Goin' to Buckeye Land

We are all getting old. This was pointed out so clearly when Larry headed up north to celebrate his 40th high school reunion. While he had made almost every reunion to date, he really felt that this one was special. All of the following reunions will start to show fewer and fewer faces just based on the actuarial tables. Anyway, we trekked back to Ohio for the reunion which was scheduled to coincide with the Wyandot County Fair. Jane was ecstatic to finally be able to visit the fair which she had heard so many stories about. If any of you really want to see a very fine county fair, try this one. It's always the second week of September in Upper Sandusky, OH and is, our opinion, the very finest fair you could every attend. Anyway, we went to fair with Larry's sister, Deb, and saw all of the animals, farm equipment, quilts and oversized pumpkins and had a really great time.

On Friday of our trip we had a family get together. Larry's nephew and fiancee, Brian and Janelle, came up from Columbus. They were joined by Janelle's parents who live up by Lake Erie and Brian's grandparents along with Larry's niece, Katie, and her son and two daughters. With his sister's Deb's help, he cooked a traditional jambalaya complete with white beans, garlic bread. Everyone seemed to enjoy the food as we cooked for about 20-25 people, about 15 showed up, and there was practically no leftovers. The party lasted well into the evening.

We spent Saturday morning enjoying Ohio State's victory over the University of Toledo, visiting with Deb and John, then heading off to the reunion. What a hoot! Everyone was so old, yet seemed to be so young and full of life. Jane had to comment that our group was unlike any that she had seen before. We danced, ate, drank, and visited until the late hours. It was so good to see all of those old f**** again!

On Sunday we said goodbye to Deb and John and headed to Columbus to spend the day with Brian and Janelle. Brian took us to a "blues bar" called the Thristy Ear and we got to see him play the drums with a blues band on one of the sets. We headed back to their place and had pizza and beer and a good night's sleep. Monday morning we got up and head south with the intention of going through the Smokey Mountains, hopefully for some glimpses of fall color. We were a little early for the seasonal change, but got on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina for some spectacular scenery. Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate and a good part of the ride on on the Blue Ridge Parkway was in very foggy conditions. Needless to say, many of the scenic overlooks didn't produce the scenic vistas that we had seen before. We got off of the Parkway just before Asheville, NC and got on what might have been the most convoluted road I've ever encountered. We ended up in northern Georgia where we spent the night. The next day we expected to jump on some faster roads in the Atlanta area, but recent rains had caused some flooding, and many of the major arteries were closed. We had to snake our way along the Alabama-Georgia border for a good part of the day in order to get back to our place in Florida. We finally made it in the late afternoon. The next day we headed back to Louisiana to finish the trip. It was a really great trip!

Labor Day Cruising with the Family

Labor Day always signals the end of summer and most of the activities that occur on the water. Oh sure, you can still have some very pleasant days, especially at the more southerly latitudes, but things start to wind down after labor day. We decided that we had not got the family together on the river since the Mardi Gras boat parade back in February. So the invites went out for a day on Bavarian Cream and a leisurely cruise down the Tickfaw River to Lake Maurepas for some swimming and relaxing. We were joined by Jane's daughter Milana and partner Tracy and Larry's son and daughter-in-law, Nathan and Kristin, and their two daughters Hannah and Sadie.

We cast off and were not very far from the slip when Hannah, age 3, eagerly accepted the helm and "drove the boat." Capt. Larry had to scramble a couple of times to keep us in the channel, but basically she had the helm for about one-half of a mile. Hannah was thrilled and it was fun to watch her steer the boat like she would a Barbie Car. Further down the river there was a lot of local traffic, so Larry and Nathan took turns at the helm. We broke out snacks and drinks and took a very leisurely 8 NM ride to the lake. Once we got out there, we angled over to a shallow anchorage that is very popular for swimming. Capt. Larry is still a little conservative when it comes to anchoring in shallow water, so the chose spot actually turned out to be a little deep for swimming. However, with some floats and life jackets and the ability to get into some "toe-touching" depths about 30 yards astern, everyone got into the water and had a good time. Even though the water was deep, it didn't deter the girls, especially Sadie who seems to be about as fearless as a pit bull. We enjoyed a couple of hours on the lake then weighed anchor and cruised back to the house. After securing the boat in the slip, we fired up the grill and had a simple meal of hamburgers, hot dogs, and pasta salad. Oh, and the beer and wine flowed freely into the evening. When all was said and done, a good time was had by all.