Lake to Lake

Two pictures of Lake Ontario and folk sailing on the lake. We're in Conservative Mennonite country. The produce here reminds Bear of the Victory Gardens of WWII. The cauliflower was bigger than Sophie.
We're wrapping it up here in the Fingerlakes.

How We Got to New York

Saying goodbye to Keith and Jeremiah in Keith and Frances' front yard. Jeremiah is the next door neighbor and helped with cleaning our camper. Camping at Quantico Marine Base near Washington, DC. Spending time with Melissa Beatty McGrath and her girls, Veronica and Robin.
Before leaving Quantico we traveled to Easton, MD to see Louise (Weasie) and Art Shelby. Weasie is a second cousin I had not seen since I was a kid growing up in Hopewell, VA. In Harrisburg, PA we stopped for lunch with Bob and Carrie Beatty, friends from our days in France before Melissa (above) was born.

Friends who love Pennsylvania and the Susquehanna River Valley wanted us to grab some pictures of that area. We weren't able to get the pictures of the area around Harrisburg, which is the prettiest part of the Susquehanna, but we managed pictures around Lewisburg of a much narrower part of the river. Of course, we had to get pictures of Yogi Bear's Jellystone park where we stayed and of Bear at the helm of a ship anchored there.

Watkins Glen State Park, Watkins Glen, New York

Followed Seneca Lake on the west side of the lake all the way from Geneva to Watkins Glen, the full length of this Fingerlake.

Visiting Jeff and Terri Robinette in Morgantown, WV

Terri and Sophia sitting at the overlook. The other children rock climbing at Cooper's Rock.
Rachel at Cooper's Rock. Rosalie and friend Joel climbing rocks at the lookout.
Jeff and Terri have eight children. Two, Tiffany and Katie are in college. Laurel and Grace are in high school. Rachel, Rosalie, and Grayson (the only boy) are the next younger children. Sophia is the youngest until December, when she will have another sister.

Here is Jeff piloting the boat on Cheat Lake. Grace and Laurel taking two year old Sophia rafting on the lake. They took a spill on one wave, but Sophia came up laughing. The child knows no fear.

Laurel's tennis tournament (below). She won a trophy.

Jeff and Grayson relaxing on the back patio. A front view of the Robinettes' home in Morgantown, West Virginia

Last Leg of the Journey to Virginia

Left: Emily Ackles Content with her youngest child. Right: Will and Nancy Ackles, who are enjoying retirement, living in North Carolina, enjoying grandchildren, and traveling the globe (in their spare time).

Left: Bernie and me with Bill Murray, Bernie's oldest friend, enjoying a meal at The Bear's Den in Petersburg, VA. Right: Our trips to the commissary at Ft. Lee always include hugs from the girls who bag our groceries. They remember us from year to year and even bring us homecooked Korean dishes.

Our campsite in Virginia, in the driveway of Keith and Frances Lee (Anne's sister and brother-in-law). We are snugged up next to the woods with a huge willow oak shading the other side. We even have our DirecTV functioning. All the comforts of home.

Keith got a hole in one on the golf course at Fort Lee. Here's the proud golfer with the plaque to prove it.

Columbia SC and Victory Ranch

Left: Lunch with Bruce Snowdeal at the Fort Jackson Golf Club. Right: Lunch at Victory Ranch with directors Ron and Pam Weinzapfel and Dave and Betty Meschke, who were visiting from Cadence while we were there. Dave was general director when we joined Cadence. The lady in blue is a lifelong friend of Pam.

Left: Posing in front of the Old Firehouse sign with Ron and Pam, Dave and Betty. Right: Dinner with Garland and Charlotte Ramsey. Garland was on the Victory Ranch Board back in the day!

Left: The Fortress coffeehouse at Ft. Jackson on Friday night. 310 soldiers were served that night. Live Christian band and a message. Right: Toni Zoeller, serving at Victory Ranch. Fred and Toni were directors at Victory Center before the Vietnam War. They took their family to Saigon to minister to the soldiers during the war!!

Left: No trip to Columbia, South Carolina is complete without dining at The Lizard's Thicket. Right: Lunch on Sunday at Victory Ranch.

Left: Saying goodbye to the soldiers by the lake at Victory Ranch. Right: Time with Erma Smith, longtime supporter of Victory Ranch.

Left: We had lunch with Ruby Tuggy Stephens and her son Cody (not pictured) on our way out of South Carolina. Right: Good times with Lindalee and Steve Cleveland and their kids, Ashlee and Kristopher.