Date: Sun, 3 Oct 2010 10:41:45 EDT
From: Bwstories8@aol.com
Subject: Castaway Hotel: Grand Reopening - Book 9, chapters 39 - 40

The Castaway Hotel: Grand Reopening --Book 9 - by BW         
Copyright 2010 by billwstories
Chapter 39 -- Friends and Family.    


The Flannerys didn't show up until Monday afternoon, since 
Farrell and his wife had obligations they had to fulfill on 
Sunday.  Farrell, Katelyn and Alannah drove in about 3:00 
and were spending the week with us, but they were going to 
allow Barry to remain for the entire time we were here.  Each 
of them seemed happy to be with us, and it was nice to see 
them again.  

I was glad we could actually work something out this year, 
even though this was not going to be anything extravagant.  
Farrell and Katelyn would be staying in the room Marie and 
Adrian had used, while Alannah would be staying in the room 
next door, which no one had used the previous week.  They 
would be sharing their cabin with Robert and Pat, who were 
using the bunk beds in the loft.  

We spent the rest of the day letting them get settled in and 
become familiar with the accommodations, which provided 
Robert with some quiet time to write.  We did take everyone 
out for dinner and chatted with the Flannerys while we ate, 
before we retuned to the cabins and turned in for the evening.  
The fun for them would begin tomorrow.  

Would you believe it rained the first full day the Flannerys 
were with us?  Damn!  Well I guess this mean I'll have to pick 
one of the alternate activities I had planned for rainy days, so 
we'll be going to the Indian Caverns.  Yes, I know.  Everyone's 
thinking, dang, another caving experience.  Well, we didn't 
have a lot of choices locally and needed something to take up 
the better part of the day.  I also tried to save one of the other 
activities I have for rainy days in case we needed it when 
Michael is here, since it's something he would really enjoy.  
Besides, there are only so many options that are appropriate 
during this kind of weather.  

Not everyone wanted to go with us, so some of the older boys 
elected to stay behind and find their own form of amusement.  
Since Barry was going, so he could be with his parents, Jesse 
and Andrew decided to go too.  Seeing those three were going, 
Jordan and Nicky decided to tag along with us as well, rather 
than stay with the others.  

For some reason, Alannah had singled out Ricky again, even 
though she had been like a bee around honey with Little Ricky 
the last time we had been together.  Therefore, Ricky chose to 
go as well, and surprisingly Pat did too.  This was most likely 
so he could gawk at Alannah while we were out, but he was the 
last one to decide to join us.  Everyone else was going to stay at 
the cabins.  

As we drove to the location, the Appalachian Mountains 
loomed up around us again and we passed through some 
beautiful wooded country.  There was also a very peaceful 
stream nestled along our route and we were still able to enjoy 
this splendid scenery through the mild drizzle and haze.  It was 
quite a lovely sight, although it might have appeared more 
spectacular on a clear and sunny day.  

We started off at the Visitor's Center, which is a pueblo-style 
building, like you might see in the southwest U.S., and was 
built right against the mountainside.  Ironically, considering 
where we were, there is also a totem pole that is reminiscent of 
the Pacific Northwest and a tepee that might be found on the 
Great Plains.  It was obvious they were marketing ALL Native 
American tribes, regardless of their location.  You could even 
pan for arrowheads, if you were so inclined.  

Of course, we took the guided tour and learned a great deal 
about the cave's history and geology.  We were told stories 
about the Native Americans' use of the cave, as determined by 
artifacts and a tablet of petroglyphs found there, some of 
which were also on display.   The guide also shared some of the 
more recent history and folklore surrounding the cave, so this 
was much more than just a sightseeing tour.  

We traveled for approximately a mile and during that time we 
made our way through narrow, winding passageways and 
entered large caverns with very high ceilings.  We saw sheets of 
flowstone, delicate soda straw stalactites and rimstone pools, as 
well as massive stalagmites and stalactites.  There was also 
'The Room of the Fireflies,' which got its name from the 
chemical elements that glow in the dark.   We were told Native 
Americans apparently didn't enter this area, although the 
reason for avoiding it is unknown.  

The tour took just under ninety minutes and I think everyone 
that went enjoyed it, some more than others.  By this I mean, 
Ricky seemed to enjoy spending his time with Alannah and 
chatting with her.  It was quite obvious he wasn't thinking 
about Kylie from Australia, so I guess he must have gotten 
over her.  

When we went outside, the weather seemed to be clearing a 
little, as we went back to the cabins.  When we got there, the 
boys were already out canoeing and swimming, so the rest of us 
went out to join them.  We actually spent the rest of the day 
doing this before we cleaned up and went to dinner.  On the 
way back we gave the Flannery's a quick tour of the area and 
for the rest of the evening, we adults just sat and chatted, while 
the kids entertained themselves.

Wednesday was kind of an easy day and we started out by 
taking them on the Hillside Nature Trail, which we had hiked 
the previous week.  The Flannerys preferred to take their time 
and enjoy the scenery and wildlife, unlike Marie and Adrian 
who used it for the exercise.  We ended up spending a couple of 
hours here, due to their approach, rather than the single hour 
it had taken us previously.  I was glad most of the boys had 
decided to skip this activity, otherwise they'd probably have 
griped and complained about how long this was taking.  After 
going back to the lake and having a swim, we ate lunch and 
then sunned ourselves for a brief time.  

