Birthday Girl

Elizabeth is 2 today ... she is the most infectious, charismatic, flirtatious little girl who has captured our hearts. She has beautiful brown eyes, mochachino skin, dark hair that we hope is not at all like her Dads, a wonderful smile that lights up her whole face. She loves people, loves to play ... a real extrovert. She has Mum & Dad wrapped around her finger. She has become obsessed with Frozen, like all under 5s.When she was born Mack said to me ... "isn't she beautiful Mum?" the words of a enraptured parent. Elizabeth is perfect!

If we were in NZ we would have driven down to Dunedin on Friday or Mack & Ite would have driven up to ChCh and we would have planned and prepared a wonderful day for her. We are not in NZ ... we are in VT ... so this is our birthday celebration for you Elizabeth. We love this little girl ... truly, madly deeply ... she is our most favourite Elizabeth in the whole world.

Happy Birthday to You Dear Elizabeth

27 June 1983

Lucy Jane Shepherd Cammock

I love this photo of lucy

If lucy had been born walking she would have kept on going! She was adventurous from the day she was born ... she loved to be anywhere but home ... at her cousins or the neighbours or a friend round the road.

lucy came into the world easily ... a quick labour and bang she was here. She slept a lot after she was born ... so much so that I thought she was brain damaged. She liked her own space ... never liked sleeping in bed with us and believe me I tried hard to have her bed with us. lucy was an easy baby ... and a wonderful addition to our family!

I think of lucy as light ... people are drawn to her. She has a kind and compassionate heart, an active and intelligent mind, a great sense of humour, a sharp tongue that is not to be reckoned with. lucy is loyal to the end, she is a vault full of secrets that will not be told. lucy is strong ... one of the strongest women I know.  She is independant, I know of no other woman or person that goes to a completely different country and sets up a life and place to live, even if it is sharing a bed with a complete stranger for 6 months. lucy is creative ... in so many ways, with color, with design, with ideas, with art, with clothes and how she sees the world. When lucy walks through an art gallery she walks right up to a painting as if she is going to climb into it.

lucy loved Michael Jackson as a girl of 10. She was scary to wake up for seminary in the mornings, she is messy, she is a mocker, she hates tramping, she loves travel, she was a challenge for her YW leaders ... I remember her 'Barbie is a Slut' t-shirt that she wore with pride to YW activities. lucy buys great gifts and gets it right every time ... there is something really wonderful about opening a gift and it being something that you love at first sight ... and lucy bought it! lucy is not afraid to speak up or out about something. lucy tried hockey ... failed, she tried the piano ... failed, tried swimming ... succeeded! lucy is a great Aunty to her nieces, her cousins and their children. lucy is very generous with herself and her money. lucy is loyal! lucy is a joy to all she comes in contact with.

My favourite thing to do with lucy is holding her hands ... I love the feel of her hand in mine. I love going to the movies with lucy, I love going shopping with lucy, I love travelling with lucy, I love going out to eat with lucy, I love lucy's energy when we are together. I love talking to lucy on skype. I love watching lucy with her nieces and nephews.

Pete named lucy after a Wordsworth Poem ...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LUCY

We love you  ... being your Mother has been one of the best things of my life. You are in our hearts every day!

"Get Right With God" Lucinda Williams BARTS 2013

Get Right with God ...

Waiting for lucinda

I am a rocker from way back ... I came out of the Woodstock era ... sex, drugs and rock'n roll! Jimi Hendrix and his talking guitar ... The Doors ... Carol King, I remember when her Tapestry LP came out in Vinyl and I had it. In my teenage years I went to a lot of concerts ... Santana, moving across the stage in his white linen suit, Jethro Tull with his electric violin and long red hair, BB King sitting on stage playing his lead guitar, he was old then I thought, Wishbone Ash with their 3 lead guitars. Eric Clapton ... outdoor concert with Rita Coolidge as a backup singer, playing at Western Springs in Auckland, we needed binoculars to see him. Those are to name just a few! In the last few years Pete & I have attended a few really good concerts ... Bruce Springsteen, who I would highly recommend if you ever get the chance. Steely Dan, which totally took me by surprise, they were amazing, as soon as the drummer did his first drum roll I was hooked. Mumford & Sons with lucy ... so passionate and upbeat, a really good show! Carol King and James Taylor with Viv and Carly ... a really good trip down memory lane and of course Leonard Cohen for the artist in all of us, these are also to name just a few.

