One graduation is in the books, and the second one is done! Party this weekend.

[DsGrouse]

My daughter finished first with her two degrees and Magna Cum Laude but her graduation is later this month.

My son's graduation with his two Cum Laude degrees, Physics and Engineering,

It's great to have everyone together again.

How we left home in the early morning.

[cooperhawk]

It's nice to have all the kids done with school. Now sit back and wait for grandkids.
We have three boys who all went to trade schools and three girls who all went to college.
I have one daughter who is a shrink in upstate Yew Your, on daughter who is real estate broker and owns a lot
of real estate with her husband, and one daughter who just got married and I don't think she's working yet.
The trouble is they all get caught up in their work and we don't see them much.
The boys are doing well too. One is a carpenter, one a barber, and the last one, my foster son, retired from the
Army, went to college, and now is a small contractor in Oklahoma.

[cooperhawk]

Very nice looking family BTW. You are blessed.

[Mags]

Congrats to your kids and to you two as parents! Nice rainbow to cap the day.

[Hatchdog]

Congratulations to you all and that’s sure a nice family photo.

Our grandson is graduating high school next month and plans to move on to his dream school USC. (University of Southern California)

[rickhem]

Congrats to your kids, and to you and your wife as the parents that guided their path forward. Ya done good!

[GFK]

Nice!!!!!!!!!!!!

[fortyshooter]

Many congrats to all the hard work your kids put in to graduate and hope the best for them!

[DsGrouse]

Thank's all.

We are back home and it was one heck of a trip. I've a lot of pics to share in the next few posts.

[DsGrouse]

My son-in-law is hamming it up for the camera and his wife.



I ran across these at a VT gunstore. Man, I wanted a pair.... If you've read my books, you'll understand why.



My son's class ring and my daughter's class ring.


A few pictures of my son during his engineering symposium.




Two of our three subbies...


The wife and I at the LL Bean boot.



A shot of Portland's harbor...


The wife and I as we getting ready to head out to Maine from VT.



The view we placed we stayed at in Maine. Not my favorite place. The beds were black holes of pain and misery.



Lunch at an Irish pub in Bar Harbor.



Stained glass of a church at Bar Harbor.


A park in Bar Harbor and the moon that day.



One of the pull off's at Acadia.


Sand beach.

Precipice of Cadillac Mountain as seen from Sand Beach.


Acadia was beautiful, rain, fog or sun. It's genuinely a fantastic national park.


More subbie shots. My son's imprezza was at the home we rented in Bangor.




One of the light house's you can visit.











A pre-coffee moment before heading up to Baxter State Park and Mount Katahdin













There is a wonder around Millinocket, it's called the Golden Road. It starts in Millinocket to the Canadian border. It's a private loging road. It's a hoot. Castor on the logging road.









A levy off the Golden Road.





The following day. A trip up the coast of Maine. We started the day off going over the Penobscot Bridge, and Fort Knox.





The observatory at the top of Penobscot bridge. It's 440 ft up.


















The visit at Fort Knox. We'd visted Ft Monroe a while back. Fort Knox was quite a bit larger and better restored.


























































North Eastern Maine, Lubec and West Quoddy Head Lighthouse.








My wife, son and I.... It took like 15 takes to get this picture. It was comical.


At some point there was some storm damage, and the forest was recovering.

[DsGrouse]

The final couple of days: We returned to Acadia and visited all the spots we'd missed.

A few stops on the way up to the top of Cadillac Mountain.


Warning: gratuitous car shots with stunning views.




My wife, doing her Vanna impression..


Who does the Vanna better, me or the wife...




The top of Cadillac Mountain...



























Cliffs of otter and the area around Thunder Hole.
















What was originally on top of Cadillac Mountain.


The fog rolled in, total time less than 10 minutes.






Back at Bar Harbor, the Island path. At low tide you can walk across this area to the island. It's doable about 1.5 hours before and after low tide. If you miss that window it's a long wait.








Looking back at Bar Harbor.


Finally found an open lobster shack—good food, but a bit pricey.


The nighttime views from the beach at our hotel in Kennebunk








What trip to Maine is complete without a trip to Kittery Trading Post?



Nine days 4,600 miles. 9,999 and 10,000



Sunday morning run to Skate practice. The car was dirty.... very dirty.


As it happens, in a former life, I was quite the detailer...





In the wild, at our picnic on the way home.


At the local shop after its 10,000-mile oil change and tire rotation.

[DsGrouse]

Firstborn had her day. Dual majors Economics and Public Health.

She got a little teary eyed during the preliminaries


I got caught taking a photo




She's up, I have a vid, but no actual pictures.


Her brother (left), Progenitor (center), Husband (right)

With Wife.


Here she is...

Her husband was instrumental to her success.


The top of her cap


What an amazing young lady



Insert look at husband because of husband snarky comment.



Family...


Mother and daughter.









Grandparents drove in from Oregon and met us at the college after the ceremony.

[DsGrouse]

It was a great celebration. The house was absolutely packed with guests for the last two weeks. The wife and I are finally returning to a normal life.

I played tour guide and driver most of the time. During the party, I was the host and didn't have time to take photos.

Getting things set up for the party.


Tour guide at Larray Caverns.




My wife's parents planning out the rest of their trip across the country.


Saying goodbye to the last guests


Castor was a bit filthy after nearly 3,000 miles of tour guiding folks around Virginia. Look, it's not that I love my car more than family, it's that I didn't have time to take photos. I was usually driving, talking, or using their phones to take photos.





Post bath.

[daytime dave]

Wow, great photographs and commentary. Congratulations to the graduates.
I feel like I was there almost.
I wish them success in life.

[Mags]

It was a great celebration. The house was absolutely packed with guests for the last two weeks. The wife and I are finally returning to a normal life.
....
...

Good to read it was a good time.
Did a part fall off Castor?

[DsGrouse]

Nah, junk that was left in the parking lot. I think it was from one of the fruit/yogurt packs.