Last Dinners in Camillus, Visit to the Doctors, Leave for Binghamton & Rachel's First Volleyball Game 8/27-30/2008

Well it's been quite a finish to the week for us. Wednesday we just hung around the coach for the day and at 4:00 we went to Cody's first scrimmage soccer game at the Middle School against Tully. Cody started the game and played all of the first half and most of the second and it looks like he will be starting on defense this year. He did a great job and has turned into quite a good soccer player. For dinner we were invited to Ceil and Marks for our farewell dinner. We had buffalo chicken wing dip which Mom and I made and brought for appetizer and they loved it. We also had hamburgers from a steer Mark had butchered and made into steaks and burgers and you really could taste the difference without all the additives from the meat packing plants in the burgers. We also had hot dogs, macaroni salad, salt potatoes and for dessert we had homemade cheesecake which by the way was lucious. We left about 9:00 as Mark was tired from his hauling manure from the fairgrounds each and every night at midnight.
Thursday we picked up Cody and Luke about noon and took them for ice cream as it was the last time we will be seeing them for awhile. We went down to Abbott's and Cody had a huge sundae and Luke had a Flurry. We dropped them back at the house and went back and started packing things for our trip south. We had a great dinner with Tim, Melissa, Erica, Nikki and Rosie which consisted of pizza and wings as I had the draft for my fantasy football league and Tim had to draft for Sean as he got tied up at work. The garlic wings were especially good as were the white pizza and sausage pizza.
Friday we got up early and said our goodbyes to Melissa and Tim and we went to Nestico's for breakfast with Sandy, Mark and George. After breakfast we said our goodbyes to them and I was headed to the doctors as my back was exceptionally bad. They took xrays and diagnosed it as a pinched nerve in my back between L4 & L5 which radiated down across my hip to my thigh muscle. I got my prescription for anti-inflamatory pills and I was off back to the coach. Mom had a farewell lunch with Judy and we got packed up and were off, after saying our goodbyes to Nikki and Rosie as Erica wasn't there (sorry we missed you Erica so you take care and behave),about 1:30. We took a side trip to Camping World to dump our tanks and then took off for Binghamton. We got there about 3:30 and got set up and I had another football draft at 4:00. By the time I was done it was time for dinner and we had French toast. By the way Scott isn't here this weekend as he and Cheryl are in Saratoga at the races and the kids, all except for Rachel, are at her Moms along with the dogs.
Saturday we were up early, although I was up all night with my back as I'm not getting much sleep these days, to go to Rachel's first college volleyball game. She plays for Broome Community College as she started there this fall and as a freshman made the team as a starter. We stayed for one complete game and part of another as after about 3 hours my back started to hurt so we had to leave. She is an excellent volleyball player and I can see why she is a starter. She played every minute while we were there and did a great job. We got back and I watched the SU (LOSERS) football game, some things never change with them, and also the Yankee (LOSERS) game which is also true about them. Rachel got home about 5:30 looking very very tired and said they had lost in the semi finals to the team that had won the tournament the last 2 years and also ended up winning it this year. She took a shower and left for her grandparents for the rest of the weekend. Mom and I had dinner and I went to bed, aka better known as couch, for the night hoping I was going to try to sleep in the bed. Well time to say adios to everybody and we love you and miss you all.


Picture List:1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9-Rachel's first volleyball game for Broome Community College.....pictures 5 & 8 are Rachel serving.

