The Curtis Clan - Summer 2022
Summer Solstice to Fall Equinox
WSU Orientation
We started Summer 2022 by driving to Wichita for a day and a half Student Orientation at WSU. While Bethany and Randy remembered having similar pre-college orientation visits to campus, it wasn't something one would bring their parents to back in the day. Today, it was not only allowed by actively encouraged (We missed out on one at WPI because of COVID restrictions to visiting the campus). We chose the I-44/Route 66/Frisco Railroad route, which was reportedly only 15 minutes longer (thank you Google Maps) and took us on lots of two-lane highways through southeast Kansas. It was a treat as we enjoyed lunch at the Pie Shop in Carthage on the courthouse square and found a great Indian Restaurant close to WSU (Passage to Indian) for dinner. The next day at WSU, we parked and Cate started walking with another student from the parking lot and didn't look back; an apt metaphor for the day and whole visit. The parents enjoyed the first Pizza Hut museum on campus though.
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Cate posing with the WSU Shocker mascot AFTER getting to school (none were taken at orientation despite her parents requests
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We took the Interstate home through the beautiful Flint Hills in all their summer glory of green bounty. We stopped in Columbia, MO for dinner at Rio Grande with Lesha and Anthony, enjoying the excellent, inexpensive and plentiful food of a college town toping it off with Randy's Frozen Yogurt.
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Stopping for dinner in Columbia
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Bethany and Lisa at Pride St. Louis Adeline was singing with CHARIS STL Woman's Chorus
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Spitfire(Or Mr. Curtis Builds his Dream Car?)
July began with bringing the Spitfire home after nearly a month of waiting and little warning from the seller that he got it out of the garage. I got a text on Friday the 1st that the Spitfire was at the top of the driveway and ready for pick-up at 4:20 pm. Fortunately, neighbor John Liss was home from work and eager to help. Like most tasks he's "assisted" me on over the years, he quietly took charge with his superior knowledge, strength and experience leaving me the holding the flashlight and feeling like Gilligan (though in the nicest way possible). After grabbing a car trailer from the U-City U Haul, we got to the house at 6:00 pm and found the tires were completely flat and were like square blocks from a stone age cartoon (no idea how the owner got it to the top of the driveway). We winched it up on the trailer, which took an hour or so and winching it off again at our house. We red necked the last bit of offloading, and just drove the trailer away when we ran out of winching space (Randy's Safety Last contribution). In route we stopped at the quarter car wash at Brentwood and Marshall to clean-out much of the muck and clean it up quite a bit. The next morning, John bought some surplus industrial tire dolly's from another neighbor allowing me to get the four flat tires off the ground and be able to skoosh it around the garage floor. A wet-dry vac to sucked up a gallon or two of acorns from the floor of the Spitfire. It included a dead mouse that it was good Bethany didn't hear about (until reading this well after the fact). Once clean up a bit and actually able to view it, it was clear there was a fair amount more rust along the rocker panels and the floor boards (think Fred Flintstone feet). About the same as my first car, and thankfully low enough that my novice level body work skills might be sufficient to get it good enough. The seats are shot and fuel delivery system needs flushing and unclear if the engine will start (reportedly it was seized before parking but we were able to get it too rotate). After the initial excitement of having a Spitfire again, the slow chorus of experienced car friends asking if it wouldn't have been better to start with one in better shape in the first place and that didn't need so much love might have been a better call seeped in.`
| Spitfire with Randy for scale |
John hoisting the Spitfire onto the trailer |
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Randy took part in the WG 4th of the July parade again acting as the required wheel walker for neighbor John Liss's Jeep 5 quarter ton, M715 truck by Jeep. Randy walked the full, 2-mile parade route in a short hour-long parade on a HOT 95-degree day. Afterwards, the Tuxedo Blvd contingent swam at the Burns' pool enjoying the rest of the Freedom Budweiser from Cate's Graduation Party.
