Retirement and Promotion

We left the Finger Lakes and drove back down to Richmond, Virginia, to join our son-in-law and family for his retirement from the USMC.  Anthony retired after 29 years in the Marine Corps and traveled all over the world including a stint in Afghanistan.  He is retiring as a Colonel and the whole family is very proud of him and his dedicated service to our country.  

Anthony with our daughter, Lynn, during the ceremony.  

Anthony gave a nice speech thanking many who had been with him throughout his career and a big "Thank You" to his wife and family for all they had sacrificed during his career.  

I was sitting next to Anthony's mom and we both received a lovely bouquet of flowers.

After the ceremony there was a lovely celebration in one of the halls on the base.

Granddaughter Katelyn with her husband Cole joined us.

Brett' s sisters, Debra and Cindy, and niece, Amy, joined us along with other members from their family.

After the ceremony many of the people present went to the Capitol Alehouse in downtown Richmond and we continued the celebration there.  The youngsters played darts while all the adults drank beer and ate more food and we all had a great time.

Anthony's retirement was on a Monday so we stayed in Richmond and spent the rest of the week helping our daughter and family get ready to move to their new home in Warrington, PA.  On Friday we drove up to Washington, DC, to enjoy the promotion of our niece, Sarah Eccleston, to Lt. Colonel in the US Army.  Our granddaughter, Katelyn, drove back up to Richmond to join us on the trip to DC.  

Sarah decided to have her promotion on a boat while cruising the Potomac River.


Waiting to get on the boat.

Sarah is a nurse with the United States Army, a mother of four, and married to Russell Anderson.   Sarah's brother-in-law, Lt  Col Spencer Anderson, performed the ceremony.  He recently  retired from the US Army after a long career.  They were the only two in uniform for the ceremony and it was really hot.  

Sarah's husband, Russ Anderson, emceed the ceremony and had everyone laughing.  There was lots of food and drink and as soon as the promotion ended Sarah and Sterling got out of their hot uniforms to enjoy the rest of the boat ride.  The boat was crowded with family and friends and the Potomac River was beautiful.  You couldn't have asked for a nicer day.

We also got to see many wonderful views from the Potomac River.

Katelyn and Lt Colonel Sarah Eccleston

Two old folks who were invited.

Back in Richmond we continued to help Lynn get ready for the move to PA.  She has some nice artwork, china, and other valuables that she was concerned about being shipped commercially and didn't think there would be enough room in their cars to carry it.  So the Captain suggested we take those valuables in our rig back to Lugoff, SC, leave some of it there until later in the year, and bring the rest back up with us to their new home.  It also gave him the opportunity to drop off a few cases of wine we had purchased while in New York :)  So we jumped into the rig, drove all the way home, dropped off the necessary items, had dinner in the rig with our daughter, Beth, and grandson, Lee, spent the night in the rig and then left early the next morning to drive back up to the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia.  What parents do for their kids.....

We found a nice campground in the Shenandoah Valley and stayed there for a week to enjoy the scenic area. While there, our black lab, Desi, stopped eating and drinking water and became very listless.  We took him into a local vet and they ran blood work but found nothing.  Since he was dehydrated they gave him subcutaneous fluid and an antibiotic to see if he would improve. Two days later we were back with him and they ran an x-ray which showed his spleen was enlarged and they saw several lumps that looked suspicious.  Once again they gave him fluids for dehydration.  This continued but with us giving him the fluids over the next few days.  They recommended he have an ultrasound to try and determine what they were seeing in his stomach but they didn't have the equipment necessary to do the test.  Since we were traveling to Warrington to meet up with our daughter and family we decided to find a doctor there.  

Our sick puppy getting fluids in the rig.

Eventually we visited two different doctors with Desi.  The one doctor did the ultrasound but it did not show any cancerous tumors so they thought it might be an autoimmune problem. That led us to the last doctor who was a specialist in internal medicine with animals.  He looked at the xrays and ultrasound and suggested we have another more complex blood test for Desi.   He also recommended an IDEXX 4dx snap blood test which checks for tick borne diseases.  I mentioned Desi had always been on monthly heartworm and flea and tick medicine but decided it wouldn't hurt since he was a southern dog where those diseases are so prevalent.  The 4dx test only takes a few minutes and it came back positive for Ehrlichia which is a tick borne disease.  We were very surprised but the vet said he had probably been carrying it in a sub-clinical stage where there are no outward signs. He felt something physiological caused the disease to flare up.  We got the results of the more complex drug test the next day and it definitely pointed to Ehrlichia.  So Desi is on Doxycycline for 30 days and when we get home we will take him into our vet for another 4dx test to see if he has cleared the disease.  He is now happy and healthy again, enjoying his food and walks, and being our sweet pup.

Our daughter and family moved to Warrington and we went to their house each day and painted many rooms before the movers brought in their furniture.  After a week we left and went to a quiet park for rest and relaxation before we continued on our trip east to Johnstown, PA.  My father was born and raised there so I wanted to see the old house.  The city is also known for the Johnstown Flood and we wanted to learn more about that.  It was an interesting place that I will share with you in the next blog. Peace!

