Counting down to Christmas.
“What do you want for Christmas?” Words that have mixed feelings for me. On one hand, it’s nice to get things that I don’t necessarily need, but are wants. On the other hand, I’d love it if I could just have someone that knows me well, look at what I like to do and choose some great gifts accordingly. Got the best of both worlds this year. But more on that later.
The first hint of Christmas came for me in September. I had stopped at a WalMart in Cadillac on my way to Mackinac Island, so that I could buy an adapter to listen to my iPod in the car while driving. I spotted some great Star Wars popcorn tins so bought two for the beginning of the boys Christmas. Put away in plain sight in Scott’s room for the duration.
Second hint – though we had talked about not exchanging gifts this year because of our vacation in Europe, I accidentally discovered that Steve had bought me a motorcycle jacket for Christmas to match his jacket for the ST. Ok, felt like the last thing I needed was a third motorcycle jacket. Matching doesn’t have as high of a priority for me. But the thought is what counts. (And it is a nice looking jacket.)
Fast forward to oh, probably November. The first uttering of that question, coming from Scott on one of our weekly phone conversations. Honestly, had no idea at that point. Expected to come up with some items, I gave it some thought and made a short list for the boys. Didn’t figure on anything else from Steve since our finances had changed since he made his purchase.
Thanksgiving was here. Normally, that weekend would be the big weekend to pull out the tree and other decorations. I made myself a promise, though, that I would finally get a start on taming the paper tiger, so to speak, and get our old accumulated financial paperwork sorted out. No tree until it was done.
Got a good start on it, too. But like many good intentions, didn’t complete it. In the meantime, Steve had decided that the one and only thing he wanted for Christmas was a cruise control for the ST motorcycle. He had to do some research but finally decided on a model that worked. We ordered it, and the boys pitched in a share of the cost so that it would be from all three of us. But one item to open under the tree – doesn’t seem like Christmas.
By around the 10th of December, we were still treeless except for the forest of sorted papers on the dining room table. I had errands to run that day, a funeral and a birthday party with time and space between the two events. Drove past Lowe’s and remembered that Steve had commented favorably about the new double drive screwdriver advertised on TV and available only by mail order and at Lowe’s. So went in and bought one for him.
At work we needed to submit a list of ideas for our $10 gift exchange. I updated my list from the year before, and submitted it. The staff party was on the 14th. I had drawn a guy’s name, as I had done every year (this would be my fourth Gilda’s Christmas) – what are the odds when the majority of the staff are female? Bought him a Schuler’s Bookstore gift card. Came to the party, we were to distribute our gift to their place at the table. Managed to get my gift to the right person without their knowledge. I’d made a batch of peppermint bark to go with the card. It was appreciated and shared with those around him. My “gifter” ended up sitting next to me and I was already seated so no surprise there. That was ok. He gifted me with a Barnes and Noble gift card and a nice red pen (that I had asked for – RedhedMary always signs her cache logs in red and I was running out of good pens, or at least the ink in them.) So I exchanged one gift card for another. Nice party, received a reversible vest from Gilda’s (LaughFest logo on one side, Gilda’s logo on the other) as well as a porcelain drink mug, a framed LaughFest smile picture, and two tickets to a LaughFest performance.
Received our first Christmas letter around this time, from Mom and Phil of course. She’s so good about getting it done and sent out quickly to avoid the rush. Nice to have a gift card from WalMart enclosed.
Somewhere in here I shopped online for Scott. He had given us a list of Blu-Ray DVD’s that he wanted for his collection. Amazon had a nice selection at good prices with free shipping even to APO addresses. Though I didn’t get the fun of wrapping the gifts myself, he was happy with what I’d chosen. I also shopped online for my mom and stepfather – my now traditional gift to them for both their December birthdays and Christmas is movie passes to use throughout the year. My mom thinks that’s great – so why mess with a good idea?
On Thursday the 15th, I also exchanged gifts with my “practice grandchild” at Gilda’s and their family. I had made a photo calendar with pictures of the baby, also burned a CD with all the pictures I’d taken since he started in July, and bought some baby designed toy cars for the baby. They gifted me with an Amazon gift certificate, and a really neat candle that crackles. They were leaving on vacation so this was our day.
Thursday night was also our Geocaching potluck with Santa visiting. Steve actually met me there. I’m thinking more for the food than for the fellowship with geocachers. Nonetheless, he got a full tummy at least. I had a good time, and then stopped for some Christmas shopping on the way home. With the help of a 10% off coupon, bought three pairs of lounge pants for the three guys I was shopping for. (Steve, Eric, and Steve’s dad.)
Oh yes, the tree. I was really feeling the absence of the tree so decided to break my resolve and put it up anyway. First brought out the nativity scene and set it up in front of the TV. Did not use the barn, just the figures, with the wise men up out of the way on the tall china cabinet since they didn’t visit the manger. Then put up the tree, had Steve fluff the branches out and got the garland up. Brought out the glass bird that I’d bought in Germany at a Christmas store there, then opened the box of ornaments and got one ornament out before another task took me away from the tree. That’s how the tree looked for a good week or so at least. Lights, garland, and two ornaments.
Then the eternal debate. I would flick the switch for the lights, enjoy them for a while, then leave the room. Steve would find the tree “on” and turn it off since nobody was in the room. I’d come back and turn it on again. I feel like people passing by enjoy seeing trees in people’s windows, even if I’m not in the room enjoying the tree myself. He got more tolerant as Christmas grew near, but I still had to flip that switch an extra time or two each night.
Cookies. Wanted to send some to Scott, plus give some to Eric, and then the Gold Wing Christmas party came up, where they always have an auction of baked goods so that the profits can be contributed to charity. All good excuses to do some baking. Planned out my recipes, the ingredients I needed, and the timing for all (temperature, does the dough need to be cold, etc.) My trip Thursday night was to get the rest of the ingredients as well as some gift shopping.
Friday morning, started up the process. Got a new KitchenAid stand mixer last spring that I hadn’t done much with, this was about the first time I’d really given it a good workout. With the first batch, I discovered one important fact. Don’t add the dry ingredients and then immediately turn it on a higher speed. That flour goes flying out fast! Even Max got flour on him and I don’t recall him standing all that close at the time.
Mixed all the dough that would need refrigeration, then started baking. Soon discovered that dual ovens were not really an advantage when baking cookies – it takes a while to form the cookies on the sheet and by the time you get one sheet ready, the last sheet is done baking. So turned off the bottom oven and just used the top after a while.
Didn’t get everything done the first day so finished on Saturday. Packaged up several trays of cookies for the party. Also discovered a new recipe for potatoes in the crock pot which turned out well. I have a new potluck dish for the future! A bag of frozen hash brown cubes, cream of chicken soup, cheddar cheese, and a bit of onion. It was good!
The party was ok. I don’t know our Gold Wing club people as well as Steve does, and he is about the youngest one there. I’m pretty sure I am the youngest. The party was at the chapter director’s house, in their basement equipped with a full bar. We had a nice potluck dinner then held the auction for the baked goods. Back home in time to watch a SyFy movie that Steve had been wanting to watch.
On Sunday, boxed up cookies to send to Scott, and finished writing our Christmas letter. Harder to write this year with the juxtaposition of talking about a dream trip to Germany and Switzerland combined with Steve losing his job. But managed to finish it up and get it printed. Steve approved the letter but wasn’t crazy about the Christmas verse at the bottom of the paper. Went out anyway as it was with no changes.
We worked on the cards and got them sent out on Wednesday. I had cut way back, only to close family and those frinds who sent us cards. Steve decided to send cards to everyone in our Gold Wing grou, though. He did the work.
Tuesday, we had appointments so I took the day off work. We got some more shopping done between appointments and even had a nice dinner out, a rare treat when you’re on unemployment. Did it taste better knowing the government was helping to pay for it? Not really.
Eric called us for approval – he had discovered he needed a good watch as he starts nursing school in a few weeks. He’d found one that would fit his needs and wanted to go ahead and buy it (we paid him back as part of his Christmas of course.) What can you say except go ahead?
Thursday morning, I did some shopping before work, then again on the way home. Mainly stocking stuffers and the like, though I did look at humidifiers for Eric since his had broken and I still felt we needed to get a little more under the tree for him. Came home, brought the first load in the house, and went back for more. The first load included a bag from Target with a mesh bag of small dog tennis balls for Max. Came back in, unpacked the bags and thought nothing amiss. Later realized that I hadn’t unpacked the balls. Looked out in the car, and in the kitchen. Finally figured they’d been left out of the bag. Called Target and they said to bring the receipt in and they’d replace the balls. Well, about an hour later went to take Max outside and found the balls. All eight of them. Neon orange. Scattered all around the living room with remnants of the mesh bag all around, too. And we’re still finding little pieces of the bag. How he got them out of the bag without taking everything else out, too, is still a mystery. And there was chocolate in the same bag, too. So lucky that he didn’t get THAT as well.
Friday, Steve and I went out looking at humidifiers again. First stopped at Meijer as I’d forgetten to get fruit for the stockings. Then to Target where I’d seen some humidifiers on sale. Soon learned Steve’s criteria for a quality humidifier and that Target’s selection didn’t meet them. So on to Bed, Bath, and Beyond. Even with coupons, he wanted to look at Home Depot before buying one there. We did buy a turntable at a really great price to convert vinyl to mp3, for me for Christmas from Steve. He asked for suggestions, well I brought him right to what I wanted. The price was too good to resist. Before Home Depot, we went up to Bath and Body Works where I had a B1G1F coupon. Had to use that before Christmas! The “Paris Amour” body lotion and shower gel went under the tree for me.
Home Depot’s selection was ok but didn’t have a long enough run time before refilling. So back to Target to check on the run time on theirs. Not long enough either, so we made another trip to BB&B and bought one there, using one of the 20% coupons that I had.
Before we left on that shopping trip (while Steve was still sleeping,) I finally opened that box of ornaments back up and got some of them on the tree. It wasn’t as full as usual but looked nice nonetheless. Also brought up the stockings, the holders, and the Christmas linens. The house finally looked more like Christmas was just around the corner.
Saturday. Christmas Eve. Presents wrapped, food bought, everything done but that forest of paperwork still occupying the dining room table. I worked into the late afternoon on it, made a good dent in it, then Eric arrived for the rest of the weekend. We had decided to open presents on Christmas Eve as church was on Sunday morning. So after a nice dinner of Chicken Pot Pie and some sneaky stocking filling, we were ready. I had asked Eric to be in charge of my stocking so I wouldn’t have to fill my own, and he did a marvelous job , even better than I had done on theirs. Then we tried to persuade Max (who was wearing his doggie Santa suit) to distribute the presents to us. No go. So we took turns choosing one to give to the recipient. I think we were all happy with the presents we received. Still, awfully quiet to just have three of us. Can’t wait for the next generation to come around and liven things up a bit! Two of my gifts from Eric were the movies “Midnight in Paris” and “The Kings Speech.” We spent the rest of the evening watching both of those movies. Eric liked them both, though Steve thought Midnight in Paris was just a chick flick. You just gotta appreciate Paris, I guess.
Christmas morning, we all went to Eric’s church to celebrate the real reason for the season. Missed the instrumental music and the traditional Christmas hymns but nonetheless a good morning to give thanks for God’s greatest gift. Came back home afterwards and chilled for a while, waiting for Scott to call. He called right on schedule and we enjoyed a good hour and a half’s conversation. Feel bad that he had nothing to open on Christmas and was by himself. Many of his Germany buddies have already moved on to new duty stations. We are really looking forward to seeing him in February when he comes home between Germany and Korea.
After ending our conversation, we headed over to Heather Hills to visit Steve’s dad. We brought him new slippers, a new clock, and some lounge pants. He seemed to be glad to see us. The dementia is taking further hold each day – he repeats the same stories and forgets many details about the past and present. It’s hard on Steve (and us) to see him this way but he just can’t be on his own any more.
Back home after our visit, still had half a table full of paperwork. Did what anybody else would do, which was to gather up the tablecloth with the papers inside, put it on my bed, and put the Christmas tablecloth on the table so Eric could set it with the good china for Christmas dinner. Ham that had been in the crockpot all afternoon, plus mashed sweet potatoes, corn, and rolls. Pie for dessert was not my shining moment. When I started to put together the cherry pie that I planned to bake, I discovered that one can of filling wouldn’t be enough. What to do to extend it…the only other can of pie filling I had was peach. Let’s try it. Well it wasn’t the best pie I’d ever made, let’s just say. Steve and Eric bravely had a piece each, but I’m fairly certain the rest will go to waste, not waist.
We spent the rest of the evening together, watching a James Bond movie and talking with family. Heard from both my sisters and my mom in the evening. Felt bad that they called me before I had a chance to call them. But very good to talk to them all.
Well, enough ramblings about Christmas for today. A nice quiet December 26 morning with Steve still in bed. Five pages in my word document, and just over three thousand words. Hope to get it published to my blog this afternoon at work. I’ll try to remember to write in word and not wait until I have wifi access to publish to the blog. Hope all of you had a Merry Christmas, too!
Monday, December 26, 2011
Sunday, November 13, 2011
New technology - MAYBE?
We've been frustrated with our AOL dialup for a long, long time. Have been trying to find a solution to that. AT&T doesn't have anything for us. Comcast does, but wants us to pay $700 to extend the line from the pole that is at the end of our driveway to our house. Nope. All of it is location, location, location. Somehow we're not in a good one. Technology-wise that is.
We bought a cheap little external modem when we bought the new computer in August. I should say Steve and Eric did this. I was at camp at the time. Anyway, we've had a lot of trouble connecting to dialup and staying connected. We've tried so many solutions. Finally I decided to install the AOL software on my netbook and use the modem with the netbook. After a few glitches we were successful. Worked fine that evening. The next morning, had the same problems connecting that we've had with the desktop. We'd figured it was a software conflict on the desktop but after having the same issues we figured it's probably a problem with the (cheap) modem. You get what you pay for, right?
So went to Best Buy yesterday to buy a better modem. While there, the salesman talked us into trying wireless broadband. The Verizon map showed we did have coverage. So we brought home this little gizmo, charged it up last night, and started monkeying with it today. I am using wireless broadband right now as I'm typing. Very rarely would dialup cooperate enough to get me onto this site, part of the reason I haven't blogged much lately. The signal indicator has mostly been red showing a weak signal. We've had either one or two out of the four bars.
Steve was trying to send some Goldwing pictures to some friends. Very slow there. But I was just as slow sending pictures from work to him. Plus there are file size limitations. He's just not sure that this is going to work. Biggest reason (I think) he's hesitant is that if we don't return it within the three day trial, we are locked into a two year contract.
Plusses in my opinion are that we are online without hassle - important for him when he is job hunting and checking email. Plus the phone line is free - Scott should be calling about any time now and we're not blocking him by being online. Might not be as fast as he's used to at work but it sure is faster than dialup!
We're also not sure how much we use at a time. Our "plan" is for 5 GB per month, we're not sure how long that will take us to use. Waiting for one of our more tech-savvy offspring to give us some enlightenment on that. Eric spent a good part of Friday with us, so not sure if we'll see him today. Will ask Scott when we talk.
So MAYBE we will have better internet. If we decide this doesn't work, our only option seems to be satellite with a few hundred dollars to invest in set up fees and equipment. With this, we had to pay $35 activation, it's $50 per month, and the little gizmo was free. And we can take the little gizmo anywhere to get service, not just have it at home.