Once they got tired of lying in the sun, I asked Farrell and 
Katelyn if they wanted to go for another hike and they both 
jumped at the chance.  This time, we took them along the 
Dogtown Trail, and just as they had before, they wanted to 
take their time and explore everything along the way.  It 
definitely wasn't a power walk, but once we finished, Farrell 
and Katelyn wanted to also stroll around some of the other 
nearby areas.  We ended up spending well over two hours 
doing this, so after we got back, we took another dip in the lake 
and then lounged around until dinnertime.  

That night we arranged an Uno challenge and played as teams.  
We could do this, because I had brought several decks of Uno 
cards, so we split up and let those in each cabin play first.  
Once the cabin winners were determined, we let them play 
each other.  It was a hard fought and furious competition, but 
David ended up slaying Goliath again.  In this case it meant 
Andrew and Jesse won out and beat all of the other 
challengers.   They had decided to be partners after Barry 
teamed up with his father.  They might have paired up 
anyways, although one of them might have paired up with 
Barry instead, so he wouldn't feel left out.  I was very 
surprised they had pulled off the ultimate victory, since none of 
the other boys were taking prisoners, when it came to their 
competitive nature and desire to win.  

After getting a good night's sleep, we spent the next day at Del 
Grosso's Amusement Park again.  Barry, Andrew and Jesse 
were happy to take the Flannerys around and torture them on 
the rides, so the rest of us just went about doing our own thing.  
We ate lunch there again, as well as dinner, because the park 
offered a spaghetti option that night, which intrigued my 
family.  We killed the entire day there and everyone seemed to 
have fun, and then we went back to the cabins to rest up.  

Friday, we took the Flannerys on another hike, but this one 
was much longer than the ones we had taken earlier.  Since it 
was much longer, I wasn't sure if Dion and Trey would want to 
do this with Joshie, so I talked it over with them.  In the end, 
they decided it would be all right to take him with us, so we 
packed up the items we'd need for him.  Dion and Trey readily 
agreed to split the duty of carrying their son and had built up 
enough confidence that they didn't need either Jake or I to 
walk with them.  

This trail was located at Trout Creek State Park, but we were 
only going to tackle the North-Central section of a much longer 
trail.  The full trail takes three days and two nights to hike, but 
there was no way we were going spend that much time on one 
activity, especially seeing the Flannerys would only be with us 
for a week.  Since we weren't doing the full loop, we dropped 
everyone off at the starting point and then Jake and I drove to 
the end point, which was an intersection along some country 
roads.  We dropped off one of our vehicles there, so we'd have 
it to use so we could get the other vehicle later.  Once we'd 
done that, we drove back to the starting point and joined 
everyone else.  

The length of this portion of the trail was five miles and we 
started out by crossing over a wooden footbridge and then 
followed the trail.  One of the first features we passed was 
called the Ice Mine, because ice can generally be found inside 
until August.  

Jake and I each walked next to one of the Flannerys and 
chatted with them about many things.  We discussed such 
topics as our current surroundings, the weather, what our 
families had been up to, next year's St. Patrick's Day Parade 
and we also filled them in about some of the other things we 
had planned during their stay.  I believe we were on an old 
logging road at this juncture, because it was flat and not too 
difficult to travel, but Joshie started fussing as we traveled 
along this section.  We stopped briefly, so his father could 
change his diaper and then Dion fed him a bottle, before we 
placed him back in the carrier and started out again.  

I also noticed that Ricky was spending all of his time with 
Alannah again, so I wondered where this might be heading.  
She is three years younger than he is and more Little Ricky's 
age than Ricky's, so I was confused about some of the 
underlying dynamics in their attraction.  

In addition to that pair, I also noticed the five younger 
members of the group (Andrew, Jesse, Barry, Jordan and 
Nicky) were having a good time with each other.  They were 
traveling in a pack and continually joking around, and it 
didn't seem as if they had a care in the world or any interest in 
where we were.  Their only concern seemed to be that they 
were able to spend time with each other, and they were 
actually quite cute to watch.  

Before we finished our hike, we passed by an old stone wall.  It 
was the type that farmers used to build to indicate the 
boundary of their property.  It had been constructed using the 
rocks they turned up while plowing the fields, which took care 
of two problems at once.  I pointed it out to the boys, so they 
could see it was similar to the ones that ran along various 
sections of our property.  Just after passing it, we also crossed 
over another wooden footbridge, as we made our way to where 
we were going to finish this hike.  

Once we got there, I told the others to wait, while I drove Jake 
back to get the other vehicle.  When we returned, we loaded 
everyone inside and then returned to the cabins.  After a late 
lunch, we played a little touch football out in front of the 
cabins and then went for a swim, to clean up and cool off.  This 
took up the rest of our time until we were ready to go out for a 
late dinner.  Once we ate, Farrell went out with Barry, Jake 
and a couple of the older boys to try his hand at fishing.   
Andrew and Jesse stayed in this time, as did Jordan and Nicky, 
since they thought fishing was icky.  

Saturday, the Flannerys wanted to relax and unwind down by 
the lake, so Jake, a couple of the boys and I used the time to go 
into town to load up on supplies.  We ended up spending the 
day chilling out and not doing very much until we went out for 
dinner.  We took the Flannerys on the Proud Mary Showboat 
Dinner Cruise, because it was their last night with us and we 
wanted to make it special.  We chose this because the Saturday 
Cruise featured a candlelight prime rib dinner, which would 
make it romantic for Farrell and Katelyn, as well as for some 
of our other couples.  

