Albuquerque, NM (USA)

[woke up in the Wyndham Albuquerque Hotel at International Sunport (checked out at 0930) - flying with Julius - itinerary uncertain but orders said Capital (IL) - we flew back to NAS Norfolk by the end of the day and I was home in Virginia Beach soon afterwards]

Albuquerque, NM (USA)

[flying with Julius - itinerary uncertain but my orders said Cherry Point (NC), El Centro (CA) on the way to an overnight in the Wyndham Albuquerque Hotel at International Sunport - we had a rental car reserved (from Advantage) but I don't think we needed it due to our late arrival and a ride to the hotel from the airport]

Dover, DE (USA)

[NRT with Jeff - Dover]

New Orleans, LA (USA)

[flying with Micah - Norfolk to Pope to Jacksonville (FL) to Norfolk to New Orleans to Camp Springs to Norfolk]

Fort Worth, TX (USA)

Slept well at the hotel (Courtyard Fort Worth West) and didn't get up until around 1000.  After that, I drove over to the nearby mall with Ray. Bought some clothes (I only had brought enough for one day...). Next, I went over to the genealogy library again. Had lunch at the Applebee's near the hotel. Got a call around 1400 that we were fixed but that we needed a maintenance flight before we can leave.  I raced back to the hotel and checked out (1405).  The FCF went OK - whew! Left my car at Base Operations (Enterprise picked it up at 1800) and we left NAS JRB Fort Worth (Carswell) at around 1600.  Our four flight east was uneventful and we arrived in Hampton Roads by around 2000L.  Overall, an interesting trip!

Fort Worth, TX (USA)

While resting in my room at the Courtyard Fort Worth West this morning, I learned that we would get our rescue team and a new pilot tonight. Not sure how long it will take to get the aircraft fixed, though. Meanwhile, I picked up a rental car from the nearby Enterprise (0915) and took some of the guys (most were still sleeping) over to the mall. Prior to dropping them off, I'd found out there was a good library for genealogy research down the road and I spent a little while there. Took a break for lunch at a good burger place and also got a haircut nearby. Later, I drove around Lake Worth. It sure is hot - probably hotter than the Middle East. I didn't think it could be that bad and everyone always says "its a dry heat." But sheeesh... Arrived back to the hotel in time for dinner with the guys. Had some more drinks at the hotel tonight - and welcomed the rescue crew and replacement pilot from the pub. From what they told me, it sounds like they'll be working on the plane all day tomorrow...

Fort Worth, TX (USA)

Was scheduled for a line mission today that provided a quick flight around the country today.  Despite the best planning, though, it turned out a little differently than I thought it would. After departing Norfolk, our first stop was at NAS Brunswick.  I let some of the guest pilots fly in my place - that made them very happy.  We had good subsequent legs through Willow Grove and Camp Springs. Airborne after the last stop, one of the passengers came to talk to me about a "hole in the wing." It turned out that it was a hole in the spoiler - not quite as bad. Still, it meant that we were grounded as soon as we landed in Fort Worth... I've never stayed there for the night and we hadn't made any previous lodging arrangements.  While our crew was coordinating with Maintenance Control back in Virginia, I reserved some rooms at the Courtyard Fort Worth West for everyone (points for my Marriott Rewards Card!). Jack told me he couldn't stay, so he ended up buying plane tickets to fly back to Norfolk. After checking into our hotel rooms (2130), we found out that the bar in the hotel only stays open until 2100.  One guy in our group convinced the girl behind the counter to stay open - of course, that decision had something to do with us buying a lot more drinks.... I went to bed around midnight. We'll see how long it takes to get "rescued"...

Montreal Trip - Day 15

Left Frederick at around 1000 and drove down into West Virginia - Nicky asked why.  I told her it was a secret but eventually revealed that this detour took us into Harpers Ferry, a place I wanted to show the kids.  We arrived at around lunch time - it was a nice day, breeze down the Potomac. We took part in a National Park Service tour and participated in family skit pretending to be people who lived here in the 1850s. We found white blazes for the Appalachian Trail and followed them to a metal bridge that was attached to a railroad trestle that crossed the Potomac River.  We made our way across and then hiked along the north bank of the river.  We saw some rafters lazily entering the Potomac from the Shenandoah River side - it looked like fun!  After we'd had fun for a while, we returned to the car - it was getting hot and I needed to be headed back to work.  Reluctantly, we got on the road again. We took the scenic route through the Shenandoah Valley and parts of the Piedmont. As we approached Richmond, I took the kids by the Pocahontas State Park.  They had lots of bike trails and it looked like it might be a nice place to try some camping someday. We continued south of Richmond and drove along the James River, where we passed lots of plantations just before sunset. These beautiful homes aren't far from home, so it might be worth a revisit. Got back to Virginia Beach by around 2000. Great trip!

