Trip to Charlotte - Day Four

I flew home Monday and thought i was pretty smart getting a flight out of Charlotte to Chicago and then on to Rochester arriving before 4:00.  And I think I was but from the time I got home things went down hill.

The weather was beginning to deteriorate but wasn't terrible yet.  We were the lead volunteers for a homeless dinner at the Rochester Area Interfaith Hospitality Network (RAIHN.)  We got going a bit late to get down to the Universalist-Unitarian Church downtown, our partner in this.  We had to stop at the grocery store on the way down to get a packet of cole slaw dressing to go with the ham dinner.  In the rush to do that and exchanging credit cards, my card was lost somewhere in or near the store.  We didn't realize that until we pulled up at the church and then we already late to get dinner on the table for the guests.

We called the store and they couldn't find it but would keep an eye out.  Once we had dinner ready, I left to drive back to see if I could find the card in the parking lot.  If it had fallen there, the 30 mile per hour winds gusting above that would have carried it somewhere else.  So I called Capital One and requested a new account after verifying that our purchase was the last one on the card.  In a couple of days, we will get our new cards.  Bummer.

However, fate was not done with us.  We got home through the worsening weather.  I causally went down stairs to check on the computer there and saw my lifelong nemesis:  WATER COMING THROUGH THE BASEMENT WALL.  We cut away the insulation to find the leak and found that it was coming from a crack that had been repaired almost seven years ago.  After several futile attempts, I stayed at home to mop up and Marilyn went to The Home Depot.  She came back with a product that could be applied to an active leak.  I tried to apply it but not very successfully.  It had to be exactly the right consistency. Marilyn took over and in time we got it mostly stopped.  I meanwhile continued to mop  up.

A little after 11, we decided we had done all we could and were too tired to do more.  We turned on the television as we got into bed to get caught up on the storm.  At 11:23 we lost power.  It is now Tuesday, the next day, around 5:20 pm and I am at the local Starbuck's charging our devices and checking email because our power is not back on.  There are approximately 130,000 people without power in Monroe County.  It is our bad luck to be in a group of 21 impacted by a single problem, whatever that is.  Our neighbors across the street have power and we have shifted some frozen items over there.  As of five minutes ago, Rochester Gas & Electric had no "restoration estimate."

All is not lost.  We are going to dinner at new Greek restaurant on Jefferson Rd, Opa!  The gas fireplace works and so we will be comfortable.  By the way, the problem with the water in the basement came from rain and wind coming from the north and northeast, an unusual direction for us.  That side of the house has flower beds that appear to be more mounded than flat and so trapping the unusual moisture between the mound and the house.  Water pressure will always find a way...particularly if I persist in doing dumb things.

Trip to Charlotte - Day Three

Aidan and Marin look over the slim pickin's

Sunday was my third and final full day in Charlotte.  There were no grandchildren to watch in soccer or football.  We decided to take a trip to a pumpkin patch to have fun and get some pumpkins.  Some years ago we had gone to a nice place in South Carolina that had plenty of pumpkins and fun things to do for and with the kids.  This time we tried a place much closer to home but found it pretty disappointing.  However we did find some fun games that were new to the Xbox generation.  The video below shows Aidan and Liam Jacob trying their hand at tetherball, a staple of schoolyards in their father's day.


You can see more photos on the Pumpkin Patch album on Picasa.

Eibhlin, Marin, Liam, and Aidan

We gave up the search for pumpkins--Liam later found those bargains at Aldi's--and pulled into the local SmashBurgers for lunch on Grandaddy.  After watching the KC Chiefs embarrass themselves and the entire Midwest with a woeful performance at Arrowhead Stadium, I got some photos of the kids.  Marcie wanted me to get some so she would have some recent ones for her office.  Liam has a new home office and needs some wall decorations as well.  Of course, I was happy to do it so I would have some nice shots for the wall at 47 Charissa Run.  Great looking bunch!

Take a look at the individual photos in the Picasa album.

Up early in the morning for the trip back into the storm.

Trip to Charlotte - Day Two

The day began before sunrise!  We left the house for Marin's soccer match in the dark.  Apparently there are so many soccer matches that they can't really take the extension of daylight savings into account.  Marin played well and scored two goals as well as being a force on defense.  For her reward, she got a piece of Starbuck's lemon pound cake.