It was an excellent meal, the ambiance was fantastic and we all 
had a great time.  The Flannerys also took a special delight in 
the live entertainment and got up and danced a few times as 
well.  I also noticed that Alannah sat at a table with Ricky, Pat 
and Dustin, but my heart nearly broke when I noticed Little 
Ricky staring at her for most of the night.  I think he felt hurt 
and left out, after how close they had been the last time we 
went to Chicago.  

The little ones also sat together and I really got a kick out of 
watching them with each other.  Jesse was getting along great 
with my two oldest grandsons.  After all, Jordan was only a few 
months younger than Jesse and Nicky was only a year and a 
half younger than him.  It's not that Jordan and Nicky were 
getting along poorly with Andrew and Barry, but that 
particular threesome had formed a special bond.  It worked 
out though, because it left Andrew and Barry a chance to enjoy 
a little time on their own.  

After a lovely evening on the lake, we went back to the cabins.  
The Flannerys immediately got busy packing their things, 
because they were leaving before noon the next day, so they 
could catch their flight home.  They spent the rest of the 
evening with their son, and his shadow, so the rest of us gave 
them plenty of time to be alone.  

The next morning, after we finished eating breakfast, the 
Flannerys thanked us for everything and assured us they'd had 
a wonderful time.  The then spent a few minutes alone with 
Barry, before they loaded into their rental car.  Barry waved 
enthusiastically as they drove away, but he didn't make too big 
of a fuss about them leaving.  I guess he was happy just being 
with Andrew and knew he'd be with his parents again, before 
too much longer.

Although Robert had been joining us on most of our outings, 
he spent the rest of his time working.  However, he decided to 
take Sunday off from his writing and spent most of the day 
with us.  He participated in the canoe races the boys suggested 
having and finished by dunking or flipping the younger ones 
up in the air later, when they went swimming.  As I've said 
before, Robert is just a big kid at heart and the boys love that 
quality in him.  

A couple of hours later, Elizabeth and Tim drove in and I 
raced out to greet my youngest grandchild.  Lucas would turn 
a month old during the week, and since Elizabeth had some 
complications after giving birth, I planned a very light 
schedule of activities for them.  I warned the boys in advance, 
so they could plan on doing other things, if they wished, but I 
would be spending most of my time with the three newest 
arrivals.  

I was amazed at how much smaller Lucas looked than Joshie 
at this point, but I should have realized there's a big difference 
between one month and nine months.  It doesn't seem that it's 
been that long since Joshie was born, but it had been and 
Joshie looked like a giant next to his younger cousin.  

Robert spent much of that day with his sister and brother-in --
law too and Lucas got passed around more often and quicker 
than gossip at a high school reunion.  He did fuss a little about 
all of the various people holding him, but he did seem to like 
the attention.  Maybe he'd get used to so many handling him 
before they left.  

On Monday, we started out with another easy walk at the 
Hillside Nature Center, but this time I carried Lucas in my 
infant carrier, while Dion carried Joshie in the other.  This 
worked out to be something Elizabeth could do too, since her 
doctor had advised her to take easy walks as a way to rebuild 
her stamina.  After we finished this brief excursion, everyone 
but Elizabeth and the babies went out in the canoes for a short 
time.   

After lunch, I took them to the Rockhill Trolley Museum.  
Trolleys are very much like train passenger cars, but they have 
their own power source and are closer to being a bus that run 
on tracks.  They even had their own unique sounds, which 
reminded me of 'The Trolley Song' from the musical, 'Meet 
Me In St. Louis.'  It starts out by describing the sounds the 
trolley makes.

Clang, clang, clang went the trolley 
Ding, ding, ding went the bell 
Zing, zing, zing went my heartstrings as we started for Huntington Dell.  
Chug, chug, chug went the motor 
Bump, bump, bump went the brake 
Thump, thump, thump went my heartstrings as we glided for 
Huntington Lake.

Although I wouldn't agree the preciseness of the descriptions 
of the various sounds, it does show that each part of the trolley 
has its own distinctive tones.  This included the ricka, ricka, 
ricka noise the air compressor made.  During our time there, 
we got to see a large variety of trolleys, from an open-air car to 
a collection of closed types.  We also saw one that was quite 
small and others that were very large, and their manufacture 
dates ranged from 1904 to 1947.  Some of these trolleys had 
been used in Pennsylvania, while others came from as far away 
as Portugal and Brazil.  We also got to see some of the 
maintenance vehicles that were also used, such as snowplows, 
snow sweepers and freight cars.  Before we left, we even got to 
take a ride on a trolley.  

On Tuesday, we did the Dogtown Trail in the morning, which 
Elizabeth was fine with doing.  This time Trey carried Joshie, 
while Tim took Lucas, and it was another nice, relaxing stroll.  
>From there we went back for a swim and spent some time in 
the sun.  

After lunch, we went to the Bellefonte Museum for Centre 
County.  This is housed in an historic building, constructed of 
Limestone and was completed in 1810.  It is nestled in the 
quaint Victorian village of Bellefonte and features works of art, 
historical and architectural displays, natural history exhibits 
and examples from physical science.   There was more than 
enough to observe, so everyone found something of interest and 
we spent a great deal of time discussing the things we observed.  

For dinner that evening, we were taking everyone on the Proud 
Mary Showboat Dinner Cruise again.  Tuesday night happens 
to be the Pasta Dinner Buffet, and once again my boys 
devoured nearly everything in sight.  We sure do get our 
money's worth out of these buffets.  Elizabeth and Tim enjoyed 
it too, and even though Robert had been with us on another of 
the dinner cruises, it was a totally different meal and the 
entertainment was different too.  I think everyone enjoyed this 
outing.  