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M715 truck by Jeep ready for the 4th of July parade
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On Wednesday, 6 July, the Serendipity ice cream shop had their "soft" opening in the Grove neighborhood having lost their lease in WG half a year earlier. Cate put in an 11-hour day with no breaks as the social media alerts made the re-opening anything but soft. She and her friend McKenna made a pact to not to leave the other one alone manning the line as it was just them and Becky the owner that day and Becky doesn't scoop any more (a couple decades of scooping hard ice cream will wreck your wrists). They had a constant 6-12-person line while Bethany and Randy were there at 8 pm; proud at the display of Cate's tenacity and character for the day.
| Serendipity "Soft" Opening Cate and McKenna |
Enjoying Cate scooped cones (they were a lot bigger when we started)) |
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Meanwhile at Camp Echo, the second session in July almost didn't happen as a huge COVID outbreak started with departing campers and spread through the counselor ranks and they weren't positive they had enough staff to run the camp. The camp squeaked through and Jane muddled through as Counselor duties and managing the Paddle Sports area while being continuously worn-out from the lingering effects of mono.
| Paddlesports Area Head/Specialist (In action if not pay) |
Jane Curtis - Firestarter |
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In early July, Bethany's laptop displayed signs of an eminent death so we brought her and Cate matching new HP laptops from Microcenter
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You get a laptop, and you get a laptop, and you get a...
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Chi Town
The Curtri made a three-day trip to Chicago the second weekend in July as the main part of Cate's 18th birthday present which was to see comic John Mullaney in person. On Friday, we went to see Bethany's brother and his family in Lombard a couple miles from Randy's grandparents' home. It was a fun evening with the Chicago Sages: Micah, Tiffany, Julia, Mary Ella, and Logan. Somehow, the Sage Cookie Monster cookie jar wound up in Chicago (Gramy claims she didn't know... HA!) It was a great time catching up and playing games, like Teleistrations. A long overdue visit.
| Cate and her Chicago cousins |
Chicago Sage Game Night |
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| Sage Siblings and Logan (& Cookie Monster) |
Chicago Sage Goodbye |
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On Saturday, after sleeping and the complementary Marriott breakfast buffet, we spent 3 ½ hours at the Chicago Art Institute. So much to see, we ended up skipping major portions with styles we weren't that interested in (we did see a trio dressed up like the kids from Ferris Buehler's Day Off which was a fine bit of cosplay). Among the treats was viewing the Wedgewood display with smug superiority that the Tuxedo Park Museum collection was superior in most ways.. As our legs gave out and hunger overcame us, we followed the start of Route 66 a few blocks and had a very late lunch at the Exchequer.
| Art Institue Wedgewood Display Tuxedo Park's Wedgewood Museum wins hands down |
Curtri at the Chicago Art Institue |
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Randy at the start of Route 66 (Note photobombing stranger)
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Afterwards we headed to the South Side / University of Chicago area with only a vague idea of seeing where the Obama library was being constructed. The HUGE cranes in the distance were a giveaway. At the South Side Cultural Center, parked next to a very blustery Lake Michigan beach.
| Bethany and Cate at South Side Beach |
With our Dunks before the concert |
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The main event, seeing hometown boy John Mullaney's at the United Center started a little shakily. We were on the extreme left end of the crowd, near the top which wasn't so bad from a sight line standpoint but was an acoustic dead spot and we could burley understand the warm-up comics. We moved down 5 rows and over 8 seats, which made a world of difference
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Bad selfie lighting outside the John Mulaney
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We drove back from Chicago early on Sunday so Cate could be at work by 1:30 for the Serendipity GRAND opening on National Ice Cream Day (11 days AFTER the soft opening). We took the Kennedy's there after dinner.
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Serendipity Grand Reopening Cate waiting on the Kennedys
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The following weekend, Randy and Cate made a two-day Road Trip to Indianapolis having pizza dinner Thursday with the Indy Sages (Justin, Jenny, Justin Jr and Ben). The impetuses for the trip was Wall Party 2022, an annual reunion of the WashU micro biology PHD classes of the 1990s, the core of which was aka the Sunday Dinner Group that Randy belonged to for a decade. It's always great meeting up with old friends. You haven't seen them in years, and within moments it seems like no time has passed except for the extra weight and greyer hair. The offspring established their own group text thread a couple years back which was Cate's interest in our going. It was a lazy couple days hanging out with games in the evening like Celebrity using Apples to Apples card to mitigate the generational/cultural differences between the age groups playing. On Saturday, we walked to the nearby Fishers Farmer's Market with the gang. A freak wind front moved in and wrecked the pleasant morning commerce and we were lucky not to be impaled but the collapsing awning frames (e.g., EZ-Ups) blowing about. We left that afternoon to celebrate Randy's birthday back in St. Louis with Bethany.
