We are in Annapolis, Maryland for a couple days. We arrived yesterday, 23 April 2014.
Our last week in Florida with Charlotte and Bill went quickly. We were able to have birthday cake with Bill's Mom who turned 99. She told me she felt like she was 100...and when Bill said she was 99, she said "boy that is old"! We also went to Charlotte's doctor appointments with her and got great news that there was no sign of her breast cancer after their long year of appointments for chemotherapy and radiation therapy and surgery. She will have to take oral chemotherapy drugs and have routine follow up. What a blessing and thank you all who prayed for them. We also had to return to our favorite restaurants once again to have our favorite seafood and went to a couple other places to eat that certainly may be on our favorite list for the next time we visit...but the seafood will definitely remain our most favorite!! We truly love spending time with them in their home and traveling with them and thank God for the relationship we have with them. We have plans to see them in October in Tucson!!
We went to Orlando one day and met with Nancy and Chuck Berry. Tom was stationed with Nancy when he first came into Air Force and then we were all stationed in Japan together in 1971. Always nice to visit with them and catch up on their family. How special to be able to share hugs with our wonderful friends that we consider family.
We left Cocoa early on 20 April and spent Sunday night in Panama City, Florida. We had an early dinner with Mike Guyne. We were not able to see his wife MaryJo as she was in Arkansas. We were stationed with them in Hawaii. Had not seen them since we left Hawaii in 1984. Tom and Mike relived many "old AF days"...and the way it "was"!! Another fun evening with a forever friend!
Monday morning we were up early and headed to Panacea, Florida via the Costal Highway. What a beautiful drive. On the way, we decided that we would need to go back and spend some time exploring the area. In Panacea, we spent time with Mary (Fleming) and her husband Jon Andre. Mary and I went to Capital City School of Nursing in Washington D.C from 1966-1969. We had not seen each other since 1970 when she visited me in Cheyenne, Wyoming. They treated us to a nice lunch at Tropical Trader Shrimp Company. We then went to their home and to the beach near their home. We certainly need more visits to really catch up....and we will!! BUT it will be sooner than 44 years!!! We waved farewell to them and headed to Savannah, Georgia where we spent the night.
Tuesday Morning found us on the road to Cary, NC to have lunch with Lair and Mary Block. We had stopped at at rest stop and as I was walking into the visitor's center, a woman tripped and fell right next to me. She fell right on her face and left arm. Luckily she did not break her arm or hand but she had abrasions on her forehead, nose and under right eye...and was somewhat stunned. One of the staff got me some ice and I cleaned the blood and found that were only abrasions but she was still a little dizzy. Tom and her husband helped her get slowly up and walk a couple steps to sit down and they called 911 to come and assess her. They were on the road to New York so needed to be checked before they continued their long road trip. We left when the 911 medics arrived. Seemed like just needed her wounds cleaned before they could be on their way. She was aware of her surroundings and talking etc....just embarrassed that she had fallen. They had been in Florida, visiting their first great grandchild!! I told her now she has a story to tell her granddaughter about their trip to see her!!
SO...we were a little late for lunch. Lair and Mary have a beautiful home in Carey. Lair does a lot of work himself and his Mom was our friend Grace so she had showed us pictures but it was fun seeing in real time. Grace was a volunteer at the clinic with me who became family too. We had not met Mary before so was so good to get to meet her. Had a great lunch and fun catching up, talking and remembering Grace. We also hope to return to spend more time with them and see them in Tucson.
We left them and headed for Sugar Grove, West Virginia. We arrived in Sugar Grove a little after 9 PM. The last 15 miles to Sugar Grove was going up a mountain road with constant hair pin curves and switch back curves on a very dark night. We were amazed to get to Sugar Grove and go around the corner on the top of the mountain and there were all the lights of this small Navy Communications base. We had a nice two bedroom cottage right next to a lovely little stream...Tom wants to go back to do some fishing. We woke up to a rather chilly morning. We slept in and then checked out the base....everywhere we went people were just so friendly. It was just like being in a small town! On our way out the next morning, we decided to go thru the Appalachian Mountain to Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah Mountains. We had been there when we lived in Virginia years ago. Even though it was winter it was still a beautiful drive. We stopped on the way and had a nice lunch and had a cone of Blackberry ice cream. Very good. We were lucky to see one turkey and then we saw a mother black bear with 2 cubs and then one black bear and then another mother/cub family.
