Since we had a long weekend for Labor Day, Mer and I decided to go to Mom and Marc’s place in Michigan. It is only about five hours away, but gives a real get-away feel. We had wanted to invite our friends Zach and Londa to Mom’s for some time now, so I checked with Mom. It turned out that she and Marc were going to be out of town, but she said we were very welcome to use the house. So, we invited the Churchills and Ellen as well. Ellen asked if she could invite a friend for Saturday night and Sunday; since we had room, I said that was fine, so that was how Katie ended up as part of the group. Six was a very good number.

Friday evening was the annual CVCA staff picnic, and so we stayed for the free food and for the company. We were only going as far as Ellen’s that night, so the late start did not matter much. I ate too much dessert, and Mer and I got to visit with several people not in the tech department or in the English department. We had a good time. We hooked up with Zach and Londa, and got on the road at about 7:00. Zach and Londa offered the use of their car, so we grabbed our iPass gadget for the tolls, and after a brief stop at Starbucks for Zach to grab some caffeine, we were underway.

The trip to Ellen’s was uneventful, but very pleasant. The Churchills are both fun people, and we chatted the entire way. Ellen greeted us when we got to her place at about 10:30. I was very quickly in bed, but I think the girls stayed up and chatted for a short time.

The next morning, Mer and I walked a couple of blocks to a nearby farmers’ market and picked up some raspberries as part of breakfast. We made them available to everyone, but I think Ellen and I ate most of them. Ellen is always a gracious host, so she made crepes, which I filled with jelly or nutella and served to Mer, Zach, and Londa, who were chatting in Ellen’s sitting room. The crepes were excellent. After breakfast, we packed up and headed over to Ellen’s school, Hillsdale Academy, to give Zach and Londa the tour. After the slight detour, we headed off to Mom and Marc’s house. I went with Zach in his car, and Mer and Londa and Ellen went in her car. We took different routes (we followed my GPS, while Ellen took a road with which she was familiar), and we got to Mom’s within five minutes of each other.

We all got settled in the house, when Ellen announced she would turn into Cranky Ellen if lunch were not forthcoming by 3:00. Since Ellen’s friend Katie was not scheduled to arrive until late, we headed north to the cute town of St. Joseph. We found a cafe there called the Broad Street Cafe, and we were sitting down to eat just before 3:00, so that was all good. The food was most welcome.

After lunch, we wandered the three-block main shopping street of the town, but only poked around in one or two stores. The main attraction was the beach – it was a fairly hot day, so we headed down to the very well-groomed beach, where we waded in the water. The water was very warm, and the air was quite a bit cooler down by the water. The beach was crowded, but not unnavigable, so we walked in the shallow water over toward the pier that leads out to the pair of lighthouses that mark the entrance of the St. Joseph River. Getting out by the pier meant that I had to walk out on the pier, so we all strolled out along it. We relaxed at the end of the pier and looked around, and with some very excellent timing, a large construction barge with a huge crane was just coming in off the lake. So, I had to watch that come in. We were able to walk back behind the barge since it was only going about two or three miles per hour.

Once we got back to land, we headed back to the car. Somewhere along the way, Londa saw a poster for fireworks on Sunday night, so we made plans to come back to see them. We got back to the house and puttered around until Katie showed up. She had already eaten, and felt comfortable enough to stay behind while we went out to eat at Culver’s, a local burger place that specializes in custard (ice cream). We ate a very good supper, and headed back home. As is the rule at Mom’s, everyone does what he or she wants to, so some people stayed up and chatted while others went to bed. I was in the bedward group myself. Sunday was looking to be a great day.

Saturday was Mer’s “day,” and she had quite a surprise for me. I ran in the morning with Jim, and then got ready at home. Mer was playing the piano, and I was listening, when the doorbell rang. Mer did not react, and I did not want to really answer the door, but I finally got up to see who it was after they rang the bell and knocked. I’m glad I did – it turned out to be our friends Eric and Shanna. They were in on the surprise, and were there to spend a chunk of the day with us. As a happy bonus, their band, Bethesda, has just released a music video, so we watched that. It was excellent, and can be seen here.

