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!
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