How neat...especially after we were whining about only seeing signs that read "beware of animals" and no animals!! We took time to stop and watch them. OF course then that put us going through the center of Washington D.C. at 5 PM!!!! Not so much fun.... We did get to see some Cherry Blossom Trees that were still in bloom. We got to Annapolis and got settled in. Today we spent some time walking about the Naval Academy Area. This evening we met Becky and Alan and Ryan Berry for dinner. They were our neighbors in Tucson for several years and were a young military family. Ryan was only a few months old when they left and Alan went to his retirement briefing today and Ryan will be graduating from high school this year and his brother is in college. Where do the years go! Once again, it was so nice to give them all a real hug. Wow, we are really blessed!
Emme has transitioned to the 6-12 month infant room at the child care....another milestone. Yeah Emme!
Molly, Samantha, Kirsten and Patrick ( Phil and Loly's son) and Emme had their first Easter Egg hunt at Pete and Linda's last week.
Tom and I have wanted to see Bill Engvall perform in person for years. I looked to see his schedule and he is appearing in Lancaster on Saturday and we are going to be at Peggy and Larry's in Lancaster on Saturday. I called and they said that they were sold out but had just put a few General Admission Tickets on sale...so we will be able to see him! Will let you know how the performance was in our next blog.
One of the better part of one's life consists of friendships....~~Abraham Lincoln
Thank you all for being such a blessing in our life. Please remember us in your prayers for safe travels
Hugs
Tom and Maryann
I will post mor pictures soon!
Thursday, April 24, 2014
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Key West
Enjoy our pictures from the last couple weeks...still cannot figure how to put them on the blog!!
The end of US Highway One going south
Bill and Charlotte in Key West
Butterfly Conservatory
Monarch Butterfly took a ride with Tom
Monarch Butterfly on Charlotte's purse
Tom eating Key Lime Pie again!!
Bill and Tom going out to the Ocean to fish!!
Basilica of Saint Mary Star of the Sea in Key West
Lunch at one of the oldest restaurants in Key West called Sloppy Joe's
Maryann sitting in one of the chair loungers at Coral Castle
Butterfly Conservatory...see the Monarch Butterfly wanted to be in the picture with us!!
Gypsy Feral Rooster that roams Key West
Having some Cuban food in Key West
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| Celebrating the end of Charlotte's chemotherapy and radiation treat |
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| Tom and Charlotte making their favorite Liver and Onions!!! |
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| Visiting Coral Castle near Homestead, F |
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| Sunset at Key West |
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| Tom eating Key Lime Pie |
Orchid at the Butterfly Conservatory
Good Morning
We are back in Cocoa after a fun 5 days in Key West. We celebrated Charlotte's completing her one year of Chemo and Radiation with several of their friends at a fun Mexican Restaurant on Saturday before we left with an evening with good food and margaritas. Sunday we just stayed around home and got ready for our trip to Key West. Tom, Charlotte and Bill love liver and onions so Tom cooked.
We left on Monday morning. Stopped in Homestead, Florida at the Coral Castle. Edward Leedskainin from Latvia came to the US heartbroken and saddened by the tragic news that his only true love canceled their wedding ceremony one day before the ceremony. He was only 5 ft. tall and 100 pounds and amazingly built this castle of coral all by himself over a period of 28 years. It was amazing that he could move and place walls using handmade tools to move the rocks of coral that weighed thousands of pounds and has been compared to the building of the pyramids. We arrived in Key West about 7 PM. Beautiful drive down. The color of the water is such different shades of blues and almost green. We stayed at the Coast Guard Base in Trumbull Point. There are three military bases on Key West. It was the perfect location as just blocks form downtown Key West. We were awakened very early to the roosters that roam freely. They are called Gypsy Feral Chickens and they have a population of over 2000 in the streets of Key West. They are a protected species so cannot be harmed. I could not find anyone who knew why they are protected or any information on line about why they would be protected. They don't seem to know that roosters are to crow early in the morning as they crow all day and night!! Several times as we were having dinner, a hen and rooster would be walking about with anywhere from 3-8 chicks. They are a pretty bird...except at night when you are trying to sleep!!! While in Key West, we saw a beautiful sunset, ate wonderful food, enjoyed visiting the Butterfly Pavilion, walked nearly every street around the town and visited the beautiful Basilica of Saint Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Church. A beautiful Church with a grotto and an area set up like a rosary so you can walk the rosary.