I'm hoping we stick with it.
We bought a cheap little external modem when we bought the new computer in August. I should say Steve and Eric did this. I was at camp at the time. Anyway, we've had a lot of trouble connecting to dialup and staying connected. We've tried so many solutions. Finally I decided to install the AOL software on my netbook and use the modem with the netbook. After a few glitches we were successful. Worked fine that evening. The next morning, had the same problems connecting that we've had with the desktop. We'd figured it was a software conflict on the desktop but after having the same issues we figured it's probably a problem with the (cheap) modem. You get what you pay for, right?
So went to Best Buy yesterday to buy a better modem. While there, the salesman talked us into trying wireless broadband. The Verizon map showed we did have coverage. So we brought home this little gizmo, charged it up last night, and started monkeying with it today. I am using wireless broadband right now as I'm typing. Very rarely would dialup cooperate enough to get me onto this site, part of the reason I haven't blogged much lately. The signal indicator has mostly been red showing a weak signal. We've had either one or two out of the four bars.
Steve was trying to send some Goldwing pictures to some friends. Very slow there. But I was just as slow sending pictures from work to him. Plus there are file size limitations. He's just not sure that this is going to work. Biggest reason (I think) he's hesitant is that if we don't return it within the three day trial, we are locked into a two year contract.
Plusses in my opinion are that we are online without hassle - important for him when he is job hunting and checking email. Plus the phone line is free - Scott should be calling about any time now and we're not blocking him by being online. Might not be as fast as he's used to at work but it sure is faster than dialup!
We're also not sure how much we use at a time. Our "plan" is for 5 GB per month, we're not sure how long that will take us to use. Waiting for one of our more tech-savvy offspring to give us some enlightenment on that. Eric spent a good part of Friday with us, so not sure if we'll see him today. Will ask Scott when we talk.
So MAYBE we will have better internet. If we decide this doesn't work, our only option seems to be satellite with a few hundred dollars to invest in set up fees and equipment. With this, we had to pay $35 activation, it's $50 per month, and the little gizmo was free. And we can take the little gizmo anywhere to get service, not just have it at home.
I'm hoping we stick with it.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Playing catch-up with the blog
Can't believe it's been over a month since I last posted. I keep writing posts in my mind but then don't have time to go online and get them actually written. I should just write them in Word and then post when I can. Oh well.
It's been a roller coaster month. Pow-Wow was on the 15th of October, that was lots of fun and a bit challenging as I was asked to take on the science session at the last minute. That plus cooking and geocaching made for a busy day. The Wood Badge dinner was that evening, and in the same town, so got in some geocaching between the end of the Pow-Wow and the dinner.
The following Monday was not a good day in Cooper land. Steve lost his new job of six weeks duration. They had hired him in anticipation of a contract they thought they were getting. When the contract fell through, so did Steve's job. As of this writing, nothing promising yet. He was in line for at least one job that went to someone else. It's been very discouraging for him, to say the least. And now we have two COBRA payments to make, for a total of over $600 a month. I have faith that the Lord will bring us through this. Saddened that Steve does not have that faith. As I posted before, our house is paid off and we are debt free so we could be much worse off. I am hopeful that I will get more hours at work soon and also hopefully move into full time status so that I qualify for health insurance. If nothing moves for either of us by the first of the year, I am going to have to start looking for full time work with benefits. Much as I hate to lose my current job.
The next weekend was the fall edition of COAST at Camp Gerber. As usual, a great weekend of training leaders in outdoor skills and having a good time with all my friends on staff. Halfway decent weather for the end of October, though a bit chilly in the mornings. Got to do some good geocaching on the way up and back. Friday was the best - went to Duck Lake State Park, practically nobody else there, and did a bunch of good caches. One of the best was called "Lost Scout Camp" and was at the former site of Shawandosee which was the Boy Scout Camp where Gerald Ford had worked as a counselor in his youth. The caches on Sunday weren't as good, many placed by teenagers in Whitehall which were in poor condition, in glass containers, or otherwise had problems.
Since then it's been just the day to day. Getting used to the new routine of being the one to be quiet in the morning getting ready for work, and having Steve home when I get home. Max sure likes having Steve home, I'm sure! This month has been doctor month so far. Went for my eye checkup last Wednesday - my cataracts are a little worse but still not bad enough to do anything with yet. Today was the doctor for my diabetes check. Not proud to say I'm not doing so well. So hard to get back on track and with the holidays just around the corner I'm not optimistic. I'm going back to a second medicine which I really didn't want to do. But it's my own fault.
Next Wednesday is the dentist.
Will try my new plan of writing in word then posting when I can. We'll see how it goes.
It's been a roller coaster month. Pow-Wow was on the 15th of October, that was lots of fun and a bit challenging as I was asked to take on the science session at the last minute. That plus cooking and geocaching made for a busy day. The Wood Badge dinner was that evening, and in the same town, so got in some geocaching between the end of the Pow-Wow and the dinner.
The following Monday was not a good day in Cooper land. Steve lost his new job of six weeks duration. They had hired him in anticipation of a contract they thought they were getting. When the contract fell through, so did Steve's job. As of this writing, nothing promising yet. He was in line for at least one job that went to someone else. It's been very discouraging for him, to say the least. And now we have two COBRA payments to make, for a total of over $600 a month. I have faith that the Lord will bring us through this. Saddened that Steve does not have that faith. As I posted before, our house is paid off and we are debt free so we could be much worse off. I am hopeful that I will get more hours at work soon and also hopefully move into full time status so that I qualify for health insurance. If nothing moves for either of us by the first of the year, I am going to have to start looking for full time work with benefits. Much as I hate to lose my current job.
The next weekend was the fall edition of COAST at Camp Gerber. As usual, a great weekend of training leaders in outdoor skills and having a good time with all my friends on staff. Halfway decent weather for the end of October, though a bit chilly in the mornings. Got to do some good geocaching on the way up and back. Friday was the best - went to Duck Lake State Park, practically nobody else there, and did a bunch of good caches. One of the best was called "Lost Scout Camp" and was at the former site of Shawandosee which was the Boy Scout Camp where Gerald Ford had worked as a counselor in his youth. The caches on Sunday weren't as good, many placed by teenagers in Whitehall which were in poor condition, in glass containers, or otherwise had problems.
Since then it's been just the day to day. Getting used to the new routine of being the one to be quiet in the morning getting ready for work, and having Steve home when I get home. Max sure likes having Steve home, I'm sure! This month has been doctor month so far. Went for my eye checkup last Wednesday - my cataracts are a little worse but still not bad enough to do anything with yet. Today was the doctor for my diabetes check. Not proud to say I'm not doing so well. So hard to get back on track and with the holidays just around the corner I'm not optimistic. I'm going back to a second medicine which I really didn't want to do. But it's my own fault.
Next Wednesday is the dentist.
Will try my new plan of writing in word then posting when I can. We'll see how it goes.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Art Prize 2011
If you remember back in my blog last year, I spent quite a bit of time viewing Grand Rapid's Art Prize competition last year. It's back. Unfortunately it started on Wednesday night, then Thursday morning I left for Mackinac. So missed out on the first round voting all together between the trip and my work schedule. Last Friday afternoon I set out to see what I could. Hit most of the main downtown venues. I know I missed out on quite a bit but time was not my friend this year.
Lots of favorites even from what I did see. My vote went to Mantis dreaming, a huge metal sculpture of a praying mantis with a butterfly perched on his claws. There were some other great ones, too.
Might get to see a bit more tomorrow but voting is done now. They announce the winner tonight.
Lots of favorites even from what I did see. My vote went to Mantis dreaming, a huge metal sculpture of a praying mantis with a butterfly perched on his claws. There were some other great ones, too.
Might get to see a bit more tomorrow but voting is done now. They announce the winner tonight.
Mackinac Rendezvous 2011
A belated post to share my great weekend at Mackinac Rendezvous 2011...
Left on the drive north on Thursday morning (the 22nd of September.) Of course, my plan was to cache along the way. Hence, leaving on Thursday morning when I didn't have to be there until Thursday evening...
44 caches along the way. Some of those were part of a power trail just south of Petoskey that I wanted to try to do. 100 + caches, all about a tenth of a mile apart. After doing some, I realized that it wasn't much fun to pull off to the side of the road, turn off the car, get out of the car, go find a film canister or similar sized container, sign the log, go back to the car, start it up, and move a tenth of a mile down the road and repeat. So decided to go back to regular caching. Got to Mackinaw City, ate dinner at Burger King so I could use the wifi, then arrived at the campground about 8 p.m.
Friday morning, we got things ready for the scouts to check in starting at noon. I was in charge of the blue area, with a staff of three others. We had a little shelter, and as the units came in, one of us showed them where to go and made sure they got their vehicles unloaded and removed to the parking area. A lot of waiting time between units so we had time to talk and such. Cool but no rain until that evening. We had the last units checked in at about 10:30 p.m. then went back to our cabin and hit the sack.
Saturday was the reward for working check in/out. Took the boat to the island and had the day to myself. Rented a bicycle and rode the 8 miles around the perimeter of the island. A bit misty at first but turned out to be nice enough weather considering it's late September. And caching, of course. 21 caches while riding around the island, then 4 more after I returned the bike and did a little hiking. The obligatory fudge stop and then back to the boat and return to the campground. Dinner and a show completed our evening.
Sunday morning was check out - we were done by 11 a.m. Then off to the bike trail across the highway from the campground. There were about a dozen challenge caches there and I qualified for most of them. So another three miles on the bike to get those. Unfortunately, I think the riding was offset by the fudge...
More caching on the way home and I made it home at about 8:45 p.m. If I'd have written on this right after, probably would have had more detail. Oh well.
Left on the drive north on Thursday morning (the 22nd of September.) Of course, my plan was to cache along the way. Hence, leaving on Thursday morning when I didn't have to be there until Thursday evening...
44 caches along the way. Some of those were part of a power trail just south of Petoskey that I wanted to try to do. 100 + caches, all about a tenth of a mile apart. After doing some, I realized that it wasn't much fun to pull off to the side of the road, turn off the car, get out of the car, go find a film canister or similar sized container, sign the log, go back to the car, start it up, and move a tenth of a mile down the road and repeat. So decided to go back to regular caching. Got to Mackinaw City, ate dinner at Burger King so I could use the wifi, then arrived at the campground about 8 p.m.
Friday morning, we got things ready for the scouts to check in starting at noon. I was in charge of the blue area, with a staff of three others. We had a little shelter, and as the units came in, one of us showed them where to go and made sure they got their vehicles unloaded and removed to the parking area. A lot of waiting time between units so we had time to talk and such. Cool but no rain until that evening. We had the last units checked in at about 10:30 p.m. then went back to our cabin and hit the sack.
Saturday was the reward for working check in/out. Took the boat to the island and had the day to myself. Rented a bicycle and rode the 8 miles around the perimeter of the island. A bit misty at first but turned out to be nice enough weather considering it's late September. And caching, of course. 21 caches while riding around the island, then 4 more after I returned the bike and did a little hiking. The obligatory fudge stop and then back to the boat and return to the campground. Dinner and a show completed our evening.
Sunday morning was check out - we were done by 11 a.m. Then off to the bike trail across the highway from the campground. There were about a dozen challenge caches there and I qualified for most of them. So another three miles on the bike to get those. Unfortunately, I think the riding was offset by the fudge...
More caching on the way home and I made it home at about 8:45 p.m. If I'd have written on this right after, probably would have had more detail. Oh well.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Back to Gilwell, part 2
I've been back to Gilwell and now am back in the real world. Left straight from work on Thursday, and arrived at Gerber about 7:15 p.m. after two short stops for geocaches/dinner. Most everyone else had arrived, and our staff meeting started shortly thereafter. After the meeting, we walked to Gilwell field and ran through some things, then back to Chaffee to get anything done we needed to. Most were in bed by midnight or so.
Friday morning dawned bright and early...after a breakfast burrito we proceeded to the pavilion together, where several patrols were already waiting to be checked in. As health officer, I needed to do a health recheck. Unbeknownst to me (at least at first) one of my troop guides was telling people in line to answer my question "how are you feeling today?" with various assorted ailments, ranging from cramps, bloating, and even hemorrhoids. One even asked if he needed to drop his pants...I caught on fast and laughed like the rest of them. Gilwell Field was at 9:30 - so nice to be singing "Back to Gilwell" again with so many of my scouting friends. Presentations followed - since mine was last weekend, I didn't have a lot of important tasks. I mainly just helped make sure everything was running smoothly. Lunch with a patrol, then dinner with another patrol, were both great. Friday evening was the participant's campfire - great to just sit back and watch that play out! Had hoped to get a little more sleep that night but my allergies disagreed and it was a restless night. Finally turned on my iPod and read one of my library e-books for a while until I got to sleep.
Saturday dawned bright and early (too early...)and I headed to breakfast with the Fox patrol. Good food and even Amish cinnamon rolls to accompany. Much of Saturday was taken up with reviewing tickets for the two patrols I was assigned to review. While reviewing tickets, I missed the conservation project, which was waterway cleanup. My heart wasn't broken. Ate lunch with the Eagles. The afternoon was more ticket review and watching the patrol presentations. They were great. We had a staff dinner while the patrols had dinner by themselves. Then the final ticket work began. Many of the tickets were already done by then; the hope was to have everyone done by early evening. Well, define early - is it midnightish? That's when we were done. That IS earlier than 2007 when my last participant finished at 3 a.m! Senior staff hung out at the pavilion - and we were joined by many of the patrols at one point or another. Lots of camaraderie in each patrol as they helped their patrol mates finish up.
Had just returned to Chaffee when I was notified that a participant who hadn't been feeling well earlier (I'd already visited him twice) was really not feeling well so I drove out to the site (to get there faster) and checked on him. He had been vomiting. Though he was feeling better, a camp resident staffer had already been by and offered to let him stay in his trailer that night, much closer to Chaffee in case he felt any worse through the night. That offer was accepted and I transported him (with puke bucket) to the trailer. He felt much better in the morning! Finally got to bed sometime after 1 a.m.
Sunday - way too little in the cumulative sleep department by now! Breakfast with the Owls then back to pack up at Chaffee while the participants had a chance to break down their camp. Gilwell at 9:30 where we were honored to have our council executive speak about 9-11 as yesterday was the 10th anniversary of those attacks. We also were able to do a Scout salute, the first in our council outside of the main salute that has been going on every 9-11 since 2002 at the Gerald R. Ford Museum in Grand Rapids. We are the only Boy Scout council in the country that has been doing that all along. Chapel followed then a presentation.
Closing luncheon was pretty special. Before the luncheon, I had been given a card that told me to find a cache (without my GPSr) I had to follow these clues. First was to find the "Kung Fu Panda." Each clue directed me to a staffer, who gave me the next card. The final clue directed me to the "Kahuna" who turned out to be our course Scoutmaster. He said he couldn't find it so would get back to me. Ok. After lunch came presentations, and he directed me to his special chair where the cache turned out to be. It was a beautiful clear acrylic keepsake box, laser engraved with my name and patrol totem, from my troop guides as a thank you. I noticed beads inside but it didn't click then to look at them. After thanking them, I presented each of them with a lapel pin with the critter they had been troop guide for, along with a note of thanks for all they'd done. Other patrols then did presentations. I took a closer look at the box while these presentations were going on, and discovered that the beads inside were engraved with my course number & critter (Bobwhite) for my course, then a third bead engraved with my course that I earned the third bead for and the critter I was troop guide for. Wow. I will cherish them. And though my original beads will always be special, if Scott ever takes Wood Badge I plan to give him my original beads when he earns them.
