Fall 2013 Trip to Kansas City - West Virginia

After visiting with Mom for another day in Kansas City, I finally turned the venerable CRV to the east and began our return to Rochester.  We spent our first night in Terre Haute, which is becoming our regular way station on I-70.  Then we pulled into Morgantown WV to spend three days with Brendan, Eileen and the kids in their new hometown.

Brock and Brady as zombies!

As it turned out, we arrived in time to celebrate Halloween and got to go with the kids as they went trick or treating in a nearby neighborhood.  The neighborhood was actually a gated community is a leaky back entrance.  The residents were expecting a lot of kids and had decorated their houses in some very creative ways.

You can get an idea by looking at some photos.  Click here for the Halloween album.

The next day was Friday and all the West Virginians headed out to work or school while the two New Yorkers headed out for a day of spectacular views, a nice meal and compatible companionship.  Our first stop was Fallingwater, the Frank Lloyd Wright designed summer getaway home in the Pennsylvania mountains about 50 minutes from Morgantown.  I had been there about 20 years ago but Marilyn had never seen it.  We took one of the house tours and then ate lunch in the cafe at the visitors center.

It was a glorious fall day, cool but not cold.  Breezy but not uncomfortably windy.  The sky was a mix of brilliant blue and puffy clouds passing in and out of view.  We also stopped at Kentuck Knob, another Wright designed home in the area but decided not to go up to the house and take a tour.  We didn't want to miss our next stop.

You can view photos by clicking here.

View to the east showing Cheat River in distance.

Our final stop that day was Cooper's Rock State Forest.  These dramatic rock formations form the bluff high above the Cheat River.  Cooper's Rock got its name from a legend that an escaped prisoner successfully hid out from the law around the view point promontory.  He was a cooper by trade and plied his trade for several years providing barrels to local residents.  His first challenge would have been to stop looking at the awesome views and get back to work.  That may also account for the law not being able to find him.

You can view more photos by clicking here.

Brock directing traffic at midfield

Our last full day in Morgantown was taken up with sports:  watching Braden and Brock play soccer and then college football on television.  They played teams from Pennsyvania.  Brendan pointed out there is not a lot of level terrain for soccer fields in West Virginia.  When you do find some, it is almost certain that it was the site of strip coal mine.  On this field, in addition to that little bit of West Virginia lore, there was a field-side waste treatment plant and a railroad track on which several cola trains passed during the four hours we spent there

Braden hustling into position

watching both games.  Unlike the previous day, this one was cold, windy and often heavy rain.

See photos of Brock's game by clicking here.

See photos of Braden's game by clicking here.

The next day we had an easy drive back to Rochester and our home sweet home.  Note the sun shine and dry walks.  I was able to watch the second half of the Kansas City game and got to see the Chiefs go to 9-0!

Fall 2013 Trip to Kansas City - Kansas Prairie Adventure continues

An exquisite window with the fall foliage
outside the Seelye Mansion

Even though every day, we planned on leaving the Sciolaro hacienda no later than 9:00, we never seemed to make it until 11:00 or so.  Nonetheless, on our second day we headed  out to Abilene Kansas with every intention of spending the better part of the day at the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum.  However by the time we got there it was getting toward noon and we decided to make a quick stop at the Seelye House, grab a quick lunch and then spend the afternoon at the library.  Well, we never did make it to the library, telling ourselves that we would put that on the list for the next trip to visit Andy and Lois.  "What," you might ask, "kept you from visiting a world renown historical resource?"  The answer is twofold:  The Seelye Mansion and the Russell Stover factory store and outlet.

Killa-germ for the fastidious
homemaker.

The Seelye Mansion is a marvelous time capsule of early 20th Century American life for the wealthy.  As the web site explains, "the Georgian style Seelye Mansion is like a time capsule. Most of its furnishings were purchased at the 1904 St Louis World's Fair. The furnishings cost more than the $55,000 that was spent building the 11,000 square feet home. The 25 room Seelye Mansion was built in 1905 for Dr. A. B. Seelye, who made his fortune in patent medicine with the A.B. Seelye Medical Company. The Patent Medicine Museum occupies a former Seelye laboratory which has been moved to the rear of the mansion."  Even in his day, A.B.'s "medicine" had another and more pejorative name, "snake oil."  His salesmen roamed the Midwest in horse drawn wagons filled with a variety of remedies.  One of his "medicines" does live today as Mentholatum.  He didn't limit himself to medicines but branched out into any useful household chemical formulation.

