Cooledge and Asheville

The trip from Austin to Asheville ( 900 odd miles ) was uneventful. Through Texas , Arkansas, Tennesse and into North Carolina. Photos from bottom
1 M's dad Jay's gravesite at Cooledge Texas with his beloved 1999 Buick Le Sabre in background - purring as ever.
2 `Granny` and M on balcony of Betty's appt at Deerfield Retirement Home . What a place . Every type of activity available and a very comfortable 2 bedroom appt. `Food delicious ` ! Lots of relaxation and bridge . Betty and I came first East -West pair ,would yiou believe , last night at 11 table duplicate bridge weekly comp. Go Granny !
3. Typical view of Deerfield complex.
4 Cocktails with Margaret ( age 94 ), one of Betty's friends, outside her ground floor corner appt . Had luch today with Dotty ( 95 ) another of Betty's remarkable friends - her late husband was Roosevelt's private physician in World War 2.
5. Expansion of Deerfield - should be good by the time Mary and I get there .
6 Liberty Bikes where our bikes are being serviced in prep for the big trip starting Sat from Cincinatti to Owen Sound , Ontario. I had cracked the rim of rear wheel of my bike from too much weight . Luckily spotted just in time .

UGRR - leg 2 here we come . Next entry hopefully from ` on the road `

Texas Hill Country

We had a hugely successful cycle tour of the Texas Hill Country starting and finishing in Austin. 7 days and 5 out of 6 nights under canvas and the stars. One day of dreadful rain (their first in about 8 months and badly needed) , but otherwise great weather and we were lucky with winds. Averaged 45 miles a day and some really wild and beautiful country.

Starting with photo immediately above

1 Back on the open road and loaded up .
2 Mary's Aunt Ruthie and Tom who happened to be up from Houston and on their way to their Lake house at Canyon lake 10 miles or so from where we camped on our first night near New Braunsfels . We sheltered with them for a couple of hours next day where they restored us with a brilliant breakfast and most welcome drying facilities.
3 Cocktails tentside at Lady Bird Johnson State Park outside Fredericksburg with our dear friends Dunham and Jill who came up from Houston to celebrate with us our 35 wedding anniversary . Facilities to keep champagne cool were limited but we made up for it with a superb dinner at a local restauraunt.
4 Mary's first cousin Jay Leigh who drove down from Marble Falls for an evening picnic with us at Padernales Falls State Park where we camped two nights.
5.The LBJ Texas White House where world affairs were much discussed in late 60's.
6 Some unpaved , but wonderfully quiet, ranch roads on the way to LBJ ranch.
7 Mary's first cousin Bill Edwards who met us in Johnson City and drove us up to his ranch and back again while we were camping at Padernales Falls.
8 Sunrise at Padernales Falls .

We chose the route based on an advertised Adventure Cycling tour , but because we couldn't get the maps from them , did it all with Google maps which , largely , were accurate and enabled us to avoid traffic other than on the odd occasion and of course on leaving and returning to our car in south Austin.

End of season & Ski Co employees' party

What an end to the season . Some of the best skiing all year. More snow in 1st 10 days of April than in the whole of February. Also , a deeper snow pack now than at any time in the season and yet everything closed on Sunday April 12. Just no demand and folk start thinking of other activities. Always closes that weekend. Monday was day of Ski Co party and Mary was awarded ` star of the season ` by the Town of Snowmass Village ` in front of some 600 people . So proud of her I was. The mountain stayed open for employees and one guest each.

1st 2 photos show one of the few days M & and I had skiing together this season the weekend before , but a phenomenal day it was. Note the stylish powder skiing technique.

Jobs finished respectively and off on first bike tour immediately after the party on Monday and now in Austin , TX. Next entry from Texas Hill country I hope.

RTO concert , NYC

RTO concert in NYC was terrific , from the players' point of view , not necesserily the audience's , although the 1100 odd people in NYC Town Hall seemed to enjoy themselvesand appreciate the effort. No danger of Trades Description Act ( or US equivalent ) being breached.

John and Bridget Macaskill were wonderful hosts to us and we had a lovely 3 days taking in a bike tour round the outside of Manhattan island starting off in Central Park.

RTO rehearsal photo shows our Conductor ` Sir Richard ` taking a sectional last `run through` for the percussion section. Too much chat it seems going on in other sections of the orchestra.