One other special part of the luncheon. One of the patrols (Eagles) that I had ticket counseled for called me up and presented me with one of their patrol patches in thanks and recognition for my work with them. The presenter asked those who had been helped in Scouting by me to raise their hands. I was speechless and humbled by the large number of people that raised their hands. Another wow.
After lunch there were several closing presentations, including showing clips from the movie "Mr. Holland's Opus." The end of that movie always makes me cry, and I'm not alone in that, even many of the guys were crying. Closing Gilwell Field, then forming a congratulations line down the path as the participants left for home.
We had plenty of tear-down to accomplish but I managed to get out of Gerber about 6ish I think. Stopped for two caches on the way home but was home by 8 or so. Scott called shortly after I got home so I didn't miss his Sunday call after all. In bed by 10 (early for me) and still quite tired today.
I'll be working with several participants as their permanent ticket counselor, and I'm sure starting in six months or so attending quite a few if not all of their beading ceremonies. Sad that this part of the process is over but looking forward to things to come. It's been an interesting ride, starting last fall when I was asked to be on staff.
Friday morning dawned bright and early...after a breakfast burrito we proceeded to the pavilion together, where several patrols were already waiting to be checked in. As health officer, I needed to do a health recheck. Unbeknownst to me (at least at first) one of my troop guides was telling people in line to answer my question "how are you feeling today?" with various assorted ailments, ranging from cramps, bloating, and even hemorrhoids. One even asked if he needed to drop his pants...I caught on fast and laughed like the rest of them. Gilwell Field was at 9:30 - so nice to be singing "Back to Gilwell" again with so many of my scouting friends. Presentations followed - since mine was last weekend, I didn't have a lot of important tasks. I mainly just helped make sure everything was running smoothly. Lunch with a patrol, then dinner with another patrol, were both great. Friday evening was the participant's campfire - great to just sit back and watch that play out! Had hoped to get a little more sleep that night but my allergies disagreed and it was a restless night. Finally turned on my iPod and read one of my library e-books for a while until I got to sleep.
Saturday dawned bright and early (too early...)and I headed to breakfast with the Fox patrol. Good food and even Amish cinnamon rolls to accompany. Much of Saturday was taken up with reviewing tickets for the two patrols I was assigned to review. While reviewing tickets, I missed the conservation project, which was waterway cleanup. My heart wasn't broken. Ate lunch with the Eagles. The afternoon was more ticket review and watching the patrol presentations. They were great. We had a staff dinner while the patrols had dinner by themselves. Then the final ticket work began. Many of the tickets were already done by then; the hope was to have everyone done by early evening. Well, define early - is it midnightish? That's when we were done. That IS earlier than 2007 when my last participant finished at 3 a.m! Senior staff hung out at the pavilion - and we were joined by many of the patrols at one point or another. Lots of camaraderie in each patrol as they helped their patrol mates finish up.
Had just returned to Chaffee when I was notified that a participant who hadn't been feeling well earlier (I'd already visited him twice) was really not feeling well so I drove out to the site (to get there faster) and checked on him. He had been vomiting. Though he was feeling better, a camp resident staffer had already been by and offered to let him stay in his trailer that night, much closer to Chaffee in case he felt any worse through the night. That offer was accepted and I transported him (with puke bucket) to the trailer. He felt much better in the morning! Finally got to bed sometime after 1 a.m.
Sunday - way too little in the cumulative sleep department by now! Breakfast with the Owls then back to pack up at Chaffee while the participants had a chance to break down their camp. Gilwell at 9:30 where we were honored to have our council executive speak about 9-11 as yesterday was the 10th anniversary of those attacks. We also were able to do a Scout salute, the first in our council outside of the main salute that has been going on every 9-11 since 2002 at the Gerald R. Ford Museum in Grand Rapids. We are the only Boy Scout council in the country that has been doing that all along. Chapel followed then a presentation.
Closing luncheon was pretty special. Before the luncheon, I had been given a card that told me to find a cache (without my GPSr) I had to follow these clues. First was to find the "Kung Fu Panda." Each clue directed me to a staffer, who gave me the next card. The final clue directed me to the "Kahuna" who turned out to be our course Scoutmaster. He said he couldn't find it so would get back to me. Ok. After lunch came presentations, and he directed me to his special chair where the cache turned out to be. It was a beautiful clear acrylic keepsake box, laser engraved with my name and patrol totem, from my troop guides as a thank you. I noticed beads inside but it didn't click then to look at them. After thanking them, I presented each of them with a lapel pin with the critter they had been troop guide for, along with a note of thanks for all they'd done. Other patrols then did presentations. I took a closer look at the box while these presentations were going on, and discovered that the beads inside were engraved with my course number & critter (Bobwhite) for my course, then a third bead engraved with my course that I earned the third bead for and the critter I was troop guide for. Wow. I will cherish them. And though my original beads will always be special, if Scott ever takes Wood Badge I plan to give him my original beads when he earns them.
One other special part of the luncheon. One of the patrols (Eagles) that I had ticket counseled for called me up and presented me with one of their patrol patches in thanks and recognition for my work with them. The presenter asked those who had been helped in Scouting by me to raise their hands. I was speechless and humbled by the large number of people that raised their hands. Another wow.
After lunch there were several closing presentations, including showing clips from the movie "Mr. Holland's Opus." The end of that movie always makes me cry, and I'm not alone in that, even many of the guys were crying. Closing Gilwell Field, then forming a congratulations line down the path as the participants left for home.
We had plenty of tear-down to accomplish but I managed to get out of Gerber about 6ish I think. Stopped for two caches on the way home but was home by 8 or so. Scott called shortly after I got home so I didn't miss his Sunday call after all. In bed by 10 (early for me) and still quite tired today.
I'll be working with several participants as their permanent ticket counselor, and I'm sure starting in six months or so attending quite a few if not all of their beading ceremonies. Sad that this part of the process is over but looking forward to things to come. It's been an interesting ride, starting last fall when I was asked to be on staff.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Lotsa changes
Came home from Wood Badge on Sunday night to find something I'd never considered would ever be there. A new computer! The old one, which I'd been trying to convince Steve needed replacing, finally died and Steve decided that since he was trying to find work it would be a good idea to replace it. Ya think? Anyway, new computer was a very nice surprise when I got home. Eric had helped him set it up, all but a modem which had to be ordered since they don't come standard anymore.
Then the second surprise. A message to call my boss. The person in charge of Noogieland (and the mom of the child I've had there since I started, 3 1/2 years now, plus his sister) took a new job and will be leaving. Now this is the only job I'm qualified for at Gilda's so it holds the possibility of change for me.
As of now they're only going to give me one of the evening groups on a trial basis. They are looking at how they want to structure her responsibilities so I probably just wouldn't step into her role. I'm thinking they want to preserve me with the kids. Down to one though when the other two leave. So mixed feelings for me there. Plus the night they want me to cover is Wednesday so I have to give up Awana. That makes me feel bad as they are pretty short staffed this year.
So the next day brought the third surprise, best of all. Steve was hired by AeroTek to work at ADAC Automotive as a designer. He started yesterday and so far so good. He says its a nice "normal" place as opposed to where he came from and he thinks he'll get along great. I'm so glad for him. And realize that we have been so blessed in this, for him to only be out of work three weeks. This is contract work for now but pretty much guaranteed to turn into direct employment in about six months or so. Doing the happy dance!
So this has been a week of surprises. Looking forward to a relatively quiet Labor Day weekend. Just a few ticket counseling sessions over the weekend with Wood Badge participants, then heading back up to camp next Thursday night.
Then the second surprise. A message to call my boss. The person in charge of Noogieland (and the mom of the child I've had there since I started, 3 1/2 years now, plus his sister) took a new job and will be leaving. Now this is the only job I'm qualified for at Gilda's so it holds the possibility of change for me.
As of now they're only going to give me one of the evening groups on a trial basis. They are looking at how they want to structure her responsibilities so I probably just wouldn't step into her role. I'm thinking they want to preserve me with the kids. Down to one though when the other two leave. So mixed feelings for me there. Plus the night they want me to cover is Wednesday so I have to give up Awana. That makes me feel bad as they are pretty short staffed this year.
So the next day brought the third surprise, best of all. Steve was hired by AeroTek to work at ADAC Automotive as a designer. He started yesterday and so far so good. He says its a nice "normal" place as opposed to where he came from and he thinks he'll get along great. I'm so glad for him. And realize that we have been so blessed in this, for him to only be out of work three weeks. This is contract work for now but pretty much guaranteed to turn into direct employment in about six months or so. Doing the happy dance!
So this has been a week of surprises. Looking forward to a relatively quiet Labor Day weekend. Just a few ticket counseling sessions over the weekend with Wood Badge participants, then heading back up to camp next Thursday night.
C2-266-11-1 Part 1
We are officially finished with the first of two weekends of Wood Badge. This is the scouting course that I've been preparing to staff since the end of last year. C2 is central region, 266 is our council number, 11 for the year, and 1 for the first course of the year.
After picking Eric up at the airport on Wednesday night (his plane didn't come in until 12:30 a.m....)we were up until about 2 a.m. getting a brief description of the trip. Woke up around 7 ish and decided that since I was packed I might as well get going. Stopped at McDonald's to check email one last time then headed to Gerber. Believe it or not, NO geocaching along the way.
Arrived around 11, helped set things up around camp, especially for the Blue & Gold which was circus themed. We had dinner together (pizza) as a staff then did some practicing of campfire skits and other things for the next morning, then got to bed. Bed did not equal sleep for many of us, though, including myself. I think I might have slept for an hour or so. Just could not shut off the thinker, too much to do the next day.
Friday morning bright and early we were awake. Eggs Benedict for breakfast (they feed us well...)then down to the pavilion to greet the arriving participants. As health officer, I had two questions for each one: "Have there been any changes to your health form since you turned it in?" and "Are you feeling well today?" Some still needed to turn in their forms as well. Then off to drop their stuff and then a hike to cub side to start the day. I was pleasantly surprised by being handed a set of car keys and asked to drive several participants over to cub side that had some mobility issues. Ah, the perks of being the health officer! It was my DE's car, too.
Started the day with a couple of presentations, then the troop guides had their first presentation. Meanwhile the rest of us were getting the finishing touches put on the Blue & Gold banquet. My role was that of a clown. I have my own clown outfit but it's been many years since I wore it. As I was putting on my makeup, I thought to myself, "I sure have a lot more wrinkles than the last time I did this!"
The B&G was a big success, with everything from a gorilla to a dancing bear to a unicycle rider. They had peanuts and popcorn as well. Afternoon brought crossover and their first Gilwell Field where they learned what their critter would be. More presentations then time for dinner.
Dinner was a voyageur theme, presented at Fort Clatsop. A real replica of the real thing from the Oregon Trail. We had reenactors in the fort, and cooking via dutch ovens outside. Elk and Buffalo - it was good! Campfire afterwards. I had three roles: A skit starring fleas (costumed with a large magnifying glass) a ghost chicken (you'd have to see it...) and Maw, in pioneer garb.
As the patrols came back and started playing a get to know you game, I had my first real health officer challenge. Got to treat a case of heat illness. The victim felt very nauseous (eventually threw up) and hadn't been drinking enough. So pushed fluids and cooled her down with ice and cold cloths. Eventually had her take a cool shower. She felt better then and was ok the next day.
Staff meeting ended the day and we all slept much better Friday night!
Saturday brought Gilwell Field first thing, more presentations in the morning and a rocket building competition in the afternoon. Saturday evening brought the Wood Badge game show and the Win All You Can show. Both games with a purpose. Then we had a medieval cracker barrel to honor Rich, one of the quartermasters, who was entering the 50 plus club the next day.
Sunday brought Gilwell Field, chapel (I gave the benediction) and then my presentation. I had a good case of nerves but everyone said I did a great job. That's what friends are for...I can now tell you all about stages of team development and how to use the Leading EDGE and the Teaching EDGE. Then a trip to the Venture base and some outdoor experiences. I think I've blogged about a Leave No Trace presentation that is very popular during our COAST trainings. Well, the same guy was here with the added bonus of doing his presentation (in abbreviated form) in a kilt. You had to see it to believe it. The kilt was MacLaren tartan (Wood Badge appropriate.)
Back to the main area to watch the movie October Sky (again, had purposes) and have some more presentations. Then one last trip to Gilwell Field and the participants were on their way home, new friendships gained and knowledge learned. Can't wait for the next weekend! (Sept 9-11)
After picking Eric up at the airport on Wednesday night (his plane didn't come in until 12:30 a.m....)we were up until about 2 a.m. getting a brief description of the trip. Woke up around 7 ish and decided that since I was packed I might as well get going. Stopped at McDonald's to check email one last time then headed to Gerber. Believe it or not, NO geocaching along the way.
Arrived around 11, helped set things up around camp, especially for the Blue & Gold which was circus themed. We had dinner together (pizza) as a staff then did some practicing of campfire skits and other things for the next morning, then got to bed. Bed did not equal sleep for many of us, though, including myself. I think I might have slept for an hour or so. Just could not shut off the thinker, too much to do the next day.
Friday morning bright and early we were awake. Eggs Benedict for breakfast (they feed us well...)then down to the pavilion to greet the arriving participants. As health officer, I had two questions for each one: "Have there been any changes to your health form since you turned it in?" and "Are you feeling well today?" Some still needed to turn in their forms as well. Then off to drop their stuff and then a hike to cub side to start the day. I was pleasantly surprised by being handed a set of car keys and asked to drive several participants over to cub side that had some mobility issues. Ah, the perks of being the health officer! It was my DE's car, too.
Started the day with a couple of presentations, then the troop guides had their first presentation. Meanwhile the rest of us were getting the finishing touches put on the Blue & Gold banquet. My role was that of a clown. I have my own clown outfit but it's been many years since I wore it. As I was putting on my makeup, I thought to myself, "I sure have a lot more wrinkles than the last time I did this!"
The B&G was a big success, with everything from a gorilla to a dancing bear to a unicycle rider. They had peanuts and popcorn as well. Afternoon brought crossover and their first Gilwell Field where they learned what their critter would be. More presentations then time for dinner.
Dinner was a voyageur theme, presented at Fort Clatsop. A real replica of the real thing from the Oregon Trail. We had reenactors in the fort, and cooking via dutch ovens outside. Elk and Buffalo - it was good! Campfire afterwards. I had three roles: A skit starring fleas (costumed with a large magnifying glass) a ghost chicken (you'd have to see it...) and Maw, in pioneer garb.
As the patrols came back and started playing a get to know you game, I had my first real health officer challenge. Got to treat a case of heat illness. The victim felt very nauseous (eventually threw up) and hadn't been drinking enough. So pushed fluids and cooled her down with ice and cold cloths. Eventually had her take a cool shower. She felt better then and was ok the next day.
Staff meeting ended the day and we all slept much better Friday night!
Saturday brought Gilwell Field first thing, more presentations in the morning and a rocket building competition in the afternoon. Saturday evening brought the Wood Badge game show and the Win All You Can show. Both games with a purpose. Then we had a medieval cracker barrel to honor Rich, one of the quartermasters, who was entering the 50 plus club the next day.
