We Had A Busy Day!

We woke up early and left the house at 7:30 a.m. to reach our 7:45 a.m. gym session in Villa Park.  I dropped Mary off at the gym and returned home to clean up my garage workbench.  Around 9:30 a.m., Mary texted me to let me know that she had finished her workout, and I went to pick her up.

We met at the Elks with Laura, whom we sponsored to become a member.  Before the 11:45 a.m. orientation meeting, we joined Laura and Andrea for breakfast at 11:00 a.m.  We had decided to support Laura and also get a quick refresher.

Mary did well in keeping up with her caloric intake, but unfortunately, she did not share the food equally.  I received 66% of the omelet, all of the pancakes, all of the sausage, and one-half of the mistakenly ordered bacon.  However, we did have hot tea and iced tea, not alcohol.

After breakfast, we went upstairs into the Lodge Room and sat through the one-hour presentation before going home.

In the Lodge Room

We rode the elevator Bill Capps warned us about; he was right!  The man seems helpless, but he pinches!

The new elevator operator is at your service!

When we arrived home, Mary and I worked on her presentation while Juan tended to the cars.  She requested graphics, so we attempted to take photos, but they did not turn out as expected.  Nevertheless, they may still be sufficient.

Mary was a General Medical Officer with the rank of Captain in the US Army stationed in Germany and served there for four years.

Mary is at work doing an operation in Germany! She is operating with her medical assistant and a nurse!

Upon his return to California, she assumed the role of Supreme Allied Leader in the field of ophthalmology in the Greater Orange County.

She ran the OC for years!

We must have a cartoon!

While she was finished her speech, I looked for the infamous missing picture hanging box.  I accidentally hit a switch on the side of the TV Room’s electronic theater couch, and it started working!  It has been reported dead.

“I’m glad you could fix the couch in the TV room!” Mary said after I called her into the room to demonstrate my sophisticated repair capabilities.  It’s always nice to have things working correctly around the house.  I have yet to find the picture frame kit!  It must have run away from home.

It’s Italian night at the Lodge, and everyone’s here.  The food was fantastic, and we danced and danced to work it off!

Chef Bob attempted to make the Italian meal look like Pearogi’s, but it was Italian through and through.

The trouble with eating Italian food is that five or six days later you’re hungry again.

Our own Polish-Italian!

It’s okay that our group was scattered because we got to sit with different friends.

We got our pizza, so I told the waiter to cut the pizza into four pieces because I was not hungry enough to eat six.

A tavola non si invecchia. – At the table with good friends and family, you do not become old.

Bill has his table for ten at the side of the dance floor.

Ronnie, the Lodge’s Ambassador of Goodwill, came by, and we convinced him to challenge our newest Elks member, Laura, to a “slap coin” game.  Although Laura hasn’t mastered the pattern yet, Ronnie’s participation made her nervous that he might take away the coin.  However, with more practice, she will improve.

Ronnie comes to visit!

Meanwhile, at the table, Bob and Bob are teasing the doctor!

Great fun!

We had an incredible time dancing until 10:00 p.m.  However, on our way home, we decided to stop by Aces, only to find it too noisy and crowded.  We could hardly hear ourselves think!  We quickly greeted the bartender and left for Rockwell’s to enjoy a glass of wine.  The atmosphere was much more relaxed, and we found a lovely table outside.  After a glass of wine, we headed home and arrived at 10:30 p.m., feeling content with our successful day.

The house looked pretty good; we are ready for Halloween!

The time we spend together is always special.  I hope we can continue doing this for another 20 years!

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Friday The 13th; Spooooky!

Did You Know?  People who are super afraid on Friday the 13th might have a condition called triskaidekaphobia (pronounced trihs-keye-dek-uh-FOE-bee-uh), which is a fear of the number 13.  (Any extreme or irrational fear of something is called a phobia).  The word comes from ancient Greek and translates to “fear of the number 13.”

We woke up early because Mary had an appointment at 8:30 a.m.  I dropped her off near Ralph’s Market in Villa Park and returned home to work on my chores.