Marilyn shows the
key hole cover

In 1920, Seelye had Frank Lloyd Wright redecorate the interior and it has been unchanged since.  One of the most interesting feature is that every key hole (and every door in the house - interior and exterior - had one) was covered to prevent peeping!  The current owner of the mansion - Terry Tietjens - was our tour guide.  He purchased the mansion and its contents from the Seelye sisters who lived there into their nineties and never married.  He is reluctant to let any guest get by with a quickie tour and that was the major reason why the Eisenhower Library awaits our next trip.

Marilyn, Andy and Lois

However, someone did mention that the Russell Stover manufacturing plant had a retail store which one could buy factory seconds, not up to their retail standards for appearance but just as tasty.

Click here to view more photos of our visit to the Seelye Mansion.

Fall 2013 Trip to Kansas City - Kansas Prairie Adventure

Panoramic view from Coronado Heights

I am writing this blog in Terre Haute Indiana where we stopped for the night on our way back East.  We are headed to Morgantown WV where we will spend Halloween and a couple more days with Brendan, Eileen and the kids.  The highlight of our trip so far was the three days we spent in cousins Andy and Lois Sciolaro.  They live in Maize KS, just outside Wichita.

We spent Sunday touring around the prairie.  Our first stop was Coronado Heights, a hill where it i said that Coronado made his furthest trek East before returning to Mexico.  There are structures that were added by the WPA in the thirties.  It is a favorite picnic spot with great views and, at least on the day we were there, pretty high winds.  This is the prairie so the wind is a constant.

Marilyn, Andy and Lois in Linsborg

We then went to Linsborg where we had lunch in restaurant on Main street.  As the name suggest, the town was founded by Swedish immigrants.  We also visited several shops which contained the work of local artists, all very nice.

On our way to Coronado Heights we spotted a very interesting structure which we eventually named The Little House on the Prairie.  We promised our selves that we would return to it on the way home when the late afternoon sunlight would be perfect for picture taking.

Andy and Lois under a prairie mushroom.

But first we visited Mushroom Park.  I know it seems somewhat strange that there are mushrooms on the prairie but there they were!  These strange rock formations in the middle of nowhere are the setting for a small park which was being visited by a dozen people on that Sunday afternoon.

You can view more photos of that day on the prairie by clicking here.

Little House on the Prairie

The unexpected discovery of our day, however, was the aforementioned "Little House on the Prairie."  It was situated about 200 yards off the highway.  An old driveway, mostly overgrown, gave us access.  We parked just off he highway and walked up to the house.  It is surrounded by blue stem grass, the natural vegetation of the prairie.  In the afternoon sunlight it was golden and warm which belied its abandoned nature.  When you looked inside, multiple narratives of the lives that had unfolded there leaped into consciousness.  We had no idea how old it was.  A quick Google search didn't turn up anything.  It is a spectacular subject for photography and would be worthy of multiple visits at different times of the year, in different weather conditions, and time of day.  The house is made all the interesting by the lone tree close to it which is now dead and with no bark.  It is situated on the west side the house and must have been designed to provide relief from the blistering afternoon sun during prairie summers.

Interior of the house with prairie blue stem grass outside

We didn't enter the house since the floor was pretty much missing.  From natural disintegration or vandalism or salvage?  Who knows?  It must have been a moderately affluent family since it had a full basement and second floor with three or four bedrooms.  But again, who knows?

You can click here to see more photos.

Fall 2013 Trip to Kansas City - The First Few Days

I arrived on Monday and today is Friday.  Marilyn flies in around noon and we will spend a couple of days here in Kansas City before we head down to Wichita area to visit our cousins, Andy and Lois Sciolaro.  My sister Anola and her husband, Peter, left Tuesday for China.  We missed connections on a Skype call last night but she sent a video message which I will show Mom when she gets up.  I know she will be relieved to see that they got there just fine.

