Last day in Gettysburg

Phil and I are pictured here in our favorite spot in the Fairfield Inn--two very cozy wing chairs. We managed to secure them for drinks, dinner and a breakfast. There was something very welcoming about snuggling down in the pub in these chairs.

We finished our visit there this morning with a nice breakfast and then made our way through the hills of Pennsylvania and Virginia back to Raleigh. Tonight we are back at Shana's house watching her sort through her belongings getting ready to pack up. Phil will fly back on Thursday.

It's nice and hot here-- high 80's today and into the 90's tomorrow. Summer seems to be here!

The final battle at Gettysburg

Today was the Battle at Gettysburg Day. In today's picture you see Phil on the rock wall that was the defensive position for the Union Army on day 3, the final day, of the battle. The most famous part of that battle lasted less than an hour and is called "Pickett's Charge" for one of the Confederate Generals who led his men across the mile and a half of open field to charge the Union lines. In the distance behind Phil you can see a line of trees. That was the Confederate position from which the charge began, some 12,000 men advancing across these fields. An awesome sight for the Union army, and ultimately a disaster for the Confederate army, which lost almost half its men that day, as the Union soldiers we able to mow them down as they advanced without any cover.

Before taking an individually guided tour we spent a couple of hours at the museum at the Gettysburg National Military Park--truly an impressive museum. So we had good background to help us understand what we were seeing as we toured the battlegrounds. Just as impressive, the government is restoring the major areas of the site to what they were when the battle occurred, removing more modern buildings and even trees, so that you can see what it was like at the time of the battle.

A very interesting day, even for someone who isn't a civil war buff.

Exploring Gettysburg from the Fairfield Inn

After deciding to stop in Gettysburg so Phil could explore (once again) the battlefields here I went exploring for a B&B to stay in. Here's s picturr of the one I decided on. The Fairfield Inn was established in 1757 and has been in continuous operation as a tavern and inn since then. It has hosted Patrick Henry and President Ike and Mamie Eisenhower, among others. It won Lanier B&Bs voting program for Best Restaurant in 2010 and Best Tavern/Pub in 2011.

So here we are, booked in for a two night stay so that we will have all day to explore the battlefields, and also for dinner at the restaurant (they offer a special package when you are staying that is quite a bargain--dinner for two for less than about $50). We do our restaurant meal tonight and I bet we will try the pub tomorrow night.

We drove through Gettysburg on the way here and it is charming, but chock full of tourists and rehabilitated buildings turned into restaurants and shops. We are 8 miles away in a very small village virtually without tourists, except for the inn guests--much nicer.

Return to Eastman School of Music

Today we traveled from Ottawa to Rochester, New York, starting our return journey to Raleigh. Rochester was our destination so that I could take a tour through the facilities at the Eastman School of Music, where I got my masters degree. They have recently built a whole new wing adjacent to the large Eastman Theater, and I wanted to see it. I discovered they had added another whole building and greatly changed the overall landscape since my time there in 1962-64. It was great fun to go through the facilities and surface many happy memories of my time there. Despite the wonder of the new hall, my favorite time today was revisiting the magnificent Eastman theatre, now called Kodak Hall. That's what you see in this picture. It is a gorgeous old hall, originally built as a movie theater, but serving for many years as the symphony hall for the city of Rochester's Philharmonic orchestra, along with the Eastman symphony and its opera production. I sat for many hours in this hall watching rehearsals of the operas my friends were performing in. Nice to come back for a visit!

Tomorrow we move on to Gettysburg.

Lilacs and memories of growing up!

The lilacs are in bloom all over the city here. This morning I picked a small bunch of them while on a walk and am now enjoying their wonderful smell in our bedroom. Then this afternoon we walked through a very large experimental farm in Ottawa, where among other things they had a very fragrant arboretum full of lilac bushes. Here I am with Barbara Green, the prettier half of the couple we are staying with (Bill and Barbara Green), in front of a particularly beautiful lilac bush with deep purple blooms.

For me, lilacs always bring back memories of my childhood growing up in Yakima, because spring meant lilacs and there were lots of them, including a couple of large bushes in our own yard.

