Pittsburgh Family, Friends and Irish Rover Returns, August 13-23, 2018

Thanks to our trip planning, the 13th was another short driving day.  We arrived at Hart's Content Campground near Beaver Falls, PA well before dinner and settled in for a relaxing evening.

Our campsite at Hart's Content

The next day we did some chores, as even on vacation not everything can be put off.  Following the chores we jumped onto our bikes and I showed Karen the wonderful biking to be had riding around North Park Lake in Pittsburgh.  Our bike ride was 7 miles around the park environs.

We wrapped up the day, playing pickleball on the very nice courts built recently in North Park.

Jesse naps through breakfast

The next morning my son, Paul and his kids, 3 year old Avery and newborn Jesse, joined us for breakfast at a nearby restaurant.

Avery grins for the camera

As we were having a good time and the kids were wonderfully behaved, we stuck around after the breakfast crowd departed so the waitresses could dote over the kids.

After running some errands in Zelienople, Karen and I took a walk about town as Murph played tour guide in the town he called home for 30 years.

Thursday the 16th began wonderfully as Paul brought Avery Mae to the campground so she could enjoy the playground.  As it turns out, all four of us had a blast at the playground, especially as Avery "drove" the car, truck and train.

Dinner that evening was at Luciano's with Murph's great friends since moving to western Pennsylvania over 40 years ago, Carol and Bob.  Not surprisingly, we all had a wonderful evening together.

Friday was filled with Murph's final efforts to conclude his pleasant duty to build and mail the photo book about his recent "Delt Gathering" in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  With all the books on their way to his brother Delts, Murph and Karen joined Wabash alumnus, Larry, and his wife, Linda for a terrific evening of fun, recollection and stories.  It was a few years since Larry and Murph last met and that was in Annapolis.  It was great to be back together and Karen got to learn more about the special bond that exists between Wabash "brothers."

Sandbar Bash, photo by Sean

The big deal on Saturday was the annual "Sandbar Raft-Up" on Lake Arthur.  It is the yearly event co-hosted by the Lake Arthur Sailing Club (based at Davis Hollow) and the Moraine Sailing Club (based at Watts Bay).  Sean and Bill are both very active in their respective clubs as Sean sails his MacGregor 26, Hakuna Matata, and Bill runs the Community Sailing Fleet of the MSC, including Sunfish, Optis, Hobies and Flying Scots.  Karen joined Bill and crew for a fun sail aboard Capt Jim Clark's Catalina 25, Magi's Mate.  Keith and I drove to a spot in the park only a couple hundred yards away from the sandbar where all the boats were anchoring for the afternoon's festivities.  Keith and I swam the 200 yards and climbed aboard Magi's Mate to enjoy a meal and drinks after playing volleyball in the shallow water by the boats.  The sun and sky were golden and blue, maybe highlighting my time at Pitt?  :-)

Avery with her frequent babysitter, Haley

Karen and I spent Sunday at church with Paul, Kelsey, Avery and Jesse, followed by a wonderful Sunday dinner with all six of us plus Kelsey's sister, Haley and friend, Brittany.

Our return trip began Monday morning as we struck camp and drove to Brady's Bend for a brief look at the Allegheny River Overlook above the famous river bend.  Then the real work of the trip commenced as we retrieved Irish Rover from storage, inspected and prepared her for the 1,000+ mile trip south to Florida and set off southbound.  We were in "delivery mode," which to us means that we drive until we're too tired to proceed, have dinner and sleep, then do it again every day until we arrive at our destination.  This trip our stops were in Weston, WV, Columbia, SC and Jacksonville, FL.  Although we could have wrapped up the last couple hours to Titusville that last night, we decided to stay in Jacksonville as we had nowhere to store Irish Rover in Titusville until the next day.  We're storing her instead of launching because hurricane season doesn't end until November.  We'd rather keep her safely stored than launch her only to haul her out for every hurricane that heads our way.  Come November we plan to begin spending LOTS of time sailing Irish Rover.  Anytime you find yourself in Central Florida, let me know and we'll do our best to go sailing together!  (A comment posted below will work, if you've lost my phone or email.)