Family visit with Larry, Randi and Charlie.

Rob Keeble

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GTA Ontario Canada
This weekend has been hectic. Started out Friday morning at 6:30 am with a ride to Kingston Ontario to collect youngest son ending the 2nd year of University.
Then back to King City to dump all the dirty washing :) and other student bagage and off to Port Huron for overnight stop. Sat am we hit the road to the Ambassadors country estate. Oh man how i love his place and setting.

I learnt something about myself upon arrival.....I am an excitable character...Charlie and i had a great reunion, Larry best guard him. :)
It was sooooo good to see Larry again after all the time since Burning woods. For me its like meeting up with a long lost brother each time. Big bear hugs followed with youngest son being more formal with handshake. I just smiled to myself and thought " yup us rednecks will have to knock a few edges of this stiff".
To say i was like a kid on a sugar rush is putting it mildly. We wasted no second getting the tour of the home (pre planned between Larry and I to influence the young un about what its like to be a real hunter) .
Pasquinnel if he was real and alive would be more than at home. Discovered Larry has more than one "shop" got to see his inhouse man cave. Very very cool because its just around the bend from Randis quilting shop. I became like a pointer dog just gawking in silence as Larry told us both about hunting and showed us some of his trophy buck horns. There was a ton more said and showed but i dont wish to spoil it for anyone that aint visited this couple of special people.
Then youngest got a quick tour of Randis outfit and saw there is more to life than schooling and weight lifting and texting/video games.
Nearly got a chance to steal ...errr comandeer that great quilt Randi made Larry of all his hunting experiences over the years. Thats a family heirloom for sure. Suggested she make one of the woodworking years. There just may be a suprise i the future. ;)
By now Larrys throat was drying out so it was time for some refreshment. That was when another scoop came out and Larry hauls this jug of something out the fridge.
I am thinking oh boy not sure Larry knows i dont drink whiskey lol and i aint one to be offending hosts, was scrambling to think of how i was going to manouver out of this. I still had to drive back same day. :(.
Well turns out all is well, this was a jug of great hand crafted IPA beer. To say we have a lot in common on this forum is putting it mildly. Yum yum is the best i can say and again i am laughing at the student used to drinking (beer that looks like water and starts with Bud). But he liked it and thought i was cool.

Well time is moving on rapidly so we head for the garage and Larry shows us a bow and lets me try pull it back at which point i realized i best get going to gym. Not that mr young muscle standing next to me could do any better without the aid of a guy with a grey beard. Think that showed the young buck a thing or two. Lol. When Larry (man he is strong as hercules) cranked this bow back like it was nothing.

Then it was time for some lovely lunch that Randi had prepared for us. She knows how to cook and feed men. Vaughn did not stop bending my ear all the way back about how great the meal was Larry ,please pass on to Randi. He sure put a dent in the table of food, here i am feeling like a fat big pig trying to cut back at every turn but keep getting faced with these occassions. Whats a man to do. Restraint is what i tried to practice.

So we have another glass of meade and i happen to ask if this is available in the store and where. Well before i can say anything Randi offers to go pick up some more while we check out the shop.
Next thing Randi is off to town and arrives with four jugs in her hands like a German Beerhall maiden.
I am thinking how do i explain this to the border guys.
uploadfromtaptalk1398615653949.jpg but all in vain they had no issue with it. Evidence is above.

Well we spent the next few hours talking business in Larrys shop yackity yackity yackity then it was time for checking out the new planner head. And i have already commented about that impression in the other thread.
Time was running out fast and young un was getting antsy and i only found out why on way back. He had thought we would be home by around 8 thru 10 so the girlfriend he had not seen in a few months would be coming over. But since i got going with Larry and we only left later than originally thought, this was not going to be possible. She gave him an earful after we crossed the border. Lol. I told him he was getting a taste for married life. Lol

Then it was time to use the muscle and load up the DP that Larry had kindly brought back from Melissas place. Went without issue and frankly in hindsight i could have gone on my own and spent more time visiting. I had been really worried about lifting the beast and with my arthritis i did not think i would be able to. But Larry had made it way too easy by breaking it down for me. Still Vaughn got to spend time unwinding from exams and getting to see and learn about another side of life and a different part of USA.
Btw roads in Michigan are being and have been getting big attention. Saw lots of positives and new road surfaces and even new bridges or significant repairs already underway so things are bouncing back.

