Category: Family

Headed north

Greg and I are off on another extended camping trip. Yippee!

This time we are staying for a week near Acadia National Park to participate in a family reunion for Greg’s side of the family before heading further north into Canada to do New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia.

Greg did the planning for this trip, and boy, he did a great job! I told him that his second career should be as a travel agent.

The house we are staying in is perfect for a large family reunion. It is right on Branch Lake.

Our private dock
Yeah. I think I can do this.
Greg even rented a pontoon boat for our use this week.
A deck
A screened-in porch
A well-equipped kitchen
Plus, plenty of other areas for socializing

There is even a large garage that has been turned into a rec room. And it’s air conditioned!

Everyone has a bed, although Greg and I are staying in the camper. And there are three full bathrooms.

Family members who are participating include Greg, me, Neal, Lily, Galen, Scott, Debbie, Paul, Chris, Marianne, Wally, Migzie, Sean, Alex, Kelly, Brendan, Brenda, and Richard.

Hitch woes…cooking up a solution

In preparation for our epic Western camping trip, Greg decided to change out the friction cone in our hitch. We had been having trouble with the back end of the trailer swaying. Greg thought replacing the friction cone might help.

Hitch stew

Unfortunately, he couldn’t get the darn thing out. He tried everything, including all of the suggestions people had on YouTube. Finally, he called the manufacturer for help, and they told him to boil the hitch for 30 minutes.

Weirdly, it worked!

Empty nesters at last

On Saturday we moved Galen to Pittsburgh. He will be sharing an apartment with Neal and Lily and working for Westinghouse, where Neal also works.

It was a grueling day. We had just enough time to unload his stuff before we had to turn around and head for home.

I’m glad for Galen. (At least, that’s what I keep telling myself.) This is a wonderful opportunity for him.

But I’m sad for me. The house feels very empty and strange without him.

The three musketeers

And…we’re off!

As I write this, Greg and I are relaxing at our first campground on our epic Western camping trip. We’re in Bedford, PA, to see the Flight 93 Memorial.

It’s hard for me to believe that the big day has finally arrived. I feel like we’ve been planning it forever.

We are both exhausted. The last few weeks have been frenetic. Hopefully, over the next few days we can begin to recover.