Welcome to MONTANA

Meet my Chauffer -

Kerri Smith (wife of my nephew Greg)

Kerri flew to Arizona to help me drive to Montana - except she ended up doing 90% of the driving.  It was certainly wonderful for me and great to have the company.  We drove from Arizona through Nevada, Utah, and Idaho ending in Montana.  (Again covering 5 states but this time it took 21 hours - as compared to the 5 states in the east that took only 2.5 hours.)

Montana's beautiful mountains to greet me!

Between Butte and Bozeman, Montana

Montana Family that I will be visiting while here

My sister Dione, her daughter Holli,  Holli's daughter Kira and her fiancee Luke.

 Back row is Holli's son Jeremy, son Cameron, and husband Frank.

Nephew Greg's sons - Rainer and Isaac (Parents not available at time of this picture.)

Yellowstone River, between Billings and Columbus, Montana

My son Mike's cabin - where I will be for the next 6 weeks.

 The cabin is about 15 miles from Absarokee, a town of about 1,200 people (and another 60 miles from Billings which is the biggest city in Montana - population 150,000)  In Absarokee there are no stop lights, one grocery store, one motel, one cafe, two churches and two bars.  At the cabin there is no television, no internet, and no cell phone reception, but there is a land line - 406-328-4969.
But this is my favoritist part of all - The Stillwater River that runs just feet from the back of the cabin:

 

Washington, D.C. and New York City with Pennsylvania in Between

I had the distinct honor of getting to see my granddaughter, TENAYA  MICHELLE  CAMPBELL, graduate from Georgetown University, Cum Laude, with a Bachelor of Arts in French.  (She plans to spend the summer in France and return to Los Angeles to start her job with a talent agency in the fall.)

Georgetown University was the first Catholic university in the United States.  It was started by John Carroll, a Jesuit Priest, in 1789.  The graduation ceremony took place in front of Healy Hall which is the flagship building for the University.  It was built in 1877 when Patrick F. Healy, SJ, (Society of Jesus) was president of the university.  He was the first African American to earn a Ph.D. and the first to head a major university. 

 

Healy Hall

The night before graduation was a "Senior Ball" held at Union Station for all the graduating seniors and their families.

 

(Brother) Jonah, Tenaya, (Mom) Diane, (Dad) Mike

While in Washington, D.C., we ate at Tenaya's favorite restaurants:  Il Canale (Italian), Bistrot Du Coin (French), and The Tombs (American) - where Tenaya will have her name permanently inscribed on a plaque of students graduating in 2013 who came to The Tombs each and every day for the 99 days preceding graduation.  Yea Tenaya!!!!

I was also able to take the night tour of the monuments which included Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, FDR, MLK,  Iwo Jima, WWII, Korean War, and Vietnam plus the Capitol and the White House.  I think the most spectacular is World War II - especially at night.

Then it was on to Philadelphia.  I rode with the Mike Campbell family as we went from D.C. through Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware to Pennsylvania.  (That took about 2.5 hours.  We in the west think of going from state to state to take much more time than that, don't we?.)   Now it was time for getting acquainted with the school Jonah will be attending this fall - University of Pennsylvania (Penn), which was the first university in the United States, started by Benjamin Franklin in 1740.  Penn is in the Ivy League and Jonah will be a member of their baseball team.

I was met in Philly by my sister, Dione Smith, and her son Mark and his wife Chrysa.  I stayed with them in Doylestown, Pennsylvania on the way to and coming back from New York City.  Doylestown may have been the highlight of the trip for me.  The countryside is so lush, everything so green, big beautiful trees everywhere.  It is a very small town, population 8,380, but four very famous people have lived there:  Pearl Buck (1892-1973), Margaret Mead (1901-1978), Oscar Hammerstein (1895-1960), and James Mitchner (1907-1997).  Another interesting fact is that for the first time ever I saw a road sign which read:  Beware Aggressive Drivers.  What does one do with that kind of advice?

Home of Pearl Buck

Home of Margaret Mead

Mark Smith, (son) Dane, (wife) Chrysa

 From Doylestown I rode with the Smith family (from Pennsylvania through New Jersey) to New York City.  After checking into our Hotel ($300/night with a bathroom so small it fit only one person at a time) we met again with the Mike Campbells for dinner at Lattanzi Restaurant (Italian).   (I know this is a terrible picture but it proves that my iPhone 5 can do that scanning thing.  There are 4 Smiths, 4 Campbells and 1 friend of the Campbells in this picture.  What are the odds that we would all be in NYC at the same time?)

 Then it was on to Broadway for my sister and me, to see the "Book of Mormon."  It was delightful, beautiful music, wonderful dancing, clever story line, and very raunchy.  (A little too coarse for my taste.)  The next day Dione and I continued with the touristy things:  bus tour through streets of New York City, boat tour around the city, followed by a bicycle tour (someone else pushing the peddles) through Central Park.

