A Rainy Day

7:15

8:58

9:07

Well, we finally received the rain we needed, two and a half inches in the past 36 hours and more to come. It's a gray, windy, and wet morning on the lake, so there will be no kayaking alas.  It's a 44º morning, with the highs staying in the '40s. 

Thursday was a different day in that I had yoga at 10:00 for the first time in a couple of weeks.  Evie wanted to spend the morning working around the house so she was happy to see me get back to yoga.  For the first time, we had 16 in class and Danielle had to turn away a couple of students because sixteen was the maximum.  It was nice to see some of my fellow students for the first time in a year, most women of course.  I enjoyed class, found it settling, just what I needed after a drive of 2700 miles.  

When I returned home, Evie had been busy with spring house cleaning. She was in the mood to clean and organize.  She took time out to make me a ham sandwich and I had cauliflower soup as well.   I watched another episode of Queen Of The South and am into it.  So my lunches will be filled with violence and drug cartels.  As I mentioned yesterday, I am enjoying my book set in New Zealand read and napped until 2:00

Never Enough Dahlias

We then left in the rain for Stan's Nursery in Erie, thinking it would give us something to do.  We spent 15 minutes outside in the rain with Mike, a knowledgeable and helpful guy but ended up not buying anything, saving me lots of money.  We will be back!  On the way back, we passed a Walmart, stopped to see if they had any dahlias and they did, the largest collection either of us had seen.  So Evie loaded up, breaking the bank and we should have a yard filled with every kind of dahlia imaginable, sort of.  We stopped at Orton's Fruit Market in North East, PA, and picked up an all berry pie, always made on the premises. 

Great Pies, Too

We drove home in the rain and at times, a heavy fog.  Once home, Evie put together a pasta sauce with Italian sausage and mushrooms.  With a salad, we had dinner and watched the same as the night before, Colbert, Home Town, Jeopardy and a couple of episodes of PBS's Unforgotten. We ended the night with all berry pie a la mode. Yum.  

A Foggy Lake Morning

6:12

7:12

7:53

I was up at 6:00, surprised to see a heavy fog so that Long Point basically has disappeared.  It was supposed to rain most of the night but the amount was negligible so far.  Today, too, it's supposed to rain all day and I hope the weatherman is right.  We need it as we are in a mild drought in this area. It's 9:15 and I have had breakfast and am off to yoga in twenty minutes.  

Yesterday was a good first day back at the lake as we were able to get a few things done.  First, I was able to kayak for close to an hour before finishing the blog.  We were, however, in no hurry to get busy as we had all day.  We finally decided that I would shop and Evie would stay home, get things put away after our trip and make a pot of Indian spiced cauliflower soup.  I didn't head off to Wegman's until 11:00 and Wednesday is always a good day to shop. The store was not very busy so I quickly filled my cart and to my surprise, only two check-out aisles were open.  On the way home, I met Evie at our mechanic's because the Honda is once again having a problem.  She dropped the Honda off and I picked her up and took her home. 

A Solitary Merganser

Lunch was back to normal, a toasted ham and cheese sandwich and cauliflower soup.  I was a happy boy.  I started a new series, recommended by my daughter Beth,  Queen of The South, another series about the drug cartels in Mexico.  So far, so good.  While I  shopped Evie not only made soup but fired up the lawnmower and cut the lawn for the first time this year and it needed it. After lunch, I read and am enjoying a new mystery set in New Zealand by Nalini Singh titled A Madness of Sunshine. I also napped while Evie finished the lawn, then drove off to Walmart to pick up some dahlia bulbs although, unfortunately, her pickings were slim. Between Walmart and Home Depot we usually find the dahlias we want but this year both seem to have many fewer options.  I am liking a new mystery set in New Zealand by Nalini Singh titled A Madness of Sunshine. 

2:30

We were not sure what to do about dinner but the weather decided it for us.  Mid-afternoon, we did get a brief shower but by 5:30, it had cleared up and we grabbed a beer and sat out on our dock, enjoying the late afternoon on the motionless lake, watching the acrobatic martins fill the sky. 

6:08

Dinner was basically our Sunday breakfast, a Turkish omelet with feta cheese and tomatoes, a bagel, and soup for an appetizer.  It was a good choice.  We then watched Colbert, Jeopardy and started an old PBS series called Unforgotten.  We may have started it a few years ago but never got very far.  We ended the night with Biden's address and laughed when Republicans sat on their hands when Biden would mention something like cutting childhood hunger in half.  

