Yesterday was our longest driving day, covering about 465 miles, and leaving about 120 miles for today. We are currently having a relaxing morning with my parents in North Haven, Connecticut.

Last night we stayed with Matt and Caryn and their family. Matt and Caryn lived in Belmont eleven years ago, where we attended the same church. At the time, we both had children one year old, about the only two kids in the church. They left for Arkansas about eleven years ago, where Caryn’s family is from. We’ve had occasional letters from them in the intervening years, and as with most of our friends, they are better correspondents than we.

In spite of our lack of communication, when Susan emailed and told them we’d be driving through Arkansas, they opened their hearts and home to us, and hosted us for dinner and breakfast, and shared with us their warm, cozy home for the night. The epitome of hospitality. Thank you!

Their boys are right around the same age as our kids, and they seemed to get along right away. Their two dogs were also a hit with our kids. In addition to enjoying a small part of their land, we got to meet a rat snake that lives under the workshop, and their rabbit, Bun-Bun. And they introduced us to the game Spore — not sure if that’s a good thing or not

Yesterday, after a short morning at the Grand Canyon, we visited with Susan’s cousin Edith and her family in Flagstaff. They fed us a lovely lunch, and for dinner, Don barbecued up a feast for us, and for aunt Judith, cousin Walter, and his family as well. Wow! It was great catching up with them all, and very relaxing to have an inviting place to stay, and not have to worry about a hotel. Edith and family took in the children, and Susan and I stayed with Judith across town.

Susan and I were married in Belmont, Massachusetts! Happy Anniversary to us!

and we enjoyed some family time together. Around mid-afternoon, Nina, Mike, and their boys, Harry and Jack came over and we headed over to the pool. No more than two minutes after most of the kids got in the pool, the lifeguard shooed us out due to lightning in the sky. We waited a while, and the kids played Mother May I to pass the time,

but it just didn’t seem promising, so we went back to Rowell Ranch for a spell. About an hour later, we headed back to the pool and got some swimming in.

Last night we visited Nina and her family for dinner and catching up. She and Michael and their sons, Harry and Jack, hosted us for a wonderful meal, fun playing outside and decorating their car windows for the Little League World Series games Saturday afternoon. Good Luck, Harry and Jack! Thanks for everything Nina and Mike!

The (in)famous Casa Bonita was the site of our evening repast today, but not just ours. We had arranged for a mini Calvary Reunion of sorts, and met up with our former intern Calob and his wife Sarah, and Nancy and her nephew Jared.

Casa Bonita is more than just a restaurant, it’s an experience. There’s cliff diving (with torches, too!),

puppet shows, piñata busting, and other entertainments, along with an arcade with skee ball, video games, etc.

1. No fast food – Subway is allowed but we haven’t been there yet and Dairy Queen is allowed for ice cream only. Unfortunately some of the food at tourist places like Niagara was not much better than fast food – we have been having lots of picnics. So far, so good.

2. No Wal-Mart – we were directed to Wal-mart when we asked about the nearest grocery store – but we declined and waited for a better opportunity. So far, so good.

3. Return in better shape than when we left (parents mostly) – no great progress to report on this one, but we are plenty active when we get out of the car, so I think we are holding steady. There will be more hiking in the 2nd part of the trip.

Just a little insight into the strange workings of our minds.

More about our fun day at the Rockies game in another post!!!

the nursing home where my grandmother (Nonna — Italian for grandmother) lives. Seven years ago, when we were last out this way, Tyler was an infant and Nonna was (at age 91) still living in the home that her husband built for them.

Nonna looks pretty good for 98,

and certainly seems to be in better health than most of the people in the home. It’s not always easy to understand her, but that was true for me 30 years ago as well, as her English is tinged with an Italian accent, that being her native tongue. She is somewhat hard of hearing as well.

We had a nice visit with Nonna. I was able to show her pictures from our trip so far, although I hadn’t thought to bring any pictures of her daughter, my mom, along. We stayed for about half an hour, and then it was time for her lunch. Thanks to one of the staff, we found a nice park nearby to have a picnic lunch with the groceries we had bought in town earlier.

After lunch, we headed back for another visit, and stayed for about an hour. We brought Nonna down to the solarium, to give her roommate a bit of peace. Susan played the guitar a little, and we sang a few songs while the kids drew pictures for Nonna. She was looking a little tired, and after a couple of pictures our visit came to an end.