LG's Excellent PC Adventure

We've made it to Maine. After leaving Andy in Hatteras, Ian and I headed north to Washington DC and then on to New Jersey to tour my old home town of Cedar Grove. It must have been tremendously exciting for him to see the house I grew up in, the house Doug grew up in, the school I attended, the streets I walked. Wow, the lucky guy. Then we visited NYC and he got to see 'places where I spent my youth'. This time I had to bribe him with a side trip to JR Music but we still enjoyed the visit. A few great farewell meals with old friends and we were on our way north again. My realtor called and told me that there is finally a contract on my home...Yippee!! Now all that has to happen is for the sale to go through and for me to find storage space for all my stuff. My Mustang is safely harbored in the garage here in York Beach and so I guess that, technically, the road trip is over. We still have white water rafting to look forward to on July the 5th and then the flight back to Illinois on the 9th, but the driving is done. We logged almost 2,500 miles with virtually no serious disagreements. I still don't like "Alice in Chains" enough to listen to them for more than five miles, but it wasn't a serious disagreement. All in all it was a great trip and we make a great team.

We arrived in Maine early enough to help Mom & Don open the house. That meant putting in the screens, pulling the porch furniture up from the garage, putting the air conditioners in the windows and generally hauling and lifting. It only took a day and it made us feel useful. Now I'm going to sit porch, when I'm not walking the beach, smoke my cigar and study Bulgarian with a vengeance. After all, I've got to be able to say more than "Please, where is the toilet?" and "Those are very nice melons." Although I'm certain those two phrases will be useful, I hope to add several more in the coming weeks. I'll also work on my packing list and my list of 100 Things To Do Before One Moves To A Foreign Country For Two Years. With the house sold, my only problem is the disposition of my stuff. Sure it's just stuff and not at all valuable, but it's my stuff and I've had some of it for decades. The books alone are so attached to me that it would break their hearts to be sent away. These, however, are problems for another day.

We've made it to Maine and we're doing fine. I want to take full advantage of the next few weeks here to relax and enjoy the beach. At night I can sit up on the Upper Deck and watch the moon light up the sea, it's wonderful here and you should really see it for yourself.