Hi All! We have been home for a week now. We spent the last week of our trip in Santa Fe, New Mexcio, arriving in Northern Arizona on Sept. 2nd. We stayed in Flagstaff for 2 days so we could buy supplies to go camping over the Labor Day weekend with our friends and family at Hutch Mountain. To be honest, I was not all that impressed with Santa Fe. The weather was nice, and down town was nice to walk around and see shops, and the southwestern architecture, but New Mexico as a whole is pretty barren. I guess coming [View Full Entry]

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Hi All, We arrived in Gatlinburg on Sunday, August 23rd. As I said in the last blog, it was a long drive, but once we settled in and explored the area, we really liked it there. Our campsite was so nice. We were right on the creek with shade trees all around. It was a small campground, but that was just fine with us. The worst part was getting to Gatlinburg through Sieverville and Pigeon Forge. I have never seen such commericalism any where like there. We lost count of the hotels, motels, retaurants, novelty shops, miniture golf, musical shows, [View Full Entry]

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Hi All, We ended our week in Gettysburg yesterday, Sunday 8/23. It was a wonderful week, minus the muggy weather. We learned a lot about the Civil War and the Battle of Gettysburg. I have to say that the history of this country during the 19th Century is probably my favorite, so I enjoyed being in this historical area of the USA. The town is located in south central Pennsylvania. It is very rural with green rolling hills dotted with farms and monuments. The Rebels of the South and the Federals of the North came together July 1-3 1863 and fought [View Full Entry]

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Hi All, We arrived in Gettysburg on Sunday, 8/16/09. It was not really a great day. It was hard to leave Long Island. Once our "see ya later's" were done, we started out fine trying to get off the Island. The traffic was minimal, however, due to past experience with low hanging awnings, we were VERY causious about avoiding low over passes. We followed the truck route thinking that was the way to go. Well, we ended up somewhere in Brooklyn driving on some pretty bumping roads. Allen pulled over to regroup and look at the map and a nice guy [View Full Entry]

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Hi All, Well, this is our last week on Long Island. We have had such a wonderful 6 weeks here. It is almost like home again. However, don't get me wrong, I am a true Arizonian, and I am looking forward to the low humidity, and the lovely winters we enjoy. I think Allen has golfed at almost every golf course in Suffolk County! He has learned how to drive like a true New Yorker. He runs red lights, and speeds cutting off people who go to slow. This is not the Allen we all know! Of course he still thinks [View Full Entry]

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Hi All! Life cannot get any better. Chase came home on Thursday, July 24th late evening, and all is well in this small part of the world. He is so handsome, and such a chunk. Rob and Chrystal decided to have the first night alone with Chase, so Matthew spent the night with his Nana and Poppy. I picked him up Friday after nap time, then picked up Allen at the golf course, and headed to Chrystal and Rob's house for the evening. Vic and Hillary came over and we had Chinese food and grandparents night. Matthew met his brother for [View Full Entry]

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Hi All, Well, Chrystal came home from the hospital on Sunday, but Chase had to stay for a few more days. Because he had swallowed amniotic fluid during birth, they were concerned about infection. He needed more antibiotics, so Chrystal has been going up to the hospital to feed him and hold him. Allen and I spent Monday at Rob & Chrystal's home with Matthew while Rob went to work, and Chrystal was at the hospital. I cooked dinner, and cleaned up around their home and did some laundry. Originally Chrystal and Rob were told that Chase would have to stay [View Full Entry]

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Hi All! POIGNANT MOMENT #3!!!! After arriving on Long Island 2 weeks ago, our handsome grandson FINALLY came into the world. He is perfect in every way. First of all I want to tell everyone how proud we are of Chrystal. She is an amazing woman. Those of us who have had a child or have witnessed the birth of a child, know how profound and truly amazing the process is. Chrystal gave birth after 5 hours of labor without a single "ouch" or complaint. She had an epidural at 6 cen. but the real challenge was pushing a 9 lb [View Full Entry]

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Hi All, It has been a week since I updated the blog. We left Indiana on Monday June 29th, and headed straight to Ithaca, New York. We cancelled our stay in Revanna, Ohio choosing to get closer to Chrystal a bit earlier in case she decided to go into labor early. All the signs were there for an early birth. It took us about 12 hours to drive through Indiana, Ohio, northern Pennsylvania and into western New York State. Ithaca lies on the southern tip of Cayuga Lake second of The Finger Lakes in western N.Y.. It is a beautiful area [View Full Entry]

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Hi All, After we left Joliet, IL on Friday morning 6/26, we drove south to Indianapolis, Indiana to visit our friends, Ron, Kimberley & Taylor Srafin. We drove through the country roads just East of Indy and arrived around 4 pm. They live in the middle of a corn field, literally. It is a nice little subdivision, very neighborly and quiet. We parked in their drive way and hooked up to their electicity. Once again we were treated like royalty. We have the best friends EVER!! It was so good to see my sista friend, Kimberley. It has been too long. [View Full Entry]

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