Saturday, July 14, 1984
Sneaking in a photo from Charlestown Beach, RI.
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| Kent, Erich, and Kyle |
Thursday,
July 26, 1984
We
were going to Kent’s reunion of his college buddies, and it was Mary Jane who
suggested he take me. She was bringing Barney and the kids.
Ralph
picked up Kent to go to work today. I took Kent’s car to Goodyear on Taunton
Avenue, then walked to work. After work, Mary B took me to Goodyear to pick
up the car. I cashed my paycheck, then dropped my keys off at Cathy H’s
house, so she could use our kitchen if she wanted while hers was being remodeled, and water my plants. I
arrived at Kent’s office late at 16:45 (he expected me at 16:30), but he was
still working. We left at 17:00, took I-95 south and counted six 35-cent tolls
through Connecticut. Took I-287 in New York over to the Tappan Zee Bridge (I
used to work there, my brothers live here, etc.), then to the Garden State
Parkway (my dad grew up here, this is how I used to go to work, etc.) with only
two tolls. Next I-80, where we stopped in Parsippany for gas. I took over
driving, and Kent didn’t appreciate my following the lanes in the empty parking
lot, and took I-278, then I-78 to Harrisburg. Paid 10-cents to enter
Pennsylvania. There was a lot of one-lane traffic due to construction. Kent
slept while I maneuvered between Jersey barriers. I saw signs for the PA Turnpike,
already?! I got on, then realized I was on the Northeast Extension. Later joined the
actual Turnpike. At Harrisburg I exited to find a cheap Red Roof Inn, but it
was full. I was having trouble getting Kent’s manual shift into first gear.
Kent drove us to a Howard Johnson where we got a room for $54.
Friday,
July 27, 1984
We had
breakfast at HoJo’s, then checked out and left at 9:00 to return to the PA
Turnpike and head west. Went through several tunnels, and it turned out that
Kent also thought the area looked like the Swiss Jura! After eating two more of
our packed sandwiches, I took over driving and turned onto I-70. I got to drive
through West Virginia and into Ohio. Kent took over 30 miles from Columbus,
since he knew the way. In Reynoldsville we could see a chimney and a couple
outbuildings, the remains of a place that Stuart and Cheryl T once rented.
Columbus had changed a lot since Kent was there last, but he found King Street
near the Ohio State University campus, and Hewitt’s house, a lovely old house.
Martha answered the door and the inside was exactly what the outside promised.
Oriental carpets in every room, antique furniture, mostly of oak to match the
fantastic oak woodwork.
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| Hewitt's house |
We had arrived at about 15:30. Soon Hewitt came
home from work, and 2-year old Sarah woke up from her nap. Sarah was very into "The Wizard of Oz," and was Dorothy for the day, complete with red slippers! They
had a video of the movie, and could search the tape to replay favorite parts. We
saw the “Yellow Brick Road” six times!
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| Sarah |
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| Hewitt, Sarah, and Martha |
Kent and Hewitt left to do errands and
came home with beer. At 17:30,
Stu and Cher arrived. He is American with both his parents being Japanese. She
is a petite blond of Scandinavian descent. They had two adorable daughters; 6-year old Cecelia was a beautiful “Polynesian-type,” and 2-year old
Sonja was more Asian looking, but with sandy-colored hair, absolutely cute!
Sarah was happy they had arrived.
We sat outside as the sun lowered. It was
decided to have pizzas, and so Kent and Hewitt went to get pepperoni and cheese.
They were gone an awful long time. It was getting dark when the pizzas were
finally started. We all went in the living room to eat, and they put on the
Nutcracker Ballet on video. The four youngest girls were enthralled!
Kent and Stu were put to sleep. They convinced the littlest ones that the video
was over before it was actually done, so that they could be sent to bed. Cheryl
went to one bedroom with her two girls, and Martha went to Sarah’s room where
she and Hewitt would sleep. Sarah has a crib with lots of spiraling spindles.