After returning home, I did some laundry, cleaned the kitchen, made the beds, and worked in the shop, but I failed to find my picture hanging box.  Our TV Room picture on the wall is too low, and I wanted to raise it a bit.

At 10:45, I returned to Mary, and we walked three doors down to Rockwell’s for a quick breakfast.  As we were on a serious mission to lose weight, we shared a breakfast.

During breakfast, we discussed the news!  While it is undeniable that Trump is not a likable person (he is a jerk), his policies benefited the country.  On the other hand, Biden lacks any rational policy and is destroying the country with his goofy, incoherent antics, such as allowing 100,000 illegals to enter our country every month.

It seems obvious to vote for a candidate with the best policies rather than a smiling nincompoop who is being jerked left and left-er by people behind the curtain.  Oh well, I can’t fix stupid!

Rockwell’s had festive decorations inside and outside the establishment.  We enjoyed seeing them and decided to take a couple of photos.

Breakfast at Rockwell’s.

We refrained from looking in the bakery display to avoid buying items that would set back our dietary goals; we know from experience. It’s hard to diet when your favorite exercise is chewing.

We always have to remember,  DIET translated means Did I Eat That?

All decorated up for the holiday!

Afterward, we went to Home Depot to do some shopping (it’s our favorite store), and we took a 45-minute walk inside the store.  Walking after a meal is always good.  We bought some LED lights for behind the TV, concrete mortar repair to fix some places in the backyard, liquid wood or wood putty to fix some minor termite damage, and new plants for the vertical garden.  We explored the entire store.  Dieting isn’t a piece of cake.

Christmas has arrived big time, and it isn’t even Halloween yet!  Thank goodness they were not playing Christmas carols yet.

What does a ghost mom say when she gets in the car?  Fasten your sheet-belts.

Home Depot is ready for Christmas.

Upon arriving home, we unloaded the car and quietly checked on the sleeping baby.  He’s like Dakota – if a burglar ever broke in, they’d likely trip over him and pass out.

While I worked in the garden, Mary cooked her famous chili in the kitchen.  I don’t know how she does it; no recipe goes to the frig, extracts whatever looks good, and into the crock pot, it goes!.

After dinner, we took a walk as it was getting dark.  As we left the front yard, the staring eyeballs made us feel a bit creeped out. It’s a funny reminder for Dr. Mary!

May has eyeballs staring at you when you walk toward the front door.

Some houses in the neighborhood were dark, while others were decorated for the season.  The house below had great lighting that changed colors every five seconds.

On our walk!

Our house is beautifully decorated for Halloween using LED lights controlled by an iPhone.  The LEDs are permanently mounted under the eves, thus allowing us to change the house’s color with every holiday!

Home, sweet home!

With the iPhone in hand, we change the lights to any of 64,000,000 colors, and they can run, twinkle, pulse, and even react to music!

We may play Christmas carols this year and let the lights dance to the various songs!

We plan to do this walk at least twice daily after meals, meaning we will get 4,000+ steps (my stride) and probably 4,500 with Mary’s stride!  We will NOT let the holiday festivities upset dietary goals; we are coming out ten pounds lower one way or another.

Our walk!

After returning home, we decided to watch a movie.  While doing so, Mary folded some clothes from the dryer and also finished knitting a special creation for a loved one.  We are excited to share pictures of the fantastic garment when the time comes.

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Visiting The Elks!

Amen!!!

It’s Thursday, time to rise and shine! We went to the garden and were surprised to find a visitor – a horney worm, also known as a Tomato Horn Worm or a Tobacco Worm. We noticed him because of the poop he left on the ground. Unfortunately, we had to dispose of him in the trash can.

Did You Know?At full size, the tomato hornworm is about 3 to 4 inches in length.It is one of the largest of all garden caterpillars. It is green in color and typically has eight diagonal white stripes on its sides. The tomato hornworm also has a black horn projecting from its rear.

These plump caterpillars get about four inches long and can devour all the leaves on a tomato plant in a single day, but are completely harmless to humans.

Once fully grown, caterpillars drop off the plant to the ground and dig four to six inches down into the soil to create their pupation chamber.

