Moms!
last update: 04/05 @ 22:19

With Nanette as inspiration, we had Sue and Marjatta over for wine and cheese. Nanette laid a great spread for everyone and the stories of the kids (now 21+ years old) and the times since then flowed.

It is great to hear about Taylor, Evan, Romeo, Miles and Robert all doing so well in their early adulting.

It was a fantastic gathering.

On the road …
last update: 04/02 @ 16:25

… not us,Taylor and Tofu, her traveling companion cat.

After introducing skeptical Nanette and Taylor to Peep jousting last night (and finding the yellow Peeps had an unfair advantage), Taylor packed up her van and headed west for her next phase this morning.

We enjoyed her (and Tofu) hanging out with us and loved hearing about their trip.

And Nanette will be staying about a week more with us, so the fun continues.

Nanette held on to Tofu while Taylor packed up early this morning in order to get on the road before the rush hour craziness.

It may be a bit hard to tell with this oh-dark-thirty image, but the van has many more stickers now after their swing down to South Carolina then out to Utah and back. (They thought Canyonlands and Arches were their favorite spots.)

Van Changes
last update: 03/09 @ 17:35

Taylor and her mom had some good ideas about changing the bed platform in her van.

And today we had the time and perfect weather for those updates.

It was a very fun and very different project for me: no straight lines and no 90 degree corners.

But I think we did a good job on it.

It’s solidly attached (I even suggested the “seat belt” which would only come into play in an accident) and it fits the mattress well.

And leaves plenty of space for gear below it.

Taylor’s wide angle photo makes it look bigger than it is, but we used all the space available.

Aussie Visit
last update: 03/05 @ 09:13

Taylor is living the van life and we managed to get on her itinerary for a few days.

Her mom Nanette flew in Tuesday for a planned road trip together.

Life got a little complicated and they had to take off earlier than planned and the adventure is a bit different. But I expect it will still be entertaining.

We’re expecting to see them back this way before Nanette’s flight back in a few weeks.

And we’re looking forward to hearing all about where they have been this time.

Christmas photos
last update: 01/10 @ 14:08

We had a trip right after Christmas (more on that later) and so I’m a bit late in posting Christmas photos. It was a very nice, mellow, family-focused holiday in Alexandria. More photos in the trips section.

Quick Robert Visit
last update: 06/12 @ 15:35

Robert’s home!!!

With an internship lined up for the summer, in addition to working for the Tempest/Cascades and Lumen Field, we’re getting a Robert visit in while we can. He’s now a senior!!!

Crazy!

We took advantage of the visit for an early father’s day and I’m fortunate to have several cool gifts:

• new music: Colter Wall; I’m liking his Imaginary Appalachia
• Blazin’ Raisen hot sauce (I’ve not tried yet)
• Dilettante’s chocolate (always a tasty treat)
• A Bird Buddy bird feeder with camera (as you can see).

While he was here, Robert had chance to try his hand at a Metro Speedrun:

The goal is to see how fast you can get through every metro station.

His time (see below), just over 8 hours, is very respectable. The ways to get faster, 7:34 is the current record, involve starting at the ideal station (Greenbelt, in Maryland) at the idea time to catch an express transfer bus between the suburban Maryland stations.

If you have questions, he’ll gladly clue you in :)

Pocket joined him for the first leg on her way in to work. And I joined for the first few stations just because :) I can now say I’ve been to the Franconia / Springfield and Huntington stations.

Ask Robert for his Insta Story for more details.

Chilly day on the river
last update: 04/17 @ 18:04

Sally had a friend to go visit this morning so Hank and I dropped her off and headed to Angler’s Inn. Sadly, Sarah had a conflict.

It was about 3.75 on the gauge; the water is still pretty cold (I found out with direct experience) and the air was just barely 60.

So chilly.

But look at the blue sky!

And all the trees are starting to leaf out now (some more than others).

We had to say goodbye to Hank and Sally this afternoon. They are headed back up to Hull for the spring. But we’re talking more seriously about when we could head up that way for a visit.

Fun Day
last update: 04/15 @ 19:16

Hank and Sally are working their way up the east coast from their wintering grounds in Florida :)

And they stopped by our neck of the woods!

They gathered a mini-reunion of about half of the Galapagos trip folks for a day at Hillwood Estate.