  

    

Heading to New York

Heading to New York to meet up with our good friends Keith and Kristine Holland from Australia.  We hadn't seen each other in three years so we had a lot of catching up to do. Along the way we ran into rain and the day we met in Ovid it was cool and rainy. The town of Ovid is between two lakes, Cayuga and Seneca, which are part of the Finger Lakes of New York.  What a beautiful area. The park we stayed in is called Sned Acres and is a fantastic place for dogs.  Our space was roomy on a hill and the dogs were allowed to run free which our two love to do.  The weather also cleared and we had beautiful sunny days in the upper 70's with very little humidity.

How to save your tree and keep the electrical wires protected.

Of course the Finger Lakes is also known for its wineries and we made sure we would see a few while there.  Our first stop was Lacey MacGruder which is one of our favorites. The tasting room is in a 300 year old barn that was tastefully remodeled by the owners.  Even the bathrooms caught your eye. 

After that one we stopped at a few more over the next three days and a few restaurants and a creamery for cheese.  

Canned wine!

In the distance you could see the beautiful lakes. 

Many of the flowering plants were just opening up.  In South Carolina they had already bloomed so it was nice to see all the flowers again.  Everything was green and lush.

This was the creamery where we tasted the cheese.  Since there was 14 types of cheese to try they  suggested we purchase something to drink along with the tasting so we all had a glass of Riesling.

That led to lunch afterwards at one of the many fine restaurants in the area with our Kiwi friends.  Although they live in Australia now they are from New Zealand originally.

After days of indulgence it was time to move on.  Keith and Kristine headed up to Canada and we decided to explore more of the Finger Lakes.  Our next stop was in a small town outside of Canandaigua Lake. The area already had a good deal of rain so the fields and ditches were flooded. 

We saw these young boys having a ball playing in the ditch near their home.

The turn to our RV park led us from a paved highway up a dirt road.

As we climbed in the rig towards the campground it got foggier with less visibility.

The camp guide leading us to our parking place wherever that might be.  

The next day the weather cleared and we had awesome views.

We spent several sunny days in Canandaigua and enjoyed the town which is filled with lovely older homes.

We think this is a lilac tree.  They smelled like lilac although neither of us had seen one this large.

A long section of Main Street was filled with stately older homes that were beautifully maintained.

This painting was on two sides of a building which represented the old railroad station.  The way it was painted made it look three dimensional.  Today the railroad tracks have been converted into a miles long hiking and biking trail.   

We heard about a music festival in a town nearby called Naples so we took a drive over there.  

Gotta be friendly with a grapevine on your emblem!

This winery was sponsoring the festival in Naples.  There were two good bands that evening, dogs were welcome, wine and food was plentiful, and we had a great time.  Unfortunately, the Captain can't find the rest of the pictures so you'll have to take our word for it that it was a fun night!


We moved to another campground on Otisco Lake so we could visit the town of Skaneateles (skinny atlas) which is on another Fingers Lake called (tada) Skaneateles Lake.  

I am surprised they had a spot to park our rig on Otisco Lake. We had a decent view of the lake but the parking area was teeny-tiny.  Right behind us were cabins that are owned by the regulars on the lake and the tail end of our rig was almost on one of the porches.   Maybe they rented it to us because it was midweek and no one was using the cabins but the size of our rig had people stopping to watch to see if we could get it into the spot. 

Our view of the lake from the rig.


Our little parking space.

The weather was gorgeous so we drove to Skaneateles to see the sights. 

Outside one of the 'upscale' dog stores in town.

A section of the Skaneateles River flowing into (or out of) the lake.  

Several of the prestigious homes on the lake across from the town.

There were several parks along the lake so we packed a lunch and took the pups to enjoy the scenery and the day. 

As we sat enjoying our lunch we saw four teenage girls get off the school bus carrying their backpacks and head to the water's edge. They hemmed and hawed for awhile and then two of them linked arms and jumped into the water while their friends took cellphone pictures. Turns out it was the last day of school and this is how they decided to celebrate.  The screams as they hit the cold water got a little attention!

While in town the pups also enjoyed our hike along the Charlie Major Nature Trail.  It is a pretty area with a 0.8 mile walking trail along the Skaneateles River and a good place to cool off on a hot day.  

Love the chair.

We finished our stay by hiking the Hinchcliff Family Preserve south of Skaneateles.  This property is still owned by the family but they turned an area of it into a trail so hikers could see the remains of an old homestead and other interesting items.

A 1937 Chevrolet GE 1-ton Army Truck

Remains of the Wickwire Cottage. 

Lake Skaneateles in the distance.

Our final stop was at a winery called Anyela's above the lake. We had a tasting and then sat out on the veranda to enjoy the views. 

And then it was time to leave New York and head down to Richmond, Virginia, to see our son-in-law retire from the USMC and spend a day in Washington, DC, to see our niece be promoted to Lt. Colonel in the US Army.  But that's in the next blog.  Peace!