Provolone Open & Mom's Day at the Fair 8/25-26/2008

Monday cooled of quite a bit and it was mostly cloudy with a few peaks of sun and that made it ideal for the Provolone Open Golf Tournament at Liverpool CC. George and I played with one of the guys from work Jim Kelly, who could hit the ball a mile, when he hit it straight. Between George and myself we would have made a great ad for senior health care as his rotator cuff was bothering him as was my sciatic. We started at 7:45 and didn't get done till 12:45 which made it kind of a long day as it really slowed up after about 8 or 9 holes. I shot a 95, George had a 90 and Jim had a 105. There really aren't any prizes for scores just skins, which we didn't have anyway. After golf they have a clambake at one of the Polish clubs in Syracuse and that really is what everybody enters for as the food is great. They had steak sandwiches, liver bacon and onions, kielbasa, sweet corn, pasta with clam sauce, salt potatoes, jumbo shrimp and all the clams you want to eat both steamed and raw. We had a good time and didn't win any raffle prizes, as usual. We had dinner with Judy at The Retreat in Liverpool and the food wasn't to bad and we had a nice time as this will be the last time I see her before we leave for MB. After dinner we dropped her off at home and we went back to the RV.
Tuesday was Mom's day at the NYS Fair with Judy and her cousin Donna Lee so I dropped her off at about 9:45 at the main gate. I went back to the RV and washed some windows on the coach and the car and went to put gas in the coach also, which really hurt this time. Melissa and the kids had gone to the fair and Tim came home and was going over to meet them so I drove him over seeing as he had planned to take a bus. I got back and caught up on our motor home magazines and took a little snooze while I waited for Mom to call to be picked up. Well about 6:15, after Tim and the family got back, they came over to tell me Mom had left a message on their home phone she was ready to come home. Why she couldn't call on our cell was a mystery until I looked and tried to make a call and it said "emergency calls only". We have no idea why this happened and didn't know how to fix it. Well to make a long story short Judy called right after Melissa told me Mom had called and she was taking the bus from the fair to Camillus Plaza, so I went over to pick her up. She got there about 7:00 and was worried that something has happened to me after about the fourth phone call with no answer, but all is well and I finally figured out if you turn the phone off completely and then back on it takes care of that problem. I called AT&T and they said sometimes that happens if the phone is left on for a long period of time and it has been on for about 4-5 months straight. We got a pizza for dinner and then we both went to bed as Mom had done a lot of walking and was very tired. Well time to say adios till next time and we love you all.

