We Stopped to See Jack on the Road to Portugal

Lulu is giving the keynote speech and a workshop in Lisbon, Portugal Monday. Since one of the best flights is from New York City - we decided to take a trip north to see friends and family before we "cross the pond to the continent."

Like every other trip for Tallahassee - you first have to visit Atlanta - so we got the early morning flight from Tallahassee. Next was a quick flight to Allentown, PA - our old hometown airport.

Lulu wanted to see her aunt in Allentown - so we rented a car and drove to see Aunt Ethel and Uncle John. After a quick lunch with them - we drove to Tamaqua and stopped to see Jean Freed - a best friend and another teacher enjoying retirement. After that LUlu wanted to see her Aunt Delores - while I visited Paul Dodson. Paul was my shop teacher and he built our cedar home from a kit in 1973.

Tamaqua - our lifetime home until 2004 - looks the same. Most of the people have to commute out of the area for work. Some still work in the mines - but now machines do the work of thousands of men. The town looks better after a new project to bury all the old overhead wires underground.

Next was a supper at Lulu's old homestead with many family members. Supper went way too fast and pretty soon we had to hop in the rental Jeep for the 3 hour drive to Syracuse. in many places there was snow along the highway in the upper elevations - but we arrived in Syracuse to 32 degrees and dry roads at 10PM.

Today we spent the entire day with Jack - our first grandchild. He is 4 months old now - and just a joy. We have not seen him since he was 2 months old - and it is a whole new ball game. We just had a wonderful family lunch downtown near the Syracuse University campus. Jack was well-behaved the entire time.

In about 2 hours - we will be winging it to the Newark airport where we catch our direct flight to Lisbon, Portugal. We will be flying all night. The Portugal Department of Education will be meeting us at the airport. Imagine that - a limo waiting for us. Lulu has come along way from commuting to Kutztown State College to get her library degree.

Next time I write will be after our arrival Lisbon. After Lulu's presentation on Monday - we will have 6 days to roam around. Just across the Strait of Gibraltar from Portugal is Morocco in Africa. Maybe we can catch a cheap flight to Casablanca.

"Here's looking at you kid."