Graduation #2 - Check

May 22, 2011
Hartford, Connecticut

Today was Alicia's graduation from Eastern Connecticut State University - yeah! Apparently, the campus doesn't have a facility large enough for 700 graduates, so the festivities were held at the XL Center in Hartford (used to be the Hartford Civic Center back when the Whalers played hockey there). We headed into the city early (everyone except Grandma Geri, unfortunately) and were able to grab reasonably good seats beside the stage. It was a pretty long event, starting at 9:30 sharp and wrapping up close to 1:30 PM. Of course, the aftermath was a mob scene in the lobby area, but we were able to collect everyone in short order. Paul and I found a local watering hole that was open (like many cities, downtown Hartford is not a happening place on Sunday afternoons) where everyone congregated for a nosh and a libation. This really helped bring everyone into a nice, calm, mellow state after all the excitement of the graduation. After that, everybody headed home for pizza and wings (except me; I headed to visit Geri). All in all, it was an excellent day.

I didn't haul all the camera equipment to the graduation, since long lenses, low light, and fast-moving subjects don't often make for good pictures. But, I was able to find a spot to grab this video of Alicia "walking" with our small Nikon:

Well, it's not bronchitis...

May 21, 2011
Broad Brook/Stafford, Connecticut

...but Geri does have pneumonia. Now where did that come from? Who knows; who cares? Now, it's time to get better...

Friday morning, she decided that a trip to the local ambulatory care center was in order. It didn't take long for them to order an x-ray and report back with the diagnosis of pneumonia. Then it became a question of prescribing medicines or recommending a trip to the hospital. Because she has impaired breathing anyway, the hospital became the preferred choice, and by the end of the day she was properly ensconced in a room at Johnson Memorial Hospital. They've got her on various medications to knock it out and she's in a "productive" stage, expelling goop from the lungs at a prodigious rate. She's disappointed that she won't be able to attend Alicia's graduation tomorrow, but hopeful to get better enough to be discharged within a couple of days.

We had some additional sad news Friday: Paul's (Melisa's significant other) father, Gordie, passed away in the morning after a long illness. We'll know the specifics on arrangements early next week.

Happy Anniversary to Pat and Al

May 19, 2011
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania to Broad Brook, Connecticut

Today was an easy driving day. We left Gettysburg shortly after 8:00 AM, cutting across to US-15 then north to Harrisburg where we rejoined I-81. In Scranton, we picked up I-84 eastbound and continued, with a fuel stop in Newburgh, all the way to Hartford. A quick leg on I-91 north brought us to the East Windsor borough of Broad Brook and we were parked at Pat and Al's place before 3:30.

We had a small celebration with their friends Mike and Lynne and family Melisa, Paul, and Jesse. We grilled a Beef Tenderloin, Pat made a Mushroom Risotto, and Lynne made a Pasta Salad. With a some good wine, we once again had a great meal.

In other news, Geri's been feeling poorly since Tuesday, with flu-like symptoms increasing as we've traveled north. She hasn't had a bout of bronchitis in a long time, so we're keeping our fingers crossed...

Deja Vu?

May 18, 2011
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

...or Vuja De? Years ago, some joker explained "vuja de" to me as the opposite of deja vu: the intense feeling that you've never been here before. I've harbored a suspicion that we visited here when I was very young during a family vacation. I spent a good part of today at the Gettysburg Battlefield, but I definitely don't remember being here before. Must have been someplace else.

It was interesting tour in any event, and the Visitor's Center/Museum is very well done, but driving around a Civil War battlefield in pouring rain is less than effective. Overall, I'm glad we stopped here on the way north to Connecticut. It was an educational stop, and it broke up the travel with a day "off the road".

Here are some pictures. As always, click the picture for a larger version...

Paging Noah...

May 17, 2011
Athens, Tennessee to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

We hit the road early again, and had another (planned) long driving day. We were soon in Knoxville, then on I-81 which will take us north to Pennsylvania. It didn't take long before we were in rain showers, then periods of heavy rain, with a little thunder and lightning mixed in here and there. We had a few spells where traffic slowed to a crawl due to the downpours. We had one stoppage due to an accident, but it was all cleared by the time we were moving again.

Our destination for the evening (actually a two-night stay) was Gettysburg. I think we came here during a family "station wagon vacation" (pile all the kids in the '59 Chevy wagon and head for a destination that might keep them out of trouble) circa 1965 or 1966. I'll spend a few hours poking around the Gettysburg Battlefield tomorrow and see if anything seems familiar.

We rolled in just before 6:00 PM and were quickly parked and set up. Geri made a batch of Dirty Water Dogs, and now we're settling in to chill out before bed. I see from the weather radar that we'll have waves of rain rolling over us for hours. As long as it doesn't involve thunder, we'll be fine.

Oh, and here's one of the perma-rigs (what we call RVs that never move) in this park - looks like Noah was already here!

Rolling North, mapping it Old School

May 16, 2011
Mobile, Alabama to Athens, Tennessee

Today was what we used to call a "travel day" several years ago, before we tried to slow down while on the road. With only a week between graduations in Alabama and Connecticut, we're rolling "old school", putting in back-to-back days with more miles than we'd like.

We left Mobile early, around 8:00, after doing all of the necessary tasks. After slipping onto I-10 for one exit, we were soon back on I-65, heading north. We fueled up just before Montgomery. We looped around Birmingham on I-459 and were soon on I-59 heading for Chattanooga, back in the Eastern Time Zone. Quickly switching to I-24 and then I-75, we pulled over in a Rest Area for a quick night's sleep. I whipped up some cheesesteaks with some of the pieces trimmed from the beef tenderloin we picked up in Alabama. With a strong DirecTV signal, we were able to relax a bit watching DWTS. We'll be calling it an early night.

We did have a little change in procedure, with respect to the PC I use on the dash for navigation and engine monitoring.  When I powered it up, I got the Blue Screen of Death, and I wasn't able to recover to an earlier set point.  Since we had to get going, we defaulted to our Atlas and Interstate Guide.  I thought about the errors, mostly kernel page faults.  When we stopped for lunch, on a hunch, I pulled out the add-on memory card and it fired up fine.  Back in business.  Cost of repair: $0.  Love it...

It's all sinking in...

May 15, 2011
Mobile, Alabama

Today was packing day. Rick rented a U-Haul truck and we all convened at Alyson's apartment mid-morning. With a bit of an assembly line set up for packing boxes and bags, then moving same out to the truck, we had everything pretty much in hand by mid-afternoon. Once the cleaning supplies were the only things left, I knew it was time for me to head home.

It was a tough day for Alyson. As much as she's happy to have completed her degree and excited to move forward, it's hard to leave college and friends behind. All in all, she got through it OK, and it'll only get easier.

Tomorrow, we all head out, again independently. We'll hit the road as soon as we're ready in the morning. They'll finish up at the apartment (collect cats and fish, close out with the management company) before heading for Albertville. We'll retrace our route to I-59 and then continue north to Chattanooga where we'll pick up I-24 to I-75. I'm aiming to stay near Knoxville, probably at a Wal-Mart for just the night, then we'll continue on early Tuesday morning, heading for Gettysburg.