Summer Trip

2015

It was when you found out you could make mistakes that you knew you were onto something.

#11 : Sept 1 -15, 2015

Tues, Sept 1 This morning Kara, our 13-year-old granddaughter, and I did “detail” work on the powder room redecorating project. Today was Kara’s last day of summer vacation, so we mixed some surplus wall paint and “really went to it”! By mid-afternoon we had made substantial progress in converting blue & beige walls into a rendition of the South Carolina Outer Banks ala Western NY. Later the four adults had supper at Good Times South bar & grill on Broadway just east of Transit Road in Lancaster, NY. I mentioned these specifics because Good Times has to be the primo place for hamburgers. Sally and I split a 10 oz. burger topped with thin-sliced roast beef, grilled onions & green peppers, and mozzarella cheese. This sandwich was HUGE and came with fresh-cut French fries. Though Sally and I split this meal I doubt we could do it again. This is one killer sandwich with more than a dozen other burgers on their menu. Decor is not the pinnacle of this establishment, but if you want FABULOUS food, at very good prices, and HUGE servings – honestly, there’s no better than Good Times South. (In case you’re wondering… I have no idea if there’s a Good Times north, and if so, where it might be located. I’m just glad I found this fabulous place to eat!)

Wed, Sept 2 I spent more time working on the details of the artwork in the powder room. The Buffalo Girls (our granddaughters Kara, Abbie & Lauren) will do their parts this weekend after which I’ll handle the tiny ‘finishing touches’. (photo #7 above) We enjoyed lunch with Megan C., granddaughter of our Michigan friends Lloyd & Carol with whom we stayed earlier this summer. Megan graduated from nursing school in Buffalo and now works in the cardiac unit of a hospital in the southern part of the city. Megan is also attending graduate school for nursing education. We share her grandparents’ pride at seeing such a fine young woman working and attending college. We had a great time getting to know her while dining at Olive Garden. Following lunch we ran a couple errands, then went home to do a few more minor family projects.

Thur, Sept 3 Today was focused on trying to get several smaller projects completed. We are quite “task oriented”, so we often feel we need to finish jobs before we take some time off for ourselves. Today we felt we should focus on finishing some smaller tasks on our list before getting back to the really big ones. Our day’s completed tasks included: •more painting on the powder room murals, •packaging picnic-tent poles & tent cover in boxes for winter storage, •finally fixing the front screen door so it doesn’t slam, •cutting

1= We started with plain beige & blue walls; 2= Kara paints brighter beige on walls; 3=blue horizontal line added to make seashore & horizon

3

1 2

4= Beach ball & clouds have dunes for added depth; 5= Shoreline is aligned with picture to make it look like mural is part of picture; 6= Sand dunes in corner will get further details to liven up this area near the powder room mirror.

4 5 6 7

& assembling 1x4 wood supports for the girls’ relocated swing-set, •reversing the socket that connects the emergency generator to the house, •installing wooden slats on the new cover for the generator, •experimenting with techniques to bend PVC lumber to become one-piece trim around the large front window, •sewing another embroidered patch on my sweatshirt. At the end of the day we felt our time was well spent.

Fri, Sept 4 Sally did a load of laundry while I worked on the repair of our car’s trailer mirrors (see photos #8 & #9). These extension mirrors are held in place by webbed belting similar to the type of textile used in fabric trouser belts. Exposure to sunlight eventually breaks down the webbing and the mirror will fall off, breaking on the highway. I take the mirrors, prior to collapse, and disassemble them and install new fabric belting. While casually inspecting the mirrors a few days ago I found our webbing in need of replacement, which I had replaced about 3 years ago. Jeff just happened to have some unused lightweight cargo straps that he donated to our cause. I sewed the belting together and fixed our mirrors, saving us about $60 over the cost of purchasing new replacement mirrors. For those folks considering add-on towing mirrors, some may remember my recommendation in previous travel newsletters. I purchased a pair of CIPA-brand #11960 Universal Towing mirrors, paying about

$25 each twelve years ago. Their design allows me to replace the webbed strapping as it breaks down due to UV exposure, thus saving me a lot of $$ by not having to buy new mirrors every 2-3 years. (These mirrors would last MUCH longer if we didn’t have them in use for 6 months each year.) I accidentally broke a mirror 5 years ago and CIPA-USA was fantastic in getting me a replacement mirror insert. I highly recommend this company and its product that I’ve used.(photo #10, left) Lunchtime found us at a Greek restaurant treating Chris’ cousin, Joanne Anzalone, to lunch. This is when we get to bring ourselves up to date on how our families have grown and changed. After lunch we enjoyed hot tea at her home and reminisced about family and events. Joanne is a close cousin and a friend we always enjoy visiting. After running a few errands we joined my siblings and their spouses at Duff’s Famous (Buffalo) Wings on Transit Road.