We lucked out on the weather and spent the first part of the day outside (with a lunch under the tent) before touring the mansion as the little bit of rain passed through.

That’s David, Sarah, Penny, Hank, Neil, Sally and JD (photo by another visitor) outside the green house.

It’s really hard for me to say what was most impressive.

The flowers, orchids, gardens and grounds (including the Japanese Garden Sarah is showing off below.

Or the Faberge eggs, jewelry, paintings and historical collection.

It is well worth a visit (and with fun, interesting and beautiful things inside and out, the weather is not too important in planning a visit).

Sadly, Sarah had a couple of meetings, but was able to catch up and enjoy most of the grounds and tour.

And, of course, we took advantage of a quiet table to catch up and think about future trips.

Watch this space to see where we end up next :)

Christmas notes
last update: 01/04 @ 13:55

More photos and a few more details of our Christmas are in the Vacations Section (even though we stayed in Alexandria).

National Aquarium
last update: 12/30 @ 11:24

Robert had the great idea to check out the National Aquarium while he’s here.

We went up for the afternoon yesterday (carefully ensuring we’d be home in time to watch the Commanders host the Falcons on Sunday Night Football).

Of course, we needed a photo in front of the Domino Sugars sign across the harbor (trust me, that’s the sign). That’s in honor of Lee and her Texas sheet cake recipe which calls for a box of powdered sugar for the frosting.

After giving it some thought, we concluded Baltimore still has a better aquarium than Seattle (though Seattle’s is much improved based on our trip this past Thanksgiving).

Seattle’s new wing does have a fantastic viewing window. And it’s much lighter. And it has that cool bowmouth guitarfish we’ve never seen anywhere else.

But Baltimore seems to have more tanks and more variety. So maybe just a little bit better… maybe.

Robert asked a docent why Baltimore has a rain forest area as part of the aquarium. I think I overheard correctly that they are making the point about the connectedness of water. The rain falls in the rain forest, flows downstream and ends up in the ocean.

But that still doesn’t make this sloth an ocean-dweller :)

Consistency
last update: 12/26 @ 18:04

We renewed our memebership in the National Building Museum when we went by to check out the Brutalist exhibit.

Robert is big fan of much of DC’s Brutalist architecture, especially the metro stations.

And since we were there, and they have such a cool Lego space…

Check out this blast from past and compare the styles.

Old Stories
last update: 12/24 @ 23:17

We’ve often talked about that time when…

Robert was on the metro and kept taking he’s shoes off.

We didn’t want him losing his shoes.

Or walking around barefoot.

And, shoes were required at day care.

So I reached into my commuter bag and got out my duct tape…

Last night we all spent a lot of time looking for that photo on this blog.

But it looks like it predates posting everything. The photo is in an actual physical photo album that Sarah pulled out this morning.

Thus providing the photographic proof.

Enjoying the time hanging out
last update: 12/20 @ 23:07

Sarah gave us a great tour of her new office today. Her digs at the Library of Congress wins hands down for the coolest office in the family.

When we came home, we lit the fire and pulled out Scrabble.

A fun day all around.

What a difference a few years makes
last update: 12/18 @ 13:08

Last night Robert and I went to Zento for sushi.

In September 2017, I added this photo to GMaps for Zento. It was Robert’s first normal use of chopsticks (we’d used the rubber band trick before that).

We’ve been several times in the intervening years (usually without Sarah, who is not a sushi fan).

It was really fun to relive that memory last night.

Our orders have gotten a little more … expansive overtime.

Robert has found a couple places around UW for sushi, but it’s pretty expensive for a college student.

Maybe on one of our trips to visit, we’ll investigate options out there to compare with Zento.

First Day!
last update: 12/17 @ 10:22

If you follow Robert on Bluesky or Insta, you’ll know he’s occasionally making shepherd’s pies in his dorm’s kitchen.

Yesterday, in celebration of Sarah’s first day at Library of Congress, he made one for us.

The picture does not do justice to the LOC outline adorning the top: carefully laid out corn matches the building’s rectangular shape with dome, doors and windows.

And it was great (what of it we could eat yesterday — Robert made a double recipe)!

I know what I’m having for lunch today :)

It’s beginning to look a lot like…
last update: 12/15 @ 18:53

…Christmas!!! Of Course!

