blessings
Have only begun.

We got gas in LaPorte IN, that is also where we got off the right highway but after a couple of turn around’s we got back on to an acceptable highway, not the one we had planned on. We then worked through Gary Indiana and saw a Schugel truck. We avoided the tolls by going up a nice highway 90/94 but soon realized we would be diverted to a detour and we know what can happen then. We followed the directions explicitly and survived the downtown Chicago in the middle of rush hour. At least it is not as bad as one time before when we traversed it at 5 on a Friday.

We followed the directions to the Comfort Inn at least four times, finally found it, we took another free night, sixth one since we left home.

We light dinner this evening, at Max & Erma’s in Gurnee. A couple of wines a Fetzer cab and Sutter merlot for me. We split an order of Nacho’s, I got the sour cream and avocado with the salsa. Not bad, our waitress had the highest pitched voice we have ever heard, bet she could hit the high notes easily. jerr

April 4 Wednesday Day 38 tonight staying in Maumee – Toledo Ohio – Comfort Inn

Light snowing yesterday Wednesday! Think we are back home.

Woke up this morning and there is snow on the car, must be warm enough as it slid off the car.

Not much to say about today as we are on the toll road and very little cash left and we don't like to use the ATM. We have seen six J&R Schugel trucks on the road today. Most in central Pennsylvania. A Viessman tanker from North Mankato/Gary SD also spotted. In between I wrote the last two days blogs. For lunch we had a Norton all beef hotdog from a service center on the tollway. Norton weenies are from New York City supposedly the best! They were good, I burped them up for hours, for some reason Shirleen does not? jerr
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What did we have for dinner, almost forgot it. When you eat at the Olive Garden, it is easy to forget because we do it so often. Shirleen’s cabernet and pizza with Roma tomatoes, onions, pepperoni, and mushroom. She ate half of it. I had one of there new dishes, Wow was it good, Crab Alfredo Venezia begins with tender snow crab in a creamy seafood Alfredo sauce, served over spaghetti that is tossed with fresh spinach and diced Roma tomatoes. Recipe right off their website. The perfect accompaniment to this dish is Olive Garden’s Principato Rosato, a light-bodied blush wine. I followed the suggested wine, so so. They will have this dish through April 8th.
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Seeing that we are road warriors now and not traditional gypsies I will try and define some things I have written and others I have not because of time. The word antebellum was used when we toured Charleston, truthfully I had no clue what it meant. Someone mentioned the meaning and I looked up the following in Answers.com and here is what I found.

Ante Bellum
Before the war. Usually used to describe the United States before the U.S. Civil War (1861-65). Typically spelled antebellum in English.

Antebellum is a Latin word meaning "before war" (ante means before and bellum war). In United States history and historiography, the term antebellum is often used to refer to the period of increasing sectionalism leading to the American Civil War, instead of the term "pre-Civil War". In that context, the Antebellum Period began with the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, or could be set as early as 1812. Sometimes it is called the Old South.

Romanticism
There was a land of Cavaliers and Cotton Fields called the Old South. Here in this pretty world, Gallantry took its last bow. Here was the last ever to be seen of Knights and their Ladies Fair, of Master and of Slave. Look for it only in books, for it is no more than a dream remembered, a Civilization gone with the wind...
— From the opening of the film Gone with the Wind (1939)

I again thought why have I not remembered what the word meant. Of course, we in the north do not relive the civil war as those of southern extraction. We saw many confederate rebel battle flag, the typical large red with the blue banner from corner to corner with 13 stars in the blue field. It ain’t dead yet. Jerr
Maybe more to come today??

