Corrections complete for July 9th, 10th, & 11th.
14 August: Todays visit with Dave and family will end when Chris and the kids leave for a weekend with her parents at the Cape. Dave and I will visit Gillett
13 August: with the Gilletts in Bedford, New Hampshire. The electric plug-in is working thanks to a e-mail suggestion from the installer. After a pleasant morning on the porch, Wall & Irja treated me to ice cream at Kimball Farm in W?ford. This location is no fun - they limit a quart to a single flavor, but a half gallon is the same price, so I ate 1/2 gallon of strawberry. Just before dark, Dave and I picked a quart of blueberries - Yum.
12 August, Tuesday: with the Gilletts in Bedford, New Hampshire. The knee continues to improve so that walking is almost comfortable now. Mild discomfort still limits mobility. Test results were negative, so that illness with chills and night sweats was not Lyme Disease. Lazy day until Jerry arrived in plug in Prius. Dinner at Wall and Irja's was delightful. BBQ, snacks, salad, and potato salad were all very tasty. Wall is happy with Porche and globe trotting job; Irja was cheerful despite bad knee and her father's problems. The arrival of Ed and Mary was certainly a pleasant surprise. Their welcome presence added a sparkle to the conversation and evening. Robert showed up later and showed pictures from his recent hiking in Colorado. Great fun, good food, and too much wine were enjoyed by all. The only shadow over the evening was that the plug-in Prius stopped accepting power from the plug.
11 August: with the Erickson's in Carlisle, Massachusetts until 3pm. Dave lent me the Saab to drive to visit Tuna & Christine in Andover, MA where the three of us enjoyed fine Indian food at Bollywood. Kevin (Preacher Boy #1) surprised me with a phone call to tell me that they have returned to Harer's Ferry to hike south rather than continuing to swim upstream in New Hampshire. It was mildly exciting when the headlights failed while driving after dark in light rain - no problem, just a flakey connection or short which disappeared when the lights were turned on.
10 August:
The plan is for Dave to pick me up Sunday and lend me a car to use until next Friday. I'll be calling and making arrangements for visits soon.
9 August:
8 August, Friday: The knee is almost pain free today. I'll try the stairs and check mouse traps. Today's plan calls for visiting someone in town and at Jennifer's, followed by an evening at a local bar listening to Wes and the band, "Welcome to Florida."
7 August, Thursday: The knee is again marginally better. Wes is home & looking good. Heather & Wyatt brought over their sons, 14 months and four years. Gavin (the older son) enjoys nothing better than pushing his younger brother to make him fall. By the time they left, everyone was ready for a nap. Margie wanted to see a movie, so we saw Batman on the "big screen" of the quaint local theatre. It was neither too loud nor too bloody, so I was able to sit through the entire ordeal rather than walking out mid-movie.
6 August: Thank goodness for another good night's sleep. Margie's dinner party was a resounding success as everyone enjoyed the meal, the wine, and the company. Louie delighted me with several of his favorite stories. SueAnn had great fun providing narrative for the pictures about a recent trip to Greece. Jennifer is interesting and knowledgeable about topics foreign to most lawyers. Much fun.
5 August: After another good night's sleep, the knee is improved again, but is still not very good. This morning has been slow & lazy with just a bit of blog updating & weeding. We drove into Peterboro a time or two today, once before lawn mowing & once after. Unfortunately the knee was irritated by the lawn mowing.
4 August: Margie, Richard & Fred have gone hiking, leaving Ron with his gimp knee at the house with the computer, transcribing his audio recorder for the AT hike on July 14. The knee is far less painful today, but not nearly well enough to hike. After co-ordinating schedules, there is suddenly very little time to enjoy visiting friends in New England. How time flies !! Phone calls & plans must be made ASAP. Maybe this is time to start working on a new blog, Ron's plans, since a genealogical road trip is to start soon.
3 August: The knee was still very painful, and limited Ron's activities to short walks. Drew returned from the GPS vendor by 10:30 and they were in the Piper Warrior on the runway by 11:30 after one excitement when the prop wash yanked the sleeping bag out of the partially open door. Drew asked Ron what he had enjoyed the most & the least about AirVenture 2008. Most enjoyable was the passion & cheerfulness of all the pilots and aficionados; next most enjoyable were the girlies in form-fitting tops; the roar of the FA-18s & of the Raptor; the WWII WarBirds; the amazing aerobatic fliers; and the tap dancing violin player. Least enjoyable was the knee pain and the irritation of the golf cart traffic. Most fun was flirtation - (Can you believe that Ron avoided ice cream?)
3:20 PM: Ron and Drew are refueling the airplane in NY and Ron is EXCITED to be only 2.5 hours from Jaffrey, NH and Kimball Farm ice cream. They left Oshkosh about lunch time and are making great time.
8:30 PM: Ron and Drew landed calmly about 7:15 PM despite presence of nearby thunderstorms. Margie and Richard picked Ron up and stopped next door at Kimball Farm for ice cream! Ron ate only half of the quart during the ride to their house because he just talked too much en route; can you imagine Ron talking a lot?? Margie's nose dictated the shower & washing machine ballet. Richard found some striped pajamas and shorts for Ron to wear until his one outfit is clean. The sounds of laughter and gaiety are delightful to hear as they begin catching up on the past seven years since their last visit. Deep into the morning hours Margie & Ron "caught up" on the major events & traumas of those years.
2 August: Today's plan is to limit activities because knee pain & swelling yesterday was "severe." Knee feels quite a bit better today, but is still swollen & painful. The Basler FBO is a very reasonable viewing spot for the air shows . Of greatest interest were the WarBirds which flew in formations for an hour of the afternoon air show. Highlights were departing hugs from Jen and Sylvia.
1 August: Today's plan is to borrow a camera from Canon first thing & spend the day limping around the grounds taking photos. The FBO's coffee has Ron ready to rock & roll. Showering clean this morning was delightful as were Jen (one beautiful & sweet young pilot) and the energetic Sylvia who filled yesterday evening with conversation after the blog update. Life is good and these ladies made those hours delightful.
3pm: Mission accomplished - photos taken although Ron is chagrined that there is not even one picture of a pretty girl.
6pm: After an engaging flirtation with another beauty, a stewardess, Ron reports that life is still wonderfully fun, even with a gimp leg. Hey, she even hugged him good bye -- twice. It was also great fun to spend several minutes of entertaining conversation with Jen and her father - too bad they both need naps. Good chance that they will be in again tomorrow morning & around noon. p.s. FBO stands for Fixed Base Operators per earlier days of radio operations.