9/11 Memorial at Ground Zero

Statue of Liberty on a foggy day

Fountain in Central Park

Dione and Me in Central Park

New Routine - Number 1

Keep in mind that for the past at least 15 years my general routine has been:  get out of bed about 6:00 a.m., be in the car on the way to work by 6:30 a.m., stop at McDonalds for an Egg McMuffin and a diet Coke, be at the office by no later than 7:30 a.m., do whatever it was I did at the office, get back home between 4:30 and 5:30 p.m., take a shower, watch TV, and be back in bed by 10:00 p.m.

Now that I have been in Arizona (off and on) for three and a half months the routine is much different.  Getting out of bed is somewhere between 7:00 and 8:00 a.m. - although this morning it was actually 6:30.

And then the look becomes this one        

 







so I can head to the ONE MILE LONG walking path

   across the street from Kori's house.  I am now going around the loop TWICE - which would be TWO MILES DAILY.

 

Then it's home for a shower and off to Jack-in-the-Box
for their Ultimate Breakfast Sandwich with NO bacon. 

 

 

 

Any time that it's possible - and there is something on TV about it - I'm watching the Jodi Arias trial.  They have finally proceeded past the Defense Presentations and are now on to the Prosecution's Rebuttal.  The past two days have been a young psychologist who has done an excellent job of testifying and is saying exactly what I have thought all along - Borderline Personality Disorder, not PTSD.

 

I continue to attend two groups at the Unity Church:  "The Work" by Byron Katie and "The Course in Miracles."  Both of them versions of cognitive therapy, one secular and the other spiritual.  I have also added attendance at Weight Watchers once a week.  Just started that so am not sure it will stick.

 

I will be here in Arizona until May 17th so this routine will hold until then.  As you have already determined I'm sure, the biggest change has been having to switch from McDonalds to Jack-in-the-Box.  Traumatic to be sure!

 

Every now and then there is a welcome interruption to this routine.  Today it was a meeting with a friend who goes back to the fifth grade at McKinley School in Billings, Montana.

 

Gayle Snyder

 

 

 

 

 

 



Cave Creek, Arizona

HAPPY EASTER 

 from Cave Creek, Arizona, population 5,120.  This little "cowboy" town is less than 

one hour from Surprise and appears to be there mostly for the benefit of tourists.

Lake - complete with ducks and turtles - at the restaurant.

Me, Kori and Matt

HAVE YOU EVER SEEN SO MANY POTS IN ONE PLACE?

AND - THE MOST WONDERFUL METAL SCULPTURES!!

This would be a Gila Monster SLIDE

Cave Creek is also home to the world's biggest SUN DIAL

and is right in the middle of HOT AIR BALLOON country.

California AGAIN

Dick and Maureen Ford holding Rocco and Max

 These lovely people gave me the run or their home while they were in Mexico vacationing and I was providing supervision for their boys.  Aren't they just precious?  Both the people and the dogs?


While in the Bay Area I had the opportunity to join friends and former colleagues (also friends) for meals.

Wente's Grill - favorite place while working at the VA

Alana Howard, Fred MacRae, Melinda Wolf

Kathy Scholten

Vince Gong and Katie Debus

Variety dictated Campo de Bocci - this time.

Friends from Rossmoor:

Marilyn Haupt, ME, Carol Barratt

 Friends from Pleasanton: 

Jan Allen and Dianne Patterson

I was able to spend one evening with my two darling grandsons but this time there was an added family member - see if you can pick him out!!!!  Clue - he's the only one not smiling.  (He's an 8-week old Golden Retriever puppy.)

Noah, Buddha OR Dash, OR Dash Buddha, OR my suggestion "The Dashing Buddha", and Brady

 AND NOW we get to the original reason for this trip.  My Granddaughter, Jenna's Engagement Party.  So first there is decorating the cookies day:

Allison Reichenberg, Kellie Campbell, Jenna Reichenberg, and Denise (Sorry I don't know her last name)

This would be me holding the "cake pops" we made.

 The Party

A Mexican Fiesta it Was

 

Jenna and Chris with their mothers (Kellie and Pam)

Chris Johnson and Jenna - Groom and Bride   

Reichenbergs - Jason, Allison, Holding Lexi and Lilly

(Jenna's brother, my number one grandson)

 

Shana and Mitch Campbell (My number 2 son)

The Zoo

The Wildlife World Zoo

is located in Litchfield Park, Arizona, just a few miles from Surprise.

It opened in 1984 and added an aquarium in 2008.

It is located on 95 acres, has 3,000 animals, and 600 species.

Here are my favorites:

And then there's Kori and Matt trying to pet the stingrays -

 l

And last, but most definitely not least, a picture that was taken by accident but probably the best of the bunch:

Anyone recognize this animal?