September 2015 

We were able to attend a couple of Indy Car races this summer.  We enjoyed the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio, won by Graham Rahal.  It was good to see our racing friends and great to see Graham win at his “home town” track.  The weather was warm and sunny, making for a great race. Here are a few pictures from the race.

Three weeks later we traveled to Long Pond, PA for the ABC Supply 500.  We camped in the infield, enjoyed perfect weather and a great race won by Ryan Hunter-Reay.  Tragically, Justin Wilson lost his life near the end of the race.  We’d met Justin in the past and our hearts go out to his family and the Indy Car community.

Between races, we spent a weekend at the Dayton KOA while attending Bob’s 50^th high school class reunion.  He had a great time seeing old friends and we both enjoyed the Saturday evening event.  Kudos to the reunion committee of Butler High School Class of 1965!

After the Pocono race, we decided to visit the National September 11 Memorial and Museum.  We camped at Panther Lake Campground just outside Andover, NJ, a very nice family-oriented campground with a great staff.  We took the train from nearby Dover to the museum on a pretty, sunny day.  The memorial and museum are very well done and we’d highly recommend a visit if you have the opportunity. 

Kathy enjoyed a day at the Indiana State Fair with former co-workers and long-time friends, JoAnn and Gaye.  The following day we enjoyed the fair with Eric, Kristin and Nora; truly a different experience seen through the eyes of a toddler.  Both days were enjoyable as we saw animals, rode the tram, and ate our way through the fair!

Kathy also spent a day with JoAnn and Gaye in Cambridge City, IN.  They enjoyed the murals, the antique shops and having lunch at the No. 9 Grill.  Afterwards they visited the nearby Warm Glow Candle store.

We spent a fun fall day with Eric, Kristin and Nora at Tuttle Orchard, where we picked apples and watched Nora play in the Kids Farm play area.  Afterwards we enjoyed lunch at The Mug, Greenfield’s newest drive-in.  They are known for their farm-to-curb concept which means there's a very short drive from the farm where they source their meat to The Mug.  The food was yummy and we enjoyed being able to dine outside.

August 2015

While in New Orleans this beautiful cardinal and its mate were our neighbors at Bayou Segnette State Park.  Unfortunately it was so rainy all week we weren’t able to enjoy the beautiful park, but we did spend a day at the National WW II Museum in New Orleans.  It is a fabulous, multi-building museum which was a great way to spend a very rainy day.  We started with a 4-D movie narrated by Tom Hanks, “Beyond All Boundaries” which in itself was worth the price of admission.  Afterward we had lunch in The American Sector Café, a nice casual place to eat inside the museum.  The exhibits were very well done, and we were especially interested in displays of areas where both our dads served during the war.

We spent another day in the French Quarter, where we managed to avoid rain most of the day.  We walked to the French Market, the oldest market in the United States, and enjoyed lunch at the Market Café.  Kathy had half a muffaletta (which was huge!) and Bob had a hamburger…both were delicious and we enjoyed free music by the Jazz Cats during lunch.  Afterward we walked through the market and bought a few Christmas gifts.  We walked a short distance along the river walk, and then walked through Jackson Square.  We finished our day with biegnets at Cafe du Monde which were delicious...thanks Kristin for the recommendation. While in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Bob developed some health problems, so we came straight back to Greenfield rather than visiting Mike and family in Tennessee.  Eric, Kristin and Nora were ale to spend time with us while Bob recuperated which was great fun. 

Unfortunately Bob was unable to attend the Indianapolis 500 this year, his first miss since 1982.  Kathy went with long-time friends Steve & Jan while Bob watched from home.  We had new (and better) seats for the race, right at the start finish line with great views of most of the action.  It was a fun race won by Juan Pablo Montoya. 

We were able to spend a morning touring the Carpenter Fisher Hartman (CFH Racing) garage in Speedway and have lunch with our buddy Joe at Barbeque & Bourbon, a nice little pub across the street from the garage.  While at the garage we were able to see some of our friends from the team as well as talk to driver Luca Filippi.  A great way to spend the day.

The highlight of our summer has been the marriage of our son Eric and the love of his life, Kristin.  Kathy’s sister and niece hosted a very nice family shower, then we hosted the rehearsal dinner at Eric & Kristin’s home in Indianapolis.  The wedding was a beautiful ceremony at the Eiteljorg Museum, filled with love and fun. 

Bob is much better now and back to enjoying the summer!