Tonight, with a bit of cold rain here and sleet and snow around us, we lit the first fire of the season.

Seems like a perfect evening for it.

We picked up a tree yesterday (always fun to say no thanks to the offer of help tying it on the car: “we’ll just carry it home”).

And then we decorated it during the Commanders football game.

It’s great to have Robert home for the holidays.

He flew back Friday evening (unfortunately with an ear infection).

We were all glad the local Christmas tree patch (benefiting the Alexandria City Police Youth Camp) still had plenty of nice trees yesterday.

It’s most fun if we all three get to pick out our tree.

And that ensures someone (Sarah) will be available to take a picture as we walk the tree home.

This time we met a family with a toddler on our walk back; it was fun to hear the “Are they carrying a Christmas tree?” as we walked by.

Now we’ll need to add some presents under the tree over the next few days of general relaxation.

Well… Relaxation for Robert and I, Sarah joins the Library of Congress Federal Research Division on Monday!

Fun day on the river
last update: 08/16 @ 22:41

Steve and Helen have landed in Alexandria on the tail end of their trip around Lake Superior.

And they brought boats.

So Sarah and I introduced them to Anglers to Lock 10.

We did paddle up to play in the chutes a bit before heading down to lock 10.

New to me (weekday paddling): we ran into a summer camp trip from Calleva. They had a fair number of kids in kayaks, on SUPs and in rafts. They all seemed to be having a good time and they were very nice to our four boat party at the take out.

Steve and Helen may have some Facebook posts later.

And Sarah is likely in the market for a longer padde after playing with theirs.

Back on the river with Pocket
last update: 07/28 @ 20:22

Pocket was good, she asked “When should I meet you to go to the river?” Not “Should I meet you?”

(Actually, that’s how it was relayed to me. Pocket said she was less forward when talking to SZap.)

It was hot but not horribly humid.

And certainly cooler on the water.

We paddled up from Angler’s Inn to Rocky Island — I don’t recall doing that when there was so little current in the gorge. It really is pretty low.

But there are smiles on everyone’s face.

He’s Back!!!
last update: 06/16 @ 12:25

Classes over, Robert came home to Alexandria.

Sadly, not for the summer.

But for a very nice week-long break.

We had fun hanging out together.

And it was great that his trip happened to coincide with Father’s day (thank you for the Bluetooth meat thermometer which I’m sure to start using soon).

We even had a rematch of the Catan game with Pocket; Robert won.

But he’s headed back to Seattle for the summer.

He has some more work with the Ultimate Frisbee teams there, and is hoping to line up another summer job as Frisbee still leaves most of his time free.

Sarah and I really enjoyed having Robert back in the house and were sorry to see him go. But he truly is adulting well.

Great Falls
last update: 06/08 @ 17:52

Sarah’s brother David happened to be in town this weekend (congratulations on the award).

And he had some time free so we picked him up and headed to the Billy Goat trail.

I know Hank and Sally and I did this as well, but it had to be 30 years ago.

It was a picture perfect day.

Perfect for us and the Heron!

I’ve forgotten the view of the Falls from the Maryland side. Really pretty impressive (even if the straight Virginia drop is hidden behind the rocks.

And the while we shared the trail with many other families and folks — we had the benefit of someone to take our picture for us.

There is a bit of a scramble up the rocks at one point on the trail, and I’ve often watched folks slip a bit there when I paddle up the gorge. Now I know why :)

It was great fun to see David and show off one of our favorite spots to him. In a way, returning the favor of the Eastern Washington hike he took us on earlier this year.

Now we just need to get him in boat…

Christmas photos
last update: 01/03 @ 15:05

Sadly for us, Robert had to go back to school. We had a lot of fun while he was here and I expect we’ll start plotting our next trip out that way soon.

There are some more photos in the vacations section.

He’s back :)
last update: 12/16 @ 22:25

Robert flew back Wednesday and it’s been great to have him home again.

We celebrated my birthday with the traditional Los Tios dinner (I’ll have to see if Sarah has a photo) and have been enjoying the chance to play some games after picking up a tree and adding our decorations (I’ll need to add more photos of that as well).