Mom with Diane

I have had chance to meet the young ladies who come every morning and evening to make sure she is taking her pills:  the right ones on the right day.  They are both lovely and caring.  Diane, shown here with Mom, is completing her nursing degree and is both cheerful and very competent.  Mom enjoys their visits even though she continues to insist that she can take the pills on her own without them.  I just tell her to humor us.

Nadine is one of the people who sits at Mom's table for dinner.  She is a lovely person.  She shared something last night and broke me up.  "You know, I sleep on one side of my bed for a week and then switch to the other side for a week.  That way, I only have to wash the sheets every two weeks."  I like it!

I spent around an hour on the Country Club Plaza a couple of nights ago seeing what photos might be there.  While I had seen the Nelson-Atkins Museum including the new addition many times, I had never seen it at night.  It is stunning.  Even though I didn't have time to get the tripod set up and had to hand hold the camera, I couldn't resist getting some shots of the museum and the Four Rivers Fountain.  There are some other locations down there for night photography and I plan on returning tonight and getting even better shots.

Mom and I have been scanning several of her photo albums including her memories book from St. Vincent's Academy where she went to high school.  I will be making a selection of those and posting them on line.

Click here to view the Plaza Night Photos Album.

Fall 2013 Trip to Kansas City - The Journey West

This is my third trip to Kansas City this year.  Normally I try to make it after Thanksgiving so I can enjoy the lights on the Country Club Plaza but this year Marilyn and I will be spending some time with our cousins Andy and Lois Sciolaro on a tour of the prairie.  They live just outside Wichita Kansas and it seemed a better chance for good weather now rather than early December.  As often happens, Marilyn is flying in on Friday and then the two of us will drive back together, visiting friends and family along the way.

I left early Sunday morning and made good progress even through some heavy downpours and strong winds between Buffalo and Erie.  This confirmed my decision to make this trip now rather than early December when those heavy downpours would have been WHITE!  Originally I had thought about stopping in Morgantown to visit Brendan and company for a day.  It is not exactly on the way but it does break the drive into two doable segments.  As it turned out, they were not going to be home that weekend but rather at a soccer tournament in Dayton Ohio where Braden and Brock were playing.  I thought perhaps we might pass each other on I-70 and thus there was a possibility of lunch together in Columbus.  As it turned out, however, both of them were playing in championship games with Braden's starting at 1:45 just as I would be passing by about 15 north on I-70.  As a result I took a two hour break and got to see them and see Braden's team win their championship game.  Click here to see some photos of her game.

I got back on the road and was able to listen to the Kansas City Chiefs game against Houston on ESPN radio.  I got to my stopping point in Terre Haute in time to watch the fourth quarter and see them win a close one to become, as it turned out, the only undefeated NFL team at the end of week seven.  I watched most of the Denver game and look forward to four weeks from now when the Chiefs go to Denver for their first of two games.

I left Terre Haute early the next morning and with the time change and good weather got to Kansas City before noon.  Mom looks wonderful and, as always, it was great to see her and get settled in.  That evening we had dinner with Anola who was leaving the next day for a three week trip to Hong Kong and the a tour of China.  Anola and Peter's son Gerry and his wife Kara live there due to Gerry's job as an editor with the New York Times International Edition, formerly the International Herald Tribune.

As soon as I arrived, Mom told me that she had lost her purse but eventually found in her apartment.  I was quite surprised at her answer when i asked her where it had been found.  "The dish washer," she said calmly.  Since Mom has, to my knowledge, never used her dishwasher...fortunately in this case, I asked her how it how come to be there.  She had no idea but since she uses it to store other items, it must have just hopped in by herself when she wasn't looking.

Trip to Charlotte - Fourth and Final Day

Sunday was a busy day.  Marcie had to work and left for the hospital around 7:30.  She got caught up in some involved cases and didn't get through before I had to leave.  The night before, Liam and Marcie went to some friends for dinner and a bonfire, something of a tradition.  I was given an out and so stayed home, rested after that busy day and got to bed early.