He’s an ugly little fella, but he hides well in the tomato plants.

Upon entering the house, we noticed the roses awakening as they greeted the sun. He seemed to be enjoying the day.

What do European Flowers use for money? Eu-rose.

The roses are enjoying the cool down.

We have replaced the old tarp covering the potting bench and sink with a new one which is 16 mil thick. Hopefully, this new tarp will last for at least a year as the previous one, despite being “heavy duty”, was no match for the sun’s power and was eventually baked to a crisp.

In a recent El Niño forecast by the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), there is a greater than 95% chance that El Niño continues across the Northern Hemisphere through the winter into 2024.

It is ready for the wet winter being forecasted.

Just above the potting bench is the orange tree belonging to our neighbors. They have kindly allowed us to pick as much fruit as we want, so our table will be filled with oranges all winter.

In another two months, we will have oranges!

I told Mary to look at the orange tree, and she immediately thought of our recent trip!

Our baby grapefruit tree is trying to grow up early.  He had six large grapefruits on him already!  The name for the Grapefruit was created by a Jamaican farmer when he noticed the fruit grew in clusters similar to grapes.

The grapefruit is doing well; the moth is just visiting!

11:00 am and time to go.  We called Jan, but of course, she could not make it.  We will ask again after the first of the year.  We can’t have a one-way friendship!

We had “Z-Man,” George, Vicky (a delightful addition), Iris & Will, and the Ash’s today.  Many of us tried their new crab and shrimp sandwich; it was outstanding.  We stayed and talked until 1:30 p.m., at which time we scooted out as Mary had some paperwork to pick up at 2:00 p.m. in the local gym.

Dressed for the occasion.

After arriving home, I spent some time working in the yard before Mary woke up from her nap. Later, around 5:00 p.m., we took our dog, Scout, for a walk around the neighborhood, covering a distance of 0.8 miles. We plan to increase our daily walking distance to at least two miles.

Yesterday evening, Mary cooked delicious stuffed peppers for dinner, and we enjoyed watching a couple of entertaining movies. By 9:00 p.m., we headed to the office, where Mary proofread the vacation website that we had created for our recent East Coast trip. I made the necessary corrections, and now we can send it out to our friends for them to enjoy!

You can see it here.

It was the bewitching hour, so we went to bed early. We need to be up and running by 8:00 a.m. tomorrow! Mary has a gym appointment, and I need to go shopping at Home Depot.

Good night my amazing wife!

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Off And Running Again!

I’ve learned that life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer it gets to the end, the faster it goes.

It’s that time of the year when Mary and I like to watch Halloween movies. This morning, we were frightened by the movie “Monster With The Aluminum Head.”  I may have nightmares!

Okay, so the truth is that we had hair appointments. Mine only took a few minutes since I have only one hair, but Mary’s took much longer.  I save money; she trims the one hair and combs it with a washcloth!

What do you call lice on the hairless head of a man? Homeless.

“I sell the aluminum foil afterward!”

We love holiday attire. I found the perfect outfit for Mary as the weather gets colder.  This month I am wearing my Halloween shirts every day!

If she had her hat on, RUN!

After leaving the hairdresser, we went to the Elks Lodge where we met Bob Z. We discussed and finalized the arrangements for Saturday night. The lunch at the Elks Lodge was quite good and after a while, Bill Capps arrived. We made plans to meet with him and Mary to dance later in the evening.

The Lodge was decorated well!

As we departed the Lodge, the front door display was ready for Halloween.  It was spooktacular!

We are not sure we want to sit at this table!

Mary found a friend.  He had just come back from his Weight Watchers meeting and was feeling a bit hungry!

Why are skeletons so calm? Because nothing gets under their skin.

Smoooooch

We worked around the house until 7 p.m., then headed to Tustin Senior Citizens Center for music and dancing. The usual suspects were present.  The music was perfect for dancing and we did waltzes, cha-chas,  swing, rumba, and some other things we made upas we went.

The Smoothies did a superb job this evening

We made it back home at 10:00 p.m., watched a movie, and then crashed.

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Tuesday We Were Traveling Again!

