Last week we got Audrey registered for Kindergarten. She got into full-day at Hoover School. It's the farthest Melrose school from our house, but that's still only 1.5 miles away. Next year she'll have equal chance with everyone else to try to get into 1st grade at the Roosevelt School two blocks from home. And you never know, maybe someone will withdraw and she'll still get to go to Roosevelt this year.
But we still hadn't figured out what to do with Charlotte. It turns out the Melrose school district has a very well-regarded early childhood program. Carol went for a visit this morning and they had one spot left for their Mon-Wed-Fri 9:00-12:00 class. All of a sudden our Charlotte school quandary is solved. Both girls have declared that they love their schools (having only seen the buildings).
Now the big question: what will Carol do with 9 hours to herself every week? My suggestion: relax and savor the peace and quiet. I have immense respect for the difficulty of Carol's job and for how fantastically she performs it. This is going to a be a well-earned break.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
First Boston Bike Commute
Labels:
cycling
W00t! I finally got motivated to find my own way into work on my bike. I followed a similar route on bikely.com. The route was a lot calmer than I expected. A few busy streets and lots of riding next to parked cars - that's alway a little nerve wracking.Overall 11.75 miles and it took me 49 minutes with stops for map reading. The train and T combination has been taking me 1:05-1:10 so the bike is both more pleasant and faster.
I haven't ridden my bike since June 12. I can feel it. But it'll come back quickly.
I mapped my own route at bikely.com.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Sweet Life
out for fun today. We got a lot done yesterday. Tackled a wall of
boxes in the garage and got the swing set mostly assembled.
Our neighbor Glenda made another excellent suggestion: Good Harbor
Beach in Gloucester. Once again she said to come early so we arrived
at 9:40AM. We staked out a great spot. This time we are equipped with
beach umbrella, chairs, sand toys and tons of snacks. People here have
their system down and they come to the beach for entire day.
It's mostly cloudy but near 80 and comfortable. From what I hear,
Seattleites are wishing for a cool day around 80 right now.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Revere Beach
Our second weekend in the house we decided to split it between unpacking and doing something fun. We have retired neighbors across the street, Victor and Glenda, who are wonderfully helpful. Glenda brought us information on the New England Sand Sculpting Festival that was going on at Revere Beach about 20 minutes away. We decided that would be a perfect Sunday activity.
Glenda suggested we go early and that was good advice. We got there about 10:00 and searched for a parking place. We thought it seemed crowded then. At 2:30 when we left it was much, much more crowded and traffic all along the very long beach boulevard was stop and go. Lesson learned: go to the beach early.
The sand sculptures were cool, and coincidentally the winning entry was by an artist from Tacoma, WA. But the girls were focused on the water and wanted to get in it pronto. We ended up staying for 4 hours and they had a wonderful time. They could have stayed a couple more hours. But even with multiple sunscreen applications they still got a little too much as it was.
The water was fairly chilly at 68 degrees (we heard on the TV weather report). That didn't stop Audrey from enjoying it, though. And we realized that we need beach supplies: an umbrella and beach chairs and sand toys of course (we have some that haven't been unearthed yet). We look forward to exploring other nearby beaches. There are a lot of them.
Getting Settled
We've been in our house for 11 days now. I think we're about 80% or more unpacked. Most of the living space in the house is almost box free. A 110-year-old house doesn't have as much storage as a more modern house so finding a place for everything is a challenge. The kitchen in particular has much less storage than our Seattle kitchen.
We're collecting stuff for a garage sale. We wanted to have one in Seattle, but we ran out of energy after getting the house ready for sale. The company was moving everything at no cost to us, so we figured just move it all and we'd sort it out on this end.
I haven't ridden my bike to work yet. I have a neighbor who reportedly commutes by bike occasionally and I was hoping he'd escort me and show me the route, but we haven't connected yet. I'm itching to get back on my bike, though, so I'm going to have to figure it out on my own. Navigating roads around here is very confusing so I know it'll take me a long time the first time. Streets change names often and many signs are missing. Even with a GPS in the car we take wrong turns.