April 3 Tuesday Day 37 tonight staying in Hershey PA – Comfort Inn

As you noticed last night I had changed plans. Now we are 20 miles south of our northern based next sight. We had thought about going up to Lancaster county and this gave uas that opportunity. So back up through DC around Baltimore (Bemo) and off into the countryside of Pennsylvania to Lancaster. This is known as the Dutch region but actually it is Deutsch as they came from Germany but the people mispronounced the name therefore the Dutch. We had heard at the boarder that there was a working train and it ran everyday. We headed to the Strasburg Rail Road since 1832. When we arrived we could buy tickets for the next ride. We opted for a diner car where, you guessed it, they were serving lunch. What a beauty it was, an old coal burner locomotive designated as a 2-10-0 wheel configuration, cars that reminded me of the Durango Silverton cars of olde. The diner was a reconstructed parlor car to diner specifications. Lead windows, mahogany wood interiors, mahogany heavy chairs and table, set with linen. The conductor came through in his suit and collected tickets. The waitress took our order for a pork, potato and gravy meal. I ate one and a half orders. As we slowly went the nine miles we looked over the rolling countryside. Amish with there horse and plow, another with a horse and disk, waving to the train as we passed. We topped at a crossing and blew the steam whistle and heard the answering call of the olde number 6 answering us, it had ran those tracks many years before and has never been seen but can be heard. At the end they unhook the engine and attach it for our pull back. What an enchanting ride. Our second train ride of this year. I found a railroad hobby shop and bought a couple of old horse and buggy, buggy pieces for the HO set of mine. We drove through the town of Strasburg and enjoyed the well kept old brick, stone and wood houses. We saw a double towered Queen Ann’s house, first one we think we have ever seen.

Now to The Amish Farm and House built in 1850, it is an authentic working farm. We again took the guided tour, which included the house. The tour started in 10 minutes so off to the gift shop we went. Well who do I spy? The Danish couple from yesterday, of course in my normal bashful manner I went over and re-introduced myself, he had a pleasant smile on his face and we shook hands and marveled on how we could pass through the same small area of the world again. We also met his daughter. It turns out he is an educator and is off for two weeks visiting her. This was a most pleasant experience again to meet them 132 miles from the last spot.

The lady giving the tour was not Amish but had lived in the community with them since childhood. Her insight was helpful. She said that there were 26,000 Amish in Lancaster County. We first heard about the way the community holds there Sunday church services. It is held every second Sunday at one of the ten families in there small area. The males sit on one side with the oldest in the first spot behind them would be the children with their fathers behind them. On the other side the same setup would take place. They read from the Old Testament and say prayers fro upwards of three hours. After that they serve a light lunch and play games and talk. The Amish feel that it is most important for family to be together, so all there activities are based on that precept. We discussed the austere furnishings, clothing design and uses. No pictures but a calendar in each room, only other wall adornment was a picture frame with the family and children’s birthday and some fancy dish plate. Upon their death the body is kept in the house dressed in white and viewed by the community. It is horse drawn to the cemetery and buried in the next available spot not in a family grouping. A quick mentioning about marriage. The service is performed in there normal dress, nothing white or different. Two meals are provided by the parents for all who attend upwards of 400. We then walked through the farm, an old lady was woking on a quilt in one barn and a wood carver was working on some spoons. We went in to look at his work. He had many rooster and chicken carvings, probably because they are in the farm yard. I asked do you see the rooster in the twig and just cut away the wood from it? He said yes, and picked up a thin twig and said look on page eight of this book and read the 10 lessons of good wood carving. Each said Always use a sharp knife blade. He whittled out a little flower from the twig he had in his hand and handed it to me. I thanked him and he was quickly off to someone who was really going to purchased something. Those people wanted him to autograph the two spoons they were buying. We finished the tour and said goodbye to the Danish friends, I gave him one of my calling cards, told him to think of us when he gets back home.

Saw two J & R Schugel trucks today one in Maryland and Pennsylvania, makes us feel close to home.

So off to dinner we go. Back in 2003 when we had a Corvette event at the Lodge we had intended to eat at the fancy dinning room. The following is from their website: The Circular Dining Room, located at THE HOTEL HERSHEY is famous for its elegant dining and unique setting. Here you will enjoy the finest classical cuisine, exquisite chocolate desserts, and impeccable service. Facing majestic gardens and tranquil reflecting pools, the Circular Dining Room is exceptional with its circular setting. Founder Milton S. Hershey made sure that the restaurant would have no corners. As a world traveler in the early twentieth century, he noted that if guests did not tip well they would be placed in a corner. "I do not want any corners," he said upon construction of the restaurant. Thus resulting in breathtaking and unobstructed views of the beautiful gardens and rolling hillside of Central Pennsylvania.

