Since we were in Kansas, we figured we would take advantage of that and make a trip to visit Keith's mom and family for Thanksgiving. Considering it would have been much more expensive to fly from Hawaii, wouldn't you agree that it was a wise decision.
Well, as we counted, we have covered total of: ELEVEN states in two weeks. So, here goes how our trip went.
We picked up Maria in New Hampshire first. So we flew from Kansas City to Manchester. Of course, they won't let Keith go unnoticed - so he had to give a talk to Maria's classmates at Mont Vernon Village School. The picture below is of the two teachers and 18 kids of the class and Keith with the flag he had carried with in his three deployments.
That evening, we flew down to Atlanta, GA and made the 100 mile drive to Columbus to stay with Keith's mom. Georgia was colder than I expected. Where in the world is the global warming when I needed a nice warm weather to go swimming. ... hmm...
Keith's sister Bernie lives in Alabama, just across the border - so we got to visit her out in the country and ride four wheelers and play with their dogs and have a nice dinner there (couldn't quite count all of them - I think there were seven or eight). We had her son Gage with us for a day - so we drove to Ft. Benning.
We went to Infantry Museum there - but it was closed for renovation - so uncle Keith here is explaining all the tanks and weaponry outside.
Since both Maria and Gage have dogs and love them, they wanted a picture with the monument dedicated for the service dogs: KIA and MIA.
Keith's grandfather served in the Army and fought in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. He is buried at Ft. Benning cemetery along with his wife. We went and visited the grave, of course, and here is the picture of two of his great-grandkids at the grave. I would have been honored to have met the man himself. But, I was lucky to meet his wife - Keith's grandmother.
Amazing what she had sacrificed and done in her life. I shouldn't complain about Keith's deployments and how long my packages take to get to him and if I can't get through to him on the phone or cannot stay connected online for some reason or another. Think what it must have been like during WWII - when the only communication you have is snail mail and you cannot ever predict how long it will take to get where it is intended to go or have no guarantee it will actually get there at all. Well, let em not get carried away and just simply say, kudos to those who have served and sacrificed.
We are back to New Hampshire and dropping Maria off. The picture is outside her house. Evidently I don't have any family pictures at Thanksgiving dinner on my camera - hope, Keith has some on his.
From New Hampshire, we had a few days till our flight back to Kansas City. So, we took a road trip. First north east to Maine.
Atlantice Ocean - looks very gloomy. Glad I live on the Pacific. We ate lunch at this restaurant - happened to be the last day of business - well for the year. They will be closed till April as it is with many businesses in Maine.
We would have stayed there but the warning of snow/rain storm compelled us to drive back to NH and then to Masssachusetts and to Rhode Island. The rain followed us until we found a place to stay in Providence. So, this picture is taken the next day as we took country roads to Connecticut and head north.
Interesting how easy it is to cover 4 states in matter of a few hours. So, we left RI and went across Connecticut and through Massachusets in about 4 hours and to the next state.
This says: Massachusetts welcomes you. But, we couldn't stop to take the picture - so this is as good as it gets.
New York - well, we couldn't drive across this one in a few hours so we visited Albany.
In Albany. The building in the background belongs to State University of New York. Forget what department or school it was - but it is grand and quite an architecture.
Hudson river: I have never been to New York City - not yet anyways. But, I got to see Hudson river.
From Albany, we headed back to New Hampshire by way of Vermont. Someday, I would like to drive through here in the summer and take a hike or two around. it would be amazing. It is still amazing in the winter, don't get me wrong, but the cold chill kept us inside the car more often than not.
We took a little detour to visit Sharon, Vermont - on the way, we came to a Vietnam War Memorial: small but very well taken care of and amazingly earth-friendly. They recycle the water to support its function and has a greenhouse.
Then, we went to the Joseph Smith memorial - it is pretty quiet this time of the year - so we got a very personalized tour of the place taking our time. Just to think when Joseph Smith, Jr lived here there was a winter year around one year that all the crops frosted over night and the result was no harvest that year. Again, glad the earth has warmed a bit.
This memorial was erected in 1905, from single solid piece of granite - it is 38 1/2 feet tall for every year of Prophet's life.
The road trip was wonderful - time to spend just the two of us. Though, I love snow and winter, glad I live in Hawaii - so I don't have to worry about bundling up every day and scraping snow and ice off the car (well, Keith did every one of the scraping jobs - so I shouldn't complain about that :).
Well, now keith is back in Kansas and hopefully will be home this weekend. He has been away from Hawaii over 400 days - it will be good to have him home.
Of course, we visit to see the peacocks, swans, ducks, fish, and the birds. You can purchase a small bag of fish food at the gift shop. The koi pond is full of fish and feeding them is fun. But, the best part for us is to feed the birds - have them come eat off your hand. That day, we had this big bird, who dominated all the smaller ones and just wasn't going to be scared away.
Finally the massage and the wrestling all over.
