Off to Maine

When we arrived in Norfolk, VA with 11 days to spare before the AGLCA Rendezvous and Seminars, we hot-footed it back to New England to see our precious family. Rental cars are great! Our first stop in Longmeadow, MA was to celebrated an early 97th birthday with my Aunt Venessa and her special friend Fred. What fun we had eating and visiting out on the town. Back in Orono, ME we caught up with Erin, Brett, Emily, Bailey and puppy Cupcake. What a busy family! We joined them as they walked back and forth to school, then off to swimming, gymnastics, karate, rollerskating and backyard trampoline fun. Erin has joined the U of M work force in Prof. Brett’s Mechanical Engineering Technology Dept. office. With its flexible hours, her new job meets the girls’ schedule very nicely. As the days begin to warm up... early morning 30 degrees rising to 50+ degrees by mid-day... she is creating a new landscape theme around the home that she and Brett drastically renovated last summer. What lovely spaces! We also drove 70 miles NE to open up our summer cabin. We won’t be there, but hopefully our daughter and family will. The game camera showed three night-time visits by a cow moose and one deer visit next to our front porch over the winter. My brother Kevin is recovering from shoulder surgery and he and Cheryl were carrying out rehab at home, quite an endeavor when every movement hurts! With Dad’s 1950‘s camp getting new under-pinnings, it fell to them to work with the contractor on the inevitable surprise details. Once we were back in VA, they kept us up-to-date with pics and descriptions as the project moved along. Dad would be very pleased with the new foundation. He would also love the new expanded back porch that Kevin’s son Kyle (and other family members and friends) will be adding over the summer. We drove NW to visit with Wally’s 96 year-old mother, early in the week and again toward the end. Wally’s brother Jason joined us each time. We all enjoyed re-telling those great stories of days gone by.