Sat, Sept 5 We e n j o y e d watch ing our granddaughter, K a r a , d o cheerleading at a football game at her school (photos #11-14). T h o u g h i n eighth grade, she cheers for the high school football team as the middle school and high school share the same campus. Following the game we drove home and granddaughters Lauren and Abbie added their painting skills to our ‘wall art’ – the decorating of the walls in the powder room of their home. By the time this was done, and I had added my few brush strokes to the walls, it was time to drive to Tonawanda (a suburb of Buffalo) and enjoy the company of my youngest (of 2) brothers, Sam (aka Sal, in the business world). Sam is a technology systems project manager in the medical field. Sally and our sister-in-law, Rose, have a super relationship and our trips here are always special. Rose baked terrific spare ribs and Sam finished them off on the grill. We really enjoyed Rose’s baked potato casserole that stayed hot the entire meal! Following supper we had dessert while their son, Nick, his wife, Lacey, and son, Asher visited. This was an end to a terrific day. The only bad part of living in Florida is being so far away from such terrific family members. After arriving back home, Chris completed the finishing touches on the powder room mural. It’ll be ready for use Sunday morning.

8

9

10

11

Details of finished project: 15=flip-flops, 16=beach umbrella, chair & ball, 17=sand castle, shells & sea gulls, 18=kite & beach umbrella.

12

18

17 16 15

14 13

Sun, Sept 6 We had a terrific day that started with an inspiring worship at LOL: Lord Of Life Lutheran Church, our “associate” church in Depew, NY, close to our son’s home in Cheektowaga (photo #22). From there we drove downtown to Holy Trinity Lutheran on Main Street where we met Brenda M., daughter of our church’s office manager, Shirley Rice. Brenda is on her one-year internship from the seminary in Gettysburg, PA. We treated her to lunch across the street at the original Anchor Bar, the birthplace of Buffalo wings. Following lunch we drove around the West Side of Buffalo looking at the sights.

M o n , S e p t 7 The major task for today was completing the finish trim work a r o u n d t h e windows at the f r o n t o f t h e h o u s e . W e i n s t a l l e d t h e w i n d o w s l a s t summer but the i n c l e m e n t

weather of Buffalo limited Jeff to doing vinyl film around windows to protect framing and wood support structure. The biggest challenge was determining a way to bend PVC ‘lumber’ to form a single board between adjacent windows. We did not want a crack between the windows that would require caulking. I developed a technique where a wide saw kerf was cut on the backside of the PVC lumber. Then a ‘heat gun’ (like a super-hot hair dryer) was used to soften the thin PVC by directing heat into the saw kerf (slot). The two sides were then bent together forming a “V” the entire length of the board. It took about 12 minutes per board to soften the PVC but the result was exactly what we wanted. 27: Installing final PVC exterior trim board to front (living room) windows. We were proud of how well it came out !

Tues, Sept 8 Our first task of the day was to diagnose a dripping kitchen faucet. After some simple steps it became evident that the cartridge (that seals off the water from flowing) needed replacement. A call to the Moen faucet company resulted in them sending us free replacement parts under their lifetime warranty. With free shipping the parts will arrive next week with me replacing them before we start heading home. Next was the repair of a noisy kitchen mixer. We heard some grinding-like noises yesterday and our son, Jeff, shouted, “I never heard that before!” Being familiar with that model of Hobart mixer, Sally assisted me in disassembling it and looking for worn or broken parts. By the time we had it apart it was time to leave and treat my cousin Charlotte to lunch. Charlotte is a school bus driver and trainer of drivers, so she had a break in her schedule to join us for lunch. We had a great time talking and reminiscing about vacations we took together, her family, mine and the multitude of aunts and uncles that all drove north to Canada for the annual fishing trip (which was really for the men-folk). As we chatted after lunch, Sally’s brother, Dave, and our sister-in-law, Margo, called saying they had arrived in Buffalo from Milwaukee, WI to visit Sally &

23= Vinyl film wrapped around wood for protection from moisture. Notice rippling on surface. 24= Jeff uses pneumatic nailer to secure lumber to

house; nineteen PVC boards had to be precisely cut to ‘finish’ edges for looks and weather protection. 25= Jeff secures vertical heat-bent PVC with special screws. 26= Jeff adds a few more nails to fasten PVC trim lumber. Great job, Jeff !