Wednesday, we started off on the Hillside Nature Trail again, 
since Elizabeth did need to get out for her daily exercise.  After 
this, we went for another swim and caught some rays.  

After lunch, we took them to a place they call 'Gravity Hill.'  
This is one place that seems to defy the laws of gravity, cars 
appear to roll uphill and water seems to flow in the wrong 
direction -- a case of gravity gone haywire.  Some claim it's all 
an optical illusion, but other's say there is a gravitational warp 
in the earth at this point, which allows these things to happen.  

In order to witness this firsthand, we were allowed to take one 
of our vehicles to try it out.  After stopping the Yukon, I 
checked to make certain no other vehicles were around and 
then put it in neutral and released the brake.  I'll be damned, 
but the car seemed to roll uphill, not down.  Everyone was 
laughing and asked me to do it again, which I did with the 
same results.  It's not easy to move a vehicle of that size, let 
alone in the wrong direction, but that's what seemed to be 
happening.  

Thursday morning, we walked the Dogtown Trail again, before 
going back to swim and relax.  That afternoon, I took everyone 
out for a daytime cruise around the lake on 'The Princess.'  
Since it was a lovely day and not too hot, the breeze generated 
by the moving vessel made the effect almost perfect.  We took a 
two-hour ride around the lake, learned about some of the other 
locations and got to see the sights from a different point of 
view.  I think Elizabeth enjoyed this the most of all.  

Friday, after walking the Hillside Nature Trail again, it started 
to rain.  We hurried back to the cabins and spent the rest of 
the morning chatting and playing cards and Uno.  After lunch, 
I took them to the Swigart Antique Car Museum, which has a 
revolving display of over thirty cars.  I knew this would appeal 
to Tim and Robert, but would also intrigue some of my older 
boys.

During our time there, we saw a 1916 Scripps-Booth, a 1920 
Carroll, a 1936 Duesenberg 12-cylinder Gentleman's Speedster 
and Tucker's 1947 Tin Goose prototype.  In addition to the 
cars, they also featured what they refer to as 'automobilia'.  
This includes license plates from all over the U.S., radiator 
emblems, badges (which showed when a person belonged to an 
automobile club), lamps, horns, hood ornaments, various 
clothing and other accessories worn primarily when in the car.  
There was also a collection of photos, paintings and prints 
featuring the automobile.  

In addition to the automobile collection, there was also a 
bicycle collection.  This included the all wooden velocipede 
(commonly referred to as the boneshaker) and examples of 
bicycles from 1880 to the recent past, and included some old 
high-wheeled bicycles.  There was another area that featured 
toys and this fascinated some of the younger crowd.  The 
display included cast-iron fire trucks, horse-drawn pumpers, 
various other wheeled toys, model trains, pedal cars, dolls, 
hobby horses and vintage Fisher-Price toys.

"Hey, Daddy," Andrew yelled, pointing at a group of older 
toys.  "Are those yours, from when you were little?"  I could 
hear the others snickering, since the toys he was pointing at 
probably came from the very late nineteenth or very early 
twentieth centuries.  I merely ignored his question, but I did 
stick my tongue out at him.  

The Museum had turned out to be far more interesting than I 
had anticipated and I was very glad we had come.  I knew the 
others were too and it turned out to be a great way to spend a 
rainy afternoon.  

Saturday morning, we took our final walk on the Dogtown 
Trail, and then Elizabeth, Tim and Robert all started packing 
up to leave.  They would be taking off right after lunch, since 
Tim and Robert had to return to their jobs on Monday.  Before 
they left, each one thanked me and Robert told me he had 
accomplished quite a bit while he was here.  Even though he 
had done many things with us, he still felt he had accomplished 
more than he would have with the distractions at home.  We all 
said good-bye and commented that we'd see each other again 
at Christmas.  Although it was sad to see them go, I knew it 
wouldn't be for long.  



The Castaway Hotel: Grand Reopening --Book 9 - by BW         
Copyright 2010 by billwstories
Chapter 40 -- Wrapping Things Up.    

Sunday, our final group came in.  It was Michael, Andrea and 
Megan.  They would be staying until the following Saturday 
and then taking Jordan and Nicky back with them when they 
returned.  They were going to see that Nicky got back safely to 
Marie, and take the responsibility from us, seeing we'd have to 
make sure Barry got home safely.  

We did basically the same things for Michael and Andrea that 
we had done with Elizabeth and Tim, except we took longer 
and more energetic walks.  After letting them get settled in on 
Sunday, we started Monday off with the 5-mile Trout Creek 
hike we had taken with the Flannerys.  I did this because I 
knew Michael and Andrea were big with keeping fit and 
working out.  I had a child backpack carrier for Michael to 
carry Megan in and they enjoyed this long and vigorous hike.  
We followed this activity with a watery workout in the lake, 
which I know they enjoyed as well.

After lunch, we took them on 'The Princess' boat tour from 
Seven Points.  I thought it was a lovely way to get them started 
and give them a feel for the area, and then we took everyone 
out for dinner.  

That night, Michael and Andrea spent time with Nicky and 
Jordan, since the boys had been with us for three weeks by this 
point.  The rest of us left them alone, so they would have an 
opportunity to get reacquainted, and I think it worked out well 
for all parties involved.  

Tuesday, it was raining again, so we took them to the Swigart 
Antique Car Museum first.  I knew Michael would enjoy this 
and the entire family seemed eager to go back and check it out 
again.  When we came out, after seeing everything inside, it 
seemed to have cleared up a little, so I took everyone to 
Gravity Hill, so Michael and Andrea could experience those 
odd sensations for themselves.  