I had a dentist’s appointment in Huntington Beach at 10:00 a.m. right near the Beach Blvd Five Points intersection.  While traveling there, we made a list of items we needed to do for our upcoming travels.

The dentist gave me good news – the implant is in place and just needs to have the crown tightened. I already have an appointment with Dr. Annie next week.

On the way home, we went to the Original Pancake House here in Orange and shared a super large vegetarian omelet!  With that accomplished, we didn’t eat the rest of the day!

We are now using a travel agent instead of attempting to do it ourselves; they have the expertise, plus Leah has been a friend for almost fifteen years!

After getting home at 11:30 a.m., we worked in the office until 7:00 p.m.  We talked to Leah for an hour, filling in the Caribbean and Ireland paperwork.  Leah is going to call Colleen and get her info tomorrow.

The Panama Canal cruise is in 177 days. 15 Day | Panama Canal – Ocean to Ocean with Total Solar Eclipse – Ship: Emerald Princess departing
Los Angeles, California on Apr 05, 2024

We stayed up past midnight with me finishing off the last adventure and Mary knitting for Robin a surprise.

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Monday Has Arrrived And The Wash Is Done!

Memories: Off To See Grandma: I remember it was 1958. My grandma Lewis, who was Mom’s mother, lived in Tracy, California, which was an 8-hour drive back then. Dad always wanted to leave early to avoid the hot Central Valley weather. We had a 1958 Chevy station wagon, and Dad would drive with the windows open, his arm resting on the door. This was before air conditioning was popular. By the time we got to Tracy, Dad’s arm was blistered. Mom applied “Kip” on it to soothe the burn. I couldn’t find any reference to Kip on the internet. It’s probably too old.

After a few days away from home, Dad was driving down the highway when he spotted red flashing lights, indicating that he was about to be pulled over and issued a ticket. Dad complied and was very courteous to the police officer. Meanwhile, the officer’s partner got into the patrol car and informed his colleague that there was an emergency in town before driving off.

We always support our police force!

After Dad offered him a ride, we drove the stranded officer to the police station located in the next town.

The officer apologized and explained that he couldn’t tear up the ticket since it was serialized. However, he did write a note on it to the judge. I am not sure what the note said, but my father never received the ticket, and it was never recorded in his driving history.

Did it stop Dad from being speedy?  No chance.

We returned to town after being away for almost a week and a half and had a doctor’s appointment on Monday. As expected, we had to visit our dermatologist in Los Alamitos. The doctor informed us that our face was doing well, but he discovered some cancer on my chest. So, we will have to visit Long Beach for another check-up in the near future.

While in Los Alamitos at 11:00 a.m., we decided we must have lunch with Miss Robin.  We went to the Yucatan Grill in Seal Beach and caught up and planned!

I told Mary about the Lime-Chicken soup, which I thought was great.  I made this from scratch at home many years back.  Lime soup is a traditional dish from the Mexican state of Yucatan, which is made of chicken or some other meat such as pork or beef, lime juice, and served with tortilla chips.

Did you know that the best chipotle is served in the Gulp of Mexico?

Lime Chicken Soup

Having just returned from Ba Haba, I needed my lobster fox, so I had the Lobster Enchilada.  It was amazing, and the presentation was excellent.  I threw in a hard-shelled taco, just in case.  Then I was hit by the news: Per serving: 837 calories, 40 grams protein, 46 grams fat (percent calories from fat, 49), 66 grams carbohydrates, 190 milligrams cholesterol, 1,606 milligrams sodium, 5 grams fiber.

Lobster Enchilada

We decided to visit Jan and remind her she is going to the Elks on Thursday with us.  We went next door and got her a Philly Cheese Steak sandwich!

Philly Cheesecake Time For Jan

We dropped the sandwich by and visited for about twenty minutes; we had to get back to Scout!

Jan said this would last her two days!

After returning home, we resumed our work in the garden and did the last of the wash from the trip. Later, we visited Jeff for a while and then came back home to watch Halloween Town and Going to College in Halloween Town. Disney used to produce great movies, but they started producing low-quality content after becoming more politically biased.

