Field Trip to Smith College

Day 24, Thursday, July 3

One more fruitless morning waiting for the jets to come by on schedule today. It's funny--they took off right on the same schedule for the first 3 days we were here (and for countless days before that, according to Ross). And the moment we set up to take photos and videos, they change their route! We know our grandsons would love to see pictures of the F-15's and huge cargo jets up close. But since it's supposed to rain all day tomorrow here, and we leave the next day, we may just have to describe the jets.

After breakfast, Curt and Ross went for a hike, and we four "girls" (Lorna, Patty, Carol and me) took a drive to Northampton, Massachusetts to see Smith College. Smith is a very prestigious college for women, one of the Seven Sisters (a group which includes Vassar, Mount Holyoke, Barnard, Wellesley, Radcliffe and Bryn Mawr.) The buildings were beautiful...a very nice blend of the old and the new, but what was most stunning to me was the landscaping. Such amazing flowers!

Then we had a great time shopping in some of the quaint shops in Northampton before having a simple but delicious lunch at one of Lorna's favorite eateries:

We passed one of my favorite sights in this part of Massachusetts...the red barn I've been admiring for days. Finally got a couple of photos!

While I practiced my mandolin back at home, the others had a quick swim before the afternoon storm arrived. Once again we escaped the brunt of the severe storm, but we had plenty of lightning, thunder and rain. Here's a shot of the storm from under the eaves:

Curt cracked us all up this evening with an astute observation. After dinner, much lively conversation, and sharing of stories and photos, we each relaxed into our separate chairs in the living room. We were all checking email on our iPads, when Curt walked into the room and said, "Ah, yes, here we are at the exciting Shirer Family Reunion...with everyone buried in their iPads!" yep, we're a pretty lively

group...and we all talk about the teens and their addiction to their electronic devices!

Later it was great for Curt to be able to show Patty their childhood home on Google Earth. That brought back so many memories for both of them.  

The rest of the family arrives tomorrow. We haven't seen Curt's brother Kim and his two daughters in 39 years. Can't wait to be reunited!