Dinner and Brunch Attire: Jackets required for gentlemen, dress or dress pants required for ladies. We should have read this before going over there. We had arrived at the Lodge to see the tulips; little did we forget that we re now in cool weather, no blossoms. We went through the gift shop and I tried to have Shirleen buy a cup that had chocolate spelled across the front of it but, she didn’t. I then went to the concierge to ask what the dress code was. It did not include peddle pushers. The gal said she was sorry. I said lets look into our suitcases and come up with something, she found a dress slack in the suitcase. I was able to borrow a sport coat for myself from the matra’de, cannot find the appropriate spelling, her name was Brenda,. We were seated and Matt, seemed like a new person – not much moxie, came and greeted us by name, because I had to give it to get the jacket. If we were in Europe we would have had the appropriate dress. We ordered two glasses of wine, never did get the names but Shirleen’s cabernet and my pinot noir. Good flavors, I have come to believe when the cost of the wine is more than 8$ you get a good house wine. Then came the bread, a chocolate cherry dark bred, sourdough and Italian bread accompanied by two butters, a real butter then a chocolate butter, really tasty, even for me. Shirleen ordered the following dinner:
Grilled Beef Filet, Truffled Dauphinoise Potatoes, Wilted Greens, Shallot Jus

And I the fish special of the day a fried firm white fish name unknown with fingerling potatoes with mixed fresh vegetables and a balsamic glaze.

The filet was not medium rare and for one of the few times, when asked by Brenda I told her that the steak was nt medium rare, she looked at it and agreed. She immediately said the dessert was on them and she would talk to the cook. When done we received the dessert menu and Shirleen ordered the:

“Chocolate Evolution”
A Tasting of Five Chocolates
38% - Milk Chocolate Timbale With Hawaiian Sea Salt
Peanut Brittle, Milk Chocolate Twigs
63% - Warm Crispy Chocolate Cake
70% - Dark Chocolate Sorbet, Port Reduction, Micro Mint
82% - Dark Chocolate Consommé

I would have liked to have ordered the Louie XIII shot for 146$ but, that was not offered. I ordered the chef’s cheese plate. I ordered the pecorino, a local hard cheese and a delicious local Maytag blue cheese. They also had a nice crispy bread cracker with bread – the bread I did not touch. Accompanying this was a fine raspberry jelly. Nice dessert. Well Shirleen’s was just scrumptious. Real peanuts in the brittle and the port reduction was an extract of chocolate diluted with water, not much there. The rest was great.

I also sent Mark three Flat Stanley’s for Danielle’s class with this one being the Capital in DC for. jerr

April 2 Monday Day 36 visited Washington DC staying in Lorton VA – Comfort Inn

Cherry Blossoms just beautiful. Walked down the Potomac with blossom pedals blowing in the air. Later - jerr
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April 2 Monday Day 36 visited Washington DC staying in Lorton VA – Comfort Inn

Our day was started at the U. S. National Arboretum in Washington DC outskirts. They house the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum of bonsai exhibit and it was striking; the oldest bonsai tree was started in 1785 and not over a foot tall. These old trees are usually conifers. There were many nicely trained trees, with varying ages to them, flowering azaleas and a variety of other trees. We were introduced to a display of stones, called Scholar’s Rocks traditional Chinese Gongshi displayed on an individually carved wooden base, in a ceramic container, or in a tray of sand. They can be called spirit stones or viewing stone. They are unusual stones, ideally shaped by natural forces, catching the essence of Earth’s life-energies.

We did a walk through some of the shorter paths as the area covers 454 acres. There were some big columns on a mound that came from the Capital building when it underwent a renovation years ago and never replaced back to the capital. There was a cherry blossom path to follow on the acreage, these turned out to be much larger than the Potomac trees these were big, well rounded and sitting by themselves in all there glory. As we were walking around the park we were passed by it turned out three young adults, I said to them, I knew we’d be passed up. One of the guys turned around and smiled and said, the race does not always go to the swiftest! We all laughed. Straggling behind but with this group was an older guy, in his 50’s, who was walking with them. When he caught up with us I ask him to walk along. He said that he had lost 100 pounds and walks the garden three to four times a week, Monday is his slow day – that was today, other days he keeps up with the kids.