Hewitt and I watched a couple music videos between the sleeping Kent and Stu.
Then I got our bags and Hewitt showed me to another antique bedroom with a
ceramic pitcher and basin, pictures that hung with red ropes tacked to the picture
rail, and a ceiling fan.
Saturday,
July 28, 1984
The
bright sunshine woke me at 7:00. Kent and I went down at 8:00 to find Hewitt
giving Sarah breakfast. We had jelly-filled croissants. One by one the others
came down, heading straight for the coffee. Kirby was also coming to the reunion,
but there was no plan for getting him to the reunion until Kent and I initiated
it. Kirby was then called with the plan, and I cleaned out Kent’s car (something to
keep me busy!), and we packed Hewitt’s car. Stu and Cher left with their girls
to visit old stomping grounds before heading to Oxford. Martha had to work that
day.
We went to fill Kent’s car with gas while Hewitt did not, and followed
Hewitt to the airport, where we left Kent’s car for Kirby, leaving the keys
inside the gas cover. We also left a note at the People Express desk, with
directions to Oxford. Plus Kent called Kirby again to clarify the details, while I showed
Sarah the airplanes. At 13:00, we all climbed in Hewitt’s car to head to
Oxford, and now he stopped for gas! We followed I-70, then turned off to follow country
roads through slightly rolling hills of cornfields, and could smell the “fresh
country air.” We stopped in Eaton at a beverage store to stock up on beer. We
had fruit and pretzels in lieu of lunch.
We
entered Oxford, with its good-sized Miami University, where Kent had graduated
in 1971. We drove straight through town; the business section had grown since
Kent was here last a dozen years ago or so. We found the Miami Motel at 15:30,
and checked in where two rooms were reserved in Kirby’s name! Kent and I took
one room with the intent of sharing it with Kirby, and gave the other to Stu
and Cher. Howard and her clogging friend Duane saw us as we checked in. (They seemed to call many people by their last names, including women!) We were ready to leave, but Hewitt had things to do. Then he got a call from
David and Adienne R, who were at her mother’s house. They would meet us
at the hotel. Howard and Duane left to go on to Hueston Woods. I got more ice for
the beers, and a third set of towels from the Asian Indian proprietor. When
they arrived, Adienne was tall and thin, unlike all the other petite women I
had met. Kent called David “Robert Redford’s brother,” and he was definitely in
the best shape of all the men. They had two red-headed kids, Colin and Sonia,
both pronounced with flat ‘o’s. They were also six and almost two years old. We
drove to Hueston Woods, a huge state park, to the camping area to find section
'O,' place numbers 149-150 in the 'B' camping area. When we arrived, only Howard and
Duane were there. As I got out of the car, I spotted a 4-leaf clover!
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| Four-leaf clover |
Barney
arrived with Mary Jane, Kyle, Erich, and 5-year old Hannah, the daughter of Morgan. All the kids ran off to the playground, and I
went off after them. One by one the adults wandered over. I went with Erich to
get a drink, and we ended up talking to Duane. People got together to plan a
dinner, and Mary Jane and Barney took Hannah with them to go shopping, and stop
at Hewitt’s room in the hotel to shower. They were gone a long time. Then
Morgan and her friend Rick arrived in a VW camper with Minnesota plates. But
they had come from Alaska. Howard had lived in Alaska, but moved to Oregon to
be with Duane. David and Adienne came from Illinois.
The
T family had also arrived at the campsite. Morgan and Rick decided to go see
sailboats, and I took Kyle, Erich, Cecelia, and Colin to go with them. We
stopped at the beach and let the kids go wading, but of course they got wet up
to their waists! Cecelia fell in and got wet all the way. They found a couple
two-inch long dead fish. We meandered back to the campsite, with Morgan
practicing driving. We stopped to pick a bouquet of wildflowers and to see a
bunny rabbit. Morgan, Rick and Hannah had traveled through India last November,
too!