As soon as Aidan was up and after Liam ran out to Dick's to get a place kicking tee and a couple of regulation footballs, the three of us went up to the middle school field so Aidan could practice his kicking.  I took a lot of pictures so Liam could coach him.  Here are two sequences that I put into video format.  The first part is a field goal attempt and the second an extra point.

We had to hustle home and collect Marin to get her to her soccer match, about 45 minutes north of home but close to the airport where I had to catch 3:50 flight back home.  We also had Eibhlin and her little friend along.  I was glad I got to see her play while I was here.  She had a match on Saturday but I was in Pinehurst watching Liam play football.

Another fast Pickett on the soccer field!

Her team and Marin played a great game in what could only be described as a hot, summer day.  The temp was 90 degrees.  They played an undefeated team to a 2-2 tie.  Marin played center back and made a number of fine plays.  She played every minute of the match!

You can see more photos of Marin playing soccer in the Charlotte Soccer Album in Google+ Photos.  Make sure you navigate toward the last part of the album to see her.

Liam got me to the airport right on time and my flights were all on time or a little early.  I got home a little before 9:00 just after Marilyn pulled in from her day in Buffalo.  Good to be home.  We relaxed with some popcorn and watched the season opener of "the Good Wife," one of our favorite shows.

Trip to Charlotte - Day Three

Shoe flotsam

The Carolina Picketts generally do not wear shoes inside the house.  Even though Liam has built a set of shelves just to the right of this door from the garage into the house, shoes seem to collect as flotsam does after a receding tide.  By the time we got back from our day of football and soccer, this had all been cleaned up and shoes put away on the shelves.  I discovered this was due to Marcie's tripping as she tried to exit the house!

Aidan taking a free kick

My day began with Liam at Aidan's soccer match which his team won 5-0.  It has been a year since I had seen him play and he is a presence on the field as a team leader.  His play has improved and he has grown into a really good looking young man!  I won't see him till Sunday morning.  A friend of his from middle school--a young lady whom he claims is "just a friend"--invited him to join her and her family in their box seats for the South Carolina football game Saturday night.  You can see more photos in the soccer album by clicking here.

As the soccer match was ending, Liam and I took off for Pinehurst NC where Liam was playing his second football game of the week.  His team--Hammer Down--was playing the Sand Hill Patriots team which had won their last fifty games.  Hammer Down played very tough but lost 14-0.  If a

Liam's big block

couple of plays had gone the other way, they would have won; it was that close a game.  Liam had a nice pass reception.  He was exhausted after the game having played every down:  defense outside left linebacker and and offense tight end.  He plays with his head up and is always looking for a play.  This picture shows a block he made on a busted play that resulted in an additional nine yards.  You can see more photos in the updated football album by clicking here.

Trip to Charlotte Days One and Two

Liam at half-time during the boys football game.

It has been a year since I visited Liam and Marcie in Charlotte.  I picked a game-filled weekend with two football games and three soccer matches.  Liam has just taken a new job with Abbott:  Emergency Department Executive covering a region that stretches from Atlanta to Richmond.  He has been working in Clinical Affairs for the past year and this is a move back into sales.  It is a position he had been seeking for sometime.  This time, they came looking for him.  He had just gotten the written offer letter the day before I arrived.

Liam:  Hey, a little help?

Aidan set.

After an uneventful flight on Delta through Atlanta and a lunch at Bad Daddy's Burger Bar, we went to the Community House Middle School football game.  This year Aidan went out for football for the school team as did Liam who has been playing on a club team for the past two years.  They both made the team.  Liam plays middle linebacker and receiver.  Aidan is a kicker and cornerback.  Since this is Aidan's first year in football, he doesn't get a lot of playing time but he enjoys the game and is learning fast.  After two blowout victories, they went up against a tough team and lost 14-8.  Aidan got in the last series on defense and showed great courage in attacking an offensive lineman who was in the backfield for a sweep.

