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After our world-wind tour through the New England states, we parked the RV at a cool resort outside of Atlantic City, NJ for a month, relaxed a lot, did some minor sightseeing, then flew to California to spend time with Carmen's family as Dakota and Sierra celebrated their birthdays. While in California, we got a chance to catch up with Glorine's sister Maureen and two of Larry's cousins Dennis Barnhardt and Donald Barth (picture above). Keep us informed by clicking on the email link Larry and Glorine. | ||
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| With Atlantic City only eight miles from the RV resort, we were surprised by all the skyscraper resorts. Here we are in the Tropicana Casino and Hotel, with the Havana Club as one of its many theme restaurants. | On to Philadelphia, where national parks and historic sites were closed due to the government shutdown. However, private museums were open including this visitors center that had a 360 degree video focused on "We the people...." It ended with pictures of everyday folk including us. | |
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| Prior to these men gathering in Philadelphia and debating a path for our nation, nearly every country in the world was ruled by kings, queens, czars or dictators. The constitution they produced place "We the People" on the top of the organizational chart. It has become the model that many other countries have followed. | Betsy Ross, a successful upholster and acquaintance of George Washington is credited with sewing the first flag adopted in June of 1777, "...made of thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation." | |
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| Philadelphia City Hall was once the world's tallest habitable building and remains the largest municipal building in the United States. Mostly made of limestone, granite and marble, it is topped off with a 37 foot bronze statue of William Penn, founder of the city. Up until we toured this building, we though churches had the corner on being the most ornate buildings. | Off to California where we were greeted at the airport by Carmen and Hunter. Rather than heading to Fullerton, we went out to the ocean, which was quite foggy. Hunter told us that we could sleep in his bedroom, however, he was going to cuddle up between us. That never happened. | |
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| Mike, Hunter and Larry spent the day in Santa Ana at the Discovery Science Center (the only Smithsonian affiliate in Orange County, CA). They had a great exhibit of Ripley's "Believe or Not" with a focus underlying these rare events. Here Hunter can't get enough of 8'-11." Robert Wadlow, the tallest man ever recorded. | Cousin Dennis and Nancy spent a couple of weeks camping along the California coastline during the time we were visiting Carmen. Our mutual cousin, Donald Barth and his wife Elsie who live in San Diego, met up with us at their campsite overlooking the ocean north of San Diego. We were entertained by surfers and dolphins. | |
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| What a great coincidence? Maureen and Wayne flew from Ajijic to San Diego and were getting ready for a 15-day Hawaiian cruise. We met up with them at their hotel and had lunch at a restaurant overlooking San Diego Bay. | It is Friday, October 25 and Sierra is now six-years old. And one of the traditions in Carmen's family is breakfast in bed. Unfortunately, opening presents took precedence to breakfast so it got moved to the kitchen. | |
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| All the classes at Golden Hills Elementary school celebrate October birthdays. On this day, the students in Sierra's class got to make Hot Dog rollups and used pickles and black olives to decorate them as cars. It was another fun day of learning. | Off to the bowling alley to get in a round of bowling. Hunter wasn't much interested in the game, so he spent his time studying the physics behind it all. Dakota and Sierra teamed up and beat their daddy. Papa came in dead last. | |
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| This year, the girls had a mutual birthday party at the Gymnastics Center where they are enrolled for gymnastics classes. Here Dakota is showing off some of her flexibility. Nana and Papa didn't consider trying. | After an hour of running, jumping, balancing, diving, lots of sweating and a bruise or two, we all sat down for pizza and birthday cake in their adjoining ballet room. Sierra decided to have another cupcake. | |
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| On Dakota's birthday, we all went out to a Japanese restaurant that specializes in vinegared rice (sushi-meshi) which is combined with mostly raw fish or other seafood. Nice to see Dakota enjoy Sushi as much as her mommy does. | Back home, Dakota had a few friends came over for a special ice cream cake. But what made the cake really special, was what was on top. Just like Sierra's cake, was an annual pass to Disneyland. Talk about icing on the cake!! | |
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| Dakota with her third grade teacher, Ms. Mazza, taken on her birthday. Dakota is enrolled in the GATES programs designed to challenge high achievers like Dakota and her classmates. She loves her teacher! | The old playhouse Papa built five years ago is still the center of the grandkids outdoor activities, but the plastic roof it came with deteriorated by the California sun. So Papa replaced with real wood. | |
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| Dennis and Nancy moved their camper up the coast to Doheny State Beach Campground near San Juan Capistrano. We joined them for a tour of the area. Here we are walking along the Dana Point Harbor with the bluffs in the background. | On the north side of the bluffs, the area has been taken over by developers who are building mansions valued at 15 million dollars plus some. While California requires all beaches to be open to the public, these folk have found ways to limit access to the general public. | |
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| Dana Point Marina is one of the most spectacular man-made harbors in the world with 2,500 slips for boats of all shapes and sizes. The marina is home to the Ocean Institute, an educational facility for oceanography, maritime history and environmental studies. | As we walked around Dana Point, we saw several life-size elephant sculptures. Seventy-five sculptures have been on display over the summer and will be auctioned off to raise money for a foundation to save the Asian elephants from extinctions. | |
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| After a day of hiking with Dennis and Nancy, we met up with Don and Elsie at a microbrew pub and grill in Brea, just north of Carmen and Mike's home. Sampling beers and raw oysters hit the spot for some of us. | It's date night--a win/win for everyone! Nana and Papa got to spend some quality time with the grandkids and Carmen and Mike got all decked out for dinner and a night on the town. | |
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| Golden Hills Elementary School knows how much kids love Halloween and make it a special day by having kids dress up in their favorite costumes and parade around through all the classrooms. Which is right up Sierra's alley--she loves to dress up. | The neighborhood is one of the go to places for Halloween, as homeowners go out of their way to make this a special treat for kids. Glorine counted 27 homes decorated for Halloween as she walked the kids home from school one day. | |
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| Dakota started a new school project based on the book called Flat Stanley, where he travels around the world, has pictures taken at unique locations and is mailed back home. Here Flat Dakota is with us on our last weekend together at a cabin near Arrowhead Lake up by Big Bear. The weather was great, despite being a mile above sea level. | After two weeks with Carmen and family, we flew nonstop from Los Angeles to Philadelphia. Glorine talked to one of the flight attendants and asked if she would see if the Pilot would be willing to take a picture of Flat Dakota traveling with us. He not only had this picture taken, but also wrote a nice note in Dakota's journal. | |
October's web page includes October 1 through October 31.
