USNA, Class of 1963, 55th Reunion, San Diego

On October 22nd, we headed to San Diego for my 55th USNA class reunion.  The reunion was a great get-together.  Events included a class dinner on the USS Midway, a memorial service at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, the Navy-Notre Dame football game, and a company dinner at the North Island NAS Officer's club.  The last picture is of four of the nine of us, who as "plebes" were an undefeated freshman crew and were the only freshman crew to ever make it to the finals of the US Olympic rowing finals.  That was in 1960.

While in San Diego, I spent some time the first day in San Diego finding my grandmother's grave, which I had not ever visited.  Grandmother Elwood died in 1945 right after the end of the Second World War and was buried in San Diego.  Here are some pictures of the reunion:

1.  Grandmother Elwood's Grave

 At Grandmother's Grave Site

 Drinks on the Flight Deck of the USS Midway Museum

 Drinks on the Flight Deck of the USS Midway Museum

 Memorial Service at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery

(R to L) Dave "Woofie" Konold, Ted Krone, Jim Fontana and me "Duck" members of the 1960 undefeated freshman crew.

Fall at Lake Tahoe

On Tuesday October 16th, we drove to Lake Tahoe to meet with some friends for several days to enjoy the fall colors at the Lake.  We enjoyed wonderful dinners, and boat trip across the lake to Emerald Bay, and wonderful company.  Here are some pictures of the fall on the Lake:

 Georgia & Hugh at Eagle Rock

 View from Eagle Rock

 Fall Color from Eagle Rock

 Fall Color from Emerald Bay

 Island in Emerald Bay

Breakfast at with Our Friends

Georgia's Birthday Celebration in NYC

On August 21st, we traveled to New York City to celebrate Georgia's 75th birthday.  She has always wanted to spend a week in NYC doing museums, plays, and nice meals.  So off we went.

As a bonus the US Open Tennis tournament started on August 27th, and we were able to take in two days of the tournament.  Going to the US  Open tennis tournament was on our bucket list, as it was the only Tennis Grand Slam tournament that we had not attended.

We were able to get play tickets to "Hamilton", "Hello Dolly" with Beth Midler in the leading role, and "The Band's Visit", winner of ten 2018 "Tony" awards.   The US Open was special, but NYC was under a heat warning so we came back to our hotel both Monday and Tuesday needing a shower.

Here are some pictures of our week in NYC:

 Georgia on the Roof Top Garden at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

 Georgia in the Garden at New York MOMA

 Georgia on her Birthday on the Roof Top Pressroom Lounge 

 This is What a 75th Birthday Desert Looks Like

Opening Day Picture at the US Tennis Open

Halifax, NS and St. John, NB

After visiting the Alexander Graham Bell Museum, we ventured to Halifax to see the city and its waterfront boardwalk and weekend farmer's market.  We enjoyed several great meals there including one at the "Bicycle Thief" restaurant.  The restaurant is named after the 1949 foreign film of the same name.  The owners of the restaurant loved the movie.

After leaving Halifax, we drove to St. John to see the Bay of Fundy and the reversible falls on the St. John river.  The tides are so high at St John, that the river actually reverses flow as the tidal surge overcomes the river's current.  Then at low tide, all of the water that has damned up in the river due to the high tide comes roaring back into the bay.

Here are some of our pictures:

 Halifax Saturday Farmers Market

 Bicycle Thief Restaurant Sculpture

St. John's River Flow into the Bay of Fund at Low Tide

Flow from the Bay of Fundy into the St. John's River at High Tide

Flow from the Bay of Fundy into the St. John's River at High Tide

Alexander Graham Bell Museum in Baddick, NS

Alexander Graham Bell lived a good part of his life in Baddick, NS.  Known for inventing the telephone, he also built the first airplane to fly in Canada.  The plane was the "Silver Dart", and it flew in 1909.  It was copied from the Wright Brothers plane that flew four years earlier.  

In addition, he designed hydrofoils.  The HD-4 held the world's speed record for water craft with a speed of 71 mph.  It was made of wood and had two airplane propeller drives on it.  We visited the museum on our way from Cape Breton to Halifax.


Below are some pictures of the museum in Baddick and of the "Silver Dart" and HD-4 hydrofoil.

Georgia at the entrance to the Alexander Graham Bell museum.