26 25 24 23

Each of our granddaughters was involved in some aspect of the decorating of the family’s powder room. 19= Lauren paints two of the ‘flip-flops’, while older sister Abbie (21) does the same. Flip-flops are painted each family member’s favorite color. 20= Oldest sister, Kara, works on sand pail and other scenes, while ‘Bumppa’ supervises.

19

22

20 21

27

Dave’s older brother, Jim. So they joined us for lunch with Charlotte and we all had a great time conversing. When Charlotte went back to work we all traveled to Jim’s house where Dave & Margo will be staying. After much conversation we finally drove to Charlap’s Dairy (on South Boston Hills road) to partake of a “calcium enrichment treatment”, and WOW, my salted-caramel truffle sundae with hot caramel sauce and Heath toffee bits really made that ‘medical treatment’ most effective. We thoroughly love our summer trips and the opportunity to be with friends and relatives that are so far away the rest of the year. Back home Jeff helped me reassemble the mixer after I diagnosed it needed lubrication after over 40 years of use. Jeff said he’d pay any price to get that old mixer fixed because it was his grandmother’s, and we had forgotten he’d gotten it from Sally’s mom after she passed away. He says he always feels his grandmother’s presence when he cooks using that mixer.

Wed, Sept 9 Our usual Wednesday Bible study at Lord Of Life Lutheran was enhanced by the attendance of Sally’s brothers Jim and Dave, and Dave’s wife, Margo. There’s always a lot of interaction and discussion that makes this study “come alive”. Following the study session we invited Pastor Debi and her husband, Bob, to be our guests for lunch at the French Pub. The food was great but the conversation was even better. After lunch Debi and Bob returned to their daily activities while we all drove to Jim’s house to play cards and visit (#28, L-R: Jim, Sally, Dave, and Margo).

Thur, Sept 10 Our morning activities focused on Sally doing (more) laundry while I straightened up my end of the trailer, which is the end with the greater ‘dishevelment’. From there we drove to East Aurora, NY to join Dave, Margo, and Jim for lunch at BarBills eatery that is famous for roast beef sandwiches on kummelweck* rolls. This annual event drew our cousin, Paul Hoffman, from the Rochester area. Paul is first-cousin to my wife’s family and used to live in East Aurora. He is famous as the consulting engineer who designed the cable TV system north of Ocala, FL on US Hwy 301-441. This is the famous tower that is sunken some 50 feet into the ground in a limerock pit. Anybody who lives in the Ocala / North Marion County area knows of this communications tower, but few know it was designed by a famous engineering consultant related to our family. As always, this luncheon was full of conversation, laughter, jokes, shenanigans, and more fun than should be allowed within town limits. From there we all drove out to the Knox State Park Equestrian Park to see the plaques Jim had made to commemorate the lives of his late father, Walter, and his own late wife, Marie. We all enjoyed a nice stroll through that segment of the park, then Sally, Paul and I went to Verizon to have our phones reconfigured a bit. (*For those outside the Buffalo, NY area, “kummelweck” is a hard roll adorned with caraway seeds [kummel] and “weck” (salt). If you order a roast beef sandwich in the Western NY area it is almost a sin for it to be served on anything but kummelweck [also pronounced kimmelwick]. Such regional cuisine is another reason to love the diversity of the citizens of the USA.)

