Bill and Cathy McArthur Spring/Summer/Fall 2009: 10

    Monday, July 13, Bill went out for a very early 5K run with negative splits again. Around 9:00 AM, Katie, Tom, Rachel, and Eric left in two cars for Doylestown. The rest of us, except Cathy, went down to our beach. Bill took Sarah on a kayak ride and then Bill and Son Bill took Billy on a kayak ride. We hung on the beach until lunchtime. Son Bill and Stacey went to WaWa to get lunch. We ate on the deck. After lunch, Bill emptied the tanks on the RV and got it ready for storage. Cathy and Bill drove to our storage lot in Cape May Courthouse to drop the RV. They stopped at Starbucks on the way back. Cathy and Stacey went to the store while Bill got ready to go into Cape May. Cathy and Bill drove to Summer Station at a bit after 5:00 PM to join Bill's sister Joan and her friend Ralph at their cocktail hour. It seemed as though over 20 family member squeezed into their suite. We all walked and rode strollers to Cucina Rosa for a birthday dinner for the 10 year old Erin Stoops. Son Bill and Sarah joined the group there. We had a great party in the upstairs. The group in the other, smaller room, mostly enjoyed (or not) our party vicariously. After dinner and birthday cake, the crowd dispersed. Cathy, Bill, Joan, JoAnn, and Shannon walked over to the Stoops/Morabito rental for a tour. Then Bill, Cathy, and Joan walked to Joan's motel. Bill and Cathy finally got home after 10:00 PM.

    Tuesday was sunny and warm with a refreshing breeze. Bill awoke at 5:45 AM trying to remember where we got 40 lb. bags of ice last year (Joe Canal's). We got right to work preparing for the annual family reunion cookout. Bill cleaned the coolers and then went to the Lobster House Fish Market at a bit after 8:00 AM to pick up 10 lbs. of swordfish. He also picked up two huge coolers-full of ice for a total of $8.00. Son Bill had run to the gym for a workout and a run back. Cathy and Stacey took the two kids to ACME for some shopping. When Bill got home, he moved computer tables into position and setup his grilling area. He also put the big fans up on the deck to help with the heat and mosquitoes. When Son Bill got home, he and Bill moved the big coolers up to the deck. When the others got home, we loaded the coolers with drinks of all sorts. We all ate lunch at Harpoon Henry's on Son Bill and Stacey. After lunch, Bill went to LeGates for Jersey Tomatoes and to ACME to pick up our "Moderation is its Own Punishment" cake. About 5:00 PM, the family started rolling in. The day was perfect, the food was great, the company was outstanding, and the sunset was gorgeous. Phil helped out with the cooking of the burgers and dogs while Bill grilled the swordfish.

    Wednesday was another perfect day weather-wise. Bill got to work on the BIG cleanup early and was ready for a 5 mile run around 8:30 AM:

Son Bill joined Phil for a 50 mile bike ride. When both Bills had returned, we all went down to the beach. Bill took Sarah on a longer kayak ride and Bill and Son Bill took Billy on a kayak ride. There were lots of big jellyfish around. We had lunch on the deck. Stacey went to see the new "Harry Potter" movie. Bill went down to the Construction Office of Lower Township and got copies of two building permits, one for the foundation dated 7/13/1994 and one for the house dated 8/17/1994. The first permit should grandfather the house from the 7/19/1994 Cafra Act. Bill continued to put away furniture. Cathy went to the store. Son Bill, Stacey, and family went to Wildwood to enjoy rides on the boardwalk. Bill and Cathy joined a big family group at the Perry Street rental for a chili party. Bill sneaked out for a cappuccino at Buon Giorno when he was refreshing his parking payment. Bill helped Alex with a thoroughly melted down Bridget in escorting them to the Windsor Street rental. Son Bill went out for a night of poker. Bill and Cathy got home around 9:30 PM and went to bed soon thereafter.