| Wall Party 2022 Group Photo |
Storm Front at the Fishers Farmers Market |
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The following Monday, the St. Louis area experienced 8+ inches of rain and some abnormally high flooding.. The local Deer Creek flooded a number of homes and Cousin Hugo's, a couple-few feet higher than we've seen in the last 30+ years living on Tuxedo (Hurricane Ida remnants was last big storm). While sad, Randy's occupational and educational bias stressed this shouldn't be unexpected as all these structures were in the floodplain. This is what happens when developers are allowed to build in areas that will likely flood in the course of a 30-year mortgage. Politicians should be more responsible and not allow these areas to be zoned for residential housing or business. On a side note, the historic rain event flooded the U-City garage with several feet of water. Fortunately, the Spitfire got out of there before than or it would have been really trashed.
| 25 July Rainfall Estimates in Metro St. Louis |
Deer Creek (Cousin Hugos) flooding |
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August
August began with another road trip, this time to Grand Rapids to pick Jane up from Camp Echo on her 20th Birthday (5 August).. Camp Echo lies amidst a small Amish community in central Michigan. A few miles outside of the camp, we spied an Amish Apollo (think Chris Hemswoth but Amish) standing astride a flatbed wagon with his team of sturdy draft horse plowing the gently, rolling fields; sowing seeds in a fertile earth. Definitely the picture of male fertility that call for an epic Thomas Hart Benton like painting.
| Happy Bday treates delivered by Mom |
Jane packed up to leave |
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Instead of heading home, our goal was Worcester, MA so Jane could start her second year at WPI. We could have gone south to catch I-90 along northern Ohio but instead opted for the more direct Canadian route, saving a couple hours of travel time. This required some border crossing prep as COVID restrictions required you inform Canada multiple days in advance of the planned arrival time to go along with everyone's passports (crossing on a whim with a driver's license is SO last century). We crossed at Port Huron, but left out "using your country as a short cut" explanation to the Border Guard's standard question as to why we were seeking entry into Canada. RE the Border Agent / Beefcake scene 2 of the day: he was sporting thigh sized biceps that stretched his uniform shirtsleeves to the bursting point. A simple flex, and the shirt would be shredded to tatters like the Hulk.
Within a minute or two of our crossing into Canada, a small glitch to our planning, or rather lack thereof became clear: we no longer had phone or data service because we were in a foreign country (oops). This meant not having Google Maps to navigate across the Ontario highways and it made finding a good place to eat challenging. Stopping at a highway Tim Hortons' for coffee afforded us Wi-Fi to preload map information for the journey but still not the detailed restaurant descriptions and ratings we've become dependent on. It was like we were thrust into a time warp to the early 2000s. How would we survive? We found a food court at a mall and a McDonald's in St. Catherine's which made no one happy but sufficed. Definitely not a "birthday" level culinary outing.
Despite Jane claiming no interest in visiting a third time, we stopped at Niagara Falls. We arrived a few minutes before the very popular (i.e., crazy busy) 10 pm fireworks display over the falls. It was worth the 45-minute detour on a very long day of driving. To top things off for the Birthday girl, our Buffalo airport Townplace Suite hotel room came with a super uncomfortable sofa sleeper bed for her. Mom's presentation of gifts and treats before turning in, made things better.
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Bday fireworks over Niagara Falls
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Once at Worcester the next day, about 4 pm, we quickly moved Jane in, ~20 minutes, as her roommate Leah was there along with her dad and sister to turn over the house key and they stayed to help. The first order of business was mattress shopping. A twin bed readily fit in the now empty Traverse and allowed up us to make a Target run too before dropping it all off at the apartment. We stayed at the Courtyard next to campus, which was very nice and came with 2 good beds. A much more comfortable day than her actual birthday.
| Resting on the apartment couch |
Spurge Grocery Shopping |
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On Sunday, we got up earlier enough to reach the Boston area Ikea a few minutes after its opening. It was already crazy, crowded with parents and students, buying dorm/apartment stuff. Jane selected a cheap but very functional desk for that far exceeded the "boards on file cabinets" she originally considered. After that was a trip to the "nice" grocery store where we bought $240 worth of groceries, mostly on a whim (no shopping list) as Bethany was in high mothering mode. In late afternoon, Jane's roommate Erica showed up and showed us where the extra window air conditioning unit was. We quickly installed it to cool down Jane's very warm room, so sleeping there was possible after all.
| Coffee and danish before leaving |
Jane ready to start her 2nd year |
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On the return trip home, we decided to find a lunch spot while east of Scranton, PA. On Google Maps, Randy found a 4.8 rated Greek restaurant in Wilkes-Barre, PA just off the highway that seemed like a refuge from chains fast food meals that came with French fries. It turned out to be food truck in an abandoned K-Mart parking lot with no restrooms or seating on a 95-degree day. The huge Greek Salad and two chicken breasts Gyro sandwich were terrific but not the imagined road trip oasis.