After lunch it was still kind of nasty, so most of the boys stayed 
home while I drove Michael and Andrea over to check out the 
Bellafonte Museum for Centre County.  When we finished up 
there, it had cleared up a little, so Michael went fishing with 
Jake and some of the others.    

Wednesday, I had a little longer hike lined up for them, and it 
was one we hadn't done before.  This time, I took them on the 
7-mile Fire Tower Loop Trail.  This trail is rated as moderate 
to strenuous, which was perfect for my fitness buffs, and it goes 
in a loop to the Fire Tower on Greenwood Spur.  The tower 
was built in the 1930's and is still in use to watch for forest 
fires.  I had to admit this was by far the most challenging trail 
we had taken during this vacation, so afterward we went to the 
lake for a swim and then out to lunch.  

Wednesday afternoon, we just hung around the cabins and 
played touch football.  I think the boys had forgotten how 
competitive Michael can be when it comes to sports and 
Andrea is nearly as bad, so the game was for blood -- well, not 
literally.  It was just very competitive.  

Once that ended, they also went canoeing for a while and then 
swimming again, and Michael was tossing and flipping Jordan, 
Nicky, Jesse, Andrew and Barry.  Barry's bulk almost did 
Michael in, since Barry was so much bigger than the others, 
but Michael did manage, so Barry wasn't left out.  

Wednesday night we relaxed a bit and the boys wanted to play 
Uno against Michael and Andrea.  I guess their competitive 
nature was also starting to kick in and they wanted to take 
Andrea and Michael on again.  It was very heated and the boys 
wouldn't let Andrea and Michael play at the same table, for 
fear they'd team up against them.  However, I think the boys 
ganged up on them.  Michael, Andrea and I were talking later 
and they mentioned how determined the boys were to beat 
them.  I was afraid they might be upset by this fact, but both 
merely thought it was cute that the boys were so intent on 
getting revenge for what they'd put them through during the 
football game.  I was glad it hadn't escalated into more.  

Thursday, we started off by taking the two short hikes, back to 
back.  We did the Hillside Nature Trail first and drove over 
and followed it up by doing the Dogtown Trail.  We walked 
each loop twice, and because I suspected one trail wouldn't be 
enough for my fitness buffs.   Therefore, we did the two loops, 
doubled and back-to-back.  That seemed to suffice, so we went 
back to the cabins and swam and canoed until lunchtime.  

After lunch, Andrea started to get a migraine headache, so we 
opted to stay in until she was feeling better.  They boys went 
swimming, while the rest of us took care of the little ones and 
waited on Andrea.  She started feeling better by dinnertime, so 
we went out to eat and then came back to the cabins and 
played cards.

By Friday, Andrea was feeling much better, so we took them to 
Hershey Park.  This is another amusement park, but it's far 
larger and more extensive than Del Grosso's, and there are 
several sections to the park, each featuring its own theme and 
assortment of rides.  Luckily for the boys, all of them, 
including Nicky, Jesse and Jordan, were tall enough to go on 
nearly all of the rides.  Unfortunately, Megan fell two 
categories below the others on height requirement chart and 
had to stay on the tamer rides.  However, she didn't lose out, 
since Nicky and Jordan chose to go with her on a lot of those 
rides and then Michael, Andrea, Jake and I split our time 
taking her on the others.  

We pretty much gave the boys free reign today, as long as they 
stayed in groups of three or more, and the older boys agreed to 
help keep an eye on the younger ones.  Joshie also spent most 
of the day with me, although Dion and Trey would come spend 
time with him at various points and made sure they didn't 
ignore him completely.  

Every now and then the various groups of boys would come 
looking for us, so they could drag one or more of us on a ride 
they'd found to be thrilling.  In other words, they'd drag us off 
to go on rides they thought would scare the crap out of us.  
Andrea and Michael found this quite amusing and thought it 
was nice the boys wanted us to do this with them.  Due to this 
special attention, the bonds between Michael, Andrea and the 
boys grew deeper as the day progressed.  I don't think Andrea 
and Michael had expected that any of the boys would want to 
do much with them, since there were so many others they could 
hang around with and because of the way Andrea and Michael 
had acted when we were estranged.  That's why they were so 
deeply touched when the boys sought them out too, even if it 
was just so my monsters could see if they could frighten them.  

We had a great day and ate both lunch and dinner there.  We 
did this because no one wanted to leave, seeing we were having 
such a great time.  Even Joshie got to go on some of the rides, 
because Megan, Nicky and Jesse would take him on the kiddy 
rides with them.  Joshie's face would light up whenever one of 
them took him on a ride and his smile spread across his face, as 
the wind blew in his face.  That led me to believe he had a great 
time too.  

We ended up spending the entire day at the park and only left 
when it closed.  I think some of the boys would have camped 
out there overnight, if they could have, since they didn't seem 
to want to leave.  Oh, to be young again.  

Saturday was the final day of this vacation, since we'd all be 
leaving for our homes the following day.  It had been a great 
retreat for my family, even if it was lower key than some of our 
past adventures, but it was nice to have the others join us at 
various times.  We spent most of the day taking it easy, 
swimming, canoeing, sunning and taking short walks, and the 
only time we went out was for dinner.  We took Michael and 
Andrea on the Proud Mary Showboat Dinner Cruise for the 
candlelight prime rib special, for our farewell dinner and a 
celebration of our time together.  

