July... Her Birthday Month

31 Jul:  at the Inn at Long Trail (click here) will mark the end of Her Birthday Month.  Happy, happy birthday to my beloved SmoochSmooch; may you have many, many, many more.  I love you.  We have enjoyed and exhausted ourselves hiking this month.  The good news is that we were able to do more at the outset this year.  We slept well, enjoyed a leisurely breakfast followed by more puzzle mountains, and were ready to hike at 11 AM.  After a good night's sleep, Cynthia is raring to go hiking again, but we will limit our exposure to three hours because pop-up thunderstorms are forecast at 2 to 3 PM.  We hiked to the sinkholes after Cynthia clobbered Ron with a brick sized piece of wood she threw off trail with strength and vigor, point-first directly into Ron's shoulder.  He decreed, "no more trail maintenance" to protect himself from the WeeFee's errant aim.  The heavy, pointed wood bruised his shoulder, which will likely be sore for a week.  Regardless, he loves her just the way she is - although it might be nice if she learned to look before throwing.  Reggie has created a passion fruit sorbet at the Inn which is terrific.  His previous sangria sorbet was also amazing.  We really, really like Reggie although there isn't room on the motorcycle to adopt him, despite his enthusiastic appeals.  We consider both the sorbet and the Irish soda bread to be desserts.  (Ron, the incorrigible, has taken to ordering sorbet first as appetizer and later as dessert.)  The last sudoku and the puzzle mountains are done.  All that is left is a bit of sky.  Puzzling trumped SCS packages.  GMC 3 hrs, cleaned several water bars by digging debris out to enlarge the existing water bars.

30 Jul:  Oatmealed, the exhausted Smooch family plans to hike three times to the Inn today, maybe 25 yards total.  Mr. Smooch is already back in bed.  It felt good to lie down and take a brief nap.  Except for discomfort in his hands and wrists, he feels quite good after that rest and nap.  Lo and behold, someone started a100-piece jigsaw puzzle in the Inn.  Ron put together the lake as his initial contribution.  Now he is finally set to resume working on the Likens package for the SCS.  We did have a lovely quiet day until we walked to the pub for dinner; a spoiled infant's ear-piercing screams were severe enough for us to flee the pub (as did ALL of the many other customers); Ron returned to the jigsaw puzzle and Cynthia fled to the lounge.  Ron mused that this was probably the main reason that women and children were prohibited from entering bars in the good old days.  From the highest heavens, thunder roared louder than the screaming toddler, preceding one of the heaviest deluges Cynthia has seen in a long time.  (Ron was oblivious, puzzling.)  The electricity may go out??  We may not get dinner??  Fifteen minutes later, the rain stopped.  The toddler and her overwhelmed parents left the pub, so we were able to eat in the now-empty pub.  Ron returned to work on the mountains in the puzzle.  After some progress, he allowed his conscience to force him to return to consider the Likens package, but then we stay up far too late.  Cynthia said good night at 11:30, Ron got to bed an hour later, and Cynthia got points for first "I love you" of the day while Ron was being ever so quiet to avoid waking her.  Total for the day: 195 steps.  Good night.  

29 Jul:  Heaven forfend, the housekeepers arrive today.  Ron has to straighten up again already.   Two tired, exhausted puppies survived an eight-mile hike from Killington Peak after taking the Gondola to the summit.   The gondola ride was as scenic as remembered, the view at the summit was as expansive as ever, and we dodged the "off-limits for construction" signs to take the boardwalk (catwalk) around to another ski lift and access to Coopers Shelter.  Someone else has been up there doing trail maintenance and cleared a couple of water hazards.  Ron removed 10 trees and created/cleaned three water bars.  GMC 7 hrs, sawed & removed 10 small trees, moved detritus from 3 water drainages put to bolster water bars, and created another.

Killington Peak

28 Jul, Sunday:  Will we rest today?  Sort of.  We hiked to the sinkhole on the Sherburne Pass Trail and cleaned water bars.  Cynthia was quite proud of cleaning out water-logged branches from an older part of the trail.  Ron preferred having the logs disintegrate and build up the old trail.  But she isn't going to move them back.  She likes clean and neat.  The heat & humidity is back and our room is not air-conditioned.  Ron is almost finished with the 30 sudokus that Oke gave him but still needs to show Oke the peculiarity in the last of them.  GMC 4 hrs, moved detritus from water drainages onto water bars - Sherbourne Pass Trail aka old AT.

27 Jul: Easy Peasy?  The Kent Pond hike to Thundering Falls is an easier, familiar hike, but it wasn't easy peasy, because we weren't rested enough from three days of tough hikes.  Ron cleaned out water bars and moved the dirt to build up the trail over several large tree roots. At least one fallen tree was removed.   Wynken and Blynken agreed to Nod early and sailed off to bed after another exhausting day.  Unfortunately, Cynthia awakened at 5:45 and didn't get back to sleep.  GMC 4 hrs, moved dirt from water drainages onto water bars, rocks & roots, AT.

First cut did not drop, but second one did.

26 Jul:  After yesterday's tough hike, we shoulda taken it easy, but we did not.  There was trail maintenance to be done, fallen trees to be removed, water bars to be cleaned out and new ones to be built.  Our hike to Jungle Junction (7.2 miles roundtrip) was exhausting.  The weather is pleasant, that helps.  The mosquitoes are not pleasant, but the straw hats really help keep them out of our faces. The view from the ski run was quite lovely.  The Inn at Long Trail is a terrific place to stay; they feed us hearty meals we can eat.  Cynthia's hiking goal at the end of two months is to be able to hike ten mile days without exhaustion.  GMC 6 hrs, sawed & removed 2 12" diameter trees, moved rocks, remodeled water bars & stream exits - old AT.

view from ski run, 2 miles uphill

25 Jul: Oh my!  The Deer LeapTrail to Kent Pond was only 4 miles; even the downhill was even tough.  But, that uphill return was almost straight UP!  The trail starts over a very rocky section that is quite a challenge.  Thereafter the idiot trail maintainers throw brush into the water drainages in some misbegotten idea that hikers cause erosion.  (It amazes us that the maintainers don't maintain the trail, and instead throw brushy trash along their "official" route to force hikers into a muddy messy caused by their lack of maintenance.)  GMC 5 hrs, sawed a couple of trees, moved brush out of water bar channels, moved several rocks - Deer Leap Trail & AT.