You can see photos of her match in the Picasa album.

We were home for less than an hour before we were underway again.  This time to Aidan's soccer match. His team is struggling a bit this year but he is playing well, as only Aidan can.  I like this photo because it shows Aidan in his own unique style.  He plays middle back and is a force.

You can see more photos in the Picasa album.

For all the video, click here to go to Aidan's socceer playlist on YouTube.

For a special treat, you can get idea of what Aidan looks like coming at you in the video below.

We couldn't stay for all of Aidan's game because we had to drive 40 minutes to get to Liam's football game. We got there a few minutes late and so missed his first of three touchdowns.  That is Liam with the ball running for his second touchdown.

 You can see more photos in the Picasa album.

Take a look at Liam's video playlist.

And finally I got the word Saturday night that my flight home Monday through Washington Dulles had been cancelled due to the weather shown to the left. Sandy will merge with a significant storm system coming from the West and create a monster storm for the northeast.  I was able to re-book on a Monday flight through Chicago which should get me home before the full impact hits Rochester.  let's hope!

Trip to Charlotte - Day One

I am off for a long weekend of football and soccer and relaxing evenings in the newly installed hot tub at La Casa Pickett in Charlotte. I made a tight connection in Cleveland and am now on my way to Charlotte. It is cloudy below but blue sunny skies up here. Hopefully I will get home Monday afternoon before that hurricane! The possibilities are daunting as evidenced by this unsettling quote from the NY Times:

“It really could be an extremely significant, historic storm,” said Brian McNoldy, a senior research associate at the University of Miami, explaining that conditions are similar to those that created the famous “perfect storm” of 1991.

I made it to Charlotte on time, actually 15 minutes early. As I write this Saturday morning, Sandy continues to churn up the Easts Coast but it looks now like it will have its maximum impact Saturday night through Sunday. Since I fly back through Dulles, it could be a factor.
Liam was working today even as he picked me up at the airport. He was on a conference call and then had a couple of more that afternoon. We found time to grab some barbecue at a local joint that had just opened in their local plaza.

We then made a trip to The Tinder Box where Liam made some excellent selections of cigars for hot tubbing later that evening.
When we got back home, the kids were all there and, as warms the heart of any Grandaddy, were excited to see me.

We then took Liam Jacob to his Friday night football practice. This was basically a walk through for the game Saturday and focused on special teams play. When I asked Liam what position he played, he answered, "Quarterback, running back, wide receiver, outside line backer, kicker, and punter!" Obviously I will get to see a lot of him in the game Saturday. We dropped Liam Jacob and two friends off at the local high school football game after having stopped at a Chick-fil-a drive through for dinner. You can see more photos of the practice by going here to the Picasa album.

Later that night I got a chance to try out their newly installed hot tub followed by conversation by the fire pit enjoying one of those cigars Liam purchased.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Daltrey Ln,Charlotte,United States

Grand Tour - Missouri, Kansas, Illinois - Day Ten

Saturday began early and cold, cold, cold.  The temperature got down to 31 just before sun rise and a brisk wind came up as the morning wore on.  Nonetheless, we all headed out to Braden's cross country sectional meet.  We are so proud of her for the training and competing in cross country.  It has increased her endurance in soccer and given her another athletic venue for accomplishment and friends.  She came in 23 out of 98 sixth, seventh, and eighth graders--Braden is in seventh grade.  She didn't qualify for the state meet but she dropped her time by 20 seconds on a challenging course competing against girls a year older than she.  As you can see, everyone was happy.  Did I mention that we were also cold?  You can see more photos of the cross country meet here.

Portion of a bubble map showing the paths
of different sub-atomic particles discovered
at Fermilab.

Marilyn and I took the boys home while Brendan, Eileen and Braden stayed for the awards and final results. Since we had passed Fermilab on the way to Geneva on Friday, we decided to go back and visit.  Brock was interested so he joined us.  One of Brenda's roommates at Chicago, Jim, was the trigger expert for Fermilab and was perhaps the only non-drug dealer who wore a pager in Chicago in the 1980's.  Fermilab's particle accelerator, the Tevatron, ceased operations in 2011 leaving the search for the Higgs boson particle to CERN’s Large Hadron Collider.  The site is very intriguing and continues a number of physics activities including education.  We spent time in the education center which Brock especially enjoyed.  The large site is very pastoral complete with a buffalo herd and prairie restoration areas. The architecture is also quite striking showing some of the influence of Frank Loyd Wright.  You can see more photos here.

