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.