24 Jul:  Another day of hiking up to the ski run.  Ron carried his hiking hoe to do stream-bed maintenance and cleaned out several water bars.  GMC 5 hrs, hoed open & improved a dozen water bars - old AT.

23 Jul:  We woke up!  Yay!  As soon as the rain stopped we hiked the Kent Pond Trail.  It is our best choice when the trail is sloppy.  Probably more than a dozen hikers were hustling northbound on the A.T., while we passed only one southbound hiker.  We really enjoyed a visit with Dana G., a Long Trail hiker.  The best part of hiking is the people we meet!  Thundering Falls surprised us by looking no different than two days ago before a full 24 hours of rain.  Ron thoroughly enjoys trail maintenance (as well as stream bed maintenance), so he carried a sack to transport loose rocks uphill to drop into puddles to improve the hike (more weightlifting that is supposed to be good for oldsters.)  Ron finally forced himself to leave a few sudokus for another day and inserted the index into Volume 7 of the Colonial Records.  It appears that his notes were adequate and accurate.  Next step is to refine the index.  Either that or work on the newly ordered Likens package for the Swedish Colonial Society.  GMC 5 hrs, placed rocks in puddles - AT.

22 Jul:  Light rain.  Light rain ALL day.  Cold rain.  We chose to do no hiking.  Even Ron decided against going outside to get cold and wet.  Oh, well, God is blessing the earth.  Hansel and Gretel, a delightful hiker couple from Germany, joined us during dinner.  We like their unique trail names!  And we became new great grandparents of Caleb Eugene, 11 pounds and 1 ounce at 8:11 PM.  Caleb joins sisters Abigayle and Elanore.  Ron focused on sudokus almost exclusively ALL day.  These new sudokus are very difficult, and Ron now has one more sudoku with mistakes to correct.

21 Jul:  The Inn at Long Trail (click here) is experiencing the hiker "Bubble" on the A.T. combined with more traffic on the Long Trail.  This means the Inn is very busy, but Chef Reggie still manages to prepare food we can eat.  He made hummus without oil or sodium, and a really delicious Sangria sorbet.  Every evening we have baked sweet potatoes, steamed veggies, and high fiber Irish Soda Bread.  Three or four times a week he prepares salmon for us.  Today Ron hiked to Jungle Junction (7.26 miles roundtrip) alone and removed a couple more fallen trees from the trail.  He accomplished this herculean task in three and a half hours.  He thinks he survived.  Cynthia is astonished at his hiking speed, and his energy level is amazing. Cynthia did a Zero (a day without hiking).  She completed two essays for the #52 Ancestor Challenge in addition to submitting a Bankston YDNA project to a genetic analyst.  Tomorrow we might do another big hike.  We are discussing hiking southbound (SOBO in trail lingo) from Harper's Ferry next spring, but Cynthia asks, "Are we really in the condition to hike southbound in the spring?"  Check back in two months after we hike for a month and spend another two weeks at Pritikin.  Ron overheard hikers introduce themselves as Hansel and Gretel, so he wandered over to chat a few minutes.
Ron's stats: to the resting rock 21 minutes, to the sinkholes 36 minutes, to the ski run 61 minutes, to the shelter 80 minutes, to Jungle Junction 90 minutes.  That meant that he could enjoy sawing for nearly an hour.  Murray's Stiehl saw is only two teeth bigger than the bigger tree.  Both trunks were five feet long, and Ron was anxious that he might not be able to move them, but weight lifting is reputed to be good for older folks, and he was able to turn both logs end-over-end without hurting himself.  GreenMountainClub 3.5 hrs sawed through & removed two 14" trees from old AT (Sherbourne Pass trail.)

20 Jul:  Again, this morning, we are sitting in the restaurant of the Inn, Cynthia with Mac and Ron with sudokus in hand, both feeling exhausted and mighty sore from that ambitious seven-plus mile hike yesterday.  Onward and upward, we (Cynthia) are each hoping the other would say we shouldn't hike, but we will.   We chose the Kent Pond Trail to the Thundering Falls Trailhead because it doesn't have a big elevation gain.  Ron sawed through four small trees that had fallen across the trail.  Our 5.82 mileage seems insignificant in comparison to our exhaustion!  Reggie, the chef, prepared hummus without any oil or sodium for Cynthia.  YUM!  And the sorbet is wonderful.  GMC 5 hrs, sawed & removed 4 small trees from AT.

19 Jul:  We are sitting in the restaurant of the Inn with Mac and sudokus in hand, marveling at the garden view out the windows.  Patty and Murray have created a colorful tiered rock garden, and in the middle is a sculpture of a hiker with a heart.  Aweeeee!  Today's forecast is high heat and humidity.  The cloud cover, along with significant elevation gain and a lovely cool breeze made it a wonderful hike.  The stretch from the ski run to the junction is rough with roots and rocks.  According to Cynthia's Apple Watch, we hiked seven-plus miles.  We reached Jungle Junction where the A.T./ Long Trail and the Sherburne Pass Trail converge.  Ron sawed a few trees that had fallen across the trail, and he gave up on one and ignored a couple of others too.   GMC 6 hrs, sawed & removed 3 trees from old AT.

18 Jul:  We are going hiking since rain is not dominating the forecast.  And a few hours later, we are home after exhausting ourselves; six days of not hiking or walking took a toll.  Or maybe age is catching up with us?  We met a lot of hikers; 'Sunnyside Up' is a lovely girl from Martha's Vineyard who hiked most of the trail last year and is back at it again.  Ron didn't wear a tightly woven long-sleeve shirt, so a billion mosquito's proboscis dive-bombed into his back.  He looks like a case of the mumps.  We like the idea of doing a southbound A.T. hike next year starting at Harper's Ferry - maybe... just maybe.  Granddaughter Zoe landed in Thailand for summer work at an elephant sanctuary and teaching ESL; she is officially a freshman in college. YAY!  And granddaughter Corrie is 41 weeks pregnant with Caleb.  YAY for babies.  GMC 5 hrs, water bar maintenance on old AT.

