Vacation in Maine

07. August 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: friends, Maine, vacation

We are finally on vacation in Maine. Last summer, we spent a week only about 12 miles from where we did last year. Those 12 miles are by boat – about 45 miles by car. We are on the opposite side of the bay, significantly closer to Acadia National Park. The town of Castine is a sleepy little town. The house we are renting was built in 1803 and occupied by the British from 1814 to 1815. The owner’s great, great Grandfather built the house, so it has been in the family for over 200 years, although currently on the market for sale. I took a look in the basement and the original support beams are clearly visible – logs that were hand trimmed and notched to provide the support. Several of the logs still have some bark attached. When you look at the structure, you know it was a slow process, and carefully pieced together by hand.

This year’s vacation is with friends from Richmond, VA. We’re so glad to be able to reconnect with this family after 3+ years of not being with them multiple times per week, all year round. Heather is my daughter’s second mother and my “church wife.” She remains my non-family emergency contact since there is no one else I’d rather have contacted in an emergency. Dave and I became much closer in the final few years we were in Richmond – one of the most level headed guys in the group of friends. He can laugh with the best of them, loves music even more than me, and provides a very safe haven for his family and close friends.

Sue and I are both hoping to relax, reboot, and reconnect with friends in this week. We have both been strung tight, and are in need of a solid week of downtime before hitting the fall hard once again.

Living the high life in Miami

09. April 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: Miami, pictures, vacation

Breakfast, Intercontinental style. I don’t get to eat salmon often, so take Not at every opportunity. We’re staying at the Intercontinental in downtown Miami now, and this is the standard breakfast faire for the club level rooms. Sue is working her tail off, but finishes up at 7:00 tonight. Since we don’t leave until Monday afternoon, we’ll have Sunday and Monday mornings to indulge together.

I have been the “official photographer” for the conference and have daily assignments for photo opportunities. Today is the biggest one as the board turns over, including the current president. Most of the attendees are MDs, but lots of techs as well. Almost everyone is very nice and I have not been introduced to anyone who expects to be call DR or Mr. For being most of the world leading bone density and osteoporosis researchers, they are very down to earth in this environment.

Now, it’s time to dress up so I do my final photo assignment before an actual full day of vacation. Tomorrow, South Beach!

Christmas season in Georgia

27. December 2009 · Write a comment · Categories: family, Georgia, kids, Richmond, vacation
It’s two days after Christmas, and the family is all in Georgia visiting my mother in law. We’re in Northwest Georgia, basically we are about 10 miles south of the Tennessee border. We arrived via an 18-hour drive from New England. I believe that this is the single longest drive I’ve ever taken in a single, non-stop trip. Certainly, I have driven further over a multiple-day drive, but 18 hours in one day is very draining. The worse part was that I slept for only a few hours the night before leaving, then almost none in the car. I don’t sleep well (or at all) in cars or on planes. You’d think that I could find a way to get comfortable, but it doesn’t happen. So, we arrived exhausted, ready to collapse. We did, and after a solid night’s sleep, were refreshed and ready to start visiting.

It’s been cold here, as should be expected in late December in the mountains of Georgia — no snow, just a heavy frost on the car windows each morning. Sue got to see all three of her brothers this weekend, including David who lives in Florida and whom she hasn’t seen in many years. Late yesterday, my nephew showed up with his kids – peers of my own kids. They were instantly having fun. Today, after most got a good night’s sleep, they should have the opportunity to burn off some much needed energy. They haven’t see this family in several years, although the eldest (Alex) and my daughter have started chatting quite a bit via Facebook. It was an instant bond when they saw each other – and the hug was quite genuine!

We had quite a meal last night – 9 adults (ranging from 45 to 87) and 6 children, ranging from (3) 17-year olds to 12. I was glad to neither be the eldest nor the youngest! I had never eaten beef wellington before – it was very well prepared, but didn’t end up sitting with me well. I think the combination of very heavy foods and lack of salad-like substances, that my body is rejecting my holiday-eating patterns. We have eaten very well over the past year, so changing that pattern for more than a few meals in a row evoke havoc!

So far, the vacation has been a good bit of work, but all worth while getting in some visiting that has been long overdue, and never knowing when it will be the last time, is being embraced. At least my dog is getting spoiled with all of the attention!

Apparently, I’ve been busy…

19. December 2009 · Write a comment · Categories: running, vacation, weight
So, I haven’t posted in a long while. I have been blogging on my running blog (http://neversitstill.com), but that is mostly about the running I have done in the past year. As a very high level review, I completed two half marathons. They were completed within 5 weeks of each other, and all of the training was by myself on the back roads of northern Connecticut – plus a couple of runs at the gym at work.Speaking of work – it’s been a difficult year, but the year is almost done with a single day of work standing between me and the new year. I am taking the longest break from work I have ever taken, but feel that it is both deserved and very much needed. I’ll mostly be offline for the duration, although will be trying to keep up my blogs and email while offline. Work, however, will not be touched for the entire break other than during one of the trips and only to break up the drive (and of course, when I am NOT driving!).

One other event that happened this year was that I lost 25 lbs between August and October. While the majority of that was due to cranking up my distance, but also watching what I was eating thanks to my wife following the biggest loser quick start diet for dinners. There were a number of really delicious meals, so it has expanded our array of meal choices while reducing our waistlines!

