Valley Forge

I realized on this trip that while I once knew a lot about Revolutionary War history....I've also forgotten a LOT!  Nevertheless we loved exploring Valley Forge.

Replicas of the cabins that General Washington's men built to survive the winter and spring of 1777-78

I don't think I would have enjoyed spending a Pennsylvania winter here. 

Well maybe if I could have been with General Washington in his warm stone house I could have survived.  I've got this admiral, general thing going on!  Martha did live here with her husband.  An interesting fact....Pennsylvania had a law that any slave who stayed in the state for 6 months was automatically freed so General Washington rotated his slaves from Valley Forge to Mount Vernon, Virginia every few months. When he and Martha died all the slaves were freed.

And while I'm dreaming of generals, admirals and stone houses, I 'll add a wish for a piece of furniture like this....

And a built in china cabinet and paneling like this....

Memory lane

Son-in-law Mark doesn't have the travel bug like the rest of the family but he cheerfully lets Mary go on  trips with us.  This time we decided to head north to Philadelphia by way of Port Deposit, Maryland and Valley Forge.  Philadelphia and Valley Forge make sense for a couple of tourists like us but you probably wonder about Port Deposit, Maryland!

You know that my Daddy was in the navy.  Well he was stationed for two years at Bainbridge Naval Base near Port Deposit.  I went to kindergarten and part of first grade on the base.  Since it was so near where we were headed, we decided to take a small detour.  Realizing that it was 53 years ago that we left the base and that I hadn't been back since, I wondered how accurate my little girl memories would be!  The base closed in 1986 so there was nothing to see on the actual base, plus they had very convincing warning signs on the road leading out to Bainbridge so we settled for a tour of the town.

 I told Mary all that I remembered about Port Deposit.

• The town was small with the Susquehanna River on one side of the main street and a single row of houses on the other side.
• Behind the row of houses was what I remembered as a mountain cliff.
• We went to a Presbyterian church that was downtown.
• There was a sort of park that had stairs that went up the mountain side.

Guess what?  My memory is pretty good!

This picture was taken near the river, looking across the one street at the one row of houses. The population of Port Deposit is 676!  That is small!

One of the buildings on the narrow main street is the First Presbyterian Church!

And behind the church is the 'mountain side' I remembered!  I'm sure it did appear to be a mountain side to a little girl from the flat lands of central Arkansas.

And right by the church...you guessed it!  Stairs!!!

Is it a sign of dementia that I can remember things from 53 years ago but can't remember why I walked into a room?  Oh well, it was fun to visit 'Historic Port Deposit!"

Annapolis

I don't like that our daughter lives on the other side of the country.  But I love that she lives in an area full of potential for all kinds of fun excursions.  The first Saturday of my visit Mary, Mark and I headed to Annapolis, Maryland.  Because my Daddy was in the navy I have a soft spot for anything Navy....so the Naval Academy was a natural first stop.  The grounds of the academy are beautiful and I loved seeing  the midshipmen in their summer whites.  All the students live in one fantastically beautiful building.  It is the 2nd largest dormitory in the world.  The largest is in Russia.  Living as a midshipmen would be a bit like living in Versailles. Except that the dorm rooms, though functional, aren't quite palace standards! Oh yeah, and then there is all the studying....they all graduate with engineering degrees.  And the physical challenges and the hazing by upper classmen!  But the common rooms are fit for royalty as the ceiling and chandelier of this room plainly show!   I don't think my dream should be to be a midshipmen but the admiral's wife....or the admiral!

I also liked this reminder for these future naval officers.....

Isn't this an interesting monument in to our submarine forces?

Go Navy!

Then dinner at a crowded, noisy seafood restaurant along the Potomac.  A wonderful day with my favorite daughter and son-in-law!

Stan the Man

 Our other two 'Foster Guide Dogs' have been retired guides.  First we had 10 year old Jordana for 13 weeks then 13 year old Howie for 2 weeks.  Stan has been our newest addition!  He is an 18 month old dog recently recalled from his puppy raiser home to come to Oregon for training.  Because of a slight bit of 'shoulder lameness' it was decided that he needed to be in a home for 2 weeks of rest. We were the lucky people who got to take care of him.  Now getting a puppy to think that he needed to rest required some doing. He could only go outside to 'take care of his business'....no walks, no exercise at all!  The first week I was gone so he and George hung out by the computer.  Stan enjoyed just relaxing with his bone.  By the time I got back from Education Week he had a bit of 'cabin fever' but was still supposed to rest.  I think we did a pretty good job of keeping him calm and quiet....at least most of the time.  Occasionally his natural puppy exuberance just spilled over and he couldn't help but act like what he is....a PUPPY!  It's a good thing he is naturally very obedient so we could always get him to respond to "Sit" and "Stay".

