We Visit Boys in Utah and California

In late May and early June, we traveled to Wanship, Utah to visit Stephen and Barbara at their great ranch.  Douglas, Veronica, and Emilia flew in from their home in Westminster, CA so we had a much larger family gathering.

Stephen decided it was time for all of us to see their new home area from a "loftier" site - so he drove us all to the top of Two Peaks in his truck.  The route up was, at best, a cow path, and, at worse, a questionable path.  Nonetheless, Stephen navigated it quite well and we all enjoyed a marvelous view of the country that Barbara and he love.When weren't eating or watching Emi dance in the shower from a water hose, we also had the opportunity to see Stephen actively working with his tractor.  We also had the chance to meet their new dog, Nola.

Following our Utah visit, we flew to Long Beach, hence to Westminster to visit Veronica, Douglas, and Emilia's new home.

While there, we helped Douglas erect his new camping tent.  Janet repeated her oft-used phrase that she thought it was very nice for them but definitely not for her.

We visited the Huntington Gardens and were enthralled by the beautiful gardens, especially the Japanese (or was it a Chinese) tea house.

We also had a chance to go to the Long Beach Aquarium.  Emi enjoyed paddling in the water where the rays swam and looking a diver in the large pool in the center of the building.

We flew back home via Salt Lake City where we met Barbara and Stephen for dinner.

It was a really fun trip and, surprisingly, the flights, though many in number, were pleasantly uneventful.

Photos of the trip are available by clicking here.  

FOLA Honors Janet and Ralph

During the annual Community Christmas Celebration program on December 13, the members of the FOLA (Friends of Ludlow Auditorium) Board (minus its chairman), awarded a special trophy to Janet and Ralph Pace.  It was a very pleasant surprise to both of us.

Wonderful Family Christmas Sojourn in Utah

Janet and I, joined by Douglas, Veronica, and Emilia, journeyed to Stephen and Barbara's lovely new home in Wanship, Utah for a fantastic Christmas week.  Due to work commitments, Jeffrey was unable to join us.

Stephen and Barbara's new home (more like a ranch) is a beautiful log structure with space galore.  It also features a lovely guest house (where Douglas and Veronica stayed with Emi) plus a barn (the home of Stephen's new tractor) and several out-buildings for farm animals (that allegedly may be forth coming in the future).

We enjoyed a great time celebrating the holiday.  Stephen introduced me to TJ Max (where we did most of our Christmas shopping).  Janet, Barbara, and Veronica decorated the tree.  Emi had a ball in the snow (even had a snowman named Herman).  We all enjoyed the company of Anyo, Stephen and Barbara's dog.

Under Barbara's and Stephen's guidance, we enjoyed several dinners in Park City.

Some photos of the ranch and our time in Wanship are available by clicking HERE.

Pace, Bakers, & Bolands Gather in Springfield

Members of the Pace-Baker-Boland clans gathered at the home of Barbara and Jim Boland in Springfield on Sunday, November 10, 2013.   The Boland "kids" put together a fantastic dinner (with some "health juice" beforehand) and the old seniors had a chance to swap tales of their latest incursions into medical history.

It was great to have the older timers in the same place.  

The night be for, Janet and I had a chance to meet Marge and Cathy Baker at the Fort Restaurant in downtown Springfield for a great German dinner served by a '77 Tech graduate!

A Trip to the Eastern Townships of Quebec

Janet with John and Joan Brownlie revisiting the site of past pleasures at Owl's Head

In October, just about at peak foliage time, we met the Brownlies in Magog, Quebec, located at the northern head of Lake Memphremagog.  Joan had arranged for a fantastic condo overlooking the lake.

We toured much of the Eastern Townships, including Magog, Mansonville, Owl's Head, and North Hatley.  The North Hatley excursion enabled us to revisit several of the sites we enjoyed seeing with the Strykers in 2000, including the pub located along side the river that emptied into the lake.

The foliage was probably the best we've seen in many years, the area was lovely to visit, and the food was great.

Photos of the visit are available by clicking here.

A Visit To Huntington Beach

Emi is all smiles with Grandpa

We visited Douglas, Veronica, and Emilia in their apartment in Huntington Beach, CA in September.  It was wonderful to see our granddaughter again and witness how she is growing!

In addition to touring the lovely area in and around Huntington Beach (the surf capital of

mainland USA), we were able to attend a USC football game (USC beat Utah State) and, of special interest to us, participate in a USC version of a tailgate party before the game.

We had expected that tailgating would mean standing in a parking lot eating (and drinking) from the back of a Ford 350 truck.  As it turned out, USC is "above" that approach.  The tailgating was at the university itself with all kinds of delectable food items available, the USC marching band playing, and a good selection of wines.  It was a lot of fun.

As for Emilia (Emi as she's called), she is growing and becoming very talkative.

We also had a chance to tour Douglas' lab at the Long Beach State University of California, visit Emilia's daycare center (also at the university)

Some photos of our trip may be seen by clicking here.

Stephen and Barbara Help Utah Fire Victims

Stephen Pace and Barbara Ohm recently purchased a "ranch" outside of Park City, Utah in the town of Wanship.  Their location was near the recent fires in Utah.  When Stephen realized that a number of neighbors had lost their homes in the fire, he and Barbara opened their home to the victims as well as their animals.  Below is a link to a video from an area TV station covering the event:

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=26438459

Journey Through the Canadian Rockies and Glacier National Park

In late June and early July, we journeyed on a tour of the Canadian Rockies and Glacier National Park in Montana.  The tour was operated by Caravan and was, in our opinion, the best way to see the Rockies with a knowledgeable and friendly tour guide plus a fantastic bus driver (when you take the train, you still end up on a bus to see the sights plus the train tours have essentially stopped operations).

The our began and ended in Calgary which was just recovering for a devastating flood of the Bow River.  The trip began with a tour of Waterton National Park in southern Alberta.  That park was linked to Glacier National Park in Montana (passports were required to reenter the USA and return to Canada.

From here we journeyed to Banff and Lake Louise.  The Banff mountain area was great but Banff, the town, was a tourist trap.  We did, nonetheless, help Canadians celebrate Canada Day (July 1) with a parade in Banff that included bands participating in the Calgary Stampede and members of RCMP in formal uniform (made me think of Bullwinkle cartoons).

After Banff we did Lake Louise, also heavily touristy.  We did go to a lake above Lake Louise, Moraine Lake, which was simply idyllic (see photo below).

In Banff, we also took a rafting tour of the Bow River.

Following Banff, we went to Jasper National Park.  The town of Jasper is much smaller than Banff and far more delightful to be in.  We stayed in 'cabin bungalows' that were very pleasant.

Our final touring distination was the Columbia Icefields.  Here we travelled by a specially-designed six-wheel drive vehicle to the lower glaciers of the icefields.

I think our favorite sites were Waterton National Park in Alberta and Glacier National Park in Montana (here we had the fun of travelling in the 1930's style red coaches - see photo at end of this post - on the "highway to the sun" and Logan Pass).  The photo at the beginning of this post is a picture of Spirit Island in St. Mary's Lake in Glacier.

Our tour ended back in Calgary just as the Stampede was opening.  For more uneditted photos of our trip, click here.

 

 

Ralph Allegedly a Super Senior

Ralph, pictured above with Joe Carroll of WCAX-TV

Somebody (actually, Frank Heald, the Town Manager) decided to ask a friend, Joe Carroll of WCAX-TV, to do a brief thing on me.  The results is below:

http://www.wcax.com/story/22409987/super-senior-ralph-pace