17 Jul:  Inn at Long Trail, Killington, Vermont:  We may have slept nine hours.  It rained all night and all day.  Cynthia worked on her DNA article, plus updating the Bankston DNA for further genetic analysis.  Ron worked on Sudokus all day until he was bleary-eyed and then some.  Getting old is hard work, so mid-afternoon, we took a nap.  At 6 PM we enjoyed a light dinner of potatoes and salad before returning to our sudokus etc.

16 Jul:  BIRTHDAY !!  We celebrated by napping for three hours.  Okie has a lot of Sudokus for Ron, plus a puzzle!  Imagine that.  Cynthia had lots of text and email birthday wishes that made her very happy.  Annie sent a fun package of notes, watercolor greeting cards, a Norwegian recipe card, a protective cross to carry with us on the bike, and a photo of Cynthia at age 13.  Cynthia sent a photo of the photo to granddaughter Zoe and asked who it looked like.  Zoe said, "DAD!"  Son Paul said, "I don't ever remember having hair like that."  That just shows that even Paul is becoming forgetful.

15 Jul:  Cynthia is awake at 1 AM, 2 AM, 3 AM and finally out of bed at four AM.  The alarm is set for 5 AM.  Oh well.  The 7:40 AM  flight out of Houston was on time; Ron arrived in Rutland in time to put ten or twenty pieces into the very colorful jigsaw puzzle they have out to entertain those of us who puzzle.  The Smooches are happily reunited, fedified, and ensconced back into "our" room at the Inn at Long Trail.  And a good time was had by all.  The puzzle of the day is to wonder why the GPS decided to route Ron west on NH 124 to US 5 S to Keene to NH 12 N to finally get to NH 123 west into Vermont rather than merely turning left on 123 at the start.  Oh, now that I try it on Google maps, the difference is only ONE mile.

14 Jul, Sunday:  Ron is breakfasted and about to ride to Watertown to visit Richard one more time before riding to Sharon, NH to visit Margie and Richard.  The ride to Sharon was lovely, leaving Watertown via Bedford Road out to I-95 north for six miles to MA 225 back to Dave's house to pick up luggage and say goodbyes, then continuing out 225 until MA 110 N to 119 N to Townsend, MA where a bumpy road connects to NH 124 N to NH 123 N to Jarmany Hill Road.  Cynthia (in Texas) is going to worship at Grace Lutheran followed by Brunch with grandchildren. Tonight, she will drop off the rental car at the airport and overnight at a hotel nearby because of the 6:30 AM check-in for the flight to Smooch!  Mmmmm! and Mmmmm2 !!

Mom between her two boys

13 Jul:  Carlisle, Mass.  Already since it is 1 AM again.  Today's plan is to see Maggie in Hingham.  In the meantime-and-in-between-time,  Jul 13 in Montgomery, Texas, Cynthia is missing Ron.  Family and friends created a hilarious video of her life and happy birthday wishes.  Ron also made a very hilarious video singing, ”Good Morning to You!”   Ron is so proud of himself that he didn't accidentally give away the surprise party by blabbing something inappropriately.  The first part of the ride to Hingham was fine, being the normal route: MA 225 S & E, but once Ron turned onto on I-95, the fun soon departed as the traffic was very heavy and there were several stop-and-go slowdowns that left him baking in the direct 

Jon and Kiira

sunlight.  That is the price you pay for taking the major Boston circumferential I-95 (formerly 128.)  Once he turned the corner onto I-93 N and MA 3 S, the riding again became more pleasant, and it was satisfying to see familiar landmarks from previous visits.  While Maggie was coming down to the entrance reception area, Ron struck up a conversation with Mary Ellen, who was doing 15-by-15 sudoku on the computer.  It was quite a surprise to discover that she is a retired MIT civil engineer whose 

Cheryl and Fyn

favorite job included blowing up 
bridges and dams.  The entire afternoon was delightful, and it was well worth suffering in the sun through traffic to get to Linden Ponds.  The ride back to Watertown to see Richard in the evening was better as regards traffic and sunshine, but the choice of MA 16 was a poor choice with typical big city roads in terrible condition.  Richard seemed more lively and cheerful and motivated than yesterday, but it was because he had hatched this idea that Ron could take him via motorcycle to nearby Fresh Pond where the "Jovians" had set up a timing booth that could transport Richard

Mee beloved WeeFee

 back in time to 2015 before his stroke - which would recover the function of his left hand.  The nursing staff would not consider it, and it would require his doctor's and his guardian's approvals.  No surprise there, but Richard had really hoped that it would work and was severely disappointed.

Cynthia and kids

12 Jul:  Today went very well.  At 6 AM it was raining, so it was easy to fall back to sleep.  At 8:30 AM the phone rang, but Ron thought it was his pill alarm, and it was still raining.  After morning exercises and a goodby to Kris, Ron was able to enjoy his morning oatmeal without feeling rushed to be out and about on wet roads.  By 11 AM the roads were dry and the ride to Watertown was pleasant and easy.  Richard was in the lunchroom when Ron arrived, and after lunch, asked to see the motorcycle.  Peg rolled Richard out the door and left Ron to roll Richard back inside later.  After 45 minutes, Richard told Ron that this was the longest he had been outside in a preceding year.  Formerly a good-hearted volunteer had come once a week to spend time with Richard and to take him outside on good days, but Richard hasn't seen that volunteer in a year.  About 3 PM, after a surprising rumble of thunder, Ron said good-by for today and rode to Whole Foods for luncheon salad again.  The plan was to then ride to Bob & Rachel's in Arlington for dinner, but rain intervened, so Ron ate half of the salad at Whole Foods and the other half at Bob & Rachel's after Aletta left.  It was a surprise and a delight to see Aletta and her new puppy.  It was very wonderful to see Bob, Rachel, and Aletta again for such a relaxed, comfortable visit.  Now it is again 1 PM and time for bed.

