Family

We have been very fortunate to have lived in and visited many interesting locations around the world while assigned to various US Air Force Bands.  Beginning in 1985 (when Beth and I were married), we were stationed at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia.  In June 1989, we loaded up the car and drove 4,500 miles to our new assignment, the PACAF Band at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska.  Spencer was born there in Feb 1990, so he is a true native Alaskan.  In June of 1996, we moved again to Offutt AFB, Nebraska (just south of Omaha).  For a while, we thought we might end up finishing my USAF enlistment there in Nebraska, but in January 2000, it was off to Germany, where I was stationed at Sembach and Ramstein Air Bases.  We home-schooled Spencer while we were in Germany (using the GREAT online program through the state of Alaska), so we had many opportunities to include travel into his education – visiting the Eiffel Tower, the Mona Lisa, Normandy and D-Day sites, the canals of Venice, the leaning tower of Pisa, the Roman Coliseum, the concentration camp of Dachau, etc,. Beyond just reading about it, Spencer was actually there experiencing it.  In Jan 2003, we packed our bags for the final USAF move to Scott AFB, Illinois (near St. Louis). 

Spencer enrolled in Mascoutah High School, where he graduated in 2008. We moved back to West Virginia in June 2008, and Spencer began working on his dual majors at WVU – aerospace and mechanical engineering – where he graduated Magna Cum Laude. He married his sweetheart, Lauren, in May 2014 and they moved to Maryland where Spencer is working as an Aerospace Engineer. 

In November 2013, our lives came around full circle and we bought a house in Morgantown WV, where we met nearly 30 years earlier. We have worked hard fixing up the house inside and out. In the back yard, we fixed up a nice vegetable garden, where Beth loves to spend her days.  Hazey, our neighbor’s cat, loves to spend time with us. Now it looks and feels like “home”. 

Join Us On Our Family Trips

Around The USA

Oct 2023 – Fall Colors in West Virginia: Seneca Rocks, Germany Valley, Blackwater Falls

July 2023 – Wegerzyn Flower Gardens and Dawes Arboretum, Ohio

July 2023 – Crop Dusting Drones In Wisconsin

Sept 2019 – Drive To The Southwest: 29 Days, 6500 Miles, 19 States, 7 National Parks

June 2019 – US National Arboretum, Washington DC

May 2019 – Tulips and Flower Gardens in Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin

May 2019 – Gettysburg, PA : Site of the largest battle of the Civil War

Aug 2018 – Old Friends Farm in Kentucky, where race horses retire

July 2018 – Great Lakes Loop around Wisconsin, Mackinac Island, Ontario, and Niagara Falls

Aug 2017 / July 2014 – Retrace Rt 40 (National Road) from Cumberland MD to Vandalia IL, comparing photos to 1950 and 1980

June 2015 – Summer drive to Acadia National Park, Maine and Niagara Falls, NY

July 2007 – 30-Day Drive From Illinois To Alaska and Back : Revisiting Spencer’s Birthplace

July 1995 – Bears at Brookes Falls, Alaska

Please Check Back As We Add More Travelogues

COMING SOON:

Oct 2018 / Oct 2019 / Oct 2020 – Fall Colors Around West Virginia

June 2019 – Gardens around Virginia: Glen Burnie and James Madison University

May 2019 – Gateway Classic Cars in Kenosha, Wisconsin

May 2019 – Seneca Rocks Picnic and Hike

April 2019 – Swallow Falls State Park, Maryland

Oct 2018 – Flat Stanley joins us for scenery and seafood in West Virginia, Virginia, and Maryland

Oct 2018 – Dolly Sods, Blackwater Falls, and Seneca Rocks in time for fall colors

Aug 2018 – Join us at the West Virginia State Fair in Lewisburg

Jan-Dec 2015 – Enjoy several visits to Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh, PA

Sept 2014 – We visit Spencer and Lauren in Maryland and return home via the Skyline Drive with fall colors

Various Visits 1995-2021 – Join us for our frequent hikes to the top of Seneca Rocks, WV

2015 – 2021 – Enjoying the Solomon Islands and Patuxent NAS, Maryland area while visiting Spencer and Lauren

Diners!! – Join Beth and I as we enjoy great diners near and far.