Stockholm to Baltimore to Seneca and back

I went back to the US last week for 7 days. It's been almost a year. What surprises me most is that things I used to dislike in the US I now admire. Similarly, things I initially dislike in Sweden, I now like. Odd how that works.

I flew to Baltimore to meet my daughter and her fiance. We then drove 10 plus hours to Oconee county South Carolina to meet other family members, including J who'd been there already for several weeks spending quality time with her family (and mine). There we celebrated my Mother-in-law's 80'th birthday and gave my daughter a bridal shower. It was family fun for several days. I can't believe how gracious my wife's family was in giving my daughter and her fiance such a nice shower!



One thing that amazed me was the fireworks show put on by Neville's RV campground. It must have cost 10 or 20 thousand dollars. Heck, I don't know anything about fireworks - could have costs anything... It was just as good as the one at Folsom Field in Boulder! But the most amazing thing was that we watched it from a pontoon boat in the middle of a wide place in lake Keowee. But we weren't the only pontoon. There must have be a hundred. Just before dark they all just moseyed out from all directions, stopped and waited on the show. As the show was going on, you could see the silhouette's of all the boats and the fireworks reflections on the water - an amazing sight. I realize that pontoon boating is a sub-culture - just like anything else (like bicycling). When the show was over, the engines cranked and they lumbered off like zombies.

You can see my photos of the trip here. Those of you that are registered in Flickr as family (you have to do that) get to see more pictures than everybody else - I didn't want to embarrass any family members by showing their photos to the whole world. I have a collection of more generic photos for the rest of you.

Below you see a picture of me. Please remember that I was once young, had hair, and some muscle definition. My head looks like a smooth river rock with moss on it. Time changes everything. Oh well. The water was nice.