Thanksgiving part one
last update: 11/23 @ 14:30

Robert didn’t think his schedule would allow for coming home to Alexandria for Thanksgiving.

But his schedule changed and Sarah was able to find him flights and so we had a perfect reason for the first fire of the season.

A nice warm game of Catan — when Robert smoked us in surprisingly short order.

It was fun, but too short a game (from my point of view) — I could have gotten longest road back if he didn’t swoop in an win so fast.

And, following the tradition of recent years, David Z. arranged for hockey tickets. The seats were great and the game excellent: we didn’t think the Caps had a chance.

A game tying score in the last two minutes sent it into overtime.

And a game winning score with 3 seconds left in overtime was an astounding conclusion!

Three Brothers
last update: 10/28 @ 19:08

With the three of us together, we recreated a great picture Bob Martindale took in Seattle decades ago.

There is a bit less hair now but we tried to get the right pose…

And as Steve and Helen had a bit more time with us, we took them on our walk to the river. We did a little extra meandering and Steve’s tracker said it was just about 4 miles.

Not the normal trek he tracks — this was clearly an urban walk.

But we got to watch a little bit of work on Alexandria’s tall ship (someone was working near the top of the mast) and the weather and views did not disappoint.

Of course the chance to visit and hang out was the best part of the long weekend.

Fun visit
last update: 10/28 @ 19:07

We lost a good family friend, Buddy (or Jake or Mel) Herrmann (Hank’s dad) earlier this year. He almost made his 106^th birthday. And was active until just about his last day.

Loren, Steve and Helen came up for the service celebrating his life last weekend.

We took advantage of getting together to make the most of the time.

Steve helped with the smoker while Loren was flying up from Atlanta.

While my hands were a bit messy while we ate dinner, I did get a picture of dessert: we were celebrating Steve and Helen’s 35^th anniversary!

And there were several games of Catan, Canasta and Scrabble as well. We’ll have to get Susan next time and stretch the visit out more.

Visitors!!!
last update: 09/30 @ 17:05

Billie Mae brought her parents up for a wedding.

Well… Maybe they brought her up.

Either way, we get to hang out with her while they are off celebrating.

Which is great! A little one in the house again.

Books to read… Toys to play with…

Birds to watch… Bunnies to count…

We got to paddle with Pocket!
last update: 08/14 @ 19:35

Pocket said she’d like to join us on the river this summer. It’s taken until now for both Sarah and I to feel healthy — pesky summer cold.

So we paddled up to my new favorite selfie spot — but that rock ledge needs to be more level…

Our heron was further downstream for this trip.

Playing in Angler’s Inn
last update: 08/14 @ 19:34

David and his canoe running the Maryland chute (photo by SZap).

It was pretty low, about 2.9, making it pretty much perfect to introduce Pocket to this part of the Potomac.

She’s done a lot of flat water boating (she joined us in storming the castle a while back) and expressed an interest in getting more comfortable in rapids.

Sarah opted for her paddle board for this trip.

Fortunately, the electric pump she picked up a couple years ago continues to serve us well.

It would have been hot work to pump up both inflatables in the 90 degree heat.

Fortunately, the water was still cool and the sky a perfect blue!

Keen eyed observers will note that Sarah’s and Pocket’s runs are both the Virginia chute.

We pulled the boats over the rocks to paddle up to the gorge, came back down and they ran the Virginia chute an extra time before we headed back to the Maryland side for one more run (after a brief portage).

Pod Squad
last update: 04/20 @ 22:23

Apparently, Peep jousting is not universally known.

That was news to us but helped spur us on to a Pod Squad gathering.

Sarah called an educational meeting of the Pod Squad.

Of course, dinner was part of the agenda.

And quite a dinner it was…

Thank you all for the fantastic food (not least the bulgogi Sarah grilled.

Then we got down to the serious part of the evening…

The main attraction was introducing Peep jousting to the uninitiated.

Peeps are on sale now that it’s after Easter, so Sarah made sure we were well prepared.

And someone brough Halloween Peeps to contribute to the games.

In the end, Pocket was declared winner, though Nathan was in it until the very end.

If you have to ask…

Yes, it’s real thing; even getting an article in Smithsonian, proving the bona fides of Peep jousting.

