This is not what it seems. I have been reading a group of Edna’s novels we brought with us.  I have recommenced writing early in the morning as is my wont.  So, I am reporting back to all of you whom I have missed by traveling up north to see our new Great granddaughter, Madison Rose, in Springfield, New Jersey.

Our travels are not extraordinary except for the using the auto-train to sleep away the night in a tiny room with a toilet where I had to climb up a ladder to get to the top bunk.  Carol tangled with the ladder in the middle of the night and cut her leg and I did not know anything about it until the next morning. She is quiet resourceful and merciful – I did not sleep well despite being ignorant of the pain below me.

We visited with Gordon and Dina and had two nights with them in their lovely house with all kinds of interesting nooks and crannies.  We met Hudson, their three year old, for the first time and I was privileged to hold Amelia Ann, Hudson’s little sister who is three months old.  I helped Hudson build a little fort out of chair pillows.

We next drove up to Springfield, N.J after a night’s stop at Swedesboro, N.J.  We had a motel room on route 22 which I knew quite well for traveling some distance on it while going to work at Central High School from Colonia where I had my first house.  We found most of the family at Jeremy’s house except for Josh who found that his car was towed and he had to retrieve it.  Carol was blessed with holding Madison Rose who resembled Jeremy with spiky black hair and an alert, interested expression for a two month old.

We followed Nancy out to her new home in a mansion overlooking valleys and facing a hillside out of which poked an older mansion.  Deer come out at 5:15 at night to graze and Joe likes to sit on his wide veranda with field glasses in hand to count the regulars.  Joe and Nancy have a veritable, one of a kind, old fashioned MANSION with a circular stairway to the second floor, but with modern fixtures and has at least four floors, 22 rooms and many bathrooms.  We were quite comfortable and got to see some of the PeapackGladstone country in Far Hills, N.J.

Next we drove to Harrisburg, PA where we saw Bernice with whom we only had telephone and e-mail connections for several years.  She lives in a senior facility which is very nice and she took us out to lunch driving her old van.  Then we drove down 81 to Buena Vista where a certain young high school girl now reigned as Chair of the History Department and member of the Policy Commission at VMI.  She, Colonel Rose Mary Sheldon (married to Jeff Auberg), took us to see VMI and the surrounding country which is small town Virginia.  We spent two nights there and were almost at the end of our trip.  Last, we went to Winston Salem where we were feted by John and Judy Mountjoy where we were gifted with their old master bedroom suite on the second floor while they repaired to the first floor new digs they had added  a very impressive bedroom and thoroughly modern bathroom.  They are impressive people.

Each of the above deserves an essay about their accomplishments.

What is important about this trip is the way our bodies responded to it.  We were tired and went to bed early (I, with Edna) and rose early to continue on and did some serious shopping along the way in some incredible outlet stores.