A Great Day of Caching with Rosie & Mom 8/24/2008

Sunday morning Mom and I decided to do some caching and we asked any of Tim's family if they would like to go along but the only one that did was Rosie so off we went to Auburn, NY. Our first cache was in Cold Spring Cemetery on the outskirts of Auburn and Rosie had her first ever find as the cache was located in a tree stump with a rock over it, although she did have her first injury also as she got stuck by a thorn vine. Cold Spring Cemetery was the first Irish Catholic Cemetery in the area and was the burial place for many Irish immigrants and also many Civil War Veterans.
Our next cache was located in Auburn and was a multi-cache that had us going to several of the murals painted on the walls of the buildings in Auburn. We went to the 3 murals and collected our information last time we were in Auburn caching but couldn't find the cache so after logging it the owner of the cache gave us a clue that helped us find it this time.
Next stop was a small park in the city and a cache Rosie found hanging in a pine tree. Next stop was actually a puzzle cache that we were given the coords for because some of the information needed to figure out those coords was missing. We found the cache on the backside of a guardrail and we were off to Sacred Heart Church and a light pole cache that Rosie again found.
Next cache was again in a very small cemetery which was located on the old Porter Farm Circa 1813-1817. When we got there we found the cache and its contents scattered all over the ground. We assume, by the way the cache container looked that an animal got at it and opened it the best way he knew how. We replaced the container with one we had in the car and rehid the cache where it was supposed to be.
Then we were on to Owasco, NY, just outside Auburn, and Emerson Park on Owasco Lake. This is a very lovely park and it was practically deserted when we were there on Sunday which we found to be very strange. This park has many many activities and attractions such as an 18 hole disc golf course, the Ward O'Hara Agricultural Museum, the Sterling Nature Center, swimming, boating, boat launches, picnic areas, fishing piers and also the Merry-Go-Round Playhouse. The Playhouse is a professional non-profit theater and will open for its 37th season in the historic Carousel building. The musicals and plays this year included All Shook Up, Les Miserables, The Producers, Little Shop of Horrors and Church Basement Ladies. I know Mom and I have been several times and we loved it as it is small and your close to the stage, which makes it very nice and cozy and makes you feel as if your part of the play. The park also holds many many events such as pig roasts, art shows, circuses, bike races, fireworks, doll exhibitions, many car shows, a tomatofest, dances, and several Christmas activities. Well anyway our first cache there was a virtual where we had to find a monument and get some information off of it. Next was a cache along the newly installed brick walkway along the inlet, next was a cache in a vent pipe at the entrance and the last cache was across the street at the museum hidden in a tree which again Rosie found. Then we drove to one of the boat launches and Rosie found a cache hidden in some rocks near the picnic area. Next cache was again in a cemetery hidden in the woods in a tree.
Our last cache was a multi-cache and has quite a history behind it. First the cache where we had to visit a small cemetery behind what used to be Sand Beach Church, which is a Reformed Protestant Dutch Church, and is now part of the Springside Inn. In 1852, the pastor of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church on Sand Beach Road bought a 70-acre farm next to the church and built a boarding school for boys. Over the years, the school became a private home and a restaurant that has changed hands several times, and is now the Springside Inn. The beautiful church was built in 1852 and dedicated in 1855. It is in the Gothic Norman style and the estimated cost of construction back then was $7000. Bricks came from the brickyard operating behind the present-day Harriet Tubman Home. The church served its faithful congregation until ’97 when it closed its doors after over 150 years of service. It was acquired in July ’07 by the owners of Springside Inn, Sean and Beth Lattimore, who are making the church part of the Springside Inn business. The Lattimores have restored the interior of the church to accommodate both wedding ceremonies and public space for business use and private parties. The foyer was brought back to its 1930s beauty with its original wainscoting, period sconces and chandelier. It is the perfect welcoming area with seating. The integrity of the interior is being maintained with movable pews that can seat 100. It can be converted for tables and chairs for parties, corporate meetings, seminars and business events. The floors were refinished and the original brick is exposed on the back wall. Wood panels and sconces adorn part of the front wall and four original lights that were found in the attic hang from the ceiling. We went into the cemetery and got the information we needed from a burial site (more on that later) and we were off to the second site which was a private home built around 1846. We got that information and we then had to go to a statue of William Seward in downtown Auburn to get the last piece of info we needed. We got it all and now all we had to do is email the cache owner with the answers.
Now back to the history behind this cache. Site 1 was the cemetery where we had to find a grave stone with the inscription "All murdered on the night of March 12, 1846" "Mysterious Providence indeed, Thou called us here to lie, Here where our bodies must remain Until the Judgement Day. But thou art righteous oh our God And doest naught in vain For whilst to us to live was Christ To die in Christ is gain. These mangled forms again shall rise At the last trumpet's sound, To dwell forever in the skies Where pain nor death is found. Farewell dear parents; children; friends. We'll not be parted long May we all meet in heaven again A saved and happy throng." This has to do with the William Freeman murder trial and this burial site was of the people he murdered. In 1846 William Freeman, a young man of African and Native American descent, stabbed to death four members of the Van Nest family with no apparent motive. They were an elderly woman, a pregnant daughter and her two year old grandson all named Van Nest. The second site was the house where the murders all occurred and site 3 was of the man who tried to make sense out of all this but never received the historical credit, William Seward. In 1846 in Auburn, NY, Seward used the insanity plea to defend the former enslaved American, William Freeman. Freeman killed several members of a local white family while stealing a horse. William Seward did not win the case but won another trial. Unfortunately before this happened, Freeman died. An autopsy later disclosed scar tissue on his brain that experts from Bedlam, England testified could have explained his actions. William Freeman received the injury after being struck in the head several years before. Freeman had been whipped many times by his employers, police and in prison. "Such a life, so filled with neglect, injustice and severity, with anxiety, pain, disappointment, solicitude and grief, would have its fitting conclusion in a madhouse" was Seward's summary to the jury. Later in 1859 U.S. Representative Daniel E. Sickles, from NY would be credited as the first defendant to use the "temporary insanity" defense in the United States. In 1859, Daniel E. Sickles shot and killed Phillip Barton Key, and pleaded temporary insanity. Phillip Barton Key was the US Attorney who prosecuted the owner and captain of the Pearl. He was also the son of Francis Scott Key, the composer of our National anthem. To everyone's surprise, Sickles was acquitted of the murder following a twenty-day trial. A very interesting cache with a lot of historical background.
Then we were on back to Camillus with a stop at McDonald's for lunch and a stop to pick up sweet corn for dinner. We had yummy mushroom, bacon cheeseburgers, corn and salt potatoes for dinner.........very yummy indeed. Then it was off to the RV and I read for awhile as I was putting heat on my back which has been killing me now for about a week because of sciatica. Well time to say until next time and we love you all.


