Bill and Cathy McArthur Spring/Summer/Fall 2007: 6

Monday, July 23, started as a rainy day and ended as a windy day. Bill went over to Imperial 500 to coerce Microsoft Vista into allowing his application program to run correctly. Later on Bill worked on reviving the old Shore-Art.com as TrombinoShoreArt.com. We thought that we had a couple of problems with the RV: a hairline crack in the ceramic toilet and a crack in the small over-cab window. It turned out that both were marks left over from assembly. A crane was assembled on the lot next door, suggesting that pilings were soon to be pounded into the ground. Our neighbor Tom figured that about 180 pilings would be driven. He suggested that we photograph any existing cracks in the walls and ceilings in case the damage is exacerbated by the heavy pounding. We went out for a wonderful meal at the Black Duck to top off the day. Tuesday was a beautiful day. Bill left at 8:00 AM on his bike for Cape May Point, where he walked for 3 miles and ran for 3 miles. The low tide produced the best sand on the Cove beach that Bill has experienced in quite a while. After lunch, Bill finished the revision of the TrombinoShoreArt.com website. Later in the afternoon, Bill rode his bike to WaWa for hoagies since Cathy was working at the bookstore until after 9:00 PM. On Wednesday, July 26, Bill launched from the beach at 8:10 AM and paddled down to Joe Link's beach to meet with Joe and then to circumnavigate Cape Island in the reverse of the usual direction. It's an unusual feature of our course that allows paddlers to go either direction around the island using the same tide timing. Both paddlers felt that the ocean leg on this "backwards" trip was harder than the other direction. They saw lots of dolphins out in the ocean. The circuit took Bill about 5 hours to do the 22 miles. When Bill got back, the pile-driving (sorry about the sideways video, but the audio is what's important) next door was intense. From the geometry of the driven pilings, the house that will be constructed will be truly gigantic. Bill chilled out for the rest of the afternoon while Cathy went off to work at the bookstore. On Thursday, we went to the dermatologist during late morning. Alex and the kids arrived in early afternoon. We showed the girls the RV while Bill worked on winterizing it. After dinner, we drove down to the ferry terminal and walked on their little boardwalk until a ferry came in. We stopped for ice cream (Bill didn't have any) on the way back. On Friday, Bill went out early for a 5 mile run in preparation for the Coombs/Douglass run about a week later. Later on in the morning, he paddled 10 miles to the concrete ship and back. Meanwhile, Phil had arrived for the weekend. Alex and Phil went our to dinner to celebrate Phil's birthday at Tisha's while Cathy and Bill babysat. On Saturday, July 28, Bill rode his bike to Cape May Point and walked down to the Cove to meet Phil and the girls. He discovered that one of his sandals had fallen off of his fanny pack somewhere on the walk. Bill hadn't intended to run, but did run back to the State Park office to check on the sandals. No one had seen the sandals, so Bill ran back to join the group on the beach, which now included Cathy, Alex, and Garrett. Bill spent some time in the water riding waves. Later on, he joined Alex, Cathy, and Garrett for sandal shopping on the Washington Mall. He ended up with a pair of $40 Sperry Topsiders. Our group went to lunch at Gecko's and enjoyed the good food. Bill finally rode his bike home, arriving around 3:30 PM. Cathy had to work, so the rest of us went over to Italian Affair to order take-out and visited Cathy's bookstore while we waited. Everybody but Cathy ate on our deck and enjoyed a lovely evening. On Sunday morning, Bill decided to walk into Cape May wearing his new hiking boots. It was very humid, so Bill sweated a lot, but drank 2 bottles of water to replenish fluids. Bill met Phil and the girls right near the Broadway Street beach and helped carry stuff down to the water's edge. Bill spent some more time riding the waves. Cathy was working, but we met Alex and Garrett at Louie's Pizza for lunch. Bill went off with Alex and Garrett to help watch the baby while Alex shopped. When done with that, Bill went back to the beach. The sky was threatening and the thunder was rumbling, so Bill packed up and carried most of the beach stuff to the car. Phil and the girls had been at an arcade and were happy to be able to just grab the chairs on the beach and bring them to the car. By the time