10th and Lawrence Streets, N.E. Washington D.C. 20017
From: Tom & Evangeline Reed <reedgkgw@earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: This and that
Date: Sat, 13 Nov 1999 22:21:52 -0600
>
>Hey, Dr. Reed, aren't you back in town yet????? Time to hear about
>your first vacation since med school!!! So what were the highlights??
>Forget that practice for an evening and give us some feedback on our
>recommendations.
Yes! As a matter of fact(?) we just walked in! We kind a got lost. We
were in
Baltimore and asked this old cogger how to get from the inner harbor area
to BW Parkway and the next thing we knew we were coming up on the Canadian
border. Well, being the adventurers that we are, we said "why not" and
proceeded north to Alaska where the "rush " is ( from an old song ). Does
anyone remember? Anyway, after some northern exposure, we befriended a
physician in a small town where he was serving out his medical school loan
repayment program and told us of an town not to far off where oil miners
lived in houses made from huge oil drums and where there was a nomad
culture that lived to follow the reindeer herds. Being the curiosity
seekers that we are, and because it would be a great teaching experience
for our kids, we decided to go for it. We spent some time in Kamchatka, on
the western border of Russia. We had a great time eating reindeer oatmeal,
BL&R sandwiches and reindeer noodle soup. We had to leave rather abruptly
because armies from neighboring Yakutsk were about to attack. Any of you
familiar with that "risk" will know what I am talking about. We then
started home, our van and our nerves a little worse for wear. What did we
come home to three weeks later than expected? Well, with a little
imagination ...
Having said that Bob, we really got back in town about four days earlier
than expected, on Oct.19th. Your right, when I got back, the office sucked
me into phasic time shift and I have just come out of it. We don't want to
go down that road. Things are just starting to get back to normal after
having guests ( ten people, [ one family has six girls ] ) visiting us part
of last week.
We had something like 114 e-mails during the ten days that we were gone. A
lot of those were junk. We have since set up some filters that
automatically puts those in the trash bin. Of course, it was great to read
all those from TCO '68.I have also been busy with my patents. It received
final approval two weeks ago and I have already heard from a group who is
interested. I ask you guys to please include our family in your prayers
that the Lord's direction in this matter will be made clear to us.
How did the trip go?I We started from Houston and traveled to Pensacola,
Florida on the first day. Pensacola Beach is known for it's white sand
beaches and Naval Air museum. We got to see a great flick on the Blue
Angels. It was one of those big screen, I mean BIG screen theaters and we
were in the cockpit. We then traveled to Kentucky and visited Mammoth cave
and the surrounding areas. The two hour walking tour took us through
spaces that were only about four feet high to spacious caverns where people
once lived. We then visited Monticello in Charlottesville, Va., home of
Thomas Jefferson. From there, we traveled the Shanandoah Parkway and
visited some areas around Big Meadows. I camped there a number of times in
my younger days. On to Wash. D.C. We parked at Union Station and took a
taxi to the museum area. It was a beautiful day and we could have walked
but Evangeline was too pregnant to walk very much. It turns out that the
taxi driver hung around Turkey Thicket as a youth so we had a lot to talk
about. We visited several museums, walked up to the capitol, and admired
the monument from a distance. Even with its braces, it is truly a
magnificent site to behold. The next day we went to the Baltimore Aquarium
and ate lunch at Phillip's. The food was absolutely great! This is where
we took a wrong turn and ended up in Canada ( just kidding ). Actually, we
turned south to Nagshead, N.C.
Does anyone know the story of how it got its name? The story we got was
that the people who first lived there walked their horses along the beach
with lanterns tied around their necks. Ships passing by at night thought
they were other ships and would head towards them causing the ships to
crash into the rocks. The town people then plundered the ships for their
cargo. Anyway, from there we went to Fayetteville N.C. Why Fayetteville
you might ask. Evangeline's roommate in college lives there. Curiously,
she is also pregnant and has the same due date as Evangeline. That's just
one strange parallel between the two. Another is that her name is Joy and
Evangeline's middle name is Joy. Her husband is a physician. There's a
lot more! It's a little scary. This is where the trip takes an unexpected
turn. We were going to fly from N.C. to Orlando, FL. and spend four days
at Disneyworld. The kids didn't know that we had this all planned
beforehand. We figured that after a week in the van, they would be ready
to unwind. What a place to unwind! Well, Huricane Irene hit Orlando on
the very day we were supposed to fly in. Since they didn't even know that
this was planned,we had one of those, you know, " good news/bad news"
issues to break to the kids. We then decided just to head on home. We
were all happy to pull into the driveway.
What's this I'm reading about another reunion? I think it's a great idea.
Possibly some fun in the sun for a couple of days?
Signing off for now.
Tom