IT WAS A GREAT SUMMER FOR FAMILY FUN

     Whew!!!  We certainly had a great summer, but are completely exhausted.  I know what Dickens meant when he penned A Tale of Two Cities and stated that "(i)t was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."
     We spent the entire month of August holed-up in a campground in Litchfield, CT and it may have been our worst campground yet.  The campground had a great pool, but the roads were so full of muddy potholes which were so deep that they painfully jostled Nancy's back every time we drove our car.  Further, our site was surrounded by poison ivy so we had to be very wary.  Even though we enjoyed the residents of this campground, our stay felt very depressing.  The good news was that we spent little time in the campground as we were on the run everyday.  In fact, we ran so much that we only spent 1 full day in the campground the entire month.
     We opted to visit Connecticut in August as we had 2 weddings, my mother's 94th birthday, and the Milford Oyster Festival where Nancy had a booth to sell her beautiful jewelry.  Those 4 events were surrounded by visits to family and friends, a few minor repairs to the rig, and Nancy's health issues which seemed to come to a head upon entering the state.

Mary Sage and Brehan Lamoureaux (formerly Sage).

Todd & Mary Sage

     We were able to visit my mother several times a week and made a big fuss over her birthday.  She is a wonderful old lady and is still getting out every day to visit friends at the mall or at restaurants, shopping, and playing bingo.  However, it is disturbing to see signs of aging and every minor deviation from her daily routine is a disaster.  Still she is doing exceptionally well and only takes medication for blood pressure.  We love her and hope her good health and active lifestyle continue.
     My big project was preparing Acacia and Adam's house for the arrival of the baby in January. This involved a few renovations and getting the nursery in order.  The work took a lot longer than anticipated and involved the dedication of several full days.  It was fun helping Acacia and Adam get ready for their life changing event.

Acacia & Adam's 4 children.

     We also spent a lot of time with Bryce, our oldest daughter.  Bryce lives just off the "green" in Milford, CT and is only 1 mile away from Long Island Sound.  This is a very fun/active area to live and a great place for us to visit and relax.  We even attended a couple of Bryce's weekly beach volleyball games.  Since the Milford Oyster Festival as well as several excellent restaurants are only a 5 minute walk from Bryce's apartment, Bryce's place served as headquarters for Nancy while she worked at the Oyster Festival.

Nancy at the Milford Oyster Festival

     No matter how much time we have in Connecticut on our visits, it never seems like we have enough time to see everybody we want to.  However, with a full month in CT we got to see almost everybody.  In fact, we were able to spend a little extra fun time with the Sage's, the Hines' the Wilson's.
     Also, we were also able to see Lena and Xav as it was their son getting married and we attended the wedding.  Nancy and Lena worked together as art teachers at Plainville Middle School and Nancy taught both Lena's son, Angelo (the groom), as well as Tori (the bride).   Xav is a talented percussionist and tours with 2 local bands: "The Podunk Throwbacks" and "Someone You Can XRay."  We were able to watch both bands put on fantastic performances.  In fact, Xav performed with "Someone You Can XRay" at his son's wedding.

Xav playing in the band
"Someone You Can XRay"
at the wedding of his son.

Lena & Nancy.

Tori & Angelo

     The downside of our month was Nancy's health.  The good news is that after several medical tests all cancer concerns were eliminated.  We are now in the process of treating her ailments as we make our way to Florida for the winter.  Now we are just hoping that Florida is still there!  Our thoughts and hopes go out to all those unfortunate people in both Florida and Houston.
     Our month in CT has now come to an end.  It was a fantastic time with some downsides and a lot of work.  For the first time in our 3 1/2 year journey our focus was on family and friends instead of touring and scenery.  It was a highly rewarding experience and we already can't wait for our next visit in Thanksgiving.
     CHEERS!