Montreal Trip - Day 14

We woke up pretty early - I have to be at work soon! We continued on I-81, through Pennsylvania. We ended up heading down towards Gettysburg on US-15. I wanted to see a monument that I read about recently: there was a soldier in the battle (Amos Huddleston) who was mortally wounded. He crawled into town and died in a vacant lot. He was found the next day, clutching a small photograph of his children. Local people circulated copies of the pictures throughout the North and his family was eventually located. When we arrived in Gettysburg, we got some directions and found a little stone marker on the site where Amos was found. Later, we drove down towards Emmitsburg, MD. We drove up to Marymount - there is a huge statue of Mary on the hill and a shrine. We also discovered a memorial to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and walked around in the area where she lived. We spent the night in Frederick.

Montreal Trip - Day 13

We checked out of the Four Points by Sheraton on Rue Sherbrooke at 1010.  After stopping to see the ruins of old Saint Ann's Church (Coogan family parish), we drove out of Montreal around 1100. We continued on the north side of the Saint Lawrence and decided to head down towards the Thousand Islands. Along the way, we stopped for poutine again at PFK. When we reached Morrisburg, we learned about a historic park (Upper Canada Village) that told the history of old British Canada. When we got there, we were surprised to learn that they were doing a reenactment of a War of 1812 battle at Crysler’s Farm Battlefield Park (next door)! We decided to stay there for a short time and were treated to finely dressed military "actors" marching and playing fifes and drums. The weather was great, and the river was right behind the action. At around 1600 we drove down to see some of the Locks that are used in the river - the kids liked watching the huge ships moving up and down. By around 1700 we were in the Thousand Islands region. We explored some of the small vacation villages on both sides of the river - it looked like a great place to spend the summer! We crossed back into the US before dark and Nicky managed to get us the VAT rebate - this is the first time this has worked. We continued south on I-81 and it got dark soon after. We drove as far as we could and ended the night in central New York State.

Montreal Trip - Day 12

We were going to leave today, but we learned about a special program that is held at night at Notre Dame du Montreal - another church the Coogans attended. In the morning, I showed Nicky and the kids where the old city was (Vieux Montreal) and dropped back in for a little more genealogy before I met up with them for lunch. By then, Nicky had bought us tickets for the show - held later that afternoon. When we got there, the church was dark and the walls were shrouded in curtains. We got some head-phones that were designed to present the show in English. When it began, there were lights coming from all directions and different parts of the church were revealed as the history of Catholic Montreal was told. At the finale, the entire alter and artwork were uncovered and we were stunned at the beauty. Nicky said this was the best thing she has seen on the trip - very moving and a great experience. We walked around the church afterwards and took some pictures where Owen and Ann O'Hare might have stood when they were married here in 1843. We had a late dinner and went shopping in Chinatown. We also enjoyed one last evening in the Jazz Festival. Back in our hotel (Four Points by Sheraton on Rue Sherbrooke), the kids talked until quite late about how fun the trip had been.  We are all sad that we'll be leaving in the morning...

Montreal Trip - Day 11

I got up early and walked over to work at the Montreal Archives. Most everyone speaks French, but there were a few nice ladies there who were also working on their genealogy. They helped me find things and, after some searching, I located records of Owen and his family. I found two new children (they died as infants) and nailed down some other loose ends. Things were very organized and I spent nearly the whole day there. Meanwhile, Nicky and the kids took the subway over to the Biodome - a nature adventure park. They came back with lots of great stories about how much fun they had. After a short rest at the hotel (Four Points by Sheraton on Rue Sherbrooke), we walked down to Chinatown. We found a great restaurant - very inexpensive - and spent several hours sampling their food. We walked around the Jazz Festival again - fun!