From there we went to the frozen tundra of Oswego High School soccer fields.  Braden played well in an evenly matched game.  Her team won 1-0 with Braden getting an assist on that goal.  You can see more photos here.

Grand Tour - Missouri, Kansas, Illinois - Day Nine

Brock and Brady ready for school

It is not possible to sleep in at the Aurora Pickett's, at least on a school day.  As you can see in the photo, the boys seem ready to take on the world.  I walked the couple of blocks to their school with them.  It was a bit cooler than the day before but nothing like it would be in another day.

Brendan had left for work even before I got up.  Braden goes to school first and I drove her to Bendarcik Middle School.  I checked the web page and was pleased to see Braden's picture right on the front page.  She is a member of the cross country team and will be participating in the sectionals on Saturday.

It took the remaining adults a while to get ready to go but we finally got off to a day in Geneva, a lovely little town along the Fox River.  We remember it from our niece  Kristen's, wedding.  We were there on a summer day and this was far from that.  It was cool and we had hoped that it would be sunny but that was not to be.

Fox River at Geneva

I dropped Marilyn and Eileen off to do some shop visiting while I stopped by a Starbucks and then down to the river for some photos.  While it was cloudy, there were plenty of photo opportunities.  You can view that photo album here.  We had lunch on State Street, the main drag, which was also the site of the Geneva high School Homecoming Parade.  Marilyn stopped at a dance apparel shop to see if she could find a little outfit for Molly.  We thus found ourselves on State Street when the parade began.  You can see video of the marching band here.

Below is a quick video clip of white egrets flying over the Fox River.

Once we got home, I took a nap and then we all went to Brock's soccer game.  He played very well and we were rewarded with a beautiful sun set, the only time we saw the sun that day.  You can see an album of photos from his soccer game here.

Grand Tour - Missouri, Kansas, Illinois - Day Eight

Monastery at Dawn

We spent the night at the Clyde Mother House in some very commodious guest quarters.  I was up early as is my custom and went out in search of some pictures.  It turned cloudy over night and the sun rise was almost without any light or color.  Nonetheless, I found some subjects that caught my eye.  You can see them at the updated photo album on our stay in Clyde.  There is a wind turbine just off the property, clearly visible from the chapel.  there was a continuous noise from the blades rushing through the air.  It is probably the price we have to pay for our use of energy but there will never again be a soundless night at Clyde.

Of course, the morning is not quiet anyway.  The magnificent bells of the chapel pealed out around 7:30 as you see and hear in the video below.

We spent some time with Sr. Paula before heading out and getting on the road to Aurora, Illinois, our next stop.  It had turned cool and it was raining steadily for the first time during our trip.  This would be nothing to the freezing weather that finally caught up with us in Aurora.  Along the way, we stopped at one of Marilyn's favorite places:  an outlet mall.  This one was the Tanger Mall along I-80.  Marilyn spent time in several stores but ended up getting an Eddie Bauer light fleece top.  I got a similar item along with a wind proof jacket.  the weather was getting decidedly cooler and we kept seeing forecasts for freeze warnings in the days ahead.  While Marilyn visited her last store--Tower--I took my camera to the field behind and got this picture of one of the huge corn fields in this area which had just been harvested.

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A Iowa corn field after harvesting

We got to Brendan and Eileen's a little after 9:00.  The kids had been waiting up for us...or maybe it was the brownie with ice cream that would only be served once we arrived.  In any case, we all enjoyed the delicious brownies and ice cream before getting to bed for what would be a busy day Friday.

