Summer Relocation From Florida To New Hampshire June 3 through June 10, 2010

We left Florida amidst strong rainstorms, but that also brought the first of what would be many rainbows on this wonderful trip north. We saw family, friends (some not seen in 30 years), and three of our former houses.

		Yet another rainbow as we visited Artie's cousin Selma, and her husband Noel, in Dacula, a suburb of Atlanta GA. We spent a couple of nights with them, touring their beautiful landscaping project, and playing with their dog, Sophie. They are always fun to be with.

		Noel, Sophie and Selma, ready to go!

Next stop, Proctorville Ohio, where we lived 30 years ago, from 1978 to 1980. We crossed the Ohio River (left) to visit our southern Ohio community, amazed at the changes, which included this new bridge within sight of the entry to our street.

It was emotional to come back to our house after 30 years. What surprised us was the growth of trees at the entrance to the community (which had been an open field) and around the house (which had been seedlings).

		We were happy to see that the community still looked good, many new houses were built, and our house was well maintained. We enjoyed our 2 years here in the 70s.

For dinner that night, we arranged to meet with four friends from when Artie first served as a plant manager in Ironton, Ohio. Our friends suggested the old railroad station, which had been converted to a fine restaurant. We had a private room and enjoyed the evening catching up on three decades of time apart.

Wally and Jo		Roger and Pat

After 9 hours on the road, from Atlanta to Ohio, we were on the road again the next day, with 8 more hours to Niagara Falls. Although our behinds were tired, our spirits soared, with thoughts of the friends we had seen and those we were about to see.

We enjoyed scenic highways, through the Smoky Mountains, and colorful rest stops along the way north.

Next stop: Niagara Falls, New York!

As often as we have been to the Falls, it always is exciting and awesome. We spent three nights in Niagara Falls, enjoying these views over several days, aside from visiting friends, seeing our old house and Artie making a presentation to a group of regional managers from his former company.

Lots more rainbows now!

		Perfect weather to view the falls and Canada.

		For our first night in Niagara Falls, Artie's former secretary, Gina, invited us for dinner. Her husband, Joe, grilled the chicken for a very tasty meal.

As we lined up for the family photo, Joe kept hiding his face. Bella, right, wanted in!

This time all are visible, left to right: Charlie, Maria, Gina, Joey, and Joe.

		After a long drive from Ohio, this was the perfect way to end the day. A great time catching-up with good friends, a home-cooked meal and one of Gina's memorable fresh-fruit desserts. Yumm!

Breakfast the next day, by Mary and Bob, was great. Bob was a former manager at Artie's Niagara plant, and Mary was in occupational health.

		These "cowboys" enjoyed reminiscing and sharing updates on their lives.

Later that day we met with Sam, our Realtor who helped us find the perfect lot to build our Niagara Falls house in 1995, on the river in Lewiston NY. At left, Sam stands proudly at his office with daughter Alisa, who also works at his company.

Some of you may remember our house on the Lower River Road. It was the first and only one we designed and built. The project was a labor of love lasting 1.5 years. We were lucky to find the current owner in, and happy to show us inside and out.

The house was designed so that nearly every room had a spectacular view of the Niagara River, and across the river to Canada. Fritz, the owner, sat with us a while on his recently expanded deck with shaded cover. A glorious place indeed.

		We designed the house with a large bay window that allowed for an eat-in kitchen on the ground floor, and a Jacuzzi tub in the master suite above. All with great views.

The 2-story ceiling of the family room has top-to-bottom windows for full enjoyment of the river views. Open balconies, exterior decks, and even an interior window to allow cross-house viewing from the front bedroom created a house we wished we could have lived in for a bit more than the 2 years we had after construction.

		As with our Ohio house, we were pleased to see how the landscaping grew in so nicely. The house is for sale, and someone will get to enjoy a beautiful home.

Our neighbors, Judy and Walt, were out when we stopped by. We got to chat with them and enjoy the view from their back yard too. Other than the winters, we sure enjoyed this place to live.

		Adding to the trip reunions, Artie met with Bill, a co-worker from the first chlor-alkali department that Artie ran back in the mid-70s. It's so nice to stay in touch with good friends. Bill lives in the Buffalo area, not far from Margy's nephew Peter, who was our last stop for Monday, June 7th.

Three year old Griffin raced around his house on his tricycle as his folks, Peter and Dawn, got his three month old baby sister, Lyla, ready to go out to dinner.

Griffin outside, and then showing off his new bunk bed inside.

		Ready for dinner out: Griffin, Dawn, Peter and baby Lyla.

