Day 3 - Greenville to Disney

Not much to add for today.  We left Greenville about 9:00 and arrived at Worldgate Resort near the main gate at Disney around 8:00.  There were numerous accidents and slow-downs along the way but we are here,settled into our room,  and ready to have a great time at Disney with the kids and grandkids.  They fly in late tonight and we will be meeting them early tomorrow.  So it's off to bed - Hopefully if the rain doesn't wash us out I have pictures of our Disney Adventures tomorrow.

Day 2 - Greenville, NC

We started our day off with a trip down to the mighty Tar River.  It looked the same as it did when we left Greenville.

Then it was on to check out our old houses.  First Rotary Street and then Library Street.  We didn't make it out to the trailer park though. Not much has changed but Ron definitely had our yards looking better when we were there.

From there we went by 402 D Belk Hall - Ron's dorm his first year at ECU. It certainly isn't the Ritz.

Then it was on to the kids' old daycare and E. B. Aycock - the first stop in both Ron's and my career in education.We would have liked to tour the school but they were busy giving tours to the upcoming class.

We had lunch and spent the afternoon with our dear friend Jean Pierre.  It was so nice to reminisce about the "old days."

The evening was more of the same with other members of the E. B. Aycock Faculty.  We enjoyed a lovely dinner and time to catch up with 6 former colleagues. Even though we hadn't seen them in 26 years it was just like old times.  It was a wonderful evening.

Trip to Disney - Day 1 - Long Island to Greenville

We had a great time babysitting Brayden and Cooper while Daddy and Mommy went to a wedding reception this weekend. The boys were both a bit under the weather but you would never know it by their dispositions.  Brayden stole the show at the wedding by being the ring bearer and even Cooper attended wearing his bowtie.

Grandpa Ron reading to Brayden

Watch out Brayden!  Cooper is almost as big as you are.

The little man

I clean up nicely too!

Today was a driving day to Greenville, North Carolina, our former home for 11 - 12 years.  This is where we started our married life and our teaching careers.  It seems fitting, as we begin retirement, to return to the place where it all began.  We made contact with some of our former colleagues from E. B. Aycock Jr. High School on Facebook and have arranged to meet them at a local restaurant.  We can't wait to reconnect with these friends.  It should also be interesting to see our former homes and see how Greenville has grown over the years.

It was a 10 1/2 hour trip - traffic was bad in places - but we made it to Greenville.  Before checking in at the hotel we took a short tour to see our old homes and some other sites.  We will go back tomorrow so I can take some pictures.

Since we hadn't eaten we went to Parker's BBQ - and had a small combo with the traditional BBQ, Fried Chicken, coleslaw, potatoes. Brunswick Stew and hush puppies and corn sticks.  It was as good as I remembered. 

More tomorrow!

Days 31 - 32 - Buffalo to Oakfied to Chaumont (Home Sweet Home)

We left Buffalo Thursday morning and went to Oakfield to visit Ron's parents.  While we were there Debbie stopped in so we got a chance to visit with her also.

We slept in late on Friday and left for Chaumont about noon.  We had an easy trip home and arrived about 4:00.

Although this last month was fantastic, there is something special about home.  It was good to unpack, settle in, and to even sleep in our own bed. As they say "there's no place like home." - even with the snow!

Hope you have enjoyed following our journey.  We are home for a few weeks and then it's off to Long Island and then Disney World.  Stay tuned for more Hochmuth Adventures!

Day 29 - 30 - San Diego to Washington DC to Buffalo

It's raining in San Diego - I say it's crying that we're leaving - or maybe that is me crying. It has been a wonderful month but it is always so hard to leave Chris - it would be so nice to have her closer.

I went to the laundromat this morning while Ron finished some odds and ends around Chris' apartment.  Then I tried to get everything packed in the suitcase. That was a feat in itself. 

Chris is working today and our flight doesn't leave until 10:20 so Ron is napping while I am just having a quiet afternoon of reading.

When Chris came home we went to her soccer game - they won 7- 3 and then got some pizza before heading to the airport.

Fortunately we had an uneventful flight and landed in Buffalo at 9:30 - It was a bit cold and we were a bit tired but we were at least back in NY.

It was good to spend the day catching up on some sleep and with my parents.

Day 28 - San Diego

It was a lazy day today.  It was cooler - high 50s -  the people of San Diego really have it sooooo tough!  Since they were predicting rain for tomorrow we decided to make our last foray to Pacific Beach before we leave for home. We have also been giving some thought to renting a place near the beach for the month of February next year.  It has been so nice to see Christine this week but if we were to stay longer we couldn't impose on her for that long - her apartment isn't that big.  

At the beach we just read,watched the waves, surfers and birds, and enjoyed the views.

 For lunch we went to Joe's Crab Shack for some fish and chips.

Believe it or not we also went out to dinner - our last full day in San Diego - we fly out tomorrow night.  Christine told us about a Russian restaurant that was within walking distance of her apartment.  We had the salad sampler, borscht, pelmeni, smoked salmon and the Georgian eagle.  It was really delicious.  Thanks Dad Spitzer!

P.S. Chris had the Blazer cleaned today - not that it needed it - and it looks great - someone is coming to look at the 'rolla tomorrow - let's hope she can sell it quickly.

 

Day 27 - San Diego

Another sunny day but noticeably cooler - it's probably  better though - I have a feeling that we will not be prepared for our return to snow and cold weather next week.  Oh well, it will only be for a little while and then we will head to Long Island for some baby sitting and then to Disney with Eric's family and his in-laws, the Volmuts, to get a few days of Florida sun.  We usually head 90 miles further south but that is unlikely to happen this year - hang in there Fidel, maybe next year.

It's Sunday so Christine said it is market day. The market was only a short walk from her apartment.  She should have warned us not to eat breakfast though - there were all kinds of organic fruit and vegetables to sample, garlic, hummus and any kind of free trade item you could imagine - San Diego is very granola crunchy oriented.  Ron bought Chris a flower - no not the one pictured below - that she can hang on her porch to add to the pansies he planted earlier in the week.  

 
Since we still had time before Chris' soccer game we headed off to Balboa Park - which I think the rest of San Diego population did also.  We went to the Rose Garden but it was too early with the exception of a few roses. The cacti garden was interesting though. 

From there we strolled through some other sections of the park but there are so many facets to the park we would need at least a week to scratch the surface.  The largess of the entire complex is a credit to the founding fathers (and mothers) of modern day San Diego.

At 3:30 Chris had her Sunday soccer league and we went to watch her play. It was hard to get any pictures through the netting but her team won easily 12- 4.  Back home we made Veggie Melts for dinner - Chris' favorite, after her and Ron woke up from their naps.

Hard to believe that a month ago we were packing the car and getting ready to head to Buffalo.