Grand Tour - Missouri, Kansas, Illinois - Day Seven

Amy and Marilyn

After coffee with Anola and Peter, I returned to Grand Court to pack up and say goodbye to Mom. Today we were to drive to Clyde to visit Sr. Paula and stay over night at the monastery.  However, before we left Kansas City, Marilyn felt the need to stop at a Russell Stover Chocolates stores and "get some chocolates for Mom" - the Mom in Buffalo.  That is where we met Amy who told us some of the history of the company.  A quick check on Wikipedia provided more information. Russell Stover and Chris Nelson invented Eskimo Pies in Onawa Iowa 1920.  The product was immensely successful.  Stover sold his share to his partner for $25,000 and moved to Denver where he and his wife created Russell Stover Chocolates which has become the third largest chocolate manufacturer behind Hershey's and Mars and accounts for 60% of boxed chocolate sales in the U.S.  Initially the product was called "Mrs. Stover's Bungalow Chocolates."  They moved the company to Kansas City and in 1969 is was purchased by Louis Ward whose family still owns it.  We helped the local economy with several purchases including a logo ball cap and a couple of umbrellas.

Eventually we got on the road to Clyde and arrived in early afternoon after lunch.  We sat with Sister Paula in a sunny courtyard where the temperature got pretty close to 80 degrees.  The trees displayed more color everyday and we were treated to quite a show.  To the right is a view through the wisteria arbors as the late afternoon sun illuminated the turning trees.

We had dinner at A & G, Paula's favorite restaurant in Maryville.  OK, truthfully there aren't all that many restaurants in Maryville but A & G is very nice.  Apparently Marilyn and Paula approved of thier martinis!  We came back to the monastery where we watched "Of gods and men."  We had seen it once before and in fact we had given Paula a DVD of the movie.  Its impact was not lessened by having seen it previously.  After we watched it, we sat and talked about it.  While the rest of the world was watching the presidential debate, we were spending time in the world of a Trappist monastery in Algeria in the 1990's.  From what I read in the press the next day, we made the better choice.

You can view photos of the Clyde Motherhouse by clicking here.

Grand Tour - Missouri, Kansas, Illinois - Day Six

We left Maize and drove to Kansas City back through the Flint Hills in Kansas.  We stopped at the Knute Rockne service area where we visited the display honoring Knute Rockne, the legendary Notre Dame football coach. Rockne died in 1931 in a plane crash near this point in the Flint Hills.  He had just coached Notre Dame to the national championship and was on his way to Los Angeles to assist in the production of a film, "The Spirit of Notre Dame."  I thought of my good friend, John Crowe, whose father, Clem Crowe, played for Rockne at Notre Dame.  He played end for "The Seven Mule Team" at Notre Dame and was named an All American for two seasons.  He went on to his own storied coaching career.

"The Flint Hills are designated as a distinct ecoregion because it has the most dense coverage of intact tallgrass prairie in North America. Due to its rocky soil, the early settlers of European origin were unable to plow the area, resulting in the predominance of cattle ranches, which are in turn largely benefited by the tallgrass prairie."  We pulled over at the Cattle Pens Crossing to enjoy the view and take a few pictures.

Jill Claxton and Mom

We drove on to Kansas City for lunch with Mom.  Marilyn headed out for some shopping in the Brookside area which she enjoys so much.  Mom and I went down for Happy Hour where we were entertained by Bo Claxton and Wynn.  We were alerted to his appearance by Jill, his wife, who called Mom earlier in the day.  Jill is the daughter of Hilda, one of Mom's best friends at Grand Court who died a couple of years ago.  He played one of Mom's favorites - "I Am My own Grandpa" - which he had played at Mom's 100th birthday party in July.  "My Happiness" was always special to me because the melody was written by Borney Bergantine, a Kansas Citian, who wrote the melody in the 1930's and played it regularly with his band, The Happiness Boys.  The lyrics we are familiar with were written by Betty Peterson, another Kansas Citian whose husband founded Cardinal Records, the publisher of the standard version which was first recorded in 1948.  The song was the first song every recorded by Elvis Presley at Sun Records.  By the way, Elvis is Mom's favorite recording artist.   You can hear and see his rendition of "My Happiness" in the screen below.

Alex Carroll and Mom

The family gathered for dinner at Sweet Tomatoes, one of Mom's favorite places to eat.  There we met Alex Carroll who was the manager on duty.  He was very engaging young man and we learned that had been adopted from Russia in 1987 when he was 10 years old.  He was raised here by his mother and was very close to his grandfather who just celebrated his 95th birthday.  He and Mom had a lovely visit topped off by his giving her a couple of free meal coupons.  Mom thinks he is great!

