Visit Family in Denver

"I would rather have a mind opened by wonder than one closed by belief." ~Gerry Spence

October 15: If you thought I was stalling on finishing the blog because I didn't want my amazing summer road trip to end, you'd be right. I am already in the thick of whatever is constituting real life for me now, so on with the story...

I had planned to drive from Denver to Salt Lake City on October 15th, but the cold and rain in Denver foretold a winter storm in the Rocky Mountains, thus my departure was delayed by one day.

In the meantime, I am lucky to have my sister in Denver, so I stayed with her and her family. In the photo above, Dad (Jan) takes Jake (L) and Max (R) and Ginger (only nose is showing) to City Park to play soccer.

It's hard to capture a decent photo with two boys and a dog playing buckets with a soccer ball in the rain, but I did capture a moment of goofy boyhood bliss (right).

I stayed out of the cold and wet for the most part, and was able to chronicle my GABF adventures, of which there were many. Laundry and homework were also done.

Heidi made a stunning yet healthy homecooked dinner, as is her habit. The boys fished any remaining games they hadn't played out of my game bin and we played Quoridor. I slept in the trailer so we didn't have to blow up the big airbed and make it again.

Thank you to Heidi for gifting me $50 for gas!

Visit Family & Friends in Denver, CO

"That so few now dare to be eccentric marks the chief danger of the time." ~John Stuart Mill

October 6-9: Part of the fun of staying at my sister's house is the opportunity to do things that are not part of our usual life, such as sleeping on an inflatable bed, helping a six- and an eight-year old with their homework and in Jon's case, supervising the meticulous deconstruction of a stereo and cassette player that no longer worked. (Daddy Jan had started the deconstruction project, but retired to his study where he is working on his PhD in Global Information Systems.)

In the photo above, Jake keeps things tidy while Max channels his inner Luke Skywalker with a radio antenna light saber, and Jon pretends to be a robot with a tape-player mouth. In the photo at right, Jon channels his inner Dr. Strangelove with CD laser magnifiers.

My sister is a fabulous cook, so the diet will have to wait until I get home from the trip in eleven days (on October 20th). We babysat on Sunday night so Heidi and her husband Jan could go out to dinner, a rare treat. We taught the boys a new card game, Coloretto. (Cameleon would be a better name for it.)

On Monday we went to visit an old buddy from Eugene, Oregon. Scott Kelly and his girlfriend, Krystyna live in a brand new subdivision called Highlands Ranch. Part of the old working ranch is still working, and Scott showed us their Buffalo herd and some horses.

Krystyna is originally from Poland and is working toward her Registered Nurse degree. Scott is retired from the Navy and works in the pro shop at the local golf course. Krystyna is also a great cook and she had a feast prepared for lunch, including stuffed chicken breasts, mushroom gravy, boiled red potatoes and salad.

The photo at left was taken on their patio. Scott and Krystyna did a good job of getting their very active miniature greyhound, Nova, to behave and pose for the camera.

We didn't have enough time for a hike, so Scott took us on a scenic drive. We stopped on top of the hill that gives Highlands Ranch its name.

A large picnic area occupied the flat top of the hill, and Scott said very few people know it's there. Off the backside of the picnic area are some lovely rock outcroppings overlooking a huge private golf course. The photo below is of Jon & me and you can see the private golf course behind us. Scott hopes to meet the owner someday. He'd love to be invited to one of the private fund-raiser golf tournaments that are held there.
From the other side of the hilltop we had a great view of downtown Denver, about 20 miles away, and the new Denver Tech Center, which is about 12 miles away.

Then back to Heidi's house for dinner, homework, more games with the boys, and more blogging for me.

On Tuesday afternoon we left Heidi's house and moved to the Denver Mariott - City Center, the official hotel of the GABF (Great American Beer Festival), where Jon and I will be judging America's finest beers for the next three days.

Pink Boots at Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey Distillery

"Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest." ~Mark Twain

October 3: Today was Jon's birthday, and being a big fan of whiskeys, I arranged for him to join me for my distilling day at Stranahan's in Denver. We arrived at around 10:00 am and Head Distiller Jake Norris showed us around as we waited for Distillery Manager/Partner Jess Graber to arrive.

Jon gave Jess the Pretty Prairie Rodeo shot glass that we'd picked up in Kansas for him. A quick discussion of grandfathers and ancestors established that Jon and Jess are 4th or 5th cousins, both descended from the Peter Graber clan of Mennonites that emigrated to South Dakota in the 1800's from Russia. Then after "The Children's Blizzard" of 1888 the clan moved to Pretty Prairie, where some members left the Mennonites and joined the Swedenborgen church.

The whiskey wash was ready to go in the primary still (the copper still on the left in the photo above). Stranahan's wash is produced by Flying Dog Brewery next door. George Stranahan is an investor in both places and his name was perfect for the reinvented top-shelf American whiskey that Jess wanted to produce.

The wash is not regular beer. It is a special high-gravity recipe jointly developed by Stranahan's and Flying Dog. I saw the wash and it is darker in color than the final whiskey. Of course it contains no hops. By paying Flying Dog to produce the wash, it frees up Jess and his crew to concentrate on distillation and barrel aging.