We went back home and watched the Buffalo Bills lose to a decimated Cleveland Browns team.  Actually when I went to bed, it looked like the Bills would cruise to a victory with the Browns quarterback out of the game.  Of course, the Bills quarterback was knocked out as well and the Browns won the battle of the back ups.

Friday saw everyone off to school and Liam with a full set of phone conference calls and meetings.  We got out for lunch and then went to two football practices:  the first for the middle school team and the second for Liam's club team, Hammer Down.  The second one didn't start till 7:00 and was under the lights.  We didn't get home till after 9:00.  A long day with a busy Saturday in the offing.

You can see an updated album of photos by clicking here.

Trip to Morgantown WV

A view of Cheat Lake from Lakeside Resort Golf Course

Brendan, Eileen and the kids moved to Morgantown WV on August 1.  I drove down to for my first visit on the last weekend in September.  Driving to see them is now a lot easier since  it is less than six hours from Rochester as opposed to the slightly more than 12 it took to drive to Aurora IL.  By the way, this Morgantown is almost exactly halfway to Charlotte.  Originally I had planned to drive to Morgantown and then on to Charlotte and back through Virginia to visit my brother Tom but that didn't work out this trip.

 The first thing you notice about Morgantown is the natural beauty especially as fall colors begin to emerge.  The next thing you notice is the HILLS and finally you realize how small the town is.  The permanent population is around 30,000 with slightly more than 30,000 students at West Virginia University.  This was a football weekend with the Mountaineers hosting the Oklahoma State Cowboys, ranked 11th in the country.  WVU recently left the Big East and joined the Big Twelve.  After an embarrassing game against Maryland the week before (37-0 loss) confidence was not high.  With a 63,000 seat stadium sold out--a great time to go to Kroger's by the way as well as safely transit West Virginia's first and only traffic circle--the Mountaineers played a spectacular game to upset the Cowboys 30-21.  Go 'eers?  I know, I would have thought 'neers too.  We enjoined the game at home on ESPN.

Eileen and Braden

When I arrived on Friday, I joined Eileen and Braden for lunch.  Braden was getting ready to attend the Preston County Buckwheat Festival at an even smaller town near Morgantown.  She was going with friends from her soccer team.  I was pleased to see how well her transition has gone with a lot of friends both at school and on her team.

They live in a very nice and new townhouse with three bedrooms on the top floor, a spacious main floor and the fourth bedroom and bath occupied by the West Virginia Pickett teenager on the ground floor.  This is located in the Cheat Lake area and is right on the tenth fairway of the resort golf course.  In fact, Brock and Brady met us with cold drinks there and happily enough observed one of my few good drives of the day.  Fortunately I was unaware of the gallery until after I hit.

After golf on Saturday, we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening watching football on TV:  the aforementioned West Virginia game, then Notre Dame-Oklahoma, and most of the Wisconsin-Michigan game.  Sunday we sandwiched in a couple of NFL games on TV, Chiefs game on internet updates, and some of the kids' activities.

No caption needed

Wrestling is the newest Pickett sport.  Brady is in a instructional program coached by one of the WVU assistant coaches.  He is very motivated and works extremely hard especially given the fact that he is typically paired up with a boy who is in his third year of participation.  It is hard to watch him get tossed around but he comes right back and works the drills and techniques the coaches teach him.  He is also playing flag football but with a Mountaineer home game taking over the town, there was no flag football that weekend.

Braden leaves her signature pigtail after a header

Later that afternoon, Braden and Brock both had soccer matches but I could only get to one and that was Braden's.  It was great to see her play and smile a lot while she was.  She clearly enjoys being on the team, has friends, and is playing as a force in the mid-field.  The thing I noticed most of all was how she has added headers to her game, both at mid field and in front of the goal.

You can view the photo album by clicking this link.

Eileen arrived with Brock from his soccer match in Pennsylvania.  We all ate out and then returned home to finish the evening watching football.  What else!  I left early the next morning and left two days later for Charlotte.  More about that on the next blog.