11 Jul:  Carlisle, Massachusetts.  Day one without adult supervision.  Since the motorcycle had only 11 miles worth of gasoline in the tank, it seemed a priority to find more gas, but also seemed unnecessary (to Ron) to go out of the way to get it.  By the time Ron stopped at the Shell station in Bedford, the gauge was reading only one mile left until empty.  Ron did spend all day with his crippled friend Richard at the Watertown Health Center today.  Around 3 PM Ron rode over to Whole Foods for a huge salad lunch and frozen fruit bars dessert.  Richard asked Ron to find him a pair of cotton athletic shorts, and TJ Max had those.  About 7 PM Ron rode back out to Carlisle and stayed up talking with Dave until after midnight.  (Smooch to Ron in Mass from a wide-awake Cynthia in Texas at 5:30 AM)(And Smooch back from a very sleepy Ron in Mass at 1:19 AM.)

10 Jul:  More sorbet, but no so many awakenings last night, although Cynthia complained of too many.  We breakfasted at our relaxed normal 9 PM and Ron continued packing.  The two packages we are leaving here are bulging.  The motorcycle will be packed more lightly than usual, and we are ready to eat lunch at 1 PM.  Today Ron is pleased to report that his sore legs seem to have vanished with the additional exertions of the last two days.  We had thought to hike a bit today, but Cynthia has a blister under one toenail and decided against a hike today.  The plan is that Cynthia will catch a 4 PM flight out of Rutland for Houston via Boston to celebrate her birthday with her children in Houston.  Don't be surprised if Ron fails to blog for a few days. ( Cynthia’s flight at four was on an 8 passenger puddle jumper from Rutland to Boston; after a three-hour layover, the United Fight took off against one of the most incredible sunsets arriving in Houston at 11:21 PM.  She made the mistake of watching TV newscasts on the flight. Not good. .  

9 Jul:  More sorbet and another night of multiple awakenings.  Since our legs feel good, we decided upon a longer hike to the ski run again today, and Ron found another few trees to saw and remove from blocking the trail.  Cynthia took a couple of photos of the tree that is blocking the trail to show Murray.  Tonight we made the tentative correlation that evening sorbet might be interfering with our sleep - after Ron ordered and ate a second bowl.  Ron did remember to call Dr. Dougherty's office and discovered that TODAY is the day to send the remote reading of his pacemaker to the doctor.  (done)  Now pardon me while I get busy transcribing the route to Gill and Carlisle and Watertown onto paper in preparation for tomorrow.  GMC 5 hrs, sawed & removed 3 trees from old AT.

Maybe that was a pry log

8 Jul:  We decided upon a shorter hike today to allow our legs to recuperate a bit.  Hiker Ron borrowed Murray's super sharp Stihl hand saw and sawed five fallen trees to remove them from the trail.  He was tired/ exhausted!  Imagine that!  We were in bed plenty long but woke up multiple times.  Perhaps sorbet is not a good night time dessert.  GMC 5 hrs, sawed & removed 5 trees from old AT.

First of several cuts to remove most of the tree

View from ski platform

Ron is hilariously funny!

Hiker Ron in front of A.T. white blaze

7 Jul: Which trail do we take today (after nine incredible hours of refreshing sleep)?  The Kent Pond Trail it is!  The day is delicious; great weather, a cool breeze and low humidity made it awesome.  We stopped along the lakeside a couple of times to enjoy the water.  Ron was quite surprised that the trail appears very well maintained.  We made the entire distance to Thundering Falls again.  GMC no maintenance yet - no tools.

Tyler B. All America West

Grandnephew Tyler B. was named to the Little League All America West, playing in national playoffs late July. 

Sherburne Pass Trail Before Deluge

6 Jul:  We have another few days of hiking before Cynthia departs on July 10th via Cape Air for Boston to Houston for yet another 18th birthday party.  Then Ron will be without adult supervision for five whole days until she returns.  At his age, we doubt that he will get into much trouble.  We are extremely proud of ourselves for two days of industrious hiking.  We made it to the ski run for another six-mile day.  Ron rested there, hat overhead.  The view was lovely but obscured a bit by low clouds that forecast rain.  (As did the approaching thunder.) The trail was nice and dry until the rain came when we were about thirty minutes down the mountain.  Dinner tonight at Rosemary’s Restaurant was delicious!  

Hiker Ron Resting

Mountain View of Deer Leap (white spot)

Thundering Falls and Cynthia's Finger

5 Jul at the Inn at Long Trail, Killington, Vermont:  Cynthia and I arrived in Vermont yesterday and discovered immediately, to our dismay, that we no longer have legs accustomed to hiking.  Our legs get so tired so quickly on these hills !!  But today we persevered today up and downhill for nearly  16,000 steps according to Cynthia's FitBit - 6.34 miles.  We are tired puppies, but we ate well and plan to sleep early and long.  After all, tomorrow is another day.  We hadn't actually planned to get to Vermont this early, but the heat in Philadelphia last week convinced us to hustle up here without dallying around to enjoy sweaty sightseeing.

4 Jul:  Happy Independence Day!  Hurray, today we intend to get to the Inn at Long Trail, God willing.  That will be worth celebrating, too.  Then we can go hiking uphill.  Wynn:  Today's plan is the Taconic State Parkway N to R on NY 295 E to L on CR 5 N to R on NY 20 E to L on NY 22 N to R on NY 7 N into Vermont where it changes to VT 279 to L on US 7 N to R on US 4 E to Killington and the Inn at Long Trail (click here.)  Oh goodie, I just wrote a statement that I just love, "I'd rather live fully by eating healthy rather than live poorly by eating richly."  Warning: You will see this repeated often in the next year.  And now I've come up with a suitable alternative statement,
"You can choose to eat healthy to enjoy life fully or to eat richly to enjoy life poorly."  Well, the ride to Killington went without a hitch, except that it was a bit hot all day, 90+ degrees.  The few times we saw 86 or 84 degrees seemed downright cold.  The highways in New York were busy without long vistas, but Vermont corrected that with less traffic and nice mountains up close and personal all the way to the Inn.  Thank God.

