ON THE GO 2015 July thru December
We had a nice Fourth of July. Don is President
of a 501C3 organization called Twin Lakes Watershed Association. We had a
good meeting of Members. TLWA is now handling the Eurasian Milfoil
Harvesting function for Lake Beebe. TLWA raised almost $14,000 and
will end up harvesting 180 hours this year, both huge increases over recent
years.
The Lake Beebe Property Owners Association met at
4:30 pm. David Principe was reelected Treasurer and Karla Principe, its Secretary, was elected
President.
David Sondergeld and his girlfriend Kit Neal, both from the San
Francisco area arrived at 5 pm on July 4, and will be here at the lake until Tuesday.
They will join the family next Friday in Damariscotta ME for a weekend
celebration of Nathan's marriage at Nate's parent's home in Bremen ME on Muscongus Bay.
Here are David and Kit and Kit's Bass.
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On Friday July 10, 2015 we left for a week long trip to Maine and NH.
We drove to Kennebunkport, ME, arriving at 1 pm and had lobster salad
sandwiches at the Kennebunkport River Club .https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kennebunk_River_Club
with Alan and Joan Walters. It is a lovely tennis and
boating club listed on the National Historic Register. Alan is one of
Don's bridge partners in Naples, FL.
We arrived at our big yellow rental at 3 Water Street in Damariscotta, ME at
6 pm after stopping at L L Bean in Freeport. Amy Tom and Aleksey were
there. David and Kit arrived a little later as did Eric Cindy and
Alexei, followed by Karen Duncan and Caitlin. Karla David and Erin's
friend Orion arrived the next day. We had dinner in this big old house
that overlooks the river. John and Connie stopped over.
On Saturday, July 11 at 3:30 pm we drove 20 minutes to John and Connie's
home in Bremen ME on Muscongus Bay for a celebration of the wedding of
Nathan Towne and Mark Simpson, which had occurred last fall. A lovely
day and a great party with over 100 in attendance.
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Karla
Amy
Eric
David
Karen |
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Karen Eric
David
Mary Amy
Karla Don |
On Sunday, July 12 we went to John an Connie's at 10: 30 am for brunch.
Chris DiMatteo took people for boat rides on Muscongus Bay in John's power
boat, but Don and Mary watched Djokovic beat Federer in 4 sets to win
Wimbledon. Mid afternoon David and Kit headed to Boston, whereas
Eric's and Karla's family headed to CT. Amy's family went to
Boothbay Harbor, Karen's family drove to Camden, and Don & Mary went back to
Damariscotta.
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Chris & Allison DiMatteo Nate
Towne & Mark Simpson |
We had dinner at Schooner Landing in Damariscotta. Some say "damariscotta"
means "gathering place of alewives" and they do gather here in such numbers
there is an Alewives Festival held each Memorial Day Weekend. Also the
home of the Damariscotta River Oyster Festival held annually in September.
On Monday, July 13 Karen Duncan and Caitlin headed south to Boston.
Karen and Duncan will then spend a week at Cape Cod. We had breakfast
with Amy Tom and Aleksey at Crissy's in Damariscotta.
We then headed to Bar Harbor for two days.
We arrived at the Bluenose Inn high on a hill overlooking Frenchman's Bay at
noon but could not check in until 2 pm so we drove the mile into town and had
lobster salad sandwiches at a nice restaurant on the water. That
evening we had dinner at the Looking Glass Restaurant next to our hotel.
We were , joined by Ron and Nancy ? from Atlanta as we did not like our
table for two.
On Tuesday, July 14 we took a 4.5 hour Whale Watching trip in the fog.
Terrible due to the poor visibility, although we did see a few puffins and
met some nice people. Had lunch at the lovely Asticou Inn in Northeast
Harbor. We then drove around the island, up Cadillac Mountain, over to
Thunder Hole, then down to Somes Sound . We had dinner at Fiddler's
Green in Southeast Harbor.
On Wednesday, July 15 w drove to Waterville ME. Had lunch and
visited the lovely Modern Art Museum at Colby College. Arrived at
Mary's wicked stepmother's home at 5 Highland Ave at 2:30pm. We had a
nice dinner at a steakhouse and spent the night at Evelyn's.
On Thursday, July 16 we had breakfast with Evelyn and left for the White
Mountains at 9:30 am. We arrived at the bottom of Mt Washington at
12:30pm, bought sandwiches and took the Stage (a narrated van trip) the 7.5
miles up the Auto Road. The drive was one half hour each way and an hour at
the top.So happy we did not drive ($60 for two seniors on the van vs $38 for
two in our car). I drove many years ago but can't remember the road being so
narrow. The views were terrific and the weather warm.