Sunday brought Gilwell Field, chapel (I gave the benediction) and then my presentation. I had a good case of nerves but everyone said I did a great job. That's what friends are for...I can now tell you all about stages of team development and how to use the Leading EDGE and the Teaching EDGE. Then a trip to the Venture base and some outdoor experiences. I think I've blogged about a Leave No Trace presentation that is very popular during our COAST trainings. Well, the same guy was here with the added bonus of doing his presentation (in abbreviated form) in a kilt. You had to see it to believe it. The kilt was MacLaren tartan (Wood Badge appropriate.)
Back to the main area to watch the movie October Sky (again, had purposes) and have some more presentations. Then one last trip to Gilwell Field and the participants were on their way home, new friendships gained and knowledge learned. Can't wait for the next weekend! (Sept 9-11)
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Happy Birthday to me...
Yesterday could have been a downright rotten day, given the recent circumstances that I just blogged about in my prior post. It turned out great!
Started the day with a phone call from my mom just after I got up. I probably wasn't too coherent yet but it was still nice to hear from her.
Then on to work. Greeted by my 2 year old, who when prompted told me, "Happy Birthday Natalie!" (her name.) That is so typical of her and gave me a big smile. She also brought me a vase of flowers. Later my 4 month old came in with nice birthday greetings as well. Then at lunchtime, my 3 1/2 year old and 15 month old came in, also with flowers as well as a gift card to go out to eat (from all three families.) That was nice! I also had a card signed from all my co-workers and another from a member that I've gotten to know quite well over these last few years.
Checked my Facebook during lunch break. I couldn't believe the number of people who had posted birthday greetings. The final count, including the one just before midnight and the one just after midnight, was over a hundred. That was undescribably cool. A nice cross section, too, of all the different ways I know people. Family, co-workers, church friends, scouting friends, geocaching friends. And quite a few notes that were more than a simple "Happy Birthday." Didn't hear from my boys but know they are busy in Egypt. They called and left early birthday wishes on the answering machine last Friday night.
Our plans for my birthday were to go to the Melting Pot, a local fondue restaurant. It can be a bit pricey, so since it would just be Steve and I, I decided this would be the year. I raised the question, after Wednesday, whether we should still go. Steve was ok with still going. So we did.
We arrived and found a birthday card from the restaurant at the table, nice touch! First course was a traditional Swiss cheese fondue, made at the table. Especially nice since we never did end up having fondue in Switzerland! Dipping bread, apples, and veggies into the cheese tasted good. Second course - an assortment of main dish items with hot broth to cook them in, plus a variety of dipping sauces. We had chicken, shrimp, steak, potstickers, as well as potatoes, broccoli, & mushrooms to cook. Umm, good. But the best was yet to come. Yes, chocolate! Glad I forgoed a birthday cake as this was just as good if not better! Called Yin and Yang chocolate, it was dark chocolate swirled with white chocolate. They brought an assortment of goodies to dip into it, centered was a slice of cheesecake with a birthday candle in it. Also was brownies, rice krispy treats, marshmallows, bananas, strawberries, and pound cake. If I could have licked the pot I would have...end of the night brought two movie tickets, part of the package. We are saving them for another time.
After we got home, my sister Debbie called and we had a nice talk. I had talked to Judy via FB on Sunday so didn't expect a call from her. Then worked on some scouting stuff for our Wood Badge orientation meeting which is tonight, and went to bed. Too much diet coke didn't allow for a restful sleep, it definitely affects me more since I don't drink it all the time.
I started off my 51st year quite nicely, I think!
Started the day with a phone call from my mom just after I got up. I probably wasn't too coherent yet but it was still nice to hear from her.
Then on to work. Greeted by my 2 year old, who when prompted told me, "Happy Birthday Natalie!" (her name.) That is so typical of her and gave me a big smile. She also brought me a vase of flowers. Later my 4 month old came in with nice birthday greetings as well. Then at lunchtime, my 3 1/2 year old and 15 month old came in, also with flowers as well as a gift card to go out to eat (from all three families.) That was nice! I also had a card signed from all my co-workers and another from a member that I've gotten to know quite well over these last few years.
Checked my Facebook during lunch break. I couldn't believe the number of people who had posted birthday greetings. The final count, including the one just before midnight and the one just after midnight, was over a hundred. That was undescribably cool. A nice cross section, too, of all the different ways I know people. Family, co-workers, church friends, scouting friends, geocaching friends. And quite a few notes that were more than a simple "Happy Birthday." Didn't hear from my boys but know they are busy in Egypt. They called and left early birthday wishes on the answering machine last Friday night.
Our plans for my birthday were to go to the Melting Pot, a local fondue restaurant. It can be a bit pricey, so since it would just be Steve and I, I decided this would be the year. I raised the question, after Wednesday, whether we should still go. Steve was ok with still going. So we did.
We arrived and found a birthday card from the restaurant at the table, nice touch! First course was a traditional Swiss cheese fondue, made at the table. Especially nice since we never did end up having fondue in Switzerland! Dipping bread, apples, and veggies into the cheese tasted good. Second course - an assortment of main dish items with hot broth to cook them in, plus a variety of dipping sauces. We had chicken, shrimp, steak, potstickers, as well as potatoes, broccoli, & mushrooms to cook. Umm, good. But the best was yet to come. Yes, chocolate! Glad I forgoed a birthday cake as this was just as good if not better! Called Yin and Yang chocolate, it was dark chocolate swirled with white chocolate. They brought an assortment of goodies to dip into it, centered was a slice of cheesecake with a birthday candle in it. Also was brownies, rice krispy treats, marshmallows, bananas, strawberries, and pound cake. If I could have licked the pot I would have...end of the night brought two movie tickets, part of the package. We are saving them for another time.
After we got home, my sister Debbie called and we had a nice talk. I had talked to Judy via FB on Sunday so didn't expect a call from her. Then worked on some scouting stuff for our Wood Badge orientation meeting which is tonight, and went to bed. Too much diet coke didn't allow for a restful sleep, it definitely affects me more since I don't drink it all the time.
I started off my 51st year quite nicely, I think!
Worst Case Scenario
Yep. The worst case scenario happened. Last Wednesday, Steve lost his job. This was unexpected as he had been receiving excellent performance reviews and work was steadily coming in.
The part that is the worst is that they won't tell him why. They did say it was not his job performance or quality of work. But still no other reason. That's hard to take. Plus, at age 58, a job search will be even more challenging in this area.
We are luckier than most in this position. We own our home and our vehicles outright. No debts. Our only worry is health insurance. Looking into the options there - COBRA, trying somehow to get on Gilda's insurance even though I'm only part time and technically not eligible, or some other program. God IS in control and I have to keep reminding myself of that. He brought us to this, he will bring us through this. Wish Steve shared that same belief.
We're still going to be more careful with our finances for the time being. Unemployment will help. I'm glad that we have our trip done and in the memories already. Going ahead with it this fall (as was one of our original plans) would have been tough to justify. I'm also glad that I've paid my expenses for scout events this fall such as Wood Badge and Mackinac Rendezvous.
The part that is the worst is that they won't tell him why. They did say it was not his job performance or quality of work. But still no other reason. That's hard to take. Plus, at age 58, a job search will be even more challenging in this area.
We are luckier than most in this position. We own our home and our vehicles outright. No debts. Our only worry is health insurance. Looking into the options there - COBRA, trying somehow to get on Gilda's insurance even though I'm only part time and technically not eligible, or some other program. God IS in control and I have to keep reminding myself of that. He brought us to this, he will bring us through this. Wish Steve shared that same belief.
We're still going to be more careful with our finances for the time being. Unemployment will help. I'm glad that we have our trip done and in the memories already. Going ahead with it this fall (as was one of our original plans) would have been tough to justify. I'm also glad that I've paid my expenses for scout events this fall such as Wood Badge and Mackinac Rendezvous.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
my traveling sons...
As I write this, my sons are together, enjoying Paris, France. I didn't get to see Paris until I was 48. Lucky them! Eric left for Germany on Friday, very early morning, flying to Dallas and then to Frankfurt on my saved up air miles.
He arrived in Frankfurt, and we received an email from Scott's iPhone: "He is here." Their plans were to drive directly to Paris from Frankfurt. Another email arrived later yesterday: "We in Paris." So I've heard exactly six words from my boys since Eric left.
But really, if you were in PARIS would you take the time to email your mom? Ok, we did because Mom was paying for the trip. So hmmm, maybe they SHOULD be emailing me, or at least posting on Facebook, since my air miles paid for Eric's ticket.
I'm glad for them to be able to spend the time together. From Paris, they head back to Germany and a few days to relax for Eric, and a training class for Scott. Next weekend, they head for Egypt!
He arrived in Frankfurt, and we received an email from Scott's iPhone: "He is here." Their plans were to drive directly to Paris from Frankfurt. Another email arrived later yesterday: "We in Paris." So I've heard exactly six words from my boys since Eric left.
But really, if you were in PARIS would you take the time to email your mom? Ok, we did because Mom was paying for the trip. So hmmm, maybe they SHOULD be emailing me, or at least posting on Facebook, since my air miles paid for Eric's ticket.
I'm glad for them to be able to spend the time together. From Paris, they head back to Germany and a few days to relax for Eric, and a training class for Scott. Next weekend, they head for Egypt!
on the way home from Bash...
Time to update my faithful few readers about my trip home from bash last Sunday. Got up, made scrambled eggs on my pocket rocket stove for breakfast. The only trouble was, I filled the pan too full (wanted to use up the egg beaters) and ended up tipping it when it was half cooked. Egg all over the camping table. Cleaned it up and thankfully was left with enough egg to have a decent breakfast. Next was time to pack up and head out. While packing up the table, discovered that egg had seeped down between the cracks and under the table. So even more of a mess, now partially dry....but got 'er done and everything packed.
Caching along the way was definitely on the agenda. Started out with a few cemetery caches in Fulton County, then a couple of bridge guard rail caches. Then went toward one called "Pebbles" and discovered an 11 cache series, Flintstones themed and all were hidden under rocks. They were pretty much a tenth of a mile apart on this little country road. Stop where you see the pull off (from so many people caching in the area over the weekend) and follow the geo-trail and make the quick find. Get back in the car and repeat. Once I was done with that, meandered my way back up to the Michigan border where there was a cache called "Welcome to Michigan?" hidden in the "Welcome to Ohio" sign! More cemetery caches and a few others along the way as I headed north on 127. Stopped at a McDonald's in Hudson to cool off for a while and use the wifi.
Had hoped to do a series in Mason (south of Lansing) that was fish themed - part of an event that happens every spring there. After two caches (and discovering that the park that many of the caches were in was being taken over by the upcoming county fair) I decided it was just too hot to go "fishing" and decided to just head for a cache in Ionia County that I'd been wanting to do. It was a historic caches challenge where I needed to find 5 out of 7 of the oldest caches in the county. I'd done six of them way back when I first started caching so easily qualified. Got that cache then decided to head north to Ionia and make another attempt at the failed FTF as it still hadn't been logged and the owners had given me info on its probable whereabouts.
Got there, started counting trees, got to the right tree and had to laugh as there was a wooden stake right in front of the right tree. And I found the cache pretty quickly. Someone had found the cache the day before but was giving me credit for the FTF still - so I gave him credit for a shared FTF.
Home about 7:00 - an 8 1/2 hour trip, 120 miles as the crow flies. Nobody home and all vehicles were there. Found out later that Steve and Eric had gone to a movie together.
So a nice weekend was had by all.
Caching along the way was definitely on the agenda. Started out with a few cemetery caches in Fulton County, then a couple of bridge guard rail caches. Then went toward one called "Pebbles" and discovered an 11 cache series, Flintstones themed and all were hidden under rocks. They were pretty much a tenth of a mile apart on this little country road. Stop where you see the pull off (from so many people caching in the area over the weekend) and follow the geo-trail and make the quick find. Get back in the car and repeat. Once I was done with that, meandered my way back up to the Michigan border where there was a cache called "Welcome to Michigan?" hidden in the "Welcome to Ohio" sign! More cemetery caches and a few others along the way as I headed north on 127. Stopped at a McDonald's in Hudson to cool off for a while and use the wifi.
Had hoped to do a series in Mason (south of Lansing) that was fish themed - part of an event that happens every spring there. After two caches (and discovering that the park that many of the caches were in was being taken over by the upcoming county fair) I decided it was just too hot to go "fishing" and decided to just head for a cache in Ionia County that I'd been wanting to do. It was a historic caches challenge where I needed to find 5 out of 7 of the oldest caches in the county. I'd done six of them way back when I first started caching so easily qualified. Got that cache then decided to head north to Ionia and make another attempt at the failed FTF as it still hadn't been logged and the owners had given me info on its probable whereabouts.
Got there, started counting trees, got to the right tree and had to laugh as there was a wooden stake right in front of the right tree. And I found the cache pretty quickly. Someone had found the cache the day before but was giving me credit for the FTF still - so I gave him credit for a shared FTF.
Home about 7:00 - an 8 1/2 hour trip, 120 miles as the crow flies. Nobody home and all vehicles were there. Found out later that Steve and Eric had gone to a movie together.
So a nice weekend was had by all.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Midwest Geobash 2011
I'm writing this blog entry while sitting outside my little tent, at my camping table, at the fairgrounds in Wauseon, Ohio, where I've been attending the Midwest Geobash.
I arrived at about 10 p.m. on Thursday night, having loaded my car the night before and going straight down here after work. Left about 5:30, made a stop for ice, then stopped again at a cache between Lowell and Ionia that was at an eastbound rest area. Hard to get those going the other direction!
Stopped in Grand Ledge to grab a bite to eat and hopefully check the internet. Wouldn't you know, I picked a McDonald's that DIDN'T have wi-fi! So kept on going south.
Made one more cache stop, a travel bug place at a southbound US 127 rest area. Had to walk through weeds as tall if not taller than me (definitely did a tick check after that!) but worth it as I picked up a military geocoin to take traveling with me. Stopped in southern Michigan for gas, wanted to try to get to Ohio but decided it was cutting it too close. Wish I'd have waited - paid $3.85 per gallon, then in Ohio it was $3.69. Definitely will fill up before I leave the state tomorrow!
Arrived at the fairgrounds about 10 p.m. Nobody on duty to show me where to go. I expected that. Didn't expect that (as I found out later) the sign for my section had been moved, I couldn't figure out where to go for a while. Finally had to get out of the car and walk with my flashlight to read the posts in the middle.
Set up the tent using my solar lantern. It is nice but would have been nicer to have more light. Still have a pretty nice campsite if I do say so myself. Sweating like a pig by the time I was done as it was pretty humid. Found the shower house not too far away so took a shower and felt much better. Tucked myself into bed and woke to rain. Very thankful for a nice dry tent. Only problem was not remembering to bring my rain gear into the tent given the forecast. Thankfully I knew just where to find my poncho in the car. Ate granola in the tent since I didn't want to cook with no rain fly. Things cleared up, though, and by 10 a.m. it was overcast, getting muggy, but no rain.
Met friends from home and we all went together out on the "poker run." We were given 7 sets of coordinates and visited 7 area businesses at those coordinates, picked up bar code stickers which corresponded to playing cards. The best hand won a GPS receiver. Mine is definitely showing signs of wear and tear but I didn't win.
