May 13th

Left Durham, NC, about 9:00 AM and planned to drive as far as possible today. Think we drove about 350 miles in total. We kept looking at the mileage that was left to make it home, and seriously considered trying to make the drive all the way from Durham to Salem, NH, but after hitting traffic in Richmond, VA, and Baltimore, MD, we decided to stop for the night in Aberdeen, MD. Found a Day's Inn in Aberdeen and checked in for the night. We had had some great MD crab cakes the last time we were in MD, and the motel recommended a restaurant just around the corner. The crab cakes were to die for.

Still have about 370 miles left to drive tomorrow and we'll be able to sleep in our own bed for a change. It will be nice to be home again. We actually haven't been delayed by construction on this trip like we had been when we drove the Vette around the country last year. We also have only seen one accident that delayed traffickisic and that was in Atlanta on Wednesday. That delayed us for only about a half an hour. Definitely are going to turn in early tonight and will try to leave earlier tomorrow morning. Mercedes still running great, but can't wait to get home and get the Vette out of storage. K

As Ken says we're homeward boud!! Can't wait to get home and see family and friends!!! The trip has been a lot of fun,loved staying in Florida for the month, travel to San Antonio, graduation, travel to Vickis, but now just want to be home!! Talked to our daughter tonight, she's stranded in Detroit,had a business trip to Fort Wayne, then Detroit, unable to get a flight home. She's with another employee, they'll fly to RI, then drive home, will be getting home in the wee hours of the morning, know she's exhausted now in 6 more hours she'll be whipped.
Guess our travel plans are pretty easy compared to hers.

Had wonderful crab cakes tonight, ah the joys of Maryland!! Cars holding up well, Ken and I exit the car like Neanderthal man and woman, posture not upright, just need a club to complete the picture. Sitting in an upright mobile positon for long hours not conducive to good posture!! S

May 9th thru May 12th

We left San Antonio about 9:00 AM after finally getting the car packed. Grabbed a quick breakfast, turned on the GPS, and off we went. We had looked at various routes to go home, but some of the routes put us in the flooded areas of Tennessee, and we wanted to avoid any delays due to the floods. Finally realized that by going thru Newnan, GA, where Vicki lives, it was only 50 miles farther than going thru the flood area, so plugged in Vicki's address and off we went.

We managed to make it as far as Rayne, LA, on Sunday. Long drive, and found a clean Comfort Inn just off Interstate 10. After checking in and relaxing a little bit, I took Sheila out to the local gourmet restaurant for Mother's Day dinner. Well, maybe I have taken Sheila to better restaurants, but at least it was close to the motel. She could have also gone into the Frog City casino, but was too tired after the drive. This was not one of the nicer casinos we have seen, and they did appear to cater primarily to truckers. We didn't check out the casino, but I was told most of the waitresses had most of their own teeth.

On Monday, we took off early and made it all the way to Greenville, AL. The following day, we made it to Newnan, GA, found Vicki's home, and unpacked for a night's stay. When Vicki got home from work, we went out for chicken wings. Vicki's youngest son, Scott, and his girl friend came over to see us after he got off work about 9:30 PM. He was excited, as he just found out that day that he was to be sworn into the Air Force Reserves on Wednesday. He has also been selected for F-16 pilot training, so Sheila and I will have to make plans to attend another pilot graduation in a few years. Scott's Grandfather is looking forward to this graduation too.

Left Newnan on Wednesday morning after locating a Dunkin Donuts so we could get our ice coffee fixes. Had initially planned to arrive back in NH on May 15th or 16th, but decided to try to get back earlier, if possible. Drove all the way to Durham, NC, and checked into a motel. As it turned out, we stayed in the same motel we stayed in when we had the Corvette last October. Of course, we had to go back to the same BBQ joint we tried last October, and the food hasn't changed a bit. K

May 8th

Well, here we are, still trying to play catchup on our blog. After all of the festivities at the graduation on Friday, we were able to sleep in on Saturday morning. My sister Vicki was staying at the same motel, so when we finally managed to get up and around, we headed for the laundry room and started packing for the drive home on Sunday.

Matt was to pick up his mother for breakfast on Mother's Day and was to take her to the airport, so we would be able to leave for NH at a relatively early time. We all managed to get our suitcases packed, but would wait until the next morning to pack the Mercedes.

We had been invited to Matt's cousin's home for a BBQ that evening, and off we went to find their home. His cousin's husband is a hell of a BBQ cook, and they must have had enough ribs, chicken, and sausage to have fed 50 people.