Michael and Andrea seemed to really enjoy the music and 
entertainment, as well as the food, and turned out to be a 
wonderful finishing touch to their week with us.  Since Jake 
and I were sitting with them, they apologized numerous times 
for our past misunderstanding and said they were glad things 
had worked out, because they really enjoyed their time with us.  
I did tell them they didn't have to keep trying to make up for 
the past and we would just put it behind us, but they seemed to 
feel obligated to try to make amends for their past misgivings.  
Once we cleared the air, we enjoyed the rest of our time 
together.  

The next day, we had a very difficult time saying good-bye to 
each other.  It was especially difficult for Jordan and Nicky, 
since they had been with us for four weeks and didn't want to 
leave Jesse and Andrew.  They were even sad that Barry would 
have to go back home too, but in the end they reluctantly 
hopped into the car with Andrea and Michael.  I kissed them 
all good-bye and told them I looked forward to seeing them at 
Christmas.  

Once they had gone, we picked up our things and loaded them 
into the vehicles, and then I went through all four cabins for a 
final inspection.  We dropped the keys off on the way out and 
then drove Barry to the airport, so he could catch his flight 
back to Chicago.  

Barry also found it difficult saying good-bye, but most of all 
with Jesse and Andrew.  Since he had spent time with all of us 
and we had been close, he also hugged Jake and me several 
times, while thanking us for the great time.  I'll admit, we were 
going to miss him too, but I told him we'd see him next St. 
Patrick's Day, if not before.  

Once his flight took off, the rest of us set out for home.  It was 
time for us to get back into our normal routines again.  

Shortly after we returned, I had to start planning our Fourth 
of July celebration, which would be closely followed by a 21st 
birthday party for Ricky on the weekend.  It's hard for me to 
believe the cute twelve-year old imp that came to live with me 
was now about to legally become an adult, in all senses of the 
word.  Damn, I guess I am getting old.  

The worst part is, I have many more of these events still ahead 
of me.  Cole will be turning twenty-one in October, Vinnie and 
Shannon in December, and then Nick and Trey in February.  
Where has all the time gone?  This means that twelve of the 
boys will now be twenty-one or older, which will leave me 
legally responsible for only Graham, Dion, Sammy, Little 
Ricky, Andrew and Jesse.  Worse than that, Andrew and Jesse 
will be the only pair still at home, because they others will be 
away at college.  Wow, time does fly.  

Anyway, we're having a big cookout for the Fourth again and 
we've invited both farm-homes to join us.  I planned on having 
games again, since everyone seemed to enjoy it so much last 
year, but I hoped to change things around a little, to insure 
that everyone has a great time.  The Fourth is on Tuesday this 
year, so that's when we'll hold that celebration, but since 
Ricky's birthday is on Friday, we'll wait and hold his party on 
Saturday.  That way, the extended family will be able to come 
too, without having to take time off from work.  

After talking everything over with my planning committee, 
which included Jake and the boys, we've decided to have three 
age groups this year.  These various groups would be called the 
Teens, which will include everyone still in public school, the 
Tweens, which would include those in college and in their 
twenties, and then the adult group, with those thirty and older.  
The boys wanted to call this group the 'golden oldies,' or was 
that 'moldy oldies?'  Anyway, I didn't think this moniker 
would offend anyone in the group, so I went along with their 
suggestion.  

The teen group would consist of Andrew, Jesse and a bunch of 
the children from the two farm-homes.  The Tweens would 
include my college sons, Duck, Mark and their girlfriends, and 
then the rest of us would comprise the final group.   Each of 
these groups would compete in the same events we held last 
year, plus a few new ones.  We would hold the birdseed relay 
and the three-legged race, as well as the egg and water balloon 
tosses.  However, this year we added a tug of war, across a 
kiddy pool filled with Jell-o, and a pass the apple, where each 
group has an apple they have to pin between their jaw and 
body and pass it down the line, without using their hands.  If it 
is dropped along the way, that person starts it again, but the 
line shifts so that person is first in a new line.  Those that had 
passed it successfully will now move to the end of their line and 
they start all over.  

I won't go into detail about the day, but I will say the food was 
plentiful and devoured greedily.  The games were fun to play 
and elicited a lot of laughs as we competed.  One game, 
however, might have been a little too much fun for some of the 
boys and I think I may omit the apple pass next year.  This is 
because some of the boys from the boys' farm-home got 
carried away rubbing their bodies against the young ladies 
from the girl's farm home, while passing the apple.  Some of it 
was obviously quite sexual, especially as some of the boys from 
the farm-home humped their crotches against the girls and 
rubbed their lips against their lips and cheek.  Since I feared 
this might result in some problems, or even allegations of 
sexual harassment, I warned them whenever I saw it 
happening and decided to eliminate this game in the future.  

The fireworks we went to see later were also spectacular.  They 
were all of the aerial variety and the finale was exquisitely 
done.  All in all, it was a nice ending to a very enjoyable day.  
This feeling was reinforced when the others stopped to thank 
us and confirmed they'd had a great time, before they returned 
to their homes.  We were pleased and thanked them for 
coming, before we returned to our homes and prepared to 
return to our normal routines.  

On Saturday, we had Ricky's party and the extended family 
was there, including Jay and his parents.  It was nice to see 
them again too and Ricky and Jay spent a great deal of time 
together.  As I had with the others, one of Ricky's gifts 
included my turning his account over to him and putting that 
money completely in his control.  I will also do that with the 
others when they reach twenty-one, so they are positive about 
one gift they have to look forward to.  