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A Really Good Greek Salad
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We stopped in Pittsburgh, visiting Katie and Don for a day doing nothing but hanging out and talking. Favorite kind of day. On Wednesday's drive to STL, we went for the lunch at our favorite halfway point stop: Skyline Chili at I-70 Exit 29 in Ohio.
| Cate dog sister |
At Himalaya Hut |
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Witchita or Bust
At home we had a few days before needing to head west to take Cate to Wichita State University. That evening, Spire (Laclede Gas) had a crew outside fixing a leak, which led them to replacing our outside shut-off valve and then the inside shut off valve too. While reconnecting us, they found a measurable leak on the old house water heater so they turned off the gas to that water heater until it was replaced. Not a huge deal because the house has two water heaters. It would require us all of us to temporarily use the "girls bathroom" to shower with hot water. Getting said bathroom up to cleanliness standards resulted in an impasse between parents and child on who was responsible for doing this. Peace keeper Bethany held it all together for a few days while the battle of wills between father and daughter made everyone eagerly anticipate Cate's future departure for college. Jane had similarly drove us nuts in the days/weeks before leaving last year. We are hardly the first parents to note that the birdlings intentionally, albeit unconsciously, soil the proverbial "nest" making their transition to fly on their own emotionally easier for all concerned. (Alternately, it could be the adult birds soiling the nest too I've been reminded).
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Cate & Mom with the move in bins
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Once in Wichita, dinner and a cheerful Walmart run with everyone sporting an arm full of unexpected "needs" turned the corner of the icy moods of the previous days. Move in went surprisingly easily with their large self-service bins and elevators. The parents first taste of empty nesting was very positive as the joy of cleaning something up and having it stay that way indefinitely daily smiles. Four days after dropping her off, Cate called us to chat despite clear statements before that she would never call us. All is as it should be.
| Cate and Mom win the room with a view |
WSU move-in Curtri |
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| Happy Birthday Bethany |
Randy dog daddy |
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Randy had several trips to the archives in the DC Metro area over the summer as noted at the end of Spring notes. At the end of August, it was back to Port Hueneme northwest of LA. At dinner the first night, he enjoyed a great dinner at Spasso Italian (less than $20 pastas but white tablecloths) on Pier Point, Ventura Beach. A bonus treat was WHO he had dinner with: Valerie Mahaffey, a character actress of the last few decades most recently as a disgruntled teacher on Young Sheldon. And by "with" he means she was seated at the next table less than 10 feet away with him basically looking at her while talking to his summer student across the table throughout their meal. Despite wanting to capture his first celebrity moment, he was cool and let her eat in peace ("I'm a smart ass, not a jack ass").`
| Curti Straight Across America |
Dinner with a star |
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Later that week in the evening, Randy visited Recon Beach of Beach Boys "Surfing Safari" fame (reportedly the 24th best surf beach in the World) and also visited the 2nd Largest Tar pit in the world...at one time (i.e., Carpinteria). Only traces remained with the rest having been mined out long ago. Offshore oil production and land based oil storage tanks remained close by though.
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2nd Largest Tar pit in the world...at one time (Not so much today)
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Take that Steal A Kia TikTok Challenge
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On Tuesday nights in mid-September, Bethany and Randy enjoyed Webster University film series focusing on Early Alfred Hitchcock films: Sabotage and one of Bethany's favorites Rebecca. I was interesting comparing the Scotland Yard Detective of 1936 investigating domestic terrorist to the MI5 "spies" of 2003 investigating domestic terrorism as we binged as couple seasons of the BBC's MI5 (a.k.a. Spooks) at roughly the same time.
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At WebsterU for Rebecca
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RnB once again went to the free STL Symphony Orchestra concert on Art Hill, featuring crowd pleasers like the Star Wars Theme, Stars and Stripes Forever and favorite of local hero Scott Joplin's The Entertainer.`
| SLSO on Art Hill |
SLSO fireworks |
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Meanwhile back at college
| Alpha XI Delta ambassadors |
STL Breadco makes roommates happy |
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| Smores at WSU |
School of Arts and Sciences - Yellow team |
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Gussie's sentinel of the Foyer
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On the last day of Summer 2022, we celebrated our Anniversary Dinner a night early at Pizzeria De Gloria on the Hill across from Milo's of The Wall fame.
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Having pizza at our wedding was the 2nd best decision we made that day
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