His Aunts and Uncle and cousins were so much fun and what wonderful hosts. We had a great time, but had to leave early to get rested up for the drive the following day. His Grandfather was also there, and still hadn't stopped smiling. K

May 7th - Graduation Ceremonies

Well, the graduation ceremonies were finally happening. The graduation was held at the Hilton Hotel near the Air Base and the room filled quickly. One of Matt's guests was his Grandfather Lt. Col (ret.) Vic Morris, who wouldn't have missed this event for anything in the world. I believe he is 88 years old and is sharp as a tack.

Matt's grandfather was recognized several times during the ceremonies by the speakers and presenters. Vic had been shot down over Japan during WWII and was a Japanese prisoner of war until the end of the war. I think all of the officers who were present came over to honor and to speak with Vic. He never stopped smiling at any time during the ceremonies.

I had spoken with one of the Intel instructors, and mentioned how proud we were of Matt and his accomplishments and of the three awards he had received that afternoon for his bombing proficiencies. The Captain told me not to say anything, but those awards might not be the last award he would receive.

Sure enough, when the Captain got up to deliver his speech and make a presentation, he told everyone that there was a very special award that was to be presented to one of the students. This award was voted on by all of the instructors and the students and was to be presented to the student that they would most want to go into combat with. He then presented the trophy to Matt. Talk about tears of joy!

Here is a photo of some of Matt's friends from college. One couple is missing from this photo, but all the students agreed that Matt's guest tables had the best looking girls. These kids had all flown in on Friday morning for the event and were flying back the following morning. Quite a tribute to Matt.

Notice the shirt Matt is wearing. All of the students had their tux shirts modified with red and blue sleeves and the F-16 logo on the backs of the shirts. After they had graduated, they were allowed to remove their dress uniform jackets to "present the colors".

Quite a day for everyone and Sheila and I were so glad we were able to attend these ceremonies. K

May 7th - Matt's Last Flight as a Student

We have been so busy, we have had very little time to post our blog, but will try to catch up before we finally make it home. Friday was our nephew Matt's graduation day and also included his final flight as a student. We managed to find the Air Base after a few wrong turns and finally arrived at the main gate. We had to wait a few minutes until someone could come to meet us and drive our car in to the squadron. It was worth the wait.

Flight instructors and NCOs were so nice and they informed us that Matt was currently flying, but would let us know when he was landing so we could watch the landing. Two of Matt's friends from college arrived about the time we did and then Matt's father and his wife arrived. My sister Vicki, Matt's mother, was with us.

When Matt entered the landing pattern, they called us all out to the tarmac, put us in a van, and drove us out to the runway. We were only a couple hundred feet from the runway when Matt and his instructor made a high speed pass down the runway in their F-16's. Talk about goosebumps when they made that pass. Everyone had their cameras clicking and we were all smiling ear to ear.

Matt and his instructor finally landed and headed past us toward the maintenance area. The van driver, a cute little NCO, drove us right to the maintenance area and we saw him climb out of his F-16 for the last time as a student. Every one was so proud and so happy for him, but Matt had the biggest grin of all.

After his flight debriefing, the squadron had a BBQ for all the students, staff, and guests. Matt's two friends from college were joined by six more friends who had all flown into San Antonio just for his graduation. All in all, I think the total guest count for friends and relatives that came to see him graduate totaled about 23 people, by far more than any of the other student pilots. Quite a tribute to a great kid.

They made some presentations, speeches, etc., by both the instructors and students, and than they handed out some special awards to the students. They had three different categories for bombing proficiencies and the instructor passing out the awards said this was the first time a single student had won all three awards. Yup, it was our Matt. K

Ken has said it so well, I agree. It was very exciting seeing Matt fly and land this plane! We'll do another update on the graduation so we can include more photos, so more to follow. S

May 6th

Matt was tied up with training on Thursday and had to fly and prepare for his last training flight on Friday, so it was play time for Sheila, Vicki, and myself. We slept in a little bit late and then off to the Market in downtown San Antonio. Managed to find the Market without too much trouble, parked, and then off to, what else, a little shopping. The girls did check out a few shops and we went for lunch at a place called Mi Terra in the market. One of the best Mexican restaurants we've found in San Antonio. Did manage to have a couple of drinks there too.

Clever women, my wife and sister - Give Ken a couple of drinks and he's more than happy to go shopping. After some "quick stops" in various shops at the Market, we headed off to find River Walk. Again, we managed to find the place and even found the same parking garage that we used when we had the Vette down here last September or October.

It was about 90 degrees and high humidity, so we poked around River Walk for a little while and then decided to find some liquid refreshment. Hummm, we found Durty Nelly's and the place was air conditioned, so what the heck. Seemed like the place to be for a while. Eat your heart out again Joe Kelly! K

So nice to spend time with Vicki, a woman after my own heart, I believe shopping is her middle name as is mine.

