Russell and I arrived in NYC today.  Beautiful sunny day and the drive across the GW Bridge with a view of the city skyline thrilled as always.  We are at Camaron and Josh's in Manhattan and I am cooking dinner - spaghetti and meatballs per Matt's request.  Tomorrow we are off to Rochester.  But the big news is....

WE VOTED!  Our absentee ballots awaited us here.  Loving the direction things are moving in but am so nervous still about the outcome.  I take nothing for granted.  Russell and his brother Jeff still think Obama will lose.  At lunch today, the two of them became ill over the thought of Palin as VP.  The word Canada was mentioned.  I am taking deep breaths.  

We are also very cold.  We were still in summer - not fall but summer - a week ago.  We will enjoy our time here but will scurry down to Florida come December 1st.

Nashville TN and the Grand Ol' Opry

Fall on the Blue Ridge Pkwy -WOW!

The Biltmore in Asheville NC

Momories for our children

Charleston SC on a cloudy day

The beach at Gulf Shores Alabama

The Ultimate Boots in San Antonio TX

More musings from Russ

 Trisha hates that I sometimes post personal messages on"her" blog, but if she hadn't given me a lesson on how to blog I would never have figured it out myself, so it's her own fault.

     I wanted to say a word or two about my wife. I was thinking of writing this after she had to spend 4 hours in the emergency room with me in Texas several weeks ago(nothing serious). and having a moment here in Nashville, here goes. I realized that in the three years since my health problems began , she has been there through 0ver 200 doctor appointments/tests/scans/etc. of some sort with me, 13 days of hospitalization, three surgeries and 18 weeks of chemo, and has handled all this with such love and grace that I have been horribly remiss in taking it for granted that I would always be so unbelievably cared for. We like to think we would all be able to do such a terrific job of caring for someone we love, but I know I could not have possibly done as well(or even come close) as what Trisha did so effortlessly these past three years.I was going to make a joke about her handling the equivalent of our family's 10 plagues, but while there were no locusts or cattle disease,given the 10th plague and the  loss of our granddaughter during this period, perhaps its not far off. And of course, Trisha assumed the major role in handling that also, while still taking care of me. I hope that none of us have to rise to the occasion the way Trisha has, but if we do, we have an example of how troubling circumstances should be handled.

   And to tie this email to our trip somewhat, I was thinking of family while driving from Gatlinburg to Knoxville, a 30 mile stretch of the most honkytonk area you car imagine. At one point there were 12 go-cart tracks in a row, each more elaborate than the next!  I missed not having my children here to ride them with me, and despite her being a near saint, Trisha wasn't about to indulge me. So I thought of all the things she does indulge me, and thus this email.

  Grand Old Opry tomorrow night.  We're not huge C&W fans, but Nashville was one of our favorite movies of all time.

   See many of you very soon. Back in Rochester on October 24th, and NYC the following week. 

  Russ

   

The Lost Post returns...

Remember the post I said dissapeared.  Well, it's been found.  Have no idea how. God bless computers.  So I took out all the travel stuff and left a melancholy moment and my political rant.  Sorry.  The election is almost over and then I'll stop.  Honest.

We are amazed at how we can do absolutely nothing and the time just flies!  Today(the day I wrote this) we spent a wonderful day at the pool and beach in Pensacola.  Pristine white sands, clear warm water and beautiful weather.  This is directly after some of the exact same in Gulf Shores, Alabama.  

The bulk of our trip is almost over.  I don't want it to end.  The Marriotts are our home.  We've got the watching our TV shows down on our computer.  I've nailed down the very quick pack, unpack and set up at each new place.  WE love having no responsibilities.  But it will be good to spend time with our kids, family and friends and we are delighted to be in Rochester on Election night.  Sue and I are planing, hopefully. a victory party - things are looking up!

I have to have one political rant.  This election has really entered the pits of my soul.   I love the Republican strategies announcing that Obama ahead by 6-7 points is not really winning since in reality he should be ahead by double digits and setting the debate bar so low for lady Sarah that if she remains standing  and makes only minor gaffes it will be a victory for her.  I think we are right on track.  Sarah has become that gift I knew she could be for the Democrats  and McCain is imploding right on schedule.  I have hope.

Still on the road...

Hard to believe the bulk of our traveling sojourn is almost over.  We are not ready for it to end.