Now we left home in such a hurry we did not get to take a few things Linda had put out for me to take with when visiting. (Got my ear chewed off when we got back) . so we tried to make up for it by having a stop at my favorite eating place Crackerbarrel and pick up some items. But when it came time to leave our packet was back on the car waiting for us to take back and i thought oh oh now you done it Rob. But guess what was i side. Yup more supplies..
uploadfromtaptalk1398616580586.jpg so be warned if stop by them Michiganders its hard to keep your diet in shape or leave without a full load.
I was quiet sad to leave so soon, dont get to spend enough quality time with people that i can relate to as often as i feel we should in life but there is always the next time to look forward to.
Thanks Larry Randi and Charlie for a great visit, and the vitels to bring home. Thanks Jay and Melissa for making this possible.

Larry i do seem to have acquired a bolt thats not part of my Dp as far as i can tell. Dont know if Vaughn picked up something he shouldnt or if you put this in the pile to have me scratching my head.:)uploadfromtaptalk1398616953584.jpg Any idea if it is off Dp where it goes and if not do you need it back :)

Sidenote...mothernature sure took a big hit this winter. Not only up our way but all the way from Port Huron through to Larry the trees have been hit by that winter ice storm that came through. Big trees and reall 6 in or more branches snapped like toothpicks i a giants hand.
Very sad to see. Saw two lots of guys on the road with trailers hauling some really large diameter logs i suspect home for a local sawyer to convert to lumber.




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Sounds like a very enjoyable & rewarding trip. But then again, Larry is not the Ambassador for reasons less than great hospitality & kinship.
 
rob dont recognize the bolt,, is it metric or standard? it appears to be used in a large casting that may have had a threw hole for swiveling?

maybe for anchoring the table in place so as to not swivel rob..
 
Any visit with Larry is fantastic! I'm glad you had a good time!

We're looking forward to making the trek up to that part of the country next year to visit whoever will have us.
 
Glad you had a great time, I am green of envy. I'd like to meet all of you again, maybe Marisol and me can plan something for this summer, but too many of you scattered around a big country, and so few days of holidays ( not to mention the budget). :(
 
Rob, that bolt, is it the one that goes horizontally to keep the drill table from sliding down the tube? Which means you should have a handle of some sort for the threaded end.

Family Gathering next summer in Indiana?
 
Rob, that bolt, is it the one that goes horizontally to keep the drill table from sliding down the tube? Which means you should have a handle of some sort for the threaded end.

Family Gathering next summer in Indiana?
I thought you mentioned summer 2015 previously Jon. Have you changed your mind? Anyway either this summer or in 2015 I say the same, count me in!
 
I thought you mentioned summer 2015 previously Jon. Have you changed your mind? Anyway either this summer or in 2015 I say the same, count me in!

Won't be this summer. 6 months of not lifting or moving manure has created a "crappy" situation in our barns! Have another dr appt. this coming Tuesday, hoping he will allow more lifting and movements. Lou and I agreed we should be ready for a 2015 Family Gathering here in North West Indiana. South Bend and O'Hare airports are close as well as Indianapolis airport I guess. It will be when school is out so Mr and Mrs Levine can make it. Guess I'll have to make a thread eventually on it. Get a sticky on it, maybe Steve can get a Family Gathering section created by then!
 
if jon is strong enough and willing next summer, Ill be there, and elen said shes going so she can meet up with Randi again.
its certainly a long time away, but I think attendance should be pretty good there.
Id probably do it over the course of several days and make some stops along the way, or the way back.
 
Rob, glad you got a Family visit in and glad your son got to see how good friendships work. Family visits are the very best.

And my calendar is marked for the summer/fall of 2015 as well. And the sooner a finite date is chosen the better for those of us who have to make plans to travel. I am still a working girl. I need to plan ahead. :)

My travels for this year are almost behind me and a lot of year left! A string of family visits with a prize in the back of my truck. How very, very cool.
 
Won't be this summer. 6 months of not lifting or moving manure has created a "crappy" situation in our barns! Have another dr appt. this coming Tuesday, hoping he will allow more lifting and movements. Lou and I agreed we should be ready for a 2015 Family Gathering here in North West Indiana. South Bend and O'Hare airports are close as well as Indianapolis airport I guess. It will be when school is out so Mr and Mrs Levine can make it. Guess I'll have to make a thread eventually on it. Get a sticky on it, maybe Steve can get a Family Gathering section created by then!

Not to hijack a thread...but we'll take that month off if that's what it takes! More than looking forward to it!!
 
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