I've been taking the train and T (the subway) to work. It takes a little longer than I had hoped from looking at schedules in Seattle. About 1:05 each way. I'm experimenting with different options and shaving some minutes off.
The girls are adjusting well to the new home. Although Charlotte once in a while says "I want to go to a normal house." Tonight when I got home from work (and she was disappointed because Audrey didn't want to play the same game as her), Charlotte told me she wanted to go back to Seattle because "this house is boring." In general they are enjoying exploring new places. We have found the public library and the public pool (it's free!) and a playground pretty near home.
Audrey and Charlotte have become fish. Audrey has made amazing progress all on her own. She'll now jump off the side of the pool and go completely underwater, then surface and swim back to the side. She'll swim on her back and float on her back, too. She'll even swim underwater for a short distance. Her dog paddle is getting really good. Neither girl can get enough of the pool. Even after a couple of hours they are both loathe to get out. Charlotte is slowly getting accustomed to the cooler outdoor pool.
Audrey is registered for Kindergarten. She's in half-day at the moment because there is no room in all-day. At least she is in the school that is two blocks from our house. We have our fingers crossed that an all-day spot opens up. We're not yet sure what we'll do for school for Charlotte. There is a pre-school that is part of the public school system that we'll probably check into.
Carol is enjoying the adventure of learning her way around a new place. She's sampled several grocery stores and has found the other local stores she needs for the moment. We had the movers stop at Carol's parents' house in the Tri-Cities and pick up a piano. Carol's most anticipated box to find was the one containing all of her sheet music. Carol studied piano for 12 years and plays very well. She's playing right now as I type this. I love having music in the house! Hopefully we can inspire the girls. One of my biggest regrets in life is that I never learned an instrument (even though I've tried many times as an adult).
We already have a long list of projects to do on the house but we'll pace ourselves. Half the house is wallpapered and that has to go. Several rooms need new paint colors. And the kitchen may get a moderate remodel (new cabinets and rearranged appliances) sooner than we thought. That can all wait until we are completely unpacked and have had some summer fun in New England.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
At the Beach
three whole days last weekend unpacking and this weekend we decided to
spend Saturday unpacking and Sunday doing something fun.
Today's fun is visiting Revere Beach 20 minutes from home to see the
sand sculpture competition and check out swimming in the ocean. The
winner of the competition is from Tacoma, WA!
The ocean is a lot warmer than the Pacific in Washinton but still
pretty chilly. On a really hot day it might feel nice, though.
Maybe later today I can post again with additional recent photos.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Eastward Migration Photo Catch-up
I never had the time during the trip to load, edit, organize and post photos other than single camera phone shots. Here are a bunch of photo albums from various phases of the trip. As always, click on the photo to access that entire album.
Yellowstone National Park was fun even with the stress of the van problem, although we didn't stop as much as we would have in normal circumstances. At times the van was making a loud racket - like someone was under the van banging on it with a hammer. People would turn to look from 100 yards away when it was doing that. So we weren't too motivated to drive around the park exploring a lot.
We entered at Mammoth Hot Springs and drove through Roosevelt to Canyon. Then to Norris, Old Faithful and Grant Village at West Thumb. Once we decided to escape the park, we drove back to Madison through Old Faithful and then out the West Entrance. From West Yellowstone we drove north on Highway 191 to Bozeman. We thought the Gallatin River Valley along 191 was some of the prettiest scenery we saw on the whole trip.
We got to Devil's Tower about 10:00pm on the day the van got fixed. We had left Bozeman about 1:00pm and stopped for pizza and slurpees in Sheridan, Wyoming.
It was worth the side trip off I-90 (about 60 miles total) to see Devil's Tower. It was cool to arrive there in twilight and still be able to see the silhouette. We left pretty early the next morning so all we saw was the campground.
