Bill and Cathy McArthur Spring/Summer/Fall 2006: 1

   This is our first report of the time period between our winter trip (see http://www.capemaybeach.net/OnRoad2006/index.php) and the holiday season commencing with Thanksgiving. We are based in our home in Cape May Beach during these months of the year and, for the most part, don't want to be anywhere else, except for our scheduled cruise starting on April 14. When we arrived home from a month's swing through the South, we were welcomed by a strong West wind and the evidence that a mouse had been cavorting through the house while we were away. We set some traps and then went about the business of cleaning out the RV and winterizing it in case of a late freeze. On Monday night, April 3, we watched Florida beat UCLA for the national championship. Bill had picked UCLA but was impressed by Florida's awesome performance. When we awoke on Tuesday morning, we discovered that one of the traps that we had set had disappeared! Of all of the things that could have happened to the traps that we set, this was the most disturbing. We had set the trap in the kitchen and finally found it under one of our couches. The trap had been triggered, but we couldn't see any blood or any other mouse "pieces" to give a clue as to what happened. We reset the trap and hoped for the best. It took two days, but we trapped two mice. During the week, we took the RV to get serviced in Vineland. We suffered through cold, wind, and some rain as the week went on. The best part of the week were our dinners out at Karen and Rei's and Louisa's. Bill used his machete on our dune foliage on Sunday, April 9, and then managed to cut himself on a thumb when washing down the blade. Our son-in-law Phil sent us our new Motorola Razor V3 phones in anticipation of us moving to Cingular in May. Bill spent a lot of time on the Internet getting software tools and files to customize and enhance the phones. We made a reservation for valet parking at the Philadelphia airport for our cruise. On Tuesday night, April 11, we ate at the Grand Reopening of the Lobster House in Cape May. The temperature and doneness of our vegetables indicated that the kitchen staff was out of practice. The rest of our food was well prepared and very good. On Wednesday, Cathy went to morning and evening aerobics; Bill walked for 9 miles in the morning. We spent most of the afternoon packing, but took some time out to watch a Pilot Whale which was feeding about 100 yards in front of the house. In the 11 years that we've lived here, this is only the second whale that we've seen from our deck. On Thursday, after lunch, we loaded the XTerra with our luggage and drove to Glen Mills to spend the night at Alex and Phil's house. Erin was spending the week at her other grandparents home, so we didn't get a chance to see her. We were set to awake on Friday at 4:30 AM and head for the valet parking at the Philadelphia Airport.

        Bill and Cathy