 The "Silver Dart

 HD-4 Hydrofoil

Cape Breton, Nova Scotia and the Keltic Inn

After leaving Prince Edward Island, we took the ferry to Nova Scotia and spent three wonderful days at the Keltic Inn on Cape Breton.  Located at the northern most part of Nova Scotia, the coast, vistas, and natural forests were wonderful.  The Keltic Inn is located in one of Canada's National Parks, so everything is non commercial.  The resort has all of the comforts of home, but the quiet of the remote coast.  Today we took a 2.4 mile hike with a park ranger that was both invigorating and informative.

These pictures don't quite represent the beauty of the location:

 Bogwort Plants in a Bog on the Cape

 The Beach at the Keltic Lodge

 The Keltic Lodge as Seen from the Beach

 Cape Breton Water Edge

 Trail to the Middle Point

 Cape Breton Sea Scape

 Georgia in the Cape's Wind

"Anne of Green Gables"

After leaving Maine in July, we traveled to Prince Edward Island (PEI) in Canada and spent two nights in Charlottetown.  The purpose of the visit was to see the setting for the series of books by Lucy Maud Montgomery with "Anne of Green Gables" as the first book.  Lucy's mother died when she was 21 months old, and she was raised by her maternal grandparents.  All of the sites we visited were located on the northwest part of the island.  We visited the museum, the home of the maternal grandparents, and the green gable house that was the location of Anne's adventures.  We got some great pictures that are shown below:

The Piano in Lucy's Grandparent's House that was Played at Her Wedding

 Georgia on the "Lover's Lane" Path

 Georgia in a Carriage with an Anne of Green Gables Hat on her Head

 Georgia in a Carriage that Represents the Transportation of the Times

The House of "Green Gables

July Visits in Maine

On July 1st, we flew to Boston and took the express bus to Portland to visit Hugh's brother and sister-in-law in Brunswick, Maine.  While there we visited the Central Maine Botanical Gardens, did some shopping and saw the fireworks in Freeport (Home to LL Bean), and enjoyed seafood and lobster dinners.

At Dave and Debbie's home also visiting was Lucy Chuying Luo, the Bowdoin College student that they sponsored for her four years in college in Brunswick and her friend Yffie.  Both Lucy and Yffie, a Cornell graduate, were mathematics majors and now work in the financial industry in NYC.  They both wanted a July Maine vacation away from NYC before returning to work after the 4th.

After leaving Brunswick on the 6th, we visited with some friends, who have a summer home in Stockton Springs on the Maine coast.

Here are some pictures of our visits:

 Georgia and I at the Portland Light House

 Central Maine Botanical Gardens

  Lucy Chuying Luo, Debbie, Yffie, and Dave at the Botanical Gardens

 Georgia and I with our Friends, de Chantal Riley and Michael Kozak at the Cellardoor Winery in Lincoln, Maine

Sunset from the Porch at Stockton Springs, Maine

Dedication of USNA Crew Shell

April 21, 2018,  I went back to the Naval Academy in Annapolis for the dedication of a shell for one of my former rowing buddies.  Mike Pero and I , along with seven other classmates, were members of the 1960 "Plebe" crew that went undefeated in freshmen races and then was good enough to go to the 1960 Olympic trials.  We made it to the finals race and lost by only 4 seconds.  Something that had never been done before.  As freshmen we had beaten all but three heavyweight crews in the United States.

Mike passed away a little over a year ago and was a great supporter of Navy crew.  We raised enough money to purchase a 4 without a coxswain shell in his name.  It was a great tribute to a good friend, classmate, and oarsman.

Here are some pictures of the dedication:

Craig Thrasher, No 4 Seat on the Freshman Eight

 Hugh Schall, No 5 on the Freshman Eight

 Jim Fontana, No 6 on the Freshman Eight

The Three of us from the Freshman Eight with the Mike Pero Shell

Banner Made Up for the Dedication

Rancho Cucamonga Visit

After we left Palm Desert in March, we visited with our daughter's family in Rancho Cucamonga.  While there we had lunch with Georgia's cousin Nada and her husband, Galen, and watched Melissa go on one of her weekly horse riding trips. Here are pictures of the visit:

 Lunch with Nada and Galen at Bardot in Claremont

 Melissa Brushing Down the Horse Before Riding

 Coming Out of the Stall

Melissa Heading Out