Location: Victoria, BC
We spent the month of October traveling in the USA.
First stop - New Hampshire for our niece Erin's wedding in Wolfeboro, NH.
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| The siblings - Julie, Pete and Dave |
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| Cousins of the bride - Derek and Heather |
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| Parents of the bride - Cathy and Pete. |
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| The happy couple - Erin and Mike. |
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| The photo booth - Julie, Ben, Jane, Lynne, Pete, Derek, Heather, B, John and Dave. |
After the wedding, we spent a few days relaxing and spending time with family in Freedom, NH, on
Lake Ossipee, near Pete and Cathy's house. Julie spent the week with us; Ben, Heather and Derek joined us for the weekend of the wedding and Patti and Al came up from Beverly Farms, MA to spend an afternoon.
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| Cathy enjoying a boat ride on Lake Ossipee. |
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| Our rental house and dock on Lake Ossipee. |
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| Patti with her granddaughter Sienna enjoying a boat ride with Dave at the wheel. |
Next Stop - Alabama for a few days on the farm. We spent most of our time getting the 5th wheel trailer ready for our road trip to Las Vegas.
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Our friend Keith worked on getting Big Red (my inheritance - a 1971 International
pickup) road worthy. We took her into Gantt, AL to put some fuel in the tanks. |
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| Cotton growing on the farm. |
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Our 5th wheel trailer headed down the "driveway" at the start of our road trip.
It's the first time we've moved it out from under the barn since we bought the boat. |
Next - Our RV trip from Alabama to Las Vegas, NV:
- Biloxi, MS: We arrived in Biloxi the day after Hurricane Nate came ashore. It was a fast moving storm and there was very little damage.
- Kinder, LA: A stop at Casino Coushatta to try our luck at the Pai Gow Poker tables. We managed to leave the casino with a little more money than we started with. As we drove along I-10 from Louisiana to Houston, the damage from Hurricane Harvey was heart-rending. Streets in housing developments were lined with furniture, carpet, drywall, etc. from people's homes that had flooded during the storm. Cars damaged by the water filled acres of land on both the east and west sides of Houston. The overall impact of the storm was hard to imagine until actually seeing the devastation.
- Austin, TX: We spent two nights in Austin visiting the kids and the grandkids. We had supper with Heather and Derek one night. The next day I went with Cat to watch Maggie and Bubby at dance class. After class we met up with Dave and Ben for a sushi supper.
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| Ben (Bubby) getting ready for his Funky - Monkey dance class. |
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| Maggie in her Jazz dance class. |
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| Ben with the snake from the RV. |
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| The snake |
When we got back to the trailer, there was a surprise visitor (a snake) waiting for us on the kitchen counter in the RV.
- Van Horn, TX: A one night stop in the middle of West Texas.
- Deming, NM: We stopped at the St. Clair Winery and spent the night in their parking lot. It's part of Harvest Hosts, a group of wineries, farms, orchards and other businesses that let RVers park for the night in exchange for patronizing the business. We visited the tasting room and enjoyed the wines they had to offer.
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| Lunch break at a New Mexico rest stop. |
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| Dave in the St. Clair winery tasting room. |
- Tucson, AZ: We stopped in Tucson to visit my Aunt Margaret and cousin Bonnie.
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| Aunt Margaret, B and Cousin Bonnie |
- Cottonwood, AZ: We spent two nights in Cottonwood. The first night we went to old town for supper and a stroll. The next day we drove up to Sedona to admire the red rock formations that surround the town and to hike Oak Creek Canyon.
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| Oak Creek Canyon, near Sedona, AZ |
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| B outside Indian Gardens restaurant, Oak Creek Canyon |
- Las Vegas, NV: We arrived in Las Vegas on Wednesday, October 18th, just in time to meet up with some of B's friends from Houston. Since "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas" we don't have any pictures... but we did have a good time.
- Washington, D.C.: I left Dave in Vegas to fend for himself while I went on my annual trip with my mom, Mrs. Donnelly (Barbara) and Marilyn. This year we went to Washington D.C. for a week of touring and sight-seeing.
Marilyn and I arrived a day early and spent Sunday doing a few things that weren't included on our tour. We went to the
US Botanic Garden, had lunch in the
National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden, took an overview tour at the
Newseum, and then went to an organ concert at the
National Cathedral. Back at the hotel, we attended orientation and met the other folks who would be on our tour. Mom and Barbara arrived later that evening.
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| Orchids at the US Botanic Garden |
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The Washington D.C. marathon - we watched the runners come around the
Garfield Monument traffic circle near the Botanic Garden. |
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| Marilyn and the organ at the National Cathedral. |
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| The Hall of Nations at the Kennedy Center |
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| A view of the White House from the North Lawn |
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| Members of our tour group model traditional clothing at the Saudi Arabian Embassy |
Tuesday: This morning our lecture was about the Supreme Court. After the lecture, we hopped on the bus and went to the National mall to see the
Lincoln Memorial, the
Vietnam War Veterans Memorial and the
Korean War Veterans Memorial. For lunch we went to the
National Gallery of Art Cafe and then spent some time touring the Gallery. Our last stop of the afternoon was the
World War II Memorial. Back to the hotel, a short rest and then supper at a nearby restaurant.
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| Our tour group in front of the Lincoln Memorial. |
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| The Korean War Veterans Memorial. |
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| Barbara and Louise at the Lincoln Memorial. |
Wednesday: No lecture this morning. We boarded our bus and went to Capitol Hill for visits to the
Supreme Court Building, the
Library of Congress - Jefferson Building and the
Capitol Building. We spent the afternoon at the Smithsonian museums. Mom, Marilyn and I sent to the
Air and Space Museum and Barbara went to the
American Indian Museum. It was our free night, so the four of us went to Georgetown for supper and then went to the Kennedy Center to see the play Shear Madness.
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| The Capitol Building. |
Thursday: Our lecture this morning was about
Money and Politics. Next we visited the
Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial and the
Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial and then went for lunch at the
Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. Marilyn spent her afternoon there while Mom, Barbara and I went to the
African American Museum. Back to the hotel for a short rest, then to a restaurant in Arlington, VA for supper. After supper, we went to see "The Price" at the
Mead Center - Arena Stage.
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| Our tour group near the Washington Monument. |
Friday: Today was our last day and our travel day. We started with a lecture about
ranked choice voting and then everyone said their goodbyes and headed home. I flew back to Las Vegas and Dave picked me up at the airport.
We spent the weekend in Las Vegas, then parked the truck and RV in a storage lot and flew back to the boat in Victoria, BC on November 1st. We have been settling in to our winter routine, doing chores and maintenance, working out at the gym and exploring nearby pubs and restaurants.
Until next time...
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