Where the Heck Have I Been?

Hi Everyone...

It's been brought to my attention that certain folks (not to mention names but specifically Paul Walker from GCI) feel that I have been ignoring the blog. I logged on today and was horrified to see that I have made no posts for more than 3 weeks! So, I suppose I am guilty as charged.

I feel I owe my loyal blog readers, if there are any left, some type of explanation. So here goes:

Excuse #1: Interrupted travel plans. I was planning a post in mid-October on my trip to Portland and Seattle. Unfortunately, this journey had to be called off at the last minute due to, how do I put this nicely - booting. It seems that 24 hours before the flight, I was struck with some dreaded stomach bug. I think I got it from a porta potty on the Riverside golf course, but will provide no further details. I have rescheduled my trip to the west coast for December.

Excuse #2: The Great American Novel. I'm about 2/3 of the way through my book. I know you'll ask what it's about, and it is NOT about my family so all you blood relatives can stop worrying. I'm creating a fictitious company caught up in the internet bubble. I've hired an editor on my own dime and have been attending the St. David's Writers' group. If you're a literary agent and you want to take a look, you can email me at gretchen2dot0@austin.rr.com. Expected completion is January 1, 2008.

Excuse #3: Golf. I have continued to practice and play golf and I'm happy to report I am marginally better. Only marginally though. A throw down match with Figueroa and Bowins is scheduled for this Thursday, November 1 if Bowins does not wuss out. Maybe I will post the results on the blog.

Excuse #4: Football. For those of you not following the SEC greats of our time, tonight is the showdown at Neyland Stadium between the Tennessee Volunteers (Go Vols!) and the South Carolina Gamecocks. I am in Knoxville for the aforementioned match and will be there to root on the team.

Excuse #5: More travel! The trip to Fiji, Australia and New Zealand has been set for February/March 2008. Travel companions include Sharon and Andrea and (we hope) Corey and Mike. On deck in the near future are Vegas, Pawleys Island, and Portland/San Franscisco.

In short, these are all lame excuses and I know that. I will redouble my efforts to post and get back to this soon. Look for a post on Hiking in the Smokies: Redux very soon. This post will also contain my analysis of the football game in question, now less than four hours away.

New England: Four States in Six Days

A great thing about my time off is that it's allowing me to catch up with old friends and relatives. Last week, I made a trip to New England where I got to see Jean Hancock, my uncle Loye, and the whole Hawkins-Kelly family. Here are some of the highlights.

Jean is one of our oldest family friends. When I was little, she would pick me and my sister up from school when my mom was working and take us for ice cream and fast food. I haven't seen Jean since 1999! Today, she lives in the lovely town of Chester, Vermont with her partner Jane.

I had a great time catching up with them and getting to know Chester. According to the Chester Chamber of Commerce, "Chester is a quaint New England town with a population of 3,044, centrally located and in close proximity to several ski areas including Okemo, Mount Snow, and Killington." I also got to go to the launch party of the new Chster "Alternative" 2008 calendar. To see more on this, you can visit http://www.chestercalendar.com/.

The next stop was West Lebanon, New Hampshire to visit my uncle, Loye Miller. Loye is calss of 1951 from Dartmouth College, and he missed it so much he decided to move there. I haven't seen Loye since 2003! He's got a fantastic house located right near the town of Dartmouth. Loye also gives a great tour of the White Mountains, here are a few scenes from our day sightseeing. I didn't count how many times we went back and forth between Vermont and New Hampshire, but it was a lot!



The last stop was in Exeter New Hampshire, where I visited my friend Sheila Kelly and her family. I haven't seen Sheila since 1999! Claire (now 9) was less than two then, and John (7) was not born. Nat is now teaching at Phillips Exeter Academy. They used to live in Concord, where they both worked at St. Paul's School. All schools in New Hampshire are beautiful, so they have nice digs.






We went to three beaches - Hampton, New Hampshire, Plum Island, Mass., and Ogonquit, Maine. We also visited the headquarters of Stonewall Kitchens which was YUMMY! Sheila is going to work there, they just don't know it yet.