Bill and Cathy McArthur Spring/Summer/Fall 2007: 4

On Monday, June 25, at a bit after 5:00 AM, a rain shower came by and lasted for a couple of hours. This was totally unexpected. We had all expected a sunny day. Bill drove over to Cape May and walked on the beach with his brother Bob. Then, we all hung out on the Grant Street beach for a couple of hours and then went to Louie's Pizza for lunch. We headed back home after lunch. Bill, Cathy, Joan, and Ralph went out to dinner at Tisha's and enjoyed the usual great meal. The other folks at the McArthur reunion spent the afternoon and evening in a variety of ways. Tuesday was a hot, humid summer day. Bill got started with a 10 mile kayak paddle to the concrete ship. He encountered a lot of dolphins. After lunch, we worked on getting ready for our annual reunion cookout. We had lots of help with various groups heading out in several vehicles to pick up items. When everyone had arrived, around 4:00 PM, we had 17 adults and 13 kids in attendance. Thanks to Cathy's magic marinade, we enjoyed great swordfish accompanied by various salads and other platters from West Side Market. The kids had hamburgers and hot dogs, grilled by Bill's brother Bob. A good time was had by all. On Wednesday, Bill went to the beach with the Stoops, and then walked for 2 1/2 hours from Grant Street Beach to the last jetty of Cape May Point and back. It was hot and a 2 water bottle walk. Bill joined Cathy, Stacey and Bill, and Alex with 3 kids for lunch at the Blue Pig in Congress Hall. After a good meal, we walked on Washington Street Mall for a while and then headed home. For dinner, we grilled chicken and had leftover salads. On Thursday morning, Bill and Cathy drove to the Urologist's office in Gallway Township, north of Atlantic City. After an hour's drive there and at least a half hour's wait, the doctor told Bill that the pathologist hadn't looked at the tissues yet. When we arrived back home, Bill went to Armada By-the Sea Motel to fix a problem with Excel 2000 needing to be restored. He worked again with the Vista machine, but it wouldn't network with the laptop. After lunch, Sarah went for a kayak paddle with Stacey in the Yak Board. Bill help them out and in again and then paddled down to the canal. There was a large pod of dolphins down by Harpoon Henry's. When Bill was about a mile from home, he heard the rumble and thunder and sprinted home. He just had time to put things away, take a very quick shower, and get dressed before a big downpour started. Doctor Schutz called with results: negative for the tissue samples. The pathologist saw something that indicated another biopsy in September, but for now, Bill was clean. The rain let up to allow us to grill filets mignon. Bill ate veggie burgers. On Friday, June 29, Alex, Phil, and family left in the morning. The rest of us piled into 2 cars and headed to the Cape May County Zoo. It rained lightly when we arrived and harder while we pulled Sarah and Billy through the Zoo in their red wagon. We left around noon. Bill and Cathy drove to Cape May and picked up JoAnn for lunch at the Lobster House. JoAnn bought us a good seafood meal. We stopped at the ACME after dropping off JoAnn. Cathy prepared a feast of haddock and other delights followed by a delicious yoghurt pie. On Saturday morning, we all drove to the Alpaca Ranch on Cape May Point. The kids liked the cool looking alpacas and Billy got a bear in the gift shop. We went to Lucky Bones for a good lunch. Bill went for a kayak paddle down to the Canal. Later, Bill and Cathy babysat while Son Bill and Stacey went to Moonfish Grill for dinner. Sunday, July 1, was Bill's 67th birthday. It was a beautiful day, a bit windier than we would have liked, but still nice. We drove into Cape May for some shopping and walking on the Washington Street Mall. When we returned, we filled the kiddie pool on the deck and Sarah and Billy had some fun splashing in the warm water. After lunch, Bill and Cathy took a 6 mile walk to the Canal. We all went to dinner at Cucina Rosa and enjoyed Italian food. When we got back, we had ice cream cake and some presents for Bill. Son Bill headed for Borgata Casino in Atlantic City for all night poker. On Monday, the rest of us went to the beach in Cape May for the morning. We stopped at WaWa for subs which we brought back for lunch. Stacey did a lot of packing in the afternoon, while Cathy and Bill spent some time playing with the kids. Son Bill awoke after the rest had eaten dinner in the solarium. We all got to watch a gorgeous sunset and then Son Bill, Stacey, Sarah, and Billy left for their long overnight drive back to Georgia. Cathy and Bill caught up on some HBO shows that they had DVRed. On Tuesday morning, Bill had to visit a couple of clients in Wildwood. We talked with Son Bill around 10:30 AM and found them safely at home. We turned to household chores. Bill took a very windy paddle down to the Canal in the afternoon. For the evening's festivities, we walked to Wayne and Donna's house in North Cape May for a small gathering. We all walked up to the Bay to watch a very good fireworks display. We met Joe and Maria Link while we were walking home after 11:00 PM. On Wednesday, July 4, Bill drove to the Water's Edge Motel in Wildwood to look at computer problems. He found no antivirus program on the computer and downloaded Norton Virusscan. He left a very slow scan running on the computer. The day started with rain and continued windy and cloudy. That didn't stop a bunch of trespassers from traversing our property to the Bay. On Thursday morning, Bill tried for the third time to speak to a human being at Dr. Schutz's office about his biopsy report. Also, Bill called Water's Edge Motel to check on the virus scan, but couldn't find out the results until Friday morning, since his main contact person had the day off. We went on a walk/run to the Canal. Bill ran 3 miles on his first run since his biopsy and felt good, but slow. Bill called Greg from Camping World in Lakewood about an upgrade for the RV. Greg was supposed to call back with some trade-in information by 10:00 AM on Friday. On Friday morning, July 6, we drove to Atlantic Eye Care Center in Cape May Courthouse. Cathy scheduled a cataract removal for August 22. Greg from Camping World didn't call. After lunch, we took a very sweaty walk to the Canal. We went to Harbor View for a very good meal. It was a beautiful evening. On Saturday morning, 7/7/07, Bill rode his bike to Cape May Point and then ran 3 miles and walked 3 miles on the beach. It was delightful on the beach, but hot on the ride home. After lunch, Bill joined neighbor Tom for a fishing trip. It was good to be on the water on a hot afternoon. Bill caught a small dog shark, 2 bluefish, a small flounder, and a nice 20" flounder. Tom caught a heartbreaking 16" flounder that had to be returned to the sea. We turned on the air conditioning for the next few days of heat. On Sunday morning, Bill left around 8:00 AM in a heavy fog for a paddle down Bay. on the way back from the canal, Bill encountered Joe Link in the fog. He joined Joe for a tricky sightless traverse of the canal and then a dolphin-filled paddle to the lighthouse. The fog lifted just past the concrete ship and the rest of the paddle was beautiful. After lunch, Cathy and Bill took a very hot walk to the canal and drank 2 bottles of water enroute. Later, we picked up our friend Jenn in Erma and drove in heavy traffic to Dock's Oyster House in Atlantic City. We met our friends Joanne and Diane and enjoyed a fabulous meal. Diane ordered Cafe de Diane after dinner: coffee with Almaretto, Fra Angelica, Kahlua, Baileys Irish Cream, whipped cream, and a splash of Green Creme de Menthe. She seemed to enjoy it. The restaurant is a definite repeater! We fought some traffic on the way to the Parkway for the return trip home.

        Bill and Cathy