We picked up some caches along the way as well.
Came back and finally got the code for wifi on the fairgrounds so got caught up on logging and such while waiting for the poker run results. Also got my travel bugs checked in and some new ones exchanged.
Soon time for dinner. I brought my backpacking stove, a "pocket rocket" and broiled some chicken that I had been marinating in teriyaki sauce. Also boiled some water for some couscous. Nice dinner. After dinner I got out my bicycle. Had brought it as it was recommended to get around. Found out just how nice it was to get around and find the caches hidden in the fairgrounds area! 12 caches in about an hour and a half on the bike. I'm hooked and want to take the bike out on some of the local bike trails around home. Cached until almost dark and then logged caches until bedtime.
This morning I scrambled some egg beaters and had a nice breakfast. Decided to get out there and get some caches, first stopping at WalMart for some non-stick spray as I'd not packed any. Ended up with 29 caches today, many of them on the Wabash Cannonball Trail which involved quite a bit of walking. My feet, at least the blisters on them, can testify to that fact.
Came back for a while in mid-afternoon after stopping at McDonalds to cool off in their air conditioning. Discovered that there was a challenge cache for completing all 366 calendar days (there wasn't one at home) so decided that was my evening caching's destination. Broiled a turkey burger and added a caesar salad for my dinner. (confession. lunch was a snack size Mcflurry during my cool-off stop.)
Did more walking on the WCT tonight to get the challenge cache and some others. Back to the campground, much the same routine tonight. The internet is a bit spotty so hope this posts ok. Tomorrow morning it's time to pack up and go home. Plan to cache along the way, of course!
I arrived at about 10 p.m. on Thursday night, having loaded my car the night before and going straight down here after work. Left about 5:30, made a stop for ice, then stopped again at a cache between Lowell and Ionia that was at an eastbound rest area. Hard to get those going the other direction!
Stopped in Grand Ledge to grab a bite to eat and hopefully check the internet. Wouldn't you know, I picked a McDonald's that DIDN'T have wi-fi! So kept on going south.
Made one more cache stop, a travel bug place at a southbound US 127 rest area. Had to walk through weeds as tall if not taller than me (definitely did a tick check after that!) but worth it as I picked up a military geocoin to take traveling with me. Stopped in southern Michigan for gas, wanted to try to get to Ohio but decided it was cutting it too close. Wish I'd have waited - paid $3.85 per gallon, then in Ohio it was $3.69. Definitely will fill up before I leave the state tomorrow!
Arrived at the fairgrounds about 10 p.m. Nobody on duty to show me where to go. I expected that. Didn't expect that (as I found out later) the sign for my section had been moved, I couldn't figure out where to go for a while. Finally had to get out of the car and walk with my flashlight to read the posts in the middle.
Set up the tent using my solar lantern. It is nice but would have been nicer to have more light. Still have a pretty nice campsite if I do say so myself. Sweating like a pig by the time I was done as it was pretty humid. Found the shower house not too far away so took a shower and felt much better. Tucked myself into bed and woke to rain. Very thankful for a nice dry tent. Only problem was not remembering to bring my rain gear into the tent given the forecast. Thankfully I knew just where to find my poncho in the car. Ate granola in the tent since I didn't want to cook with no rain fly. Things cleared up, though, and by 10 a.m. it was overcast, getting muggy, but no rain.
Met friends from home and we all went together out on the "poker run." We were given 7 sets of coordinates and visited 7 area businesses at those coordinates, picked up bar code stickers which corresponded to playing cards. The best hand won a GPS receiver. Mine is definitely showing signs of wear and tear but I didn't win.
We picked up some caches along the way as well.
Came back and finally got the code for wifi on the fairgrounds so got caught up on logging and such while waiting for the poker run results. Also got my travel bugs checked in and some new ones exchanged.
Soon time for dinner. I brought my backpacking stove, a "pocket rocket" and broiled some chicken that I had been marinating in teriyaki sauce. Also boiled some water for some couscous. Nice dinner. After dinner I got out my bicycle. Had brought it as it was recommended to get around. Found out just how nice it was to get around and find the caches hidden in the fairgrounds area! 12 caches in about an hour and a half on the bike. I'm hooked and want to take the bike out on some of the local bike trails around home. Cached until almost dark and then logged caches until bedtime.
This morning I scrambled some egg beaters and had a nice breakfast. Decided to get out there and get some caches, first stopping at WalMart for some non-stick spray as I'd not packed any. Ended up with 29 caches today, many of them on the Wabash Cannonball Trail which involved quite a bit of walking. My feet, at least the blisters on them, can testify to that fact.
Came back for a while in mid-afternoon after stopping at McDonalds to cool off in their air conditioning. Discovered that there was a challenge cache for completing all 366 calendar days (there wasn't one at home) so decided that was my evening caching's destination. Broiled a turkey burger and added a caesar salad for my dinner. (confession. lunch was a snack size Mcflurry during my cool-off stop.)
Did more walking on the WCT tonight to get the challenge cache and some others. Back to the campground, much the same routine tonight. The internet is a bit spotty so hope this posts ok. Tomorrow morning it's time to pack up and go home. Plan to cache along the way, of course!
Good dog, Max!
Wednesday night, we were deluged by about 4" of rainfall in the same storm. This was about 10:30 - 11:00 at night, or so. Steve had already gone to bed, and I had just finished packing up the car to go to the Midwest Geobash the next day after work. I was working on the computer, trying to figure out a problem with loading some caches, using the battery power so as not to be hooked up to electricity in case of lightning. Heavy rain is noisy.
Suddenly, Max went over to the top of the basement stairs and started barking ferociously. Quite unusual for him. I finally went over to investigate and discovered water coming in through the back door to the walk out, also through two windows as well. I hadn't heard anything but Max noticed!
Woke Steve up and we went downstairs to try to resolve things. He made the mistake of opening the walkout door, more water started to pour in so he quickly closed it again but the extra water went over the sill and started going into the rest of the basement. Between a pump attached to hose that went out the side window down the driveway, the shop vac, and lots and lots of towels (we had a huge tote full of them from his dad's house...) we stemmed the tide and had minimal losses. I thought for a while I wouldn't be able to go on my trip but got enough resolved that it was ok.
It could have been much worse. If Max hadn't alerted us, I wouldn't have gone back into the basement as I had all the camping stuff I needed for my trip. Steve may not have gone down there. It could have been Sunday before it was noticed. We had new furniture stored down there, in storage for his dad's house as Eric's roommate brought furniture with him. The couch got wet but we got it dried out right away.
Extra dog treats for Maxie!
Suddenly, Max went over to the top of the basement stairs and started barking ferociously. Quite unusual for him. I finally went over to investigate and discovered water coming in through the back door to the walk out, also through two windows as well. I hadn't heard anything but Max noticed!
Woke Steve up and we went downstairs to try to resolve things. He made the mistake of opening the walkout door, more water started to pour in so he quickly closed it again but the extra water went over the sill and started going into the rest of the basement. Between a pump attached to hose that went out the side window down the driveway, the shop vac, and lots and lots of towels (we had a huge tote full of them from his dad's house...) we stemmed the tide and had minimal losses. I thought for a while I wouldn't be able to go on my trip but got enough resolved that it was ok.
It could have been much worse. If Max hadn't alerted us, I wouldn't have gone back into the basement as I had all the camping stuff I needed for my trip. Steve may not have gone down there. It could have been Sunday before it was noticed. We had new furniture stored down there, in storage for his dad's house as Eric's roommate brought furniture with him. The couch got wet but we got it dried out right away.
Extra dog treats for Maxie!
Monday, July 11, 2011
Weekend update
It was (mostly) a nice weekend for me. Friday morning brought little tasks around the house, then I met my friend Carolyn, who had moved to Tennessee and was back for their house closing, for lunch at Keisers in Lowell. We had a great visit - nice to talk in person again! From there I was to meet a scout at the library to review a merit badge. He didn't show up as he hadn't received the message. That's ok, I had wifi stuff to do.
On the way home, I stopped at the nearby rest area, just a mile from my house. When checking on my cache there the other day, noticed the blackberries were getting ripe. Came back today with a bucket and got a nice bunch of them. We had blackberry smoothies with dinner that night and I've frozen the rest for future use.
Just before bed, turned on the news to the second day in a row of special breaking news - Betty Ford had passed away. That will mean an interesting week for Grand Rapids as she will be buried here at the museum with her husband. Imagine it will include dignitaries and such.
Saturday morning, I was disappointed because Steve decided to make other plans instead of sticking with our plan to go to Wayland for a Bears get together. If he hadn't wanted to go, he should have just said so. That was quite disappointing and I did my best to convey that when we talked about it that night. Don't think he got it. Just have to remember to keep my focus on what I do have and not lament the things that I don't have (and probably never will again...)
The Bear get together was fun, though. I took Max and we hit a few caches on the way down, then had a great long visit with Tod & Becky and Sonia & Randy. Vickie & Jim and Joe & his wife were also supposed to be there but didn't show. Thought about a few caches afterwards but it was just too hot.
Sunday morning, after prayer and thought I decided to go with Steve to his Gold Wing meeting instead of going to church. I don't want to make a habit of that but thought one time would be ok - and then we could go for a ride with the group afterwards. Nope. Nobody was riding. So we decided to go for a ride ourselves. First headed downtown, we had eaten on Plainfield and soon passed by one of the houses where the murders happened. Quite a lot of memorial items (flowers, balloons, etc.) there already. Then I asked to go to the Ford museum so I could sign Betty Ford's condolence book. Figured there wouldn't be so many people on Sunday morning and I was right.
We headed down Division to the south. Not too long until we were in the country and headed east towards Yankee Springs and Gun Lake. A nice day for a ride, but getting hot fast. Wish we'd thought to bring our suits as we could have gone swimming at the park. Nice to have that recreation passport on our license plate now instead of buying an expensive yearly pass! Stopped by Dad's house on the way home so Steve could water the new concrete drivewa. Then home by about 1:30 and a nice talk with Scott by all three of us as Eric snuck in just as Scott called.
They have started making plans, thankfully. London and Paris sound like part of the plan, as does, surprisingly, EGYPT. Guess they've found a good package deal. Kinda thought Eric would want to spend more time in Europe itself. Not my decision, I guess.
Today was back to work, but a twist soon developed. Two lines of severe storms came through the area - the first just after I arrived at work, the second a few hours later which caused the clubhouse to lose power. After several hours of dealing with kids in any place that had natural light, the decision was made to close the clubhouse and cancel programming for tonight. So I have some unexpected time to get caught up on the computer and thus my blog entry today.
On the way home, I stopped at the nearby rest area, just a mile from my house. When checking on my cache there the other day, noticed the blackberries were getting ripe. Came back today with a bucket and got a nice bunch of them. We had blackberry smoothies with dinner that night and I've frozen the rest for future use.
Just before bed, turned on the news to the second day in a row of special breaking news - Betty Ford had passed away. That will mean an interesting week for Grand Rapids as she will be buried here at the museum with her husband. Imagine it will include dignitaries and such.
Saturday morning, I was disappointed because Steve decided to make other plans instead of sticking with our plan to go to Wayland for a Bears get together. If he hadn't wanted to go, he should have just said so. That was quite disappointing and I did my best to convey that when we talked about it that night. Don't think he got it. Just have to remember to keep my focus on what I do have and not lament the things that I don't have (and probably never will again...)
The Bear get together was fun, though. I took Max and we hit a few caches on the way down, then had a great long visit with Tod & Becky and Sonia & Randy. Vickie & Jim and Joe & his wife were also supposed to be there but didn't show. Thought about a few caches afterwards but it was just too hot.
Sunday morning, after prayer and thought I decided to go with Steve to his Gold Wing meeting instead of going to church. I don't want to make a habit of that but thought one time would be ok - and then we could go for a ride with the group afterwards. Nope. Nobody was riding. So we decided to go for a ride ourselves. First headed downtown, we had eaten on Plainfield and soon passed by one of the houses where the murders happened. Quite a lot of memorial items (flowers, balloons, etc.) there already. Then I asked to go to the Ford museum so I could sign Betty Ford's condolence book. Figured there wouldn't be so many people on Sunday morning and I was right.
We headed down Division to the south. Not too long until we were in the country and headed east towards Yankee Springs and Gun Lake. A nice day for a ride, but getting hot fast. Wish we'd thought to bring our suits as we could have gone swimming at the park. Nice to have that recreation passport on our license plate now instead of buying an expensive yearly pass! Stopped by Dad's house on the way home so Steve could water the new concrete drivewa. Then home by about 1:30 and a nice talk with Scott by all three of us as Eric snuck in just as Scott called.
They have started making plans, thankfully. London and Paris sound like part of the plan, as does, surprisingly, EGYPT. Guess they've found a good package deal. Kinda thought Eric would want to spend more time in Europe itself. Not my decision, I guess.
Today was back to work, but a twist soon developed. Two lines of severe storms came through the area - the first just after I arrived at work, the second a few hours later which caused the clubhouse to lose power. After several hours of dealing with kids in any place that had natural light, the decision was made to close the clubhouse and cancel programming for tonight. So I have some unexpected time to get caught up on the computer and thus my blog entry today.
Can't believe it happened in Grand Rapids...
But it did. A mass murderer killed seven people on Thursday (one being his own daughter) and led police on a chase through the streets of Grand Rapids, gunfire and all, before heading the wrong way on the interstate and crashing, then escaping on foot and holding three people hostage in their own home before killing himself late that night.
All of our local stations were covering it from beginning to end. I drove home from work unaware of what was happening - had the timing been different I might have been caught in the middle of it. That's what makes it a bit too close for comfort. You always hear about such things happening elsewhere, not in this area.
Freaky.
All of our local stations were covering it from beginning to end. I drove home from work unaware of what was happening - had the timing been different I might have been caught in the middle of it. That's what makes it a bit too close for comfort. You always hear about such things happening elsewhere, not in this area.
Freaky.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Midnight in Paris
Just left my private showing of the new movie, "Midnight in Paris." Stars Owen Wilson. I say private showing because it was an 11:45 a.m. matinee and nobody else was in the theater.
Movie started with a long montage of a day in Paris. That alone was worth the price of admission (only $4.50.) Then the movie - won't spoil the plot but it involves Owen Wilson going back in time. I really liked the movie, for the plot as well as the fact that it was PARIS....it's earned a spot on my all time Top Ten list, I think.
It was worth seeing this one in the theater.
Movie started with a long montage of a day in Paris. That alone was worth the price of admission (only $4.50.) Then the movie - won't spoil the plot but it involves Owen Wilson going back in time. I really liked the movie, for the plot as well as the fact that it was PARIS....it's earned a spot on my all time Top Ten list, I think.
It was worth seeing this one in the theater.
Monday, June 27, 2011
The Geo-Calendar is complete!
Almost a year after I actively started pursuing this goal, I can now say my geo-calendar is complete. This means that I have found (at least) one geocache during every calendar day of the year, including February 29. (Thanks to my muggle mom for driving us to see the manatees that day in 2008 when we were visiting her in Florida!)
There were some struggles to get a few of the days I hadn't filled in five years of caching. The holidays come to mind - I still had to find caches on Christmas Day, New Years Eve, and a few other special days. I managed. Also had a struggle on February 2. That was the day of the big blizzard of 2011. A geocaching friend came through and picked me up in his 4WD Jeep and took me to find a cache.
