10 Weeks of Summer in 2 Weeks Time

Another whirlwind of chores, visiting, and activities, as we stopped back at home base for the past two weeks. It's been fun catching up with friends, neighbors and family, getting in some mountain biking on local trails, wakeboarding in the Connecticut River, and fishing in Long Island Sound. Ate some great sushi in Branford, dined dockside at the Blue Oar, scarfed pizza in Farmington, shish-kabobs in Rocky Hill, and had the BEST swordfish that ever passed my lips at the River Tavern in Chester.

Here's what our calendar looked like over the last 14 days:

Dinner with Scott & Kristen; Bike with Dan E; Sushi with David; Boating & dinner with the Lawrences; Dinner with the Shirley's; dinner with Lillian & Mike; with Lisa; with Scott & Kristen; Bike with Dan E, Dan S & Sean; Tea with Alyssa & family; dinner with Surkis' & Carney's; dinner with Clark's, Youmatz's & Rapp's; Fish with Jeff; dinner with John & Debbie; Party for Scott including Mom & Dad from Maine; BBQ at Carty's; River Tavern with Torops; evening cruise with Carty's.

I was grossly negligent in capturing most of our socializing on camera, but here is a sampling, mostly from our waterborn adventures: (Remember: photos will enlarge when clicked on.)

Athena, Nancy & Theonne en route to the Blue Oar:


Gene and I at the helm:


Austin passes the boat on skiis:


Jeff fighting one of the many nice fish on Bartlett's Reef, in Long Island Sound:


We lost quite a few flies to the sharp teeth of bluefish, until switching to wire leaders. Here Jeff displays one of the blues that we brought on board!


Nothing like the thrill of catching a striped bass on a popper with a fly rod!


Here I am enjoying the fight:


A nice, healthy striped bass, although still a few inches shy of a keeper:



Scott making turns on the wakeboard:


Kristin getting on plane:


Here I am carving a turn:


Scott's spectacular crash & splash:


Scott & Kristen on a romantic tube ride:


Family dinner - an early birthday party for Scott. Happy 27th!


Barbeque at the Carty's:



So tomorrow, the 1st of September, we embark on phase 3 of our journey. We'll head west from here, stopping in Cleveland and Chicago. From there, it's unclear which direction we'll go, but what is clear is that we're looking forward to getting back on the road!