A Quick Trip to Pennsylvania

29. August 2009 · Write a comment · Categories: friends, Richmond, vacation

Some of our best friends from Virginia visited recently. We spent two days relaxing, talking, and just getting back in touch. Then, last Saturday, both of our families headed to Pennsylvania. The three families are all great friends, and that really came through as soon as we got a chance to relax. I have a great deal of respect for Bill, for multiple reasons I won’t go into here. We always have a great time together – totally laid back with lots of laughs.

Debbie is just amazing. She came up with games, variations that we have played previously but always with twists that were only Debbie created. Take a ton of adults, most drinking, and the games are always a great deal of fun. For example, the first game started with two teams (partners were always on opposite teams), and each person had to pass the string with clothes articles attached through their clothes. It was interesting, and a great ice breaker for those of us from out of town.

The trip was relaxing, fun, full of friends, and very hard to end. Monday when the Ps headed back to VA and we headed back to CT, and the T’s headed to an appointment in Phila., it was the hardest goodbye we have said in a long time.

Quick Trip to Maine

20. July 2009 · Write a comment · Categories: kayak, Maine, vacation, wandering

This weekend, we headed to visit my Mom and husband in Maine. They were up there for two weeks, we got to visit for three short days. Fortunately, it was a quick, less than 4 hour drive with places to stop on the way.

We stopped in New Hampshire, in South Portland on the way up. We found a great restaurant (a dive, but with really great burgers), then headed out to Bug Light, a local lighthouse. We walked around, took a few pictures, and then headed up to Crystal Lake where my Mom was staying. It was a great house, with one bedroom upstairs and 2 – 3 downstairs. We slept downstairs (Kaite in one room, us in another, and Jake on the downstairs living room futon in his sleeping bag. We had a great weekend, and did a bit of kayaking, driving, and eating some great food! That and family, what more could you ask for.

A Great Vacation

05. July 2009 · Write a comment · Categories: Richmond, vacation

We just spent a week with fantastic friends who came to Connecticut from Virginia for a week of fun and relaxation. We did many things, including visiting Mystic (for pizza, of course), hiking at Kent Falls, canoeing or kayaking down the Housatonic River, taking a steam train and riverboat ride on the lower Connecticut River.
The week was relaxing and I feel somewhat disengaged from work for the first time in a year. Having adult conversation and catching up on life in Richmond helped us move past moving north. Life down south is crazy, and significantly more calm up here. While we sometimes question the move, those discussions helped to cement the fact that this was the right place and at the right time. We’ve been here almost a year now and are finally starting to feel at home.

Ocracoke Island

10. August 2007 · Write a comment · Categories: Avon NC, Hatteras, Ocracoke, travel

We headed south to Ocracoke Island yesterday to visit with two families that are friends of ours. The word “friends” is an understatement – they are part of our extended family. We have five other couples that we have intertwined our families with – and spend a great bit of time with either as a whole or with the women, the men, or just the kids. The women are my daughter’s “other mothers” – met through girls scouts, school, and the neighborhood. Our lives have been part of each other’s lives ever since. One of the couples moved to Pennsylvania two years ago, but remain an integral part of our circle. The men all get together to fish once each year in the Chesapeake Bay; the women have an “off-site” get together, usually at the beach. The women and boys even took a road trip to PA for last New Years Eve since it was their PA friend’s birthday and a great excuse for the boys to visit their friend and missing comrade.

At dinner last evening, we were sitting on the porch of their Ocracoke rental. We were talking about being family – all of us together. It is a chosen family, rather than a birth family. None of us are close to all members of our birth families – we don’t even live close to many of them. Our group knows that these friends are the ones that we can call, without reservation, to help in any crisis. It’s a great support structure that we have built, and is one that will truly last a lifetime. In most cases, it took a while for everyone to gain the trust in each other, to understand how much they can count on each other. That trust is now in place and won’t easily be broken. These friends are the reason we won’t likely leave the area – they would be the one thing that we simply couldn’t replace.

Oppressive heat…

09. August 2007 · Write a comment · Categories: Avon NC, Hatteras, travel

The oppressive heat wave continues… time to spend on the beach or inside.

Kayaks and fishing

08. August 2007 · Write a comment · Categories: Avon NC, Hatteras, travel

We rented the kayaks yesterday from Kitty Hawk Kites. The rental side of their business is apparently not big, but they are competitively priced and don’t nickel and dime you to death with charges for paddles, PFDs or back rests. We rented one shorter open, sit-on kayak and a longer, sit-in one. The girls and I took them onto the sound at a public access area to get a feel for how they worked (both the kayak and the girls). After about 30 minutes of using the kayaks, the girls were bored and just wanted to go swimming. They swam and I farted around with each of the kayaks for about 15 minutes before deciding that I needed to put a shirt on before I got any more burned. The girls are obviously having a great time together – Kara was a good addition to our trip.

Sue and the boys were successful in their half-day fishing trip. Our son caught the first fish for the boat and Sue caught two more. The friend caught tons of sharks, most biting through the lines just before being brought on board. A bit of sea sickness for our son, but he was a trouper like always.

Later in the afternoon, Sue and the boys took the kayaks into the sound from a private dock to which we apparently have access (it’s a resident/renter thing). They were out for a long time, including when Sue went way out / down the shoreline. Our son was very impressed that she was able to go that far and make it back. The water is about 2 – 3 feet deep until you go something like one-half mile out, so if you get stuck, you can just get out and walk back. The footing, however, is filled with oyster shells, so will cut your feet if you don’t have proper waterproof shoes on. Today, we’re heading back to Cape Hatteras to hit the beach. We’re going early because of the heat, and will head back in for a late lunch or a bit of air conditioned shopping.

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