Christmas 2022

Trail Club Luncheon 12/10

First, we must highlight the sisters, fashionably dressed for the season as we anticipate the arrival of our guests.  

Our group has been meeting for decades to celebrate our friendship cultivated through AT trail maintence!

Saturday 12/24

We are off to North Carolina to spend Christmas with Katie, Nick, Henry, Audrey, Will and Emma.  We enjoyed a Christmas Eve dinner and then the kids got to open a present of two! 

On Christmas Day we awoke to find that Santa had visited and left presents for everybody…so I guess everyone was good this year!  

It was as cold in Hillsborough this morning as it is at the North Pole, and we found that the heat was not working.  Katie was successful restarting it by removing the ice from the exhaust vent and then resetting the furnace in the attic! 

Monday

We are off to visit the Hills in Murrells Inlet and Audrey is going with us to spend time with Maggie! After checking into the condo, we opened presents and had dinner with Kelley, Seth and Maggie.

The girls quickly settled into their bedroom and I think they had a very good time!  Maggie spent all three nights with us in the condo. You are growing up Maggie for sure!

Tuesday

Kelley joined us at the condo for lunch and then we went to Myrtle Beach to ride the Sky Wheel and walk the boardwalk.  Later, we cooked a spaghetti dinner at the Condo.

Wednesday

We went to Huntington State Park and toured the new Nature Center which replaced the old one that was destroyed by a fire, started by a lightning strike!  It is really nice and very similar to the old design. Next, Maggie took us on a tour of  Atalaya, the Huntington's winter home.  It was quite an estate when they lived there and is now an national historic landmark. We walked around the park before going back to Kelley's to get ready to go to Brookgreen Gardens.

The Night of a Thousand Candles at Brookgreen Gardens is always awesome no matter how many times you go!  This year we even had a little cooler Christmas like weather! 

So girls, what did Grandma ask you to say

 to get you to smile for this photo?

It worked!!

We had a wonderful time this Christmas visiting our family in NC and SC!  Katie, Nick, Kelley and Seth, we appreciate your hospitality.  We also love the tradition of giving us experiences for our Christmas presents.  We loved going to the Night of a Thousand Candles and look forward to going to Six in June!

Happy New Year!

Fall 2022

 It was a beautiful fall in Virginia!  Gretchen took this photo on the Parkway near Montebello on our way home from Charlottesville. We've been enjoying biking on our local trails, and getting together with friends.  So life is getting back to normal.

We went to Hillsborough for the weekend to celebrate my 74th birthday!  It was a fun time with the kids counting all the way to 74 after they sang Happy birthday!

Later, we spent a weekend at SML with Jenny where we went to the annual Harmeneers barbershop concert.  Two of Jenny's neighbors, Becky and Earl are in the group. It was a fun concert!

We went to Hillsborough for Thanksgiving and got to see Henry and Audrey Wednesday afternoon! We hiked to Gold Park and of course…Wicks!  Nick came home from work with a dry cough and on Thanksgiving he awoke with a fever. So he was isolated and we spent the holiday cooking and eating with Katie!

Thank you Katie and Nick, we had a fun Thanksgiving celebration!

Katie & Nick’s New House

Friday September 23rd

Off to Hillsborough to see Katie and Nick’s new house.  The house is beautiful and they have it in great shape after only a few weeks since move in day! It was a fun weekend enjoying time with them and of course, the grandparent’s suite!  

We enjoyed great food all weekend and the chef had superb helpers!

On Saturday we went to Henry’s Cross Country meet, an invitational in Greensboro.  He participated with the varsity and ran a personal best time placing 3rd on his team! Henry is having an outstanding season in his Freshman year in high school! Congratulations!

The rest of the weekend the kids played with friends, played badminton in the backyard and games inside.  We explored the neighborhood, went by Duke Home Hospice Care where Katie will be starting her new job Monday, checked out Henry’s, Emma’s and Will’s schools and stopped at Broken Spoke Farm for ice cream!

Notice that Will is not in any of the above photos.  That’s because he came down with a fever and cold symptoms on Saturday and was isolating in his room since a schoolmate reported having COVID.

On Monday Emma had School, Katie was off to her new job, and Nick was working from home caring for Will.  Audrey and Henry had a day off so we went to see Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience in Raleigh.  It was really well done, with paintings projected on walls highlighting how Van Gogh’s life influenced his art. Other highlights were replicas of his paintings you could walk into and a huge hall where you were surrounded by his paintings, constantly moving and changing on all the walls and ceiling.  In the last room, we even got to color one of his paintings and project it on the wall!

It was wonderful spending time with you guys this weekend. We have missed these weekends during the last two years!  Thanks for your hospitality!