"Maman"

This unusual tribute to a mother, this dramatic sculpture by Louise Bourgeois stands outside the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa. Bourgeois was inspired by her own mother, a tapestry weaver, to create this image of a nurturing, egg-carrying spider. At the same time, its enormous scale also inspires both awe and a bit of fear. A very intriguing piece!

Canadian Parliament building in Ottawa

Today we took advantage of the first really lovely day of weather to do a bit of outside touring in Ottawa. We drove by the Parliament building, truly a striking edifice, shown here against the beautiful blue sky we are enjoying today. This is probably the most photographed building in
Canada, so I thought I might as well join the crowds so I could share it with you.

With a large river running through it and a smaller river-canal (the Rideau), there is lots of water around in Ottawa. There are also lots of parks, so it is a lovely city to be in.

Visiting in Stowe Vermont

Here is Phil with a former Navy buddy, Gerry Griffin, and his wife, Terri. They are seated on the deck of their lovely home in Stowe, Vermont. Their home is situated on several acres of land. In the background you can see their fields, some of the scenic woods and vaguely in the background, some mountains. Our weather has been somewhat mixed over the last several days, with lots of overcast skies and intermittent rain. On this day, the rain cleared long enough to get some idea of the great view they have.

The Griffins did not have wireless access, so I waited until we got to our friends house in Canada to send this. I will catch you up on that visit and location as soon as I get a picture to share. But right now we are in Gatineau, Quebec, just across the river from Canada's Capitol city of Ottawa. After catching up on our laundry, we will be off to explore.

Gregg & Laurie in Randolph, Vermont

Yesterday Phil and I arrived in Randolph, Vermont, where Gregg McCurdy and his partner Laurie Goldman, live. Here is a nice shot of the two of them on their front porch. We have enjoyed a nice visit with them, with home made pizza last night, a very nice dinner out this evening to be followed shortly by home made rhubarb pie here at the house. The weather changed from rain and thunderstorms yesterday to a pleasant partly cloudy day today, good for a drive to the typical small Vermont town of Middlebury, with brick buildings, and a white spired church. We are enjoying all the green mountains and steep valleys--the landscapes in Vermont are full of rocky escarpments and lots of green trees.

We are off to Stowe VT tomorrow to visit with one of Phil's navy buddies.

The Farm (Virginia)

Somehow the message that was supposed to come first (before the tractor and Ranger pics) didn't make it. So here is the explanation of "the farm". Yesterday we visited our friends Jack Janetatos and Anna Moore, who bought a large farm about 15 years ago, moving to it from Alexandria VA. Jack is a law school classmate of Phil's and they have kept in touch over the years. We have managed to visit several times, and we particularly enjoy the farm, set in the rolling hills of Virginia, near Amherst.

Phil and Jack had a great time dredging up memories of professors and arcane points of law they had to learn but never used. Phil survived a night of generous boozing, accompanied by and a delicious dinner prepared by Jack and Anna. After a quiet night we hit the road heading north to Vermont, where we expect to land on Saturday.

Cross one item off Phil's Bucket List

Apparently driving a real tractor is something Phil has always wanted to do, so Jack was able to help him cross this experience off his list. He had a great time taking it for a little drive up into the field and back, here shown as he adroitly maneuvers it through the gate to come back to the barn. Well done, Farmer Phil!

Farm tour

We toured the farm in this trusty machine, with Phil having fun learning how to manipulate it through the trees, across streams and up and down steep hills, while we went around to see the different parts of the farm. Quite a bumpy but fun tour! We were advised to use the seat belts and we did. Easy to get thrown out of this one!

On the Beach at the Outer Banks

We were given an unexpected addition to our east coast tour when a fellow graduate of Shana's offered to have us join her and her family at a beach house they rented on Topsail Island on the Outer Banks. Todays picture of of me and Shana as we were walking on the beach today. The Outer Bank beaches don't offer a lot of changes in views. It is basically just a very long beach with houses alongside the beach. The houses are all built up on stilts of sorts--a garage and storage area on the ground floor and then another one or two stories sbor with the living quarters, to take advantage of the view and be able to see over the dunes that they pile up to try to mitigate some of the high waters that come with hurricanes and storms. There is also a very steady south wind of roughly 12-15 knots. Keeps you cool in the sun, which we are getting intermittently.