Working backwards ...

I realized my last post never made it to the blog.  I was having trouble sending and clearly more trouble than I thought!

So.... Phoenix with family was fun.  I even heard a story I have not heard before!  It seems Russell's brother Jeff at 5 or got his arm caught in the wringer of the washer which was in the basement of  his grandparents home in Detroit ( he claims not to know how this happened - stop it, he clearly stuck his arm in it).  He convinced cousin Steve who was younger that the washer attacked him.  Steve, we discovered, believed this for years and might still be seeking therapy to come to terms with this.

Sedona was beautiful and watching the sunset from the airport sipping our wine with many others a good moment.

Santa Fe is another fun spot to visit.  Just a great feel to it.

Western TX - THERE IS NOTHING THERE -except those sand dunes I couldn't remember the location of - this is desolate country folks.  Don't go.  

San Antonio riverwalk is just as pictured and fun to walk but the rest of San Antonio not so nice.

Austin is another fun city.   Home to the University of Texas, the main street - 6th Street - is one of the liveliest streets on a Saturday night I've ever seen.  It's all about the bars but each one has live music, the street is closed to traffic and we had a great time at a piano bar singing along.  We know we were in Tx however when everyone knew the words to the country songs that not only did we not know the words to but we had never ever heard of them.  And you haven't lived till on the day TX beats ARK something like 53-7 they break out into the The Eyes of Texas are Upon You.  And I just saw TX is #1 in the polls.

Houston and Galveston were cut out out of the itinerary because of the hurricanes.  The poor people who lived there were just being allowed back.  There were a number of hurricane victims staying at our hotel in San Antonio and if we had any thoughts of going, the newspaper reports of the rats and snakes ended it.

Heaven!  That is what 7 hot, sunny days were on the Alabama and Florida panhandle gulf coasts were.  The beaches are pristine.  Fine, white sand, warm water, my chair and a book.

Nan and Bill Byerts,  friends who lived in Rochester for a number of years and now residents of Atlanta, housed, fed and acted as incredible tour guides for 3 days.  Does anyone know what a cyclorama is?  I didn't but now do after seeing one on the Civil War.  We both loved it and to our delight - all right, my delight - we discovered Gettysburg has one now and can't wait to see it.  The Byerts also serve mucho good wine!

Highlight of the trip - having lunch with a friend and he telling us as soon as we sat down to lunch in Atlanta - at a place that had the best fried chicken ever - "Well, you were right about Bush .  I'm voting for Obama."  Moments like that are not filled with I told you so's but rather relief that there is one more vote for him. As Sarah Silverman stated so aptly in "The Great Schlep" - "people have to vote for Obama to save the US from being the assholes of the world" -and if you haven't seen that video do it, doesn't matter whether you are blue or red - it's very funny.

Savannah, Charleston and Myrtle Beach were kind of rainy and gray but we've had such good weather this whole trip we could not complain. Tomorrow will be a beach day.  Yay.  And we love Charleston.  What a spectacular city.  This is at least our third trip there and it is better every time.  Savannah is also charming.  Want to go back to both.  

Next stop Asheville, NC and then to Nashville, Indianapolis to visit Nick, Pittsburgh, Gettys burg or Hershey to visit a friend and then 2 weeks split between NY and Rochester.  We will have about 10 days between Veteran's Day and Turkey Day - we will celebrate in NY city (with Aunt Renee's strawberry jello mold, a tradition at all of our Thanksgivings - ready for this -ACTUALLY MADE BY AUNT RENEE!!!- anyway we plan on heading south to Baltimore, DC, VA, Blue Ridge Mts during that time.  Then it will be off to Ft Myers and the condo we have rented for December and January- most likely February too.

And now for politics - I may get my wish - losing all my money in exchange for Obama being president.  A sacrifice I am gladly making.  All right, not gladly but at least I'll get something out of this mess.  7 points up and Florida may be blue, NC is getting closer, VA seems to be in our column and IN getting closer - who would have thought.  And gosh darn, my gal Sarah has indeed proved to be the gift that kept on giving - wink, wink.

Trisha

 

San Antonio

Sand Dunes in West Texas

Sedona

Family in Phoenix

Sequoia National Park

Yosemite National Park

Seals in San Francisco