We all piled into Eric and Shanna’s new car, which is very nice. It is a small SUV, which they got to help Shanna on her thirty-minute commute, especially during the winter. We had a fairly long drive, so it was kind of them to offer the newer and more comfortable vehicle to drive. We headed west on the interstate, getting off near Sandusky. We headed to Bellevue, a small town. We were going to eat before the outing event, which I had guessed by reading signs was going to explore Seneca Caverns. We ate at a small mom-and-pop restaurant which I liked very much. The waitress was blunt in her recommendations of what was good and what was not, so we trusted her, and everyone liked the food.

After lunch, we drove the short distance to Seneca Caverns. It is an underwhelming site at first – just a parking lot next to a small building, which were both next to corn fields and a cemetery. I always picture that caves and caverns lead into the side of a rocky hill, but this is not always the case. Seneca Caverns bills itself as the “caviest cave in the United States,” which seemed lame until we asked them about it. They make the claim based on the fact that the cave is more or less in a natural state – they have added lighting and cleared out some sediment, but the paths and “stairs” in the cave are all natural.

We waited about ten minutes for a tour to start, and there were about ten of us in our tour. The cave is a crack in the ground, formed by a river that flows there. No one knows where the river comes from, and they do not know how deep it is. The river rises and falls based on rainfall, and on this day we could get to seven levels before hitting the water. Divers have confirmed there are at least thirteen levels, and it is common for an eighth level to be accessible.

I have to say – the cavern is really cool. I loved it. Eric was also vocally into the cave, and I think Shanna enjoyed it too. It was not too claustrophobic, but there were still areas that were hard to get through. It had multiple levels which are accessed by natural stone stairways. Our teenage guide told us creepy stories about voices in the cavern when no one was in, and people showing up in pictures when there was not a person around, and other things like that. There were engravings of people’s names from a hundred years ago. It was just a ton of fun. The tour lasted about an hour, and I will certainly go again sometime, maybe during a drier season so we can go down another level. The cavern goes over a hundred feet into the ground.

After touring the cave, we swung by a Catholic retreat area, the Sorrowful Mother Shine. It was very nice – it had a large outdoor chapel, a smaller indoor chapel, and lots of small chapels/shrines that could hold four to ten people. It had a very extensive grounds, and were very peaceful. We all agreed that we could have spent a good amount of time there if we had not needed to get back home. We’ll have to make more time for the Shrine next time we go.

Mer had “won” the tickets for the cavern at the CVCA auction and had kept the secret for months. I hope they come around again next year so we have an excuse to go back.

On Friday, I went out to the ballgame with various members of my Connections group and our sister group. Connections is a CVCA initiative that hooks up adults at CVCA with eight to twelve students in an effort to have an adult at the school to whom the students feel they can go when needed. It is a good concept, and I try to do some outings with the group over the year. We have a sister group as well, so it makes outings more festive.

This particular ballgame was an Aeros baseball game, which is a minor league team in Akron. Mer had plans to go see a student’s presentation on a missions trip that the student had gone on, so she could not go with me. Happily, Dubbs agreed to go, which I was pleased with. Dubbs is a life-of-the-party kind of person; plus, I wanted a woman along so the girls that came would feel more comfortable.

It was a perfect day for baseball – warm and sunny, but our seats were in the shade. For various reasons, including going up against the opening CVCA football game which was away, but still close to school, only three students actually made the game – two girls and a guy. But they seemed to have a good time. I bought everyone popcorn, which was really buying salt with a little popcorn added. Dubbs, being Dubbs, made a new friend of the random girl who sat next to her, to the point that the students thought that Dubbs and the girl had already been friends. The game was entertaining, with the Aeros beating the Richmond Flying Squirrels 10-8.

The real reason I scheduled this particular night to go to a game was that it was the next-to-last fireworks night at the stadium. The fireworks the Aeros have are by far the best I have ever seen. On Friday, they outdid themselves. We were sitting just past third base, which put us only about one hundred yards from where the fireworks were being launched. The fireworks were set to go off low in the sky, to the point where our seats were slightly enveloped with smoke. The show was extensive, loud, and varied, with lots of different types of fireworks and several displays that I thought were finales. I actually laughed out loud two or three times from the show. It was great.