Last night Pete & I went to a lucinda Williams concert ... at the Lebanon Opera House, we were 9 rows from the stage. It was a wonderful performance. lucinda is 61 years old ... her Father was a poet and she like her Father has spina bifida. She was kind of shy, but a very good performance. Her lead guitarist was amazing ... from Wallflowers and the bass reminded me of Bishop Riwai Couch, with hair. Very acoustic ... just lucinda and her 3 band members, nothing fancy or OTT ... lucinda and her music ... which really sold itself. We loved watching these musicians do their thing with such ease and confidence and such skill. I know lucinda is not everyone's choice of female artist, but she is mine and has been for a while. She is very earthy and passionate in her lyrics.

lucinda Williams

The last US concert we went to was in 1996 when Chicago were playing at BYU ... it was amazing ... the crowd were excited, animated and totally involved, it was a sell out. When we arrived last night I thought it was going to be a small crowd ... not many people, but it filled up during the opening act. We were fascinated by the audience ... very eclectic ... I think I saw an 80 year old ... at least, sitting in the audience having a good time. We felt like we were at a community event. Groups of people talking, waving and visiting with each other.

The music was great ... I felt stirred. I love music ... dancing ... blues/country is probably my music of choice ... Pete is a ballard man and folky in his taste. There is nothing more inspiring than a good live rock concert and seeing people perform their art. I cannot imagine how it must be to be that talented and creative ... there are times when I sit in awe and times when I am just plain envious.

August 1 Chris and I are going to Katy Perry's concert in Boston ... I am sure that will be a different kind of concert ... I am excited to go. I have got into Katy Perry late I guess,  Chuckie introduced me to her ... he took of to the States, by himself, and followed her shows around the US... I then started to pay attention to her music and I like some of it ... it is boppy and really good to dance to... so when Chris suggested we go I thought Yes! This concert is for you Chuckie.

I have managed to post a youtube clip of lucinda Williams ... but not with this post ... enjoy if you want to listen.

Windsor Birth Place of Vermont

Mt Ascutney

Our first trip to the US was in 1996, Pete taught a semester at BYU Provo ... so of we all went ... the six of us! Mike, lucy & Mack attended school in Provo,  Alice spent her days with me and going to kindergarten ... she would often sneak off to the dairy with money she had pinched to buy 'candy'. We lived in Student Housing on campus and attended a BYU Young Marrieds Ward. We discovered Cinnabons ... how cheap the cost of living was compared to home ... bikes, shoes and computers, which all came back with us to NZ on our return. I do not know how our children look back on that time, but I think we had fun. When Pete finished his teaching we went travelling and drove the Mormon Trail. We lived in a VW Vanagon and had $US96 a day to live on and we did it. We slept in the Vanagon mostly and sometimes we would stay in Motels and then there were times when we relied on the generosity of friends! The Brunts in Ithaca NY ... a very cool place, the Palmers in Chicago ... another cool city and the Bloomquists in Arizona ... redrock country which I fell in love with. Little did we know when we left to come back to NZ that our lives would be so intimately connected with the US at some point in the future.