Back In A Kayak Again

6:43

It's just after 7:00 and I have been up since 6:45 and missed the sunrise.  It's a calm morning on the lake, and the martins are swooping and singing.  It's a pleasant 61º and it looks like a perfect morning for a paddle.  I paddled for 50 minutes, down to Sandy Bottom, back to the campground, and home. Not much to see, a couple of rafts of buffleheads, mallards, and disgusting turkey vultures, hanging along the Victoria Creek shore. 

Kayak Morning

Into The Sun

Buffleheads Still Hanging Around

We left our Hampton Inn Tuesday morning at 7:30 and had an easy drive to the lake. We were afraid we might meet major detours but we were pleasantly surprised to see that most of the roadwork kept at least two lanes open. As usual, we traded places and Evie probably drove longer than me.  We stopped at a couple of rest stops and were able to drive from Indiana to the Ohio/PA line before stopping for gas at Love's on the border.  We bought a chicken sandwich meal there, having eaten a bag lunch from our hotel.

Indiana Sunrise

Ohio Landscape

Yippee

We were surprised how far Pennsylvania and New York were behind in Spring green. Most of the trees were still in the budding stage, with a hint of green, more winter-like than spring. We arrived at the lake at 2:30, making great time.  It was surprisingly warm when we stepped out of the car, 74º, and we were excited to see that our dock was in and that our martin houses were busy were purple martins, their sounds filling the air, 

Our Purple Martin Gourds Are Full

We unpacked, were happy to see the house was in order, and quickly put things away.  We both were tired from our drive so we relaxed for an hour and I even took a brief nap.  I then did a bit of work, lugging our Adirondack chairs and tables out to the dock, getting it ready for happy hour.  And I got the lawnmower ready for Evie since the grass will need cutting.  We wanted to have our happy hour on the dock but once the sun hid behind the clouds, it cooled off so we ended up having our wine on the porch with a bowl of popcorn.

A Few Rooms Left

Earlier Evie had pulled the leftover Greek lemon chicken and rice out of the freezer, so she warmed it up in the microwave and we had dinner. It felt like we never left, as we lounged on our couches, once again watching our shows, Colbert, Home Town, and Jeopardy,  We went to bed early for us, tired from our trip but happy that we had finally been able to see our kids.

  

Flat, Flat, Flat And Brown

Enjoying Dinner At Nonna's Italian

It's just after 6:00 and both of us are up drinking our coffee in our Hampton Inn room, in Plainfield, IN, just outside of Indianapolis. We should have a seven to eight-hour drive today, depending on roadwork.  The weather looks fine as it seems to be warming up once again in Ohio and Chautauqua.

We left Kansas City at 7:30 and thought we would arrive at our destination at 4:00.  Our timing was right on because we drove in just after 4:00.  There's not much to say about driving through the flatlands of Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana but boring. The landscape does not change much, just tilled fields, flat and brown reaching up to the horizon until we got a small city or a large one like St Louis.  There, the highway was wall-to-wall strip malls on both sides of the highway for miles until we crossed the Mississippi.  

Faithland

Around 9:30, we stopped at a Mcdonald's, only to realize the doors were locked and only the drive-through was open. I ordered a breakfast sandwich and that was it for our meals other than a peanut butter sandwich mid-afternoon for lunch. We also stopped once for gas, a couple of times at a rest stops that appeared to be open only to find that the restrooms were closed. 

Drive By Target Practice 

The Plainfield exit from #70 is a busy place, with lots of hotels, fast food restaurants, gas stations as well as stores. We checked in at 4:15, relaxed in the room until 6:00 when we drove a mile to a recommended restaurant, Nonna's Italian.  It was a good choice, as the food was excellent.  Evie ordered tomato basil soup and a salad and I had chicken parmesan.  It lacked ambiance because we were the only ones sitting in the restaurant's bar tables, as most people were picking up take-out.  Interestingly, because of Covid, we ordered and paid before sitting down and our food was brought to us by the kitchen staff.  

We were back in our Hampton by 7:30, tired from our drive, and stayed up watching TV or reading until 9:30 when we turned off the lights. 

We have had a great 12 day road trip, thanks to our visits with Beth and Tom's families.  And we get to spend a week with Jill's family at Top Sail, NC, in two weeks.  

Heading Home, Alas

 

Ready For College

It's Monday morning and we have an eight-hour drive ahead of us to our Hampton Inn.  Again, we are in no great hurry to get to our hotel but I am still up at 6:00, waiting for the rest to wake.  It's 7:00 now and Evie's up and Marlena is off off to school. 

