More PIctures from THE TRIP!

A shadow of US from the top of the arch! This was just the most beautiful day.

Here the girls and I are at the St. Louis City Museum. A strange place. Most a collection of old junk that an artist has assembled into a huge playground. THe girls and I had a blast climbing and sliding all over for a couple of hours.
The girls with David in Washington DC.
Another shot of Ingrid at the City Museum. There is as much indoors as out. We barely saw the inside as it was such a beautiful day outside we didn't bother to go in. I almost got stuck going thru this tree - - - I ended up pulling my self thru on my back within a cut-away that had wire netting all around.. What a place where one can truly get lost WITH their kids. LOVE IT!

Pictures from THE TRIP!

The girls at the zoo in Chicago. Pretending to pet a river otter thru the glass. It is cool - you can see the bubbles from where he just dove down.










Here are the girls at Penguin Park. It was a beloved place I used to play when I was their age.














THis is RILEY - the Maine Coon cat. He belongs to my cousin Kris in KC. They had him "groomed" - a lion cut. He is about 22 pounds and just funny as all get out. Imagine - a 22 pound lion running about the house!







Here is my Mom with the girls.


















This one is for Uncle Richard. The view of St. Louis stadium (is it still Busch Stadium) from the TOP OF THE ARCH. Very cool....

Hey - It's Monday!

Well, over the weekend things got pretty exciting around here. I put a primer coat on the coop windows and doors. It is really starting to look like SOMETHING. It will look better with the actual paint that will match the trim on the house. Meanwhile, the chicks just peeped and ate and pooped!

I HAVE A NEW WORKING COMPUTER - IF YOU HAVEN"T E-MAILED IN WHILE - PLEASE DO SO I CAN RE-CREATE MY OUTLOOK ADDRESS BOOK! thx -g

My friend Emma came to visit them. She likes to pet the chicks.

David got this cute shot by putting the camera right down in the brooder.

Eighteen Chicks!

We got our chicks today. There are 18. They were shipped on Wed - and they called at 9:30am today for me to come pick them up. "it was faster than waiting for delivery" I am presuming that the golden ones (like the one on TOP of the feeder) are the 10 Chanticlear Pullets, and the light yellow and striped ones are little cocks! Only time will tell if I am correct. All of them seem to be fine. They are running around - peeping and eating. I keep ducking their beaks into the water to try and encourage them to drink. So far - no drunks in the bunch! I am still using this pitifully slow laptop - no pictures from our vacation - YET! Keep in touch - and DO send me some e-mail so I can recoup my Outlook Address book once my new computer comes early next week. g

Yes - home safe and sound - - - but...

Thanks to everyone for their hospitality on the road. After 3300 miles, we all arrived home to Brunswick safe and sound late Sunday afternoon. Well, all but my $&#*($$ COMPUTER!!! The hard drive is toasted. Thus - no final details of our trip and no pictures yet. I'm about to buy a new desktop - and will hopefully be better able to enlighten everyone as to the details of DC and bring you some pictures soon....

ALSO - keep the e-mails coming - with the hard drive 6' under, I've lost many e-mail addresses - so PLEASE keep in touch.

thx - and more soon -
g

Made it BACK TO THE EAST COAST!

Well, we made it to DC. Total trip miles to date ~ 2800.

We're now visiting with David's cousin Amy. We had Lebanese Take-out for DINNER. DELICIOUS!

I managed to find Dulles at the last minute and actually picked him up. A few wrong turns. It was pretty daring as I didn't have that detailed a map of the area.. After two 180's and a little discussion with a DC Police Officer in the Arrival Lane at the airport - I did find the new Smithsonian Air & Space museum. He was waiting curbside for us. We found our way back to 28 North and 267 East - and found Amy's house - no problemo. Funny - we saved him $3 bus ride (with 2 layovers and 3 buses) and a 2 hour trip home. It was nice to be reunited and all in the same place.

525 miles yesterday from St. Louis to Charleston West Virginia. A shorter day today - just 350 miles into DC. The girls are sick and tired of driving. We had some time on a railroad tie at a gas station around 1pm. A Mom in the car nearby said to her son "See - other Mom's get really mad sometimes too and make you sit until you can control yourself!" Let's just say it was a long wait - I am excited for a day of exploring tomorrow - probably the American History museum at the Smithsonian and some of the monuments. It is supposed to be 80 and sunny the whole weekend. Maybe some showers for our drive home Sunday.

adios for now -
g

St Louis ROCKS

Hi Again -

TODAY was 100% SUCCESS! First we went to the Gateway ARCH. Made it to the top. What a tram. The cars are little "eggs" that hold only 5 people. They articulate as you go up!Some great pictures I'll post as soon as I can.

