What a Challenge! I seemed to have just missed Fran, but I did meet Diane and Bob. However, I didn't recognise that the Diane that everyone was saying was Bob's wife was our Diane...somehow, I never connected the dots completely when you announced your marriage. I just went back to your wedding pictures that you posted and filled in the blanks. So sorry!

However, I think that Bob is going to help us at Sea Girt a lot to find out some info on John Hawkey, our third keeper, who also was an assistant on LI. Bob said he had all the microfiche from that era, and was going to see if he found anything on him.

I also spent quite a bit of time with Dennis and Esther, discussing various miscellany. It was nice to have another Wacko to talk to during the 5:00-6:00 "Death Hour"!

Other than those, not many more Wackos that I recall...though I did run into people from across town, which was kind of strange.

Overall, it all went well. I noticed two things. One, there were less people doing the challenge this year, perhaps because of petrol prices. Two, I noticed that it was a much more even flow of people. I really got to spend time with the visitors, and really talk to them, instead of rushing them through the light. Usually, we have a line down the stairs and out the door to get to the tower. Today, at one point we had people halfway down the steps for about 15 minutes, but otherwise there were no more than about 12 people waiting to climb.

Looking forward to next year...we might go for the Triple Crown with me driving as "practise." For NJ, we'd probably do all the lights but Sea Girt on Saturday, and then finish up at SG Sunday so I could volunteer. If you're doing the LI, MD, or NJ challenges next year, I'd run when you see the green Land Rover careening into the crowd.