Meanderings & Mind Munchies

OFR recap

The OBrien Family Reunion 2026 (OFR) is in the history books, and I thought I would do a quick recap (or not so quick).

First, the heat wave that was making temperatures sore to 104° during the July 4th holiday in Philadelphia reached as far north as Maine. It was freaking hot! Greg and I were lucky enough to be staying in our RV, where we had air conditioning, and, believe me, I took full advantage of it!

Beehive Trail

The more intrepid folks in our group decided to hike the Beehive Trail in Acadia National Park. This trail is especially difficult. The first part of the trail ascends a 450-ft cliff with exposed edges and steep drop-offs with no railings. The trail requires that the hiker ascend steep granite staircases and pull himself up using iron rungs and ladders.

The intrepid climbers: Richard, Galen, Wally, Debbie, Migzie

Galen, scaling the cliff face. He later told me that he was more scared doing the Beehive Trail this time than he had been when he did it at 16.

The Beehive Trail seen from below. Those little teal-colored dots are people.

Greg’s birthday

I posted some pictures of Greg’s birthday party at Tracey’s Restaurant before, but here are a few more.

Acadia’s Ocean Path

Greg, me, Christopher, Marianne, Neal, Lily, and Galen decided to walk the Ocean Path at Acadia National Park from Sand Beach to Otter Cliff. Since the park was packed with tourists, Chris and Marianne suggested that we take the loop bus. It took a while to get there, but at least we didn’t have to fight for parking!

Not long after we started the hike, Marianne took a tumble and hurt her ankle. It was clearly serious, so she and Chris decided to head back to the visitor’s center, where an EMT examined her and called an ambulance to take her to the hospital. Chris later texted us this photo.

Meanwhile…

The rest of us continued on our hike to Otter Cliff.

The guys go fishing

Some of the avid fishermen in our group roused themselves at 4 am to go fishing one morning.

Many “sunnies” were caught, but nothing big enough to bring home.

Hanging out in the rec room

Folks spent a lot of time during OFR in the rec room, AKA the garage, because it was air conditioned. The OBriens are a competitive family, which was on full display.

Scott and Neal battle it out over ping pong

Other folks enjoyed simply hanging out together

Neal’s owl

One evening Neal was able to capture a photo of this owl on the property.

Sean and Alex do Cadillac Mountain

Sean and Alex were lucky enough to score tickets to drive up to Cadillac Mountain for sunrise. Of course, it required getting up at 2:30 am!

Galen and Richard do Cadillac Mountain

Galen desperately wanted to hike up Cadillac Mountain, ideally at dawn. He wasn’t able to find anyone willing to do it with him (it would have required getting up at 2 am and hiking in the dark), but eventually Richard offered to do it with him later in the morning. Of course, they picked one of the hottest days in which to do it!

Others do Cadillac Mountain

Wally was able to score tickets to drive up Cadillac Mountain one morning (not for sunrise), so he, Migzie, Paul, Debbie, and Richard headed off.

Paul, Debbie, Brenda, Richard, and Wally. Migzie is taking the photo.

Soccer fans

The excessive heat gave folks a great excuse to hang out and watch the World Cup. It was one of the main activities during our week in Maine.

Neal and Lily take a puffin cruise

One afternoon, Neal and Lily took off on their own for a puffin cruise. Neal’s camera got a great workout, since they got to see many other wildlife in addition to puffins.

Family pictures

No OBrien gathering would be complete without lots of family photos.

The OBrien siblings: Brenda, Wally, Greg, and Debbie

The siblings with spouses: Richard, Brenda, Migzie, Wally, Greg, me, Debbie, and Paul

From left: Wally, Alex, Sean, Debbie, Migzie, Galen, Greg, me, Lily, Neal, Richard, Brenda, and Paul

From left: Richard, Brenda, Christopher, Marianne, Lily, Migzie, Wally, Neal, Sean, Alex, Debbie, me, Paul, and Greg

From left: Wally, Migzie, Debbie, Paul, me, Greg, Scott, Galen, Lily, Neal, Christopher, Marianne, Richard, and Brenda

Sunset cruise

Our second-to-last night in Ellsworth, some of us took a sunset cruise on our rented pontoon boat.

Sean steered the boat while Paul supervised

This photo wasn’t taken during the sunset cruise, but it’s the only photo I have of Galen steering the boat.

Some kayakers enjoying an evening paddle.

Neal taking a break from photographing us all

Debbie, Migzie, Wally, Sean, Clementine, and Alex

Migzie and Alex giving Clementine some love

Fireworks

On our last night together, which was July 4th, we decided to skip the fireworks in Ellsworth and Bar Harbor. Instead, some of us wandered down to the dock after dinner to enjoy the sunset and the pleasant weather.

Much to our delight, a number of folks around the lake put on fireworks displays. One of them was only a few doors down from us. We had our own private show! What a wonderful way to end another OFR.

Greg’s birthday

Yesterday, we celebrated Greg’s birthday by going out for a seafood dinner at Chris and Marianne’s favorite restaurant, Tracey’s, in Sullivan, Maine.

Greg was in his element as the guest of honor.

