Bill and Cathy McArthur Spring/Summer/Fall 2009: 1
This is our first report of the time period between our winter trip (see http://www.capemaybeach.net/OnRoad2009/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.
Tuesday, May 5 , we had just returned in our XTerra from our winter headquarters in Naples, Florida by way of a visit with Son Bill and family in Cumming, GA. We arrived at about 2:30 PM to a cloudy day with temperature in the high 50s. Bill unpacked the car while Cathy collected our mail from Jim and Fran Lewis, our neighbors across the street. Bill decided to make a run to Ace Hardware for some items and was just getting in the car when our friend Jim Sosna drove in the driveway. Jim had been doing some work at our neighbors the Birsh's and saw our car come in the driveway. Bill and Jim unloaded the kayak from the roof rack. After a chat with Jim, Bill drove to Ace Hardware to pick up a few items. When he got back, he set 4 mouse traps in the house to see if any rodents had infested the place. He also dumped 2 sacks of salt in the conditioner. Bill next set to work setting up our DVD player, receiver, and TV. He got everything working just in time to take a shower before dinner. We enjoyed a good pasta meal while we viewed "Collateral Damage" for the nth time. We headed to bed at around 10:30 PM.
Wednesday was another off and on rainy day. Bill used 3 bottles of "Roundup" on the driveway weeds. We went out for a walk/run where Bill ran for 5K and Cathy walked for 6 miles. During lunch, the cable guy showed up to bring us a HD DVR, a cable modem, and another HD box for upstairs. He got hung up on configuring the cable modem and spent an hour talking to his tech support. Meanwhile, he didn't completely set up the DVR. Bill finally called Comcast at 5:30 PM and got them to configure our box correctly for all of our channels. Bill applied the 30 second skip ahead to the remote. We viewed the DVD "Doubt" during and after dinner. We loved the movie and were very impressed with the acting. Bill DVRed "Lost" and we watched it with our 30 second skip ahead. We headed to bed with thunder rumbling throughout the night.
Thursday was yet another day of unsettled weather. Bill went out early to Ace Hardware to pick up a few items. When he returned, Cathy went to the gym for a couple of aerobics classes. Bill replaced light bulbs and then went out for a 6 mile walk to the canal, returning on the beach. Cathy returned in time for lunch. Steve Tecco from Armada Motel called and arranged for Bill to go over on Friday morning. We waited for the afternoon rain to end and went out to Lowes (by way of Starbucks) to buy flowers for our containers. We brought them home and planted all of the containers. Bill did a touch up with Roundup on the driveway weeds. We went to Panico's for dinner and enjoyed being back in Cape May. Later, we viewed "Body of Lies", which we both enjoyed.
Friday stayed dry for a change. Cathy dropped Bill at the Armada Motel to work on program installation on a new laptop. Things went slowly as Bill fought with Vista to network the two computers and make the data directory on the laptop visible on the desktop. Bill talked with Armada's network person Nancy and she came over. Bill and Nancy managed to link the computers together. Then Bill installed Office 2000 and his program. Office 2000 needed to have 3 service packs downloaded. The usual technique to supply the Windows Address Book failed. Bill checked and found that the laptop had 64 bit Vista on it. He checked on the Internet and found bad news: Outlook 2000 won't run! Bill talked with Steve's son-in-law Bill and told him the situation. Bill called Cathy for a pickup. Then, Bill talked with Steve. Everything was functioning except for sending emails through Outlook 2000. Bill spent about 8 hours on the task. Cathy and Bill went to Starbucks and then to the Lobster House to buy a pound of haddock for dinner. When we got home, we worked on trimming and clearing vegetation until dinner time. During dinner, we viewed "The Daily Show" on DVR. Later, we watched "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." We both thought that the movie was way too long. Bill also felt that it was a chick flick.
Saturday was a beautiful day to enjoy being back home. Cathy went to the gym while Bill scrambled to find information about his airport shuttle for Monday evening. Finally, bill headed out on a walk/run where he ran for 5K and walked for 4 miles, 3 of those miles on the beach on the way back home. After lunch, Bill headed out to paddle down to the concrete ship. He was out for 2 hours and 40 minutes and covered 9.5 miles. He saw dolphins down at the concrete ship. Also, he talked with 3 other kayakers, including John Henderson from Cape May Point who is interested in a Bay crossing. Bill took his first outdoor shower of the season when he got back. We went to Moonfish Grill, now owned and operated by Tisha's. A couple of thunderstorms came through while we were in the restaurant. The dinner was typical of Tisha's offerings - very good. We stopped at the ACME on the way back for a few items. When we got home, we viewed "The Jane Austen Book Club", a very interesting chick flick. The wind was howling as we headed to bed.
Sunday was Mothers Day and it was very windy. We left at 8:00 AM, gassed at Wawa, and drove to Glen Mills, PA. We stopped at Border's to buy a book and a New Yorker for Bill's trip to Florida. We arrived at the Stoops' house before lunchtime and enjoyed talking with Alex and Phil and seeing how the kids had grown since the Christmas holidays. Katie, Tom, Rachel, and Eric arrived and suddenly there were 5 kids in the house. Alex provided a sumptuous lunch, followed by the main event, Garret's birthday celebration. The kids went outside for some T-ball and softball play. Garrett joined in by playing catch with Bill. We left a bit before 3:00 PM and headed back to the Shore. We arrived around 5:00 PM. Soon thereafter, Bill checked-in for his Monday flight to Florida. We had a delicious tortellini dinner, during which we viewed the DVRed Bill Maher show.
Bill and Cathy