Saturday, Steve & I took a great bike ride along both rivers, from Millvale to the South Side and from Station Square to Homestead. Our paths crossed with the walk/run for the Transplant Games - the opening ceremony was held in Pittsburgh on Saturday. Donors, recipients, family members and transplant teams were out in full force. My Stepfather was an organ donor several years ago, so it was emotional to see everyone walking together.
On Sunday, my brother and his girlfriend participated in the 3rd Annual Fallen Marine Memorial Run. Not the run that I pictured, this was a motorcycle road run from Butler to the South Side, then back to Pittsburgh Mills for food and entertainment. We’re talking hundreds of motorcycles. Our cousin lost her oldest son in Iraq not long ago and my brother’s stepson left for boot camp at the beginning of June. Neither one even 21 years old yet, it is hard to imagine the path they chose. While I can’t say that I am a supporter of this war, I am most definitely very proud of those 2 young men, and sick at heart for my cousin.
I joined my brother after the run. You might be expecting images of hundreds of bikes and bikers and maybe a few marines, but what really caught my eye were the immaculate vintage cars on display. Two cars caught my eye, an Oldsmobile 98 and a Cadillac. Check this out!
In between the 6 hours of client appointments and the stack of desk & computer work that we did yesterday, Steve and I found time to kayak with Venture Outdoors and take a quick bike ride. Okay, so maybe we had to start at 6:15 am to fit that in, but at least it was a beautiful morning.
We found friendlier folks on the river yesterday (see “propositioned on the river’). They were a robust group of individuals, wide awake and ready to row. But as we started out from the launching site at PNC Park, it soon became clear to Steve and me that they were a little hardier than we are at that hour of the day. We met some interesting people and chatted with them as they passed us by. Great photo I took - of everyone’s backs!
Today, we are off to West Virginia for an engagement session at one of our favorite places, Oglebay, with a member of one of our favorite families. Emily & Jack will be married this fall - we have already photographed her sister, brother and her sister-in-law’s sister at Oglebay. So, we are challenged to find new locations so that Emily & Jack’s photos will be unique.
Tomorrow we will start the day with a bike ride to the South Side and if the weather cooperates, we’ll work from our laptop at the pool and see fireworks in the evening.
Saturday we join Kelly & Will as they celebrate their marriage - they are deserving of a full page story on this blog because they are so funny! The story of how they met is hilarious - more on that later.
We wish you all a safe and happy 4th of July!
