Charleston, West Virginia, September 21, 2009
Carmel, Indiana, September 18 to 21, 2009

We arrived in Carmel, Indiana on Friday at lunch time. We drove to the home of our friends Alan and Diana Francoeur where they gave us a tour of their lovely home and we had lunch. We were given the Francoeur Suite and it was so restful and comfortable. They didn’t even charge us 4 quarters for a load of laundry.





The weather was lovely. We found ourselves wondering why we ever moved from there. Then we remembered that September is the best month weather-wise in Indy. So……question answered. Today leaving was a little "sprinkly" so excuse any pictures with drops!!

Friday Diana took me over to Quilt Quarters where I used to work when we lived here. Quilt Quarters is no longer in the little house we started in. It is in a nice strip mall and is a huge store! Yeah! Terri Gunn bought the store from Kaye England and Terri said she has over 6,000 bolts of fabric. I was in heaven!

The original Quilt Quarters



We had a delicious Salmon BBQ that evening and visited and caught up with Alan and Diana.

Saturday Diana had arranged for 5 of us “moms” from the old neighborhood (the Perrin Drivers) to meet in Zionsville for lunch. It is a quaint town and the restaurant was excellent. We sat on the porch and chatted and caught up and it was like old times. Just like moms do, we talked about our kids. I miss my friends so much! Bob and Alan played golf and had 3 holes in ones each. Well, at least that’s what they told us. (BC note: We did not we each only had 1) As long as they had fun, which they did, then who cares?

Saturday evening Alan and Diana had a party for us and invited our neighbors and other friends. What fun! We stayed up very late, laughing, sharing pictures, stories and reminiscing. We are all amazed at how grown up our children are, and that we haven’t changed a bit! Here are some pictures:





Sunday Alan took us on a tour of Carmel. Carmel has 70,000 people now. When we lived there in 87 through 93, there were less than 20,000. Needless to say, everything is different. We went by our old house, O’Malia’s (Kate, remember the macaroni and cheese before afternoon kindergarten?) and the kid’s school, Carmel Elementary. The photos below are for our kids. (I have a picture of Andy and Kate standing in front of the Carmel Elementary sign the day we moved to Washington. They were in 1st and 3rd grade.)







Sunday evening we had dinner with Alan and Diana and our dear friends Paul and Collette Leichtnam. The time was too short, but we laughed, reminisced and hugged. I can’t say enough about these 4 friends. They are dear, dear friends and we count ourselves lucky to have moved to Perrin Drive all those years ago, and blessed to still be able to get together every so often. (Though not often enough.) Their kids are very special to us and we are all so proud of how all the kids have grown up. Hunter, Mike, Lisa, Andy, Kate, Kelsey and McKenzie, you make our hearts happy!



The weekend in Carmel, Indiana was such a pleasure and we are so blessed to have wonderful friends in Carmel, Indiana! This morning we got up early, 7am, and were on the road by 8:45am. (Well, it was early for us!) Alan packed us a picnic lunch, filled our ice chest with ice and sent us off. Whatta guy!

The drive through Indiana, Ohio and into West Virginia was rainy and cloudy. It was a beautiful drive. I think we saw the last of the corn in Ohio! The hills, trees and green are calming. We drove through Dayton, Ohio crossing over the “Great Miami River.” We drove southeastward on the Veteran’s Memorial Highway, also known as Hwy 35. We crossed over the Ohio River coming into West Virginia. We found the World’s Largest Firework Store in Ohio right over the border from Indiana. Bob says this is a fib. He already saw the Worlds Largest Firework Store in some other state that he can’t remember. But still, I bet it’s a lot of fireworks!







We are close to 3250 miles in 14 days. We have the packing thing down pretty well, though we still have a lot of stuff. But hey, we’re having fun! Hope all is well with you. Love, bc and gc