    Thursday was another good weather day. Bill and Son Bill went to Starbucks and then to our friend Jim Sosna's house to help with an air conditioner. Cathy and Stacey and the kids went to the store. Bill and Son Bill started to brainstorm about an adventurous challenge for 2010. Some ideas:

  1. One Day Hike: 100K on the C&O Canal (http://www.onedayhike.org/) Around 3rd week in April 2010
  2. Long’s Peak: front range 14er (http://www.longspeak.com/) Middle of August 2010
  3. Longest Day – 208 mile bike ride from Highpoint to Cape May in New Jersey (http://www.linuxha.com/other/non-ha/bicycle/LongestDay.html) Middle of June 2010
  4. Cactus to Clouds Hike – Palm Springs, CA to top of Mt. San Jacinto at 11,000 feet (http://www.geocities.com/cactus2clouds/skyline.html) After the ice melts on top 2010
  5. Grand Teton Climb – package with guide and instruction (http://www.exumguides.com/?page_id=6&progId=8&subProgId=9&prodId=10) August 2010
  6. Adventure Race – lots to choose from (http://www.usara.com/calendar.aspx) sometime in 2010
  7. Tramping the Scottish Highlands – hiking and climbing some mountains (http://trips.outdoors.org/index.cfm/method/Major_Excursions.fullview/tripid/16972) Summer 2010
  8. Kilimanjaro - http://trips.outdoors.org/index.cfm/method/Major_Excursions.fullview/tripid/21036 August 2010

Cathy and Son Bill's family were going to be involved, but the women decided that it would be more fun not to go along. The two Bills will brainstorm for a while before settling in on a plan. We had lunch on the deck. After lunch, Bill went to Wildwood to meet with the Lawyer Lou Dwyer and the environmental consultant Pete Lomax about the possible subdivision of our property. After Bill got back, he paddled a good pace to the Canal and back. Son Bill went to see "Harry Potter." Later, we all drove to Cape May Point and all, except vertiginous Stacey, climbed the 199 steps to the top of the lighthouse. All of the climbers claimed that they didn't have to breath hard to make it up the stairs. From the car we called a sushi place and Panico's for takeout. We picked up the food and ate on the deck when we returned home. Son Bill and Stacey packed their car after dinner. The two Bills rearranged the furniture in the living room. Everyone went to bed fairly early. Bill had been wearing his Earth Shoe sandals all day to help his sore left foot and he wore both of his night splints overnight.

    Friday was the last full day of the family reunion. Son Bill and family awoke at 5:00 AM and got on the road at 6:00 AM, facing a 15.5 hour drive back home to Georgia. Cathy and Bill straightened up the house a bit and then drove in to Cape May for a group breakfast in the Mad Batter at 8:00 AM. Our big group sat at a very long table and enjoyed good food and conversation. Afterward, Bill took a 5K run on the promenade. Then he joined the rest of the group on the beach. The waves were good, so Bill did some body surfing. Cathy and Bill joined JoAnn and Shannon at Gecko's for lunch. Bill and Shannon both had the Quinoa salad while Cathy and JoAnn split a Three Sisters Quesadilla. Bill and Cathy did some shopping and cappuccino drinking on the Mall before returning to the Windsor Street rental house. Bill and Bridget showed off their headstands in the TV room. Bill and Cathy headed home and did some more straightening up. They were back in Cape May to join a group for dinner at Stumpo's on the Mall. Everyone loved the Italian food there. Afterward, Bill got his third cappuccino of the day (first one was at the Mad Batter) and the kids got Gelato and soft serve ice cream. After saying goodbyes, Bill and Cathy returned home by 9:30 PM. We heard from Bill and Stacey as they approached their home in Georgia.

    Saturday morning, Cathy went to the gym. Bill washed windows and some other clean-up activities. It was windy on the Bay as the day began, but the wind diminished later. After lunch, Bill did a hard 10.5 mile paddle to Cape May Point and saw lots of dolphins. Cathy spent the afternoon finishing the house cleaning. We had grilled veggies for dinner. The sunset was beautiful.

    Sunday, Bill got up shortly after 5:00 AM and got ready for the Run From the Sun 5K race in Avalon. Bill made a stop at Avalon Coffee on the way since Starbucks was closed until 7:00 AM on Sundays. It was a beautiful day for a run and Bill did his best time of the summer so far:

We had lunch on the deck. After lunch, Bill went out on a 4.5 mile fishing paddle to try out his new fishfinder. The electronics worked well, but Bill found out that he needs to use his GPS to route to a general area and then use the fishfinder for dropoffs and bottom structure. We had grilled burgers for dinner and watched the DVRed Tour de France coverage.

        Bill and Cathy