Ricky was his typical goofy self as he opened his other gifts and 
showed them off, but he always managed to bring a smile to 
everyone's face.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do when he's 
not here any longer to give me his occasional shot of 'Ricky 
joy-juice' and I have to look for new ways to brighten my 
gloomy days.  Well, not entirely, since Joshie's smile has a 
similar effect on me.  

The rest of July was fairly laid back.  As it turned out, we 
weren't needed to go out and help on the farms this year.  The 
new equipment that had been purchased for them meant much 
of the work was done by machine, so our assistance wasn't 
necessary.  However, we did go out to do some skinny-dipping 
with the boys.  They had reminded us over the Fourth that we 
hadn't don't that recently, so we told them we'd be out before 
the summer was over.  Since we didn't want to go back on our 
word, we made sure to keep that promise.  

The boys from the home had become quite comfortable with 
my sons, so nearly everyone participated in this activity.  I had 
also relaxed my objection to the boys doing anything sexual 
with each other, but I did limit their activities to mutual 
masturbation and oral sex.  I also made it clear to my sons that 
the boys from the home would have to be the ones to initiate 
such contacts, but if they did, my sons were allowed to have 
some fun with them.  

I was somewhat surprised that it was the younger boys at the 
farm-home who were most interested in messing around, 
rather than the older ones.  It was later suggested to me that 
some of the older boys might have been abused previously and, 
hence, were unwilling to expose themselves to any sexual 
situations.  I was saddened to hear this, but in a way it also 
made me feel better to know that we had been able to place the 
younger boys in a situation where they wouldn't be forced to 
do such things.

As we entered August, we also began to get things ready for the 
boys to return to college and school.  Since Danny and 
Brandon were both going to Pittsburgh this year, along with 
Dion, Trey and Shelly, they wouldn't need the two vehicles 
they had been responsible for the previous year.  Others were 
heading in that direction too, so I swapped vehicles and gave 
the Yukon to Danny.  This gave him the larger vehicle and 
provided them with more room, and I kept his SUV to use at 
home.  I let Ricky have the other SUV to use, so he could 
transport some of the others back and forth along Danny's old 
route.  Kevin would still have the 4Runner, to take him and 
Vinnie to Philadelphia.  

As I mentioned earlier, only Andrew and Jesse will still be at 
home with Jake and me.  Andrew will be a junior in high 
school, or in eleventh grade, and Jesse will be starting seventh 
grade.  This meant I wouldn't be doing as much running 
around, so I'm thinking about maybe doing some writing as a 
hobby.  I think Robert got his ability from me, and we do seem 
to have very similar interests, so I'll share some of my ideas 
with Robert and Trey first, before I discuss them with the 
others.  

The boys' transition to school went smoothly, but it was 
emotionally draining on me.  The house seemed so empty and 
lonely now, and shortly after school resumed, Jesse became a 
teenager.  This only reinforced my perception that the boys 
were getting older and would all soon be gone.  

I threw a big party for Jesse and allowed him to invite some of 
his classmates too, since I was hoping he'd make other friends 
before Andrew left for college in a couple more years.  He did 
invite a couple of boys, and it pleased me to see him spreading 
out socially.  

Of course, the extended family also attended his party and we 
had a big cookout.  I was vaguely familiar with a few of the 
boys he'd invited, since they had helped us with the haunted 
house the previous year.  I also knew their families and 
approved of his choices.  Jesse's new friends seemed to have a 
good time and got along well with Andrew too, so I had a good 
feeling that the relationship they were building was going to 
last.  

In September, Joshie celebrated his first birthday.  I allowed 
Dion and Trey to come home for the weekend, so they could 
share this special event with him, and Shelly came too.  It was a 
nice party, although a messy one for Joshie, because he 
smeared the cake all over his high chair and face.  He also gave 
his fathers a nice present, when he started saying da-da.  I 
think they both melted and felt like a million bucks after 
hearing him say it.  

When October rolled around, the boys wanted to do the 
Haunted House again, but I told them it would be a bit much 
for just the two of them to pull off.  They said they'd get some 
of their friends to help and talked Dustin and Cole into helping 
them too.  Since they did that, I agreed.  It ended up working 
out very well and helped Jesse become closer to a few more of 
his classmates.  

Since I wanted to do something different this year, I dressed 
Joshie as Pinocchio, complete with a long, fake nose.  I even 
tied string to his hands, feet and hat, before attaching the 
strings to a wooden 'X,' like an old-fashioned puppeteer might 
use.  I then dressed up like Geppetto, the lonely woodworker 
who carved Pinocchio and then wished Pinocchio could be a 
'real' boy.  Jake dressed up as Stromboli, the evil puppeteer 
who kidnaps Pinocchio and makes him the star of his show.  
He also locks Pinocchio up when he's not performing so he 
can't escape, and I think everyone immediately recognized who 
we were.   

None of my biological children and grandchildren, except for 
Joshie, was with us for Thanksgiving this year, but they were 
all coming for Christmas.  It turned out to be a lovely day and 
we had a wonderful time, since all the college boys, except for 
Nick and Shannon, had come home to celebrate with us too.  It 
was a bit strange for me though, since Jake wasn't there.  He 
had gone to celebrate the holiday with Shannon, Nick and 
Nick's parents.  To make up for it, they were all going to come 
here for Christmas, but that didn't stop me from missing Jake.  