Then we went to "The City Museum". Not what it sounds like at all. Check out this link http://www.citymuseum.org/home.asp AND if you have kids and are in St. Louis - DON'T MISS THIS! What a super way to blow off steam and get ready for a long day in the car tomorrow.

Tonight it is out for pizza. It should be fantastic. The weather is wonderful - PICTURE PERFECT DAY!

over and out until Washington DC!

g

Another week on the road!

Hi Everyone and GREETINGS from St. Louis, MO!

We had a nice visit in Kansas City with my Mother. Every day we had an "outing" to keep the kids from climbing the walls. On Wednesday we went to Build-a-Bear and Penguin Park. I'll post some pictures when I get home. P-Park is COOL - I used to play there when I was a kid. The centerpiece is a 30 foot tall penguin with a slide! There is a giant kangaroo now too!

Thursday we went to "All Fired UP". It is a paint your own pottery workshop. Grace did a horse and Ingrid a tea-cup and saucer. They were done before we left - whoo-hoo - so are packed in the trunk!

I visited my favorite pottery shope (Nichols Pottery in Avondale) and purchased a few finds of my own. I got a neat plate, a salt cellar (Elise - tell me what to buy to put in it and what the heck to do with it - OK - I've NO idea!!), some tea trays for snacks and a tumbler for the bathroom. Nice stuff - all green - of course. Then we went to Penguin park - again. Afterwards we went to get a milk shake and the Steak & Shake. While we were there it hailed - lovely! The car is fine despite larger than pea-sized shower for at least 5 minutes. Welcome to the Midwest! No tornadoes while we were visiting - a nice bonus.

On Friday we went to the KC Miniature Museum. Nice place - very well put together and an awe inspiring collection of mini's and antique toys. Well received by the kids and SO much to take in. Grace counted the mini-dogs and told us EVERY bread. There was an entire room devoted to marbles. That was cool.

Saturday we went to a Baby Shower. I used to baby-sit the Mom and the hostess. It was very very cool to catch up with all. The girls have been knitting - Grace finally decided to concentrate enough to learn and they've both got great projects going. They were well behaved - and I sure appreciated that.

Saturday afternoon we headed out South and rendezvoused with the Aasby women. Susan and Molly were in town for a V-ball tourney. The hotel had a pool and the girls blew off some accumulated steam for an hour and a half. Then we went to happy hour - on the house!

Kiley came out too and we all had dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. Interesting place. Covered with vines - moving animals and a thunderstorm to accompany dinner. The girls made purchases at the gift shop while we waited for our table. HOW CONVENIENT - a gift shop coupled with a long wait! After dinner all 6 of us went back to the hotel for a sleepover! VERY FUN!

Sunday we got up early and went to meet Grandma at church. She was very surprised when she saw the girls on the program to play the piano during the offertory. They did great - and she was mighty impressed.

Today finds us in St. Louis. We are staying with a friend of mine from college. She and her family are all at work/school so I'm taking advantage of access to a computer. As soon as we've breakfasted - we're headed to the Gateway Arch. A fun pod ride to the top and should be a grand view today. IT is blue skies and mid-60's. Can't wait to get out. Hopefully a 2nd stop at "the City Museum". An outdoor play yard made of crap found in the city. Supposedly a wonderful place - - -

more later and thanks for sending e-mails. I've not time to respond to all of you - but BIG THANKS -9 and see you on the usual grind next week.

Next stop West Virginia on Wednesday - 550 miles, then another 300 miles or so on Thursday to rondevous with David and Amy in Washington DC for a long family weekend.

bye ya'll!
g

Kansas City, here we are

This is David - Gretchen asked me to update the blog to let you all know that she made it to Kansas City without incident. The kids are having a lovely time visiting with Grandma. I was going to put up pictures of the chicken coop, which now has a roof and all of Cindy's windows installed. I was able to use shingles left over from the house, just like with the woodshed. Free is nice.

I'll try to put in more as she gives me information. I am looking forward to taking the train down to Washington Wednesday to meet up with them on Thursday.

Heading West - Tuesday - Day 4

Well, we're off to a late start after gabbing way into the wee hours.

We'll be on the road by 8am...

THANKS LISA, JOHN, BEN, SAMMY & MAISIE.

You're tops on our list!

see you soon!

g

I & G

The Great Trip - Day 3

We had a WONDERFUL stay at Chuck & LaVerne's in Stockton, NY. THANK-YOU AGAIN!

So - Sunday we headed out at 7:30 and drove over 500 miles to Chicago. David's cousin John, his wife and their 3 kids live in a suburb West of the city called Winfield.