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Sunday Has Arrive; Time To Get To Work!

Think about it!

We have been busy with the garden! Removing summer plants can be a lot of work, but it’s great that it’s looking good now. It’s always satisfying to see the progress after putting in several hours of hard work. And it’s a good idea to finish everything before the next mid-November cruise. We will get the soil turned and ready for planting just before Halloween!

Gardening requires lots of water—most of it in the form of perspiration.

Tearing out the summer garden was work!

When weeding, the best way to make sure you are removing a weed and not a valuable plant is to pull on it. If it comes out of the ground easily, it is a valuable plant.

While cleaning out the garden, Mary found hidden veggies. She made a stuffed bell pepper dish with a green stir-fry.

We are still finding veggies!

We watched Hocus Pocus II and laughed all the way through the movie. I also treated her to a dose of Elvira, Mistress of the Night. Corny as ever but very funny. Elvira is the same age as Mary!

Her movie comments are priceless.

But in real life, she is Cassandra Petersen.

Amazing!

We hit the sack at 8:00 p.m., recovering from last week’s adventure to the East Coast!

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Getting Back To Normal!

You gotta love this lady!

We stayed put today and finished off all our wash from the trip.  We walked the yard and developed a plan of attack for tomorrow.

At 2:00 p.m. we had a masseuse come to provide us each a 90-minute massage courtesy of the Armstrongs!

Mary cooked spaghetti using angel hair pasta, and it was fantastic. I even had a third serving!

I asked Mary, “How small is the smallest type of pasta?” She replied, “It’s about a centimeter orzo!”

The sauce was to die for!

We watched a movie called “Last Vegas,” which was hilarious. The plot revolves around four friends who take a break from their daily lives to throw a bachelor party in Las Vegas for their last remaining single friend.

The cast is amazing and makes a wonderful group of best friends. De Niro portrays that mature friend who is like their father, Douglas is that friend who refuses to give up on anything, Kline is that really nice guy, and Freeman is the childish one. I absolutely loved the movie!

We crashed at 9:30 p.m. and are about 90% recovered from the trip! MAry hit the sack first and by the time I brushed my tooth, she was sound asleep!

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Adventure Day #9 – Going Home!

We had a fantastic time over the past eight days, starting with a medical conference.  This was followed by a week spent with our lovely daughter and her family.  During that time, I had the opportunity to meet our two newest great-grandchildren!  Additionally, Colleen’s in-laws were there, so we had the chance to get to know them better.

We invited the children to join us for breakfast at the B&B.  Before the meal, Sarah dropped by with her rambunctious “grand dogs.”  Pictures to come!

My oldest grandson, Jon, is an amazing man!

We drove through the countryside on our way to the nearby airport, and that hour was delightful, with the colors of the trees changing in front of our eyes.  The colors of the trees are changing right before our eyes.

We boarded the airplane, and Mary started filling out her paper calendar for 2024.

Busy creating her 2024 calendar book!

The sky was breathtaking, and despite the small size of our aircraft, opting for a first-class ticket was worth it.  We had plenty of space to stretch out and enjoy some wine, and we could arrive at our destination before everyone else.

The skies were clear early on!

I saw this cartoon and thought about Colleen making the doctor’s appointment for Mark (Colleen’s hubby)!

We thought of Mark!

We arrived in North Carolina and hurriedly walked from Concourse L to B, anxious about our delayed arrival and the fate of our luggage.

We are getting ready for the five-hour flight.

We traveled on a brand-new Boeing 737, which was an incredible experience.  The aircraft provided ample space and had an internet connection.  The bar had a wide selection of drinks, and the beef ribs were exceptional.  Additionally, I got  Mary’s shrimp cocktail, which she didn’t want.  For dessert, we had a choice of ice cream flavors, which was an excellent finish to the meal.

Amazing cloud cover.

We arrived in Orange County at 7:05 p.m., which was 10 p.m. our time, right on schedule.  After reaching there, we called Robin and found out that she had picked up Irene, and they were having a good time at a restaurant in South Coast Plaza.

The city was lit up, much like me!

