Friday!!! And we’re beginning to see big changes in the houses. John LOVED working with an all women crew on the back deck (which of course they finished). From the left, Maria (who’s working on getting enough hours to qualify for a Habitat house, Anna (who already has a Habitat house here in Lenoir), John (from New York), Francis (from a different part of North Carolina), & Mary (from New Hampshire).

And then there are our unrelated “twins” – Jim (from Tennessee) and Bob (from West Virginia). They seem to be like John & our friend Bruce who 99% of the time dress alike without ever conferring on what to wear. (They only confer to make sure they do NOT wear the same thing.) Jim & Bob may look like they’re supervising but actually they’re responsible for all the siding on the house behind them. You’ll be happy to know they finished that side before calling it a day. Gordon (husband of Francis & also from a different part of NC) is the other fellow in the photo.

Good eats again today for lunch… chopped BBQ from Hannah’s which, we’re told, USA Today rated as one of the top ten BBQ places in the US. It was GOOD!!!

Tillie, not to be outdone and always on the cutting edge of gourmet dining, took us to dinner at the Elk Creek Winery near Elkin, NC. The restaurant was written up that very day in the New York Times although we made reservations there last week, well before the article was published. The writer came down to do a feature on NC BBQ and ended up including a great review for this restaurant. She wasn’t wrong either. Everything was DELICIOUS! Photo from the right – the dog (who stayed outside), Patty, Jesse Williams (our chef who stayed in the kitchen manning the wood fired oven where he cooks much of the food – also from NY), John, Judy (John’s cousin-in-law from NJ), John (John’s cousin – husband of Judy), Joann (Judy’s cousin from NJ) & Jack (his real name is John but enough is enough – husband of Joann). They’re on their way to Hilton Head so we rendezvoused for dinner. Three of us had roasted rabbit as the main course which was great. (The owner lives in a teepee beside the rows of grapes which left me wondering on the way home just HOW those rabbits came to be on the menu. Who knows what you’ll find if you go there. John was just reading where over 100 boars were killed during last year’s hunting season.)

Another beautiful and productive and FUN (aching muscles included) day in Lenoir. The first photo shows the “front porch” crew. If you look closely you might suspect that someone was not especially competent with a tape measure when it came to determining the length of the posts. However, it turns out folks here don’t run them all the way to the roof, just cut them off at rail level.

Janet (who’s in the next photo and from West Virginia) and Patty (from New York and not in the photo) were the crew putting in anti-squeak bracing (there’s probably a more technical term but who cares?) It turns out Janet’s arm held out longer than Patty’s, so Mary (from New Hampshire) stepped in to help finish the job.

Of course the highlight of the week has been Carol (from Georgia) teaching all of us how to peel a banana. Demonstrating in the last the photo is Bert (from New Hampshire sitting next to his wife Mary also from New Hampshire and a member of the anti-squeak crew). Anyway, you do NOT start peeling a banana from the stem end – you start from the blossom end. The peel is much more tender on that end and, as it turns out, a much easier way to start peeling a banana. Supposedly monkeys do it that way and they have a LOT more experience than most humans. Can’t wait to try it, can you?!

Finally, PHOTOS!!! thanks to Jeff mailing the power cord & George delivering it on his fancy-dancy motorcycle to us after a (hopefully scenic) tour of Lenoir. (George managed this in spite of my directions where I failed to mention two major turns… I also failed to take his photo – where WAS my brain yesterday!)

Photo 1 – John delivering the dog food when we dropped off Red at Leigh & Bruce’s. Harpo (their dog) morphed quickly into a doggie vacuum. You would be surprised how many individual nuggets there are in a 20 pound bag of dog food.

Photo 2 – Octoberfest ladies – Pat (Vicki’s mother), Gail (Vicki’s best friend), Vicki, Frank (Vicki’s father) (Would you ever guess Vicki is happy to once again be living in North Carolina?)

Photo 3 – Octoberfest guys – Frank (remember him?), Harry (Gail’s husband), George & John (notice their drinks are in true German fashion – how on earth do those German waitresses carry four of those mugs in each hand during the Octoberfest? You do NOT want to mess with them!)