Mt. Rushmore has changed a lot since I was last there in 1991. The nearest town, Keystone, has grown into a kitschy tourist trap. And they have completely replaced the visitor facilities with a large parking structure, formal entrance to the memorial, new concessions, a museum and a huge amphitheater. It was pretty hot when we were there so we watched a movie in the museum theater just to be cool for a while. The new facilities are nice but I miss the ugly old building.
A real highlight of my trip was visiting relatives in Chicago and Detroit.
We had a very relaxing visit with Uncle Gary and Aunt Kathy. It was cut short a little by our Yellowstone mechanical delay but it was still great to see them and meet their children. And we very much enjoyed the Beethoven concert they treated us to.
Then it was on to Detroit where I got to see all of my extended family there again and meet their next generation. I mentioned in another post that I hadn't seen my aunt and uncle and cousins there since 1978. We hope to make it back much more often than that, taking advantage of the much shorter trip from Boston than from Seattle.
I already posted photos from Niagara Falls and Watkin's Glen. So we'll skip forward to the Delaware Water Gap in Pennsylvania.
When my friend Bill heard we would be at the DWG he suggested we visit Bushkill Falls. "The Niagara of Pennsylvania!" We did and it was fun. We got to feed the mosquitos, but between feedings we enjoyed the boardwalks that took us above, around and next to the falls and river.
We also had dinner at a great diner with friendly staff and good food. Classic chrome exterior. LCD TV on every table and the staff almost insisted we turn it on. We did for about three minutes.
We got to Hoboken midday on July 3 and met up with my good friend Bill. We met in Seattle but didn't become good friends until I moved to Boston in 1991 shortly after Bill had moved to New York to work in TV. We've had some great adventures together. We went on a couple of mountain biking vacations together to Moab, Utah; West Virginia; and New Zealand. He's a muckety muck at NBC now.
We spent a big chunk of time at a local spray park in Hoboken. The kids could have stayed there all day. But we dragged them out of the water to indulge my crazy idea of heading into NYC to visit the Empire State Building. When we got there the guard said it was a 90 minute wait. Somehow we found ourselves in line anyway and we eventually made it to the main observatory on the 86th floor. Once we had survived that we headed back to Hoboken for dinner. Then Carol and the girls and I said our goodbyes and headed to Fort Lee, New Jersey for the night to position ourselves for the final leg to Boston.
It seemed really appropriate to arrive in Boston on the 4th of July. The suite hotel I wanted to stay in wasn't available, so I made a reservation for one night at the Hotel Commonwealth, a swanky place that is the Merck preferred hotel because it is convenient to the Boston office (my new workplace). It also happens to be very convenient to the site of the fireworks.
On Sunday we played tourists in our new home town. There are several children's books that are set in Boston: Make Way for Ducklings and Catie Copley are Audrey and Charlotte's favorites. So we visited the sites that are in those stories: we rode the Swan Boats, visited the ducklings sculpture and went and petted Catie at the Copley Plaza We also walked around Beacon Hill a little because Audrey appreciates architectural charm, and we waded a little in Frog Pond.
This photo album contains a random collection of photos from the trip.
One unexpected highlight of the trip is a big jump in both girls' independence in water. We've been going to swim lessons at the YMCA for a couple of years and both have made progress. But Audrey just decided to put her head under water a few months ago and she had only swum with no flotation on a few rare occasions. Charlotte has always needed to be attached to Mom or Dad while in the water.
In the second half of the trip we started having more time to enjoy the pools at the campgrounds and hotels at which we stayed. The girls were getting significant pool time almost every day. With no prompting from us they both started gaining impressive skills. Audrey started by actually swimming, albeit with a weird frog-like kick. Charlotte decided she could go off on her own in an inflatable ring. More recently they both want to show me new skills every day after work.