After the game and fireworks, we joined in the throng to get back to my car. Dubbs had grabbed a ride with me, so we got to the car and then proceeded to wait in the garage for fifteen minutes without moving. At that point, we decided to go get dessert somewhere rather than sit in traffic. I called Mer so she would not worry, and Dubbs and I headed over to Crave, an uppity restaurant in Akron, where we got dessert. The service was a bit slow, but the food was good, and the garage was empty by the time we got back to the car. I’m looking forward to the fireworks next spring, and maybe we can get a few more students to show up for the fun.

Mer’s parents came in earlier in the week, which is a happy thing, but they came in to go with Aunt Mary to a funeral in Michigan, which is sad. Mer’s aunt, Aunt Jean, died the previous weekend from cancer, and Aunt Mary, Dale, and Carlene drove up to Michigan on Wednesday for the funeral. They stayed two nights, and came back on Friday. We were able to spend some good time with them over the weekend, which was unexpected, but a nice blessing out of a sad occasion.

On Saturday, we met the clan at Aunt Mary’s and proceeded to lunch at Taggart’s ice cream parlor. Mer and I are very fond of Taggart’s, which has been in business for over eighty years, and is in Mer’s old neighborhood. We had a very good lunch, but I skipped dessert, which may be the only time it has happened that the entire rest of the family got dessert, but I skipped it. I knew Mer and I were going to Londa Churchill’s birthday party that evening, and I knew I would not be temperate there.

After lunch, we drove over to the theater and got tickets to see The Help. I had not heard of the movie and knew nothing at all about it, and I was very pleasantly surprised. The film is about black maids in Mississippi in the 1960s, and it was excellent. It was well acted throughout, funny in places, and pretty riveting storytelling. I expect it will get a few Oscars in the spring.

After the movie, we had to head north so we could get to Londa’s party, so we swung by home to pick up some peanut butter bars I had made. Zach and Londa only live about three miles away, so it was no problem driving there. There were a ton of cars parked on the street. This was Londa’s thritieth birthday, so Zach had made sure it was a big event. There were a ton of people, most of whom I did not know. Mer ran into a former student and spent much of the evening chatting with her. I briefly saw a former colleague, Brittian, and got to speak briefly with him. As expected, there was a ton of good food, and I was not moderate.

One big surprise to me was Londa’s father – he is a professional masseur, and he had brought his portable massage chair. He was giving out free massages, and they were good ones, lasting about twenty minutes. I jumped at the chance, and enjoyed it very much. Londa’s father has the biggest hands I have ever seen, so he is very good at what he does. Mer was able to get a massage as well. It was a very nice touch to the party.

On Sunday, we went to Aunt Mary’s church, and after church we went to Grinders, which is a local chain specializing in “grinders” – baked subs. This is another restaurant of which Mer and I are very fond, and the branch in our area closed about two years ago, so we were very happy to go. We ate outside, and that worked out well thanks to the oversized umbrellas on the tables – it rained briefly, but we managed to stay dry. Again, throwing tradition to the wind, I skipped dessert, which was a shame. I actually wanted to get the excellent brownie sundae, but I needed to get home, and Mer and I had driven in separate cars for that reason, so I left everyone awaiting their desserts.

In the evening, Mer and I went over to Jason’s house. Jason is CVCA’s vice-president, and he is one of my running partners, and I enjoy his company very much. His wife, Lisa, is very gracious and, as an added bonus, is from Maine. Jason had just had a birthday, and Lisa was starting a new teaching job, so I wanted to celebrate with them, so I broke out my step-mom’s pie crust recipe, and I made my first-ever raspberry pie. It came out okay, although the crust on the edge was a bit thick – I need to work on that. Lisa’s parents were visiting from Maine, so Mer and I were treated to hearing the homeland accent again. We chatted and ate pie for about thirty minutes, and then we headed home.

Dale and Carlene were scheduled to head home on Tuesday, so we wanted to make sure to see them on Monday. Aunt Mary and they were kind enough to offer to come up to our house for supper so we would not have to drive so much on a work day. They all arrived before I was home from my afternoon run, so they took the opportunity, with Mer, to go check out a one-story house that is being built in our neighborhood. Mer and I are happy about that – we think it would be great to live near Mer’s parents.