After leaving the park, we joined Paul in visiting Verizon for tech support. We then joined Dave, Margo and Jim at Jim’s son’s house where we visited Jim’s daughter-in-law, Michele, grandson Alex, and granddaughter Adara. Jim’s son, Adam, allowed me to use his vehicle lift and I repaired some accessory wiring on my VW. Later, Sally and I had an ice cream treat at Charlap’s

Great folks who don’t toot their own horn… but WE do!Everyday we all meet great folks who work quietly behind the scenes doing a fantastic job and never toot their own horn… but we love to! Thanks to Dan Schalk and Andrea Sorrento, Customer Advocates for the Wireless Zone a premium wireless retailer for Verizon in East Aurora, NY. They provided Sally and I, plus Sally’s cousin, Paul, with quick, competent and free service on our iPhones even though we didn’t buy them there. They went out of their way to make us happy to have accounts with Verizon. Katie McLernan, a financial advisor with Mass. Mutual, has handled many issues with family matters and always looked out for what was best for us as clients. She never baulked when we asked tough questions; she put our needs first. Finally, our Silo City tour on the Queen of Buffalo tour boat upon the Buffalo River, and the up-close and personal tour of the historic grain elevators and malting factory by Rick Hilliman and his staff, was one of the high points of our trip to and in Buffalo, NY. When visiting one of the oldest cities in the northeastern ‘Rust Belt’, we often wonder, “What in the world do you visit in a city like this?”, and then you realize a guided tour like this, via boat and walking exploration, brings everything you learned in school into a real, life-like focus.

Thanks to all of you for making our Buffalo visit so personal and memorable ! –Chris & Sally

29: L-R= Sally’s brothers: Jim & Dave, Margo (Dave’s wife), Sally, cousin Paul, and Chris.

29

28

Creamery and returned home to visit our granddaughters. I spent a few minutes realigning a set of kitchen cabinet hinges and then we adjourned to our Aliner to do our nightly reading and devotion.

Fri, Sept 11 After a slow start with phone calls and such, we hit the road to join brother Jim at TGI Fridays for lunch. He billed it as lunch with a surprise guest. We were really wondering what he had up his sleeve. A few minutes after arrival he brought in his guest, Katie McLernan, a financial advisor to my father-in-law who had many dealings with Sally and her siblings over the years. Katie did a terrific job for our family but, except for Jim, none of us had ever met her in person despite a multitude of phone conversations. We spent two hours reminiscing, talking, laughing, telling stories, and getting to know each other. Katie is a terrific person who does a LOT for her clients. We were so happy to finally meet her.Immediately following lunch we rapidly drove to Canalside, the site of urban renewal in downtown Buffalo. We chose, last minute, to take the two-hour Buffalo River and grain elevator tour aboard the Queen of Buffalo tour boat. Last year we rode the same boat and toured the Buffalo River solely by water, seeing and learning of Buffalo’s grain and flour industry from the deck of this pontoon boat. This year, so enthused by last year’s trip, we chose to take this enhanced guided tour, the Silo City Tour, which includes walking through several structures that housed grain processing, particularly turning barley into hops for beer production. This trip is FANTASTIC and well worth the $27-per-adult fee. We felt immersed in the history, processes, stories and structures of Buffalo’s grain-related industries. At one time Buffalo had the second-highest number of millionaires in the USA, only exceeded by NYC. From 1850-1950 Buffalo was the WORLD’S LARGEST producer of flour. These and many other facts made this guided tour and culture of Buffalo come alive. To round out our day, Sally, Dave, Margo, Jim and I had some great pizza at LaNova’s on West Ferry Street on the WestSide of Buffalo. Wow, those folks know how to make a great tomato pie! Arriving back at the Mendola residence I helped our son, Jeff, scope out the attic crawl space for the installation of wiring for a ceiling fan. That project starts this weekend.

Sat, Sept 12 We were surprised by how far we progressed today with one of our major projects: installation of a ceiling fan. Such an installation can be tricky when you have to hold a 15-pound fan up in the air while attaching it to the down-rod (the pole from which the fan hangs). This was not the hardest part of our project. It was getting power to the fan location. The attic area is shallow above the beam between the living room and dining room making it a challenge to get wiring to that point. Jeff did the yeoman’s work by clearing the insulation in the attic away from the work location, then determining that there was room for the wire to come up through the beam and into the attic. It was decided that the wire had to come from below as no one could reach the top of the beam in the attic to feed the wire downward; the attic space is too limited. Drilling from the bottom upward, we fed the wire from below and Jeff, using a homemade shepherd’s hook, caught the 3-wire cable and pulled it within reach. Jeff will go to Lowes tomorrow and get the remainder of parts needed for me to hang the fan and make the electrical attachments.Our afternoon and evening were spent at a Mendola family gathering at the home of our nephew, Jim, and his lovely wife, Lisa. They are always ready to host a family party. The food was fabulous: •roasted pork for BBQ sandwiches, •two types of Italian sausage, •Rosie’s potato casserole, •Diana Jo’s veggie casserole, •macaroni salad, •chocolate ganache & creme-filled cake (for brother Sam’s 60th birthday), •snacks, and •Paula’s donuts. We could have fed an army. The highlight of the evening was getting to

