Family Mellmann

Today we had a little bonus at the CSA farm. In addition to a basket full of fresh vegetables, I was able to cut three giant sunflowers and a small handful of other flowers, which I combined with blooms from my own garden. I'm not quite ready for summer to be over.

Another summer vacation is in the books and today things go back to "normal". Patrick marches off to his second year of high school and Katherine gets a new teacher for sixth grade. As much as I would like to go sit out on the deck and enjoy this new peace and quiet, I have a long list of tasks waiting for me this morning. Back to "normal" for me too.

Movie...in a theater...with popcorn!

We have a little time before our afternoon activity so we started watching Kung Fu Panda 3 on Amazon. My favorite lines so far; "I'm not trying to turn you into me. I'm trying to turn you into...you." And "You think being Dragon Warrior is about kicking butt and high fiving...bunnies?!"

Our plans to go to Get Air Vermont didn't pan out (grumble, gripe) so we are watching Hotel Transylvania 2 (kids' choice) on Netflix. Don't worry, Papa, we didn't pop any popcorn. ;)

Our first stop on today's itinerary; Barnes and Noble.

Each year, in the days leading up to school starting, we have set aside some time; a day, a few days, or one year Jörg took the week off from work and we spent six days, celebrating summer. As the kids have gotten older, these special days have become less "epic", but no less special...to me anyway. So, today is the day. It won't be "epic", but we get to do a few things together that are fun and active and entertaining. And the kids get my undivided attention for the day...like it, or not. :-) First things first; time to juice up.

Each year, around this time, we gather with four to six other families for a weekend of camping fun at one of Vermont's many state parks.  This year we went to Ricker Pond in Groton. Meals are divided up and the duties are shared in such a way that everyone contributes to one meal.  Even the kids are assigned to help with either setting up or cleaning up for meals. This year it was a rainy weekend with a little thunder and lighting, and some sweltering heat mixed in for good measure.  But we hung tough and stayed until Sunday morning.

Yesterday was a long day.  We rode from Oromocto New Brunswick straight through Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont all the way to Williston.  We arrived home exhausted, around 21:30.  We took a couple of breaks along the way (we call them our "butt breaks"), but one in particular took longer than the others. As we rode along I-95 through Maine, we met this scene unfolding.  The state police and Sheriff were just arriving on the scene of a car fire.  A few last cars squeezed by before they blocked off the road to through traffic...like us.  We were in the front row seat.  At first it was a car fire.  But quickly the fire jumped to nearby grass.  Black smoke from the car fire.  White smoke from the grass fire.  With the high winds whipping along the highway, the grass fire quickly turned into a small forest fire.  Multiple fire units from local houses and towns were dispatched to control the fires.  The wind blew smoke everywhere.  Hanging out by the highway (a

Last night we boarded another ferry, this time from Port aux Basque Newfoundland to Sydney Nova Scotia.  Though shorter (this crossing is roughly seven hours rather than 16+ for the last one), this crossing doesn't start until 23:30, and we still have to be checked in two hours ahead of time. While we mingled in the parking lot, queued for boarding, we met several other motorcycle riders.  Like the "fraternity" of scuba divers, fly fishermen, and other shared hobbyists we have met over the years, motorcyclists can be a fun crowd with interesting stories of adventures and road trips, not unlike our own.  We met a realtor and his daughter, riding a BMW GS, who are doing a month-long ride for charity, a couple of guys from Ontario one of whom got married in Newfoundland only days before, and another guy who who was using his vacation to follow some buddies (who are in a band) as they do their gigs through New Brunswick and Nova Scotia before returning to his engineering job.

This morning started with a boat ride in the French Bay to see humpback and minke whales, dolphin pods, and icebergs! After that we rode on to L'anse aux Meadow to learn about the Vikings "settlement" on Newfoundland.  It was actually believed to be a storage depot and working camp (repair ships, build tools, etc.) for the crews of Vikings who came to discover the area and whatever resources could be returned home to Greenland. In this picture, you can see land in the far off distance.  That is Labrador. Our last stop today, before checking in to our hotel for the night, was at the Torrent River Salmon...station.  At this location on the Torrent River there is a large waterfall up which the salmon were unable to jump as they swam upstream for spawning.  Someone came up with the idea of building a gate system to make it possible for them to pass.  As they pass through this system, they are counted, measured, and inspected for injury via photo and video.  The area below Pat