2017 Life Logs, Day 222: Getting Ready for Travel and Beach Time
Date: Thursday, August 10, 2017
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High 82, Low 58 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
Ollie and I spent our morning getting ready for the Goldstone trip to Sweden. Ollie needed a light weight rain jacket and when I talked with Jed this morning, he expressed the need for another carry-on size bag. When the Goldstones arrive in Bergen, Norway, they will be taking buses and trains to get to Sweden. And once there, they will also be traveling by bus and train. Having luggage they can easily handle will be very important. I took over two large bags I bought to transport things to Justin and Jo in Puerto Rico, but one of those is just too big to handle easily. So, Ollie and I headed to Hyannis this morning to do some shopping. We did a ‘hunt and kill’ trip through Sears. We got an American Tourister spinner rolling bag for $23. I spotted this bag with a special price reduction tag. It said $63.00, so that made it the best bag for the price on the floor. But when I went to buy it, the cashier pointed out that the price tag described a different bag. She called the manager, which took a very long time, but when he came, he was happy to sell the bag to me for the price on the tag. When the cashier rang it up, the total was only $23. I pointed out to her that this price was much cheaper than the price tag indicated, but she said she had to sell it to me for that amount. Fine with me! We then went to the Lands End section at Sears and found a rain jacket for Ollie. He also found a pair of sports pants and a long sleeve shirt that he loved, so we bought that as well, and then headed home. By the time we dropped off the new luggage, it was time to go pick up Sam and Jonah from soccer camp. And the day tumbled on from there. We had lunch at my house and made our way to Stoney Beach in Woods Hole to meet up with the Hennen’s—Jeanne, with sons Cole and Leo. They bought a one-man inflatable kayak yesterday and brought that to the beach. Immediately Sam and Cole took off in the kayak. Leo is a fantastic collector of critters and he spent his afternoon collecting pipefish, a baby pufferfish, and a crab.
It was low tide and a great time for snorkeling, so we all did a bit of that as well.
Near the end of the afternoon when Jeanne brought the kayak to shore, Ollie asked her if he could take it out. She looked at me and I told her that he was actually an experienced kayaker. But I assured her that I would follow along. Ollie easily handled the kayak and then Jonah wanted a turn and he showed off his skill as well. When Jonah returned, Jeanne decided to go out again and Ollie asked if he could tag along on the back of the kayak.
When the boys return from Sweden, we will have to get our two-man inflatable in the water. There has just been no time for any kind of boating this summer. And summer is slipping away. It was almost 7:30 when I finally drove home from the Goldstones and the sun was setting. Just a few weeks ago, sunset was closer to 8:30. Ouch! This summer has passed too quickly.