I thought my last day might be a pretty big struggle, though. Today was the first day of our semi-annual staff development at work. I had to be there at 8 a.m. - then report to a local hotel (the Amway Grand Plaza) after the kids were picked up by their dads; dinner together with the staff; then free at about 8:30 p.m., with no easy caches within walking distance of the hotel. So the only solution - leave early for work!
Had been saving the State Search Challenge caches for a geo-calendar day, so went to the 15 state challenge first - and made the find, completing the geo-calendar, at 7:15 a.m. Since I had time to spare, ended up getting the 10 and 5 state challenges as well and still got to work with time to spare. I have found geocaches in 17 states all together so those three challenges are all I qualify for in the series for now.
Am now at the Amway, enjoying the nice room with the (for once) beautiful view of the rivers in downtown Grand Rapids; and also enjoyed a nice meal with my co-workers. After breakfast together, they get to go do more staff development and I get to go back and spend another day at the clubhouse with the kids. Hard to remember sometimes that I'm part of the team. (wistful thinking, but would love to be with the rest as I know it's not all work.)bu
There were some struggles to get a few of the days I hadn't filled in five years of caching. The holidays come to mind - I still had to find caches on Christmas Day, New Years Eve, and a few other special days. I managed. Also had a struggle on February 2. That was the day of the big blizzard of 2011. A geocaching friend came through and picked me up in his 4WD Jeep and took me to find a cache.
I thought my last day might be a pretty big struggle, though. Today was the first day of our semi-annual staff development at work. I had to be there at 8 a.m. - then report to a local hotel (the Amway Grand Plaza) after the kids were picked up by their dads; dinner together with the staff; then free at about 8:30 p.m., with no easy caches within walking distance of the hotel. So the only solution - leave early for work!
Had been saving the State Search Challenge caches for a geo-calendar day, so went to the 15 state challenge first - and made the find, completing the geo-calendar, at 7:15 a.m. Since I had time to spare, ended up getting the 10 and 5 state challenges as well and still got to work with time to spare. I have found geocaches in 17 states all together so those three challenges are all I qualify for in the series for now.
Am now at the Amway, enjoying the nice room with the (for once) beautiful view of the rivers in downtown Grand Rapids; and also enjoyed a nice meal with my co-workers. After breakfast together, they get to go do more staff development and I get to go back and spend another day at the clubhouse with the kids. Hard to remember sometimes that I'm part of the team. (wistful thinking, but would love to be with the rest as I know it's not all work.)bu
Friday, June 24, 2011
Goodbye, air miles!
and for a very good reason. Part of the arrangements for our own trip to Germany in May was having our younger son, Eric, become dog/house sitter for us, and watching over Grandpa as well. Grandpa did move to the nursing home before we left, of course, so that became less complicated. Our "carrot" for Eric when we asked him in January was using my air miles for a ticket to have him go visit Scott himself later in the year.
Well, it's a done deal now. He leaves on August 5 and returns on August 24. When I first started looking into flights and such for him, I had a real challenge. Nothing for less than 60,000 miles each way from Grand Rapids. And I only have 60K miles total. Finally found Chicago to Frankfurt which would have been a 90K mile trip (on air miles.) How much to buy extra miles? Would have been another $500. So no go there.
Gave Eric the "assignment" to figure out what East Coast cities had direct flight to Frankfurt. See, the ace up my sleeve was my Citicard AirMiles. I'd been accumulating those for a long time on my original Citibank card. We'd used them to go visit my sister Judy in 2001, and those miles also got Eric out to the Naval Academy and back in 2004. The program has been discontinued, though, and the miles will expire in October. So they had to be used this summer...
Eric gave me some cities to check out on AA.com. Still nothing for less than 60K each way. In desperation, I just started entering cities. Finally found 60K total trip from Richmond, Virginia. Started looking into that and realized that the Richmond flight would go first to Dallas then to Frankfurt. Hmmm...how many miles would we need from Dallas? Sure enough, I found just a few dates that had 30K each way flights. Bingo! Put a 5 day hold on a reservation, 60K miles total. Now to clear it with Scott.
Took Scott a few days to find out for sure, but yesterday he finally got clearance to take whatever leave he wanted to within that time frame. (Not necessarily the whole time. Eric will be ok with just hanging out at Scott's some of the time.) So this morning, I finally called Citibank AirMiles to see about tickets from Grand Rapids to Dallas.
After a lot of waiting, they determined (so they said) that there was ONE seat left from Dallas to GR on the return flight, and the outbound flight was ok, too. So that was set. Then back to AA.com to confirm the reservation. All ok, other than excruciatingly slow on dialup (on dialup so I could print out anything I needed to) until I got to the purchase screen. It then informed me that there had been a price change. I knew there would be a $135 tax charge but this screen said the FARE would be $134.20. That seemed to be a new charge so I did as the screen suggested and called American Airlines directly to "get the original rate." After being transferred about four times, we finally determined that it was the TAX that was changing, not any additional charge. So then I went through the rest of the process and Eric now has tickets to Frankfurt and back.
I sigh because that 60K miles would have probably bought me a round trip ticket to Paris at the right time. Someday I will return there! I am happy, though, that my boys will get to spend a couple of weeks together. Sounds like London and Paris are in their plans.
This will be just the boost Eric needs. He found out last night that his appeal has been denied. He's going to talk to them again today but looks like his chances of getting into GVSU's School of Nursing are getting smaller each day. Basically the advisor lied to the board - she had told Eric that there were no notes from the meeting, then apparently produced full notes for the board that showed she had told him he couldn't take the Psychology class a third time. It's really hard not to get involved personally in this, but I do recognize it's Eric's battle for now. If he exhausts all possibilities, though...
Well, it's a done deal now. He leaves on August 5 and returns on August 24. When I first started looking into flights and such for him, I had a real challenge. Nothing for less than 60,000 miles each way from Grand Rapids. And I only have 60K miles total. Finally found Chicago to Frankfurt which would have been a 90K mile trip (on air miles.) How much to buy extra miles? Would have been another $500. So no go there.
Gave Eric the "assignment" to figure out what East Coast cities had direct flight to Frankfurt. See, the ace up my sleeve was my Citicard AirMiles. I'd been accumulating those for a long time on my original Citibank card. We'd used them to go visit my sister Judy in 2001, and those miles also got Eric out to the Naval Academy and back in 2004. The program has been discontinued, though, and the miles will expire in October. So they had to be used this summer...
Eric gave me some cities to check out on AA.com. Still nothing for less than 60K each way. In desperation, I just started entering cities. Finally found 60K total trip from Richmond, Virginia. Started looking into that and realized that the Richmond flight would go first to Dallas then to Frankfurt. Hmmm...how many miles would we need from Dallas? Sure enough, I found just a few dates that had 30K each way flights. Bingo! Put a 5 day hold on a reservation, 60K miles total. Now to clear it with Scott.
Took Scott a few days to find out for sure, but yesterday he finally got clearance to take whatever leave he wanted to within that time frame. (Not necessarily the whole time. Eric will be ok with just hanging out at Scott's some of the time.) So this morning, I finally called Citibank AirMiles to see about tickets from Grand Rapids to Dallas.
After a lot of waiting, they determined (so they said) that there was ONE seat left from Dallas to GR on the return flight, and the outbound flight was ok, too. So that was set. Then back to AA.com to confirm the reservation. All ok, other than excruciatingly slow on dialup (on dialup so I could print out anything I needed to) until I got to the purchase screen. It then informed me that there had been a price change. I knew there would be a $135 tax charge but this screen said the FARE would be $134.20. That seemed to be a new charge so I did as the screen suggested and called American Airlines directly to "get the original rate." After being transferred about four times, we finally determined that it was the TAX that was changing, not any additional charge. So then I went through the rest of the process and Eric now has tickets to Frankfurt and back.
I sigh because that 60K miles would have probably bought me a round trip ticket to Paris at the right time. Someday I will return there! I am happy, though, that my boys will get to spend a couple of weeks together. Sounds like London and Paris are in their plans.
This will be just the boost Eric needs. He found out last night that his appeal has been denied. He's going to talk to them again today but looks like his chances of getting into GVSU's School of Nursing are getting smaller each day. Basically the advisor lied to the board - she had told Eric that there were no notes from the meeting, then apparently produced full notes for the board that showed she had told him he couldn't take the Psychology class a third time. It's really hard not to get involved personally in this, but I do recognize it's Eric's battle for now. If he exhausts all possibilities, though...
Sunday, June 19, 2011
My niece's bucket list
My 17 year old niece recently posted her bucket list. Oh, to be young again and on the brink of making all those decisions about where your life will take you! Thought this would make a good blog post.
1. Make a positive impact on the planet. She will have all kinds of opportunity to do this. Hope I have done so myself.
2. Love every single thing about myself. I can't see where that would be hard - she has beauty & brains - a winning combination! Still working on this for myself. Overall satisfied but if I could just get rid of this addiction to food, especially sweets...
3. Meet Robert Downey, Jr. Ok for her. Doesn't matter to me.
4. Go on a cross country road trip. I hope she gets that opportunity, it's a great way to see the country. I've seen most of the country, still want to get to the Pacific Northwest and New England. Will there be geocaching involved - I'll go with her! : )
5. See ADTR live. Seeing as I don't have a clue as to who or what ADTR is/are, I'll pass on commenting here.
6. Intern for TOMS Shoes. I think I know (sorta) what these are. Internships are a great way to learn about a company and/or a career. Go for it.
7. Backpack in Europe. Oooh, another one I'll gladly accompany her on. Having two trips to Europe under my belt doesn't satisfy the urge, it just intensifies it.
8. Go to a City and Colour concert. Again, my age shows here. No idea about this one.
9. Design an environmentally-friendly house and then live in it. A tall order but why not? I'm trying to be more environmentally friendly, getting away from disposables and more recycling.
10. Fly in a hot air balloon. Nope. Nada. Too high up. I think you'd have to sedate me first. But in the spirit of adventure - go for it, Alex!
11. Speak fluent French. Didn't know until talking to Grandma last night that you've been taking French online as they don't offer it at your school. This will come in quite handy on that backpacking tour! I don't regret a moment of the time I've spent learning other languages. They do come in handy from time to time.
12. Travel to Thailand. I'm guessing a visit to Yui would be involved here. Other lands, other cultures, are so cool. Wouldn't mind visiting here, either, but there are other places above this on my bucket list.
13. Own my own cafe that sells delicious pastries. I'm with you on the delicious pastries part. You own it, I will come. Hear you're turning into a great cook.
14. Sleep in a hammock under the stars. I've come close with all my Boy Scout experiences. Wonderful to be out enjoying nature. Just make sure it's not 20 below zero at the time you do this one...
15. Meet Dallas Green. Who?
16. Learn how to play acoustic guitar. Music, as Alex well knows, is wonderful. It has helped bring her to the place she is in her life now, I daresay. I enjoy music but it just hasn't been my gift.
17. Have a pet hedgehog. And you'll name him Sonic, right? Not sure what the attraction to a hedgehog is per say, but pets are wonderful companions. Go for it.
18. Live sustainably. A good goal. Hard for me to meet it, but never say never.
19. March in a drum corps. Not gonna happen for me. Hope it does for you.
20. Learn how to play cello. See #16 above.
21. Travel to Switzerland. Say hi to Nora for me. I can highly recommend this one but bring lots of money.
My own (mental) bucket list isn't nearly so long, or profound. I found my niece's to be excellent!
1. Make a positive impact on the planet. She will have all kinds of opportunity to do this. Hope I have done so myself.
2. Love every single thing about myself. I can't see where that would be hard - she has beauty & brains - a winning combination! Still working on this for myself. Overall satisfied but if I could just get rid of this addiction to food, especially sweets...
3. Meet Robert Downey, Jr. Ok for her. Doesn't matter to me.
4. Go on a cross country road trip. I hope she gets that opportunity, it's a great way to see the country. I've seen most of the country, still want to get to the Pacific Northwest and New England. Will there be geocaching involved - I'll go with her! : )
5. See ADTR live. Seeing as I don't have a clue as to who or what ADTR is/are, I'll pass on commenting here.
6. Intern for TOMS Shoes. I think I know (sorta) what these are. Internships are a great way to learn about a company and/or a career. Go for it.
7. Backpack in Europe. Oooh, another one I'll gladly accompany her on. Having two trips to Europe under my belt doesn't satisfy the urge, it just intensifies it.
8. Go to a City and Colour concert. Again, my age shows here. No idea about this one.
9. Design an environmentally-friendly house and then live in it. A tall order but why not? I'm trying to be more environmentally friendly, getting away from disposables and more recycling.
10. Fly in a hot air balloon. Nope. Nada. Too high up. I think you'd have to sedate me first. But in the spirit of adventure - go for it, Alex!
11. Speak fluent French. Didn't know until talking to Grandma last night that you've been taking French online as they don't offer it at your school. This will come in quite handy on that backpacking tour! I don't regret a moment of the time I've spent learning other languages. They do come in handy from time to time.
12. Travel to Thailand. I'm guessing a visit to Yui would be involved here. Other lands, other cultures, are so cool. Wouldn't mind visiting here, either, but there are other places above this on my bucket list.
13. Own my own cafe that sells delicious pastries. I'm with you on the delicious pastries part. You own it, I will come. Hear you're turning into a great cook.
14. Sleep in a hammock under the stars. I've come close with all my Boy Scout experiences. Wonderful to be out enjoying nature. Just make sure it's not 20 below zero at the time you do this one...
15. Meet Dallas Green. Who?
16. Learn how to play acoustic guitar. Music, as Alex well knows, is wonderful. It has helped bring her to the place she is in her life now, I daresay. I enjoy music but it just hasn't been my gift.
17. Have a pet hedgehog. And you'll name him Sonic, right? Not sure what the attraction to a hedgehog is per say, but pets are wonderful companions. Go for it.
18. Live sustainably. A good goal. Hard for me to meet it, but never say never.
19. March in a drum corps. Not gonna happen for me. Hope it does for you.
20. Learn how to play cello. See #16 above.
21. Travel to Switzerland. Say hi to Nora for me. I can highly recommend this one but bring lots of money.
My own (mental) bucket list isn't nearly so long, or profound. I found my niece's to be excellent!
Monday, June 6, 2011
Back to Gilwell, almost
As I just mentioned in my last post, this last weekend was Wood Badge Staff development weekend at Camp Gerber. We are preparing for our course which will be held in August and September.
Friday morning brought a few extra errands but I was finally packed and ready to roll by about 12:15. One last stop at the post office to drop off a package for Scott, and then headed northwest. My plan was to stop at the Muskatewa Trail where a whole slew of new caches had been placed. Best would have been to bike it, but when I tried to get my bike out it was blocked pretty well, plus had at least one flat tire. So not this time. Hiked a mile down the trail (then of course a mile back) and got five caches. Then moved on to Coopersville and got three more caches which made a nice eight cache day for one of my few remaining geo-calendar days.
Made it to camp and got some time to spend with others on staff, then we started our evening promptly at 6 p.m. My last two troop guides gave their individual presentations, then our Sr. Patrol Leader gave his. Then we discussed our campfire while down at the firebowl area. Cracker Barrel and one last practice for my own presentation, then shower and bed.
Saturday morning brought a good breakfast, then MY presentation. I was a bit nervous but it went well, so I was told. I have to polish it up but it's getting there. Another presentation, then we walked over to cub camp and walked through our entire first day of the course and got all the kinks ironed out. Hot and sweaty! Lunch was great, then we did some walking through days 2 and 3.
