The Zimmermans are Home!

Dear Friends and Family,

We got back to Baton Rouge on Tuesday, August 5 after a 600+ mile car trip from Tennessee. We spent the last four days of our vacation there after my sister-in-law had surgery on July 29. She came home on Saturday, August 2 and is resting and recuperating well.

The unplanned trip to Tennessee cancelled our RV trip to Sanibel Island, FL. It may be just as well, as the weather was scorching and no one had to connect and disconnect the sewage hose. I did make a day trip there in July with my parents.

Our trip was an unforgettable experience, most so for reconnecting with family and friends that I hadn't seen in far too long. I highly recommend doing this--don't procrastinate--just make plans to get together with long-lost loved ones.

On the tourism side, I particularly enjoyed my boyhood home of central NY in midsummer, by far its best time of year. I also loved Boston, though I don't think I'd go back for 4th of July fireworks on the Charles River. I know now why Bostonians are so proud of their city. The National Holocaust Museum in Washington was a jarring place. The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum let me enjoy a museum with on the lighter side. Savannah was beautiful as always, and St. Augustine looks like a place one could spend an interesting day.

I can't say as much for Pigeon Forge, TN. If you're heading for the Smokeys,
spend the extra money and stay in Gatlinburg, or better yet, plan ahead and camp in the National Park.

We ate a lot of good food along the way. Maybe the best overall was at Enzo's in Brooklyn, where we ate a family-style Italian dinner with our granddaughters. Afterwards, I had the treat of taking Annabelle down the street for ice cream. I also enjoyed eating lobster on Cape Cod--a great hands-on experience.

Weather and traffic were generally benign. The worst traffic we encountered was on the Washington Beltway (no surprise there) and driving through a rush-hour rainstorm heading into Orlando. I hope never to encounter again vehicles driving in the breakdown lane, as I did heading into Boston. Rain threatened our family photo in Sylvan Beach, NY, but a nearby gazebo saved the shot.

If you're ever in DC on a Sunday, I recommend the All Souls UU Church. We enjoyed the most energetic and inspirational church service there of all we attended.

I wish that I could have done better in the National Scrabble Championship, but lack of studying and desire to succeed probably had something to do with my poor showing. Still it was fun to see "Scrabble friends" from near and far, especially a woman from California who I've been playing for at least six years online -- we finally met face-to-face and even played a couple of live games across my mom's dining room table.

Now that we're home I'll be heading to Houston on August 19-21 for more scans and an appointment with my oncologist, in preparation for starting chemotherapy in September. I'll send another e-mail update after the appointment and post about it on my private blog http://kaldad2007.blogspot.com. Let me know if you want to become a reader of this blog.

My photos from the trip (the good ones anyway) are all on www.photoblog.com/dadlak

My narrative is at http://ztrip2008.blogspot.com

Now that the trip is over, I'll be heading back to my regular public blog
http://dadlak.blogspot.com. I may do some reorganizing there and start separate blogs on my favorite subjects of sports, traffic and baseball.

I hope that everyone had a great summer. Thanks for the many messages of interest and support sent to us along the way.

I look forward to seeing my Baton Rouge-based friends very soon.

Love to all,

Dave