Tom and Bill went out for an afternoon of deep sea fishing. It was a windy rough water day. Tom caught a small barracuda. Had to throw back as they are not good to eat. Bill had a barracuda on the line but it cut the line just before got in the boat. With the rough waters it can cause the water to be cloudy so not good for fishing. But like they said..."any day out fishing is a great day". We ate so much great sea food. I am not a fan of Key Lime pie but must say that we did have some great Key Lime Pie! We arrived safely with the Grace of God about 5 on Friday evening.
It has been so good to spend this time with Charlotte and Bill. We have more favorite restaurants here than back in Tucson!
It has been good to be able to do "Facetime" on the computer with Emme, Molly, Samantha and Kirsten. Molly started soft ball and they have won both their games so far. Grandpa Pete has been going to her games and said she "had a solid hit" at her last game. Samantha will be 8 years old on Monday...they are growing too fast. Emme turned 11 months this past week. She always gives us "her Nana and Granddad smile" when we talk to her! When we did "Facetime" with Kirsten the other evening she was not feeling good...have never seen her so quiet!!
It is so nice to just sit here on the screened porch at Charlotte and Bill's and relax and watch all the squirrels and birds. Bill feeds them so they missed us when we were gone!! There are about 5 different types of birds and about 15 squirrels.
Tom cooked us breakfast again today...
I have been doing a lot of reading...so far this trip have read 5 books and starting on the 6th....
We will leave here next Sunday and head to Panama City to see a friend we were stationed with in Hawaii and then stop on the Coastal Highway to Tallahassee to have lunch with a friend from Maryann's nursing school days. Will spend a night in Savannah before head north.
"Good friends and family, good books, a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.~~ Mark Twain
Have a blessed Easter week. We are keeping you all in our prayers.
Our Love,
Tom and Maryann
PS: will try to send a blog with only pictures....still having issues
We are back in Cocoa after a fun 5 days in Key West. We celebrated Charlotte's completing her one year of Chemo and Radiation with several of their friends at a fun Mexican Restaurant on Saturday before we left with an evening with good food and margaritas. Sunday we just stayed around home and got ready for our trip to Key West. Tom, Charlotte and Bill love liver and onions so Tom cooked.
We left on Monday morning. Stopped in Homestead, Florida at the Coral Castle. Edward Leedskainin from Latvia came to the US heartbroken and saddened by the tragic news that his only true love canceled their wedding ceremony one day before the ceremony. He was only 5 ft. tall and 100 pounds and amazingly built this castle of coral all by himself over a period of 28 years. It was amazing that he could move and place walls using handmade tools to move the rocks of coral that weighed thousands of pounds and has been compared to the building of the pyramids. We arrived in Key West about 7 PM. Beautiful drive down. The color of the water is such different shades of blues and almost green. We stayed at the Coast Guard Base in Trumbull Point. There are three military bases on Key West. It was the perfect location as just blocks form downtown Key West. We were awakened very early to the roosters that roam freely. They are called Gypsy Feral Chickens and they have a population of over 2000 in the streets of Key West. They are a protected species so cannot be harmed. I could not find anyone who knew why they are protected or any information on line about why they would be protected. They don't seem to know that roosters are to crow early in the morning as they crow all day and night!! Several times as we were having dinner, a hen and rooster would be walking about with anywhere from 3-8 chicks. They are a pretty bird...except at night when you are trying to sleep!!! While in Key West, we saw a beautiful sunset, ate wonderful food, enjoyed visiting the Butterfly Pavilion, walked nearly every street around the town and visited the beautiful Basilica of Saint Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Church. A beautiful Church with a grotto and an area set up like a rosary so you can walk the rosary.