For supper, we all headed up to Hudson to Yours Truly, another great local restaurant. We got to eat outside again, and the only slight surprise with that was that four or five fire trucks went by and honked their horns at the behest of several kids eating near us. They were quite loud, but I was pleased that the drivers would humor the kids like that. For some reason, the service at Yours Truly was really slow (we waited about forty-five minutes for our food, which was all pretty simple), so when the waitress did not ask if we wanted dessert, we did not press the issue. I’m not sure I have ever been out three times in a row and not gotten dessert.

Dale and Carlene did get off okay on Tuesday, and they got home to Maine just fine, but had the misfortune to be in the Washington, DC airport when the 5.5 earthquake hit the region. Carlene said it was pretty chaotic, and the terminals were evacuated for about twenty minutes as a precaution. Happily, no one was hurt, and the flights still took off after short delays.

Tuesday was the first day of school with students, so it seemed a great idea when Craig suggested we go out for “wing night” at Quaker Steak and Lube. Craig was bachin’ it, with his family in Pittsburgh, so he was excited for a wing buffet. Mer and I had never been, so we agreed to go.

We went early, as Craig indicated that by 6:00 there is a good wait. We got there at 5:00. The buffet was more than I’d expected – Mer and I both prefer boneless wings, and they actually had four or five kinds. I did also try a few of the standard bone-in kind. They buffet also had a weak chili, fries, nachos, and french fries. It was a good feast. I had three plates of dinner and one of dessert, and Craig impressed us with eating three of the third hottest wings that Quaker Steak offers.

We had a good time, as we always do with Craig. He is very much an original thinker, and is very witty, so evenings out with him always involve several where-did-he-come-up-with-that moments. Craig also introduced Mer to an iPhone game where you can write poetry using magnetic poetry words, and then you get matched up head-to-head against another poem, and people vote on it. Mer was pretty quickly hooked, and made me glad we do not have an iPhone. She did come up with a great poem though, and she won her round.

Saturday was “my” day, and it got off to a bit of a late start, which was all right since I did not have an ambitious day planned. I took Mer over to the nearby Bike and Hike Trail, which is an old now-paved railroad bed. While I run on the Bike and Hike fairly often, Mer had never been on it, so I wanted to show her one of the more interesting parts of the trail that I had seen.

The Bike and Hike goes through some pretty areas – it is mostly surrounded by trees, which makes it appealing to run on during hotter weather. About three miles away from our house is a small parking lot where one can pick up the trail, and about a mile from the parking lot, the trail cuts through some rather dramatic bedrock. It was to this rocky area I wanted to take Mer, so we walked to that section. It was sort of new to me since I was wearing my glasses, which I do not wear when I run. We did not rush, but it was still hot enough for us to get a bit sweaty.

We turned back once we got to the end of the rocky area. After that, the trail continues to be pretty, but in a lots-of-trees sort of way. We headed back to the car.

In the afternoon, I took Mer down to Canton to the cheap theater. I was taking a chance on a movie that I had never heard of, but one I thought Mer would like. It was called Monte Carlo, and all I knew was it was about three girls who fly to Paris, get mistaken for someone famous and her friends, and end up in Monte Carlo. I thought Mer would want to see all the beautiful shots of Paris and Monte Carlo, and I was right. She loved it. As a bonus, the movie itself was cute. It was warmly funny, and was fairly interesting. I do not think it will be nominated for an Oscar, but it was a fun movie with wonderful scenery.  Not too bad for three dollars.

Friday was a day that Mer and I felt we had been training for all of our lives. Our friends Matt and Clarice are getting married next spring, and are arranging the details of the wedding. As part of that, they wanted to sample different possibilities for the cake, and to that end, they ordered three sets of one dozen cupcakes as samples. Since, for some reason, they did not feel equal to eating thirty-six cupcakes by themselves, they used it as an opportunity to invite friends over, and asked for our feedback. Needless to say, Mer and I did not need to be asked twice.