Trip to Kansas City - Days Five, Six, Seven, and Eight

National World War I Museum at the Liberty Memorial

On Thursday we stayed with Mom for her physical therapy and speech therapy sessions.  After a quick lunch Marilyn and I headed down to the Liberty Memorial to spend the afternoon going through the excellent National World War I Museum at the Liberty Memorial.  That evening we dined with Mom at Grand Court and spent the evening visiting with Anola and Peter who had just returned from North Carolina. Early the next day, Marilyn flew home for a family baby shower in Buffalo the next day. 

On Saturday I began the day breakfasting with Peter and then visiting the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art to experience an exhibit of photographs by Laura McPhee entitled "River of No Return."  These are 6 ft. x 8 ft. chromogenic prints which is to say the kind of prints we are used to getting from film -- remember film?  The photographs are very engaging and intriguing; their large size adds to the impact.  I wondered about the dark room she would have used to prints these giants! 

Then I was off to the Reading Reptile, the young person's bookstore in Brookside.  They had a big display of Anola's book and will be hosting a book signing the following Friday.  Anola and Peter had just returned from a book launch at the Historic Site of Chicamacomico Life Saving Station in Rodanthe.  Her book, Whisper Island, tells the story of a 12 year old girl in 1913 who wants to be part of the Life Saving Service...but, no girls allowed.  One reviewer said, "What a sweet, tender, amazing book! I sat down to read it and didn't get up until it was finished it was so captivating! A story told from the heart with all the passion of a young girl trying to make it in a man's world."

While I waited to get together with my sister, Mary, I revisited Loose Park and took this panorama image with my phone camera.

While I was continuing to kill time, I went by the old neighborhood and found a Forest Avenue Community Day in progress.  They had spent the morning cleaning up and were celebrating with some nice eats.  They were set up pretty much in front of the house where I grew up.  I stopped and visited.  There were a couple of families that remembered some families that had lived there such a long time ago.  The neighborhood still struggles but it was good to see such positive attitudes and energies.

That evening Anola, Peter, Mom and I went to Culver's for some burgers and shakes.  Gotta like a place that advertises "butterburgers!"

I left the next day at 5:30 AM.  I had intended to stop in Richmond Indiana but found that I was not at all tired and it was much too early to stop at 3:00.  So I kept going and eventually got home a bit after 11:00 PM after 17 hours on the road.

Trip to Kansas City July 2013 - Days Three and Four

Along Indian Creek Trail

July 16 was Mom's 101st birthday.  In contrast to last year's big celebration, this was a calm celebration.  I began the day as usual with early morning coffee with Sean who had flown in the day before with his family.  I accumulated some more stars at the local Starbuck's while I got caught up with his life, especially the developments with his very challenging job.  After that, Marilyn and I took an hour's walk along a wonderful biking hiking trail along Indian Creek near my Mom's place.  It was a cool start to a very hot day although it was much hotter in Rochester where there was a heat alert in effect!

We returned to Mom's and sat in on her physical therapy session and then went to lunch with my brother Terry, his wife Johnny along with Sean and his family.  The family members in town then gathered with Mom for dinner at Cinzetti's, a wonderful Italian restaurant.  We had our own space for a lively session with lots of laughter and way too much good food including many--too many--delicious desserts!  Two of my siblings were not in town:  Tom who had been here before we arrived and Anola who was in North Carolina for the launch of her newest novel, Whisper Island.  

The next day was spent reviewing the reports from Mom's therapists as we began the process of making decisions about her living situation.  Marilyn and I took a break and headed to the Country Club Plaza for lunch and shopping and then stopped by Loose Park to view the rose gardens.  Of course, we also stopped at the Baskins & Robbins in Brookside for some ice cream.  Hey, it was hot.

We went down for dinner with Mom at Grand Court so we could visit with her friends at the table.  Bill Binder was there along with Nadine, Barbara, and Mary.  All the men in the dining look forward to our visits so they can get a chance to see Marilyn.  Before dinner, we met Nels and his wife Jean.  They were married at Grand Court two years ago.  Nels is 94.  Their wedding was the first and so far the only one involving residents of Grand Court.  He happily explained that two Social Security checks are better than one.  I suppose that there will be more such weddings in the future.