The kids got some bonding time, which was nice to see.

I think my dad would have been proud at how thoroughly I demolished my lobster.

Before dinner, we stopped at Chris and Marianne’s new RV for a tour.

Chris and Marianne’s mansion away from home.

Everyone enjoying the view from their backyard.

I’ve been taking it very slowly this week, so no trips to Acadia yet. Instead, I’ve enjoyed going out on the pontoon boat with other members of the family.

Paul and Scott examine the depth finder, looking for the deepest part of the lake and the ideal fishing spot.

Paul and Greg check out their fishing gear while Christopher steers the boat.

Galen has been kayaking every chance he gets.

Put Galen in a kayak, and he is a happy camper.

Luckily, he’s been able to talk Debbie into joining him. Even Richard went along on this trip.

Galen getting some assistance from Neal, who had been on the dock taking photos of a loon in the water.

Brenda watching Debbie preparing to disembark. It didn’t go well. A complete change of clothes was required.

Today, the plan is to take the bus around the Acadia Loop Road.

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.

Greg even rented a pontoon boat for our use this week.

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.

Finally unblocked? Hmm…maybe.

The year 2025 was not a great year for my artistic progress. I did almost no painting. On the other hand, it was a great year for travel. Greg and I loved every minute of our time on the road, and I have no regrets.

When we got back home, though, I was determined to get back to painting. Unfortunately, the artistic block that has been plaguing me for the last few years had become a metaphorical cement wall so tall and wide that I couldn’t figure out how to get past it.

After floundering for months, feeling guilty because I talked a lot about painting but never actually did any, I realized that a large part of my paralysis was due to the fact that I needed to acquire additional skills in order to improve, but I didn’t know how to go about acquiring them.

I finally decided that I needed to allow myself to experiment, which meant that I had to be prepared to make really bad art…and possibly for a long time. (Not that I’ve exactly been making “good” art up to now. LOL) I consoled myself with the knowledge that although I may run out of lifetime before I get to the point where I feel like an “artist,” I won’t get there any faster by doing nothing.

With the decision made to experiment and completely let go of the final result, my block dissolved. I’m painting again! So here are a few of my recent efforts.

This painting is the last painting I did from Rick Surowicz’s Negative Painting class. I was working on finishing up his course before we left for our trip out west. If you want to see the other paintings I did from this class, you can see them here. Basically, negative painting involves painting around a subject in order to reveal its form. I chose a reference photo of a bunch of old, rusty pipes in a junkyard because the scene gave me lots of contrast and opportunities to paint around things.

I am currently taking a Texture Techniques class with Bradley Hendershot. If you’ve never seen anything that he or his father Ray have painted, you are truly missing out. Their paintings are gorgeous, and they are true masters of creating texture in their paintings.

Anyway, the purpose of this assignment was to use the spattering technique to create foreground foliage. With the spattering technique, you load a stiff-bristled brush like a stenciling brush with paint in just the right consistency (no easy task!) and then use your finger along the bristles to spatter the paint onto the paper. Getting the right angle is quite the trick. The wall in children #3 and #4’s bedroom is well decorated now. (Don’t tell Greg.)

When I first showed this painting to Greg, there was dead silence. I finally explained, “I was practicing creating texture,” to which he replied, “Well, there certainly is texture!”

You can’t tell by looking at this painting, but I basically threw every texture technique I could think of at it. I used masking fluid. I dripped paint all over it and then tipped the board every which way to get it to flow together. I pounded the wet paper with the plastic device I use to open tubes of watercolor paint. I used a ruling pen to create lines through the wet paint. I took a water misting bottle and rolled it around in the wet paint. I spattered. I used the dry brush technique to make the wood of the window look older. I lifted out parts to create lighter areas. And what did it get me? Not much, honestly. Oh, well. I love the colors. LOL

Our assignment for this week is to create snow-capped mountains by scraping paint off the paper using a a razor blade. Hopefully, I can produce something realistic-looking without bleeding all over the paper.

Brenda and Richard

Our next stop on the way home was Albuquerque, New Mexico, where we enjoyed a lovely meal made by Greg’s sister, Brenda, and her husband Richard.

On to Amarillo, Texas!

Meteor Crater

On Tuesday, we began the long trek home.

Our first stop along Interstate 40 was Winslow, Arizona, the home of Meteor Crater.

After setting up the RV at Meteor Crater RV Park, we headed down the road to see the crater itself.

The signs along the road were adorable.

We got there late in the afternoon, so we weren’t able to get good pictures because the crater was partly in shadow.

Way down there at the bottom of the crater is a 6-ft-tall replica of an astronaut. You can only see it with binoculars.

After watching a video about the discovery of the crater and the investigation to determine what had caused it, we participated in a guided tour.

Our tour guide told us that NASA astronauts train at the crater, and he was very excited that he had gotten to meet one.

Meteor Crater is one of the world’s best-preserved meteor craters.

It was created 50,000 years ago and is about a mile in diameter and 560 ft deep. The sides rise about 148 ft above the surrounding landscape.

Sadly, the photos really don’t do it justice. It is quite startling in person.

