RPI reunion with friends

One nice thing about being so far behind in blogging is going through pictures from last year and reliving fun memories all over again.  

For example - my college reunion at RPI!  I was so lucky to have the chance to gather with classmates at our alma mater for a weekend of reminiscing and catching up.

And wandering around the campus, an activity I will never tire of (especially without impending exams or projects due).

Hello from Kathy, Pete, Bob, me, and John!

At the Alumni Center registration, our yearbook was located by a couple curious spouses:

Kathy has changed only a little - slightly shorter hair  :)

Our friend Andy had to cancel at the last minute (major bummer!) so Pete pretended to be Andy for the weekend, complete with his nametag and yearbook photo:

Somehow we managed to show up the year that Rensselaer turned 200 - I could not have planned that when I was choosing a school many years ago.  Unsurprisingly (yes, we are this geeky), they used an infinity symbol for the two zeros, making the result slightly less obvious:

More campus exploration... over to the church/computing center (a slight juxtaposition) where they have a new quantum computer on display.  I'm not sure what we expected, but it doesn't look like any other computer I've seen:

We found a hallway around behind the computer, and the door appears to have super-secure entry procedures:

Old fashioned information gathering in the nearby library stacks:

The entertainment for the evening was a drone show, cool!  A look at the drones preparing for their performance:

Naveen, Kumiko, and George found us that evening, yay for more of the gang back together!  Andy was still with us in spirit:

The theme of the weekend, plus the first drone display, was "Celebrating 200 years of firsts"

The drones "grew" a tree - impressive in motion as well as in a still photo:

Puckman, yay!

Enjoying the show, and the popcorn:

That was awesome, although we could have done without the fireworks at the end.

Only slightly eerie-looking field of drones, just waiting for their next mission...

At a coffee shop the next morning, I found my new motto: "Hold on.  I've gotta overthink this."

In true "Marcy fashion" I started playing with options - should I put this on a T-shirt?  A bumper sticker?  A mug?  A magnet for the fridge?  You get the idea.

At the Empac building, they had a display case with some great memorabilia, including our most cherished of all hockey game noise makers, a vuvuzela!  I'll never forget that very-loud night in the hockey arena (which might have led to an anti-noise maker rule in NCAA hockey):

We were excited to hear from RJ Scaringe, the man who started Rivian, the company that made our electric truck!

RJ is an engineer, a businessman, and a good speaker/explainer.  And an RPI alumni!

Representing for the Star Trek cruise... I figured this crowd would understand better than most.

Speaking of Rivian, there's one now:

And it brought RJ (unannounced) to the next gathering!  We stood in line so I could tell him I was proud to be an alumna from the same university.  I managed to pull up a photo from the first time we got a picture with him.  He graciously continued to listen as I thanked him for making the first electric truck that could tow our travel trailer.

Thank you RJ for continuing to be so awesome!

Heading up to the residence halls to check out where we lived for a few years:

Kathy and I have a series of pictures of us at Nathan Hall, and we weren't about to break that streak:

Here's to the friends we made at dear old RPI:

George, Kath, and I snuck into the dorm to wander the halls for a moment and find our old rooms:

And play a bit of foosball for old time's sake:

Time for hockey!  We walked up the Field House and were lucky to get a group shot with Puckman, yay!

We were excited to see a women's hockey game this time.  The players are talented and fast, and there was a good bit less slamming each other into the boards.  And I think the home team won, if I remember right.

Another entertaining afternoon with our RPI buddies:

Meanwhile, back at the farm... we stayed at a farmhouse AirBnB, which even had chickens:

And fresh eggs for breakfast!

New friends?

Hooray for another beautiful fall day in New York state:

We went for a walk, following a hand-drawn map from the AirBnB owners, and Bob took this fun photo at the top of the hill:

We so loved the pattern in the sky that we attempted superhero poses...

Memories of growing up in the green woods of Vermont:

We made it over to June Farms, which (amazingly) has a Hobbit House!  Imagine staying here for the night:

Even curiouser, George found this ring on the ground.  It looks like Elvin script on the inside.  We turned it in with the hosts but they didn't seem nearly as enchanted with it as we were:

Froggy keeping an eye on the tourists roaming the farm grounds:

Enjoying our peaceful "retreat" in the woods:

What a wonderful weekend, we only wish Andy, Don, and Steve could have joined us.  Thank you all of my friends!

Photo credits to several of my reunion buddies  :)

More Beards in Vermont!

All of us were excited when Jenny and Jerry decided to take a trip up to Vermont to join us in our visit with Mom!  They flew north and then returned via Amtrak (they are getting good at the train thing).  We filled several days with talking, eating, shopping, and a bit of sightseeing.

The most important request was a stop at the Hope Cemetery in Barre.  Normally a cemetery might be a strange request, but not in this case.

One of our favorite granite headstones - how on earth did they make this?

We're also partial to this detailed (and basically mid-air) plane:

We could spend all day checking out the gravity-defying stones:

A former soccer player:

Amazing archway:

A detailed violin and scroll:

An even more detailed carving of the person buried here:

Admiring the love and dedication of these two in life and in death:

This one might be new since we were last here - an actual tiny house:

We can highly recommend this place for a visit if you're ever in Vermont!

And since it's nearby, you should also visit the Rock of Ages granite quarry.  We happened to arrive just as a tour was starting, so we hustled to join in and drove up to the top viewing area.  It was chilly and windy but worth standing outside for a few minutes to see where the rock is being dug out of the ground.

It's difficult to describe just how deep this hole is!

Jerry's camera has a lot more zoom than mine, so here's a closer look at the cranes:

And a shot of the people working at the bottom (thank you Jerry!):

Shopping time!  Mom's suggestion of Morse Farm was a good one, with plenty of local products to choose from.  And some pretty flowers out front:

"We love old goats around here!"

This display speaks my language:

We're not quite sure why there's a replica of the State House here, but it's pretty cool:

This might be a cornucopia?  Or a pumpkin-copia?

Be the tree you want to see in the world:

Next stop was the Green Mountain Club, where this little backpacker also has his arms wide:

A fun relief map of Vermont, and we can trace many of the places we've been:

Jerry took a picture of the colorful front porch at the AirBnB where they stayed:

More excitement - BilliJo arrived to spend a day with us, yay!

We met up at Cady's Falls Botanical Gardens, which is a lovely, quiet place to explore.  At least, when it's not flooded...

One of many brilliant sets of flowers in the garden:

Enjoying our little walk through the green space:

There's also a big barn and old farm implements:

Jerry got a kick out of the old tractor:

Silly group photo, where Mom looks sanest of all of us (probably true):

After lunch we ventured over to the Gold Brook covered bridge, because every good visit to Vermont should include at least one of these:

The view from below - mostly wood and stone:

Family photo time - thank you, kind stranger who took this for us:

What a lovely visit, thank you all for our special time together!