Then Mike met Chris ... who was attending BYUH ... lucy, who also attended BYUH thought Chris was the coolest person she had met in a long time and kept telling us she had met Mike's wife! To cut a long story short ... lucy was right ... as usual. Chris came out to Christchurch for a conference, Mike had just got home of his mission, like weeks I think, Chris stayed with us and the rest is history! I remember when I first met Chris ... I thought she had the most beautiful blue eyes ... luminous blue eyes as Pete says. She was standing at the kitchen bench and we were talking ... her hair was longer and she pushed her hand through her hair of her face and I saw her as a mature woman. Mike and Chris have now been married for 10 years and have 2 gorgeous children, lars and Roxcy. They moved back to VT in about 2007 and we have been coming to visit them regularly in Windsor VT since 2008.

Life runs at a very different pace here. Windsor as I have probably mentioned is a tiny town, but it has a wonderful community feel to it. People are friendly and life seems a lot more relaxed. People seem to support community events with enthusiasm and pride. There is an interesting assortment of people who live here ... poets, environmentalists, a very well known Glass Blowing factory, some great outdoor activities and right over the Connecticut River is the Cornish Colony ... a well known artists colony. The biggest surprise of all for us was discovering that Beth, of Beth and Jason, Mike and Chris' neighbours went to Cheese Mongering school in the UK with Martin and Sarah our local Cheese Mongers in ChCh.The world really is small.  The village green is a great gathering place and they have a very cool library with very enthusiastic librarians and volunteers. Windsor really is VTs best kept secret! There are some very nice gardens here in Windsor ... vegie gardens and flower gardens ... a little different to NZ, but they are beautiful and were full of color when we first arrived here.

Mike and Chris live on a great street with children playing in each other's yard and lars and Roxcy have cousins all around them. Reminds me a lot of our family times with Rob, Viv, Pita, Carly, Rosie, Joe, Sam, Evie and Chuckie. I have wonderful memories of our family times together. My first tramp with Mike and Carly came along. Rosie turning up at our door at 131 crying and mascara running down her face ... she would fall asleep anywhere. Pita and Carly staying with us for a few weeks/months while Rob & Viv moved back from the NI. Pete would get up in the morning and get them toast and their bikes ready to ride to seminary. I think they got a bit of a shock living with us, they often talk about the trauma of no TV and hot water on their Weetbix. lucy, Rosie and Joe hanging out together, Mike playing Dungeons and Dragons with Pita and his friends after school. Christmas' @ 371 River Road and the children playing in the River with the Robinson children, Emma, Danny, Ben and Abbie. Family meals at Marg & Syd's. Lake Lyndon during winter, the projector in tow and towing the children on their tyre tubes on the back of our cars. Water pistol fights at Christmas. Mack and Sam on the back of our VW on 90 mile beach. Evie, Alice and Chuckie came as a threesome when we were together.

Rob was always up for an adventure and we had some great ones with him. Off we would go ... late in the day to a destination that we had some rough idea of. A lot of fun and wonderful memories and relationships came out of those times. Then Rob & Viv decided to leave ChCh and move to Temple View ... that was a big loss for us. We bought their house in 1997 ... 29a has been a great blessing for our family and I love living there! Of course Rob is no longer with us ... which has left such a gaping hole in our lives ... even more so for his family and particularly Viv. Children have grown up and now have their own lives and families ... but I hope the memories of family, adventure, ritual and love linger on in their lives ... when they look back they have a wonderful sense of being part of something that was warm and loving for them!

I believe life is about relationships ... building relationships that will last ... learning to forgive ourselves and others ... creating something meaningful and lasting, being vulnerable with those who we love. I hope some of those things have rubbed off in our family ... and as I watch lars and Roxcy with their cousins I think what a wonderful life they are having and I see history repeating itself. Marg would often say to me, 'these children have a great life' ... that is how I feel about lars and Roxcy ... Elizabeth and our extended family ... cousins etc ... 'these children have a great life' and they have  great parents! Dean & Carly, Pita & Tasi, Joe & Belinda, Mack & Ite, Mike & Chris ... you are doing a wonderful job of loving and parenting your children.