My big learning for the day concerned my Android phone and its camera.  I had no idea of the many functions that come with the camera function:  HDR, panorama, and a number of very sophisticated editing apps -all of them free.  Marilyn had sent me a link to very informative book about these.  Click here to go to the Android Store for a free copy.  After dinner we went for a walk in the new garden at Grand Court where I used the new apps to take some photos and then edited them.  The picture to the right is an example.  The app I used easily allowed me to achieve an SLR look by defocusing the background while keeping Mom and me in sharp focus.  Nice, huh?  These apps are so impressive that I may try leaving my other cameras at home on a trip and just using my phone!

We spent the evening watching one of Mom's favorite movies, "Shall We Dance?"  She has watched this so many times that she actually wore out her original DVD and I had to get her a new one last year.

Go here to see the continually updated Picasa album of this Kansas City trip.

Trip to Kansas City July 2013 - Days One and Two

The Wabash River at sunset:  Terre Haute

We are off on our annual summer trip to Kansas City to celebrate my mother's 101st birthday.  We drove the 1000 miles and stopped over night in Terre Haute, our usual pattern.  After dinner, we went to Fairbanks Park and strolled along the Wabash River and enjoyed a lovely sunset.

This was home to the Wea Tribe of the great Miami Nation whose control extended over present day Indiana, western Ohio, eastern Illinois, and southern Michigan.  As happened with other tribes, the Wea sold its land rights to the federal government for what amounted to paltry sums and eventually were relocated.  Some of the Wea stayed in Indiana around Terre Haute.  Their descendants still live in the area.  You can learn more on their web site.

You can also see more photos of the Wabash stroll by clicking here.  

When we arrived in Kansas City, we met my cousins, Lois and Andy Sciolaro, for lunch and a fun catching up.  Then it was off to Grand Court to stay at Mom's and see Sean, Julie, and Sam who had arrived the day before.  After dinner at Sweet Tomatoes--Mom stayed home to rest up--it was back to Grand Court for me to rest up.

Here is a link to the trip album which will be updated each day.

Trip to Aurora Picketts

The Grand Hall at Chicago Union Station

We returned home from our California trip last Wednesday night a little after 11:00.  I left the next morning on a 6:40 AM flight to Chicago to visit Brendan, Eileen and the kids whom I hadn't seen since last October.  I arrived around 8:00 and took the CTA train to the Loop downtown, walked about three blocks to Central station and then took the Aurora METRA train out to Aurora where Eileen and Brock and Brady picked me up.  I had to wait a couple of hours for the next Aurora train but otherwise it was a very efficient and pleasant to make the trip to Aurora.  Also it only cost $8.50 which is less than the cost of gasoline for the same trip.

Although it wasn't known when I planned this trip, Brendan is taking a new job in Morgantown WV.  He will be Director of Production for Dan Ryan Homes, a major regional builder founded by one of the grandsons of the founder of Ryan Homes where he has worked for the last 17 years.  He will start in Morgantown July 1 and he was giving his two week notice the day after I arrived.  This is a great move for him professionally in many ways and will be wonderful for the family as well.  Morgantown is the location for West Virginia University, about an hour and a half south of Pittsburgh.  It is midway between Rochester and Charlotte where Liam lives, 3 hours from Cleveland where much of Eileen's family lives, and three hours for Washington DC where Brendan and Eileen went to college and have friends and family.  A six hour drive for me means that we will be seeing much more of them than a 12 hour drive or an airplane flight now permits.

Brendan told his boss Friday morning and then he and I played a round of golf--my first of the season--on an absolutely perfect day weather wise.  We dropped Braden off at Prairie Fest, a local festival, and then the rest of us went to a ballgame to see the Kane County Cougars--Single A affiliate of Chicago Cubs-- play the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers from Appleton.  We left a bit early and stopped for ice cream on the way home.  We had to get home and get to sleep since we had two ballgames of our own to get to on Saturday.

Brady receiving a pitch

We dodged rain throughout Saturday during two baseball games:  Brady and Brock.  Brady played outfield, catcher, third base and first base.  He enjoys the game and especially behind the plate which he says is his favorite position.  You can click here to see a photo album of his game.