Stranahan's currently produces one whiskey, called Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey. It uses a process unlike other American whiskeys like Bourban and Tennessee whiskey. Stranahan's uses a custom-designed still that incorporates both the pot of Scotch whisky distilling and the column of American whiskey distilling.

Stranahan's primary and secondary pot+column stills were custom made by Vendome Copper & Brass Works of Louisville, KY. Head Distiller Jake Norris drew up the diagram (photo left) of "How to Reinvent Whiskey 101."

In the photo at the top of this page, L to R: Clarke Boyer, Jake Norris, David Nice, Jess Graber, Teri and Jon.

The whole crew was on board today because the original plan was to have both a primary distillation going, and a bottling of one of Stranahan's new line of whiskeys, called Snowflake. The Snowflake line (named because no two are ever alike) consists of Stranahan's regular whiskey that has been finished in special barrels prior to bottling. The plan was to bottle the Port-finished Stranahan's today, but bottling was postponed in order to work out a haze issue.

Therefore only the primary distillation happened today, and the crew went to work ripping out the old barrel aging shelves in order to replace them with forkliftable steel wine barrel shelves.

The old-style shelves are the kind I saw when I toured Woodford Reserve in Kentucky (photo on left). The new shelves are the kind that most breweries with barrel aging programs use (photo below right).

Jess gave us a full tour and told us his 30-year background in home-distilling. Jake also had a home-distilling background, and each of them independently came up with ideas for a combined pot & column still for the kind of whiskey they wanted to make.

Stranahan's uses new oak barrels like Bourbon does, but because the wash is fermented long enough and filtered prior to distillation, the wash contains less impurities and no bacteria in comparison to other American whiskey washes. This purity along with a specially humidified aging room allows the distillate to age more quickly and efficiently in the barrel.

Jess took us to lunch next door at the Blake Street Tavern. After lunch we had a tasting of five Stranahan whiskeys. The control sample was Stranahan's standard 2-year old whiskey. I had been skeptical of a whiskey that was only two years old, but when I tasted Stranahan's last year during the GABF, I was amazed.

This tasting completely convinced me that two years is the perfect age for Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey. In my opinion, the 2-year old Stranahan's starts sweet like a Bourbon, but finishes dry like a single malt scotch. It's perfect.

In addition to the regular 2-year old, we also tasted a 3.5 year old (which is not currently available), but the finish was more like a Bourbon, so the unique "Colorado Whiskey" profile was missing.

Then we tasted three of the Snowflake series, the Port wood finish, a French Cabernet Franc finish, and a local Colorado red wine finish. Of the three, I personally preferred the Cabernet Franc finish, but I really liked the standard 2-year old Stranahan's best. Photo above left is Jess and Jon enjoying the tasting.

A few weeks ago, after I'd set up the day at Stranahan's with Jess, I'd asked Jon what he wanted for his birthday present. A bottle of Stranahan's, of course! But Jess beat me to it and gave Jon a bottle of Stranahan's for his present. So I asked Jon what he wanted for his present from me, and he asked for a Stranahan's barrel. Since Stranahan's only uses their new oak barrels once, Jess has a continuous supply to sell. At $80 F.O.B. Stranahan's, I thought it was a good deal.

Jake, Jess and Jon wrapped a barrel with several layers of cling-wrap, and they loaded it into my Chevy Astro van right behind the driver seat. I'll be driving Jon's barrel all the way back to Oregon. Boy, it sure makes the van smell good!

Visit to Gella's - Liquid Bread Brewery & Drive to Scott City, KS and Denver

"To freely bloom - that is my definition of success." ~Gerry Spence

October 1-2: Before leaving town, we searched for a Pretty Prairie shot glass. We found one out at the Pretty Prairie Links golf course. It was the last shot glass souvenir left over from the annual Pretty Prairie rodeo, the largest night rodeo in Kansas. (The rodeo was started in about 1937 by Jon's grandpa and great-uncle.)

We didn't want the shot glass for ourselves, but as a gift for Jess Graber, Owner/Distiller at Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey in Denver. We'll be visiting Jess in a few days. When setting up the visit, I found out Jess's father's family also hails from Pretty Prairie. Turns out Jon and Jess are fourth or fifth cousins. Their ancestors were Mennonites who emigrated from Russia, and prior to that from Switzerland.

After the shot glass hunt, we drove to Hays, Kansas, to visit Gella's Diner and Liquid Bread Brewery. Took us awhile to find the joint. Everybody in Hays knew the place, but they kept putting us a block off.

We asked for Brewmaster Gerald Wyman as we ordered a very nice pan-fried potato chip-breaded Walleye fish & chips. After lunch and a full sampler set of Lb (Liquid Bread) beers, Gerald gave us a custom tour.

Gerald and his partners opened Gella's/ Lb two years ago. Gerald was a very advanced homebrewer, and he spec'd the deluxe JV Northwest system himself.

I appreciated some of Gerald's extra whistles and bells that I'd never had, like a thermometer on his grist case, and an extra zwickle (sample port) and glycol jackets on the cone of one of his 10-barrel fermenters for yeast propagation.

