Catching up with friends

May 6-7, 2008
Clarksboro, NJ

We're using this stop in the Philadelphia area to catch up with friends, and we've lucked out that schedules are aligning so well. As it turns out, our friends Dave and Sandy were planning to be in the Philadelphia area for a few days this week, just as we were planning to pass through on our way to Connecticut. They were planning to stay part of the time with Wayne and Doris, so we knew we could connect there, and Bob and Sarah have just moved into their new house mansion castle and planned a casual dinner for Tuesday.

By way of explanation, Bob, Dave, Wayne and I all used to work together at Towers Perrin in Philadelphia. Wayne retired several years ago, followed by me in 2005, then Dave in 2006. Bob will be old enough to follow us into retirement in a few years… :-)

So, after we arrived on Tuesday afternoon, we cleaned up after a couple of days on the road and headed over to Bob's. We were aiming for a 6:00 arrival, but the traffic and road construction gremlins got us, so we were a little late. Bob threw some steaks on the grill and we had some great wines. Dave brought a Syrah-Mourvedre that he'd picked up in Canada, and we brought a 2000 Bordeaux from the "wine box". Bob pulled out several Cabs as well, so all tastes were accounted for. Dave took/orchestrated a few group photos, so I'll post from those when he forwards them along.

On Wednesday, we relaxed a bit during the morning and then headed over to Wayne and Doris' place. We toured the garden, enjoying all that Wayne's done since the last time we visited. Doris whipped up a pan-seared Escovar (not sure about the spelling, but a wonderful white fish) with rice and asparagus, paired with an Barossa Valley Shiraz (Wayne), a Cornas (Dave) and a Chateau-Neuf-du-Pape (us).

As wonderful as all that was, the highlight of the visit was the interaction of the four canines. Wayne and Doris have Nico, an eight-month old Standard Poodle, and he's quite a puppy. We brought Merlin and Maya Lynn, and Dave and Sandy picked up Abby, their Golden Retriever, from the dog sitters. Now, Merlin and Maya knew Abby from our Canada and Florida trips, and Nico knew Abby from a visit to Florida earlier in the year, but this was the first time they were all together. Suffice it to say that it was a raucous good time for everyone. Merlin showed how he was a nun in a prior life ("No running!", "No playing!", "No loud talking!") and Maya played for a bit before telling Nico "enough". I think both our dogs were happy to see Abby arrive because a) they like Abby and b) it gave Nico someone else to chase. By the time we were wrapping up dinner, everyone was calmed down. The interesting thing about dogs is that they'll all remember each other no matter how long between visits.

A great couple of days...