Halloween - Piglet Race

Molly posed nicely for a Halloween picture at the front door with Bear.

But, did you miss the Halloween piglet race here in Marana? No worries, we captured the highlights below:

And the winner was ... piggy #1. (Drat ... should have shot video on this one.)

Homeward Bound

After 3 weeks on the road between Tucson and Boston -- we're headed home. The weather has changed from September mild to cold, wet and rainy.

So the going is not as fast as we hoped. Each night we reach a hotel, we consider some sightseeing and then nix it in favor of driving further. Somewhere in the Texas panhandle, we take a rest stop. The facilities are gorgeous and seem to blend into the Texas landscape.

Sept: Jim & Kims

Our next stop was Jim and Kims to see the Duxbury branch of the family. With cookies, coffee and Uncle Frank, it was another good visit. Difficult to get a picture of Kim, who played "cover my face with a napkin so you can't take a picture".

Sept: Paula's House

We had the chance to see most relatives at a get-together at Paula and Bev's. It was fun to see everyone -- and how much the kids have all grown.

Sept: THE Wedding

We've known Matt since he was a toddler -- his mom, Linda, and I have been friends since the day we registered our sons for YMCA pre-school. So, this was another exciting lifetime event.

Matt and Ashley were married in Chestertown, MD, just outside D.C., where they both live and work. It was an outdoor ceremony followed by a tented reception and a Happiest Hour featuring corn toss, ladder golf and Bocce.

The bride and her father; Mark and Linda

The Bridesmaids

The Newlyweds

Sept: Fredericksburg Battlefields

Fredericksburg, VA -- we're staying on the 3rd floor of a Residence Inn next to a major shopping center. Molly, I must say, has been a remarkable travel dog. She sleeps in the car by day, is quiet in the hotel rooms and has been intrigued by all the different varieties of grass each place we visit.

Fredericksburg -- just outside Washington, D.C. -- is the site of many Civil War battlefields. One of the two we visit still has a small house, where you can see the bullet holes from a battle in 1862.

We also see a visitor center at the spot where Gen. Stonewall Jackson was shot accidentally by his own men. He died later in a house in Chancellorsville. Coincidentally, we had seen the stone relief of Jackson, Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis years before at Stone Mountain outside Atlanta, GA.

We were at the graduation of our friends' son Matt and now, here we are, enroute to his wedding.

Sept: Graceland and Elvis

Next stop is Memphis, TN, where we spend the day visiting Graceland. We miss Elvis, but tour the mansion.

We are staying at the Days Inn, one block from the transportation hub for Graceland with Elvis shops, Elvis airplane and car museums and Elvis theaters. The mansion is a short drive -- feels like across the street.

The hotel is filled with British and Irish tourists who've come to see Graceland by day and sit around the hotel pool by night. There doesn't seem to be too much else of interest unless you can venture to the downtown area for blues.

The mansion is smaller than I would have suspected, but the grounds are huge. Floral wreath and bouquets surround the pool area, sent by fans. Guides tell us fans keep replenishing the flowers when they die.

The rooms are covered with mirrors ... not the oval ones we think of, but walls of glass mirror so Elvis could see his reflection everywhere. The "Jungle Room" is a combination family room/recording area he designed/furnished himself with lots of animal hides and animal print designs. Gaudy, flamboyant ... not dull.

Guides tell us you could hear Elvis when he walked down the staircase by the clanging sounds of all his jewelry.