Picture List:1-Rosie at "Lest We Forget", 2-Rosie & Mom reading the Van Nest grave site inscription on the burial stone, 3-Rosie found "Cor Sacratissimum", 4-Rosie & Mom looking for "Swift", 5,6-Looking for "Starry, Starry Night", 7,8-Wandering through the woods looking for "I Can See Clearly Now", 9,10,11-Sand Beach Church Circa 1807, 12-Grave marker of the Van Nest family, 13-Grave marker of Zipporah wife of Elisha Walton died 1827, 14,15-Ward O'Hara Agricultural Museum, 16,17-Porter Farm Cemetery Circa 1813-17, 18,19,20,21-Cold Spring Cemetery Auburn, NY.

Golf with Tim, Cody & Luke and Anna's First Soccer Game 8/22-23/2008

Friday morning I hadn't planned on doing much but cleaning the windows on the coach but Tim came out and asked if I wanted to play golf with him and the boys so of course I said yes and off we went to Pope's Grove. The course is a very short 1330 yard par 3 course with 2 short par 4's added in to make it a little interesting. We had a great time and I enjoyed playing with them all. The only thing was that I decided to walk and that was a BIG mistake as by the time I was done my back was killing me. Luke had a little problem with his baseball swing and kept topping the ball and if he can get that out of his swing he should be able to hit the ball fairly well. He did hit some very nice shots and on one hole he even had a bogey. Cody did very well for only the second time on a golf course. He had a 52 and even almost out drove me on one of the par 4 holes. He hit a booming drive of about 170 yards that almost went by my drive. Both boys have a little trouble around the greens on how hard to hit their chips and putts but that is to be expected as it's the hardest part of the game and you can't teach that as it is just a feel and something they have to get used to. All in all it was a lot of fun with 3 generations of Faulkners on the golf course again and I hope it's not the last time. Friday night we went to DelMonico's for dinner with Ceil, Mark, Jeanette and George. Of course I had the 24 oz. steak and I must say it wasn't as good as I have had there before but we still had a good time.
Saturday we drove to Binghamton to see Anna's first soccer game as it's the only one we will be able to see before we head south. I don't quite know how to put this but plain and simple it was a kill, unfortunately, as they lost 15-1. Anna played good though and it was nice to see her enjoying herself on the field and Cheryl and Scott are coaching. The only drawback was the fields were covered in goose poop and it was a very very unsanitary situation as you couldn't take a step without stepping in some. YUCK!!!!!!!!! After the game we went back to the house and spent the day with them and had chicken and pork spedies with macaroni salad for dinner. Mom spent the day playing with Anna and really was tired by the time we left about 7:30 for the drive home, but it was a good tired. Well time to say until next time we love and miss you all.

Resting, Golf, Coach Repair & Not Much Else 8/19-21/2008

Well here it is Tuesday and we didn't do an awful lot today as it was a long drive yesterday so we are taking it easy today. We did take a drive out in the country to 2 or 3 spots where Mark had his sunflowers planted. He planted 275 acres of them this year seeing as they were such a hit last year. As you can see they are beautiful and we wish we could have seen them about a week ago to see them in full bloom, as they have kind of started to droop now. He cut a maze in one of the fields that he planted them in and the town was charging $2.00 to walk through the maze and the money was going to go to charity. I worked on our maps for this fall and Mom went and had lunch with her cousin Rose Ann. We had delicious chicken spiedies for dinner and they tasted great. Other than that it was blah day.
Wednesday we had to go have blood work done and I played golf with George at Pine Grove. I didn't do to badly as I shot an 84, not bad after laying off for about 3 weeks. Mom ran a few errands while I was playing and after I got back it was almost time for dinner. We had pork roast and one of the most delicious rice dishes that I have ever had. Mom wasn't feeling well so she didn't get a chance to taste it but it really was good.
Thursday we had to pack the coach up and I had to take it to Camping World as the TV still wasn't right. I was out there until about 11:30 and they finally got it right this time. We can now watch TV on cable or the antenna without having to go behind the set and switch wires around and they also installed our HD converter box so I guess it was a morning well spent. While I was there I got a chance to watch the Olympic softball game and the women's basketball game so it wasn't to bad. I got home and we set up again and I did some more work on our camping maps and Mom made some cookies for dinner tonight as we were cooking. Nothing fancy as it was "make your own sub night". After dinner I read and Mom watched TV. Well time to say until next time and we love you all.