We arrived at the lovely Wentworth Inn in Jackson NH at 4 pm, checked in.
Then drove to N Conway and returned for a nap. A super dinner at 6:30.
A great day!
On Friday, July 17 we had a great breakfast and headed south and west.
Below is Mt Chocorua, a granite dome we hiked on one day of the early May
weekends we skied Tuckerman's Ravine many years ago.
Stopped at the Lower Falls near Rocky Gorge on the Kancamagus Highway, lunch at
Simon Pearce in Quechee, and back at camp at 4 pm. A nice week
especially seeing our family, the Towne family, and the Simpson family.
On Tuesday July 21, 2015 Karen, Caitlin and "Charlie" arrived at
Lake Beebe for a two day
visit before Karen flies back to California. One night Caitlin cooked
dinner for 11 of us: Don, Mary, Karen, Caitlin, Karla, David, Erin and four
guests of the Principes from North Carolina.
See slide show.
On Friday July 24, 2015 Don took some pictures of his day lilies and other
flowers.. See slide
show.
Eagle Rock across Beebe Pond in July 2015:
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On August 1, 2015
Alexei, age 16 10/12,
rowed in the
Overpeck Summer
Sprints near
Teaneck, NJ.
He won the 500
meter Men's Sprint
and was second in
the 2 kilometer race
for those under age 19. |
On August 3, 2015 we celebrated our 58th wedding anniversary.
We had dinner at the Echo Lake Inn in Tyson on Route 100, four miles north
of Ludlow, VT.
On August 6, 2015 we drove to Lincoln, NH and had lunch at the top of
Loon Mountain.
We then spent a romantic night at the beautiful Rabbit Hill Inn in
Lower Waterford - in Vermont's "Northeast Kingdom".
http://www.rabbithillinn.com/
and
http://www.rabbithillinn.com/the-inn-video-tour
The three counties in the northeast part of Vermont
(Caledonia, Essex, and Orleans) are referred to as the Northeast Kingdom, a
term coined by George D Aiken.
www.northlandjournal.com/stories/stories51.html
On Sunday August 9, 2015 we drove 10 miles to Benson,
VT to watch the Burdock Parade. We then had lunch at the Wheel Inn.
Mary had their famous $6 hamburger and Don had a Hot Roast Beef Sandwich
hidden under a generous amount of gravy.
On Thursday,
September 3,
Don, Mary, and
Linda Sue
Conrtant
had lunch
with Arnold
Abelson at the
Storm Cafe along
Otter Creek in
Middlebury, VT |
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On Saturday,
September 12
we were
invited to
celebrate Eva
Breckenridge's
80th birthday
at the Hilkers
in Shelburne,
Vermont. |
Eva Breckenridge Mary Sondergeld
& Anne Holland
On Saturday September 19 we had lunch with Marian Hubbard
(age 83 and the first owner of what is now the Polley property at Beebe
Pond) while Caitlin, Karen, and Duncan helped David in Daly City, CA with
the 25th Thorton Beach Cleanup of old chairs.
"The community
spirit is high," said David
Sondergeld, of Daly City, an IT
manager who has volunteered to
clean Thornton State Beach in
that city every year for the
past 24 years. "People have fun.
They know they are out there
doing good, and there's a
camaraderie that comes from
doing the work."
In the early
1990s, the beach, just south of
the Olympic Club, was a mess.
"It was a dumping ground," he
said. "We were pulling out car
engines, wheels, tires, big
stuff from the lower cliff area.
We kept pulling out big stuff
for the first eight years or so,
but ever since it has been just
litter from the beachgoers, or
people who party and leave
trash, along with some from
homeless people."
When state parks
budget cuts ended regular
maintenance at the beach,
Sondergeld, who runs and surfs
there regularly, went to Home
Depot and bought garbage cans
himself. They were eventually
stolen, so he contacted a
garbage company, Allied Waste,
to provide cans and empty them
weekly. This year, about 200
people cleaned the beach, many
of them students from Ben
Franklin Middle School and
Jefferson High in Daly City.
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Zach has been
looking at colleges that might
be good enough. Here he is
with Karla, Erin, and David.
He has apparently been
cultivating a cool aristocratic
man of the world demeanor.
On Monday September 21 we met Stan, Harriet and Richard Joseph for lunch ay
The Inn at Long Trail.
Karen was 46 at 0530 on September 27. The world celebrated with an
eclipse of the moon at 10 pm on 9/27/2015.
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Also, on September 27, Alexei rowed in the Green Mountain Head in
Poultney Vermont on the Connecticut River. He came in third in his
class. He did not get lost in the fog. His furrowed brow
indicated his deep concentration.