We will be here for another day, then take off on our east coast road trip.

That precious piece of paper

Here is the piece of paper that will send Shana out into the world able, at last, to make a living. Even though she is choosing to develop a specialty and hence curtail her income as she goes through an internship and then a residency, she is finally moving off parental and student loan life support. Truly a stellar day. It is hard to believe it has actually happened after all the hoping and waiting. We are here to testify that it has really come about!

Shana's graduation cap

Here the decorations on Shana's graduation cap. They all have meaning. The large one is a mange, which is a burrowing mite that infests animals and can cause scabies. A friend gave this stuffed mange to Shana for graduation. The other three things are cat toys that Shana's two cats play with. I put the hat together for her last night while she was partying and I thought the cats should be represented at graduation. It turns out that the dayglo orange octopus was a great marker--it made it much easier to find Shana in a sea of gowns and caps.

veterinary grads have fun

we were seated a ways away in the second tier balcony of the sports arena, but here is a shot of the veterinary school group. There are two things to note about this group. The first is that most of them decorated their hats, with a sense of humor much in evidence. Shana is in the middle of this group, but you can't see the little animals on her hat. I will give you a closeup of it in the next message.

The second thing to notice is the strange looking arm & hand balloons that many are holding. These are actually the latex gloves that the vets wear when they do internal exams on large
Animals like cows. They blew them up and each student carried two of them--to wave about. Certainly distinctive!

Graduation photos

Here is our newly hooded veterinarian after last nights ceremony. With my iPad I only know how to post one picture at a time, so I'll do the next two pictures from Saturday right after this.

Leaving the Tetons

We left this morning with somewhat overcast skies, driving to Jackson Hole Wyoming for breakfast. On the way I snapped this parting shot of the Tetons. We spent the day driving through several sets of dramatic mountains, going over four passes. the Bitterroot mountains as we neared Missoula are also pretty dramatic. It has been two days of pretty spectacular scenery, with lots of snow on dramatic mountain peaks. We had multiple warnings to look out for wildlife and other dangers: deer, moose, elk, bear, falling rocks, fallen rocks, and slides. Despite a careful lookout, we saw none of the advertised wildlife--just a few Canadian geese. We did see a number of fallen rocks and a few slides (cleared away from the road).

Tonight we are tucked into a nice B&B in Missoula and tomorrow we make our last trek for the week, back go Seattle. We are both ready to do something other than sit in a car all day, even with spectacular scenery. Home is sounding really good.

desperate for money

I thought I'd include a fun shot from the Hatchet Resort, up in the Tetons, where we stayed last night. With snow still stacked several feet high, their ATM was just a little difficult to get go. But apparently someone really needed to get money-- so up and over they went!

The grand Tetons--always spectacular and we are fortunately seeing them again as we wend our way home from Omaha. We drove further than expected last night in order to get up into the mountains earlier today, spending the night in Douglas, Wyoming, a small town with the worst Super8 Motel we've been in.

Tonight we are staying in a mountain lodge, fortunately with its own restaurant, because there is nothing around here except the gorgeous scenery. The lodge still has quite a lot of snow around it, and a rather icy approach to our room that requires very careful navigating. They've had a record 600 inches of snow here. We were told that there are still 22 feet of snow at the south entrance to Yellowstone--it won't be opening for awhile. We will drive around through Jackson Hole and then west across the mountains to catch the road north up to Missoula. They're expecting more snow in the next couple days, so hopefully we will get through without much trouble.

The BIG Meeting

Here we are in yesterday's Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting--along with 39,000 other people. No single profile fits a BH shareholder--they came in all sizes, shapes and clothing styles. Warren Buffet and his sidekick Charlie Munger were informative (about the company) and both have a dry wit, especially Munger. A surprisingly entertaining several hour meeting. Wouldn't do it twice, but once was worthwhile.