While we are at the restaurant, it's only fair that Lyla gets to eat too.

		At the end of the meal, Peter and Dawn presented us with this 41st Anniversary cake! Nice to celebrate with family.

Tuesday morning, we visited with Fred and Lori. When we were in Niagara Falls, Fred was with the Chamber of Commerce and Lori started an at-home TV show from her kitchen, sharing recipes of her own and of invited friends. Fred is now with the local hospital, and Lori's show has continued for over 15 years! Artie may even be one of those invited guests, when his book is ready (Lori offered to let him plug the book while cooking up something special.)

Lori and Fred in their "famous kitchen!"		The kids: Cameron 16, Connor 13, Frederick III (Trey) 9

We grabbed a quick visit with Diane, while she took a short break from her office in social services where she helps find jobs for the unemployed. She told us about her volunteer activities, including being a founder of an animal shelter for cats.

Her photo album included this shot of the celebration cake when she opened "Precious Paws," now a fully certified charitable institution. Diane is a person who makes a big difference in her community.

		Tuesday night we met with Steve (left) in preparation for Artie's evening speech. Sam met us to say hi to Steve, having not seen him in years. A nice quick reunion in Steve's hotel.

Steve, Corporate VP of health, environment, safety and security for OxyChem, is a long-time friend and former co-worker of Artie's. He invited Artie to make an after-dinner presentation for regional managers at this famous Niagara Falls Italian restaurant in the "Little Italy" section of town. We saw several old friends here, and met new ones, as Artie presented excerpts from his book, with a focus on the change process, the communications process and time management.

		The participants had already worked a long day in their conference, and just finished a big meal. Artie made sure to keep them awake and entertained while sharing valuable tips for success.

Mike, a former supervisor Artie knew from the Niagara Plant, was the winner of a unique contest that Artie held during the presentation. The prize was unique too. Artie had wanted to give a copy of his new book, but it was not yet published (Mike is holding a proof copy). So instead, Mike won an I.O.U.! Notice the flip-chart graphics behind Artie. This was Artie's pictorial summary of the entire speech presented that night.

This standing ovation was not at the end of the speech, but rather a fun exercise that Artie requested of the participants.

		The participants seemed genuinely interested in what Artie shared, during and after the presentation.

After the talk, we walked to the falls from our hotel to enjoy the splendor of the night lights.

		Incredible power and beauty, day and night.

The next morning we headed east from Niagara Falls, stopping in three places before we got to Syracuse NY (where we met and fell in love, at the University decades ago). First stop was in Skaneateles Lake, to see Carolyn, Margy's dear friend since elementary school days.

With rain outside, we did not get to enjoy the lake views, but our hearts were warmed with friendship.

		Next stop, Camillus NY. We lived in this house (the third on this trip to see) from 1970 to 1978. Across the street were our good neighbors, Bud and Shirley, who we visited while in town.

Bud and Shirley, and their kids (who we watched grow up during our time across the street) and their grand kids.

One of the happiest homes we visit is that of Anoush and Ernie, where everything has a theme of Walt Disney's characters.

		It's such fun to visit here!

Ernie was on the Syracuse University gymnastics team with Artie, so we've known him for over 40 years. We went in their new car to an Italian restaurant in Syracuse, where we met with Walt and Bethyl.

		Walt was the assistant gymnastics coach at SU, and his wife, Bethyl, was like the Mom to all of the gymnasts far from home. They both were positive influences on Artie's life and Margy's too: our first "date" was at Walt's surprise birthday party, and we've not stopped dating since then!

Anoush, Ernie, Bethyl and Walt. Great friends. Many wonderful memories.

Our last stop before home, in New Hampshire, was this quaint country antiques shop, east of Syracuse, in Cazenovia NY. It was not by accident. We went here on purpose, since the owner was Artie's roommate the year before we got married.

		Fran and Artie took one of their master's degree courses together in night school at SU, and struck a friendship that has lasted decades. We did not get to see Fran's wife, Patty, pictured below when they were engaged atop the Empire State Building. We hope to on a future visit.

The Smith brothers? We enjoyed seeing Fran after many years. This was a nice way to wrap-up the week-long transit from Florida to New Hampshire. Five hours later we were in our condo apartment in Nashua NH.

Home again in New Hampshire. Our condo apartment is on the first floor above ground level, at the right hand corner, starting from the terrace above to the right of the parked car.

We immediately enjoyed the crisp and fresh New England air for our daily walks around our golf-course community.

We look forward to relaxing in our northern location, and hope some of you will join us!

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