Once again we launch our eco-friendly holiday letter. Thank you for opening it!
Carrie and Dave sold their house and moved into Dave's old one to save money. Dave will be attending Penn State Brandywine campus for a pre-med program - one year and mostly online with labs and tests during the weekend on site. Carrie still working as an attorney in Baltimore City. Their new address is
Carrie and Dave Freeman
Eastbrook Ave.
Baltimore, MD 21224
Annie still at Towson University working her magic with students who are under-represented in the Sciences. She has the coolest stories to tell at dinner. She's active at her Cross-Fit gym where she moonlights as a coach.
We went back to Florida Jan-March and enjoyed traveling with our friends, Ed and Chris Bollinger, despite their side swipe with a tanker. Whew- all were safe and John and Ed managed to outfit their new rig in working condition by the time we hit Ft. Myers.
In May, Joan’s mom
(87) had a stroke so the entire family rallied and worked with her so that she
could still
We went to Puzzle Lake again, this time without any kids. Just the siblings. Actually we had a ball. Laughed a lot. Did crazy things. Tony flew his remote controlled airplane at 450’ and got great shots of the lake.
In August, we took
our grandniece (faux granddaughter) Julianne (age 7) to Geneva to visit her
French grandmother, mamu Cathy and her aunt and cousins in the Swiss Alps. After depositing her with Mamu, we rented a houseboat and did a river and
canal cruise in France on the Saone River and the Central Canal. John was the Captain; Joan was the crew. Just the two of us. Navigating 24 manual locks (that would be
Joan) and docking near villages (that would be John); riding our rental bikes into town for
groceries, wine, etc.
Quite the adventure. Our boat was
30 ft. long, so compared to our camper, it was luxurious. Our own personal Viking River Cruise but it
was Locaboat.com. See our photo album, especially of the locks, in this blog.
Then we did two scavenger hunts in Germany and Switzerland
on family history. In France and
Germany, we re-traced the route John’s
father’s medic unit took during WWII.
Talk about remote countryside.
Then off to Zurich to find the homestead town of obscure OberAlbis in
the Swiss Alps of Joan’s father’s family.
We picked up Julianne at her aunt’s house and flew home from
Geneva. Heavy bonding all around.
We’re still married. Number 44
coming up.
Joan and Carrie took a course at the Culinary Institute of
America on Gluten Free baking. That was
seriously fun- lots of hands on in the
dough. A must do again and highly
recommended.
Joan's niece Kristin, the concert pianist, got married in October to John Yuan and the wedding had a 25 piece orchestra of her friends. It was quite the performance by all!
John turns 70 this coming year so we’re planning some other fun camping travels while we’re well enough to do so. In October we hosted a Casita rally in Lancaster which was such a hit that everyone is returning and we have more signing on for next year.
Hoping you have a healthy and safe new year. Please let us know your plans so we can try to work in a visit!
With much affection,
John and Joan McMahon
410-733-0029 (cell)
410-733-0029 (cell)
