After the picture of the floor that ended the last episode, it was discovered that the trip to the floor had caused some damage to the camera. I could still take pictures of whatever was in front of me but I couldn't remove the memory without a pliers which seemed inconvenient. So, I dug out my extended warranty coverage (best $50 I ever spent) and this gentleman gave me a new camera. As I left their venue to return home to Suzanne who was hard at work, I resolved to be more careful about dropping the camera on a hard floor.

A few days later, I decided it was time to see if the new camera could take good food pictures, so I recorded Carole Messersmith's apple pie from a prize winning recipe while Dana and Sarah watched and Suzanne debated whether to have a piece herself. We created this picture for Carolyn's birthday and dragged Ben away from the next round of his penny sorting to come along to deliver the card.

Then, the next day, knowing that the camera worked, we headed off on a real excursion with wheels up at very close to on time. We went to Lucy's house and while waiting for the pick up, I took a picture of my wonderful hat which somehow got lost during the day. Lucy emerged and she and Jane posed before getting into the car so that we could drive past Jamesburg's old gas station pumps and traffic light at the intersection in town or do they have 2 intersections?

Eventually we got to Mastoris where they also do catering and have a beautiful tree in their parking lot. They brought us both menus (lunch and dinner) which kept Jane and Lucy busy and Benjamin hidden while I recorded the offerings and the bread course arrived though efforts to record the restaurant's story with flash and without were not highly successful though they filled the time until our drinks came -- hot chocolate for Jane, apple juice for Ben, orange juice for Lucy, water for me and ketchup for the table.

The main courses were quite impressive -- burger for Ben sausage for Jane hashed browns for Lucy (since her twin sister had ordered enough food for 2) fries (on the side) for Ben and huevos rancheros for me. In the second round, Lucy tried Ben's cole slaw to see if it really tasted like fish. Then, Jane ate her bagel with lox which did taste like fish. I was the closest to the clean plate club which made our waitress happy as she inquired about our family situation, ...

We drove on to Brendan T. Byrne State Forest where we found the park office and this lady was nice enough to get us set on the trails. After the obligatory phone booth pictures without and with headset, we were ready to find the trail head and start the hike. Benjamin lead the way with Jane and Lucy following as we passed the leaves and moss and these pretty forest scenes of the kids getting ready for a group picture. The ground cover and some trees were colorful. Ben found a 3 way acorn that had lost its nuts. We marched on and rounded the bend as the nature area spread before us. After another turn we crossed the bridge and peered at the water below. This marker pointed us forward tot he picnic table where we stopped for group pictures which again took a few tries. The trees looked good and my feet weren't too tired, so we decided to hit the trail again. But first, Ben decided to take pictures of me with the sun at his back and then at his back. he also took this picture of all of us on a diagonal and then got us back in order in time for Jane to do her Eminem imitation which did not amuse the man who took this picture though he would not let us take his picture. This group of hikers marched away singing ``The ants go marching 2 by 2'' a little too loudly for us. But we were back at the picnic table and so could again try to get a group picture in 3 tries. Benjamin studied the trail back and we noted the nature signs as we found the marker heading home. We stopped at the bridge again and I tried to get the clear water that you get see through as Jane did Eminem and Lee and Krissy were still an item. Another water picture led Ben and Jane and Lucy to try to get closer to the water but this didn't help the pictures. Benjamin walked around and hid in this tree though he is still slightly visible. After one final picture of the bridge it was time to move on, so we did. On the way out, we had to rescue Benjamin from the soda machine so that we could take this promotional picture for the value of a cold drink after an invigorating walk.