Audrey now loves to jump off the side of the pool even if it means she goes completely underwater. And she's now swimming with a real dog paddle and an improving flutter kick. Tonight she even jumped off the side and swam back to the side. That's the last skill she needs to demonstrate to graduate to the next level at YMCA swim lessons.
Tonight Charlotte was experimenting with putting her face underwater and was also jumping off the pool stairs into my arms from a fair distance.
Overall they have both taken a huge leap in confidence and independence. They are both very proud of themselves and really loving the water. For some reason that really warms my heart.
Yellowstone National Park was fun even with the stress of the van problem, although we didn't stop as much as we would have in normal circumstances. At times the van was making a loud racket - like someone was under the van banging on it with a hammer. People would turn to look from 100 yards away when it was doing that. So we weren't too motivated to drive around the park exploring a lot.
We entered at Mammoth Hot Springs and drove through Roosevelt to Canyon. Then to Norris, Old Faithful and Grant Village at West Thumb. Once we decided to escape the park, we drove back to Madison through Old Faithful and then out the West Entrance. From West Yellowstone we drove north on Highway 191 to Bozeman. We thought the Gallatin River Valley along 191 was some of the prettiest scenery we saw on the whole trip.
We got to Devil's Tower about 10:00pm on the day the van got fixed. We had left Bozeman about 1:00pm and stopped for pizza and slurpees in Sheridan, Wyoming.
It was worth the side trip off I-90 (about 60 miles total) to see Devil's Tower. It was cool to arrive there in twilight and still be able to see the silhouette. We left pretty early the next morning so all we saw was the campground.
Mt. Rushmore has changed a lot since I was last there in 1991. The nearest town, Keystone, has grown into a kitschy tourist trap. And they have completely replaced the visitor facilities with a large parking structure, formal entrance to the memorial, new concessions, a museum and a huge amphitheater. It was pretty hot when we were there so we watched a movie in the museum theater just to be cool for a while. The new facilities are nice but I miss the ugly old building.
A real highlight of my trip was visiting relatives in Chicago and Detroit.
We had a very relaxing visit with Uncle Gary and Aunt Kathy. It was cut short a little by our Yellowstone mechanical delay but it was still great to see them and meet their children. And we very much enjoyed the Beethoven concert they treated us to.
Then it was on to Detroit where I got to see all of my extended family there again and meet their next generation. I mentioned in another post that I hadn't seen my aunt and uncle and cousins there since 1978. We hope to make it back much more often than that, taking advantage of the much shorter trip from Boston than from Seattle.
I already posted photos from Niagara Falls and Watkin's Glen. So we'll skip forward to the Delaware Water Gap in Pennsylvania.
When my friend Bill heard we would be at the DWG he suggested we visit Bushkill Falls. "The Niagara of Pennsylvania!" We did and it was fun. We got to feed the mosquitos, but between feedings we enjoyed the boardwalks that took us above, around and next to the falls and river.
We also had dinner at a great diner with friendly staff and good food. Classic chrome exterior. LCD TV on every table and the staff almost insisted we turn it on. We did for about three minutes.
We got to Hoboken midday on July 3 and met up with my good friend Bill. We met in Seattle but didn't become good friends until I moved to Boston in 1991 shortly after Bill had moved to New York to work in TV. We've had some great adventures together. We went on a couple of mountain biking vacations together to Moab, Utah; West Virginia; and New Zealand. He's a muckety muck at NBC now.
We spent a big chunk of time at a local spray park in Hoboken. The kids could have stayed there all day. But we dragged them out of the water to indulge my crazy idea of heading into NYC to visit the Empire State Building. When we got there the guard said it was a 90 minute wait. Somehow we found ourselves in line anyway and we eventually made it to the main observatory on the 86th floor. Once we had survived that we headed back to Hoboken for dinner. Then Carol and the girls and I said our goodbyes and headed to Fort Lee, New Jersey for the night to position ourselves for the final leg to Boston.