Time for a quick snack. We were standing on the corner of 7th and Constitution with a puzzled look on our face. Along came this suited man and asked if we were lost? I said no, looking for a place to eat. I looked at his ID tag, he worked at the Federal Transportation Unit, added some creditability again. He sadi right us, I’d recommend it. It was the Potbelly Sandwich Works. Shirleen’s roast beef with chips and I with a cup of delicious chili and a, to die for - only as the easterners can make, a meatball sub and a coke. And off we were again. Looking for a map, Found a gal stationed in that area with maps, ended up she was out and also her buddy, so she gave us the one she usually keeps showing people where they are. I looked up and saw the U. S. Naval Log society and went in . a small room on the ground floor but an extensive Navy set-up beneath street level. Fun to walk through and think back.

So we footed it to our other intended stop in DC and that was the National Museum of the American Indian. For those who do not know, the stone that was used in this building was harvested from the Vetter quarry in Mankato over a 10 year period. The design of this building was flowing without square corners, except in the elevators. We waited for a guided tour. The gal was a Cherokee from around Oklahoma. She added an element of creditability throughout the tour. The exhibit covers all the Indian tribes of the Americas and Hawaii. It starts by showing their universe by presenting there Native beliefs, it moves to there Peoples centering on Native history, and there Lives focuses on contemporary Native life. It stresses the belief of the Indian in the careful nurturing of the Earth. She showed us the many different types of Indian dress, notably the women’s. The different uses of the hide, two sides or front and back of dress was from two deer sewn together; three sides or three hides like before but across the top was the third hide to make a shawl arrangement. Some adorned with elk’s teeth, rolled tobacco lids that would jangle, many with glass bead work and some with porcupine quills. They display figured art from 3,000 years ago, different forms of gold work and some compositional metals – copper, silver and gold. At the start of the tour we meet some people from Denmark and I chatted along the way with him. They had a daughter going to school in DC.

We also had time to take n the National Botanical Museum. It is quite the showcase. Again we waited for a guided tour. The beauty of the orchids again overtook us. Every once and a while we could feel rain, it was from, you guessed it, the automatic sprinkler system our taxes paid for. She said it worked as designed and included a shade system to decrease the amount of sunlight. We walked out through the new garden part and viewed another Chihuly art work, much like the one in Florida, many bulbs and elongated bulbs of from one to five feet long, piled in an old wooded green boat tied to the side of the pool. Off to the car we go.

Now we are off to the Cherry Blossoms just beautiful to view from the car along with a thousand other gawkier’s. We noticed we could park next to the trees. We got in line and after ten minutes we parked in the center of the tree area. It was fun to see families with children enjoying and playing amongst the trees and blossom pedals falling down, many others strolling hand in had. We walked down the Tidal Basin with blossom pedals blowing in the air. We took pictures with the Jefferson monument and cherry blossoms and us and the Jefferson and the cherry blossoms. We took more pictures of the blossoms, never could get enough. We were really lucky, the opening of the Cherry Blossom Festival opened two days before. The cultivar of cherry tree is the gifted one from Japan, Yoshino. As we left, where we were waiting to get in had grown to block after block of waiting people.

Now off to dinner. We had seen a The Capital Grill on our walk back to the car, could we find it again? With Shirleen’s innate guiding ability we parked right in front of it. We sat at a bar table, much like the full dinning room but without table linens. We grabbed a couple of waters, which I guzzled down quickly and two house cabernets which turned out to be pleasant, bill said they were: Yalumba Y Series of varietal wines express the lively personality and colourful 150-year history of the Hill Smith family of Yalumba, Australia's oldest family owned winery. These are fresh and flavoursome fruit-driven wine styles of quality and consistency, highlighting the true regional character of South Australia's most renowned viticultural areas and confirming Yalumba's reputation as Australia's finest independent winemaker – from their website. We mixed and matched something together, a spinach salad with warm sweet sour dressing and real crumbled bacon bites. An order of onion rings and a couple of lobster and crab cakes, not as good as those that Shirleen had the day before, might be because of the lobster. I asked the waitress if this was part of the same Capital Grill we have in St. Paul. She said that that company owns 27 of these in state capitals. Another quest.

Off we went to the south in preparation for a trip to Fredericksburg in the morning. I looked at what it had and that night decided not to go there. But where, well there is always tomorrow morning. Later - jerr