Photo 4 – Vicki & George in front of their new home in Hickory (although it doesn’t show in the photo, Vicki & George added North Carolina to Tillie’s “I’ve been there” map)

Photo 5 – Charlie, John, Malin, Marge in Marge’s kitchen. Charlie built the house for her and did an absolutely WONDERFUL job.




Photo 6 – John & Patty hosting Bonnie & Dave (Patty’s cousins) at the campsite. (John is standing off to one side because he’d been working in the hot sun all day on a roof – believe me, not even good wife Patty wanted him any closer at that point in time!)

Photo 7 – One of the Habitat houses we’re working on - the real purpose for the trip. They are doing a GREAT job here in Lenoir and feeding us VERY well. Lunches every day and this makes the third night in a row dinner has been provided. We’re all asking where the nearest thrift shop is so we can buy bigger pants!

We're still unable to post photos -- BORING!!! Sorry, perhaps in a couple of days.
Have arrived safely in Lenoir. GREAT lunch with Malin, Marge (Malin's mother who makes a mean BBQ even if she is from Michigan) & Charlie. We're VERY lucky to have Marge right in town with a shower at the ready since the bathrooms at the Fairgrounds where we're staying in Lenoir are marginal.
Today was our first day "on the job" at the Habitat project. They have 3 houses in various stages of construction. Today was a beautiful day so part of us worked on putting up soffit and part worked on putting roof decking on. Those of us who like to have 2 feet firmly on the ground did the cutting. Our group leader, Harry, is wonderful as is Pete the fulltime Habitat coordinator. In fact, Pete is having us over to his house for a cookout tonight so.... gotta run!

Ah.... the best laid plans. Jeff mailed our power supply for the computer overnight via the USPS. This morning we went out for a wonderful Elks club breakfast and while we were away the postman came but left a note that the package wouldn't be left without a signature. The post office is now closed until Tuesday. And so it goes....

Anyway it was a day of shopping in Hickory--- furniture outlets (Vicki found an end table), antique mall (Vicki found some crystal coasters), the farmers market (Vicki bought some squash but we bought apples & sorghum-a product we don't see much in the north), a couple of thrift stores (Vicki found Patty a shirt & a sweater), and the local BBQ place - came home with wonderful NC BBQ. Our friend Phyllis (who's on her way to Florida) joined us and had her second BBQ dinner in one day - she rated them both good. We also tried to find the zero energy Habitat house here in Hickory but it proved to be unfindable. As one lady said, it's hard to tell someone how to get anywhere in Hickory. Tillie enjoyed a day of rest.

Well folks, no photos today - you'll have to use your imagination (a certain member of our traveling group - male, so that let's out me & the mesquitos - forgot the power cord to our computer. Yesterday was the last we could use it to upload photos until the power cord arrives in the mail). Anyway... today was a beautiful drive as we continued south through Virginia and into the mountains of North Carolina. We decided to give Tillie a break and take back roads including going to Cripple Creek from a song out of Tillie's youth. The trees are turning color down here too and we were up and over the eastern Continental Divide before we knew what happened.

We knew we were in North Carolina as soon as we saw the sign stating it was a state law to "burn headlights" while wipers are on or riding a motorcycle. We think they drive the same vehicles in NC as those of us in the north, but perhaps their headlights are different. Anyway, Hickory was today's destination as our friends George & Vicki just "retired" here. Vicki is VERY happy to be back in her hometown with family & friends. This evening was spent with some of them at the local German restaurant for their Octoberfest. GREAT food, live music, Octoberfest beer in liter steins, even a man dressed in lederhosen at the next table, and, of course, the chicken dance - lots of fun. No wonder Tillie was so anxious to go south since she's almost all German with maybe a touch of Mexican (some of her replacement parts, we must admit, were NOT made in Germany).

Even after cooling her tires for a couple of months, Tillie started right up and we were off! (at 6:30 a.m. - talk about being anxious to get going!) The morning was cool but John had gotten the heat controls working on his side and the heat fastened open on my side - felt wonderful. Then we began to notice the mesquitoes. It seemed they had organized a tour group to travel south with us. As folks would pass us on the road they would think we were waving when all of a sudden our hand would go splat against the window. Then they probably just thought we were crazy. By the time we stopped for lunch in West Virginia there were more dead bugs on the inside of the windshield than on the outside but the tour group has mostly been eliminated.