It seemed really appropriate to arrive in Boston on the 4th of July. The suite hotel I wanted to stay in wasn't available, so I made a reservation for one night at the Hotel Commonwealth, a swanky place that is the Merck preferred hotel because it is convenient to the Boston office (my new workplace). It also happens to be very convenient to the site of the fireworks.
On Sunday we played tourists in our new home town. There are several children's books that are set in Boston: Make Way for Ducklings and Catie Copley are Audrey and Charlotte's favorites. So we visited the sites that are in those stories: we rode the Swan Boats, visited the ducklings sculpture and went and petted Catie at the Copley Plaza We also walked around Beacon Hill a little because Audrey appreciates architectural charm, and we waded a little in Frog Pond.
This photo album contains a random collection of photos from the trip.
One unexpected highlight of the trip is a big jump in both girls' independence in water. We've been going to swim lessons at the YMCA for a couple of years and both have made progress. But Audrey just decided to put her head under water a few months ago and she had only swum with no flotation on a few rare occasions. Charlotte has always needed to be attached to Mom or Dad while in the water.
In the second half of the trip we started having more time to enjoy the pools at the campgrounds and hotels at which we stayed. The girls were getting significant pool time almost every day. With no prompting from us they both started gaining impressive skills. Audrey started by actually swimming, albeit with a weird frog-like kick. Charlotte decided she could go off on her own in an inflatable ring. More recently they both want to show me new skills every day after work.
Audrey now loves to jump off the side of the pool even if it means she goes completely underwater. And she's now swimming with a real dog paddle and an improving flutter kick. Tonight she even jumped off the side and swam back to the side. That's the last skill she needs to demonstrate to graduate to the next level at YMCA swim lessons.
Tonight Charlotte was experimenting with putting her face underwater and was also jumping off the pool stairs into my arms from a fair distance.
Overall they have both taken a huge leap in confidence and independence. They are both very proud of themselves and really loving the water. For some reason that really warms my heart.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
End of the Road
After 15 days and 4,033 miles we pulled into Boston about 4:30 PM today. Our hotel for tonight is a block from Fenway Park. The Red Sox game was letting out as we arrived: they were beaten by the Mariners!
The big July 4th fireworks are launched over the Charles River just a few blocks from our hotel. So we killed time (and kept the girls awake) by going to a movie (Ice Age 3). Audrey held out and got to see her first live fireworks show. Charlotte fell asleep in Carol's arms about 10 minutes before the fireworks started (it didn't start until 10:40). Carol and I will have sore backs tomorrow from carrying both girls all the way back to the hotel.
We had a fantastic trip. The Yellowstone challenges seem like a distant memory. We had a lot of fun together and the girls got to see a lot of interesting sights. Seeing my relatives in Chicago and Detroit was a real highlight for me. The girls fared better in the van than we could ever have expected. They got pretty accustomed to driving for hours every day.
Once we got the CV joint fixed in Montana, Ruby brought us through with flying colors. She ran like a dream. We had fun camping in her about a third of the nights on the trip. We look forward to exploring New England and beyond in her.
One thing I keep meaning to report is just how much road construction we saw along the way. At least a couple hundred miles of I-90 are being resurfaced. We went through one 26-mile section in South Dakota where one half of the dual roadway was completely removed down to the soil and was being reconstructed. From Montana onward we passed through many, many long construction zones. And there are many bridges being rebuilt or repaired. Some of the projects are signed as being part of stimulus programs. A lot more of them probably are but aren't signed as such.
Now we move on to getting settled. Tomorrow we'll find a place to do some laundry. Monday I report to my new office. Tuesday we close the purchase of the new house. Wednesday the movers arrive with our stuff and the TV and internet services get installed. Then we get unpacked and start living a normal life again.
Carol and I love a good road trip. We're looking forward to having a home again and to reestablishing the girls' routines, but we'll also miss being vagabonds. Thanks for following along!