we got home, the rain started. We grilled pork chops (using Katie and Tom's great marinade, which they left in the RV by mistake) and veggie burgers for Bill. Phil left early on Monday morning. The thunder was rumbling just north of us as dawn broke. Cathy and Bill drove into Cape May for a dentist appointment (no cavities!) and met with Alex and the kids in front of Convention Hall. Bill walked on the beach and the rest went to a magic show. Just after Bill left the beach, the beaches were closed because of proximate lightening. We all headed home for lunch in the heavy rain. After lunch, the rain let up and we went into Cape May to the Physik Estate for a walking tour/treasure hunt. We walked around for a while and then headed home with a stop at the Lobster House for swordfish which we had for dinner. We had an awesome sunset to end a mostly cloudy and dreary day. On Monday, July 30, we helped Alex to pack the minivan. She and the kids left around 10:00 AM. We spent the remainder of the morning cleaning up. After lunch, Cathy headed to the bookstore for an 8 hour shift. Bill headed out on a 12 mile kayak paddle in the heat of the day. He really felt the heat and was pretty tired after returning. He still had to ride his bike to get hoagies at WaWa, but recuperated somewhat with a shower first. Cathy didn't get home until after 10:00 PM. On Wednesday morning, Bill went out for a 3 mile run and 3 mile walk while Cathy went to the gym. After lunch we took the new RV to the storage lot in Cape May Court House. Later, Bill went for a 7 mile paddle down to the Canal buoy #8. He saw a Leatherback Turtle with about a 6' long shell. We enjoyed a great dinner at Copper Fish. On Thursday morning, Bill took a 10.5 mile walk in his hiking boots and met Cathy on the way back. It was another hot August day, but Bill experimented with the hydration scheme of a pint of water for each hour of hiking. It seemed to work very well. On Friday, Bill chilled out all day to rest his body for Saturday's events. He worked on the computer most of the day while Cathy worked at the bookstore. On Saturday morning, Bill ran the Coombs/Douglass Bay Run. It was a hot, humid 5 miles. Bill ran slowly, but was happy to finish standing up and with a smile on his face. Bill also walked to and from the event, racking up around 3.5 miles of walking. After lunch, Bill roped 4 kayaks together for the trip down Bay to Springtime Beach. Cathy helped launch the kayak "train". Bill's Anchor Bend knots held for the trip and Cathy helped land the kayaks at the destination beach. Lauren Finlay, our friend and Cathy's former boss at Atlantic Books, was heading off to the Big Island for a semester and was being feted at the Finlay residence on Springtime Road. The kayaks were for the enjoyment of the guests that ventured to the beach. Bill hung out on the beach until 7:00 PM, helping with the kayak activity. Around 6:00 PM, when all of the others were eating dinner at the house, Bill helped to judge a Bocce game until he had to paddle the kayaks back up Bay. By the time Bill had dragged all of the kayaks back under our house and showered, he was only fit for lying on the couch and watching T.V. On Sunday, Bill chilled out to recover from Saturday while Cathy worked at the bookstore. Monday, August 6, was our 41st Anniversary. It rained most of the morning, so Bill did some computer work and Cathy went to the gym. After lunch, we did a short walk together and then Bill ran for 3 miles and walked back home. We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing in the air-conditioning; it was very hot and humid outside. We had a nice anniversary dinner at Tisha's. We sat at an outside table in the balmy evening air. We each had a dessert in an unusual gesture for the special night. On Tuesday, we walked 6 miles in the heat. Bill followed up with 3 miles more. After lunch, Cathy headed to work at the bookstore. Bill worked on the computer during the afternoon and then walked another 3 miles at 6:00 PM. Then he rode his bike to WaWa for hoagies. Bill totalled 12 miles for the day, all in his new hiking boots. On Wednesday morning, Cathy went to the gym; Bill ran for 3 miles and walked for 4 miles. It was very hot and humid. We ate lunch on the deck where the air was barely breathable. Tom from Done Right Roofing came over and gave us an estimate on some sealing work around the upstairs windows facing the Bay and around the chimney. We accepted the estimate, so Tom will do the work on Thursday. Bill worked on packing for his weekend trip.

