Camping at Raccoon State Park

Tom and Emily (his longtime girlfriend from Rochester, NY) are playing with Emily (our 3 year old granddaughter) at our campsite at Raccoon State Park. The park is about 1 hour from home just a few miles west of Pittsburgh's airport.




We're celebrating Carrie's birthday at camp.










Grandma and Emily are washing dishes in our trailer.

Bowling Green, Kentucky - Corvettes!!

This is the exterior of the Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky.




26 card from the North Pittsburgh Corvette Club drove in caravan to Bowling Green to visit the museum and tour the assembly plant.





This is in the Detail Room at the museum. Corvette has an "Owners' Experience" which includes following your car through the assembly process, starting the car for the first time, and having the car detailed then displayed at the museum.

Emily's Third Birthday

The dining room is all decorated and ready to go.






The guests have arrived and the Birthday Girl is in position and ready for the ceremonial blowing out of the candles.








After cake and ice cream, we all played "Put the Slipper on Cinderella's Foot." Granny's aim was a little off-and we didn't even spin her around. Unfortunately for Prince Charming, Granny nailed him!





And, here she is, our Princess Emily, dressed in one of her favorite princess outfits. Emily loves the Disney "Princessessess"

Jim Plays Oakmont - Not Actually

This is Oakmont Country Club, site of the 2007 U.S. Open.











Here is where Jim spent his time at the Open. Jim and two friends volunteered through North Hills Community Outreach to work a concession stand. He and his friends worked at the Open on Monday and Friday that week.



This is the familiar stance of golf's current favorite son, Tiger Woods.














This Ernie Els preparing for the tenth hole.








Vijay Sihng moving off to the next hole.









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Let's Go Cruisin'

Lisa arranged a trip for her choirs to Bermuda in May. Jim and I took advantage of the opportunity to go along. Here Emily is getting ready for the life boat drill.








While out to sea, we did some swimming in one of the ship's pools. Tim, Lisa and Emily took in the sun. Later, Daddy and Emily had fun jumping into the water. (Emily did the jumping, Daddy did the catching.)





We all spent a day at Horseshoe Bay, one of Bermuda's top beaches. It is a beautiful pinkish colored sand beach. This is a picture of a little cove to the side where the waves are very gentle and perfect for the younger crowd.




Here we see Tim and Jim pilleried in St. George's town square.









The Bermuda Islands are coral islands. Coral is used as a building material much as we use stone. This is one of the local churches. It is typical of Bermudian architecture.

A Visit With Jeff and Lisa

Jeff and Lisa took us to several of the local Virginia wineries. We tasted everything from the whites through the blushes and reds to the very sweet dessert wines. Uncle Jim and Aunt Michele had a very good time.




We spent one morning picking strawberries- very sweet, very delicious and very ripe. We had strawberry everything that weekend.






We concluded our weekend with a campfire at Newport News City Campground. A very nice campground with a great location- close to everything. Within the park are rows of mounds that were put there during the Civil War by the Confederate Army as a defense line against a Union attack. I think with dinner and the campfire, we finished four bottles of wine that night!

Virginia Celebrates 400 Years

This is a replica of the boat that crossed the Atlantic from Portsmouth, England in December, 1606. The small ship took almost five months to cross the ocean, landing in May 1607.










This is a hand-operated saw mill. Trees were felled, and boards cut for many uses.










The Spanish were also very interested in Virginia, they considered it to be part of Florida.










The Jamestown Colony site is still an active archeological site. Scientists continue to find many artifacts.

St. Patrick's Day, 2007

Michele wins in the St. Patrick's Day Potato Decorating contest held by the North Pittsburgh Corvette Club. Her Red-Hat Lady was classy and sassy!!

Christmas, 2006

With the Christmas tree decorated, and Santa Claus having made his annual visit the night before, the living room is packed with presents for all.









Another tradition is our Holiday dinner with Carrie and Scott, Tom and Emily, and of course, Granny.






After celebrating in Pittsburgh, Jim and Michele journeyed to Philadelphia to celebrate again with Tim, Lisa and Emily. Here is Emily playing the drum set that Aunt Carrie gave her for Christmas.

Jim Goes Golfing

Jim flew to Florida in December, 2006, to play golf with our friend, Kent and Kent's dad, Ed. The Kretzlers moved to Punta Gorda a few years ago and have settled in nicely. According to Jim, the golf is great and the weather even better.





This is a view of Alligator Lake. While in Florida, Jim scouted for campgrounds that we could use on our visit to the area in 2007.







A Punta Gorda tradition- the lighted boat parade ushering in the Holiday Season. Each boat tries to outdo the other leading to some very unique and interesting designs.