When we got back to the apartment, Marilyn decided to work with Mom about her hair.  When I went to bed, she was using some "product" on Mom with a promise that she would consult with the hair dressers in the beauty shop on site in the morning before we left for Clyde.  I will let you know tomorrow how that all worked out.

Grand Tour - Missouri, Kansas, Illinois - Day Five

Today marked the halfway point in our trip.  We spent the day in Wichita with Andy and Lois.  After a leisurely morning and a delicious brunch at their home, we got started at Botanica around noon.  Botanica is a collection of themed gardens with continuous expansion planned for the future.  It took us almost three hours to walk through the various gardens.  probably our favorite was the children's garden which is a wonderfully creative space for play in what is really an enchanted forest.  The emphasis here was not on plants but on activity areas that would spark the imagination and freedom of children.  We both wished we had something like this back home for our grandchildren.

As you might imagine, my camera was busy throughout our walk taking pictures of flowers, bees, butterflies, and of the four of us in this wonderful setting.  You can go to the updated Picasa album to see more photos of our second day in Wichita. 

The only interesting subjects for video were the koi when we put some food in the pond.  You can see this below.

We also paid a visit to the Nifty Nut House...where we went nuts and bought all sorts of vintage candy and chocolate covered almonds and other goodies.  You will note the big smile on Marilyn!  When we got outside, we discovered that it was raining a bit and had gotten a lot cooler.  We decided to put into a local pub in Old town for some warming beverages and a few appetizers before heading home to play with Andy's harmony remote, another delicious dinner...and more of those delicious desserts followed by some television:  All Star Dancing With the Stars and Castle.

Grand Tour - Missouri, Kansas, Illinois - Day Four

We left Mom's at 9:30 am to drive the 200 miles to Maize, Kansas for a visit with my cousin Andy and his wife Lois.

View Larger Map

At Emporia, Kansas, we entered the Kansas Turnpike and drove through the Flint Hills, a unique and unexpected terrain.  We were on a tight schedule so we didn't stop at the Knute Rockne Service Area.  We will on the way back and will post more information about this area and about why the rest area is named for the great Notre Dame coach.  All my Domer friends out there know, but the rest of you may not.

Andy and Lois Sciolaro with Marilyn as we wait for the
Thunderbirds to fly.

We arrived at the Sciolaro's and were treated like visiting royalty...or at least like visiting Platt cousins!  They have a lovely home with a front and back yard that evidences the loving care of almost 40 years of residence.  I will take some photos of the back yard before we leave so I can share them with this blog.  After delicious lunch on their patio and plenty of visiting, we hustled over to a position adjacent to the air base to watch the Thunderbirds, the Air Force high performance team, perform as part of a weekend air show.  It was exhilarating as always.  It always reminds me of my days in San Diego and the annual performances of the Blue Angels at NAS Miramar.  It is difficult to take video with all the bright sunshine, but I was able to get a short clip of an F 18 flying over our position.

After all that excitement, we drove back to Andy's and enjoyed a tour of Wichita.  It is a very nice town and has taken care to create some interesting public spaces, especially along the two rivers that run through the city:  Arkansas (pronounced Are-Kansas in these parts) and the Little Arkansas (same pronunciation.)  We saw some areas that we would visit later that day.

After another delicious meal, we drove back to the confluence of the Arkansas and Little Arkansas Rivers for the viewing of the fire pots at the Keeper of the Plains. "The 44-foot Cor-Ten steel Keeper of the Plains sculpture stands elevated on a 30-foot rock promontory, surrounded by a plaza which describes the Plains Indian way of life. Pedestrians can access the area via two bow-and-arrow-inspired cable-stay bridges which span the Little and Big Arkansas rivers. Fire drums on boulders at the foot of the Keeper dramatically light the night. Plantings of sage, bottlebrush, medicinal herbs, prairie grasses, yuccas and cactus add to the sense of place and time. Renowned Native American artist Blackbear Bosin donated the Keeper of the Plains to the citizens of Wichita in 1974."

After enjoying several views of downtown Wichita from this vantage point, we returned home to two delicious desserts, marking the end of an enjoyable day in Kansas.

You can view more photos of our day in Maize and Wichita on my Picasa site:  https://picasaweb.google.com/111139278872202723241/VisitWithTheSciolarosOfMaizeKansas