A few days ago I posted a photo of several rubber boots. That photo was taken just inside the door of Gerald's brewhouse. He normally requires anyone who wishes to enter his brewhouse to doff their shoes and don a pair of brewhouse-only boots. We got the VIP tour and got to take the tour in our street shoes. Gerald told us he'd mop the floor right after our tour to get rid of any street bugs we might have tracked in.

Gerald designed his fishbowl set-up with glass walls between every section. Most brewpubs have the brewhouse and fermenters in one room, and the serving tanks in a separate walk-in cooler. Gerald's brewhouse was separated from the fermentation room by a glass wall. I believe his fermentation room, with five fermenters, had positive air pressure. Even his walk-in cooler was completely encased in glass. Spent grain buckets were removed from the premises through a back door from the brewhouse to the alley. The design was completely logical.

Gerald and his partners spent a fair bit to fix up their historical building downtown. The popular restaurant and kitchen were as spacious and well-laid out as the brewery.

After lunch we continued on to Scott City, Kansas, where Jon's father's cousin, Dick and his wife Joy Barton live.

Barton was Jon's grandmother's maiden name, and it is also his middle name. The Barton marker in the photo at left was carved in Kansas limestone, which is quite yellow compared to the white limestone of southern Indiana and Kentucky.

(Photo at left, L to R: Dick, Joy and Jon.)

We had a nice dinner and afterwards Dick entertained Jon with stories about Pretty Prairie and Jon's dad while I read a magazine.

The next day, before driving to Denver, we went to look at Dick's 1936 International Harvester pickup truck. Jon's great-grandfather (Dick's grandfather), David Barton, bought the truck in 1938 and wore it out by the 1950's.
At that point the truck was abandoned in a field. Dick's brother Don (Cousin Don who cooked the chicken and ham in the concrete culvert pipe grill-pit), rescued the truck and restored it. Dick bought it from Don two years ago and fixed it up further. The shiny red truck just got a new coat of paint so Dick could drive it with his fellow Shriners in local parades.

After visiting Jon's great-grandfather's truck, we headed out on the highway toward Denver. Jon drove while I wrote blog texts. We arrived at my sister, Heidi's family's house in Denver by dinner and had a great time playing with our nephews before bedtime.

Drive to Kansas City International Airport & Pretty Prairie, KS

"Sow good services; sweet remembrances will grow them." ~Madame de Stael

September 28-30: Drove like crazy from Columbia, Missouri to Kansas City, Missouri's International Airport to pick up my husband, Jon. Got there a few minutes late but Jon still had lots of hugs and smooches ready for me. Then he took over the driving and we used the computer for GPS navigation.

Got to Pretty Prairie, Kansas at about 9:00 pm. Our GPS routed us down the Kansas Turnpike through Wichita, then across to Prairie Crossing Bed & Breakfast. Jon's mom and two brothers were already there. Prairie Crossing is a hunter's lodging B & B, with several impressive 10-point whitetail buck mounts and other outdoorsy decorations, including an indoor Koi pond. Prairie Crossing B & B is famous for huge homemade breakfasts.

Many of Jon's kin on his dad's side of the family were gathered in Pretty Prairie for his dad's Memorial Service. Jon's father, Ken Graber, grew up on a wheat farm that had been in the family since 1907. Jon's Uncle Curt sold "The Home Place" in 2002.

Saturday's Memorial Service at the Swedenborgen chuch was lovely with beautiful flowers and lots of people hugging who hadn't seen each other in many years. Jon read the Eulogy that he'd written in January, and it brought tears to our eyes again. Afterwards, the community put on a lasagna lunch in the church basement.

Then most of the relatives went over to Uncle Curt's house to watch the Kansas State football game against Texas. Some relatives wore purple, others orange, and we all enjoyed tasting a few of the beers that I've collected along the route.

That evening, Jon's Kansas relatives put on a huge dinner feast in Uncle Curt's yard. Cousin Don had roasted a few turkeys and some hams in an in-ground grilling pit he'd made out of a 4-foot long, 16-inch concrete culvert pipe dropped straight down into the ground. He'd wanted a 16-foot diameter pit because he already had the 16-inch manhole cover. The meat was moist and delicious.

After dinner Uncle Curt handed out gift booklets to Jon, his brothers and cousins of our generation. The booklets contained the history and some old photos of "The Home Place," as written by Curt's wife, Aunt Jean. (Photo above: L to R: Jon, Uncle Curt, Joel, Ron and Jay.)

The next day, Sunday afternoon, Jon's brother Jay took us all on a ride to see what he'd done with his father's share of the old farm property. Jay is an avid hunter and we were impressed with the improvements Jay had made toward expanding wildlife habitat.

Jon's mom and brothers left to catch their flights. Later, Jay and Jon's mom Tina called as their flight had been cancelled. They drove all the way back to the B & B, and we spent another night there. After another fantastic breakfast, they drove east toward Kansas City in their rental car, and we drove west toward Scott City, Kansas.

Weekend in Mount Laurel, NJ

"One must have a good memory to be able to keep the promises one makes.- Friedrich Nietzsche

September 14-16: Drove from Stoudt's in Pennsylvania all the way back to New Jersey again. Like I said, it's best to visit breweries during the work week, and relatives on the weekend.