We got home in one piece, unloaded the bags, and sat and visited with Irene and Robin for a while.  Irene set sail for her home at 9:00 p.m.  We continued talking to Robin for another hour when my lights went out!  Stick a fork in my, I am done!

We are proud of our daughter, who raised three fine young people, each with a family, good jobs, and homes.  The great-grandkids are a lot of fun, like a barrel of monkeys!

Amen!

In summary, the trip was fantastic.  Traveling with Dr. Mary is a joy in itself.  She finishes my sentences, reads my thoughts, and is up for anything.  We have much more traveling ahead of us, including the Amazon, Antarctica, and a return to Australia; we have more family adventures planned with Robin,  Joe,  Michele, and Colleen!

Between the time I got to bed and went to sleep, it was 3.3 milliseconds!

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Adventure Day #8 – Going On A Choo Choo Ride!

I should have known; it was Mark’s idea!

We arose at the usual insane time of 6:00 a.m. to get ready to be at Colleen’s at 8:00 a.m.  While Mary was getting ready to go, I ordered the owner of the Inn two Halloween shirts from High Seas Trading Company.  He expressed great interest in the shirts I wore during the visit.

I sat on the porch, awaiting the kids to arrive.

Taking life easy!

The kids picked us up at 8:00 a.m.  We drove 90 minutes to the Conway Scenic Railway.  The drive was lovely, especially after the fog lifted.

We drove north from Dover.

We had breakfast at a small bakery adjacent to the train station.  Mary wore her new sweatshirt for the first time.

It was time for breakfast and dressed for the occasion.

We have a full tummy and tickets; the day can start!

Enjoying the nick-nacks around the bakery

Colleen met a new friend!

We named him “Bones.”

On the way to the station, we saw an older engine used on their longer routes.  It’s an F7 EMD engine circa 1950s.  It was in beautiful condition for a fifty-year-old engine.

Old trains were everywhere.

Our train arrived when we entered the station; we were on board in fifteen minutes.  No. 573 is a former Maine Central unit; it came on the property in 1995 from the Springfield Terminal.  It was named in honor of longtime engineer Gordon Lang in 2021.  This unit is typically assigned to the Heritage Excursions.

Here comes our engine!

Our car was nearby, so we only had to walk about 200 feet to board for the 90-minute excursion.  Although we wanted a longer ride, everything was already sold out.

Halloween was confusing.  My parents always said, ‘Never take candy from strangers.’ And then they dressed me up and said, ‘Beg for it.’

Our car follows closely behind, a good thing!

We boarded and were on our way a few minutes later.  I was advised NOT to make my standard choo-choo sounds, so I behaved!

I wanted to put together this list of funny train puns a while ago, but I kept getting sidetracked.

Just us.

We went over the water and through the woods to grandmother’s house.  It was an eleven-mile journey to the end of the tracks!  We zipped along about twenty miles per hour, crossing through several towns and over five highways where the Engineer got to blow the horn.

We had a fine view of the scenery as it passed by.

We all had a super time!

You wonder where I am?  They got me a special seat to be up close and personal.

Two longs, a short, and another long means the train will cross an intersection!

The rivers were more like streams and provided some super photo-ops.

We crossed several bridges before arriving at the end of the line.

Colleen took great pictures as we journeyed down the tracks.  The scenery was spectacular and displayed the local farms quite well.

I once asked a conductor how many times a train he was on had gotten derailed.  He told me it was hard to keep track.

The farmland was immaculate.

The White Mountains are in the background.  The White Mountains cover about a quarter of New Hampshire and a small portion of western Maine in the United States.  They are part of New England’s northern Appalachian Mountains and the most rugged mountains.  Several of the higher peaks contain an Alpine tundra.

The Engineer told us that driving trains is a lot more difficult than it steams.

There is peace in the valley, for sure.  This was the athletic field of the local high school!

The sand bars move around as the river gets more active in the wintertime.  These streams will get covered in ice toward January.

The ticket inspectors came by.  You’ve got to hand it to them…

No shortage of water.

We attempted to count the mosquitos but quickly ran out of fingers.  While quite beautiful, we are staying away from the mosquito havens.