As always, the extended family joined us too, and this included 
Mark and Jesse's mothers, as well as the Novaks.  It was truly 
a wonderful time and we had a fantastic weekend.  I was 
thrilled to hear the house filled with the shouts and playful 
banter again and enjoyed every second of it, until the boys had 
to return to their campuses.  

Over the next few weeks, I spent my time getting ready for 
Christmas.  I cleaned the house, bought gifts, attended Jesse 
and Andrew's school concerts and played Christmas carols for 
most of the day.  Joshie was crawling now, so I had to keep a 
closer eye on him as I did all of these things, to insure he didn't 
get in to anything he wasn't supposed to.  

At Christmas, we had a really full house.  My entire family was 
there, except for Frankie.  He had been sent to Afghanistan, 
after his tour was up at Guantanamo, and he'd probably be 
spending the rest of his enlistment there.  I missed him and we 
all said special prayers that he'd return home safely, once his 
tour of duty ended.  

My grandchildren were a riot to watch and Joshie was old 
enough to begin to appreciate some of the things that were 
going on.  He was a little leery of Santa Claus this time, when 
we took him to have his picture taken at the mall, but he loved 
the colored lights and the music.  The bright lights also proved 
fascinating for Lucas too and I spent a great deal of time 
singing Christmas Carols to both of them.  

The O'Hara's and the Lawrences also joined us, along with 
Shelly and her parents, which was really nice.  This meant we 
had a very full house, but it was filled with love and good will.  
Unfortunately, Jesse no longer believed in Santa Claus, but 
Jordan, Nicky and Megan did, so Santa showed up right on 
cue, after I finished reading 'Twas the Night Before 
Christmas.'  

Christmas Day was a little more relaxed and less hectic, since 
the boys were older now and not in a race to open all their 
gifts.  Of course, my grandchildren were still quite excited 
about what they received, but for the most part, it was a fairly 
calm day.  

Throughout the week, the boys caught up on what each other 
had been up to and reconnected with their brothers.  Since 
they were all getting older, they also spent a considerable 
amount of time doing their own thing, which meant catching 
up with other friends and doing things on their own.  It was 
inevitable, although still somewhat unsettling to witness, as 
various boys started to branch off and go their own way.  

On New Year's Eve, I rented out the Elk's Lodge again, 
because everyone kept saying how much they had enjoyed the 
past two celebrations we'd held there.  All of my boys showed 
up, along with their dates and some of their other friends, and 
we were joined by our extended family.  This now officially 
included Susan and Alice, Mark and Jesse's mothers, and the 
Novaks.  We opted to enjoy a catered meal there as well, so I 
arranged to have this done by one of the best caterers I knew.  
We ended up eating, dancing and partying the night away, and 
stayed there celebrating until well after we had welcomed in 
2007.  

The boys and I spent the next several days enjoying the various 
bowl games, but mostly we relished the time we had together, 
until they had to return to college.  None of us knew what the 
future would hold, but there was a good chance the boys would 
end up in various places, rather than staying in the local area.  
I gradually started to prepare myself for this eventuality, 
although it wasn't a pleasant prospect.  

The next few months seemed to grind by, since there were so 
few of us at home.  Jake and I tended to grow even closer, since 
we had so much time alone, especially after Joshie went to bed.  
Andrew and Jesse continued to spend a great deal of their time 
together, although Jesse made sure to spend some of this time 
with his other friends too.  It wasn't that the two were growing 
apart, but Jesse was making sure he wouldn't be totally alone, 
once Andrew left for college.  

Except for when the boys came home for Easter weekend, the 
rest of the school year was pretty quiet.  However, that 
changed in May, when Ricky, Jay and Pat graduated from 
their respective colleges.  Yes, I included Jay, because we all 
went to his ceremony too.  We held our typical graduation 
party for them and it was fairly well attended.  It also brought 
us another step closer to the end of this story.  

Shannon was supposed to graduate this year as well, but he 
had lost a semester's worth of credits when he transferred to 
Oklahoma State.  Therefore, he would finish his degree 
requirements in December, but wouldn't receive his diploma 
until Nick did the following summer.  At the same time, Vinnie 
and Trey would be graduating too, providing nothing 
unexpected happened in the interim.  It would also be the same 
year Andrew would graduate from high school.  

This was a bittersweet time for me, because as you can see, we 
have finally reached the point where most of the boys have 
finished their education and ready to begin supporting 
themselves.  I am proud of their accomplishments and the fine 
young men they have turned out to be; yet there is a tinge of 
sadness in the realization that this wonderful period of our 
lives was coming to an end.  

Being a baby boomer, it is not uncommon for our children to 
be called baby boomerangs, because they often moved back 
home.  Yes, it is possible that some of the boys might come 
back home to live for a while, at least until they found jobs, 
chosen mates and moved into their own digs.  Anyway, we 
were gradually reaching the end of a long and glorious 
journey, which has had its share of ups and downs.  There 
were many moments filled with laughter, along with others 
filled with sorrow, but our home was always full of love, caring 
and sharing.  I pray the boys will be able to spread those 
wonderful traits to the others that come into their lives and I 
hope I live long enough to witness this happen.



This, as you may have already guessed, is the End of Book 9 
and the completion of the Castaway Hotel Series.  Thank you 
for staying with me through this lengthy saga and I hope you 
have enjoyed the adventures of the Currie family and the 
journey they've shared, in order to reach this point.  I extend 
my heartfelt thanks to all of you that have contacted me over 
the years and shared your thoughts, observations and 
critiques.  It was much appreciated and many of those 
comments were incorporated when I completed the rewritten 
version of this tale.