30: Capt. Rick Hilliman explains details of silo structures and malting operations in grain elevator “city” in old Buffalo River wharf area. 31: Jim, Sally, Dave, Margo & Chris outside grain elevator on terrific Silo City boat tour on historic Buffalo River.

30

32 35 34 33

31

talk with all our siblings and their children who were able to attend. One lives in Boston, MA and another became an attorney in Rochester, NY. Others are local and still others were there with their little children who made the event that much more a blessing. When I looked at my grand-nieces and grand-nephews I saw ourselves 60+ years ago. We were so blessed with great relatives and we are so fortunate to pass that blessing on to them! 32-35 Various family members including (#34) Chris’ siblings: Jamie (Jim), Sam, and Diana Jo enjoy visiting & reminiscing.

Sun, Sept 13 We celebrated another special day by attending worship at Lord of Life Lutheran Church in Depew, NY where they joined other Lutheran churches across the nation in celebrating God’s Work, Our Hands work day. Members broke into various teams doing community projects. Our sister-in-law Margo (visiting from Milwaukee) made “health packets” for homeless people. Then she joined me in making greeting cards to go into those packets. Sally and Dave (her brother from Milwaukee) drove with others into downtown Buffalo to deliver burritos, bottled water and other items to the homeless in several regions of the inner city. Starting at about 10:40am we finished our tasks about 1:45pm and adjourned to the Olive Branch restaurant for a much-anticipated lunch. Dave and Margo returned to visit with brother Jim and his son and family while we drove back to our trailer to shower and relax for the evening. Another great day in God’s world, with God’s people, doing God’s work.

Mon, Sept 14 After some minor tasks we drove almost two hours east to Dansville, NY to visit our niece, Sandy, and her friend, Judy. Arriving separately, Dave, Margo and Jim joined us for a terrific supper and plenty of conversation. Sandy and Judy are very accomplished professional artists who painted a mural on the exterior wall of our church in Ocala, FL. They do work all over the nation. Sandy gave me some pointers on an art project I’m considering for my 2014 VW station wagon. She has been a guiding force in my artistic endeavors, so any opportunity to glean pointers from her are always important. The drive to and from Dansville, NY is always interesting due to the varied scenery along the route, plus Dansville is where Sally and I spent the first night of our honeymoon some 48.5 years ago.(39: ‘Family talk’ at Sandy & Judy’s house)

Tues, Sept 15 Today was focused on finishing projects prior to the arrival of supper guests. Jeff installed a ceiling fan between the living and dining rooms. I climbed into the attic and did the electrical wiring connections. Despite the movement of Buffalo weather toward Fall, it was still hot, cramped and precarious up in the attic area. All went well, I remained ‘aloft’ and no sparks shot out when we started the fan. Jeff had even installed a remote control system. Supper time found Jim, Dave, Margo, Rich (Margo’s brother) and Darlene (Rich’s wife) joining ourselves and Jeff’s family for a pizza and wing supper. It was great having everyone together and many conversations were being conducted at the same time with folks moving from one location to the next to be sure to have contact with everyone present. It certainly was a terrific evening. 40: More folks in our lives that are ‘special’ (front row L-R) granddaughters Lauren & Kara; (middle row, L-R) Sally, Margo, Darlene & Rich Sinclair (Margo’s brother & his wife); (back row, L-R) our oldest son, Jeff, our middle granddaughter Abbie, our daughter-in-law Brenda, Sally’s brothers Dave and Jim.

Stay tuned for Issue #12 coming in early October.

36: Margo (left, front) works at “greeting card” station while others make (#37) bird feeders and others (#38) make homemade dog biscuits for pet-companions of homeless citizens.

36 38 37

39

40