My cousin Gail lives in Mount Laurel with her husband Tom and daughters Michelle (16) and Allison (11). The last time I visited them was in 1996 when Gail was pregnant with Allison. Gail's dad, my Uncle Fritz lives about two miles away.

In the photo at the top of this page, L to R: Teri, Fritz, Tom, Allison, Gail and Michelle.

Gail is a Real Estate Broker and Instructor at Long & Foster Real Estate in nearby Moorestown, and that's where she had me meet her. I followed her to her house and backed my rig up her driveway. Even did a decent job of backing up.


Gail grilled giant t-bone steaks for dinner and we enjoyed them with some craft brewed beers and sodas that I had picked up in Maine. Then I packed my overnight stuff and went to Fritz's house to stay with him for two nights.

The next day Uncle Fritz, known as "Popsie" to the girls, was kind enough to chaufeur us to the local Mount Laurel Fall Festival. It was smaller than I expected, with lots of booths staffed by local real estate and dentist's offices. Gail (photo left) was stationed at the Long & Foster booth handing out free helium balloons.

Allison ran off to join her friend Olivia on the kiddie rides. Do you know those rides where there are round twisty-cars that go around like a ferris wheel, but each of the cars spins and each car contains four people? Well, they didn't have that. Instead they had a single twisty car and four kids were spun in place. I wonder if the operator hand-cranked the ride or if it ran off a lawnmower engine? All the rides were tiny versions of standard County Fair rides. It was sort of comical, yet economical, as $5.oo bought a kid all the rides they could stomach.

More than bored with the booths and too big for the rides, Michelle and I went in search of food. Not as much choice as I'm used to on the west coast: No Thai noodles, burritos, enchaladas, or Indian curry. Just hotdogs, sausages, softserve ice cream, sno-cones, and hamburgers. The longest line had the most interesting food: Crab cake on hamburger bun and deep-fried oreo cookies. The oreo cookies tasted like greasy chocolate doughnuts. Now you know.

I played the usual games with Michelle, Allison and Olivia out of my game bin. I told Jon on the phone that when Olivia grows up she won't need to drink coffee. Both 11-year olds had more energy than ten adults, but especially Olivia. Then I tried to work on photos and my blog. Not easy among the chaos of Michelle and Allison and four of their friends.


Back at Popsie's place, Uncle Fritz (photo at left) and I attempted to wade through about 150 or more old black and white photos that his mother had left him ten years ago. I wrote names on about eight before we gave up and enjoyed some dark chocolate together.

Uncle Fritz lives alone. His wife, Gail's mom, has Altzheimers and lives with Gail's step-sister three hours drive away. I could feel Uncle Fritz's sadness. It's very hard when your beloved wife of 52 years no longer remembers who you are. All I could offer Uncle Fritz was a little company for a little while. I wish I could have offered something more. He was very sweet, and in addition to offering his whole day up to act as chauffer for us girls, he gifted me $100 toward my gas expenses. Thank you Uncle Fritz, XOX!

Back at Gail's house, I repacked my trailer and hooked it back up to the van. After we had our fried chicken and watermellon lunch, we said our good-byes. Gail asked if it's going to be another 11 years before we see each other. I said I hope not - you guys come and visit me in Oregon! Then I drove south toward Delaware.

Weekend in Scarsdale, NY

"Live so that you wouldn't be ashamed to sell the family parrot to the town gossip." ~Will Rogers

September 9-10: Woke up early and began to rearrange the beer I've collected in my trailer. One bottle of everything is heading to Oregon so I can share it with my husband. The rest I repack into mixed 6-packs that I will distribute as I continue on my journey. Hopefully every brewer that I visit will find something special that they can't get locally in their gift 6-pack from me.

Ellen made a lovely Sunday morning breakfast of scrambled eggs, turkey bacon, and a very nice cinnamon coffee cake. Then it was time for Valerie to dress up in a fancy black party dress and head off to another local Bar-Mitzva party. I guess boys can invite girls to their Bar Mitzvas. The theme of this party was rock and roll. While she was gone I taught her twin Brian several games from my bin including Cathedral, Quoridor and Loot. That was fitting because yesterday when he was off partying at a Bar-Mitzva I taught the same games to Valerie.

Then I spent a few hours going through a stack of old photos with my Aunt Pat (photo above). She's my father's eldest sibling and is still pretty feisty at 88. As we went through the photos, I wrote on the back of each photo who was in the photo, and where and what year the photo was taken.

We called my Pop when we were finished to see if we were supposed to send the photos back to him or if Aunt Pat was supposed to keep them. He said we weren't done with our homework: we had to put all the photos (about 40 of them) into chronological order and slide them into a little photo book. We did, and now Aunt Pat has a small picture book of her life story to show to any and all visitors.

