Spanky's Clubhouse

New York another wonderful place to visit especially upstate New York. We were able to visit in May and in July. We flew in May and drove there in July because our daughter Lori was there. New York City was fantastic and we actually got to go to a New York Yankee's game in May-my dream since I was a Yankee fan in 1961. What a beautiful day it was when we went to the game. Central Park is fantastic. Lori lived in Beacon which is 60 miles north of the city and really a beautiful area. Joel, our son, was able to go with us in May. His favorite thing was going to visit the Orange County Choppers store to see all the motorcycles they make there. We all enjoyed West Point Military Academy and also, Hyde Park, along the Hudson River that was the home of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. It was all wonderful! Then to see all the things that Lori and her group of lay assistants did at the Capuchin Youth and Family Ministry Center for the past year. The youth have been inspired there and no one will ever know the impact they have had on these young people. Great job. It was sad to say goodbye to New York and all the wonderful people we met there. Wow, my idea of New York State and City have changed. There were so many wonderful people who treated us great. Tom, who drove to the city and picked us up at LaGuardia after we missed our plane, The Moore Family, Pat, Linda, Laura, Kyle, and Carolyn, who treated us wonderful every time we went to New York, the entire CYFM staff, Fr. Fred, Brother Lake and the other Lay Assistants-an experience that is hard to describe in words. Thanks, Lori, for being our guide and leading us to another wonderful experience.

Summer has been fantastic and we hate to say goodbye! We started in June and took the trip of a lifetime to Alaska. This has always been our dream to visit the 49th state and finally it happened after 32 years of talking about it. We took a tour with Lindstrom Travel out of Rockford and they were experts about going there as we were the 21st tour they had guided to the land of pure wilderness. Thank goodness for Wally who owns the tour company - he wrote Wally's tips and we checked them everyday to see where Wally recommended to eat, what to do and sometimes what to wear. Alaska is great and if you ever want to see beautiful country that is the place to go. We went for ten days on land and no total darkness for all ten days. We saw place that we never knew existed like Chicken, Eagle, and Tok Alaska. We are still not sure they really exist as not much to them. We even went white water rafting which was fun and exciting but a little scary but we made it. Then we boarded a cruise at Skagway and the Zuiderdam(our beautiful cruise ship) was fantastic. Since we had never been on a cruise it was an all new and exciting experience. The food is great and you can eat any time of day or night. We have now visited all50 states in the United States so that has been quite an accomplishment.