Once we were on the road again with a clean windshield and minus the bug distraction, I began to notice my feet were getting warm, then downright hot. It's amazing how well Tillie's heater works when it's 70 degrees outside. Luckily the McCormick farm in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia was both beautiful and had a nice secluded parking lot so John could crawl under the VW and turn OFF that wonderful heater. In case you need to refresh your memory (I did), Cyrus McCormick invented the mechanical grain reaper in 1831 thus changing agriculture forever. According to the brochure it took 90% of the population in 1831 to provide food for our nation, now it takes 2%. Obviously they weren't and still aren't using my gardening techniques.

Then it was on to Foamhenge (someone has actually created a lifesize Stonehenge out of foam). There's nothing more I want to tell you about that. But we did add Virginia to Tillie's "I've been there" map.

Tonight we're camping at (trust me, the campground is much better than the name) Jellystone Park.

Today was the day...

Mary checks out her weight - not to see how much she gained from eating that "Sticky Mama" yesterday, but to see how much her luggage weighed. 62 pounds - not bad considering she came over with only the black bag on the right and somehow managed over the last two months to fill up the blue bag on the left. Personally, I couldn't lift either one.










One last lunch near the old mill in Clinton. Can you believe Mary opted to skip dessert? Of course the portions were extra large - even the two John's weren't able to clean their plates.


Then it was on to the airport. We were lucky to find a wheel chair just sitting in the parking lot so grabbed it to use as a luggage carrier. Security didn't ask what she'd done with the person in it... just so long as she wasn't trying to sneak in any shampoo and toothpaste in her carry-on. Hugs & goodbyes and Mary was on way to the boarding gate and we were on our way to NYC rush hour traffic.
It was a great treat for those of us on this side of the Atlantic to have Mary here for the summer!!!! We hope you have enjoyed following our trip and, like us, are looking forward to future adventures!

Trivia question - Where is the world's largest crayon? The second question (a bit easier if you're looking at the photo) - What color is it?

We took the scenic route from Philadelphia along the Delaware River to John & Judy's in New Jersey. Several detours were included, the result of severe spring flooding along the Delaware - rains we missed on our trip west.

After the exciting visit to see the crayon (the answers are Easton, PA & blue), we stopped for lunch in a wonderful diner. Frank & Rita be warned when you pick her up on Wednesday! Mary's appetite has not diminished. After consuming ALL of a huge veal parmesan sandwich AND the potato chips AND the pickles AND a pint of iced tea, she decided to order the "Sticky Mama" for dessert. In case you're wondering, you take a rather large Philadelphia sticky bun, slice it in half, grill it, put half in a bowl, add 2 BIG scoops of vanilla ice cream, add the other half of the bun (with lots of nuts) to the side, cover ice cream with sticky bun "goo", top with lots of whipped cream and a cherry. Mary licked her bowl clean. Need we say more.

Just when we thought we’d seen the last of the "world’s this, that or the other" for one trip, we go to the Naval Academy in Annapolis. It turns out their beautiful dorm is the largest in the world housing all 4,100 midshipmen. The photo shows us with Cyndy & her nephew, Burt (a senior at the Academy) in front of the dorm. It was family weekend for the plebes and there were A LOT of good looking guys walking around. As you might suspect Mary had a REALLY good time.
Anyway, back to the dorm. The other two photos are of the main hall in the dorm. Not a bad place to hang out. Even the dorm rooms looked nice. They have a “sample” room set up for family to look at and Burt says it’s typical. Two or three beds/desks per room, a bath for each room with a marble shower (Burt allowed the sample IS a bit cleaner than normal), & air-conditioning. A lot of the rooms also have a million dollar view of the bay complete with Academy marina and sailboats. Contrary to what you may have heard, these midshipmen still have an opportunity to learn navigation and basic sailing (John was very envious.)
Back in Philly to spend the night with Cyndy, we realized Mary is starting to try to transition back to the French culture… she ordered an anchovy & cheese pizza for dinner.