3 Jul:  Another snoozy morning, but tomorrow we need to arise earlier, so tonight we need to get to bed earlier.  After Ron's huge breakfast of omelet and multiple bowls of oatmeal with pineapple afterward, we walked the 1.3 pleasant miles to the Post Office to mail one letter to Don C. and the key to the Archives back to Lisa.  On the return trip, Ron bought a loaf of sourdough bread for the salt,  (He was a bit dizzy this morning from low blood pressure.)  Then we decided to stop at Charlie Brown's for their salad bar, which surprised us by being one of the best we've seen.  Maybe that is why the Ruby Tuesday here closed.  This afternoon, we lazed about the room and computered.  Ron is considering the index for Volume 7 after finishing these trip descriptions, but it is now 8:39 after our evening walk.  At least I have finished documenting our routes for Wynn.  (I hope she can follow our routes although the ones on Jun 24 in the city will be a challenge.)

2 Jul:  YAY!  We slept for over eight hours! YAY!  This Hilton Garden Inn offers a pleasant stay for a couple of days.  After being lazy and computering all day, we walked around the neighborhood and then to Charlie Brown's for salmon and baked potatoes.  They did an excellent preparation of the potatoes, and Cynthia declared the salad good.

1 Jul:  Birthday Month.  Little SmoochSmooch turns 18 again this month, and she celebrates all month long.  Poor old Smooch is worn out by August.  We began the heralded birthday month by riding towards our Killington, VT destination to enjoy three nights of R and R at Fishkill, NY.  The ride was particularly cool and enjoyable going through the Poconos and the Delaware Water Gap (click here.)  We started north on Maryland 27 until turning L on MD 30, then R on MD 86 which turns into PA 516 at the state line.  We stayed on 516 too long, too close to York before heading over to I-83 N to bypass York, then US 30 E to the Ruby Tuesday past our turn, so after lunch we backtracked to go North on US 222 and missed getting onto I-78 early enough to pass by Bethel, so missed opportunity to see if Popeye was home.  (I forgot that Bethel is further west and that we need to pass close by Harrisburg to get there.)  It was great fun to see Kutztown up close on 222 and remember my Uncle Vint.  Eventually, we found PA 33 N and US 209 N to Shroudsburg  and through the Delaware Water Gap (so cool in the shade) and then I-84 E across the Hudson to Fishkill (click here) and our Hilton Garden Inn where we've enjoyed doing less for a couple of days, 284 miles total today.  The GPS threw me for a loop because it wanted me to return west across the Hudson - after reflection, I realize that I set a map waypoint on the bridge, and the GPS must have placed it in the westbound lane.

June Too Soon!!

30 Jun:  Today we woke up at our normal 8:30 to discover that Jim and Joni were up and eager for breakfast at the Mt. Airy Inn (cllick here.)  The Inn did a marvelous job on our egg white veggie omelets.  They are our new favorite Mt. Airy breakfast place.  Jim then preferred to go for an all-day ride instead of having help with projects on the farm.  And ride we did, all the way to Washington County (where my Sweeney/ McSweeney ancestors still await more serious research) and up to the Pen-Mar Park that both Cynthia and I remember from our AT hike in 2016.  Ron even remembered a store near the B & B we enjoyed overnight one night on our hike.  The garishly painted rock in the photos is High Rock, a local landmark (click here.)  The AT drops precipitously down a very rocky route from this vantage.  This was Joni's first ride of the season, so she was getting her skills refreshed by following Jim on his favorite twisty roads in their neighborhood.  Following Jim and Joni makes for a very pleasant and scenic ride.  We saw pretty view after pretty view of Maryland landscapes.  Only one road turned to dirt part way, but this was one wonderfully maintained dirt road.  Our thanks to those road grader operators.  Dinner was again at the Mt. Airy Inn and they fed us well in the evening too.

Smooch and SmoochSmooch at High Rock (near Pen-Mar Park)

Jim & Joni, thanks for leading us on a lovely motorcycle ride.

View from the edge of the rock

29 Jun:  Despite the bike being first in line, work did not begin until Ron was physically present to sign the contracts.  Bob said that this was the only time the owner has not been present with the bike on Saturday first-come first-served; since other riders were present and waiting, they were served first.  The hotel clerk was adamant that Ron was not to walk and arranged with another employee to give him a ride to the shop.  The bike didn’t get rolled in for service until after 1:30 PM.  The good news was the tire was fine. The nail hadn’t penetrated.  Ron returned to the hotel to pick up Cynthia at five PM, and we no sooner started than raindrops fell and we returned to the hotel to wait out another 10-minute shower before going to Jim and Joni's.  From their place in Mt. Airy, Jim drove us to the Ruby Tuesday in Westminster where we were able to eat salads to our hearts content.  Jim and Joni retire even earlier in the evening than we do !!

28 Jun:  Yup, today we roll out of Philadelphia.  Packing, cleaning and recycling was finally complete and we managed to be on the road by Noon-thirty.  It is hot!   Ron created a plan, and we almost stuck to it, except for one wrong turn.  We again took the back roads through Conshohocken and turned onto I-476 N.  We missed the turn onto I-76 west and had to turn around, Ron's only miscue of the day.  US 202 W & S to R on PA 826 W for a bit (W Street Road), then onto Creek Road, a lovely side road through Brandywine's provincial, pastoral estates (horsey farms).  Ron was surprised how near the end of that road was to I-95 south.  We found a Ruby Tuesday restaurant south of Wilmington on DE Highway 1 (in Bear, Delaware.)   After eating, we took DE 1 south,  until we accidentally turned west a little sooner than planned at Smyrna on Delaware 6 (instead of later on DE 8).  We crossed into Maryland, wandering through fertile agricultural farms and some corn fields boasting stalks well over six feet high.  Finally, we reached US 301 south.   The highlight was crossing the Delaware Bay Bridge; the view of the bay was breathtaking, but the dark, ominous clouds and vivid lightning display ahead really captured our attention.  Just after crossing the bay, the rain started, and Ron took the first exit and pulled into the BMW Annapolis auto dealer to wait out the storm.  The rain stopped in half an hour, and after another half hour, we arrived dry at our Marriott hotel off Maryland Highway 32.  Ron dropped off the bike at Bob’s BMW (click here) in preparation for tomorrow’s 48,000-mile service, and to replace a tire because ours has a nail poking out of the tread.  The walk back was a comfortable 1.7 miles on wide roads.