Vicki admired a bracelet I had purchased in the market place last year so off to the same shop we went. Unfortunately no similar bracelet was found, however, I did find a lovely hand made sterling silver ring for my index finger, so of course I knew it was meant to be worn and enjoyed by me!!

Off to several shoppes, so much to see so little money. Lunch at Mi Terra as Ken says was wonderful. Vicki and I shared a vegitable dish, and the specialty of the day, some sort of beef dish. All delicious. Of course had to have desssert, home made sopapilla, with raspberry sauce and honey, no low cal here!!

Riverwalk is so beautiful, but so hot and humid, temp 90, humidity 90 so went to Dirty Nellies to cool off. The piano player asked if anyone had a request, I requested, " If you knock the L out of Kelley". He knew it and gave a great rendition, I loved it and was willing to stay till morning! Unfortunately Ken felt we had to drive back to the motel in somewhat sober condition so " Hoolie" ended.

All of us were full but wanted a bite of something. Had a Whataburger close to the hotel so stopped, Ken and I had salads with chicken, Vicki tried the Whataburger. After which we were full and ready for an early night. S

May 5th

We arrived in San Antonio after spending the night in Houston. Nice easy drive for the most part, but San Antonio has a spaghetti bowl of over and under passes that would confuse even the most sophisticated GPSs. Fortunately, the Benz GPS managed to get us (almost) to our motel. Couldn't fault the GPS software this time, as the motel was brand new.

We checked into the motel and a short time later, we headed for the San Antonio Airport to pick up my sister Vicki using the map provided by the motel. Found the airport with no problem, and after circling the arrival area for about a half hour, our daughter Nora called to say "Hi". She was able to check Vicki's flight status, and the plane was late. Vicki finally arrived and we were off to check her into the motel.

Our nephew Matthew was to graduate from F-16 fighter pilot training on Friday, and we were all excited to see him. He was still training in the afternoon, but we did manage to meet him and his room mate at their home and then out to eat with Matt for a quick meal. Matt had to prepare for a flight the following day, so couldn't spend too much time with him. Matt is a very impressive young man and what a nice kid. K

May 3rd and 4th

We spent Monday in New Orleans doing our "tourist thing" and had a great time. Had lunch in the French Quarter at the French Market. Sheila had a salad, and I had the crayfish. Those damn things are really spicy, but good. Also stopped in Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville and had a couple of drinks. The Mojitos and margaritas were the greatest!

On Sunday, we had eaten at a place called Murial's located just down the street from the hotel. It has now become our favorite restaurant in New Orleans. Last year we had eaten at a place called Irene's and couldn't wait to go back to eat there. Managed to get reservations, but we were disappointed with both the service and the meals. The meals and service at Murial's were outstanding.

Sheila continued to window shop and stop in the quaint shops throughout the French Quarter. We found one shop called the Idea Factory that had all sorts of unique things made from wood - Many of the things were made right on the premises. They had several unique mobiles made of wood, small machine belts, wooden pulleys, and were driven with clock springs. I would have loved to get some photos, but no photos were allowed.

Tuesday, we left for San Antonio which was about 550 miles from New Orleans. The GPS managed to get us out of the French Quarter and onto Interstate 10 with no mistakes or hiccoughs. We drove as far as Houston and pulled in for the night. We had arrived in New Orleans at the end of Jazzfest and had to pay the premium prices for our hotel room. We did manage to stay at our favorite hotel though, but because of Jazzfest, we had to change rooms on the second day we were there. Arrived in Houston and got the news that we got about the last room in the inn. Seems like they are having conventions in Houston and all the motels are booked.

Only have about 225 miles to go to get to San Antonio, so only 3 - 4 hours of driving to get there. Still running into highway construction, but no delays going west. Generally, we were running at the posted speed limit of 70 mph. Mercedes continues to run like a clock and what a nice ride. K

New Orleans is, as always, amazing!! I do wonder though, where did all the Dixieland jazz go?? A few years ago all the bars on Bourbon St had jazz bands, wonderful dixie land jazz, now it's rock and roll. Heard about a Dixieland jazz band at the Presentation Club next to Pat OBriens of Hurricane fame. Ken and I walked around after dinner last night and ended up at Pat O'Briens, Ken had a Hurricane, I didn't. To me they taste like Hawaiian Punch, my least favorite tropical drink. After our after dinner drinks we went out to the Presentation Club next door. The line was about 50 people deep, we waited about 20 minutes and did get in but for standing room only. Did I mention it was very hot and humid in New Orleans, temp about 87, humidity about 90%. Well standing in back of the club was like spending 20 minutes in a Sauna in a fur coat. Music was good but had to leave to get some air. Stopped for a diet coke at a local watering hole, and then proceeded on to our hotel. On the way back saw a musician playing music with crystal glassed filled with water, he did great!! He then had a few woman in the audience wet their fingers and then try to play the glasses, interesting but not successful.

