Back and Loaded

Sorry for the delay in posting.  It’s been a busy several weeks since arriving back.  We’re also suffering a bit of “extended travel readjustment affliction,” or EXTRA.  (One of EXTRA’s symptoms is photo forgetfulness, so you may see a dearth of photos.)  Now, about four weeks since returning, we’ll try to catch you up on what’s been going on.

Cathie and John’s

After landing in JFK, we headed over to Ellen’s sister Cathie’s and brother-in-law John’s place in Montclair, New Jersey.  The location is great.  The hospitality over the top.  I highly recommend this b-and-b, particularly the morning lattes courtesy of John.

Ellen’s brother Doug and his sweet GF Allison came up to visit.  It was great to see them.

We went into Brooklyn to see Ellen’s lifetime friend Alice, who is home visiting from Japan.  We had a picnic with Alice and her kids Eric and Lindsey, and granddaughter Emma, and Lindsey BF Mike.  Good times.

Cousins Bob and Pam were in town from Acton, MN. You will remember them from when we last saw them last summer in Martha’s Vineyard.

We also took care of some business.  We were able to find a car that fit into our price range.

I should mention that John is a struggling artist.  We even like quite a bit of his work.  Here are shots of some of his work, both in progress and complete.

If you’d like to see more, visit Mind of Monto.  (Warning: some may find the site disturbing as it does get into John’s mind.)

Spending the first days in Montclair helped with the initial culture shock.  We then headed up to Saratoga Springs to see:

Uncle Bob and Aunt Margie

Margie is Ellen’s mom’s sister.  She and Bob are the parents of Nancy (with whom we travelled in Spain) and Bob (mentioned above at Cathie’s).  They live in a wonderful old house in the quaint town of Saratoga Springs, known both for Skidmore College (where Bob taught) and the Saratoga horse racing track.

We visited on the veranda, walked, ate, drank some beer, and drank some coffee.

If you look closely at the above picture, you will see the wires coming from – drumroll please – the new solar panels on the roof.

The next day we headed off to Niantic, Ct to see my old college roommate and his spouse:

Dan and Jaye

Not for nothing, Dan and Jaye have had solar panels for many years.

We had a terrific lunch, caught up, and took a walk along the coast.

We then headed off to catch the Rhode Island Fast Ferry to Martha’s Vineyard and:

Ellie and Jack

It is always a joy to visit Ellie and Jack.  Ellie is Ellen’s mom’s cousin.  (This makes Ellen her first cousin once removed, but according to Ellie, any cousin configuration is just a cousin).

We dined on Blue Fish, Jack’s specialty.  Caught up on all the news.  Cured the ills of the world.  And enjoyed the amazing sunsets.

We spent the morning driving around the island.

Cousins Aimée and Mark came over with daughter Clay and her childhood friend.  We heard all about their Africa Schoolhouse project.  Check it out.

We headed back to the ferry on our way to Little Compton.