The big July 4th fireworks are launched over the Charles River just a few blocks from our hotel. So we killed time (and kept the girls awake) by going to a movie (Ice Age 3). Audrey held out and got to see her first live fireworks show. Charlotte fell asleep in Carol's arms about 10 minutes before the fireworks started (it didn't start until 10:40). Carol and I will have sore backs tomorrow from carrying both girls all the way back to the hotel.
We had a fantastic trip. The Yellowstone challenges seem like a distant memory. We had a lot of fun together and the girls got to see a lot of interesting sights. Seeing my relatives in Chicago and Detroit was a real highlight for me. The girls fared better in the van than we could ever have expected. They got pretty accustomed to driving for hours every day.
Once we got the CV joint fixed in Montana, Ruby brought us through with flying colors. She ran like a dream. We had fun camping in her about a third of the nights on the trip. We look forward to exploring New England and beyond in her.
One thing I keep meaning to report is just how much road construction we saw along the way. At least a couple hundred miles of I-90 are being resurfaced. We went through one 26-mile section in South Dakota where one half of the dual roadway was completely removed down to the soil and was being reconstructed. From Montana onward we passed through many, many long construction zones. And there are many bridges being rebuilt or repaired. Some of the projects are signed as being part of stimulus programs. A lot more of them probably are but aren't signed as such.
Now we move on to getting settled. Tomorrow we'll find a place to do some laundry. Monday I report to my new office. Tuesday we close the purchase of the new house. Wednesday the movers arrive with our stuff and the TV and internet services get installed. Then we get unpacked and start living a normal life again.
Carol and I love a good road trip. We're looking forward to having a home again and to reestablishing the girls' routines, but we'll also miss being vagabonds. Thanks for following along!
Thursday, July 2, 2009
New York and Pennsylvania
After Niagara Falls we spent Tuesday night in a hotel in Batavia, NY. It was a tired Holiday Inn but it had a decent restaurant and a pool right outside our room. And a crappy Internet connection so I didn't have the patience to post from there.
On Wednesday we took side roads for a few hours to Watkin's Glen, NY. If you're an auto racing fan you're familiar with the Glen - it is home to a famous road racing circuit. It turns out the KOA campground there is about a mile from the track. We took a drive by it. It is hosting an Indy car race this weekend and the annual Nascar event on August 9th.
The town of Watkin's Glen is at the south end of Seneca Lake, one of the Finger Lakes in central New York. The highlight of our visit was the gorge at Watkin's Glen State Park.
Today we drove down from Watkin's Glen to the Delaware Water Gap on the Pennsylvania - New Jersey border. It's where the Delaware River cuts through a ridge of the Appalachians. We're staying at another KOA here but sleeping in the van. This is our 4th KOA of the trip. They cost more then a state park, but they have hot water in the bathrooms and showers and they almost all have pools and playgrounds. Well worth the extra few bucks.
One reason we came here was to get closer to New York City. We'll go there tomorrow and spend the day with my friend Bill and his kids Cole and Tate.
On Wednesday we took side roads for a few hours to Watkin's Glen, NY. If you're an auto racing fan you're familiar with the Glen - it is home to a famous road racing circuit. It turns out the KOA campground there is about a mile from the track. We took a drive by it. It is hosting an Indy car race this weekend and the annual Nascar event on August 9th.
The town of Watkin's Glen is at the south end of Seneca Lake, one of the Finger Lakes in central New York. The highlight of our visit was the gorge at Watkin's Glen State Park.
Today we drove down from Watkin's Glen to the Delaware Water Gap on the Pennsylvania - New Jersey border. It's where the Delaware River cuts through a ridge of the Appalachians. We're staying at another KOA here but sleeping in the van. This is our 4th KOA of the trip. They cost more then a state park, but they have hot water in the bathrooms and showers and they almost all have pools and playgrounds. Well worth the extra few bucks.
One reason we came here was to get closer to New York City. We'll go there tomorrow and spend the day with my friend Bill and his kids Cole and Tate.
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