Stu
was marinating and shish-kebobing chicken while larger pieces cooked on the
grill. Corn on the cob was boiling and then rolled on sticks of butter. There
was a tossed salad and dessert was M&Ms. Beer was freely guzzled. Kyle
wanted his dead fish on his plate!
It
got dark and the kids caught lightning bugs and played hide ‘n’ seek. Soon Kent was asleep
on my shoulder. The kids were bedded down, and the adults gathered around the
campfire, while Kent snoozed. David and Adienne left for her mother’s house. On
their way out they ran into Kirby, and showed him the way to the campsite. So
everyone who was to be there had arrived, except Margot, who used to be Jim.
She was a nurse with the Olympics in Los Angeles, which had just opened. A lot
of names and places were tossed around, but at least I wasn’t the only clueless
person! Kirby drove Kent and me to the hotel for the night. Kirby wanted to try the massage vibrator hooked to the bed, but even
with one quarter used to push in the other, both quarters got stuck. No massage!
Sunday,
July 29, 1984
We
checked out of the hotel for $37, and went for breakfast at Kroger’s. We met
David and Adienne there. We toured Oxford a bit, seeing the old houses where
Kent and Kirby used to live. We drove down the main drag and found an old
bakery hangout. Kirby got a jelly donut, Kent a cheese pastry, and I got an
iced roll. We reached Hueston Woods about 10:30, and breakfast was still in
progress. Most of the kids were at the playground. Kent tried to shave using his car’s rearview mirror! I tried taking some photos,
but the light was too contrasting.
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| David with Colin, and Sonja T |
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| David with Sonia, Colin, and Adienne |
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| Duane with Hannah and Sarah |
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| Colin, Duane with Kyle, Erich |
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| Cecelia |
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| Mary Jane, Kyle, and Howard |
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| Barney and Kyle |
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| Kirby and Erich |
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| Morgan and Kirby |
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| Stu and Hewitt |
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Stu, Kent with Kyle, Mary Jane with Erich, Howard with Sonja,
Morgan, Hewitt with Sarah, Rick, Kirby, Barney, Tamiko |
People started to pack up and leave, first David and Adienne at 12:30. Then Stu and Cher. We were scheduled to leave at 13:00, but then another car pulled up, with another couple who almost missed the reunion. It was Ron and Loiann I., and their two blond boys, Spencer and Jordan. Morgan took aside one kid to talk about his troubles at school. I later learned she works in psychology. We then reset our departure for 13:30.
We took off with me in the back seat with Kyle and Erich, and Kirby in front with Kent. Hewitt followed us with Sarah. Near Springfield, we made a pit stop and Kirby transferred to Hewitt’s car. He would go visit with Martha, then catch the plane from Columbus. Kent headed down a highway towards a water tower to follow his nose in search of the Ohio Masonic Home. He stopped for directions at a gas station; we were on the right road, just going in the wrong direction. Soon we arrived at the impressive grounds of the Masonic Home, where Kent’s grandfather, Ray H, is living. We had a short visit with the rather alert 92-year old.
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Ray H, Kent
Erich, Kyle |
Next
we drove Kyle and Erich to their Uncle Bill’s house in Columbus, OH, stopping
at a Wendy’s for dinner. We arrived at 18:00, and met the uncle, and his two
children, Billy and Cassie. Mary Jane and Barney hadn’t arrived yet, but we went
ahead and left at 18:30. Kent drove to the next pit stop, then I drove into
Pittsburgh to arrive at Anita C’s house at 22:30. Michael was still up to
greet us. Yun-ko took Kent into the family room to watch the Olympics, then put
Michael to bed. Anita fried up some egg rolls for a snack.
Monday,
July 30, 1984
After
breakfast, we took off at 8:00, taking I-81 to Harrisburg to I-80 to New
Jersey. We stopped in Stroudsburg for lunch, then continued from I-80 to the
Garden State Parkway, to the NY Thruway and the Tappan Zee Bridge, then I-287
to I-95 into Rhode Island.
