A wonderful three weeks in Ohio

 We flew to Ohio to spend 3 weeks with Cameron and Tina and the family.

                                     Flying into Dayton let the fun begin. 

       

Lunch and a tour of Sinclair College

with Jack

Both Arlo and Jack have 

the lucky Farmer thumb...

like my dad

Cameron graduated from Sinclair with honors 

with a degree in Engineering.

He began a second degree this summer in

Sinclair's Unmanned Aircraft program. 

Sorry you cant play the video

but it was fun to see on the Megatron.

Thanks to Tina for taking the video

Arlo will return to Wright State to finish 

his degree in Engineering after completing 

a 6 month internship at GE Aerospace.

Cameron collects antique cast iron

and we worked to restore this bean pot. 

Aislinn loves the kitties.

Always an opportunity for fun.

And figuring out a new smart watch

We enjoy the rain showers

And mowing the fast growing lawn

Cooking together is a treat 

in Cameron's outdoor kitchen

Exploring the Stillwater river

at the nearby Englewood Metro Park

We saw the Northern lights from the back yard

The Dayton area Metro Park system is wonderful

A bit of a muddy hike

And a nice picnic

Jack picks thorns from the Hawthorn tree

for Aislinns creation

Arlo fishes in his lucky? hat

Mike cleans the mud off his shoes

We take turns on the mower

Aislinn and I plant sunflowers

Jack and I walk to a lake park and 

enjoy frozen custard 

Cameron show us the drone program campus

And the Airforce base

 and a trip around Cabelas

before joining mikes sister Sharon 

and her husband Mike and their family 

for dinner

Steven in the black hoodie and Cameron

All grown up from this baby picture

Aislinns graduation from

 Northmont high school

Her other proud grandma

Jack still enjoys Legos

And Arlo takes a quick nap

after going fishing with his friends at 6am.

Cameron tries out his new pizza oven

And uses his prior Dominos experience

to even toss the dough

Arlo shows off his knife skills

The crazy Californians have to have

the traditional last night fire

even though its hot and humid

The end of a great family visit

A 24 hr drive to and from Texas, a total solar eclipse and visiting my 2 brothers

 Kelly and I have just returned from a 4 day 3,200 mile drive to Marlin Texas to visit my brother Bill and his wife Patty.

First night 13 hours drive to Albuquerque NM

and, keeping in theme,

 dinner at a restaurant called Cosmos.

Second day 11 hours to Marlin Texas

Bill and Patty live in Marlin Texas

where, after a good nights sleep

 we had an amazing viewing of the total solar eclipse

for over 4 minutes

                                   We saw a wonderful corona and solar flare 

                                   with the naked eye, but difficult to photograph

At total darkness the birds stopped talking, 

the outside lights came on and we could see stars

and planets in the sky.

Remember these were taken 

in the middle of the afternoon

                                        

                                            We had special glasses to view

                                          it entering into totality. When the sun light

                                      was returning the roosters next door crowed.

                                   After a picnic lunch we headed back the southern route

                                    to stop one more hotel night in western Texas 

                                    and one more stop to have lunch the next day 

                                    with my brother Simon in  Tucson Arizona.

A wonderful experience driving across country

with Kelly... singing and snacking all the way.

It was so nice sharing the awesome eclipse 

 with Bill and Patty

and seeing Simon .