COFFEE RIDES, COUNTRY SIDE, and FAMILY TIME

Wednesday July 8, 2015

After a great easy day, it was time to get moving again.  I was able to update the blog, because if I don’t do an update daily I’m hounded by my mother on multiple social platforms.  Unfortunately we could not spend all day with Vicki and Dave due to working on weekdays but that’s OK because we had plenty to do.   Tonight’s plan was to eat at Vicki and Dave’s after they got home and meet up with their son and family, Ernie, Alicia and Taylor.  I like to call them the pretty people. 

First things first though, we needed to grab some coffee, and so as not to sponge off my cousin and her Keurig, we decided to ride 3 miles to the local Dunkin Donuts, which is another place we visit every time we go north.  Had to earn the garbage we’ve been putting in our systems lately, ha.  

The ride was definitely tough as Vicki and Dave live on top of a hill over- looking a beautiful vista of farmland and other very nice homes.

Had to stop and take this one.

"the favorite version of the past, found in a photograph, American Flags in Black and White"--John Moreland

None of us like riding on empty stomachs but the wind was calm.  The winding farm roads were beautiful albeit hard to ride as we’re used to flat-landing on our bikes, fighting only the wind. The coffee definitely tasted wonderful, as well as our donuts and bagels.  A little hard work always makes things taste better tenfold!  The ride back was harder, with thunderstorms building in the distance, and with that came the wind on the lengthy uphills to get back.  That was not fun either but we weren’t complaining. It was good to ride again after not hopping on bikes since Killarney and those were SHORT trips.

One of my main concerns on this trip was to upgrade my trailer hitch to fit my 1½ bike insert much better.  We were finally able to find one at a local U-haul. After we got that fixed the bikes didn’t tip at an almost 45 degree angle and it gave me piece of mind.  The older plastic one was worn down quite a bit, making the wheels to the bikes almost hit the ground.  They were up about 8 inches and every time a dip or bump was hit, they would come very close to scraping.  Just what I didn’t need. 

Once our errands were finished we were able to hit recommended Newberry Subs. As usual, they did not disappoint.  GT got the best one—a cheese steak. 

(avery showing off to Aunt Karen her bag of Middleswarth chips)

  Riverside Subs will always be my measuring stick though.

We got to Aunt Kates around 3:30 and didn’t have too much time to chat and catch up because of our dinner plans but it was great catching up.  My 94 years young grandmother is doing much better after breaking her hip and going through therapy over a year. Her vision is not the greatest as she called Avery “Karen” and GT “Kevin” but I’m guessing that’s an easy mistake to make if you’re 94, have trouble seeing and a little bit of dementia.  I enjoyed the time I got to spend with her.  She commented on Avery’s beauty and Garrett’s size at age 11.  We also got to see Uncle Chris and his wife Alisa.  A great visit to do some quick catching up.  

My positioning wasn't the best for this family photo--probably should've kneeled for it but was glad it was taken anyway.

Garrett did not 'break' Sadie this year by throwing too many tennis balls to fetch.  Aunt Kate will tell Sadie to "take a break" and she'll automatically lie down and rest a few minutes before bringing back tennis balls. 

Dinner at Vicki and Dave's was sausage from a local grocer and it was fab with onions and peppers. After dinner we caught up with the Mayers and Naugles and heard some very funny stories. We learned that people in Philly don’t understand 'Cosmo' (heated sub-which we thought was a PA term statewide) and Vicki told a story of asking for a Cosmo on a Kaiser Roll but it came out as Japanese and we couldn’t stop laughing.  Then the Vicki ‘Lucky Charms imitation’ came and we all about lost it.  I talked about shaving off my eyebrows before receiving an award from the sheriff (by accident of course-not the award, the eyebrows) and then all of a sudden Ernie went into stories about his youth and being just a wee tot and seeing certain female anatomy which I cannot describe here but it was a very funny evening. After peach popsicle dessert and hearing Taylor call GT "red boy" (the shirt he was wearing), the Naugles had to leave. Not long later, after catching our breath, we were able to wind down in front of one of our favorite movies, Napoleon Dynamite. GT called himself "gray boy" the next day as he was wearing his gray Michigan sweatshirt.  Pretty funny.   

 photo to scale...ha.

Mandi is an awesome dog too.  She fetches golf balls that Dave hits in the yard and brings them back to him.  The holes are approx 150 yards away.  I'd probably golf too if I had an assistant like that, but playing golf just sucks to me.

It’s always hard leaving the state where you grew up with awesome family but it was an early day to get to Annapolis the next day.  We said our goodbyes and closed this chapter.  The next morning GT, before we left, got in about 15 laps around the 5 acre property on the golf cart so we all left happy. I probably should have filled the gas can before we left!