27 Jun:  Aaaaghh, Ron is finally realizing that we need to be riding the motorcycle tomorrow.  The tire is still holding air pressure, so that is less worrisome.  That nail convinced Ron to route us through Delaware to Bob's instead of through Baltimore.  The biggest concern with Baltimore is the harbor tunnel.  A flat tire on a motorcycle there would be very risky.  Unbeknownst to Ron, the Delaware Bay Bridge also has no break down lane.

Cynthia has beautified the entrance with a few flowers.

26 Jun:  Another day, another Smooch.  We leave Friday, and it is coming down to the wire about packing and recycling.  Still, we slept beautifully last night and woke up rested and happy.  Ron took photos again this morning in more consistent light (fewer shadows obscuring text.)  The walk to Fresh Market provided a sanity relief.  This morning and afternoon, the confirming of source citations came to a successful end, although there are still several sources left to find and several cryptic references to decrypt.  Cynthia has declared herself "finished" typing families into Family Tree Maker.  Ron is now running OCR on the photos while blogging before our evening walk.  Oops, OCR finished, time to start the backup and walk.

25 Jun:  Today even Ron is beginning to feel the need to pack.  We leave Friday, and there is still so much computer work to do.  And today Ron's MacBook was terribly slow at first, so Ron shut it down, rebooted, and watched with dismay as the striped screen showed up again and again.  Fooey, so Ron went home to do a few things while the computer restarted and restarted until it was warm enough to work again.  Thank God it is working fine again.  Kim showed up early to work and John showed up just in time to join us at McMenamin's to drink lunch.  After lunch, Ron went to the house to photograph the 77 documents that he would like to ship back to Texas.  Next step is to see if the results are readable; fair, but shadows obscure too many things.  Cynthia opted to not walk this evening; her feet hurt and she has a headache from all the typing and concentrating.

24 Jun:  Good grief, we started June just a couple of days ago.  Smooch?  This evening we enjoyed a delightful dinner at La Loconda in Newtown at Sally's suggestion.  We were joined by Herb & Zofia and by John.  The conversation was very amusing as Herb was quickly affected by the alcohol and quite bemused by his struggle to find and pronounce words.  Amusing to us all, especially since Herb's condition was not at all intoxicated, just slightly affected and very bemused.  Ron is so very proud that he selected a wonderfully traffic-free route for a Monday rush hour.  Here it is: Stenton Ave W to L on Hillcrest Ave S to R on Germantown Ave W to L on Church St to Harts Lane to R on Barron Hill Road to L on E Hector St to R on Walnut wiggle L & R & L to W on Fayette St crossing Schuylkill to R on Matsonford Rd to L on King of Prussia Road to R on Radnor-Chester Rd to R on Sinkler Dr to L on Iven St. into Church Road  into Brooke Rd to R on Derby-Paoli Rd to L on St. David's Rd to L onto PA 252 S to R on Goshen Rd 2.5 miles to L on Marlborough Rd to L on Providence to corner of West Chester Pike.  When we arrived at the restaurant, Ron noticed a very shiny slot 5/16" long lying in one of the grooves of the rear tire.  He examined more closely to discover a shiny nail filed down and polished by the roadway.  This is not a good discovery, but the tire was still inflated, so we rode home the way we came.

23 Jun: Sunday:  LTSP Lutheran.  (Google finds us with that.)  Good grief, we started June just a couple of days ago.  After worship, we wallyworlded, then we packed.  Almost.  In the evening, we rode to Scoogi's for dinner and so that Ron could air the tires up to 42 lbs as recommended.

Loren and Jon a few years ago

22 Jun:  Happy Birthday to our granddaughter Lauren.  Ron and Cynthia are again at the Archives working.  Ron got on the stick and made plans to take our motorcycle in for service at Bob's BMW in Jessup, Maryland early next Saturday.  (Saturdays there are first come, first served.)  It looks like we will pack to leave Friday, stay at a hotel overnight, and visit Jim & Joni Saturday and Sunday.  Goodie, goodie.

21 Jun:  Despite the fact that we have been awaking early, Cynthia is well rested and sleeping well.  Thank God.  Life is Good.  Another day indistinguishable from every other except that John had a visitor from Australia, so we got to listen to Austrailiaisms.  She was quite a delight and joined us at McMenamins, where she was surprised by the size of her hoagie.

20 Jun:  We are again awake early enough to spend lots of the day at the Archives.  Today Ron has Linda and her husband as company.  Damp sidewalks & roads dissuaded us from taking Cynthia to LabCorps early, but towards noon everything dried our and we rode the motorcycle 20 blocks to get her tests.  Wouldn't you know that it rained a few drops on us as we started.  We were disappointed at Fresh Market that the salad bar is still kaput.  It is now repaired, but the staff had not stocked the veggies yet and estimated an hour until the bar would be open.  So we walked across the street to the hotel and ate salads there.  Ron continues to work through the next pile of source citations.

TRUE STORY:

     Cynthia was dismayed walking into a cloud of fruitflies hovering over the bananas in the kitchen.  She complained A LOT, "How do they get in the house?"
     Ron's empathetic reponses, "Fruitflies have a very short lifespan, like hours." and later, "Fruitflies come with the bananas from Mexico."
     Cynthia then inquired, "If their lifespan is so short, how did they survive the trip from Mexico to the kitchen?"
     Ron, "They reproduce!"  
     Cynthia, "You mean they have sex on the bananas?"  
     Ron delivered the punch line, "God said to be fruitful and multiply." 