This morning I took him back to Guide Dogs.  I felt like I was taking my child to boarding school.  I hope he does well in his training and makes it as a guide!

Education Week 2012

I had another wonderful week at BYU's Education Week.  This year my roommate was Brenda.  We have been friends since 1988 but it has been 17 years since we lived in the same ward.  I love that we can just pick our friendship right back up, catch up on our families and mutual friends and talk and talk and talk for hours and hours until the wee hours of the morning!

A few facts from this year:

• 36 classes taken
• 116 pages of notes 
• Only 4 personal goals and 3 seminary goals
• Got me super excited about teaching New Testament this year
• Had the exact same lunch for 4 of the 5 days....am I in a rut or what?
• No ice cream, no fudge
• Only 1 mint brownie & I ate it on the day we left!
• 6 hours at the Salt Lake Airport pass quickly with an I pad and a Kindle and a brownie
• Made a couple of new friends
• 1st year on the 'elderly lady' first floor of the dorm
• Favorite 'old' speakers: Michael Wilcox & Scott Anderson
• Favorite 'new'  speaker: Ron Bartholomew
• Loved Brother Wilcox's series on people he'd like to meet in heaven....on the list: William Tyndale, CS Lewis, George McDonald, St. Francis of Assisi,  Joan of Arc, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Khadija and Aisha (two of Mohamed's wives), and Charles Darwin...and yes many were amazed that he'd want to meet Darwin or assume that he'd be in heaven!  I hope he writes a book about these people!
• Fell even more in love with my iPad 
• Didn't ride the shuttle to or from the far away classes although I admit I was tempted!
• Only took over a men's bathroom once....there were no men using it and a long line of women for the 3 stalls in theirs....well desperate times call for desperate measures!
• Went to my very first nutrition class....on cutting carbs, and I walked in eating a bag of goldfish!
• Also went to my first 'organizing' class....I need to be ruthless and get rid of tons of stuff and she taught a system for doing that!  Now I need to find time to go to Boise and get started!!!!!

Education Week is the perfect ending to a summer that has been super busy and fun.  I love the spiritual pick me up and the chance to recharge my batteries while having a fantastic time with friends.

Cruise humor

On the last day of the cruise the cruise director shared some of the questions he'd been asked.  I think they are so funny but it surely makes me think of all the 'dumb' questions I've probably asked over the years.

• When he announced that the photos that had been taken during the cruise were on display in the photo shop someone asked him, "How will I know which ones are mine?"  Uhh....the ones with you in the photo.
• "How small does my head have to be to qualify for the spa's 'mini facial'?
• "Where is the elevator that takes me to the front of the ship?"
• One complaint from the last cruise was that the glaciers were too 'dirty'.  What exactly did they think Holland America could do about that?  Send some room stewards a couple of days early to clean them and how exactly does one go about cleaning a glacier...with a zamboni????
• "What do you do with the ice sculptures after they melt?"
• "I notice lots of people with small patches behind their ear.  What religion are they?"  His answer the "e-queasy-asticals". " I am a dedicated member of that religion.
• "Is the water in the toilets fresh water or salt water?"  His response, "Why do you want to know?  There are too reasons I'll never know - #1 and #2!"  Sorry 2nd grade humor here!
• And then there are the classic two questions. "Does the ship generate its own power?"  No we have a really long extension cord. "Does the crew sleep on the ship?"  Ummm...we are in the middle of the ocean, where else would they sleep?

How will he ever top this??

George really outdid himself this year for my birthday!  He surprised me with an Inside Passage cruise!  We drove up to Vancouver, BC boarded a beautiful Holland America ship and went north to Alaska!

 George even planned all our shore excursions.  First day we went whale watching and we saw whales....lots and lots of whales!!!!

Another day we drove 'mules' to a beautiful spot near Haines, Alaska and had a wonderful halibut dinner.

 One of the most fun excursions was flying in a float plane to a remote island to look for bears!

And we did see bears! They are very quick and efficient fishermen! There were so many salmon at this spot that I think I could have caught one with my bare hands but I don't think I'd want to be in competition with one of these black bears!!!

The bears were fun to watch and the scenery as we flew to Prince of Wales island was spectacular.

 I even got flowers, a birthday cake, and a Dr. Pepper on my birthday!

Alaska is a beautiful place and I'm glad I got to share it with my sweetheart!