Back in Troy---again

Simon, Madeleine, Judah with G. W.

Caught Grampa taking pix

Soccer girl

Good goalie

Visiting before the game

Jude found something interesting

Here we are back in Troy, safely ensconced in the back yard of daughter Racher and son-in-law Benji. The grandkids think this is great. They can walk to our house by themselves! We have been spending our time visiting, playing, and goofing off in general. We had a nice visit yesterday with friends Pam and Eddy Shouse at lunch and Barbara and the GM pipefitter gang for supper and of course an evening of visiting and playing Euchre. This is a regional card game we grew up with and don't get to play anywhere else.

The pix above are of course dominated by our adorable grandchildren: Simon aged 2, Madeleine who will be 5 on Sept. 11, and Judah aged 4 months. On Wed. we went to Madeleine's soccer game. It was great watching a bunch of 4 year olds learning the technics of the game while having fun. All the parents shouted encouragement to both teams. While Madeleine played the boys found interesting things to do. In the pic of Madeleine on my lap, Simon is in the left background headed for fun with gravel and other 2 year olds. At the top we were relaxing before the game.

We will be in this area for a month visiting all of our friends and relatives, so you will probably be meeting more family members.

Enough for now,

Louise and Duane

Geocaching with Stacy and Carrie

Signing a log
Stacy pointing to knot on tree where cache was

Louise up a tree retrieving cache

Arrow pointing to cache

We arrived in Cincinnati on Friday the 21'st to spend the weekend with Stacy and Carrie. On Saturday we went to a local park to do a little geocaching. We had 4 to find and found all 4. They were all placed by the same family and all but one followed the same theme, UP A TREE. Louise was the only one in our group that was 'brave?' enough to climb up the tree to get at the one cache. I had to lift Stacy up to get to the one in the knot hole. We had a great time and had a real nice walk in the woods. After hiking all day we headed to the pizza place...lol Had to replace all those calories we burnt hiking. Sunday we ate a great fish dinner that Stacy and Carrie had caught in Canada. On Monday we headed to Troy, Ohio to meet our new grandson and visit with our kids and grandchildren there.

Till next time

Duane and Louise

Fun Fun Fun

Paddlin' man
Cindy and Mike


Biking the tow path

Working horses

Canal boat

Cindy the Naturalist

Playing in the mud and water

We have enjoyed this past week playing with friends Mike and Cindy Smith in the lovely town of Mogadore, just a little south east of Akron. One of our fun outings consisted of paddling canoes 6 miles down the Tuscarawas River from Canal Fulton, then riding bikes back along the tow path. This area is part of the Ohio Erie system. As you can see, this part is still in use as a tourist attraction. One day we joined Cindy at West Branch State Park where she works as the naturalist. On our hike she informed us of various uses for some of the plants and trees. The hike ended at the edge of the lake to look for crystals that form in the mud there. Tomorrow is moving day, so look for more fun times ahead!

Enough for now,

Louise and Duane

Tourists

Our beautiful selves with the Lolly Trolley
Friends Bob and Sharon with the steamship William Mather

Brandywine Falls

Too fabulous to mention who

Marty the village blacksmith

Onward in our quest for adventure! Go east old people, go east! So we did, (well south east) from Grand Rapids, OH to Hinkley, OH. From Sheely's yard to Bob and Sharon Cameron's we traversed the miles in our intrepid quest for adventure. The Camerons came through beautifully. We toured the lovely city of Cleveland aboard the Lolly Trolly, crossing bridges from east to west and back. Cleveland is a city of bridges since the city straddles the Cuyahoda river. After one of Sharon's yummy picnic lunches, we explored the area along Lake Erie next to the Cleveland Browns' stadium. We poked around the Mather, which plied the Great lakes from Ironwood, MI to Erie, PA. It hauled iron ore one way and steel the other. This ship is unique because it also provided luxurious (at the time) accomodations for selected guests. Next we viewed the Colorado River Grand Canyon adventure from comphy seats in the Imax theater. From there we went across the plaza to the Great Lakes Science Center for an afternoon of learning. Another afternoon the Camerons introduced us to part of the Cleveland end of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. We hiked to Brandywine Falls, Blue Hen Falls, and lock 29. The park encompasses the area of the old Ohio Erie Canal. One day we toured by ourselves. We visited the Hale Farm, a living history farm dating from the Civil War. Reenactors intpreted various buildings in the park, including (of course) the blacksmith shop, school, church, various homes, potter, broom maker, weaver, spinner, and lawyer. Lots of tourist fun. Evenings we visited with Bob and Sharon over supper and cards, dominoes, and campfire.

We took off this morning headed for Mogadore, just southeast of Akron. The next few days we will be visiting friends Mike and Cindy Smith.

Enough for now!

Louise and Duane

Goofing Off

Brother Ed
Ed and Eddie

Louise, Eddie and mom Heather fishing

Our new coach

Hummer

Butch's Shop

Butch and Cindy's house

Butch, Cindy and Louise

Ruby Throated Hummer

Last Sunday we went fishing with brother Ed, his wife Paula, daughter Heather and grandson Eddie. As you can see by the pix, we all were very serious about that. (Ed's pole is a little short doncha think?) Paula sat in the shade reading. We were more serious about our picnic lunch. On Tuesday we headed east and ended up at a nice quiet rv park just east of Huntington, In. It had four fishing lakes, so we stayed Wednesday to try our luck. Actually I cast a line Tuesday evening and decided to read all day Wed. Thursday we made it to Grand Rapids, Ohio and parked in the Sheelys' yard. Butch is a blacksmithing buddy of Duane's from way back. Butch and Cindy built their beautiful log house from the ground up. We have spend a lot of time yakking and showing each other what we have been making. (Cindy is a beader and I quilt and count cross stitches.) Today we visited Sauder Village, a privately owned historical village. It was there we found our new coach. Unfortunately the owner, a migrant beet harvester, wasn't around to seal the deal. Back at the house we all sat around chatting and enjoying the pleasant breezes and the antics of the hummingbirds. Tomorrow is our last day here. Monday we head for Hinckley.

Basta por hoy!

Louise and Duane

Indian bust

Duane's latest effort

We made it without incident to the north. We are now happily ensconced in the middle of the mid west, in Carlock, Ill. We take our morning walks down a country road bordered by very neat fields of corn and soybeans, and mowed edges. We spend our days hobnobbing with my brother Ed, his wife Paula, and various members of their family. For a couple of hours at night we do our things--Duane carves and I sew and read. The weather here is very different from everywhere else we've been lately. The day we arrive we were treated to thunderstorms that took the hot weather with them. In the last week we have enjoyed sunny/partly cloudy days in the high 70's to mid 80's, and nights in the mid to low 60's. The very low humidity makes the days very pleasant. We had one more day of rain, but we had planned to stay in and do our sewing and carving anyway. The pix above show the result of that day. Duane had that bust carved, but put the paint and finish on it. Our other days are spent fishing, picnicing, going to the county fair, and just plain visiting.

Enough for now,

Louise and Duane