Tom and Bill went out for an afternoon of deep sea fishing. It was a windy rough water day. Tom caught a small barracuda. Had to throw back as they are not good to eat. Bill had a barracuda on the line but it cut the line just before got in the boat. With the rough waters it can cause the water to be cloudy so not good for fishing. But like they said..."any day out fishing is a great day". We ate so much great sea food. I am not a fan of Key Lime pie but must say that we did have some great Key Lime Pie! We arrived safely with the Grace of God about 5 on Friday evening.
It has been so good to spend this time with Charlotte and Bill. We have more favorite restaurants here than back in Tucson!
It has been good to be able to do "Facetime" on the computer with Emme, Molly, Samantha and Kirsten. Molly started soft ball and they have won both their games so far. Grandpa Pete has been going to her games and said she "had a solid hit" at her last game. Samantha will be 8 years old on Monday...they are growing too fast. Emme turned 11 months this past week. She always gives us "her Nana and Granddad smile" when we talk to her! When we did "Facetime" with Kirsten the other evening she was not feeling good...have never seen her so quiet!!
It is so nice to just sit here on the screened porch at Charlotte and Bill's and relax and watch all the squirrels and birds. Bill feeds them so they missed us when we were gone!! There are about 5 different types of birds and about 15 squirrels.
Tom cooked us breakfast again today...
I have been doing a lot of reading...so far this trip have read 5 books and starting on the 6th....
We will leave here next Sunday and head to Panama City to see a friend we were stationed with in Hawaii and then stop on the Coastal Highway to Tallahassee to have lunch with a friend from Maryann's nursing school days. Will spend a night in Savannah before head north.
"Good friends and family, good books, a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.~~ Mark Twain
Have a blessed Easter week. We are keeping you all in our prayers.
Our Love,
Tom and Maryann
PS: will try to send a blog with only pictures....still having issues
Friday, April 4, 2014
Think I have finally figured how to add pictures to our Blog!!!
I think I have KIND OF figured out how to add pictures to our blog. It took me several hours sitting here on the screened in porch to kind of figure out!!! Below are the great friends we have visited. Forgot to take a picture of Ann and Jim in Crestview, Florida...
I will keep working on putting them in the blog....
Jerry and Diane Stapleton in Fort Worth, Tx
Deb and Maryann in Tampa, Florida
Bill and Charlotte at Roy's Restaurant in Orlando
Bob and Donna in El Paso, Texas
Thursday, April 3, 2014
3 April 2014
Good Morning,
"A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles"~~Tim Cahill
AND we certainly are having a wonder-filled journey.
I am sitting here on the screened in patio at Bill and Charlotte's in Cocoa, Florida. Tom has gone off to spend the day in Vero Beach with his friend , Dr. K, who he was stationed with in the jungles of Viet Nam YEARS ago. It is a perfect day here as I watch the squirrels and all kinds of birds vie for the food that Bill puts out for them every few days. They get quite aggressive!
We arrived here last Wednesday (March 26) evening. We had spent the night in Tampa at MacDill AFB. We met Deb for lunch at Pinkeys. What a neat little cafe near the base. Maryann and Deb worked together at Davis-Monthan AFB 14 years ago. Deb and her husband Steve and their three children have been in Tampa for several years but now are getting ready to be stationed in Japan. Deb is now a well-known photographer. It had been 14 years since we were together and once again seemed like only yesterday. It was good to be able to share hugs!! I was going to add a photo here...BUT even though went to the APPLE store so they can show me how....have not mastered the task of doing yet....will keep trying.
