Monday November 15, 2010

We arrived in Sanibel on October 31 and moved into the condo a day early as we were anxious to get off the road and settle in to our winter environment. We spent the first few days getting acclimated and falling into a routine. After being here a week we went to the Everglades National Park on an eco-safari with Nick and Jane. The day consisted of a van ride through an area thick with alligators and bird life where we saw many different varieties of birds including the endangered wood stork and the pileated woodpecker, a mile and a half walk through a wooded area on a boardwalk, a boat ride through the 10,000 island area and an airboat ride that took our breath away. We got Marilyn to hold the baby alligator but she drew the line on holding snakes!!! They fed us a nice lunch which included alligator tail!!

Nick and I have been fishing twice with some action but we have not caught any big fish or any good eating fish that are in season yet. This past Saturday we took the girls on a boat ride across the bay to St. James Island and found a restaurant called Woodies and had a nice lunch along the canal and got lots of good fresh air and enjoyed the day.

We have found a nice Lutheran church just off the island and we went again Sunday for the second time. This church caters to northerners like us so they made us feel at home. As you can see, sunset on the beach is spectacular, particularly when the birds cooperate as they did the other evening. We have done lots of walking on the beach and have collected a few shells and just generally enjoyed the temps of 80 during the day and 60 at night. We will be here through mid December and back to Iowa for Christmas and then come back around the first of the year. For those of you would like to come and visit, please let us know when you can come and we will have a place for you.

Thursday October 28, 2010

Today we were able to see Owen at his pre-school Halloween parade. All the little ones were able to walk around outside the school as it is in the 70's here today. Batman (aka Owen) had a good time and liked the pictures. Gwen of course enjoyed the ability to run around and check everything out.

Owen's pre-school is at a Lutheran Church very near were Greg and Kelly live so it is very close and convenient. The church is very old and the grounds are beautiful. You can see the fall colors with the geese flying south (actually these geese were going north).

Today was crazy sock day at Logan's school and we got pictures after our fried chicken dinner. Tomorrow we begin our 1200 mile journey to Sanibel Island, Florida. We are going to take three days so we can arrive at our condo midday on the 1st of November. On that morning we have to stop and get an electronic pass device for the toll booth going onto Sanibel and do some grocery shopping. We hope to be in the condo and functioning by early afternoon.

Wednesday October 27, 2010

The last two days were spent enjoying the fall colors and the kids playing outside. The weather has been in the 70's and very comfortable. Yesterday, Logan ran a mile in the morning and then another mile at a park in the afternoon and we were able to see him run in the park. He had a good run and a good strong finish and seemed to enjoy the outing. Owen and Gwen enjoyed playing on the nice playground equipment.

Owen got to go to pre-school yesterday also so it was a big day for him. Gwen continues to entertain us all and likes the attention. We think she is even warming up to Grandma a little bit. It is raining today but still warm and we are staying in and working on a spaghetti dinner for tonight.

Monday October 25, 2010

We are traveling again! On October the 8th we were able to see the 85th anniv. of the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, TN with brother Mark and Tammy. It was a great time and we hope to get to go again. Also in Nashville we had dinner with Heather (Marilyn's niece) and her husband, Michael and their two girls, Olivia and Sophie. We went back to Iowa to prepare for our trip to PA and then to Florida.

After returning to Iowa we were able to see Greg's last football game of the season and help Megan get their family pictures taken in the leaves at our house in Iowa Falls. We finished getting the house ready for winter and spent a great deal of time packing for our winter in Florida. On the 21st of October we headed for PA to see big Greg and his family. We spent the night on the road near Columbus, OH and arrived in Spring City, PA on Friday afternoon. Saturday morning we went to Logan's lacrosse game and watched him play goalie for the first half and then play middie for most of the second half. The game was fast paced and fun to watch.

We are spending time with Logan, Owen and Gwen and will be here most of this week before heading south. We got a great picture of one of the nearby covered bridges and lots of pics of kids. Hope to get some good fall color shots before the leaves disappear here. It is beautiful now and very warm with temperatures in the mid to high 70's forecast for most of this week. Will update the blog regularly-thanks for tuning in!

Saturday August 21, 2010

On Wednesday morning we resumed our trip south by jumping on the Blue Ridge Parkway and spending and hour or so on a 20 mile stretch of the beautiful newly mowed road. It was nice and cool and green and we were able to see a fawn and some geese and lots of mature trees. We left the Parkway and went to the Rockbridge Winery, did some tasting and purchased some wine. We had been to this winery this past spring and wanted to go back and buy some Cabernet Franc. The 2006 year was very good!!!!!! We stopped for lunch in Troutville, VA and had some down home fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, pinto beans, cornbread and cherry cobbler.












We arrived in Kingsport, TN on Wednesday evening. Thursday was Mark's 56th birthday and we all went to the renowned Regas restaurant in Knoxville for a late lunch of a nice filet of beef and all the trimmings. On Friday we met our cousin Mary Shephard for lunch in historic Jonesboro (the oldest town in Tennessee) and talked about our family and tried to catch up on the last 40 or so years. Mary is our first cousin, the daughter of our Dad's older sister who lives near where we all grew up. We had a great time and vowed to keep in touch. Mary brought some pictures and I regaled (bored) everyone with pictures from my computer!!!