Three words tend to describe Washington, D.C. in August - hot, hazy, humid. Some good fairy must be watching over this trip because it was NOT hot (at least in comparison to the heat wave we went through in Montana), NOT hazy & NOT humid. And, best of all, there weren't too many tourists. Parking Charlie at Arlington we took the get on, get off bus around the city.
We "did" the typical stops including the capital building (probably the only capital in the world where the statue on top has a bird for a hat - particularly one that looks like a cross between a pheasant & a turkey); the Smithsonian Air & Space (after looking at those first space vehicles one has to believe our first astronauts were a bit touched in the head - the lunar module especially looks like it was put together by a third grade class with limited resources); the Natural History Museum (they were having a special exhibit on Lewis & Clark - to be honest we've had enough of those 2 guys for one year - Mary skipped them entirely & went to look at fossils and bones); the White House (security was tight as protests were going on in the area opposing Israel's recent actions); the Reflection Pool with the Washington Monument being held up by John & Mary (my positioning was a bit off but you get the general idea); and other points of interest too numerous to mention (aren't you thankful for that?!)...
PS - Here I thought Mary had finished with the state business, but, wouldn't you know, we added Virigina today bringing her total up to 29 states visited this summer.

Finally, a picture of the Maryland relatives. In the center is "the queen", Virginia, who's the wife of John, upper left, first cousin of John, in the middle, and first cousin once removed of Mary on the lower left. On the right are John & Virginia's "adopted" daughter & son, Narelle (Australian by birth) and Art (Canadian by birth). They're both now US citizens but work in the hotel industry in China. John & Virginia lived in their hotel when John was bringing Seagrams to China (even the Chinese need a little gin & whiskey once in a while.)




Since we're on the "eastern shore", Mary decided to try her hand at crabbing. Let's just say we're fortunate we did not have to rely on her skills to supply dinner.

Meanwhile, John admires Comet #1 and how beautiful she is. In the background Patty is trying to find some resemblance between it and the boat (supposedly a Comet) currently housed in John's workshop. At least she knows he'll have plenty to keep him busy during his retirement years.

What? No pictures? Sorry, but we just weren't fast enough to capture the highlights. First, Charlie's northeast states map that Brooklyn Kathleen created for us ended up covered in wax (long story) and you couldn't see the states so that was out. Then Cyndy graciously lead us by car to 95 headed south and even though she had her arm out pointing at the entrance, John somehow missed it so had to do a U-turn. That would have been hard to take a photo of even if we had been fast. The "Welcome to" Delaware & Maryland, the last of the new states Mary will visit, flew by and we missed those. It was cocktail time when we arrived at John & Virginia's and we forgot about pictures. So....
Anyway, today is another day.

“This is where I was born. This was the library I used. This is where I went to college. This is where I used to live. Up there is where I went to church… Our Mother of Constipation.” Wait – are we back in Boise again? No, this was Cyndy’s tour of Philadelphia, HER hometown. Boise may be the city of trees, but Philly has its share too. It also has Fairmount Park, the largest urban park in the world, and the Schuylkill River with its world-class rowing and sculling.

Luckily memory lane lead directly to Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell (has it really grown legs?), the new Constitution Center (well worth a visit), soft pretzels & Philly cheese steaks.

The mint is also down there. We made Mary get her photo taken in the ten and even though I told Mary I wouldn’t use it on the blog, that’s what you get when you go to bed before the rest of us.

After a day of sightseeing we met Anne & Bob (John & Mary’s cousins) & had a wonderful dinner at the Victor Café where the wait staff continue to serenade the clientele with arias from favorite operas. Leaving the city we noted Cirque du Soleil was performing, tried for tickets and ended up seeing a GREAT performance. How is it possible to make your body DO things like that? Even Mary thought she was a bit old to be trying out even for the bit parts.

Dillon (John & Patty’s godson) continues to grow like a weed. It won’t be long before he’s as tall as we are. And Peyton is quickly catching up. However, he’s not quite as cooperative as Dillon when it comes to having his picture taken. Their grandmother, Joey (next to Dillon), just got back yesterday from Croatia where she had a GREAT time being captain of a 47 foot sailing boat around that part of the Mediterranean for a week. And you thought Tillie was awe-inspiring!

