#17 My Summer Vacation(s)

Since I started my blog in the fall I am a bit late with "What I did on my summer vaction." I did so many fun things I'd like to do a short recap.

June - Bike Virginia. I joined 1,999 other cyclists on the Journey Through Hallowed Ground, seeing wonderful scenery and a few battlefields along the way. I met a couple of cool guys, Bruce and Steve, and we had lots of laughs.



The route started and ended in Charlottesville and I was able to spend time with former Indy friends, Kelly and Mary. I spent a fun-filled evening with some of their friends enjoying great company and killer homemade pizza by Chef Todd. My last stop was Midlothian to visit my college roommate Tammi and her husband David and kids Ashleigh and Christopher.

August - South Haven, Michigan. My brother, Paul and family rented a house in South Haven and I spent a couple of days with them.



The town has lots of shops, restaurants, a Sherman's Ice Cream Shop and, of course, a wonderful beach.



August - Western Shoreline Bicycle Tour. My friend Julie and I drove to Traverse City, MI to join the three-day portioin of a seven-day bicycle tour. We rode to Mackinaw City by way of Charlevoix and Harbor Springs. (Unfortunately, due to my flash drive deblacle mentioned in Post #6, I lost my Michign pictures.)

Labor Day Weekend - I ended the summer by attending a weekend at the U.S. Open in Flushing, NY. Julie and I met up with my friend Tammy from Ft. Lauderdale. The last time Julie and I went we were rained out Saturday, but this year the weather was perfect and we had two glorious days of tennis. We saw all the big names - Nadal, Federer, Sharipova, Willams(x2), Hewit, and applauded the comeback of a former big name - Klijsters. But the best part of the weekend was meeting and getting a photo with one of my favorite players, Max Mirnyi, aka "The Beast". My new "buddy" Nick Bollettieri was gracious enough to help me out a little after Max won one of his doubles matches on a side court. (Again,due to my flash drive deblacle, I lost my U.S. Open pictures including my picture with Max. Hopefully I will run into Nick again next year and he can help me out. I did save one picture on my desktop.)