Afternoon brought some team building at the COPE course. We worked on getting our team across a moving swinging log. Actually got 'er done! Then another exercise where we had to move across five different stumps connected with boards. Sounds easy but it wasn't. I was just glad we didn't have to do the high ropes course.
Fantastic dinner - dutch oven cooked cornish game hens, potatoes, green beans, and key lime pie. Needless to say, between the vacation and the weekend, I started back on the strict week of my diet today!
Then staff pictures, both formal and informal, and more working out details of the weekend.
Sunday morning brought chapel service, a few more details to be worked out, then we were dismissed about 11:30 a.m. Did some more geocaching on the way home as it was another geocalendar day. Only three left! Also stopped at a graduation open house for the son of a scouting friend of mine.
Then home to discover that Steve had taken several rides with friends this weekend. I can't really complain because I was off having fun myself! 19 days together so it was good to have some separate time as well. Only thing was, the lawn still hadn't been mowed, and my new refrigerator is still in pieces over the house (from bringing it inside through the slider) and the plants are scattered as well because the refrigerator is taking up their room. Hope both these situations are resolved soon!
not quite a recap
because I really want to include some more pictures in the recap and I haven't had time to pick out the best ones yet.
I forgot to add to my last post that we had to go through an agricultural inspection at customs in Dallas. Being honest, I wrote our beef jerky down on the customs form. Yep, they took it away. American beef jerky, bought on an American military base, but you can't bring it into the US unless it's sealed. Which of course it wasn't. Only about a $3 loss, oh well.
Flight to GR from Dallas was not the best. Mostly due to how tired we were, and how stuffy and hot the plane was. We survived, though - I even slept about half the flight I think. Got in just before midnight and it was sure nice to see Eric waiting for us! Luggage all came through ok, too. Home to Max who was very glad to see us!
Eric stayed through the next evening, as he had arranged for the Samsung repair person to come and look at the new TV as it was turning off randomly. That got fixed, he ate dinner, then headed back to Allendale.
The rest of the week was spent getting ready for Wood Badge staff development weekend. Some unpacking was done, other stuff still needs to be gone through. Plus we still have to deal with all of Steve's dad's stuff from before we left...
So a full recap will come soon, I hope. It's a short week at work for me as two of my kids are on vacation. So full day today and tomorrow, then off Wed, Thurs, Fri. Time to get some stuff done I hope.
I forgot to add to my last post that we had to go through an agricultural inspection at customs in Dallas. Being honest, I wrote our beef jerky down on the customs form. Yep, they took it away. American beef jerky, bought on an American military base, but you can't bring it into the US unless it's sealed. Which of course it wasn't. Only about a $3 loss, oh well.
Flight to GR from Dallas was not the best. Mostly due to how tired we were, and how stuffy and hot the plane was. We survived, though - I even slept about half the flight I think. Got in just before midnight and it was sure nice to see Eric waiting for us! Luggage all came through ok, too. Home to Max who was very glad to see us!
Eric stayed through the next evening, as he had arranged for the Samsung repair person to come and look at the new TV as it was turning off randomly. That got fixed, he ate dinner, then headed back to Allendale.
The rest of the week was spent getting ready for Wood Badge staff development weekend. Some unpacking was done, other stuff still needs to be gone through. Plus we still have to deal with all of Steve's dad's stuff from before we left...
So a full recap will come soon, I hope. It's a short week at work for me as two of my kids are on vacation. So full day today and tomorrow, then off Wed, Thurs, Fri. Time to get some stuff done I hope.
Monday, May 30, 2011
The "day and a half" day - We're coming home....
May 29/30, 2011
Sunday was a quiet lazy day. The big event was going back to the base with Scott so that he could check his military mail to find out where his next duty station would be. They had sent a notice to his AOL mail that he had a new duty station – but didn’t tell him where, just to log on at work and find out. To make a long story short, he will PCS (permanent change of station) to Kunsan, Korea next February. This will be a year’s tour. And it sounds like he will get to take leave en route and come home for a short visit on the way from Germany to Korea. That’d be nice! After he did everything he needed to, I got to go online and check in for our flights tomorrow, and print boarding passes. Scott’s internet still wasn’t up, so no other way to print the passes other than at the airport.
Steve spent the afternoon detailing the rental car; Scott spent the afternoon studying his ALS material (ok, mostly by sleeping on the floor with it in front of him) and I read a book on my Kindle program on the computer. Later, Scott ordered pizza and we had a quiet dinner; then we got suitcases packed. We came to the conclusion we would have to check one. Luckily Steve had brought the backpack the boys had given him for his birthday – so he made that his “carryon” and checked his Rick Steves bag, filled with mostly clothes. We started to get ready for bed about 10 p.m. Then Scott remembered he hadn’t shown Dad his Aviano pictures so it was actually around 10:30 by the time we went to bed. Of course, pre-flight insomnia set in – so it was after midnight before I got any sleep.
Alarms – 3 of them – were set for 4:30 a.m. (my travel clock, Scott’s IPhone, and my Ipod touch) We were pulling out from Scott’s by 5:10 a.m. Scott told us to take 3 different autobahn routes to get to Frankfurt. Well, Nuvi decided that the fastest route was slightly different than that. Rather than taking the autobahn north then south, it cut us over going straight east to Frankfurt. Naturally Steve thought that was a mistake but we still got to Frankfurt in about two hours anyway.
Once in the airport area we had to fill up the car’s gas tank and then return the car. That was easier than we thought! Once we got to the car drop off, they scanned a code, then checked the car over and all was well! We took an elevator upstairs and we were at the departures terminal. Checked Steve’s bag, then had some time to kill. Bought some duty-free chocolate for Eric, used the restrooms, went through security, and still had over an hour before boarding….
The flight was long but ok. 10.5 hours is no picnic, and with it daylight all the way I didn’t sleep (and didn’t expect to.) So as I write this in the Dallas airport, I’ve been up close to 24 hours. Steve is thankfully sleeping in the chair next to me. He has to work first thing tomorrow morning, and I don’t have to work until 12:30. Thankfully.
Disappointed that we didn’t get the 777 we were scheduled to be on – so no backseat entertainment system, or power port at my seat. Did get to watch two movies though – Gulliver’s Travels and Karate Kid. Plus they fed us rather well – drink and snack service shortly after take off, then chicken or pasta lunch, then another snack later, then a deep dish pizza about an hour before we landed. We saw Michigan from the air as we went by. Couldn’t persuade anyone to stop the plane and let us get off, though.
This will probably be the last trip entry, as I don’t anticipate the flight to Grand Rapids to be eventful. Will try for a recap sometime this week if I can.
Sunday was a quiet lazy day. The big event was going back to the base with Scott so that he could check his military mail to find out where his next duty station would be. They had sent a notice to his AOL mail that he had a new duty station – but didn’t tell him where, just to log on at work and find out. To make a long story short, he will PCS (permanent change of station) to Kunsan, Korea next February. This will be a year’s tour. And it sounds like he will get to take leave en route and come home for a short visit on the way from Germany to Korea. That’d be nice! After he did everything he needed to, I got to go online and check in for our flights tomorrow, and print boarding passes. Scott’s internet still wasn’t up, so no other way to print the passes other than at the airport.
Steve spent the afternoon detailing the rental car; Scott spent the afternoon studying his ALS material (ok, mostly by sleeping on the floor with it in front of him) and I read a book on my Kindle program on the computer. Later, Scott ordered pizza and we had a quiet dinner; then we got suitcases packed. We came to the conclusion we would have to check one. Luckily Steve had brought the backpack the boys had given him for his birthday – so he made that his “carryon” and checked his Rick Steves bag, filled with mostly clothes. We started to get ready for bed about 10 p.m. Then Scott remembered he hadn’t shown Dad his Aviano pictures so it was actually around 10:30 by the time we went to bed. Of course, pre-flight insomnia set in – so it was after midnight before I got any sleep.
Alarms – 3 of them – were set for 4:30 a.m. (my travel clock, Scott’s IPhone, and my Ipod touch) We were pulling out from Scott’s by 5:10 a.m. Scott told us to take 3 different autobahn routes to get to Frankfurt. Well, Nuvi decided that the fastest route was slightly different than that. Rather than taking the autobahn north then south, it cut us over going straight east to Frankfurt. Naturally Steve thought that was a mistake but we still got to Frankfurt in about two hours anyway.
Once in the airport area we had to fill up the car’s gas tank and then return the car. That was easier than we thought! Once we got to the car drop off, they scanned a code, then checked the car over and all was well! We took an elevator upstairs and we were at the departures terminal. Checked Steve’s bag, then had some time to kill. Bought some duty-free chocolate for Eric, used the restrooms, went through security, and still had over an hour before boarding….
The flight was long but ok. 10.5 hours is no picnic, and with it daylight all the way I didn’t sleep (and didn’t expect to.) So as I write this in the Dallas airport, I’ve been up close to 24 hours. Steve is thankfully sleeping in the chair next to me. He has to work first thing tomorrow morning, and I don’t have to work until 12:30. Thankfully.
Disappointed that we didn’t get the 777 we were scheduled to be on – so no backseat entertainment system, or power port at my seat. Did get to watch two movies though – Gulliver’s Travels and Karate Kid. Plus they fed us rather well – drink and snack service shortly after take off, then chicken or pasta lunch, then another snack later, then a deep dish pizza about an hour before we landed. We saw Michigan from the air as we went by. Couldn’t persuade anyone to stop the plane and let us get off, though.
This will probably be the last trip entry, as I don’t anticipate the flight to Grand Rapids to be eventful. Will try for a recap sometime this week if I can.
Saturday, May 28 - Our 28th Anniversary
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Our 28th wedding anniversary, on May 28. Do anniversaries work the same as birthdays, this then being our “golden” anniversary? It was (mostly) a very nice day either way.
We woke up, had breakfast, then finally decided it was time for Scott to get up as he said he could come with us. Once he was up and ready, we headed over to the base first. Another pass, this one is for tomorrow as well so we won’t have to get it again. Went to the military clothing store as Steve wanted to look at Spangdahlem T-shirts. He walked out of there with a tshirt. Yep, and a sweatshirt and jacket as well. I settled for just a tshirt, actually my first of the trip. Then a quick commissary trip and we were on our way toward the Rhine. I had set the nuvi to “shorter” which usually turns out to be the scenic route. Today proved to be no exception to that. We stopped for gas at Wittlich, then continued on some very scenic roads. Some were not much wider than our driveway, as Steve pointed out. We got to Bacharach after a drive of about two hours. Bought our tickets for the next boat cruise up the Rhine to St. Goar, about an hour’s cruise away. Ate our lunch (late) while we were waiting. There was quite a large crowd waiting to get on, and the boat was already pretty full. I got separated briefly from the guys and tried to find a place where we could see. No such luck. Went back and found that they had taken Steve’s ticket from him, while letting Scott and I keep ours. To make a long story short, found out at St. Goar that we had been given three pieces of paper, in German of course. One was the ticket for all three of us from Bacharach to St. Goar. One was the return ticket, again for all three of us. The third was the receipt. Had this been explained to us when we bought the tickets, might have made things much easier! (And the ticket clerk spoke pretty good English.) Anyway, the trip up to St. Goar was not so pleasant as we couldn’t see much and were trying to resolve the ticket situation part of the way. Unbelieveably, we made a stop up river and loaded on MORE people – I wonder what the capacity limit was. Definitely not room for everyone to sit down, even in the “no-view” seats downstairs.
We got off the boat in St. Goar and had about 45 minutes to walk around the town. Just enough time for a little souvenir shopping and an ice cream cone. Scott treated as we were almost out of euro cash and hate to get more with such a short time left. Scott and I both had kiwi ice cream, that was really good! Steve stuck with mocha and chocolate. Back to the boat, and thankfully this boat was better designed and not nearly so full so we were able to go up on the top deck and get three seats at the railing. Made for a much more interesting cruise back to Bacharach! I had the Rick Steves book with me which gave a lot of information on what we were seeing as we cruised along. Soon enough we were back at Bacharach and headed toward Spangdahlem on the autobahn this time. Still amazing how fast some of the cars in the left lane (passing lane) are going!
When we got back to the Spangdahlem area, we headed to a local restaurant that Scott recommended. Scott was with us – yes, it was our anniversary dinner, but how many chances do we get anymore to have a nice meal with our oldest? Not sure he’d been to an anniversary dinner with us since our 2nd anniversary, when he was just a few weeks old.
Scott and I both had chosen meat meals (mine assorted steaks, his assorted game steaks) that we got to cook ourselves at the table. Small heated stones were brought for us to do that. Very interesting! Steve opted for an already cooked steak and said it was good as well. Both of the guys had a tall beer, Erlanger I think it was called, and I had a coke light.
A nice way to spend our anniversary. Tomorrow I don’t think we have many plans – just getting things together as we will have to leave VERY early on Monday morning to get down to Frankfurt, get the car returned, and check in for our flight. Monday will be a very long day!
Friday, May 27
Friday, May 27, 2011
We woke up and made plans to hit three countries today – Belgium, Luxembourg, and of course Germany. Headed northwest on the autobahn. Stopped and turned around so that Steve could take pictures of wind turbines. They seem to be all over this part of Germany! Then on to Belgium. Stopped for a cache just before the Belgian border. Couldn’t find it – found out tonight it was disabled. Then into Belgium where to my surprise I found that the Nuvi did NOT have maps for Belgium. So we were dependent on road signs and our paper maps, which aren’t all that detailed. I managed to get us to one of my three caches that I’d downloaded info for. It was a stone tower in St. Vith, Belgium. The cache listing gave hours that you could get the cache, which gives one the assumption that it was inside. Sure enough, it didn’t seem to be outside. But we arrived within the stated hours and the door was locked. More German or at least more English translation would have helped. Moved on, and with a wing and a prayer decided on what appeared to be the easier of the two remaining caches that I had information on. Somehow we managed to pick the right road and drove the 3 miles to get there. Took a bit of looking but finally found the preform tube duct taped to a tree and I had my Belgian cache. Backtracked to St. Vith then started looking for a liquor store. Scott had asked that we look for some Heineken in brown bottles, which is available in Belgium and the Netherlands but not in Germany. We struck out, unfortunately. Found some liquor places but none that sold what Scott wanted.
Then headed south into Luxembourg. Following the maps and road signs, we headed toward Vianden. Stopped along the way in a nice forested scenic area and had a picnic lunch. Then to Vianden. Saw the castle from a different direction than when Scott and I had gone there in 2009. We parked the car and toured the castle. Now I know how Scott felt taking me through after he’d already been there. Interesting but not quite so much as the first time. Steve enjoyed it – though he said that when they restored the castle they should have made all the doorways tall enough for him to go through without banging his head! Then a swift souvenir shop and headed toward Germany and Scott’s. We missed the turn to Bitburg, though, and went on south in Luxembourg a bit before we realized our mistake. Backtrack and there was the Bitburg turn. Shortly thereafter we were back in Germany. A nice ride to Bitburg then a cache stop for a TB hotel. Time to drop off the scouter coin that I’d taken all over Europe on this trip.