I have not forgotten ... photos ... here are some random photos of events over the last couple of weeks ... highlights and some shots of Windsor that I like. Feel free to comment if you feel so inclined, I like reading your comments.

This photo reminds me of Rob ... 5K Fun Run

The Finish line

Beautiful Color

The Village Green

Fire Safety

Library

Best Ice Cream So Far

Mike's Office

HoBo Spider

Now I am pretty sure if this was in the Matthew's wardrobe, Tom would have saved it and shown it to their children, Meg would have wanted to know how many eyes it had probably and then there would have been a whole google thing going on to find out what sort of spider it was ... not me ... this thing had to go!!

A Visit to River Road ... 

Can't not have a photo of these 2 

Reminds me of the NI Cammocks

Final Photo ...

Uncle Brig, Grandad Pete, Uncle Mike, Cousins ... Family

Home Alone

Those of you who follow Chris on Instagram will have seen that Mike and Chris have been to Maine. They took some time out for themselves last weekend and went away for 4 days and left us home alone with lars and Roxcy. They loaded up their VW with their Tandem on the rooftop and off they went. In usual Mike style ... let's just go and we will worry about where we stay when we get there ... and they were gone! What I loved most about watching them go off on their retreat was seeing how excited Chris was to have time away with Mike ... just the 2 of them on an adventure. Their photos say it all ... they had a fabulous time ... stayed in some lovely places ... had wonderful weather ... came home relaxed and refreshed. I remember those times when Pete and I would go away for a few days with no children ... usually Marg, Syd, or Rob & Viv would have them and we came home feeling relaxed, refreshed and slept! 

I must confess I was a little nervous about being home alone with lars and Roxcy. We have only been here about 3/4 weeks ... lars and Roxcy don't really know us that well and I was a little concerned for them as to how they might feel being with us ... alone! They were great ... we had a lovely time with them. Of course not like Mum and Dad, but a good consolation prize. They slept well ... ate well ... and played well. I think the weather helped ... it was a hot weekend. 

Boys on the Hood

Saturday morning started out well with the boys and Roxcy ... hanging out and eating Popsicles. lars and Roxcy's neighbours, a family of 3 boys about the same age, they play together ... a lot! We then went to a farm in Woodstock ... Billings Farm ... and look who we saw there ...

Harriet

We wandered around the farm for a couple of hours ... I could not resist this photo ... we miss you Harriet Matthews. I particularly miss reading to you and I miss making hot chocolates for you! We miss all of you Matthews family. Everytime I watch the shorts to The Giver I get excited about reading it to MacGregor ... I am hoping that they will still want to hang out with us when we get back! 

Rockefeller married into the Billings Family and lived here after he married. The location is beautiful and the homestead is wonderful ... like something out of The Great Gatsby. We had a pleasant afternoon here with the children ... although it was not what they thought it was going to be ... lars was hoping for the petting farm. 

Ice Cream Time

We tried some of their ice cream, as it was a dairy farm ... not as good as NZ ice cream, but Roxcy and lars don't know the difference. We met an Irish woman at the ice cream stand, she had triplets ... boys. She started talking to us about NZ ... she recognised the accent immediately. She and her husband met at Fox Glacier on her last day in NZ and now they are married. We had a nice chat with her and then later met her husband. They had a friend who lived just out of ChCh ... the world is small particularly when you consider the size of NZ and what the chances are of meeting people that know someone that lives there. I enjoyed our interlude of talking to people about home for a while. I am not homesick, but I do miss home occasionally. I miss our yoghurt ... bread ... but not the weather. 