Conspiracy theorists may note that article is written by a Sarah Z. But not our Sarah Z., not THE Sarah Z. so just move along now…

Hank & Sally are in town
last update: 04/16 @ 22:03

And I got to paddle with Hank before we all met up for an excellent dinner at Rice Paper. It was fun to be on river with Hank again. And great to hear that retirement is treating them well. Dinner with Carolyn, Rita, Chita, Bob, Joy, Sally and Hank was grand.

And we all enjoyed stopping by the place they are staying in while they are in town (Joy has a very convenient condo).

Bonus: Rice Paper gets huge recommendations!!!

Too short a visit…
last update: 03/25 @ 11:07

Robert is back in Seattle after a very short visit. It was great to have him in the house. And great to hear how his first year at UW is going.

And it was fun to compare Capitals hockey to Kraken hockey: we got to see them crush the Blackhawks which was great for many reason.

But then, Robert got back on a plane and headed to Seattle yesterday and the house seems too quiet again.

Robert back in the house
last update: 03/19 @ 16:34

It’s great to have Robert back from Seattle for the week.

And great to see him sleeping through NASCAR as usual.

We did all watch F1 earlier in the day.

He’s really enjoying UW and Seattle so this may be a much less common experience.

Sarah and I are looking forward to more time in Seattle in the coming years.

Great Memories
last update: 02/12 @ 12:23

When we came back from Christmas in Decatur, Loren and Susan told us it was our turn to keep some of the Williams family treasures.

So we have Loren’s walking stick, which the brothers gave to him at his 80th birthday party.

And the Rivendell puzzle. A custom jigsaw puzzle made from a photo of the Rivendell bed and breakfast Loren and Sarah ran for several years.

The B&B was on a ridge over the Watuga river several miles outside of Boone. You had to want to go there, it was not a casual, drop in kind of place.

With Carolee visiting, we took that down from the shelf and had a lot of fun putting to together.

It’s not a large puzzle.

And does not have a lot of pieces.

But the pieces are carefully cut to make it hard to put together.

And most fun, the pieces are cut into shapes of things important to the family and location: a knife, fork and spoon; a wine glass; a deer; one piece spells out Rivendell.

It really was a fun way to spend the evening, reminiscing with Carolee and thinking about all our parents and others no longer with us.

Fun visit
last update: 02/12 @ 12:23

Carolee came up to DC for a conference and was able to come a couple days early and stay with us.

We had a lovely dinner Friday at our newest favorite local spot.

Saturday, we took advantage of the fantastic weather and headed to Great Falls (Virgina side).

Doug, who saw where we were, asked a good question: why “Olmsted Island?”

I’ll get some of what Carolee found out later wrong, but Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. was on the Park Improvement Commission for the District of Columbia.

So the island just downstream of the the main falls (to the right of these photos) is Olmsted Island to honor him.

Doug’s question, which Carolee posed to one of the rangers we met on our walk, caused him to go, “hmm… I’ve got some research to do.”

Which was fun, it’s often hard to stump a park service ranger.

It may have been mid-February, but it was a beautiful mid-February afternoon. And it was great to have someone to share that fun spot with, to learn a little more history and inspire a park ranger to learn a bit more about their park.

Expected visitor
last update: 01/22 @ 15:35

I went to the blog search on the left because I know he or she (or some kinfolk) have been here before. But this is as close as I recall the cooper’s hawk coming to the house — waiting patiently at the bird feeder :)

But maybe 14 years makes you more comfortable getting closer to the house and humans (I was sure he or she was looking at me as I tried to get closer for a better photo).

Baseball
last update: 11/26 @ 10:27

While the Xbox went to Seattle (in case there is time between studying to play), the Wii stayed here.

That gave Robert and friends something to do when they came by last night after watching the World Cup, playing pool and seeing Black Panther.

Robert was still jazzed after they left and challenged Sarah to a game. You’ll have to ask him how it turned out…

He’s Back!!!
last update: 11/23 @ 22:27

We picked up Robert at the airport (Dulles) last night!

He’s back with us and really wanted Mexican, so we had a late breakfast / early dinner (depends on time zone and age) at Los Tios to celebrate.

Now we’re really looking forward to Thanksgiving with the Hubbard clan.

But before that, we lit the first fire of the season.

It’s great having Robert home for that.

Now for a good night’s sleep before the big day…

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