Montreal Trip - Day 10

It appears we have chosen Montreal wisely - they are having their Jazz Festival this week!!! What a great time to be here! Things don't get really going until late, so we kept to my plan of visiting the old town. We drove around Griffintown and discovered the homes have all been bulldozed to make room for huge parking lots. The lots seem to be used to store cars that come off the ships. I guess this place used to flood a lot and the whole area was diseased and slum-like. The roads are still there, so we found the blocks where the Coogans used to live. The Cote des Neiges Cemetery was great - the stones all had markings on them (easy to find) and the whole place was very organized. We found the stones of Owen and his children - he was the first of us to come over from Ireland. The kids seemed interested... At the end of the day, we went back to the hotel (Four Points by Sheraton on Rue Sherbrooke) and dropped off our car. We then spent the rest of the evening walking around the Jazz Festival. There were some great performances and the whole environment was relaxed and safe. The kids have really never spent any time in a "sky-scraper" city, so they ate the whole experience up! It will be a great few days!

Montreal Trip - Day 9

We checked out of the Holiday Inn Select, Quebec Centre-Ville at 1010 and headed towards Montreal.  To get there, we used a route on the north side of the Saint Lawrence River. When we were nearly half way, we started to see the huge and beautiful shrine of Saint Anne. We had to take a look! It seems to be relatively new and is amazing inside - awe inspiring. This Saint Anne is apparently the Patron Saint of Canada. There was a "Stations of the Cross" with life-size people on a very steep hill. After we had seen this beautiful place, we drove across to the Isle d'Orleans and toured the farmlands and open air produce markets. It was very small and there were few people. At the end of the day, we made it to Montreal - just in time for a huge rain storm! We had a reservation at the Four Points by Sheraton on Rue Sherbrooke but, when we arrived (1900), it was very hard to get a place to park.  Nicky and the kids got kind of scared that we wouldn't be able to get out of the car. I was double parked for a bit but eventually parallel parked my way into the "quiet" area of the check-in zone. Luckily, the hotel had some great service (done with check-in by 1920) and we soon forgot about needing a car again... Tomorrow, I am going to explore the old town and check out the Cemetery "Cote des Neiges" for Coogan ancestors...

Montreal Trip - Day 8

We woke up early at our hotel (Holiday Inn Select, Quebec Centre-Ville) to make sure we were one time for a tour (by bus) around Old Quebec City. We got to get out in a few pretty places and the tour bus driver took turns talking in English and French for the others in our group. He showed us some good places to eat and spend more time. We took his advice and had a delicious crepe meal (entire dinner was crepes of some kind). We looked around the old village and learned that we had arrived near the date of Samuel Champlain's birthday - I think he is one of the founders of Quebec City. Things were very festive and the weather was perfect. Nicky said she could stay here forever - "why go to Montreal at all?" Well, that is why we came, to see Montreal - where our Coogan family used to live...

Montreal Trip - Day 7

After checking out of the Shelburne Days Inn, we headed north.  It's been a week on vacation and now we are headed into Canada! Due to Canada Day celebrations, we needed to wait an extra day to get an affordable hotel. Initially, I figured that Quebec City would be a good start to the experience (more French!) and we crossed the border on Grand Isle. We then drove along the Saint Lawrence River (south side) and found out that Kentucky Fried Chicken is called PFK here. They have this great meal called "poutine" - fries, sour cream, cheese all mixed. I know it sounds bad for you, but it tastes good! We made it to Ville de Quebec at around 1500 and located our hotel (Holiday Inn Select, Quebec City Centre-Ville).  After checking in (1540), we took advantage of the great weather and explored the area near our hotel. From our window, we had a great view of St. Roch's Church (more of a Cathedral). Everything is definitely French. We'll have a tour tomorrow!

Montreal Trip - Day 6

After a nice night in the Shelburne Days Inn, we arrived at the reason I'd brought the family this way: the Morgan Horse Farm (UVM property)! We got there pretty early and toured the place - Mollie was in heaven. It was actually kind of hard to drag her away! After some lunch, we drove East to a park with Robert Frost Poems along an interpretive trail (apparently the inspiration for most of his work). We saw some beautiful water falls and then we headed up to Stowe. I was planning to stop at the Ben and Jerry's factory already, so that was nice, but we also found some cider and maple sugar farms that really got Nicky and the kids excited. We also explored the Trapp Family Lodge - would be a nice place to stay someday... As dusk approached, we were going back to the hotel. Just before we got back on the interstate, we saw that Stowe was having a July 4th Fair. As we parked and were planning to go in, a local boy stopped us and asked if we wanted some free tickets that his family couldn't use - wow! He showed us where to go and took us to one of the local firemen who were running the fair (and fireworks display). There were pony rides, cotton candy, pretzels, burgers and dogs - just like the kind of fair you always wanted to attend. And we were right underneath the fireworks when they began (a little TOO close for Mollie!). Afterwards, we drove back to our hotel in Shelburne.  What a night!