After lunch Mark agreed to drive us to the old Speedwell Cemetery where all of the old Huffine's were buried prior to 1950. I had been there with Dad once but Mark had not been aware of the location of the cemetery. Our great grandparents and their parents are buried in this quaint little cemetery halfway up a knoll overlooking the valley. We told Mary of the location and hope that she is able to go there soon. Afterward, we drove to Mountain Home, TN, the location of the Veteran's Administration near Johnson City, TN where Dad worked for almost 30 years and where he and Mom are buried in the National Cemetery. Their plot is near the large pine tree which is close to the American flag which Dad could see from his office when he worked there. We also visited the grave of Ernest Huffine, Dad's younger brother, who is also buried at the National Cemetery.

We had a nice visit with Mark and Tammy during the two days we were there. We got up early on Saturday morning and drove the 900 miles home without incident. By 8:00 PM we were safely home and done with another nearly three week trip that added another 4000 plus miles to our trusty Toyota. We had a great time and enjoyed every minute of our time with our family, friends and even by ourselves!!!!

Tuesday August 17, 2010

We dropped Logan off at jumpstart school on our way out of town this morning and headed for the tollway. We passed by Harrisburg, the capital of PA, turned south through a bit of Maryland, West Virginia and into Virginia. After a lunch at Chik-fil-a we drove into the countryside in search of one of Virginia's 162 wineries. While driving we actually drove down a three mile stretch of one lane gravel road.

We found one of the oldest wineries in the state, Shenandoah Winery and enjoyed a complete tasting of whites and reds. We bought one of their signature reds and a white for Marilyn and stayed on the country roads. We found an old covered bridge used to cross the north fork of the Shenandoah River.We continued our drive to Harrisonburg, VA down US Highway 11 and spotted many old buildings such as barns, wayside gas stations and mansions. It was great to see the mountains in the background down the Shenandoah Valley as we drove into town. We brought rain with us as the area has been very dry this summer. A quick downpour cooled the temperature down from the 90's to a comfortable 70's. We ate and called it a night. Tomorrow we drive to Tennessee and spend a couple of day's with Gary's brother Mark.

Monday August 16, 2010

Saturday was our last full day in Mass. and we all hung out at the beach and at Richard and DiDi's. The temperature was in the low 70's and almost cold at the beach. After hotdogs and hamburgers we played putt-putt with Greg and the boys and called it a day.

Sunday we pulled out of the driveway at 9:00 AM and headed south toward Philadelphia. Gwen is 1 year old today and is stuck in her car seat for most of the day. The highlight of the 400 mile ride back to Philly was driving on the Tappan Zee bridge which crosses the Hudson River upstream of New York City. At this point the river is very wide and wonderfully scenic.

We stayed over on Monday to babysit a bit and catch up on laundry. Logan, Owen and Grandpa finished up with the birdhouses that we put together last week. Logan's is now blue and Owen's green, their favorite colors. Dad will get the honors of putting them up in the back yard after some thought about where to hang them.

Friday August 13, 2010

Friday the 13th was not unlucky as we had a great day beginning at the Parker River National Wildlife Preserve at Plum Island. We went to the visitor center and watched some wildlife for a while before we headed north up the New Hampshire coastline. After going through Salsbury, MA we were suddenly on a very beautiful stretch of coastline in NH.

We went through Seabrook, Hampton, Great Boars Head, North Beach, Plaice Cove, Little Boars Head, Rye Beach, Wallis Sands and Portsmouth. We saw rugged shoreline as one would expect on the New England coast as well as beaches lined with people and umbrellas. There were wonderful old and new homes overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. We stopped for a great lunch at a great local landmark called Ray's in the village of Rye. We had great clam chowder as well as excellent clam strips.

We got to Portsmouth and immediately wished we had more time to spend there as the scenery was breathtaking. Our view of the Navy Yard was neat and the old town was picturesque as we slowly picked our way through. We had taken US Highway 1A up along the coast and now were were taking US Highway 1 back down through the villages and boroughs. We stopped at a butcher shop called the Meat House. Their offerings were great and we bought some steak, wine and bread to cook for the group back in Amesbury. We stopped earlier in the day at a colonial buring ground that was started in 1639. We saw gravestones of soldiers that served with George Washington in the Revolutionay War. These old burying grounds are everywhere and very interesting to see. History is around every corner and not enough time to see it all!!!

Thursday August 12, 2010

Today we took the train through the countryside and such stops as Ipswich, Rowley, Beverly, and several others to the North Station in Boston. After an hour on the train, we hopped off and jumped on the subway and two stops later we found ourselves in downtown Boston. We walked around a bit to familiarize ourselves and quickly found a true Boston Irish Pub and had lunch.

After a great lunch of fish and chips and hamburgers, we walked to the New England Aquarium and spent time watching the penguin exhibit and all of the other well done exhibits of saltwater and freshwater fish as well as great exhibits of other sea life including sea dragons, sea anemones, starfish, jellyfish and sea urchins.

After the aquarium visit we boarded the City View Trolley for a hourlong tour of the historic area of downtown Boston. Although time did not allow us to stop and get off the trolley and walk around, we got a great flavor of the city from the tour guide and saw lots of historical spots in a very short time. From the Boston Gardens to other attractions such as the State House, Boston Commons, USS Constitution, Kings Chapel and Burying Grounds, Halocaust Memorial, the Boston skyline and many, many more beautiful sights. The tour was fun and the great weather of 75 degrees, partly sunny and nice breeze was a very nice touch.

After the trolley tour we reversed our earlier directions and used the subway to go back to the train station and caught the 5:10 PM back to Newburyport and a great dinner at the Aguave' Mexican restaurant just across the street from the Essex Inn where we are staying while in New England.