There is NEVER A DULL MOMENT!

19 Jun:  What happened to the 18th?  We forgot to blog.  Today we woke up waaaay too early, 6 AM, and were at the Archives too early, got lots done, and now it is time to go for our evening walk.  The forecast torrential rains never materialized.  No Kim, no John, so we walked to Fresh Market and enjoyed salads again, but with special service.  The refrigerated salad bar was busted, and the repair person (a woman!) had formerly been a manager, so she brought down the fixings from the refrigerator for us to select our meals.  What Service !!

18 Jun:  Over lunch at the Chestnut Hill Inn we enjoyed a marvelous conversation with Ron and Nancy.  Cynthia and Nancy discovered that they are artistic soulmates.  Ron and Ron find each other amusing, so it is a good match.  Ron (me) caught up on neglected e-mails today and was surprised to learn that two new packages had been requested last December.  Apparently that notification disappeared into the ether.

17 Jun:  Back at it at the Archives and Microsoft Word has just choked again and opened about 50 copies of previously saved backups, most of which are weeks or months old.  I really need to figure out how to clean out all those old backups before they choke me again.  MIT friend Joel also walked to Fresh Market to join us for lunch.   Much good humor & good conversation.  The solution to the Wor backups is to occasionally close Word.

16 Jun:  Tidings of Peace, York, PA.  Happy Father's Day to all of the fathers in our world.  It was wonderful to see our Trail friends again, Pappa Bear and the Preacher Boys.  Mary Lois was very surprised to see me.  Cynthia had apparently passed by her without notice and was already talking with Clayton further inside the church.  Our surprise was to see Kevin and Naomi instead of Trevor and Austin.  Clayton delivered a marvelous sermon about being blessed with cancer; we should thank God for everything, even if it isn't what we might choose for ourselves.

15 Jun:  LTSP needs another word to encourage Google to find our location.  9:30 AM into Archives on a Saturday.  Thank you, Michael, for opening the door for us.  Now I get to spend one more day on James Lea, after checking e-mails and figuring out the route to York for this evening.  I did already plant the compost and was rewarded to see that compost from a month ago is already becoming soil.  Our 6:00 PM ride to York, PA was crazy when we accidentally turned East instead of West.  That mislabeled entrance onto I-76 south at Conshohocken has bitten us before; it takes suckers south for 7 miles before there is an exit.  Once we retraced our steps and were oriented westbound the Philadelphia cityscape soon disappeared. Approaching Lancaster, PA, the setting sunlight cast marvelous shades of rich green, gold and yellow like a tapestry on fields and hillsides.  My heart smiled to see the iconic Amish farms.  So, too, to see and hear an Amish buggy clopping along, plus an Amish wagon filled with a group of young cap-clad girls, giggling loud enough to be heard.   A restroom stop provided amusement as two very young Amish boys and their dad, all three wearing identically perfect straw hats, opened their eyes wide in astonishment to see Cynthia in helmet.  The youngest boy was so frightened that he backed back into the restroom to hide behind his dad.  We were in Amish country.  Continuing afterwards, strong smells filled the air as we rode close to a cattle yard.  Cynthia was unimaginably delighted to be in a clean hotel room with a king sized bed. 

14 Jun:  This morning we awoke early and were at the Archives before my pill alarm rang at 9 AM (ain't retirement wonderful?)  I've asked my sistah if she will be my emergency contact for my passport application and started truncating a package for Sandra, but now I wanna work on James Lea until noon.  Time flies - seems like only yesterday that we were creating a new blog post for June, and it is already half gone.  Cynthia's birthday month approaches posthaste.  John P. showed up today and joined us for lunch at Fresh Market.  He really enjoyed the salad and soup, so he might join us there again in the coming weeks (two) that we are all still here. And YAY for the beautiful weather enticing us to walk the Wishahickon trail in the woods.  

13 Jun:  We hit the Archives running late after sleeping until 8:30.  Sally B and Kim-Eric joined us for lunch at McMenamins.  The hummus is delicious, although Ron always prefers a 22-oz Hefeweizen or two.  Afterward, he walked to the house twice, once for oatmeal and once for pineapple and mango.  Our evening walk was prevented by a horrendous rainstorm with flash flood warnings.  Two weeks to go until our ride to hike the summer in Killington, Vermont, so we need to start thinking about cooking beans and lentils and using up other supplies.  Ron needs to get his recycling and composting acts together soon - - - but first, genealogy calls.

12 Jun:  Cynthia is disappointed with her attempt to discover the four James Lea signatures.  The NC Archives sent her a 1771 petition and proposal to partition Orange County, NC and establish a new county named Warrick upon which is written: "Rejected."  Lots of signatures, but only one James Lea (probably her ancestor.)  She had asked for the petition to create Caswell.  Eureka !!  Larry showed up and asked to go to lunch; Ron is now eating pretzels to absorb alcohol.  This evening 7ish we had dinner plans at Jansen’s with Ron’s MIT alum, Eric, but were very disappointed that Eric was under the weather after a week-long round of doctors visits, so he opted for a nap instead of dinner.  We wish him well.  Dinner at Jansen was fabulous, as always.  (We wonder what those very tasty, little green veggies were.)

11 Jun:  Lunch at McMenamins with Kim and John.  Ron forgot to blog whilst inebriated, but this is soon after sobering.  Ron is tooooo funny!!!!

10 Jun:  Already !!  We have a dinner date tonight and rain is forecast, so I am leaving ASAP to attempt to get there before the rain starts.  Wish me luck.  We were out of luck to ride the motorcycle to Scoogi's because of the rain she fell.  Pastor Dave and Susan gave us a ride to avoid the rain and enjoy a lovely dinner with delightful company.  Susan is beautiful and a fine, fun conversationalist.
  

Bagpipes in an enclosed space are LOUD !!