lars ... 'I hate you!' ... is a mixture of sensitive and Ninja ... he reminds me a lot of Mike as a boy who was very sensitive and Mack was our Ninja. I remember one Sunday morning just before going to church ... we were living at 131 Somerfield Street ... we had 3 children then and I think Mike was about 5 ... lars' age and he came in crying and really upset because a cat had a bird in its mouth and we had to rescue that bird immediately or it would die! He was very, very distressed and had Pete and I running round trying to rescue a bird that was already dead. Mike seemed Ninja but was really sensitive and very sensitive as a teenager ... into poetry and romance. I am not sure that we were very understanding of Mike's sensitivity, I wonder if we were a bit hard for him? Mack used to run up to people and hit them ... his way of saying 'hi I'm here and pleased to see you' ... he ran up to my brother one Sunday in the hallway of our chapel and hit him in the testicles ... he was so pleased to see him ... needless to say my brother did not feel the same way after that greeting. The one thing that I have always liked about Mike & Mack is they cry ... the tears flow when they are really upset. They are both sensitive men. 

Roxcy ... 'I don't like it' ... seems like a blend of lucy and Alice to me ... she is very big in herself ... a real fashionista ... but also lives in a world of her own. lucy as a little girl lived in a different world to us most of the time, the agony of trying to get lucy ready in the morning for school while she danced around the kitchen with a tea towel in her hand ... she had all the time in the world! Alice was very sure of herself and 'tiny but mighty' like Roxcy... Alice like Roxcy was not about to be missed out at all. When Roxcy gets upset she just falls apart ... it's like the world has fallen apart ... she gets so distressed ... real tears and pain! I am sure if Cheryl or Steve Larson were writing this blog they would find lots of things about lars and Roxcy that remind them of their children as well. 

These memories of our children seem so near yet so far away at the same time. Life goes by so fast! I would not trade any of my time with our children ... I loved every minute with them. Don't get me wrong ... I had bad days, weeks, months, years ... there were times when I felt like the word 'Mum' was a dirty word! When I felt overwhelmed ... discouraged ... and the world's worst Mother ... but I never regretted my decision to be a Mother ... I really loved being a  Mother and I am grateful still to have had the great blessing of being a Mother to Mike, lucy, Mack and Alice. There are many things I regret but I don't regret one day of my life with them. 

For Pete & I our children and grandchildren are so important and having relationships with them. I really want lars and Roxcy to feel about us in the way that we feel/felt about our Grandparents. I have such clear memories of my Grandmothers ... Mary and Alice ... they were such important women in my life!  My Granddad Worsfold was the only good man in my life growing up. I loved him a lot! I know that for Pete Grandma Gibson and Grandma Cammock were both quite strong figures in his life ... perhaps more so Grandma Gibson.

Here are some more photos ... random shots that I thought might interest anyone who is reading our blog...

Pete's Ponytail ...

Pete helping lars catch fish ... with his net!

The back of Mike & Chris' House

Life on Lake Runnemede

 FYI ... while walking around the lake on Sunday evening ... about 8.30pm ... I came across a  coyote standing in the middle of the track. He/she looked at me for a few seconds then ran off into the scrub ... I don't mind saying ... I was scared ... 

Movies

Those of you who know our family well know that we love movies! Movies are a thing for us. As our children were growing up we did not have TV, but we watched movies on the weekends. How you ask ... I remember the day Pete came home from uni with a projector that he had borrowed. That projector became part of our home and our hearts very quickly and pretty soon it was living at our house and then we owned it for a while. Then the big day came ... we bought our very own!

We had hours of fun viewing with our children and their friends and so it goes. I loved those days of having our children gather round and we would watch movies ... there was an excitement about it all. The trip to Alices DVD store or if we did not want the trip there to one closer. The arguments over a movie that was picked ... 'why did you get that?' Over a period of time we gathered some family favorites ... Last of the Mohicans comes to mind very quickly. The opening scene of Daniel Day Lewis running through the forest of upper New York State in his canvas cloth as an Indian ... sexy. Viv and I would watch that movie ... a lot! Our projector went everywhere with us ... Lake Lyndon being one place that we would take it and spend hours watching movies with Rob, Viv and family ... laughing and swooning over some of our favorites. Such wonderful memories.