Picture List:1,2,3,4,5-Mark's Sunflower Fields.

On Our Way to Camillus 8/18/2008

We said our goodbyes about 10:30 after Corinna had gotten back from taking Tyler to Norwich for his first day of hockey camp and we were on our way to Camillus. The trip was uneventful and took us about 5- 5 1/2 hours as we only drive 55-60 mph and it was a 288 mile trip. We got all set up and the car off the dolly and took a shower and it was time for dinner. We had great chicken spiedies, pasta salad and applesauce and it all tasted really good. After dinner I came back to the RV and am downloading pictures for our blog that I couldn't do at Chris's house because of the slow internet connection and am doing the last few days of the blog. Tim, Mom and I talked about his trip to Lake Placid for 5 days to get his Level 4 coaching certification. He said he had a great time and it was extremely informative and he really did learn a lot. He said all the speakers, coaches and people were very friendly and helpful. Mark Johnson from the 1980 Olympic Hockey Championship team was there and Tim got a chance to talk to him and actually went out for a run with him on Sunday before he left. They also got a chance to watch the Women's Olympic hockey team practice and scrimmage each day. All in all he had a great time and learned a lot about coaching especially coaching a girl's team. We also talked about playing golf this week with Cody and Luke as they have taken a few golf lessons and are eager to beat Grandpa. Well time to hit the hay as I'm tired from the drive so we will say until tomorrow we love you all.

Sunday Golfing with Chris and Tyler 8/17/2008

Sunday morning we got up and it was a lovely day and we were glad it wasn't to hot as we had a tee time at a small course in Colchester to play 9 holes with Chris and Tyler. We sat around in the morning and I did our blog for our ghostly caching trip on Saturday and also did our logs for the caches we found. Mom did some wash and read the Sunday paper. After Mom got done with the wash we went to CVS and picked up a few things and stopped at the bank then took Tyler and Alexis over to a cache we found several weeks ago that we couldn't find the first time we stopped to look for it. They wanted to know where we found it and see how it was hidden as it was in a fake rock near a movie theater. Then we went out and found a couple of caches so they could get to use the GPS once more before we left and they had to find a cache to put their new Sleeping Dragon Geocoin in that we had given them seeing as the first one we gave them had been stolen. We found a cache near a small pond called Babcock Pond and they proudly put the coin in it after they found it. We went back to the house and had lunch and watched the Olympics until it was time to play golf. We played 9 holes and Chris shot 41, Grandpa shot 47 and Tyler had a 52 which was his low round ever. Must be the help that Grandpa gave him that made him do that well. He really didn't hit the badly and had quite a few nice shots, although he has a tendency to have baseball swing which of course is not good in golf. All in all we enjoyed ourselves and it was great playing with them both.....three generations..... something to remember. After golf we went back to the house and had dinner and then went to the Dairy Barn for home made ice cream and it was delicious. We got back and I went to bed and Mom watched some TV. Well time to say until tomorrow from Camillus we love you and miss you all.


Picture List:1,2-Tyler & Alexis with their Sleeping Dragon Geocoin putting it into the Babcock Pond cache, 3-Finally found the Babcock Pond cache, 4-Alexis is very close, 5,6,7-Now where can that cache be, 8-Alexis is close to the Dirt Road Micro, 9-See I found the Dirt Road Micro, 10-Alexis found it again, 11,12,13-Looking for the Revenge of the Magnetic Nano.