“On the Road”, Off the Road…Odds and Ends

You take a week off from writing...then two...then it's a month...then two, but now I am back...at least for this edition. Plus, this keeps my editor from reminding me, “You haven't written in awhile.”

One of the on the road, odds and ends of the summer was the decision to form a small Roadsters group. It turns out that among the usual suspects (see some of the Bunco Night activities) we have owners of three British sports cars...and a Miata (I know, not quite the same, but we are an open minded group...we would even let a Fiat join us). The object is to enjoy our sports cars together, not to be snobs...but sometimes we can't resist.

On a couple of occasions over the summer we got the group together for an outing—this usually means driving back roads and eating together. Our first outing had us meet at the Cimochowski's for a cook out and then on the road to Preston, CT for ice cream desserts.

We lined up the cars...

Nowak's Miata Swenson's MG Midget Bottieri's MGB Cimochowski's Triumph TR6

and headed down the road. There were many waves,flashing headlights and tooting horns along the way, and the cars turned a few heads when parked together at the ice cream stand. A great outing!



A few weeks later we decided to follow up with a trip to North Charlton, MA for a seafood dinner at a well known clam shack—not so much a shack now, but the food was great. And once again the cars all looked good lined up together...although some people wanted to know if the Miata was along as the chase car. Is this a commentary on the reliability of British sports cars or a dig at the Miata...hmmm.



If you have been a follower of the blog you will recall the minor adventure of putting the new dock in place at The Cottage. At the end of the lake swimming and boating year it was time to find out if it came out as easily as it went in...and it did!

We stacked all of the cedar plank sections onto a trailer to make moving them easier and then it was fairly simple to raise most of the legs and wheel the aluminum frame out of the water. Much easier than previous years and ready to go back in come Spring.

One other Fall item related to The Cottage was the decision to replace the power boat that had served us well for 23 years. Papa did some online research and through Craig's List found a possible replacement at Lake Mascoma—just up the road in Enfield, NH.

Scott and I reviewed the information online and then I was able to make a quick Saturday trip up to look at the boat before we made an offer. We now have a “new to us” boat that should last us another 20+ years...plus Papa went onto Craig's List again and sold the old boat within a week! What a successful Adventure!

In the early Spring Stephanie Gosselin contacted us about jointly bidding at a fund raising event. The item was a day of sailing around Providence / Newport on an old wooden boat and the day included a lobster bake on the beach. We won the auction and tried all Summer to find a time that worked for all of us—the Gosselins, the Greens and ourselves. Finally we were able to arrange for a mid-September sail and had a wonderful time sailing the upper reaches of Newport Bay and enjoying a day on or near the water.



Now Cheri and I have been back "on the road"—in Denver visiting Jess and PJ (and Maggie the Lab of course). We arrived late (as in after 11pm MT) on Thursday following an uneventful series of flights, and forgetting nothing except the key that Jess had mailed to us so we could get into her condo on arrival (she and PJ were at a concert that evening). Fortunately, the concert got out and they arrived before we did so Jess let us in...instead of us sitting on the curb with our luggage waiting for them.

Friday morning we got up to enjoy bagels and coffee together and then headed out to Fort Collins, CO and the New Belgian Brewery for a tour. It would seem that if you have once toured a brewery then there really isn't much to learn from touring another. On the contrary, there is a big difference if you take into account the ownership, the employees and the social consciousness of the company.

It is an outstanding tour filled with the history of the brewery, the founders, energy conservation processes, employee ownership, giving back to the community...and oh yah, beer samples...all for free. This company is the Ben and Jerry's of the micro-brewery world. There is even some fun along the tour with an opportunity to use the company slide to go from one level to another.  We had a great time and had a built in designated driver with Cheri not being a beer drinker (although she gamely tasted a couple of different samples).