Today in Houston, my first visit along with the rest of the free world. Tried several motels, all full, conventions and some sort of festival Houston days, it figures. The OMNI had 6 rooms left at $199, too rich for our blood after our New Orleans stay. Did finally luck out at La Quinta, got triple A rate, and last room in the inn. Our room is really nice, they have a swimming pool and Ken and I went for a great swim to cool down, then to a Mexican restaurant for yummy food.

Looking forward to San Antonio tomorrow. We'll pick Kens sister Vicki up at the airport in the afternoon. She says Matt is so excited as is she, and everyone else who loves him. Such an exciting time in this young mans life!!! S

May 2nd

Spent the night in Pensacola last night and awoke to overcast skies, high humidity, and temperature in the 70s. Since Pensacola is the home of the Naval Air Museum, we decided to see it before we left town. The museum is loaded with antique planes going back to WWI. They also had a static display of planes outside, but we wanted to get on the road for New Orleans. It was certainly a place to visit though. Can't imagine how they ever managed to acquire all those planes.

New Orleans is only about 230 miles from Pensacola, but I managed to get a little lost going from the museum to Interstate 10. Sheila was on the cell phone making reservations in New Orleans for tonight and tomorrow night and she hit the mute button on the radio so she could hear the hotel operator. The GPS voice shouldn't have been affected by the mute button, but it was, and we could barely hear the instructions. It finally straightened out and off we went.



We haven't hit the highway construction delays, other than those going from Homestead, FL, to Key West, on this trip like we hit last year in the Corvette. We have hit work areas, but no delays. Fortunately, we haven't seen any accidents while we've been traveling this year. There are certainly a lot of crosses and markers on the highways where people have lost their lives in traffic accidents however.

We have also seen a lot of road kills along the roads ranging fron the usual "wonder what that was" to a turtle the size of an Army helmet, armadillos, etc., but the biggest surprise was seeing an alligator about 4 feet long that had tried to cross Interstate 10 in Louisiana. Yuck! As luck would have it, I had alligator as an appetizer tonight. I will say, it was some of the most delicious mystery meat I have ever had.

Hit light to heavy rain about 100 miles from New Orleans, but just overcast when we checked into the hotel. Took a little walk around before we unpacked the car and got caught in light rain and were slightly wet when we got back to the hotel. We dried out, I got the umbrellas out of the car, and we walked around looking for a place to eat. Of course, it barely rained then, but since we got back to our room, if we had been doing our "tourist thing", we would have been caught in a major thunderstorm. K

April 30th and May 1st

Friday was a busy morning, what with getting the last of our things packed in the car and getting checked out of the condo. We sure managed to accumulate a few "extra" things on this trip, but I was able to finally get the trunk and both back doors closed.

Sheila turned wrong moving her small suitcase and apparently pinched a nerve in her back. She was almost down for the count. We were washing sheets and towels but it was taking forever for things to dry. We had to be out of the condo and on the road by 10:00 AM, but finally managed to get things dried, folded, and out the door. Sheila was feeling better, but not much.

We were finally on our way to see more old friends up near Ocala, FL. We hadn't seen Fred and Holly for several years. They had moved to Citrus Hills about 6 years ago after Fred retired. Fred and I had worked together at Raytheon since about 1972. He retired about 6 months before I retired.
Fred and Holly have a beautiful home, complete with a lanai and swimming pool. Fred also has a Corvette and after going for a ride in it, I can't wait to get home and get our Vette out of storage. We're going to bring our Vette down here instead of the Mercedes next year.

Fred and I went for a ride in his Vette and he showed me around Citrus Hills. What a beautiful community it is. We met the girls later for a drink or three, and then took another drive in the Vette to see a nearby beach. White sand and no surf - Quite a difference from the beach in Maine. The girls had gone off in another direction to do (what else?) a little shopping. (Who'd a thunk it?)

We met the girls at their country club for dinner (after Fred and I got caught in the rain with the top down). The girls were a "little" late, so Fred and I had a "couple" Manhattans while we were waiting for them. I think I will wait until next year when we see them again before I have another Manhattan. They sure went down easy though.

We spent the night at Fred and Holly's and had a wonderful time. Have already made plans for them to come down to Estero next year to spend time with us. So good to see them both and so many laughs. Didn't seem like it had been so long since we had seen them last.

