PERSONAL INDULGENCE

Fall, 2019

We have to go back in time just a little ways and introduce Rowan Maeve, our 12th grandchild.  Ro was born in San Diego on August 22, 2019, and is Graham and Leigh’s first child.  Hard to believe that as we write this our precious little girl is already 6 months old.

While visiting in San Diego we were able to use Graham and Leigh’s membership in the world famous San Diego Zoo for a visit to the Zoo Safari Park.   Zoo Safari is an 1,800-acre park that houses a large array of wild and endangered animals including species from the continents of Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America, and Australia. The Africa Tram travels through free-range enclosures that house antelopes, giraffes, buffalo, cranes, and rhinoceros. The park is also noted for its California condor breeding program.  If in the area this is one of the attractions not to be missed.

The open nature of the Park lets the visitors get a clearer view of the animals…like, perhaps, you would experience on safari. But we are true to our mantra, “take your time and a look around – you never know what you’ll see!” There are plant species and some varieties we believed we hadn’t seen before…

Being lovers of zoos we had seen the animals in this Park on prior to visits to Parks across the country; however, we had never seen a California Condor in captivity. The San Diego Safari Park is a refuge for injured California Condors, and a research facility to study mating habits. The “pen” is huge affording some amount of freedom for these magnificent birds. All of the birds are tagged and, if possible, returned to the wild.

The most difficult part of being on the road full time is that so many of our national parks are far, far west of the Mississippi River and our grandkids are in Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and North Carolina.  Flat Out confession – we don’t get to spend as much time as we’d like with family, and when together the time passes far too quickly.  Facetime, Skype and Messenger keep our connections alive, but there’s just nothing like being able to hug one of those rascally rascals!  We pledged to visit twice a year as long as the wanderlust continues to carry us near and far, but honestly, and to be redundant, it just isn’t enough time with our kids and grandkids (we gotta think that through a little bit more, ya think?).

Our visits are in May and October/November, and since these blogs are a remembrance for us as well as for family and friends, our indulgence is to keep a pictorial record of as many grandkids (and an occasional kid or 2 as well) as we can find during our visits.

This year there was some work to do before we could kick back and enjoy our time with family.  Graham, Leigh and Ro planned on moving back to the DC area in October.  Brian was asked to make the 2800-mile drive with Graham and their belongings, and Barbara flew in to help Leigh and Ro get settled in their new digs. As an added bonus she got to spend a week of evenings with Kea and family!

So here’s our pictorial indulgence from October/November, 2019…

Helena was 6 on November 9th.  We were visiting a little early, but still had a great time complete with birthday cupcakes!

Ava turned 19 on November 29th, and is enjoying the college life at Kutztown University.

Guess who was 3 on November 14?

Sunset – Yellow Springs, Ohio…

Barbara and Brian