Cheri drove us back to Denver (with Jess and PJ snoozing in the back seat...sunglasses on...heads back...light snoring...yah, they were asleep), and we stopped for an early dinner at the Bar D restaurant (known for their desserts). Dinner gave Cheri a time to sample a local lemon-drop martini (we seem to have a lot of pictures where she has one of these in her hand)...a nice dinner...and then some great desserts.



We made it back to Jess' early enough to play some cards...where I lost both times—and Cheri won both times...before heading to bed early so we could be well rested for a day of hiking on Saturday.

Saturday morning we were up and on our way to the Golden Gate Canyon State Park. Backpacks, water, snacks, and Maggie were all loaded into Jess' new Subaru Forrester and we were off.

Hiking in the Rockies is a little different than the White Mountains—here you start at 8,000 feet and climb up (the White Mountains top out at just over 6,200 feet). The air is a little thinner so you breathe a little deeper, but fortunately Cheri and I have been spinning enough that our leg muscles didn't bother us. We climbed along evergreen paths, aspen meadows (where many of the leaves have already fallen), and rocky outcroppings. Besides the thin air the views were also breath-taking.

It was a fabulous time and we were tired by the time we got back to Jess' place. She cooked an Alton Brown recipe for us Saturday evening and we settled into a little more card playing before settling into bed.

Let the Adventures continue...

A Summer with Girls

 
The title alone will probably increase visitor traffic to my blog…but it won’t be what they expect.

For those of you who skip the writing and go only to the photos (and you know who you are…Andrew), here is a little foreshadowing. This edition of the Adventures is about having our girls, Jessica and Sarah, home for some time this summer along with their significant others, PJ and Andrew. There are weddings, family, friends, and time at the cottage all covered…and separate from Jess’ earlier trip home for Manz Wedding I—David and Heather.



One other girl joined us in the middle of July, when my sister Debbie arrived from Florida for a summer spell in the much cooler Northeast. Debbie stayed with us for several days while her friend Ernie spent time with his son further south in Connecticut. Being at our home also gave Debbie a chance to try my much-lauded Lemon-drop Martini’s.




Then on July 22^nd Sarah and Andrew flew into Boston to spend two-and-a-half weeks in the area with us. Michelle Codding's wedding was coming up  on July 30^th , and Sarah had to decline being in the wedding party since she was living in Australia. She then connived, along with the assistance of Andrew; Gail and Caitlin (Michelle’s mother and sister); Justin (the groom); the other bridesmaids; and basically everyone else in the world except Michelle to get a bridesmaid dress and shoes and make the trip.

Sarah then showed up on Michelle’s doorstep on the Saturday afternoon of her bachelorette party. It was a great surprise and you can see some of the associated photos on Sarah’s blog at:

http://dvlwearingkhakis.blogspot.com/2011/08/american-adventure-part-1-surprise-and.html

Before sending her on her way north to Jericho, VT and the surprise we were able to squeeze in a brunch at Nana and Papa’s.

The rest of us stayed around the cottage and enjoyed some swimming and sailing while Sarah enjoyed her travels We had a good turn out and even got a couple of the senior suspects—Bev and Ed Sawyer—show up for the party.

Sarah met us back at the cottage on Sunday and we had the first of a couple family get-togethers. Dad showed up along with Debbie and Ernie, Kristina, Brian and Willis. Ribs on the barbie, cold beers, and a sunny afternoon at the cottage…it was a great start to our summer with girls.

Tuesday was our opportunity to take Andrew to his first Red Sox game…we decided to bring the girls along to show off as eye-candy. Since we don’t do this very often I decided to go on StubHub and get some good seats…and these were really good seats…22 feet from the field behind home plate. Andrew was very impressed…not only with the Sox beating up on the Royals, but that they bring you beer and snacks right to your seat!

Jess and PJ arrived in Boston the next day and were picked up by Sarah and Andrew…they all headed back to the cottage. We didn’t all rendezvous again until Cheri and I headed up to Vermont for Michelle’s wedding.