On to Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love, where we’re staying with Cyndy - the same Cyndy who joined us earlier for the Lake Louise part of our trip. You can see Cyndy, Mary & John are still thinking of Patty’s birthday tea by the way they’re holding their little fingers.

Is that Nathan's famous hot dogs behind Patty? Could it be the one in Coney Island? What on earth was Patty doing in Coney Island?
To make a loooooong story short, she munched on a pearl in a mussel in Maine & ended up with a tooth ache. Brooklyn Kathleen's (B-Kath) dentist was in his Coney Island office so worked her in. Three X-rays & probing just found a traumatized nerve (Patty had visualized jumping off the Coney Island parachute jump with a string around her tooth! Yikes!) The most unbelieveable part was the dentist didn't charge Patty anything - just said to say hi to B-Kath & Stanley, so "Hi!!!"




While Patty & B-Kath were playing on Coney Island, New Jersey Kathleeen (NJ-Kath) & Bridge started the Manhattan part of the tour for Mary & John.... Times Square, Grand Central Station, NY Public Library, St. Patrick Catheral, Central Park, FAO Swartz, Rockefeller Center. Can you believe they did all this BEFORE lunch? When B-Kath & Patty caught up them at the Korean restaurant, John had grown a bit long in the tooth (or perhaps Korean food just makes you a bit crazy!)
Coming to our senses once again we headed off to the Empire State Building - of course we took Mary up! Then some strolling down 5th Avenue where Mary shopped til she almost dropped. You know that bank account you USED to have Frank??????
Nita (a friend of B-Kath's) called while we were contemplating the program outside a church - "What should women wear?" & asked if we might like to join her & her kids on a James Beard sunset dinner cruise. (Some of her sales staff had cancelled.) Let's see... no dress code, gourmet dinner, a cruise around Manhattan & the Statue of Liberty on a VERY nice yacht, sunset, a full moon, open bar, no charge (FREE). It was a HARD decision! Thank you soooo much, Nita! (She's standing next to John.)

Can you guess where we were today?

And where are Mary & John? After all it was Tillie (Tillie's namesake as well as John's mother & Mary's grandmother) that came to the U.S. past the lady you see on your right & through Ellis Island. Well, it turns out Mary & John took the boat to N.J. & Patty took the boat to NYC & Mary & John were in charge of the photo & Patty was in charge of the text & Mary & John are staying with Kathleen & Patty is staying with Kathleen but we're all getting together tomorrow. You've had days like that too, haven't you? Please call if any of you understood any of that and clarify it for us. Stay tuned....

Who ARE all these people?

Beats me, but somehow I think if DNA samples were taken a connection might be determined.

Mary spent the day trying to determine who were cousins once removed, who were second cousins (and what the difference was), who were sisters/brothers, etc. etc. Luckily she had met Uncle Jules when she first arrived so at least she had that relationship figured out before the day began. She never realized she had so many east coast relatives.

Vinalhaven may be small but that doesn't mean they don't have entertainment. Thursday night we went to the dress rehearsal for the world premiere one-woman play, "The Little Locksmith". Lisa (on the left) is the star and was terrific as was the the play. To know how talented she is, just imagine changing your thick Cockney accent into an American one, then learning enough lines to fill an hour & 20 minutes.

As we prepared to leave the island on the ferry, Mary & John strike heroic poses. Mary seems to be getting the hang of this heroic pose business even with a piece of toast in her hand.

Charlie the Chyrsler was waiting patiently for us at the dock so off we went narrowly escaping the crowds for "Lobsterfest" in Rockland. He also sailed by B&M baked beans in Portland, the world's best baked beans. Apparently he thought he had enough gas for all of us. And he proved his worth in Hartford... 99 degrees, bumper to bumper SLOW traffic and we sat cool and comfortable inside. Tillie would not have been happy. (Today, Mary added Massachusetts & Connecticut to her list of states visited.)

