#404 Mappy Halloween!

Which states devote the largest acreage rates to pumpkin production according to the 2002 Census of US Agriculture?

Yours in mapping Halloween,
Kelly

#403 Melody returns to Cville

We love it when Indy friends come for a return visit!

Since Melody's visit coincided with UVA's Family Weekend, we invited her to join us for a Semester at Sea presentation and for Kelly's GPS extravaganza. You are a good sport, Melody!

Of course we made time for food. Our first visit to Belmont's Bel Rio restaurant introduced us to good food, good music, and friends from UVA and SAS. Thanks for coming and next time we promise to get you out of the library!

Yours in modifying the Johnston Visitor Plan,
Mary

#402 Sam and Shannon and Bono Vox visit Charlottesville

Although they needed 80 tractor-trailer trucks to carry all their things, Sam, Shannon, and Bono Vox all came together in the Johnston Visitor Plan this weekend in Charlottesville.

During Sam and Shannon's visit, Mary and I were

• entertained by Bono Vox and his three friends under a full moon on a gorgeous fall night at Scott Stadium.

• entertained by some seafaring friends on our back deck without the need of even one tractor-trailer truck.

• entertained by the fabulous actors at the Blackfriars Playhouse, the world's only replica of Shakespeare's indoor theater.

• entertained by a discussion of iPhone augmented reality over some of Mrs. Rowe's pecan pie.

Yours in appreciating excellent entertainment,
Kelly

#401 Mary, Frank, and me

For 15 years, we've been married and for 15 years we've been traveling to see Frank Lloyd Wright - designed buildings. For our anniversary, we celebrated with Wright's museum masterpiece, the Guggenheim Museum, in New York City. While in the neighborhood, we admired other architecture in the city including the Empire State Building... The art deco masterpiece at 51st and Lexington... The magnificent interior of Grand Central Terminal... And the funky art deco Chrysler Building... And then we met up with our friend Keri for dinner in the West Village and we didn't even talk about architecture one bit. Yours in appreciating good architecture and a good wife,
Kelly

#400 From Switzerland to Texas

From the Alps of Switzerland, we traveled directly to the plains of Texas. And we noticed a few differences. The music was good in Switzerland - especially the yodeling, the Alpine horns, and the cow bells - but in Texas we were serenaded with country music over margaritas. The food was good in Switzerland - especially the rosti and the Simmental burgers - but in Texas we had Aunt Wanda's beautiful biscuits and homemade grape jam. The traveling was outstanding in Switzerland - especially the panoramic train, the cable car, and the funicular - but in Texas we tried the TriKing Kobra, a stand-up human-powered vehicle.

Yours in enjoying the differences,
Mary

#399 Swiss travel

Our summer vacation included a variety of transportation - just the way we like it. We flew overnight from Charlottesville to Frankfurt and traveled by car from Frankfurt to Switzerland. Here we are in the roomy back seat enjoying the ride. In Switzerland, we left our car behind because no cars are allowed where we wanted to go. Murren is a car-free city. We traveled by cable car from Stechelberg in the Lauterbrunnen valley up to Murren. (See how lightly I'm holding on?) We traveled further up hill from Murren by funicular. We traveled downhill by foot. We didn't travel by high heels, because they aren't allowed. Back down in the valley, we found our train and we traveled in the front car with a tremendous view of the Simmental valley to Lake Geneva. No matter how you go, Switzerland's views are worth the trip.

Yours in alpine travel,
Mary

#398 Swiss hiking

Hiking maps are different in Switzerland. They look more like ski maps. Warming up for a hike is different in Switzerland. It looks more like dancing. Flowers are different in Switzerland. They look more vertical. The scenery looks different in Switzerland. It looks more alpine. The family looks good in the thin air. Click on the link to 'See all our photos' to find our Switzerland photo set.

Yours in loving all the differences in the land of the Alps,
Mary