Montreal

Thursday, October 17 after work, Tammy and I drove to VT for a quick evening visit with Jaclyn, the VT Grandparents, and the Beauchemins.  The next morning, we left early for Montreal arriving there at 830 am.

Our plan was to head first to the Biodome which our GPS could not find.  It did have an entry for a Biosphere.  Turns out the Biosphere and the Biodome are two completely different things in different parts of the city.  The unique thing about this unplanned side trip was that to leave our parking lot, we had to drive around the Montreal Grand Prix race course which we later learned is the only track to have been used for both Grand Prix races and a NASCAR race.

A half hour drive later, we found the Botanical Gardens which is within walking distance of the Biodome.  We arrived at the Botanical Gardens just in time to take a 2 hour guided tour of the outdoor gardens.  We then visited the Biodome and had lunch.  We headed back to the Gardens and visited all the greenhouses.  Having been on our feet for over six hours, we decided it was time to find our hotel in Old Montreal which was no easy feat.

On Saturday, we took a six hour tour walking tour of Montreal.  We visited all the various sections of Montreal weaving east to west as we made our way north through the city.  After the tour, we hit the tourist shops for some souvenirs for the girls.

We left Montreal early enough Sunday morning to make it to VT in time to attend church.  Turns out after church, there was a pot luck for Pastor's Appreciation month.  We arrived back in CT around 6 pm.

Pictures of our trip are posted to the right.  Please click on them to see a slideshow.

 

Squirrel Proof

If you have one of these,

you know this is a problem.

You could spend the money on one of these;

or do as I did and purchase an air soft pistol.  

Haven't seen a squirrel since hitting one.  Apparently word gets out among them.

Keeping Busy

September 21 to September 28, Tammy and I along with her parents and brother rented a condo at Beach Colony on Perdido Beach to visit with Lizzy at PCC.  We flew down to Pensacola,  rented a car, and ended up traveling over 500 miles that week going back and forth - forth and back.  The first few days' weather was a little less than ideal, but then improved allowing for morning and evening walks on the beach.  One day, we even saw a turtle in the ocean.

The day we arrived back to CT on September 28, my work had its annual banquet at the Crowne Plaza in Cromwell celebrating 44 years of being on the air.  Greg Yoder from Mission Network News (http://www.mnnonline.org) was the guest speaker and Christopher Adams, the Singing Chaplain, provided the evening's music.

October 5, we went apple picking at Johnny Appleseed in Ellington.  We picked enough apples to make 9 apple pies, 5 apple crisps, and froze enough to make 4 more pies during the holidays.  It took 4 hours to peel, core, and cut up the apples -- mainly because our apple corer, peeler, slicer broke and only peels now. Everything but one apple crisp was given away.

October 11, Tammy and I went shopping to get items for Operation Christmas Child ( http://www.samaritanspurse.org/what-we-do/operation-christmas-child/).  We filled three shoe boxes  -- two for boys ages 5-9 and one for a girl 5-9.  These along with the Gospel message will eventually be delivered to somewhere in the world.

A trip of several days to Montreal to visit its Biodome and Botanical Gardens and take a six hour walking tour of the city is next on our horizon.