Then it was time for the weekly Sunday dinner at Ellen's mother's house. I got there a bit late because Michael's brother, Peter and his wife Denise showed up at the last minute after being away for the weekend. We literally had 30 minutes to visit. Peter asked me a few questions about my trip and I pretty much spoke at top speed for most of the 30 minutes. I hadn't seen Peter and Denise since 1996, so it was nice to visit, even if briefly.
Ellen's mother is a charming woman with a charming house. Ellen's brother "Uncle Bill" joined us for turkey, mushroom pasta, veggies and salad. Photo above, L to R: Michael, Bill, Ellen, Valerie and Brian.

Photo below, L to R around the table: Ellen, Valerie, Brian, Mother, Teri and Michael.

Back home and time for bed. School for the kids tomorrow. I planned to get up at 7:15 am and get ready for the next leg of my trip.

Morning in Manhattan & Drive to Scarsdale, NY

"Go to your bosom. Knock there, and ask your heart what it doth know." ~William Shakespeare

September 8: I'd left a phone and email message last night with Jon's cousin, Cathleen, who lives in Manhattan. She returned my call about 8:30 am this morning, just as I was checking my email messages.

In the middle of Brooklyn Brewery's warehouse in the middle of Brooklyn, I found an unsecured wireless network available, so I "borrowed" it. Nice to have an office right in my trailer!

Cathleen told me which subway trains to take to catch up with her on the edge of Central Park. We went for a nice brisk hike past the folks camped since yesterday trying to snag free tickets to the last "Shakespeare in the Park" of the summer. Then we walked around the reservoir. I'd never been to Central Park. It's a very spendy neighborhood. I really liked it! If I lived in New York City, I'd be lusting after some digs nearby. (Photo of us in Central Park above. Note Manhattan skyline in the background.)

After our hike, Cathleen treated me to lunch at a trendy bistro called "Nice Matin." She picked the place because it had a great beer menu. How thoughtful!

During our walk, Cathleen had told me what her favorite beers were: Several brands of imported lagers that come in green bottles. She's a foodie, so I thought I could turn her on to some more interesting beers. Since she already liked bottled beer, I ordered two draft beers from Belgium. (Photo of us at lunch below.)

Cathleen enjoyed our Wit and Belgian Golden ales. But she was intrigued by the Saison DuPont stories I told her; how it played a role in Jon's and my courtship. Since we were talking too much to eat quickly (okay, that was me), we ordered the bottle of Saison DuPont to enjoy with the second half of our meals. Cathleen liked the Saison DuPont best of all. Score!

After lunch I got a quick tour of the apartment Cathleen shares with her son William, and then I took the train back to Brooklyn.

Back at the warehouse, I got the trailer and van road-ready, then the warehouse manager directed me as I backed my rig at an angle out of the warehouse. Whew! I did it. I sure didn't want to have to disconnect the trailer to push it out.

The drive from Brooklyn to Scarsdale, New York, was like a roller-coaster ride. My knuckles were white from clutching the steering wheel; the lines painted between the lanes were 50% closer together than they are on any freeways in California or Oregon, so I had the added thrill of wondering when that semi-truck in the next lane would shear off my trailer mirror-extensions. The highways seemed to be under construction so the lanes were rerouted with sharp turns that wove in and out of what should be the road's shoulder. The van and trailer bounced up and down over the bumps of the road's zig-zag transitions. They sounded like a squeeky bed.

Arrived in Scarsdale in good shape. Not me - the van and trailer. My cousin Michael expertly backed my rig into his narrow driveway. I met his twin children, Brian and Valerie, both 13, whom I had not met before. The last time I saw Michael was when he and Ellen were married in 1984. They have an extended family, as Michael's mom, my Aunt Pat also lives with them. Michael grilled big juicy BBQ ribs for dinner, Ellen made home-made German potato salad with vinegar and bacon, and we sat down to a fine dinner.

Brian missed the feast. He was dressed to the teeth and off to a Bar-Mitzva party, a type of event that happens quite often in Scarsdale. The Bar-Mitzva's theme was Monte Carlo gambling, and I don't think Brian missed our little feast one bit.

Labor Day Weekend in Newtown, CT

“Never trouble another for what you can do for yourself.” ~Thomas Jefferson

September 1 - 4: Slept in a bit in my trailer in the parking lot at Cape Cod Beer Company. Then blogged a bit, then hit the road. Some of the trees are just beginning to turn their Fall colors. Arrived in Newtown, Connecticut before dinner bearing three growlers of Cape Cod Beer. They were a big hit with my relatives.

My cousin, Joanne lives in a section of Newtown called Sandy Hook. Her daughter Lori is five years younger than I am and is married with three nearly-teenagers. Met the kids, two for the first time. The kids went to bed early - their first week of getting up early for school had exhausted them. Us grown-ups stayed up a bit too late playing various card games from my game bin.

L to R in the Photo above: Kurt, Kevin, Teri, Kirsten, Eric, Lori and Joanne, all in front of Big Buddy, my trailer.

Up at 7:00 am on Sunday morning and off to the big semi-annual flea market. Found a nice bedside table for Joanne. She's a good bargainer and got the price reduced from $75 to $40. After all the fresh air, sunshine, and antiques we could stand, Lori gave me the driving tour of Sandy Hook and Newtown.