On Thursday, August 9, Bill left Cape May on an express bus to Philadelphia for a mini-adventure with Katie, Tom, and Rachel. The bus departed at 7:55 AM from the Cape May Transportation Center and acted as a local bus until it had left North Wildwood via the bridge. To pass the time, Bill worked on a couple of NY Times crossword puzzles from the book that Son Bill and Stacey had presented the past Christmas. The bus arrived at the Greyhound Bus Station at 11th and Filbert at around 10:30 AM. The next step was to take an R5 Regional Septa Train from Market Street East, across the street from the Bus Terminal. Bill had to wait around 40 minutes for the train. It was interesting to observe the Philadelphia neighborhoods and suburbs as the train headed north. After almost an hour and a half, the train arrived at the New Britain station. Bill put his heavy backpack on and walked around a half mile to Kate and Tom's house. Bill arrived around 1:00 PM for a total of about 5 hours and a total fare of $9.25 due to generous senior discounts. Bill did a bit of shopping and watched a movie on TV to fill-in the time until leaving to pick up Rachel at daycare. Rachel was happy to see Bill, but not so happy about leaving daycare with him. Luckily, when they got into the car, Bill was able to interest Rachel in one of the pop-up books that Cathy had purchased for her. Bill and Rachel drove to Merck in Landsdale to meet Katie and Tom. All four headed west on the turnpike and then south on I81 with a destination of Roanoke, VA. Unfortunately, Tom had to drive through hours of heavy thunderstorms. They stopped for dinner at the Subway in Chambersburg, PA. Katie took over the wheel after the rain had stopped and guided us to Tom's sister Jenn's house in Roanoke, where they arrived around 1:00 AM. It took a short time to settle in and soon they were resting for the night. They got a bit of a late start on Friday morning, but the four travelers managed to reach the trailhead for McAfee's Knob around 10:20 AM, after shopping at Krogers and breakfast from Starbucks. Katie and Tom shared the 30 something pound load of Rachel on their backs for the 7 mile round trip. The temperature reached 100 degrees and it felt like it. Rachel enjoyed her ride in the backpack and helped find the white blazes on trees that mark the trail. The hikers were carrying lots of water, but still got pretty dehydrated during the hike. It took them the rest of the day and evening to re-hydrate. After showers, the hikers and Jenn ate good italian food at Frank's in Roanoke. After dinner, the five of them drove to Covington to visit the recuperating grandfather of Tom and Jenn and Tom's parents and grandmother. Bedtime back at Jenn's house was around 11:00 PM. On Saturday morning, Bill, Katie, and Tom awoke at 6:00 AM and got their gear together for another day of hiking. They ate breakfast at the Daily Grind coffee shop and were at the Dragon's Tooth trailhead at 8:20 AM. The hikers did a better job of hydrating before the hike and were carrying more water this day. Bill was carrying 1.5 gallons of water and a quart of electrolyte (similar to Gatorade). Tom and Katie carried nearly 3 gallons of water and electrolyte between them. They tailgated for lunch after the first hike and then moved on the repeat the McAfee's Knob hike again. When the day's activites were complete, they had hiked for 12 miles and 8 hours. Although the fluid situation was better, they all enjoyed a stop at a convenience store for more to drink. Jenn and Tom' s parents spent the day with Rachel. Later on, Tom's parents headed home and the rest of them ate Thai take-out. Bedtime was somewhat earlier on Saturday night. Sunday was another early morning and the travelers were on the road at 9:08 AM after breakfast at Panera Bread. The day was beautiful for a long drive. Rachel and Bill sat in the back seat and enjoyed talking and playing with Rachel's shoes. They stopped for lunch at Subway in Chambersburg. Rachel and the rest were all well-behaved for the whole trip back to Merck in Lansdale, PA. Bill moved his gear to Katie's Grand Am around 4:30 PM. Bill stopped at a nearby Weiss market for some Gatorade and then drove to Cape May Beach, arriving around 7:00 PM. Katie and Tom really know how to use their time efficiently.