Our children still like movies now. I find it fascinating how diverse their taste is. Mike loves action and special effects ... when he was about 4 we took him to see Star Wars I wonder if that is where it all began for him. He goes and sees all the special effects movies, waiting with anticipation for the next one to come out ... don't get me wrong he likes a good story, but if the good story has special effects it is a match made in heaven for him. lucy I guess would fall into the arty category ... maybe on the fringe ... she likes gritty and a bit dark or black comedy. I think lucy likes to be moved in films and also likes to laugh ... I am not sure she would agree with me. Mack likes action and a story with a bit of depth to it ... like war movies and he also likes sci fi kind of aspect eg Iron Man. Alice likes classics and is a real rom-com fan but also likes a good drama ... she likes language ... that gets her in movies, she is also a bit like lucy and likes to be moved. They certainly all have a stronger constitution with movies than I do and can tolerate a lot more than I can.

They all watch TV ... on demand and will often share with us some of their favorite series. As a result Pete and I have started to watch a few TV series as well ... on demand, The Killing, Broadchurch are a couple that come to mind. I seem to favor BBC and something that is character driven ... I grew up with Clint Eastwood ... a lot of his movies had very little dialogue ... lots of killing and a drop dead gorgeous lead! Pete likes a lot of different types of movies ... he is very eclectic in his taste or choice. We both like a good rom-com ... French Kiss, While You were Sleeping, Love Actually to name just a few.

Over the years I have had to be a lot more selective in what I watch ... blood and gore of any kind or splatter movies triggers an adrenaline spike for me and I find myself getting quite anxious. I definitely cannot do horror ... horror movies are for adrenalin junkies! That is not me. I don't get it going to a movie to be scared out of your wits ... what is that about?

Anyway we have been to a couple of movies since being here in VT ... firstly

Movie # 1 Rating 6/10

I read a review online of Maleficent and thought we could give it a go. I think that Angelina Jolie is beautiful even with horns... I am still not sure if she is a good actress, I have yet to see something that she has been in that convinces me, but I like watching her on screen. She picks interesting roles and often they are strong women ... physically and otherwise. Not your run of the mill type of female character. I liked this movie. I did not find myself getting bored and there was a theme of redemption... bad is not all bad when you scrub the surface. I think my friend Madeline would really like this.

Movie # 2 Rating 7/10

Tom Cruise seems to get the blend of suspense, action and romance right ... nearly all the time. I think he is quite charismatic as an actor and we generally go to most of his films. Of course this was perfect for Mike ... good story line ... and really good special effects. Emily Blunt looks gorgeous ... she has really toned up for her role in this movie ... Tom as usual starts out as the reluctant hero and then gets into it ... full throttle, he seems to have this very sexy and nonchalant way of killing people. I like the idea of live ... die ... repeat ... we could repair all of our mistakes in the here and now ... a great way to avoid shame and guilt.

These shoes are made for walking ...

Our New Vasques ...

As you know after VT we are heading to Bulgaria, Turkey, Nepal and on from there ... so we needed new walking shoes. You cannot beat the States for the price of shoes ... they are so much cheaper than NZ and so much choice! This is what we got ... I went for color and I love mine, I tried to get Pete to try the red ones but he could not do it. Anyway today we took our new shoes out walking.

Vermont is stunning ... there is green everywhere and heaps of it. It feels like an oasis. I guess right through New England is like this ... we are loving it here and the greenery is very restful. Lots of rolling green hills and the plant life is beautiful as you will see.

Today we went to Quechee Gorge and stopped off for some cheese tasting along the way. I love cheese! The day has been very restful and restorative. The gorge is pretty impressive and is not remote at all. The contrast for me is quite stark. A gorge in NZ is remote ... or quite a way from mainstream life and can often be a bit of a hike, but Quechee Gorge is not, but still a tourist destination point. I took some photos while we went for a walk ... 

