Diary for October, 2006: Boat docked at Solomons, MD; only land travel

Oct. 1-8; Solomons, MD: Sunday began with services at Solomons UMC.  The remainder of the day and Monday were spent primarily aboard with boatkeeping and Purdue business activities.  Tuesday we drove 18 mi. to a GM dealer in Prince Fredrick to determine why the car's "Service Engine Soon" light was on despite no apparent symptoms.  It reported so many unrelated codes (5) that we concluded it must have been an electrical glitch within the computer and could be just reset; the light did not come on again.  Wednesday afternoon we took the dinghy 6 mi. up the Patuxent River and then 3 mi. into the beautiful St. Leonard Creek to have a late lunch at Vera's White Sands Beach Club; once again, the food was outstanding.  We worked aboard on Exchange Club and ASABE business Thursday.  Friday was a "Cat in Hat" day; it started raining just after midnight and continued throughout the entire day with winds increasing to 15-25 mph; by evening we had received 3 inches.  A perfect day to finish annotating our 1,300 loop photos, do laundry, and read before going to Outback in California for dinner.  The night was quite noisy as piling lines holding the Lola Marie creaked and groaned against a Nor'Easter with gusts as high as 35 mph.  Saturday was a second day for relaxing and reading.  Sunday was devoted to packing for the trip home and cleaning the boat.

Oct. 9-14; Cordova, TN: Monday began waiting for our new floating dock slip to open.  Those slips had been all taken by last week's Krogen rendezvous boats.  We finally relocated the Lola Marie and departed at 12:30 PM.  The late departure and a stop in VA to view the incredible Natural Bridge allowed us to only reach Abingdon, VA before stopping for the night.  We enjoyed a relaxed and delightful few days visiting with daughter Judy's family, Glen and Samantha.  We also managed and afternoon, night and morning as Judy's guests in Tunica, MS (casinos).

Oct. 15-19; AGLCA Rendezvous, Rogersville, AL: Following church Sunday at Germantown UMC and lunch at Perkin's with Glen, Judy and Samantha, we departed for Rogersville.  We arrived just in time for a potluck dinner with rendezvous attendees.  It was another excellent rendezvous with 250 attendees.  Joe Wheeler State Park was spectacular in its fall colors, but it was definitely more fun to be there on your boat as were last year.

Oct. 20-31; West Lafayette, IN: Unable to sleep well because we were awakened by shower noise about 30 minutes after falling asleep, we arose at 2:30 AM Friday, showered and departed for W. Lafayette.  The good news was minor Nashville traffic at 6 AM!  We reached W. Lafayette at 2:30 and unpacked.  Saturday was Purdue's football game with Wisconsin, a disappointing loss.  Sunday we drove to Macon, IL to visit Larry's mother and attend our hometown church.  Monday began scheduled doctors' appointments in Indy.  We enjoyed dinner with Chuck and Ester Boonstra at University Place.  Tuesday was annual physicals in W. Lafayette plus absentee voting.  Wednesday involved addition Indy doctors plus the afternoon for dental appointments.  Thursday began with flu shots and Larry working on campus.  Friday was Purdue's Annual President's Council Back to Campus day.  Saturday was another football game, this time with Penn State and viewed from the College of Agriculture's suite. Despite the posh environment, the outcome was another loss.  The day ended with the Annual PC Dinner.  Sunday and Monday were days to rest and catch up on local business.  Tuesday began with the shocking news that ASABE colleague and good friend Gale Holloway from New Lenox, IL had died suddenly of a massive heart attack.  We changed return travel plans to allow attending Thursday's visitation.  The day was devoted to completing local tasks, including Larry's Purdue business and Lola's final medical exam.

Water miles traveled to date: this month: 0; total, 5,540.

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