Sunday, September 23, 2007

Can you say Parsippany?


Recently, we made a quick trip to Parsippany, NJ, so that Charles could teach a Project Management course for the International Institute of Learning.

While in the Garden State, we became acquainted with the New Jersey Left Turn. On 4 lane highways there are generally no turns allowed at intersections. Instead of providing left turn lanes and signals, New Jersey employs a device called a "jug-handle" (at top of photo) or an alternative, the "reverse jug-handle" (at the bottom).

The "reverse jug-handle" is particularly tricky because it occurs before you get to the intersection, perhaps before you know you need to turn left since you may not know where you are going. Also, once you take the reverse jug-handle to get to the street onto which you were trying to make a left turn, you must make a left turn, usually without the benefit of a light. To make sure no one tries to shortcut this system, there are plenty of "Jersey Barriers" to keep everyone in line.

While Charles worked, Mary Anne played, seeing the local sights. Nearby Morristown was the location of George Washington's headquarters during the winter of 1779-80. Below left is the Ford Mansion where Washington and his staff were stationed. Replica cabins shown below right are in the Jockey Hollow area several miles away where the army encamped during the worst winter of the century.






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Sunday, September 09, 2007

Fun with Annabelle, Ben, and Jacob

I recently returned from a visit with my 3 oldest grandchildren. While Mom, Dad and baby sister checked on job opportunities, Annabelle, Ben, Jacob and I got to spend some quality time together.










We had some fun times together at the Minnesota zoo on two visits:



































The highlight of our trip to the Como Zoo was the Merry Go Round. Some liked it better than others.




























The first night Matt and Emily were gone, there was a terrific storm with 70 mph winds scattering limbs everywhere and knocking down trees and fences. We were fortunate that only one limb came down which didn't do any damage, but there were plenty of branches to pick up.



























We had fun reading books, playing with trains, and horsing around. No one got sick or hurt so it was a great week!





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