Brock also had a game Saturday with his regular team.  He would also have an All Star game on Sunday.  He plays shortstop and pitches both of which he enjoys but he says that shortstop is his favorite.  In fact, he is one of those players who enjoys fielding more than batting and can't wait to get back in the field.  He has only been playing organized ball for two years but he is good at the game.  As you can see in the video below, he studies the pitching form of professionals and then copies that in a very consistent way.



You can see more photos of Brock playing in two albums:

• Brock regular season
• Brock All Star game

After a long afternoon of Little League baseball on Sunday, we returned home to watch the end of the U. S. Open and Phil set a "new league record" followed by a delicious steak dinner.  Along the way over the weekend, I got to watch some favorite family movies with Brendan:  Parenthood and Field of Dreams.

I take a late flight home Monday where I will be till mid July when Marilyn and I will go to Kansas City for Mom's 101st birthday.

Petaluma Friends - Day Two

Bill Crowley shared an interesting and intriguing artifact with us.  His son, Dan, found this volume while he was working on rehabbing a house in San Francisco.  It is a scrapbook that was started in 1873.  It was filled with news stories, poetry, pieces of fiction most of which appear to have been published in newspapers and then clipped and carefully glued into this large book.  The book itself was a railroad engine ledger that kept track of trips, cargo, and fuel used.  It appeared to have focused on railroads in Oregon but it was hard to tell since the pages were almost completely covered.  Most of the pages had colorful lithograph labels which had been cut out and again carefully pasted in.  The colors were vibrant still.  There were also pages of children's books that had been cut apart and pasted in.

We decided to spend the day in San Francisco and to get there by taking a ferry from Larkspur.  The day began with some fog and wind but cleared as we neared San Francisco and the Ferry Terminal.  We passed right by San Quentin State Prison, Alcatraz and Treasure Islands and had some great views of the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges as well as some America Cup yachts in their training in the bay.  

As we explored the Ferry Terminal with its many shops and restaurants, I met Milo, a security guard on duty on the second floor where there are offices.  As we chatted I learned a great deal about him.  He came to the United States 13 years ago from the Philippines.  I also learned three important pieces of information from him.

• The Ferry Terminal building was constructed in 1898 and was the only major structure to have survived the 1906 earthquake and fires in tact.
• When he retires at age 66--not too far in the future--he will receive $600 a month from Social Security which is 16,000 pesos in the Philippines to where he plans to return.
• He travels back for visits on Philippines Air.  The 18 hours flight costs about $2,000 so he can't return too often.  But more important to Milo is the disturbing fact that the female flight attendants all appear to be of grandmotherly age.  He wonders why the airline doesn't hire all those attractive young Philippinas who are looking for work.

We finished the day with a pleasant dinner at The Central Market Restaurant.  We got to bed early.  We return home tomorrow and will be traveling all day.

Click here to see the constantly updated photo album.

Petaluma Friends - Day One

Marilyn, Bill, Bill Crowley, Barb

For the next couple of days, we are staying with our friends, Bill and Barb Crowley.  After both retired, they moved to Petaluma from Rochester four years ago to be near their two children and the recent addition to their family, Vinnie, their first grandchild.  They appear to have become fully acclimated to life and climate here.  But then, who wouldn't?

After the girls were up till 2:00 AM visiting, we got a late start and spent the late morning through early afternoon walking through Petaluma and having a leisurely lunch at one of Bill's favorite places.  They live in downtown Petaluma in a redeveloped area called the "Theater District."  Their three bedroom apartment is spacious with lovely views.  Everything is walkable in a charming district that sits astride a channel or river that leads out to the Bay and beyond.  It was cloudy most of the day with a break around sunset.  I scouted out a few locations and came back out around 8:00 and got a few nice sunset lit photos of the area.  We will see what sun rise tomorrow might bring.

One of the interesting places we visited is the Seed Bank.  This is a store in an historic bank building in downtown Petaluma that sells heirloom seeds and associated supplies of all kinds.

You can click here to view the constantly updated photo album.