Matt and Clarice moved a few weeks ago to a new townhouse. Mer and I used the GPS to find it, so we had no trouble. It is in a cute townhouse development that has a pond, and a walking track, and a good number of trees. The place is a two-story affair, with a good-sized common room and a kitchen downstairs. Clarice and Matt were allowed to paint, so they repainted with fun colors, and it turned out well. They also found a great deal on a huge kitty condo/climbing tree that Mer and I were jealous over. It was at least five feet high. It is cute and strange to be staring eye-level at a kitty.

In addition to Matt and Clarice and me and Mer, I think there were five other people, so it was a festive gathering. Matt and Clarice had also set out chips and pretzels, and while I am not usually tempted by those foods, these were really good, and I had more than my fair share. There were also, of course, the cupcakes. Mer and I both had all three kinds, just as a favor to Matt and Clarice.

There was a strawberry cupcake. This was good, but was not a filled cupcake. Since the other two cupcakes were filled with frosting, this one never really had a chance in our book. The second one I tried was a coconut-creme-filled cupcake that was excellent. That would make a fine cake. The last one was a fudge-filled cupcake. I was reserved on this one as a decent cupcake, until I hit the fudge filling. It was wonderful, and put that cupcake over the top for me. Mer liked the coconut-filled one slightly better, but we both agreed that either one would be fantastic.

The party itself was also a lot of fun. I got to see two former CVCA students whom I had not seen in some time, and it was good to catch up with them. Matt had The Sting playing on the TV all throughout the party, so we watched that some during the brief lulls in conversation. With all respect to Robert Redford, Paul Newman is the man.

Should anyone else ever need help with cupcake tasting, Mer and I now have valuable experience.

On Sunday, we had a fun occasion – the second eldest daughter of our friend and colleague Lesa was getting married. Chelsea had even done some substitute teaching at CVCA, and she had been at the school during my first few years. Mer and I love weddings, so we were excited to get to go.

The ceremony and reception were at a city park in North Canton. The ceremony was held outdoors, and was set up in a shady field. The chairs were all full, many of them occupied by people who work at CVCA. Again, it is much fun being part of a community.

The ceremony was simple – two musicians (guitar and violin), and one of Chelsea’s sisters sang some as well. Chelsea and her husband had met on “The Great Race,” which is a mission trip experience where the participants are in twelve countries in twelve months. Apparently, you get to know people really well, so the wedding party was huge – I think there were seven attendants on each side. Chelsea wore a very retro forties-style veil that I liked very much.

 The reception was held in the park’s enclosed pavilion. We got to sit with Craig and his daughter, Dubbs, Van, and two students. We ate too much and had a great time chatting. I had to get up early on Monday, so I left about 8:00. Dubbs said she would drive Mer home, so Mer stayed behind with Dubbs and got to laughing when the dancing started. Dubbs is not inhibited. Mer got home about an hour after I did, just was I was getting to bed. It is a little strange to see students getting married, but I’m glad we get invited. These days, there are not too many weddings of our peers for us to go to.

We left Maine Friday. It takes us about fourteen-plus hours to get home, so we break it into a long day and a short day. We said goodbye to Dad around 8:30 (Kellee was out of town at a friend’s house) and headed into Livermore Falls. That was not exactly on the way, but I wanted to stop by Food City, the local grocery store, and pick up a bunch of their excellent (and huge) whoopie pies to bring home. The idea was to eat some and to give some away. It was probably strange to the cashier to see someone buying fourteen whoopie pies at 9:00 in the morning, but it pleased me.

We headed over to Lewiston/Auburn, where we would pick up the Maine Turnpike. Before we hit the highway, though, we stopped at Roy’s restaurant for a late breakfast. Roy’s is best known for their stunningly good burgers and fries, but it was too early for that, so we gave their breakfast a chance. It was very good, and very cheap. Mer got an omelet special for $3.75.

We had a smooth drive in Maine, through New Hampshire, over Massachusetts, and into New York. We made it all the way to Holley, NY, which is a little past Rochester. We were staying at the Rosewood B and B, which Mer found online. Holley is a small town with a small main street, and the Rosewood was on a residential street. It was a huge old house, and very comfortable. It was in need of some paint here and there, but that was unimportant compared to the hospitality we received. We checked in, and then walked the three blocks to a diner for supper around 8:00.

After supper, we headed back to the room, where we broke into the whoopie pies and I put a DVD into my laptop. We watched the show and munched on dessert, and then turned in for the night around 10:00.

