Visit to Bloomfield Halloween 2013

It was a spooky morning at the campsite...the early morning fog looked like wispy ghosts arriving for Halloween.  A drizzling rain persisted for most of the day.  We drove to Bloomfield to visit with Plish and John at their home.  Plish prepared my favorite dish of hers--meatball sandwiches.  Her potato salad is Bob's favorite.  She topped off the luncheon with a delicious made-from-scratch apple cake...perfect for the season.  Their neighbor, Jason, stopped by to use their printer.   Although we have heard about him before from Plish and John, we had never met him, but it certainly was a Halloween  treat to do so.  Jase is an  English instructor for the government working with students and teachers in ESL.  In addition he works at Bloomfield College, and he has a very unique technique for learning English as a second language.  If you google fluency mc or colloandspeak.com, you can find out more about it.  It's worth checking it out. On the way home, little tricksters were stopping at the shops along Bloomfield Ave in Caldwell to get their treats.  Just about every store participated.  We are hoping no one "disguised" as a bear comes knocking on the rv trailer tonight!!!

Country ride to Branchville Wed Oct 30 2013

Branchville is a little town about 25 miles north of the campground where there is a very nice restaurant called the Blue Ribbon on Culver Lake.  Several years ago, Bob and I happened upon it by accident, but as often happens, it turned out to be a good thing, and we try to stop there each time we are in Jersey..  The food is very tasty, and the restaurant has a very nice atmosphere.  Cousins Carol and Nelson came with us  Nelson had a "forced retirement" earlier this year  when the pharmaceutical company he had worked at for probably 40+ years finally closed its doors.  So, he is now, more or less, a man of leisure. We planned on treating them, but Nelson beat us to it.  It was somewhat of a raw day...not so cold, but damp, so we didn't do any sight seeing.  We were planning to stop at one of the roadside produce stands on our way back, but both Carol and I were adamant that the one the guys wanted to stop at wasn't the right one.  We had to admit we were wrong.  Chalk up one for the boys.

Tuesday October 29 2013

We drove to my home town of Clifton this morning to pay our respect to family members at the cemetery.  It is a very peaceful place.  The Empire State Building is visible from one of the hills.  After, we met my junior high school  friend Mary Ann aka Plish and her husband, John, at Grimaldi's on Van Houten Ave.  The original Grimaldi's is famous as being the pizza place under the Brooklyn Bridge.  Later that evening, we visited with Adele and Michael, where I  happily beat Michael and Bob in a game of 3-handed pinochle. 

My brother Joe's nickname when he was little was Jo-Jo, so this photo is for him.

DE to NJ Monday Oct 27 2013

We packed up at Killens Pond, headed north on US 13 to US1 to I-95 thru Philadelphia and then to Rte 202 in NJ, onto I-80, then Rte 15 to Mahlon Dickerson Reservation, a Morris County park where we've stayed for the past several years.  Didn't think you could get me on I-95 through Philly, but it was surprisingly not very busy.  We passed the airport, train yards and seaport, ..air, land and sea transport readily available.  The city was quite smoggy and the skyline hidden by the many double decker roadways.

A bridge that looked like the sister of the Skyway Bridge in St Pete, FL

A dramatic change in landscape once in Jersey on Rte 202 - here were a pasture full of alpacas.

Mahlon park - view from the camper door.  We missed the peak leaf season, but it is still beautiful, and we are enjoying the crisp air.  Besides the ranger and one other camper up the hill from us, we are the only ones here.

After the Big Day

I had damaged one of our digital cameras and the battery on the other had died, so I couldn't get any pictures of the breakfast gathering Sunday morning at the Sands Hotel on the beach hosted by Kim's parents, Gary & Sheryl McCartney.  Too bad because the ocean looked gorgeous, and it would have been nice to get more pictures of the family.  After saying our good byes, Bob and I went back to the campground and enjoyed an afternoon campfire before it got too cold to sit outside.  We have one more night at Killens Pond before heading to Jersey.

Charlie is somewhere inside that blanket.