I love this Bridge Structure

I really like metal ... particularly this kind of look. I think this looks beautiful! Not sure why but I have always liked the look of metal under bridges and how strong they look so I took a photo ... I think it is the chunkiness of the metal ... the industrial look.

We stumbled across these flowers by the dam in the Gorge and I loved the contrast of color ... they look so beautiful to me and these kind of places in VT pop up everywhere. Wild honeysuckle along the side of the road ... quite foreign to me. 

One of VT's  and NH attractions is covered bridges ... they are lovely, they remind me of a Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep film ... The Bridges of Madison County. Pete insisted that I needed to be in the photo or him and I could not see without my glasses, so I guess it was me. He thinks the photos will be more appealing and have more value if one of us is in them ... I am happy to not be in any of them! 

I saw these Iris and they reminded me of Marg. Marg had Iris' in her garden, I am not sure if she liked them, but she had them. I am sure she had this color, can anyone remember? Marg loved to travel and she did quite a lot of it in her later life ... some of it for quite long periods of time. She loved India and often talked about it and how much she loved it. She would be thrilled with the travel that her children and grandchildren have done and the places they have been and seen. I miss Marg sometimes! She was a good woman and a great Mother in Law to me and she loved her grandchildren and was always so generous to her family ... and anyone that came into her house/home at 371 River Road. 

We have a lot of good memories of River Road ... christmas in a marquee on the back lawn ... family dinners where Marg cooked for everyone ... birthdays of grandchildren ... turning up unexpectedly on a cold winters night to a warm fire and a warm welcome. Syd sitting in the corner in his chair by the fire reading a book and smoking a cigarette. 371 always felt like home to me! I am pretty sure by the time we get back to Christchurch it will be gone. 

This I could not resist! I love the color of this poppy. I think it is beautiful. I had to take a photo ... this one is for you lucy! Is this color not stunning?! Again this poppy was on the side of the road in amongst the greenery ... no ones garden ... just there blooming magnificently and singing out ... look at me!

"Are you the man ..."

On Sunday evening we all ... being Mike, Chris, Pete, myself, lars & Roxcy went to check out an Airstream RV. We drove about 90 minutes, I am not sure which direction, I am completely disorientated here so I go by time. It was a really nice drive and the evening was perfect. Pete and Mike talked about Airstreams while driving up there and other automotive conversations.

I am fascinated by the things that bind us together as families. In our family it is cars ... poetry ... movies ... road trips and Christ, among many other things I am sure. These things become very strong points of connection when we get together, particularly for the men in our family. Mike, Mack and Pete talk cars ... have competitions over the size of engines ... whether the car we just saw was a Jag or a Daimler ... what year the car is and how they compare to others. On the outside listening in these conversations may seem boring or not that important, but from where I sit they really bring the men in our family together.

Before we came out to the States Mike rang us one day very excited because he had just bought a diesel truck and wanted to tell Pete all about it. A really nice moment I thought ... he was so excited to share his purchase with Pete. Since being here Mike and Pete have changed the oil together on the truck and bought 2 new batteries for it ... together.

I diverse ... so while driving to see the Airstream the conversation was very animated and consisted of what condition this very significant piece of US memorabilia would be in ... was it overpriced and what exciting adventures awaited us in the Airstream not just us but Mike, Chris and their children. We were not just investing in a RV but in an iconic piece of US automotive history. Yes ... this was an answer to all of life's existential questions and was going to rid us of our boredom ... what adventures waited to be had. During the course of Mike and Pete's conversation Mike asked ..."so tell me Dad are you the man that drives an Airstream or drives to see an Airstream?" Ouch! I am still asking myself that question ...

40 Feet Long Stored in a Hangar

How Cool is This

Original Decore

 I guess we drive to see an Airstream ... but what a really neat experience and what really interesting people. All because of an Airstream!