Bill and Cathy enjoyed dinner together at home on Sunday night and their HBO shows: Big Love, John from Cincinatti, and Entourage. On Monday morning, Bill discovered that his laptop was terminally ill (no pun intended). He wrestled with trying to move some key files and his email over to Cathy's computer. During late morning, we drove to Cape May Point and walked into Cape May to eat lunch at McGlade's Restaurant. On the way back home, we stopped at the Lobster House to buy some Salmon and cooked shrimp for dinner. Jim Sosna and Linda Keech came over for dinner. After dinner, we sat out in the dark on a breezy and bug-free deck and looked at the lights on the Bay, the stars, and the meteors. We ate dessert in the dark, which cuts calories, as is well known. On Tuesday morning, Bill continued to work on moving files and also ordered a new laptop from Best Buy. We walked 6 miles to the canal and back. It was warm and breezy with bright sun and low humidity during the walk. On Wednesday morning, Cathy went to the gym. Bill rode his bike to Cape May Point for a 3 mile walk and a 3 mile run. It was high tide, so the walking and running on the beach were tough. After lunch, Cathy went to work. Bill drove to Best Buy and picked up his computer. He also bought a couple of 2 gig flash drives with our anniversary gift card from Katie and Tom. Bill stopped for hoagies on the way home and then started the long process of setting up the new laptop with all of the necessary programs and data. On Thursday morning, Cathy headed for the gym while Bill walked for 12 miles in his hiking boots. As Bill was nearing the 10 mile mark, he heard thunder across the Bay, so he started to speed-walk. Meanwhile, Cathy had passed Bill earlier on her way back from the gym. When the thunder got louder, Bill walked faster and Cathy headed out in the XTerra for a rescue mission. In a weird coincidence, Bill walked on the inside of a water truck parked way out into Bay Drive at the same moment that Cathy drove by, therefore missing Bill. Bill got home just as a fierce thunderstorm erupted. Cathy drove all the way to the canal and back in the cloudburst and arrived home a bit wet and ticked off. After lunch, Cathy went to work at the bookstore and Bill worked on readying his kayak for a possible Saturday Bay crossing. Later, Bill continued to work on the new laptop. On Friday morning, we brought the XTerra to QuickLube for a front brake job. Afterward, Bill finished readying the kayak. After lunch, Cathy headed to the bookstore. Joe Link came over in his truck and Bill helped to load his kayak on it. Bill spent much of the rest of the afternoon studying weather and marine forecasts, trying to figure out if he could cross the Bay on Saturday. By 9:00 PM, after a load of emails between Bill and Joe and a phone call to Bruce Jenkins, the 3 kayakers decided that they should cancel the crossing for Saturday. On Sunday morning, the Bay was boiling and Bill was happy that he didn't try to paddle in the slop. Bill went out for a 3 mile run. Cathy went to the ferry terminal to pick up Don and Bern Ernakovich while Bill unloaded his kayak from Joe's truck. The McArthurs and Ernakovichs went to Ocean City for some walking on the boardwalk and lunch at Mac and Mancos - good pizza. We took the Ocean Drive back home with a stop in Cape May Court House to show Don and Bern the RV. We all enjoyed sitting out on the deck in a reduced breeze until it was time for Don and Bern to catch the 6:00 PM ferry. Cathy and Bill went to the Pier House in Cape May for dinner, where they enjoyed a very good meal and great service. On Sunday morning, August 19, we left at 7:00 AM, heading for Glen Mills and Garrett's christening. We arrived two hours later around the same time as friends Amy and Pete and Katie, Tom, and Rachel. We all drove to the church at around 9:30 AM. Bill took up position in the balcony so that he could effectively man Phil's video