On Saturday October 3 we went to Ft Ticonderoga and visited the Pavillion
and the King's Gardens. Read about Willliam Ferris Pell and the
Pavillion Hotel.
www.fortticonderoga.org/visit/the-pavilion
and also
http://www.nytimes.com/1987/10/14/obituaries/john-h-g-pell-83-historian.html
We then drove to the top of Mount Defiance with its terrific view of Fort
Ti, Mount Independence and Lake Champlain.
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At 6 pm we helped Mary Wolons celebrate her 80th birthday
with her family and many friends here at Lake Beebe.
On Tuesday October 6 we drove 95 miles to Williamstown, MA. Visited
the lovely Clark Museum. It contains the same beautiful art. But with
the opening of the new attached visitor center on July 4, 2014 it is not the
same. www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/columns/2014/07/23/what-have-they-done-clark-art-institute/gyxI2mrOXum9ly5hwReagP/story.html
We then had lunch south of town at the 1896 House. Then 8 miles south
to Lanesborough to the 8.5 mile "Rockwell" auto road, built in 1906 to the
3491 summit of Mount Greylock the highest peak in Massachusetts and in the
Taconics. The Veterans War Memorial Tower is at the summit.
The memorial was dedicated in June 1933 as a tribute to courage, endurance,
loyalty and self-sacrifice.
It takes the form of a
perpetually lighted beacon to honor the state's dead from World
War I
and subsequent conflicts. The light was at the time the strongest beacon in
Massachusetts, with a nighttime visible range of up to 70 miles.Visited Bascom
Lodge, also at the summit, and then drove 8 miles down the north side to
North Adams. There we visited the Natural Bridge , a former Marble
Quarry before returning to Beebe Pond by 6 pm.
Dam
Marble Natural Bridge
On Sunday October 11, 2015 we had dinner at Fire and Ice in
Middlebury, Vermont with Amy, Tom, and Aleksey. Fire and Ice has been
in Middlebury since 1974. It is named for Robert Frost's famous poem
whose first two lines read: "Some say the world will end in fire, Some
say in ice."
"
Eagle Rock & Beebe Pond on October 10, 2015
On Friday October 16, 2015 we headed south. We drove to the summit of Okemo
Mountain with its nice view of Ludlow. Then arrived in West Hartford,
CT for a family dinner at Amy's home with Karla's and Eric's families.
Mary instead went to bed with stomach pains. At 1 am Don and Amy took
Mary to UCONN Health Center in nearby Farmington, CT. Don drove to the
airport and met Helena Fine who drove our car to Florida. On Tuesday evening
Mary had a 4 inch resection of the small intestine to fix the blockage
caused by scar tissue from a resction done five years ago. She did
well and was released from the hospital on Saturday morning the 24th. We
expect to remain in CT a week or so and then fly to Florida.
Ludlow VT from Okemo Mountain
Sandy, one of Mary's Nurses and Don
Mary, Post Op She's ready to go home
Don celebrated his 85th birthday on Friday November 13 at one of his
favorite restaurants in Naples: "Escargot 41". Steve and Sandy Earl
helped mark the occasion.
On Sunday, November 15 we had lunch at the Lexington CC in Ft Myers with Don
and his cousin Doris Bell and her bridge buddy Mark Boyer. We then played
Chicago, with Mark winning.
On Monday November 16, 2015 we helped celebrate Bob Levering's 93rd birthday
at Fred's Bar. It has great, better than amateur, music . Some
of Bob's bridge partners were there. Stan Joseph's former business
partner, Mark Gerber, plays a mean trumpet.
See slide show.
Eric is helping with the United Way at his company LIMRA.
On Wednesday November 25 we went out for dinner. Guess where?
We had Thanksgiving in Ft Myers with Don's cousin Doris Burton Bell and her
Son Mike and his wife Mary B.
On Sunday, November 19 we drove to Everglades City and Chokoloskee and had a nice lunch at the Rod & Gun Club. We drove along
Turner River Road- but saw only a few alligators and birds.
Some of our family got together at Eric's home in Canton, CT the first
weekend in December:
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Zach Aleksey Alexei
Erin Kyle |
Yes, Karen and Kyle were there too, along with
Tatsushi Suzuki from Japan.
Before Christmas, we see our two musicians:
Eric on the Euphonium
Alexei on the fiddle On Sunday December 20, 2015 we had lunch with Doris and son
Ted in Ft Myers.
Then Don lost three games of euchre.
Here are some pics from California
Sondergelds: Owen David Kyle
Whitneys: Caitlin Duncan Ryan Karen Sara
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