Terry Riley & Nita Robinson with us on Vinalhaven? Is THAt why they look so surprised? No, no. We just forgot to put their picture on the blog as we said we would.

Bruce & Leigh have a baby???!!! Who knew? No, no. It’s just another forgotten photo. The baby, Devon, is Leigh’s grand-nephew.

And finally back to Vinalhaven for real. A little wine, a little garlic & mussels straight from the sea. What could be better?

Topped off the day with a local concert featuring Gigi & her “Granite Island Chicks”. Lots of fun & good entertainment. They were introduced as “the group in various stages of menopause so you never knew what to expect from them”.

Vinalhaven = lobster. And for those of you interested in trivia, the world’s largest lobster fishing fleet calls Vinalhaven home. An 18 wheeler (BIG truck) leaves the island 6 days a week (they don’t fish on Sundays) loaded with live lobster.
Back to the real matter at hand, Mary had her first whole lobster. It’s not every French woman, or anyone for that matter, who can say they had their first lobster delivered to the door by the fisherman who caught it just that morning. If being a quick study in how to cook, then dissect and eat a lobster is any indication, her career choice of biology should serve her well. So did Mary like the lobster? Let’s just say she managed to eat her 2 pound lobster plus John’s tail and one of his claws. Karol & Patty didn’t offer to share.
A small note to those suffering in the east coast heat wave – it’s a pleasant but muggy 70 degrees this morning. Being surrounded by the cold north Atlantic is a blessing.

With Ben off to soccer camp we wave goodbye to Steve (Ginny left at 5:30 – we don’t get up quite that early!) and we head for Maine.
We are already noticing the differences between Tillie & Charlie. Air conditioning? The pool at the end of the trip was great but somehow we didn’t seem to appreciate it nearly as much as when we sweated through the plains. Conversation? You mean we actually have to think of something semi-intelligent to say to one another… ALL the time? Radio? There’s something ELSE going on in the world besides our trip? Mosquito bites? We don’t have to research campgrounds and think about putting up the bug net (now what DO we talk about?) Guard rails on bridges? Mary’s photo taking has decreased - Charlie rides lower and she can’t take pictures over the guard rails like she used to in Tillie. Cold snacks? Charlie doesn’t have a frig. Leg room? Actually Tillie had more. Power steering? Charlie wins hands down but John gets bored with nothing to do. State map? Poor Charlie. We didn’t think to get a map for him as well. Friendly waves & honks? Poor Charlie, he just blends in with the crowd.
Future adventures??? - we stopped in Freeport, Maine, to check out the biggest globe in the world. It must be by boat since Mary & John seem to be pointing at the ocean. Sure enough, only a few hours later we were on the ferry to Vinalhaven. The island is still as beautiful as ever and John & Karol are both helping Mary with her heroic poses. You can see from the photo she seems to be making progress.

Tillie was so upset (we think she gave Charlie the Chrysler 2 flat tires), that we took her on a short trip to thank Helen (photo) for the wonderful cookies she sent us off with on our trip west. Through STRONG willpower on the part of J&P, Mary actually got to enjoy a few of those cookies. (The dog is checking Patty out for any leftover crumbs.)
This morning we waved goodbye to Tillie and headed east. Once again the “Petrified Creatures” museum was not open. Perhaps they cater more to the evening opera crowd (Glimmerglass Opera is only 5 miles away).
George made us right at home on our stop in Albany and, gracious as ever, offered his one chair to Mary. The movers have already taken most of his & Vicki’s things to their new home in North Carolina. After the movers left, Vicki got a call at work to let her know the home security alarm had gone off and to meet the policemen at the house. There were several police there when she arrived and they anxiously walked her through the house to see what was missing. When she said nothing was, they looked at the blonde before them and at the near empty house and from one to another until one finally asked “Mam, what about your furniture?” Blondes really do have a lot of fun.
Then it was on to Vermont. Mary has been working on her heroic poses although her sense of direction is still a bit off.
Tonight we’re in New Hampshire with Ginny, Steve & Ben. We wanted to get a picture of Ben & his cousin Steven in the pool, but those kids must be practicing for summer jobs as pearl divers – they’re under water more than above.