On Saturday morning I was able to get together with Dan Manz for a round of golf before having to meet the strict orders of being back to the B&B by 2:30 so I could shower and change for the wedding. I could tell you about my new favorite club…a K-Mart version of a 7 wood, but I’ll save that for a future Adventure.

Michelle and Justin’s wedding was held at the Catamount Country Club (for our Aussie friends…a catamount is a mountain lion that goes by other names in other regions—lynx, cougar, puma). It was a wonderful setting with the Green Mountains in the background during a sunny and warm late afternoon. Gail…an obviously happy mother of the bride… Justin appeared a little nervous, but he settled down once he saw Michelle. Michelle was gorgeous and it was a short service and then some celebrating.

                

Obviously we all had a wonderful time.

Sunday morning we were on our way early since we had an important stop along the way. We were traveling right by the Waterbury, VT exit so it was natural for us to stop and take the Ben & Jerry’s tour at their factory. PJ and Andrew had never been there, and sad to say in my ten years of living in Vermont I had never taken the tour. A little background on Ben & Jerry… Some samples…

We had a nice tour…

And it all really comes down to ice cream being sugar and milk and cream…and in Ben & Jerry’s case, more cream. It was a fun stop on our way back to the cottage.

Soon after we returned, the next family gathering began to take place.The event also gave us time to get a fairly large gathering of the family and significant others into a photo-op.

On Monday, Sarah and Andrew headed back to Connecticut with us. There was a little time looking at and deciding upon a venue for their wedding next year—The Publik House in Sturbridge. That evening they wanted to treat Cheri and me to a dinner out, so we went to 85 Main Street Cafe in Putnam and had a great meal.

They also rented a vehicle and after two days with us headed down to Philly to visit some of Sarah’s University friends (and to show Andrew Philadelpia…you can also see this on Part II of Sarah’s blog…same link as above only look at the archives).

On Friday, Jess and PJ came down from the cottage and we took them out to dinner at one of our favorite local sites, The Golden Lamb. As usual we had a wonderful time with hayrides, visiting and fabulous food in an idyllic setting.

Saturday was a nice, relaxing day (other than some yard work and normal weekend chores), and by late afternoon we were on the road to Mystic, CT to meet Sarah and Andrew and to meet up with the Morris Family. This was the start of Manz Wedding II—Sarah Manz and Ken Shaw—and we arranged to have dinner with the Morris clan before heading over to a large ice cream social at the Shaw’s house. Dinner was at the Ten Clams in Mystic Village and it is so named because most things cost ten clams or less. It is a family restaurant and we had a very good meal at a reasonable price for thirteen of us.

Following the social we headed back to Woodstock since it was only an hour away, but we were back on the road the next day heading back to Mystic and check in at a Comfort Inn (so we wouldn’t have far to travel after the wedding reception).

The wedding was on the University of Connecticut’s Groton Campus and the rain let up early enough to allow for a dry and sunny service. It was another beautiful setting and we took the opportunity to get a few couple and family pictures as well.

Bob Woods, Liz Manz’ father, was escorted in by his grandsons and presided over the service.

Ken’s grandmother was escorted by Scott his brother

and then each of the Manz boys brought in Bessie Manz and Joan Woods.

Marie and Art Shaw… Ken…

Liz Manz…

The Bride and her father!

It was a beautiful service with very moving readings and an obviously happy couple!




We then did what we do so well…celebrate.

The food was great, the dancing was great (Joan had me high on her dance card), and the visiting was non-stop.

Before the evening was over, this was the first time in many years we had all of the Manz-Morris-Swenson children together and we took advantage of the opportunity to get a group photo…



And then we included in the significant others of the group—it continues to grow!

The newlyweds were sent off in David & Heather’s VW bug and the night wound down.

We did all gather together for a brunch at the Shaw’s on Monday morning—put on by the Niles family…once again…do they hire out? Then it was back to Woodstock.

The girls headed out over the next two days, back to Australia and back to Denver. It seems less lively in the house right now, but we look forward to having them all back again at Christmas this year.

Let the Adventures continue!