A view outside our camper door.  By Sunday afternoon, the park was almost empty.  There were only two other campers in the same loop as we.  It had been packed with trick and treaters over the weekend.

David and Kim's Big Day Saturday Oct 26 2013

The wedding ceremonies were at the Baywood Gardens Country Club in Long Neck, Delaware.  The grounds were gorgeous.  The ceremony was held outside.  Goodness only knows how the bride's wedding party managed in the chill air.  I guess it's true that loves warms the body and soul.  We couldn't get a lot of good pictures...too far away...too many others trying to take photos; and after the ceremony, the hall lighting wasn't conducive for amateur photographers.  But, we did what we could.  The ceremony itself was very touching.  Their Justice of the Peace was so very personable, making little comments in between the vows and readings, and it was very comical, although unintentional, when he told Kim to repeat after him, "I, Kim, take David to be my lawful wife"...She started to repeat that, then scrunched up her face, and asked, "WIFE?"  Then looked at the guests and more or less asked, "DUH?"  They had a "sand ceremony" after the vows where the two of them alternately poured different colored sands into a large vase to show how their lives, although different, would blend together.  The party afterwards was, as usual for this family, a very lively affair!!!

Jill (David's younger sister) and long time boyfriend, Sean

My brother Joe and his wife Bev on the left, Carol, Bob, Tom and Arlene waiting for the entrance of the newly weds.

Uncle Mickey at  age 91 movin' and a-groovin' with Rita, Adele and Carol

The bride and new sister in law.  The professional photographer was not happy with me that I decided to take the photo when I did,

A poster portrait gift from the groomsmen  presented to  David of "one of David's finer moments", per Patrick,  the Best Man, who has been David's best friend since kindergarten.  Patrick gave a very entertaining speech that made us all laugh and yet showed how special their friendship has been..

Christine and Luke...two of  Joe & Barbara Piascik's 5 children..Christine is the only girl and in the middle between two older and two younger brothers. Luke is  the youngest.

 Not sure what everyone was amazed by, but at least it is a good photo op of David, Kim, Jill, Rachel, and Annie.

Even the little guests had a blast at David and Kim's wedding celebration!!!

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Rehearsal Dinner Party Friday Oct 25 2013

We joined about 60 family members and friends of the soon to be bride and groom  at  the Lupo Di Mari restaurant in Rehobeth Beach (about an hour's drive from the state park) for the wedding rehearsal dinner party hosted by my cousins Adele and Michael Merson, parents of the groom, David.  For those of you who have followed our blog in the past, most faces will look familiar, and probably not that much older than when you last saw them a year and a half ago.

Adele

Bob and Michael

David

Carol (Adele's sister) and Adele

Annie (Carol's daugher) and beau Aaron

 Tom Piascik (Adele's paternal cousin) and wife Arlene in the foreground; Uncle Mickey (Adele's dad) and his lady friend, Rita;, and Joe Piascik (Adele's brother) and wife Barbara.  Carol, her husband, Nelson, my brother Joe and his wife Bev, and Bob and I were at the table in the background.

Adele paying tribute to David with laughter and tears

David's sisters, Jill and Rachel, roasting and toasting him and giving Kim some valuable advice

 David and Kim taking all the ribbing in stride

First Landing to Killens Pond Friday Oct 25 2013

Our travel Friday to Felton, DE, was less than 200 miles but took us about 5 hours.  Once we crossed the Chesapeake Bay,  there were numerous towns along US 13 with stop lights and speed limits of 35 mph.  We had been most of the route about a year and a half ago when we went to Jersey for Rachel's wedding, but last time, we hit a rainstorm while on the Bay Bridge Tunnel.  Today, although chilly and breezy, it was a bright, sunny day. 

At the scenic stop and fishing pier before the first tunnel heading north

Entering the first tunnel

A view of the break in the bridge before the second tunnel

There are two bridges for north and southbound traffic, but the roads converge into one lane for each direction  in the tunnels.

The beach at the end of the bridge is part of a Virginia Eastern Shore wildlife refuge

Entrance to Killens Pond State Park Campground in Felton, DE which will be our home base until Monday