The traffic was UNBELIEVABLE for 3:30 on a Sunday afternoon. OMG - I couldn't do this on a daily basis. Guess that's why I avoid Wolf Road and the malls... We did fine. There was construction for MILES - but we didn't get lost - and arrived about when I had hoped.

Oh - the COOLEST thing. My EZ-Pass works almost everywhere - but OHIO! Here in Illinois it is called I-pass. (In Indiana they call it I-zoom - I don't understand that - seems like begging for people to get speeding tickets - anyway! Esp when the legal limit is 70mph) So - we went thru the $$ lane - and the woman said, lady - you HAVE I-pass. I said - well, I"m from NY and I didn't know it would work here. Will it work at ALL I-pass stations. "Yes Ma'am".

OH - and at my last fill-up Sally Brown produced a whopping 41.4 mpg. LOVE that! Gas was $3.27 in Indiana. LOVE that too! Some places in Illinois it was $3.69 - I'll pass on that.

So - when I got closer to the city I took the FAST lane. Let me tell you - it was fast. You don't even have to slow down. Just go whipping under this bridge like thing full of I-pass detectors and it's fine. NO green lights "EZ-PASS GO" just whip thru. AMAZING! Must be a mess at rush hour..

Well - when we got to John & Lisa's the kids immediately bonded with their 2nd cousins. Ingrid and Ben started playing baseball, and Grace & Sammy (Samantha) started doing what 7-yr old girls do in their room. Sammy came out dressed like a gorilla. LOVE THAT! So - they were a match made in heaven. Maisie is a DOLL - 3-yrs old. She is just too cute. Everyone played like crazy and we had a terrific dinner - with 8 people round the table. THANKS LISA!

Everyone slept great. The kids and I shared Ben's bunk bed. Double on the bottom and Ingrid on the top. We'll trade tonight!! Their cousins went off to school and we slept in - LOVELY! Today we plan to go to the Chicago Zoo with Lisa and Maisie. It is a beautiful day and it actually seems like spring. BRING IT ON!

Tomorrow (Tuesday) we head to Kansas City. I'm hoping to leave very early and we'll look at some maps to figure out how I can avoid the rush hour traffic. I'd rather take a back road for a bit and head West away from the city before finding I-80 en-route to I-35 ==>KC - than get in an hour long wait somewhere East of here... My mother has no computer - so my next post will be a bit less "prompt". Thanks for your e-mails - - nice to know we're missed.

bye - and hoping for some pictures eventually too!!!

The Great Trip West

Well - the girls and I left Brunswick at 7:50 this morning. Made great time and arrived at Bear Lake at 2pm. Let me tell you - - - food opportunities on the NYS Thruway leave a lot to be desired. $9 burgers at Fuddruckers (no that isn't a type - that's the name of this over priced place) icky pizza at some place I've not heard of with the tiniest serving of ziti for $3.75 OR Tim Nortons sandwich joint. Again - overpriced, a bit too gourmet for the kids. We opted for a slice of cheeze pizza, a small serving of ziti and a spinach stromboli. Just one drink - we have plenty of stores in the car. The bill was $15.. OMG.. No more need be said.

I did OK with the packing. So far I've only missed my stainless coffee GO-cup, all my CD's - that story later, and the patch cord to put my digital photos up for YOU to see. I'll deal w/o the cup - and David has sent the patch cord to my mothers... THe CD's. Well - you see.. ... there was NOT supposed to be a need for them. I have this cool new cell phone (VX8350) that has a built in I-pod type storage media. It is VERY cool and I had hoped to use that in the car and alleviate the need to bring all my CD's... Well - the radioshack patch cord didn't work - so I ordered one from Verizon for $5 - free shipping. Actually got it the next day via FED-X.. However - I was a bit too quick for my own good - and it wasn't the right one for my phone. So - looked on the wonderful WWW again - and the one I need is out of stock, and not stocked at local phone stores.. Well - I'll just DEAL. Not like a bit of silence or NPR talk radio ever hurt anyone...

SO - we arrived at Chuck & LaVernes. Not much moving in to do as we're leaving early tomorrow am. So - we went for anice walk around most of the north shore of the lake. The girls definately needed some fresh air after our 6 hour ride.... All in all they were VERY GOOD until we got here. Then the bordom was cured by acting out for me - in front of our hosts. SO - what do I expect - they're kids. A healthy snack, some webkins time and now Ingrid is helping to prepare dinner and dessert. They're in heaven. So am I - my most WONDERFUL hosts (truly truly we love to be here - and they are totally accomodating to the kids and I - good friends) have separate bedrooms. I get to sleep by myself. Not that I don't miss my husband. I just expected to bunk up w/ the kids here. NOt a bad deal all in all.

We hope to head out by 7:30 tomorrow. MOre when I have the chance. Off to check my e-mail.