After seeing Fred and Holly's home and Dick and Sharon's home, we can understand why people love it down here in Florida. Can't wait to get back here.

Left Fred and Holly's home about 9:30 or so heading for Interstate 75. Fred had us follow him to a shortcut to the interstate and they were even able to tell us where to find a Dunkin Donuts so we could get our iced coffee fixes before we hit the interstate. You were right Holly, Dunkies is next to the Cat and Dog sign in Ocala.

We made it all the way to Pensacola and checked into a Comfort Inn for the night. Plan to drive to New Orleans tomorrow. Only about 200 miles from Pensacola, so it will be an easy day's . K

Feeling so much better. Don't know what I did, one minute I was fine, the next minute, I had terrific pain in my neck and it was radiating down my left arm, and my left leg felt odd. I laid down for awhile. Started feeling better, by the time we took off, but my neck was really painful. We got iced coffees and headed down the road. After driving about an hour, the anti inflammatory med had kicked in, the coffee had made me feel human again, and I decided I was much better and was going to make it

So nice to see Fred and Holly again. As Ken says their home is lovely. They showed us around their area, Ted Williams home is in their area. Went to a lovely spot by the river for a drink then to their club for dinner.

Now in Pensacola, much cooler, and foggy. If weather permits will go to the navy base tomorrow, I've been before but Ken hasn't. Think he'll enjoy the museum and seeing the vintage planes.

We've gained an hour in time. Great if I could use the extra time to shop, however, Ken says anything more than a tic tac is too much as car loaded to max, due to previous great shopping bargains, oh well. S

April 28th and 29th

April 28th:

Only two more days left here in Estero, counting today. We were able to rent the same place for April of 2011 and will be glad to return. We have really enjoyed our stay here and have enjoyed seeing old friends and meeting new friends. Even the Mercedes has enjoyed this vacation, but in the Naples area, there are so many high-priced cars that Mercedes are like Toyotas back in New England.

Went to Ft. Meyers to the WalMart the other day and saw a Bentley coupe and a Rolls Royce pulling out of the WalMart Parking lot. Where else would you drive a Rolls or a Bentley???

I Managed to spend a little time at the pool, and then off for dinner. We had had lunch at one of the big outlet malls several days ago, and enjoyed the restaurant, so Sheila suggested we try another of the eating establishments.

I should have guessed that she had an ulterior motive when she suggested that place for dinner. Yeah, you guessed it, she had to do a little more shopping "since we just happened to be near Chico's". K

I want to make something perfectly clear I did enjoy a wonderful Greek salad at the restaurant at the outlets!! Yes the restaurant was close to Chicos but that was a fluke.

Went to the Coach outlet but purchased nothing. I say this to indicate I'm able to go to a store and browse but not buy. Good Sheila!!! Weak Sheila did take a spin around Chico's and found a beautiful grey blazer on sale for next to nothing, and it was my size. Fit like a glove and the sales person said I looked very fashionable, young and slim, well if any one of those wasn't enough to make me say, " just ring it up, I'll take it". S

April 29th:

Today we spent time getting packed and getting ready to hit the road on Friday morning. We also spent some time saying goodbye to friends at the pool and going out for dinner with our good friends Jean and Robin from Salem. The complex will be losing a lot of people on the 30th as monthly leases are over. We'll miss this place, but will be glad to get home again in a couple of weeks.

Called our daughter, but she wasn't home so I left a message saying "I want to talk to our cat" (she and her husband are cat-sitting for us while we're gone) and later on, I got a voice mail on my cell phone saying "Send two plane tickets to Florida or we will shave the cat!". So far, they haven't shaved our cat. Their own cat has a little "POTTY PROBLEM" and I'm afraid I can't say their own cat hasn't been trimmed a little with a shaver. K

Yes our daughters cat does hace some issues, and saying trimmed a little bit is like saying Frank Lloyd Wright was a builder. Poor Zippies, a cat that strongly resembles the cat Garfield, is now au naturel. shall we say for summer. On last conversation our cat still has his fur and no tickets for Florida had to be exchanged.

It seems like this month has flown by but it will be nice to head back home. First though to San Antonio, Texas for our nephews graduation from flight school. Such a nice event, but wasn't it only a short time ago I had him on my lap reading him a story? It's amazing how this kids can grow up right under your nose, and we adults don't seem to have aged a bit, well, maybe we have aged but do to our decreased mental ability still think we're in our 30's,40's, 50's????? We' re going to so enjoy seeing the graduation. One of our friends is a former army colonel, he said it's really very well deserved and impressive. S