9 June:  Worship in the 9:30 AM at Christ Ascension in historic Chestnut Hill, PA. We thoroughly enjoy the "old school" walk to church.  Ron clips branches while Cynthia boogies on ahead.  Somehow, he manages to catch her before she arrives at the door.  That evening we made quite an entrance pulling up to the William Penn Inn in dress clothes on the motorcycle!  Too bad someone didn't get a photo.  Pastor Frank Watson's musical rendition of Auld Lang Syne on bagpipes hit all of the right notes for a retirement farewell tribute to our friend, Dr. John Peterson.  John is retired after forty years as the archivist and curator for the Lutheran Archives in Philadelphia.  Under his watch and guidance, this Archives became a model for ELCA Archives.  We enjoyed the camaraderie sharing Norwegian and Swedish jokes.   Blessings and your forward go, John Peterson.

8 Jun:  LTSP in the AM.  John & Jim working today, so the outlook for drinking lunch is great.  Cynthia voice a preference to walk to salads, so Ron might enjoy TWO lunches today.  Nope, Cynthia chose to join us at McMenamin's, but I did get to drink two (2) 22-oz hefeweizens.  Now I've been over to the house to eat a bit more salad and leftover potato to help with the sobriety and am ready to resume working on James Lea - - after another DNA search for Pat.

7 Jun: Somehow we jumped from Tuesday (yesterday) to Friday (today).  And that's a good thing.  Everyone loves Fridays.  The twos of us completed recent projects, and now Ron is back hardly working on James Lea (Cynthia's book).  Cynthia, OTOH,  finished creating a database with a trillion kazillion names from the Forefather Profiles.  We enjoyed lunch at McMenamin's with John T.  (Oops, Ron forgot to blog whilst inebriated.)  It is almost seven PM and time to leave the Archives for our evening walk on the recently discovered Wissahickon trail.  It was cool in the shade of the "forest."

6 Jun: LTSP.  And here we are, Tuesday.  Ron has finished his receipts, and no one else has shown up, so it looks like Cynthia and I will be walking to Fresh Market for lunch again.  Ron wrote card #4 today, so only a card to Trevor left before mailing Shank cards off.  (Note: the editor in the wings reminding Ron it is Thursday)  We started towards salads, and the skies opened up and the rain poured.  Ron opted to pause under the dense trees needing clipping and clipped.  Cynthia's raincoat covers her to the knees, so she was OK.  Evening walk around campus was deliciously fragrent, and the walk in the woods was again delightful.

5 Jun:  LTSP.  Today again.  Apparently, Kim-Eric isn't showing up today, so in half an hour we will brave the forecast heat to walk to Fresh Market.  Ron has finished finding sources for the Clements package and is taking a break before deciding what to do next.  The heat walking to and from Fresh Market wasn't so bad.  Ron has been losing weight (now below 172), so he needs to eat more.  Isn't that a lovely predicament?  I think we will take our evening stroll in the woods again today.  See you tomorrow.

4 Jun:  LTSP.  Today again, a second cool day.  Apparently, it is not a Doll meeting day, so we will walk to Fresh Market at 1 PM to feed us.  Hurrah, John has shown up and is willing to walk to McMenamins.  Ron's alcoholism is resuscitated.  Two beers a week constitutes alcoholism, right?  Smooch, Smooch, I love you.  And a fine time was had by all the survivors.  Despite the background noise and Ron's alcoholic fog, a good communication was enjoyed.  In the evening we enjoyed a nice walk in the woods nearby - quite the surprise to find such a place so close to LTSP.

Da Beauties as photographed by Brita A.

3 Jun:  Back at it in the Archives.  Ron was shocked this morning upon approaching the main door into the Brossman Center to see the reflection of all those pink roses in the windows.  It was pretty incredibly wonderful, and he had to turnabout to fully appreciate the splendor.  Fortunately Fresh Market repaired the salad bar, so we enjoyed the usual walk in reasonably cool weather, and in the evening we enjoyed a nice walk about the neighborhood, which always amazes us because some other bush or flowers have gained ascendency in the splendor parade.  We've had winter, summer, winter, summer, winter, summer, winter, summer and now finally we get a couple of days of spring.  Oops, this line lines up this picture.

Ron between Jean and Susan (before thunder & sprinkle)

2 Jun, Sunday:  Another early service at Christ Ascension, but we were greatly disappointed to find the salad bar at Fresh Market closed due to electrical problems.  Being resourceful we decided to ride to Dreshertown to the Fresh Market which is a stone's throw from WallyWorld.  Imagine our disappointment that that Fresh Market does not even have a salad bar.  We bought our groceries and came home to eat oatmeal.  Ron decided to sit in the glorious weather outside while working on another computer project.  However, after an hour or so, huge thunder approached and a few raindrops sent Ron scampering inside.  That prompted him to resume his window washing assignment, but he was only half done when it became time to dress for dinner.  In the evening MIT buddy Joel and wife Susan fed us a wonderfully delicious Pritikin perfect meal, and Jean brought Pritikin perfect hors d' ouevres.  We love it when our friends take out diet seriously, but we feel guilty for putting them to the extra effort to cook with such horrible (to them) restrictions.  On the other hand, we are hoping to live 15 years longer, and our life is wonderfully enjoyable, thank God.

Ron and Cynthia and Dean

Dedication following the ribbon cutting

1 Jun:  LTSP in Mt Airy - you can Google LTSP, there is only one.  Smooch andSmoochSmooch are back at it in the Archives.  Later today we ride to Wilmington to Gov. Printz Park for a ribbon cutting for the new Farmstead.  We were approaching Wilmington when Cynthia said ??????????????????????????? Gov. Printz Park is in Essington.  The GPS figured out how to get there from there, so we arrived an hour late, but still early for the ribbon cutting dedicating the new Farmstead.  Cynthia and Ron enjoyed seeing our Swedish Colonial friends and walking about the park (which is very nice, thanks to airport improvement shush money.)  As an added bonus, we met our new Rambo (maybe) cousins Dean and Karen.  Dean has embarked on DNA to see if he can establish a relationship to Drury Rambo who was born in 1824.