In the days that we have been here, we have been enjoying just being with Charlotte and Bill. We have been going to appointments with Charlotte as she completes a year of chemo and radiation for breast cancer. She had a good report from her surgical oncologist and had a CT yesterday that will get the results for the week after we return from Key West. Also have visited with Bill's mother who will be 99 next week. AND have eaten so much great food....surprised that I do not look like a shrimp since have eaten so many!! Tom likes shrimp too but he also has been having Catfish, Fried Clams and Salmon. We have our favorite restaurants that we go to each year when we come. In fact we have more favorite restaurants here than in Tucson! We also had lunch at our favorite Italian place yesterday. On Tuesday we went to "ROYS", an Hawaiian Fusion restaurant in Orlando. We were there eating for 2 and a half hours!! Great food too.
On our way to see Bill's Mom, there is a huge white swan sitting on a nest she built to hatch her new little one. It is simply huge.
We all went to the movie's to see Marathon Men on Sunday. Highly recommend. It is based on a true story about saving art from being taken and destroyed by Hitler. Some great character actors make up the cast.
We do "Face Time" with the Walsh girls and Emme. Makes being away from them easier as we can see their darling little faces and emotions. Emme has gotten her "belly crawl" down and her focus to crawl to is where ever Buddi is sitting or laying!! If you go on our Facebook, you can see pictures and video.
We discovered that our windshield on the Lexus was cracked so had it replaced yesterday. Not sure when or how happened.
We will be leaving on Monday to go to Key West for 6 days. Tom and Bill already have reservations to go deep sea fishing. We are looking forward as have never ventured that far south in Florida.
Keeping you all in our daily prayer and hoping your days are warm.
God Bless and hugs,
Tom and Maryann
"A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles"~~Tim Cahill
AND we certainly are having a wonder-filled journey.
I am sitting here on the screened in patio at Bill and Charlotte's in Cocoa, Florida. Tom has gone off to spend the day in Vero Beach with his friend , Dr. K, who he was stationed with in the jungles of Viet Nam YEARS ago. It is a perfect day here as I watch the squirrels and all kinds of birds vie for the food that Bill puts out for them every few days. They get quite aggressive!
We arrived here last Wednesday (March 26) evening. We had spent the night in Tampa at MacDill AFB. We met Deb for lunch at Pinkeys. What a neat little cafe near the base. Maryann and Deb worked together at Davis-Monthan AFB 14 years ago. Deb and her husband Steve and their three children have been in Tampa for several years but now are getting ready to be stationed in Japan. Deb is now a well-known photographer. It had been 14 years since we were together and once again seemed like only yesterday. It was good to be able to share hugs!! I was going to add a photo here...BUT even though went to the APPLE store so they can show me how....have not mastered the task of doing yet....will keep trying.
In the days that we have been here, we have been enjoying just being with Charlotte and Bill. We have been going to appointments with Charlotte as she completes a year of chemo and radiation for breast cancer. She had a good report from her surgical oncologist and had a CT yesterday that will get the results for the week after we return from Key West. Also have visited with Bill's mother who will be 99 next week. AND have eaten so much great food....surprised that I do not look like a shrimp since have eaten so many!! Tom likes shrimp too but he also has been having Catfish, Fried Clams and Salmon. We have our favorite restaurants that we go to each year when we come. In fact we have more favorite restaurants here than in Tucson! We also had lunch at our favorite Italian place yesterday. On Tuesday we went to "ROYS", an Hawaiian Fusion restaurant in Orlando. We were there eating for 2 and a half hours!! Great food too.
On our way to see Bill's Mom, there is a huge white swan sitting on a nest she built to hatch her new little one. It is simply huge.
We all went to the movie's to see Marathon Men on Sunday. Highly recommend. It is based on a true story about saving art from being taken and destroyed by Hitler. Some great character actors make up the cast.
We do "Face Time" with the Walsh girls and Emme. Makes being away from them easier as we can see their darling little faces and emotions. Emme has gotten her "belly crawl" down and her focus to crawl to is where ever Buddi is sitting or laying!! If you go on our Facebook, you can see pictures and video.
We discovered that our windshield on the Lexus was cracked so had it replaced yesterday. Not sure when or how happened.
We will be leaving on Monday to go to Key West for 6 days. Tom and Bill already have reservations to go deep sea fishing. We are looking forward as have never ventured that far south in Florida.
Keeping you all in our daily prayer and hoping your days are warm.
God Bless and hugs,
Tom and Maryann
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