I worked on my trip for a while – this is the part where driving could get very dicey! The next leg of my journey brings me to Long Island, NY via a ferry from Connecticut ($90 one-way for my van-trailer combo). Then I drive from the Hamptons-section of Long Island to Brooklyn, NY. Then from Brooklyn to Scarsdale, NY where other relatives live, and from there down into New Jersey.

While Lori and her husband Eric worked on dinner, I taught the kids several new games from my collection. Of course we stayed up too late again.

Monday morning we were up at 7:00 am again in order to get good seats for the big Newtown Labor Day Parade. We departed at 8:00 am, lawn chairs in tow as we wanted to get good seats. Many folks began lining up their chairs along the parade route the night before. We should have brought the card games because we had nearly two hours to kill as we waited for the parade to begin at 10:00 am.

It was a festive parade that lasted two hours. There were four bagpipe bands in kilts and half-a-dozen Fife & Drum bands in Revolutionary War-type uniforms from all over the state. Every local school and church marched in the parade.

All three political parties (Rep, Dem, and Independent) marched. Several high school marching bands, a band of ex-high school band marchers, the governor’s horse patrol, the governor and all the other state and local politicians, and my personal favorites, the Shriners on their mini-scooters and in tiny gas-powered cars. (Photo above left). It was a really good old-fashioned New England-style parade!

Lori and Eric's oldest son, Kurt, nearly 13, rode his skateboard in the parade. He and the other skateboarders are collecting money for a new skateboard park. Everyone but Kurt is in the photo below, L to R: Kevin, Kirsten (twins), Eric, Joanne and Lori.

Monday was not only Labor Day, it was also Joanne's birthday. We all thanked her for arranging the parade for her birthday! Eric grilled filet minon steaks, Lori made Joanne's favorite carrot cake, all decorated with candles, and the kids had surprisingly good voices when we sang, "Happy Birthday." After cake they regaled us with some Brittany Spears song on the Karaoke machine.

Tuesday morning I overslept. Joanne wanted to take me to the Diner for breakfast, but instead I took a shower while she got breakfast sandwiches to go. Lori came home from work and we chatted nearly too long. I remembered the time just in time, and they had me follow them to Hwy 25. Then I was off to Bridgeport, Connecticut, where I would take the ferry across to Long Island, NY.

Thank you to Southampton Publick House for allowing me to use their wireless Internet to work on this blog.

News From The Home Front

September 1, 1:00pm - I interrupt the chronological nature of this blog to give you the news. (FYI: I am in Hyannis on Cape Cod in Massachusetts and will depart shortly for Sandy Hook, Connecticut.)

A few things have happened behind the scenes on my road trip. One, is that we had a fantastic Lunar Eclipse last week. This photo was taken by a friend of mine in Eugene. The west coast had the best view of this eclipse. My writerly friend (and fellow Wordo) Jerry Oltion is a professional science fiction writer and amateur astronomist. He took this photo without a filter, so the moon really did glow blood red (or orange).

Additional news from the home front is that my Aunt Bonnie, who I visited on June 22, passed away suddenly of pancreatic cancer. She wasn't feeling well when I saw her, and was diagnosed within a week of my visit. Here is my post from Colorado Springs, Colorado. Aunt Bonnie is in the middle of the two photos. My mom is handling it the best she can, but she is now the sole remaining sibling out of her family of five siblings.

Finally, my husband Jon Graber had to make a career decision this week, and chose to change jobs to a new employer. He will begin his new job as Operations Manager for BrewCraft USA in Portland, Oregon on September 10th. That means as soon as I get home we will be hunting for a place to live in Portland, and my job search is now focused on that city. Luckily for me, Portland has more breweries than any other city in the world. Anybody have any leads on a brewing job in Portland that would start in November?

Thank you to Cape Cod Beer for letting me use their Internet connection to update my blog.

Visiting Family in Bar Harbor, Maine

"We don't know who we are until we see what we can do." ~Martha Grimes

August 18-19: We had a fabulous time visiting Jon's brother and his family on Mount Desert Island. On Saturday they took us to the top of Caddilac Mountain, the highest point on the island. It was super windy. My hair flew in my face and I could hardly see where I was walking. Afterwards "Uncle" Jon and Joel went to the Lobster Pound to pick up five softshell lobsters for dinner. Out west we would call it a seafood market or store. In Maine they call it a Lobster Pound. Sounds like you buy your pet lobster there, like the Dog Pound. We had a fabulous dinner with fresh lettuce and tomatoes from the garden.

On Sunday we went to the company picnic for Jackson Laboratories, which is where Joel and Lindsay are genetic research scientists. It was raining, so the picnic was inside the new cafeteria. Some researchers had booths set up demonstrating the part they play in genetic and medical research. We looked at some of the booths and saw lots of specially bred mice: some obese, some naked with no fur, most of them cute, and all of them genetically very unique and special. Then Joel and Lindsay showed us their offices and gave us a tour of the new exercise center and some of the buildings.

After the picnic we changed clothes into something more casual and drove to the mainland and around the bay to Acadia National Park, to Schoodic Scenic Byway and Schoodic Point Park. We spent a good bit of time watching the waves crash as the tide slowly returned. Carolyn, the six year old had a great time digging in puddles and enjoyed the wave spray. It was a lovely sunny day.