camera. Bridget joined Bill for part of the ceremony. The whole church service revolved around the baptism. Afterward, we went back to the Stoops' residence for some serious eating and celebrating. Bill, Katie, Tom, and Rachel managed to slip out for a quick caffeine run to Starbucks. We left during mid-afternoon and drove to Katie and Toms' house in Doylestown. We ordered out from the favored restaurant, Roman Delight. After dinner, Katie joined us for the ride to Erdenheim and Kay Keeley's viewing. Our long-time friend, who is Sue Beatty's mother, died at age 93 after a very full and fullfilling life. Bill had known her since he was 16 and Cathy had known her as a surrogate mother since she was 8. On Monday morning, Bill drove to Peace Valley at 6:00 AM for a 4 mile run and 2 mile walk. Katie had gone to the YMCA for an early workout. Meanwhile, Cathy and Rachel enjoyed each other's company. Bill, Cathy, and Katie dropped Rachel at daycare and went to Starbucks for breakfast. Then they attended the beautiful funeral mass for Kay. Afterward, Katie went off to work. Bill and Cathy went back to Starbucks for a light lunch and then drove to West Chester for Kay's interment. We arrived back home around 4:30 PM. On Tuesday, it rained all day. Bill dropped Cathy at work and returned at 6:00 PM in order to put drops in Cathy's eyes in preparation for cataract removal the next day. On Wednesday morning, Cathy had a cataract removed from her left eye. The weather continued cloudy and misty. Cathy rested during the afternoon and evening while Bill took a 12 mile training walk. Early on Thursday morning, Cathy had an eye doctor appointment. The doctor was happy with the progress of her left eye after the surgery. On Thursday late morning, Bill paddled to the canal with some wind and waves to make it a good workout. When he returned, Danawa Buchanan and her friend Richard were there with their kayaks to launch for a paddle to Sunset Beach. Bill had met Danawa on Tuesday afternoon when she came by to ask about using our property as a stopover for a kayak trip from Trenton in August 2008. Danawa and Richard are activists for the Delaware River and for preservation of Native American sites. They left a car in our driveway. After lunch, Cathy went to work. Bill did some computer work and then walked for 12 miles in the late afternoon and evening He needed some electrolyte and goo after 6 miles . Bill saw the sun set as he returned along the Bay. Danawa's car stayed in our driveway overnight. When Bill went out to get the paper on Friday morning, Danawa's car was still there, but her kayak was now on top. Later in the morning, the car left without us hearing it. Bill chilled out all day. Cathy did her usual shift at the bookstore. Bill arose at 4:30 AM on Saturday morning, August 15. He went out on the deck and noted that the wind felt light, the waves sounded small, and stars were visible. All of these were clues that it would be a good day for a Bay Crossing. Bill left the beach at 6:30 AM and was back home by 3:00 PM. Click here for a complete report of the adventure. Cathy worked at the bookstore and Bill rested. On Sunday, Bill slept-in and chilled out. He did most of the Sunday Times crossword puzzle. We grilled burgers for dinner after Cathy got home from work at the bookstore. On Monday, Bill walked 6 miles in the morning and we both walked 6 miles in the afternoon. In between, we went to Cape Radiology for a mammogram for Cathy and a blood test for Bill. We enjoyed our last dinner out for the summer on the porch of Union Park in Cape May. Tuesday was a beautiful day. Bill hosed off windows and furniture on the deck while Cathy went out shopping. After lunch, Cathy went to work. Bill paddled about 12 miles down to the 3rd jetty at Cape May Point and back. There was a pesky NE wind that made the trip more interesting. After a shower, Bill rode his bike to WaWa for hoagies.

        Bill and Cathy