Holidays in Southern California

Just before Christmas, we traveled to Southern California to spend Christmas with Melissa, Keith, and their family and then took Lain, our youngest grandson, to Palm Desert.  Melissa and our other grandsons then joined us for New Years.  We returned home on January 4th, only to go back to Southern California over Martin Luther King holiday to babysit Lain, again in the desert and go to the "Road to California" quilt show.

Here are some pictures of our visits:

 The Grandsons with their New PJs on Christmas Day

 Lain at The Desert Willows

 Georgia, Hugh, & Cairn on New Year's Eve

 Melissa on New Year's Eve

 Melissa at the Lorikeet Exhibit at the Living Desert

 Kellen and Cairn at the Lorikeet Exhibit

 Quilt at the "Road to California" Quilt Show

 Quilt at the "Road to California" Quilt Show

Quilt at the "Road to California" Quilt Show

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