We were up and sitting on the expansive front porch the next morning around 8:00. We got to chatting with another couple. The man was a retired band teacher, and the woman taught accounting at a small college. They were very kind and asked after our school quite a lot. Breakfast was served at 8:30. It was excellent, and the chat at the table was friendly (there were six of us all together). We were back on the road around 9:30.

We got home mid-afternoon. The kitties were all fine, which was wonderful. We did have the typical welcome-home-from-vacation of cleaning up cat puke, sorting mail, mowing the grass, and other such chores that took up our first two hours home. After that, we did manage to relax some for the evening. We had a great trip, but it was good to be home again.

Thursday was our last day of touring in Maine, since we were leaving on Friday. It was still “my” day, so I got in the car with Mer and headed more or less due west, to near Bethel in the western mountains of Maine. We went to Grafton Notch State Park, and stopped at Screw Auger Falls just inside the park.

Screw Auger Falls is an impressive falls area with lots of trees and exposed bedrock. The stream is really small, and spreads out very much above the main falls so that it is really shallow. Then, it gets all crammed together and plunges into a pretty deep falls (maybe about fifty feet). The stream has carved out all kinds of fantastic rock shapes, and the stream below the falls is full of fair-sized rocks.

Mer and I made the climb down to the foot of the falls, which involved one or two tricky areas. Happily, we found another way out, since I was not sure how we would return the way we came, which involved a three-plus-foot drop that would have been hard to scramble up. The foot of the falls was really pretty, and we waded a little bit. The water was shallow but still really cold. We spent a fair amount of time down at the base, and then climbed back out by a steep but manageable path that took us to the main road, and we walked back to the car.

 We left the state park proper, and looked around for a parking lot for Step Falls, which was supposed to be really pretty. Mer saw a small parking lot with no sign, so we tried it, and it turned out to be correct. There were several cars and even a school bus in the lot, so we figured it must be worth seeing. We plunged into the woods, and started following the trail. The trail went over a lot of roots and some rocks, but it was well marked with blue blazes. Or so we thought. We followed the blazes until they ended at a stream, and there were some little falls there, but no good access to the water, and no people about. We turned back to the car, and I was disappointed.

Once back at the car, I saw the driver of the bus sitting next to the bus, reading. I asked him about the falls. He said he had never been, but had heard good things about the falls. He said we should have heard people since he had brought forty kids on the bus. So, we decided to try again. This time, we stayed away from the stream, and we discovered there were blazes here as well. We followed them about three quarters of a mile into the woods, and we finally found Step Falls.

It was worth the hike. Step Falls is just that – a series of falls and plateaus, with lots of pools of water that range from a few inches deep to a few feet. The whole area is surrounded by trees, and the trees frame an impressive view of a mountain. Mer and I scrambled up the rock to the penultimate falls, which we had to ourselves. There was a small sheltered area around the falls, so it felt as if we were alone. Mer dangled her toes, and I waded a bit and sat on the rock. I wanted to climb up to the top falls, but did not see a good way up that also offered a good way down. After awhile, the sun came out. I burn easily, so I jumped up on a rock near some trees for the shade. It was high enough that I could see the top of the falls.

It was an unexpected sight. Almost a mile into the Maine woods, in a remote falls area, were forty young women in bikinis. When the bus driver said he had brought forty kids, I had thought he meant little kids. These were all late high school or early college girls. It was a surreal sight. I sat down in the shade a little lower down and told Mer to go look up top. She came back and admitted it was a bizarre sight. She hit it when she described it as a beer commercial. A man came up with his wife and teen sons, and the father kept climbing while the wife rested. We had much fun narrating the event to ourselves (“What Bob does not realize is that we have replaced his usual boring beer….”). The man got to the top and then beat a hasty retreat back to his wife. Smart man.

We stayed at Step Falls for some time. It is a beautiful spot – maybe my favorite on this trip for shear tranquility. Even though there were people around, the falls area is big enough, and the flow of the water loud enough, to make you feel alone. I hope we can get back there next year.

 Late in the afternoon, it looked as if some rain was coming our way, so we made an efficient walk back to the car and headed home. We had done very well in making this trip to Maine an adventuresome one.