United States of America - Vacationing in the homeland

It has been at least a year since I have been back to the homeland from Norway, and I imagine this happens to all nationalities, it felt really, really nice to be back in my country of origin. As much as I like to travel and experience different cultures, it always feels great to be back home.

I started off my US adventure with a couple of very nice days in Maine to visit my parents, my sister's family and the Racine family. Sorry, no pictures to post as I didn't have a camera with me. Unfortunately our little camera died on us and Chris had the new camera in Maryland. (Mom - if you have any photos I can put here, just send them via email). I had a really nice time catching up with family and friends. It was also a very special treat for me to catch up with my nephew and niece who were staying at my parent's house that week. Jesse (yes, I spelled it right this time) and Brooke have certainly grown up since I last saw them.

Mom and Dad are doing fine in retired life, and Mom is certainly keeping busy with her effort to support the troops. Now I hear that both of them are working with the "Elks" club, creating a Field of Remembrance and Honor for Veterans Day. A person will buy a flag in honor of someone, the flag is flown a week before Veterans Day, then on Veterans Day a ceremony will be held. All the money raised goes towards the Vets and the National Education Foundation of the Elks. And many thanks go out to Mom and Dad (and John "the mechanic") for taking excellent care of "Bart" while I am away. Bart for those of you who don't know is:



After my visit to Maine, I then headed to Maryland to catch up with Chris and our daughter. Again this was just a few days visit, but it was again time well spent with family. Brittany now has her own little nest, although sparsely decorated it is a nice little place and one she can call home. Chris, being the good Mom that she is, added a few things to her place that gave it a bit more comfy feel. Here we are outside of her nest on the covered porch:

I also got to see my daughter play indoor soccer, what a proud moment for me!

Well, part of the plan when returning to the States was to be able to help our daughter celebrate her 24th birthday. She wanted to go to the zoo for her birthday, what a nice choice for her special day. Here's Mom and daughter enjoying the day:

A bunch of us were there to help celebrate her 24th Birthday. Here is the Motley crew of relatives that helped celebrate:

And here she is looking great for her grand day out:

After our time in Maryland, Chris and I headed down to North Carolina. We had big plans to get some things started on our dream house.....but you will have to wait until I post the next blog..