Below is a photo of me at the farthest eastern point on my trip. It is interesting to note that only eight days ago I was on the beach in Oregon at one of the farthest points in the continential USA. We can be such jet-setters today without even trying.

On our way home from Schoodic we stopped in at a restaurant facing a quiet little harbor. coastal Maine is full of hardworking seafolk and the boats in the harbor were a picturesque assortment of working lobster boats. In fact there must be one million or more lobster pots attached to bouys along Maine's rugged coast. We saw hundreds of them everywhere we looked.

After a long drive home to Bar Harbor area in the dark, us "grown ups" stayed up to watch "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen," a great fantasy film by Monty Python's Terry Gilliam. I'm a big fan of Terry Gilliam's work, and "The Time Bandits" is one of my top three alltime favorite movies.

My Cousins in Mundelein, Illinois

"We did not change as we grew older; we just became more clearly ourselves." ~Lynn Hall

July 21-22: I had not seen my Mundelein cousins since my cousin Pam's wedding in 1990. It's tough to visit when you live on a far distant coast and you have college loans to pay back.

Our mothers are sisters, so my siblings and Wisconsin cousins saw a lot of them when we were children. They were our favorite cousins because they were so daring and adventurous; nearly dangerous in our minds because they so easily and carelessly flaunted authority. As you can guess, my siblings and I loved to visit them and run wild.

We played Red Light-Green Light at midnight, played music too loudly, caught fireflies by the dozen, snuck out the boys' window and climbed down the tall fir tree to escape to the nearby lake at night to drink beer.

They're all grown up now, and some of them have their own kids. And they still know how have a heck of a good time. I arrived just as my cousin Kyle and his wife Jenny's party was at a full rolling boil. About 75 family members from Jenny's side of the family were gathered to celebrate life, family and summer fun in the midwest sun.

With virtually no humidity or mosquitos, this was not the midwest of my childhood, but everybody along my route has been saying that this is a very unusual summer in that the lack of rain has adjusted the humidity-mosquito more to my Oregon sensibilities. Everybody at the party took advantage of the perfect weather, enjoying a game of softball, swimming in the pool, and eating lots of delightful summer potluck food.

Kyle lost a couple of brownie points when I saw he only stocked the beer buckets with MGD and Miller Lite. I supplied a mixed 6-pack from the breweries I had visited, beer not currently sold in Illinois. Jenny's cousins discovered "The Brewmaster's" beers right away and talked me into another 6-pack and a 22-oz bottle. They joked about raiding my trailer for more good beer, but I only have about 1.5 cases of beer left and I need that as gifts for the breweries I visit.

I wanted to get a photo of my cousins Kyle, Kerry, Kip, their dad Al, and their families but the party was a bit of a zoo. Instead I now have fond memories of my cousins, now in their 40's, doing crazy twisting dives and cannonballs off the diving board into the swimming pool.

The next morning dawned slowly and late as the sleepover-partiers reached for Ibuprofen and coffee. I did get a photo of Kyle, two sons and grandaughter. (Photo above, L to R: Michael, Kyle, Teri, Ryan and Kylie.) I wish I could have got all my cousins and their kids in the photo!

Then Kyle earned back his brownie points when he drove me to his sister Kendall Ann's new hot dog stand, Country Dog. Kendall is waiting for her final permit and was working on paperwork. Her dad Al and brother Kip have been instrumental in helping Kendall convert an old burned-out train caboose into a compact modern restaurant kitchen with outdoor seating.

If you find yourself in Grayslake, Illinois on Hwy Rt 120/Belvidere Road, be sure to stop in and buy a dog and coke from Kendall and say "Hi."

P.S. Thank you to Flossmoor Station for their free wireless Internet in their pub.

More West Bend, Wisconsin

"To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides." ~David Viscott

July 12-14: Photo above was taken on my parents back deck. The weather was hot and humid when I arrived here a week ago, but there've been quite a few rain and thunderstorms since then. The weather cooled to the point where we've been able to enjoy meals outside, like the BBQ chicken and corn-on-the-cob dinner above. Photo L to R: Gus, Drew, Drew's friend Cameron, Teri, Mom and Pop.

On Thursday, I drove from one brother's house in Cedarburg back to my parents house in West Bend. Worked on my itinerary and trip planning for a few hours, then went to my brother Gus's house. Spent two nights with Gus and his ten-year old son Drew. Photo below shows Drew and Gus working on Aunt Teri's art project: painting reverse designs on glass magnets.

Drew and I played lots of my card and board games, but Drew definitely prefers the addrenaline rush of video games. He's a master of the fast crash.

I took him to see "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" on Friday, and he wanted a box of candy. Candy! I never buy candy at the movies. I told him, "It's a good thing we love you so much, because we're definitely spoiling you." Then I bought him his box of candy because I haven't seen him since January, and I probably won't see him for two more years. What's a kind-hearted Aunt to do?

My Family in West Bend, Wisconsin

"The best effect of fine persons is felt after we have left their presence." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

July 7: Drove from Munising, Michigan to West Bend, Wisconsin. Jon drove and I worked on charting the next few weeks/months of my trip. I am using Rand McNally TripMaker Deluxe 1999. Great software, but it runs a little quirky on Windows XP operating system. I would have bought a new version, but they don't make this software anymore.