Blood money – What mosquitoes use as currency.

Like a jungle!

The engine detached from the train at the end of the line and moved to the opposite end of the train.  We then switched car seats to view both sides of the rail lines as we returned to the station.

Did you notice the snow plow on the front of the engine?

The engine changed positions.

Our car was nearly 100 years old but was quite comfy for an hour’s tour.  The Central Railroad of New Jersey, also known as the Jersey Central, Jersey Central Lines, or New Jersey Central, was a Class I railroad with origins in the 1830s.  It was absorbed into Conrail in April 1976, along with several other prominent Northeastern United States bankrupt railroads.

Our car was 100 years old!

Did You Know?  North Conway Station is a railway station in North Conway, New Hampshire.  Built in 1874, the depot was designed by Nathaniel J. Bradlee in an eclectic Russian Victorian style.  The station is also the terminus for the Conway Scenic Railroad.  Northwest of the station stands a roundhouse, which now houses the Scenic Railroad’s rolling stock; it was built around the same time as the station.  The yard and depot were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 as North Conway Depot and Railroad Yard.

The station was beautiful in the sunlight.

We departed the train and walked across the parking lot to the local emporium that sold knives and kitchen equipment.  We saw the stove below and took a picture to forward to Dianne.

The stove was in excellent condition!

Seeing a Five & Dime, we had to visit the building.  The building’s original construction date is estimated to be about 1840, but its present appearance dates to a significant renovation c. 1900.  The rear expansion was added about 1940.

The false front is the only one of its type in North Conway.  The store has been in continuous operation since 1939 under several different owners.  At the time of its listing on the National Register in 2004, it was one of only two known 5 and 10 stores in the state.

I was brought back to my childhood!

The goods were generally displayed in bins separated by glass with price tags on each bin.  I remember making these bins with my father in the 1950s.  The counters were changed especially around the holidays.  Every once in a while, we could tear out the existing bins, vacuum underneath, and re-lay them out.

Just like my Dad’s dimestores in the 1950s in LA.

I loved the license plate!

The store is on the National Historical Register and featured in the newspaper’s March 31, 2004 edition.

I plan to read more about this later after we get home.

The display of their wares was identical to what we had in LA in the 1950s.  I remember when Dad brought “pegboard” into the stores.  According to Merriam-Webster, ‘pegboard‘ was first used in 1952.  It is often used in garages, retail stores, and other places.

It enabled stores to have a lot more space for their wares.

The glass used in the bins was hand-cut (I probably cut 50,000 pieces myself over ten years).  Score the glass, and it was snap!

Memories of days gone by!

Mary had to buy something, so she found a  neat cookbook.  We saw goodies that reminded us of the old stores but did not get them; we have too much stuff already!

Great find!

The plaque was located on the wall as you enter the store.

We were feeling hunger pangs, and fortunately, there happened to be a restaurant located right next to us.  We were thirsty, so we went to the bar and had a wine since it was 5:00 p.m. somewhere in the world.

Just us!

The restaurant was called Horsefeathers!  The food was superb, and the company was fantastic!

Almost 50 years in business!

After walking back across the street, we headed home.  The kids dropped us off at the B&B, where we freshened up and packed for our trip to Orange tomorrow.

We have invited the family to join us for breakfast at 8:00 a.m.  Our departure to the airport is scheduled for 9:00 a.m. for a noon departure.  Our flight includes one-stop, and we will arrive in Orange at 7:00 p.m.

The city is indeed cute!

At 5:00 p.m., we headed back to Chez Perry for a family get-together as we wanted to visit with the grand and great-grandchildren before we headed home.  Cassie had to work, but everyone else was present and accounted for!  The fire kept us warm all evening long.

Mary, Sarah, Colleen, and Jon got away from the smoke!

We sat outside until 9:00 p.m. and then headed for home.

The girls had a super time together; Mary fits right into this group of crazies!

We were home at about 9:00 p.m. and made some calls, arranging to be picked up tomorrow at OC Airport.  Robin plans to come and get the van; Irene can come along or head for her home after almost a week and a half away.

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