Two More Weeks

Yesterday, Sunday, went quickly in the morning because we did nothing really, just hang out, wait for Marlena to return home from the prom party, exhausted of course. It took us a while to get the blog done because of the plethora of photographs from the night before. Four of us took photos of Marlena so we had lots to find that were blog-worthy as Evie would say.  Once it was done, she made a spinach and egg omelet for Tom and me.  Afterward, I decided to straighten up the car and get it gassed up at the local gas station so we would be ready to go.

Crazy Granny

Eary afternoon, we showered, got things organized, and waited for Evie's sister and Nick and Aundraya to come over for dinner.  It was nice enough to enjoy a beer, cocktail, or wine outside on Tom's patio with appetizers which were nice.  We had our favorite cheese for an appetizer, brie with blue and some spinach dip from where else, Costco.  While we were enjoying our libations, Tommy had six nice steaks cooking using the reverse sear method, cooking them at a low heat up to 100º then searing them.

I sliced the steaks and we were afraid they were too rare but once we started eating, we realized they were just right, tender, and tasty.  It was fun catching up with Evie's sister Jean who has just moved from Texas to Colorado Springs to be near her grandchildren.  And of course, it was fun talking with our grandson Nick and his girlfriend, Aundraya, both are enjoying the good life in Kansas City.  We ended our dinner with Mary's carrot cake, a big hit because it was moist and not too sweet, the way I like it. 

Fun Night

We then sat around talking until 8:30 when everyone went home.  We ended the evening like many fast-forwarding through the Oscars, watching only the awards we were interested   We were excited that Nomandland won best film as we predicted.  We watched it twice, loved it, and would watch it again.

Dusk

Marlena's Senior Prom Night

Sunday morning begins with partly cloudy skies and a chilly 43º but should get into the '70s later in the afternoon, perfect for barbecuing and sitting outside on Tom's patio.  It's 7:10 and I have my coffee, let Bella outside so she is happy and everything  is copacetic in Lee's Summit. 

Section Of Katy Trail

Rock Island Trail

Nap Time With Bella

Saturday was a fun day, especially late afternoon and evening.  We had our typical morning, with me up at 6:30, writing the blog and having coffee.  Mary and Bella were up next, then Tom and finally Evie came upstairs after a good night's sleep.  Tom and Mary have gotten in the habit of walking/running four miles a day on the Rock Island Trail, a segment of the Katy Trail that runs from Missouri to Texas.  We walked part of the Katy Trail Thursday in Dallas.  I drove the car down to the entrance to the Rock Island trail and I walked for two and a half miles with Mary and Tom, then drove home, and Mary and Tom then walked home for a total of close to five miles.  The trail is wooded most of the way, a nice hard surface, with lots of hikers, runners, and bikers.  

Curious Mom And Granny

When we returned home, we had some scrambled eggs for breakfast then Tom took Evie off for a final Costco fix.  We ended up getting steaks for dinner tonight, as well as stocking up on some booze and a few other 'essentials.' I was tired after my walk and shopping so I  of course read for a bit before taking a good nap.  I think it must be contagious because Tom also napped. The girls, however, were busy, helping Marlena get ready for the prom, curling her hair, and helping with her make-up.  

Nelson Atkins Art Museum

Safe Distancing

Her date picked her up at 4:30 and we took pictures of course and then we drove off to meet them at the Nelson Atkins Art Museum in downtown KC.  It was a beautiful afternoon for photos, warm and blue skies and the steps were packed with Marlena's fellow seniors, gals in prom dresses of all colors, guys in suits, all getting their photographs taken by parents. We spent probably an hour with the seniors, milling around the outside of the museum, enjoying he spectacle of the seniors in their prom best.  

My Grandson, Nick

Around 6:30 we drove off to the city, to a popular barbecue restaurant called Q 39, parked the car and met our grandson Nick, who lives downtown. There was a long line waiting to be seated outside but we had reservations so were able to find a table.  

Aundraya And Nick

Nick's girl friend, Aundraya soon joined us and we spent a good hour and a half enjoying beers, ribs, salads, onion straws, poutain, and sandwiches.  Nick is doing well, seems really happy with living downtown, working, and enjoying his social life, especially with Aundraya.  

A Night With Tom And His Family

We might have overstayed our welcome because the waiter nicely asked us if we could vacate the table since we were sitting there for quite awhile after eating and there was still a line to get in.  So we walked out to the car said good by to Nick and Aundraya and drove home.  We didn't get home till 9:45 and spent the next hour going over photos from the prom, deciding which were the best for the blog and for Tom and Mary to keep.  It was a good day in KC.