My parents cooked up one of my favorite dinners - roast beef with Yorkshire pudding and gravy, photo at right.

July 8: Drove Jon to the Milwaukee airport first thing in the morning, and he flew back to Eugene. (Our little joke is, "Somebody's got to work to pay my gasoline expenses.") It was tough to say good-bye, but nice to know that I will see him again in less than one month. XOXOX honey!

My cousins and their mom were all visiting West Bend this weekend, so they dropped over at my parent's house in the afternoon. Photo above, Top row, L to R: Mike, Kevin, Pop, Beth, Mom, Pat and Tim. Bottom row, L to R: Diane, Teri, Pam, Maggie and Tommy.

They sampled some of the unique beers I've been collecting, and cousin Pat showed off his new Harley Davidson road cruiser (photo below). Get a helmet, Cuz!

Later my brother and his family dropped in for dinner. He and his wife have three girls. The girls and Oma (grandmother in German) and I played a few rounds of Blink and Set (photo below). Amanda and I played Cathedral (photo below left).

June 9 & 10: I am methodically going through my emails one by one. Yup, I am writing all the contact info (or lack of it) that kind-hearted brewers and others have emailed me when inviting me to their neck of the woods.

Then I try to flesh out the sketchy information via http://www.beermapping.com/, http://www.pubquest.com/, or by googling the brewery name, filling out my 3 x 5 cards, each with the State name at the top of the card. Then I try to connect the dots. My goal is to at least try to visit everyone who has invited me, which often means I look at where they are on the map, measure that against my flights to the MBAA Hop Symposium and the class I am teaching at the American Brewers Guild on August 16, and if the brewery is too far off the route, I put the 3 x 5 card in the "Breweries Skipped" pile. I tried!

Luckily, I am fitting lots of folks in. I have such sketchy Internet connections and time, that this is the first day I've really been able to 3 x 5 card the contacts that emailed me after April. My Itinerary is under constant revision for the next week, but after that I hope to have most of July and August figured out.
July 10 & 11: Visited my brother's family in Cedarburg, Wisconsin. The girls and I made pancakes for breakfast (photo on left, L to R: Teri, Amanda, Sarah and Kelly).

In the afternoon we painted Aunt Teri's art project: friendship bracelets (photo below: L to R: Amanda, Kelly, Teri and Sarah).

A Vacation from my Vacation: Munising, Michigan

"Love and magic have a great deal in common. They enrich the soul, delight the heart, and they both take practice." ~Nora Roberts

July 2 - July 6: Not driving during these days except for an allergy shot, groceries, gas, and other uneventful trips. We are in Munising, Michigan with Jon's family and I am enjoying a vacation from my vacation. Happy 4th of July to everyone!

Photo above, L to R: T-Mom, Cathleen, Jon, Teri, Zach and Jay. Photo below: Happy 4th of July Potluck inside and Happy Parade-watching outside, and yes, that is Jon in the doorway enjoying a cold can of Blatz on a very hot day.

P.S. If you are jonesin' to read of road trip adventures while I am "on vacation," click here to read the tale of my 1999 Teardrop Adventure.

Drive: Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin to Munising, Michigan

"Be glad of life because it gives you the chance to love and to work and to play and to look up at the stars." ~Henry Van Dyke

July 1: Drove all day from Chippewa Falls to Munising, Michigan, which is where Jon grew up and where his mom lives. Didn't take any photos as I was working on the computer all day.

The most interesting thing that happened is that we almost ran out of gas. Jon was so excited to shoot for "home," that he forgot to watch the gas gauge. Luckily I do watch the road a bit even if I'm not driving or taking pictures. The van lurched and coughed, giving us the old "I'm just about out of gas" signal, and I remembered seeing a gas station in a little town about a mile back. Jon turned the rig around and we made it to the gas station just before the bugger ran dry. The fill took 25.47 gallons. Glad it coughed when it did!

Got to Munising, a town famous for its location on Lake Superior near Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, and famous for its wooden bowls, rolling pins and other woodenware. The Munising Woodenware Co. produced wooden household products until the 1950's, so all the pieces are antiques these days.

Jon is a minor collector of these pieces of Americana, but Jon's father Ken was a passionate collector. Growing up on a dirt-poor farm in Kansas during the depression, Ken fell in love with Michigan's beautiful upper penninsula when as a young chemist, the US Army assigned him the job of studying the effects of cold, snow and ice on various types of rubber tires. (Yes, it really is Siberia USA up here.)

After his army stint, Ken moved to Munising to work as a chemist at the local paper mill. There Ken met and fell in love with Jon's mom, Tina. Ken died unexpectedly last January and the loss is still quite palpable. The photos on this page are of just a small sample of Ken's Munising woodenware collection which is displayed profusely on nearly every surface in the family's kitchen.

We arrived early enough in the afternoon to spend lots of quality time with Tina. The Fourth of July always brings friends and former neighbors back to Munising, so we've been able to join Tina in welcoming the returning loved ones. It has not been an easy time for her, and we are so glad to be here with her.