PS: when we arrived home on Monday night, Katie called and indicated Will had tested positive for COVID.  So we have been testing this week and have a clean slate!

Double Nickels 2022

Thursday September 18

Gary and Laurel invited us to come to their summer home in Vermont and ride the trails around Newport.  Today we drove to Clark’s Summit in PA, stopping by Harveys Lake on the way.  It is a small lake my Mother and Aunt talked about when Sally and I were young, relating the great times they had there when they were kids.  We’re not sure if their parents owned a house there and now we will never know!

Harvey’s Lake 

Friday

We drove to Plattsburgh via the Adirondacks, a beautiful drive with just a hint of fall colors beginning to appear.  Plattsburgh was disappointing; nothing like what we imagined a city on Lake Champlain would be like! It’s time has past.

Saturday

We drove just short of the Canadian border across Lake Champlain to Newport; a beautiful drive!  The Helms arrived at Laurel and Gary’s shortly after us.  

Lake view from Gary and Laurel’s front porch.

Since the weather was great, we rode the trail from Newport to the Canadian Border along Lake Memphremagog; a beautiful ride!

Sunday 

Today we went to Canada to ride the Tomifobia Trail.  First we went to Stanstead for lunch in a lovely cafe where I tasted my first Scotch Egg! We then started our ride, cycling from Beebe to Ayer’s Cliff. The river provided beautiful scenery!

Guess what? The Double Nickels rode under Canadian Autoroute 55…so we had to take a photo!

Monday

Under Vermont skies, we rode the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail today from Johnson to Morrisville. Last year the Governor made a pledge to complete this Trail border to border, 93 miles; setting a completion date for 2023!  Construction is underway and odds are the goal will be reached on time!

Gretchen found a company owned by a long lost relative?

Lunch at Lost Nation Brewing!

Following our ride we stopped at St. Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Church on a hill overlooking Newport and the lake; a beautiful view!

Tuesday

We toured downtown Newport. We walked around the waterfront and Main Street stopping by several shops including the Pick and Shovel Hardware Store.  It is a hardware store where you can get anything like normal hardware items, lumber, hiking and work clothing and boots, toys, fish and small pets, appliances, patio furniture, and of course, maple syrup making equipment!

View of Lake Memphremagog from the Newport waterfront.

Wednesday

The goal for today was to go to the northern end of Lake Memphremagog in the town of Magog, Quebec.  After crossing the border we went back to Stanstead to visit the Haskell Free Library and Opera House; a building built right over the border.

So you can stand with your right foot in Canada and your left foot in the USA!

We parked next to a bridge over the Tomafobia River in Stanstead where the Nickels had to pose showing their translation of the name, ie phobia of Tom!

Our next stop was Sanstead’s Stone Circle dedicated in 2009. It rests on the 45th parallel, halfway between the North Pole and the Equator.  The Circle rests on a point of balance, symbolizing World Peace! It is a beautiful, peaceful place!

Driving to Magog, we stopped at the McGowan House in Georgeville.  It is an inn with a well know restaurant located on the shore of the lake.

In Magog, we ate lunch in a cute cafe and strolled around the quaint downtown and the park on the Lake!  We had a great day of sightseeing in Quebec!

Thursday

Last Saturday, we weren’t sure if the weather would allow us to ride all of the planned rides.  However, it has been great and today we biked the Missisquoi Valley Rail Trail!  We started in Sheldon Junction and rode to St. Albans and back.

In St. Albans we ate lunch at the Maple City Dinner.  Gary says if he lived here he would eat in the diner every day!  We can see why…the food was fabulous!

After our ride we stopped at Cold Hollow Sculpture Park where hundreds of David Stromeyer’s giant art works are on display. We all thought it was a spot we need to return to when we have more time to walk around the grounds!

We have had a super week in Vermont and Canada.  Thanks so much to Laurel and Gary for hosting and planning this year’s Double Nickels trip!  

Friday - Monday

On the way home we stopped in Orwigsburg to see Priscilla and Phil.  The view of Hawk Mountain from their house never disappoints!

On Saturday we toured our old haunts around Schuylkill Haven, went to the cemetery, walked around the property and watched Penn State football.  It was great to see Stephanie as she joined us for dinner!

On Sunday we went to Danville to meet Caleb…oh, and to see Matt and Emily.  They are restoring an old farmhouse that will be beautiful when it is finished. Hopefully, they will be able to move in by Thanksgiving! The house is on the Susquehanna River, quite a scenic spot!

  

Alas, Monday morning we had to head home.  Thanks so much for your hospitality Priscilla and Phil.  We always love seeing you two.  Phil, we’re glad you’re improving health wise and back to doing most of the things you used to do!