Historic Railroad Trail

On Monday, we decided to get out the bikes and go for a ride.

First, we rode the Historic Railroad Trail, which we had seen from the Lake Mead Overlook the day before.

When the Hoover Dam was being built, all the workers stayed together at what became Boulder City. A railroad was cut through the mountain to take materials to the dam.

We rode our bikes from the campground to the trailhead.

There are about four or five tunnels that you can walk or ride through between Boulder City and the Hoover Dam, which is only about three and a half miles away.

Me, trying not to fall over while looking behind me.

Some of the tunnels still have their timber framing.

The trail provided a pretty view of Lake Mead and the marina.

River Mountains Loop Trail

Next, we biked in the other direction down the River Mountains Loop trail. It went past the campground and continued along Lake Mead for a little while.

We only went about 5 miles on the trail because the inclines, although not steep, were very long.

It wasn’t until we turned around and headed back that we realized we had been going uphill for so long. We both thought we were simply too old and tired to bike very far!

Although the trail wasn’t particularly populated, we did encounter a couple of other people on our bike ride.

After our ride, we headed back to the campground for lunch.

Greg wanted to rent some Sea-Doos to take out on Lake Mead for the afternoon, but the marina had stopped renting them for the season.

Hoover Dam

On Sunday morning, we headed to Hoover Dam to take a tour.

Greg, standing in front of one of the cement buckets.

A diversion tunnel, used to divert the Colorado River while they were building the Hoover Dam.

Our tour guide, talking about the building of the dam.

Our other tour guide, leading us down one of the many tunnels within the mountain.

Greg, walking down one of the ventilation shafts.

One of the inspection tunnels. The inside of the dam is honeycombed with tunnels.

I have no idea how those people got into our picture!

Mike O’Callaghan – Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge

After leaving Hoover Dam, we stopped at the Mike O’Callaghan – Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge overlook. Walking out onto the bridge, we got a great view of the Hoover Dam.

Lake Mead overlook

Just before arriving back at the campground, we stopped at the Lake Mead overlook.

Valley of Fire State Park

After a yummy lunch of grilled ribeye steak, mashed potatoes, and broccoli, we headed to Valley of Fire State Park.

I had no idea what to expect from this state park, but it was fantastic! I wish we had set aside more time to enjoy it.

Unfortunately, it took over an hour to get there, and Greg wanted to be back to the campground before dark, which meant we only had about an hour and a half to see it.

We even got to see a couple of desert bighorn sheep!

Valley of Fire State Park had some very interesting-looking hikes, but we didn’t have the time to try any of them. Maybe next time.

Sunset

On the way back to the campground, we stopped at a couple of overlooks to enjoy the sunset.

No Kings protest

Greg and I started our morning at Lake Mead by attending the No Kings protest in nearby Henderson.

The crowd filled both sides of the street. The event organizer told us that a thousand people had signed up to attend in this Red city.

We didn’t feel like we should let our vacation get in the way of doing our patriotic duty.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but it was a lot of fun!

Even the frogs were in attendance!

There were some great signs, too!

Some folks wore their patriotism…

Even the dogs were showing their patriotism!

And many of the cars passing by honked their horns to show their support, waved American flags, or gave us the thumbs up!

After the rally, Greg and I had fast food for lunch before heading back to the campground.

Kayaking on Lake Mead

After finishing setting up the camper at our site last night, Greg and I drove down to the beach to see where we might be able to launch our kayak. Greg had his heart set on kayaking while we were here.

The sun was just beginning to set, and the sky was a lovely shade of blue and pink.

We even got to see a couple pairs of mallard ducks.

So after the No Kings protest and our fast food lunch, we headed to the beach with our kayak.

There was a separate beach just for kayaks and canoes.

After our kayak trip, we headed to the laundromat to do what we hope will be our last load of laundry for this trip.

Grand Canyon

Well, if you want to see the Grand Canyon without crowds, the time to go is mid-October.

On Wednesday, the weather was cold and windy. We decided to drive Desert View Drive and stop at the various overlooks along the way. The idea of a hike in that cold wind was unappealing.

We started at the Desert View Watchtower, the furthest point along Desert View Drive.

The inside of the Desert View Watchtower was covered in Native American art and petroglyphs.

The weather on Thursday was significantly better, largely because the wind was non-existent.

Our original plan had been to bike Hermit Road, but we decided it was still too cold to spend a lot of time outdoors. Instead, we opted for the shuttle bus.

I’ve come to the conclusion that no photograph can do justice to the Grand Canyon. The closest one can come to portraying the magnitude and awesomeness of this geographical feature is through paintings.

I am looking forward to trying my hand at capturing the Grand Canyon in watercolor once we get home.

The Colorado River, still looking muddy.

Sadly, we only had two days at the Grand Canyon, and we didn’t make the most of them. I would have loved to have hiked the South Kaibab Trail, but neither one of us was feeling energetic enough.

I would also have loved a plane ride through the canyon!

Today, we arrived at our final planned stop for this camping trip, Lake Mead and Hoover Dam.

Almost there! It doesn’t look like we are coming up on a lake!

After this stop, we begin the long journey home.