Highlights of Summer and Early Fall 2026

 In the summer of 2025, my sister Michelle and I began planning a family beach trip with our spouses and her children and grandchildren. Unfortunately, Michelle's wife, Claire,  passed away unexpectedly in late June 2026. The beach trip in July was a bittersweet time to enjoy life and to remember Claire. Here's the whole crowd of us. 


After a few weeks at home, we left for a two week 3400 mile road trip that included stops in Indiana (just overnight), Chicago, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and New York, via Canada. Some highlights included: 
Two nights and two busy days seeing the sights in Chicago. We were sorry we did not plan ahead and were not able to see the new Obama Center and Library. We'll have to go back!
We did get to ride the big ferris wheel, see the fireworks, visit one of the best museums in the country and take the architectural boat tour. Loved it!

Next stop, Minneapolis and a quick visit with nephew, Dan and his wife Nikki, just relocated from San Francisco. What a great couple and we were sorry our time was so short!
On to the northern woods of Minnesota, hiking along the Superior Hiking Trail with new friends, Sue and Keri. Wendy met Sue on her Walking Women Tour in October 2025. Wonderful hike (but hard for us old geezers) and even better company. They really helped us to see and enjoy a part of our country we had not experience before!

The initial impetus for this trip was to spend a few days on Mackinac Island with Peace Corps buddy, Marcy and her husband Bill. This was our second time to visit the Island, a peaceful retreat from the busy world. We also got to spend a few days with Bill and Marcy at their home in Midland before heading up through Canada to Wendy's Mom's home. 

Wendy and he mother, 93 and still going strong!


Finally, On September 30, after two previous attempts that had been cancelled due to bad weather, we got to do tandem skydiving. This was something we had always wanted to do and it was a wonderful experience. If you ever wanted to try this, check out Piedmont Skydiving. They make it easy and give you a fantastic experience! We loved it. 

Here is a link to a video made on Wendy's trip down from the sky: link

And a few pictures of us both getting ready and coming down. 

This jump was inspired by Wendy's father who was a paratrooper during the Korean War, and our friend Deb, who we met 45 years ago when we first moved to NC. She jumped about 2 years ago and went again with us. Here we are with our harnesses on. 















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