The cache listing (even in English!) said to bring stuff to help get the cache. That didn’t really sink in until I was faced with a cache about 3 feet down a PVC pipe, with a ring in it to bring it up but no other way to bring it up. I tried MacGuyvering it for a while but couldn’t do it. Went back to the car and persuaded Steve to give it a try. He was working a stick down the pipe when two other people showed up. Since they had GPSrs, I looked at them and said “Geocachers, I hope?” They were, and spoke English as well as German. Steve got the cache up and out and I traded the scouter coin for the only traveler in the cache, a chain full of beer caps. A bit bigger than I planned to pick up but it does want to travel the world so I’ll take it back to Michigan.
Arrived back to Scott’s about 4:30. Scott home and we had tacos. Now they’re watching saved episodes of Enterprise while I checked email and facebook from Scott’s phone as he still doesn’t have internet. They guy hooked everything up but Scott needed a new password which he hasn’t yet been able to get. Since it’s now the weekend looks like I won’t get any before we leave. Oh well. Tomorrow’s plans include probably heading over towards the Rhine, hopefully Scott will be able to come with us.
We woke up and made plans to hit three countries today – Belgium, Luxembourg, and of course Germany. Headed northwest on the autobahn. Stopped and turned around so that Steve could take pictures of wind turbines. They seem to be all over this part of Germany! Then on to Belgium. Stopped for a cache just before the Belgian border. Couldn’t find it – found out tonight it was disabled. Then into Belgium where to my surprise I found that the Nuvi did NOT have maps for Belgium. So we were dependent on road signs and our paper maps, which aren’t all that detailed. I managed to get us to one of my three caches that I’d downloaded info for. It was a stone tower in St. Vith, Belgium. The cache listing gave hours that you could get the cache, which gives one the assumption that it was inside. Sure enough, it didn’t seem to be outside. But we arrived within the stated hours and the door was locked. More German or at least more English translation would have helped. Moved on, and with a wing and a prayer decided on what appeared to be the easier of the two remaining caches that I had information on. Somehow we managed to pick the right road and drove the 3 miles to get there. Took a bit of looking but finally found the preform tube duct taped to a tree and I had my Belgian cache. Backtracked to St. Vith then started looking for a liquor store. Scott had asked that we look for some Heineken in brown bottles, which is available in Belgium and the Netherlands but not in Germany. We struck out, unfortunately. Found some liquor places but none that sold what Scott wanted.
Then headed south into Luxembourg. Following the maps and road signs, we headed toward Vianden. Stopped along the way in a nice forested scenic area and had a picnic lunch. Then to Vianden. Saw the castle from a different direction than when Scott and I had gone there in 2009. We parked the car and toured the castle. Now I know how Scott felt taking me through after he’d already been there. Interesting but not quite so much as the first time. Steve enjoyed it – though he said that when they restored the castle they should have made all the doorways tall enough for him to go through without banging his head! Then a swift souvenir shop and headed toward Germany and Scott’s. We missed the turn to Bitburg, though, and went on south in Luxembourg a bit before we realized our mistake. Backtrack and there was the Bitburg turn. Shortly thereafter we were back in Germany. A nice ride to Bitburg then a cache stop for a TB hotel. Time to drop off the scouter coin that I’d taken all over Europe on this trip.
The cache listing (even in English!) said to bring stuff to help get the cache. That didn’t really sink in until I was faced with a cache about 3 feet down a PVC pipe, with a ring in it to bring it up but no other way to bring it up. I tried MacGuyvering it for a while but couldn’t do it. Went back to the car and persuaded Steve to give it a try. He was working a stick down the pipe when two other people showed up. Since they had GPSrs, I looked at them and said “Geocachers, I hope?” They were, and spoke English as well as German. Steve got the cache up and out and I traded the scouter coin for the only traveler in the cache, a chain full of beer caps. A bit bigger than I planned to pick up but it does want to travel the world so I’ll take it back to Michigan.
Arrived back to Scott’s about 4:30. Scott home and we had tacos. Now they’re watching saved episodes of Enterprise while I checked email and facebook from Scott’s phone as he still doesn’t have internet. They guy hooked everything up but Scott needed a new password which he hasn’t yet been able to get. Since it’s now the weekend looks like I won’t get any before we leave. Oh well. Tomorrow’s plans include probably heading over towards the Rhine, hopefully Scott will be able to come with us.
Thursday, May 26
Thursday, May 26, 2011
This was a quiet day. We didn’t make any plans as Scott needed us to stay home and wait for the internet technician so he could get his internet and phone hooked back up. The guy came at 8:30 a.m. so we had the whole day free after that. Steve needed a rest and recouperate day though so he spent it watching movies. Ok by me. I worked on my Wood Badge presentation, mostly creating my power point presentation for it, and then decided to take a walk in Spangdahlem. I walked down to the cache that Scott and I had tried to find last week. Looked around quite a bit more and finally spotted the little nano hidden in the handle of an antique piece of farm equipment near the well. Painted the same rusty brown. Then I had quite the time getting the log out! After finally finishing up, I decided to walk down to a cache that I had found two years ago with Scott. It was disabled as far as I knew, but there was a travel bug listed in it that I wanted to pick up if the cache was reactivated. It was not. At least I couldn’t find it anyway.
Back to Scott’s and cooked Cincinnati Chili. When Scott came home he said he could smell it coming up the stairs…and that was a good thing of course. Had a nice dinner then Scott worked on his class homework, I worked more on my WB presentation, and Steve watched more movies.
This was a quiet day. We didn’t make any plans as Scott needed us to stay home and wait for the internet technician so he could get his internet and phone hooked back up. The guy came at 8:30 a.m. so we had the whole day free after that. Steve needed a rest and recouperate day though so he spent it watching movies. Ok by me. I worked on my Wood Badge presentation, mostly creating my power point presentation for it, and then decided to take a walk in Spangdahlem. I walked down to the cache that Scott and I had tried to find last week. Looked around quite a bit more and finally spotted the little nano hidden in the handle of an antique piece of farm equipment near the well. Painted the same rusty brown. Then I had quite the time getting the log out! After finally finishing up, I decided to walk down to a cache that I had found two years ago with Scott. It was disabled as far as I knew, but there was a travel bug listed in it that I wanted to pick up if the cache was reactivated. It was not. At least I couldn’t find it anyway.
Back to Scott’s and cooked Cincinnati Chili. When Scott came home he said he could smell it coming up the stairs…and that was a good thing of course. Had a nice dinner then Scott worked on his class homework, I worked more on my WB presentation, and Steve watched more movies.
Wednesday, May 25
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
So nice to sleep in! I did wake up about 6 when Scott went, but was able to go back to sleep and it was about 9:30 when we were both up and about. Ate a leisurely breakfast, finished up some laundry, and about 12:30 we left for Trier. It was a shorter distance to Trier than I remembered – only about 20 miles or so. We got downtown with the help of the Nuvi, and found the parking garage near the Porta Nigra. I had glimpsed this two years ago with Scott when he picked me up at the train station, but hadn’t gone up close to it. Trier is the oldest German city, founded by the Romans – and this was the only surviving gate. It survived because it had been a church for many years. There was SUPPOSED to be a geocache nearby but it just wasn’t turning up for me. Disappointing because there were supposed to be travelers in it. Oh well. We explored the gate, but chose not to pay the entrance fee to walk around inside. Walked up to the Market Square from there – crowded but some interesting things to look at. We walked over to the Cathedral, which is the oldest Christian church in Germany. Toured the inside, and I also lit a candle for my brother as I had at Notre Dame two years ago. Walked around a bit more and then headed back to the car and back to Spangdahlem.
We’re just chilling right now, Scott will be home soon and then we’re going to go to the commissary and he’s going to take us to his workplace I think. We have to be careful of his time as he has homework to do for this class. He ended up sick from Steve as well – but is also feeling better just as we are. Thanks a lot, guy from Steve’s work that wouldn’t stay home!
(later) Scott came home, we went to the commissary. Picked up supplies to make Cincinnati Chili, tacos, and pizza. Then we went over to the area where Scott works and got to see some live missiles and meet one of his co-workers. Then Scott took us to this underground bunker from the cold war – no lights but still in theory ready should they need it. It was overgrown with weeds and they discovered it when they were clearing out the weeds. Then a quiet night of watching movies (them) and working on the computer (me.)
So nice to sleep in! I did wake up about 6 when Scott went, but was able to go back to sleep and it was about 9:30 when we were both up and about. Ate a leisurely breakfast, finished up some laundry, and about 12:30 we left for Trier. It was a shorter distance to Trier than I remembered – only about 20 miles or so. We got downtown with the help of the Nuvi, and found the parking garage near the Porta Nigra. I had glimpsed this two years ago with Scott when he picked me up at the train station, but hadn’t gone up close to it. Trier is the oldest German city, founded by the Romans – and this was the only surviving gate. It survived because it had been a church for many years. There was SUPPOSED to be a geocache nearby but it just wasn’t turning up for me. Disappointing because there were supposed to be travelers in it. Oh well. We explored the gate, but chose not to pay the entrance fee to walk around inside. Walked up to the Market Square from there – crowded but some interesting things to look at. We walked over to the Cathedral, which is the oldest Christian church in Germany. Toured the inside, and I also lit a candle for my brother as I had at Notre Dame two years ago. Walked around a bit more and then headed back to the car and back to Spangdahlem.
We’re just chilling right now, Scott will be home soon and then we’re going to go to the commissary and he’s going to take us to his workplace I think. We have to be careful of his time as he has homework to do for this class. He ended up sick from Steve as well – but is also feeling better just as we are. Thanks a lot, guy from Steve’s work that wouldn’t stay home!
(later) Scott came home, we went to the commissary. Picked up supplies to make Cincinnati Chili, tacos, and pizza. Then we went over to the area where Scott works and got to see some live missiles and meet one of his co-workers. Then Scott took us to this underground bunker from the cold war – no lights but still in theory ready should they need it. It was overgrown with weeds and they discovered it when they were clearing out the weeds. Then a quiet night of watching movies (them) and working on the computer (me.)
Tuesday, May 24
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Yep, it was a short night for me. But I am up to date on the trip diary, blog, and my geocaching logs. Didn’t get pictures done but wanted to take advantage of the internet while I could. We packed up, then ate a very nice breakfast which was included in our room price. Lots of different cheeses and meats, cereal, yogurt, fruits. Headed out of town and north on the Romantic Road. Guess its named that because of the romantic idea of that is what Germany is supposed to be like? Anyway, lots of picturesque small towns and beautiful countryside as we headed north. We stopped at Dinkesbuhl as we had heard (via Rick Steves) that it was similar to Rothenberg, only less crowded. We found that to be the case, took a nice walk through part of town and saw the St. Georg’s Church, from the 15th century. Got to go inside and it is beautiful. Lit a candle for my brother while I was there. Even Steve thought it was nice, for a church. Had a snack at McDonald’s just before we parked near the downtown area, then went through the gate and there we were.
Leaving Dinkesbuhl, we continued north to Rothenberg ob der Tauber. We had some trouble locating the free parking area, north of the north wall, due to construction. But we finally found it, and after a few minutes walk, arrived at the town square. The clock had just done its performance a few minutes ago so we missed that. But looked around at the buildings, then Steve decided he wanted to go to the Crime and Punishment museum. Got a bit tedious towards the end but it was interesting. I never realized that there were such things as shame masks, let alone how many different kinds! Did a little walking around afterwards, then headed (so we thought) north toward the parking lot. Somehow got turned around and got to do a bit of extra walking, for some of which we went up on the wall around the city. Finally got to the car after walking through the construction zone and headed out of town.
Set the nuvi on “fastest time” and headed toward Spangdahlem. Stopped along the way for a Subway sandwich and arrived at Scott’s about 8:30 p.m. Nice to be sort of “home” – at least a part of it anyway.
Yep, it was a short night for me. But I am up to date on the trip diary, blog, and my geocaching logs. Didn’t get pictures done but wanted to take advantage of the internet while I could. We packed up, then ate a very nice breakfast which was included in our room price. Lots of different cheeses and meats, cereal, yogurt, fruits. Headed out of town and north on the Romantic Road. Guess its named that because of the romantic idea of that is what Germany is supposed to be like? Anyway, lots of picturesque small towns and beautiful countryside as we headed north. We stopped at Dinkesbuhl as we had heard (via Rick Steves) that it was similar to Rothenberg, only less crowded. We found that to be the case, took a nice walk through part of town and saw the St. Georg’s Church, from the 15th century. Got to go inside and it is beautiful. Lit a candle for my brother while I was there. Even Steve thought it was nice, for a church. Had a snack at McDonald’s just before we parked near the downtown area, then went through the gate and there we were.
Leaving Dinkesbuhl, we continued north to Rothenberg ob der Tauber. We had some trouble locating the free parking area, north of the north wall, due to construction. But we finally found it, and after a few minutes walk, arrived at the town square. The clock had just done its performance a few minutes ago so we missed that. But looked around at the buildings, then Steve decided he wanted to go to the Crime and Punishment museum. Got a bit tedious towards the end but it was interesting. I never realized that there were such things as shame masks, let alone how many different kinds! Did a little walking around afterwards, then headed (so we thought) north toward the parking lot. Somehow got turned around and got to do a bit of extra walking, for some of which we went up on the wall around the city. Finally got to the car after walking through the construction zone and headed out of town.
Set the nuvi on “fastest time” and headed toward Spangdahlem. Stopped along the way for a Subway sandwich and arrived at Scott’s about 8:30 p.m. Nice to be sort of “home” – at least a part of it anyway.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Today is just how I dreamed it would be...
Monday, May 23, 2011
This is like I thought it would be. (Insert contented sigh.) We did get an early night last night, and woke up at 6 a.m. so that we could drive to Neuschwanstein. We arrived just before 7 a.m., and I was first in line at the ticket center. Last night, I insisted that Steve finally LOOK at the Rick Steves Germany book so that he could make some decisions on what he wanted to see and didn’t want to see. So he read about the long lines for tickets and decided we needed to get there early. Good enough.
I had eaten breakfast while Steve was cleaning up, so I waited in line while Steve stayed at the car and ate breakfast (cereal & milk) then joined me in line. We got our tickets, they were for the 9:20 a.m. English tour (first English tour of the day.) Next was a short walk to the shuttle bus. We were especially glad we did this as we were walking down afterwards and seeing all the tired people walking up! Thought we would be the only ones on the bus, then shortly before departure time the bus suddenly filled with two Japanese tour groups. We both felt very tall, especially Steve! The bus took us to the drop off point, then we took a short uphill walk to Mariensbrucke (Mary’s bridge.) Nice to have a bridge, wish I could have taken it home…. This was where you could get an excellent shot of the entire castle. We both did that, then Steve’s camera battery died. Of course he didn’t have the other one with him, it was back at the car. So most of our castle pictures are with my camera. We couldn’t take inside pictures anyway. I haven’t downloaded the camera yet, since I’m taking advantage of wifi on the netbook first tonight.
After the bridge, we walked down to the castle and to the courtyard. We waited until our tour was called, #416, and to our surprise we again found ourselves in a group of mostly Japanese tourists. But the tour guide conducted the tour in English. Not sure if they understood but oh well. We had a wonderful tour of the finished areas of the castle, then were allowed to tour the unfinished areas (mostly 2nd floor) on our own, which included going through two gift shops. After leaving the castle, we had a 20 minute walk back down to town. We stopped along the way to find the Neuschwanstein cache, of course. Picked up one more traveler there.
Back at the parking area, we regrouped. I had realized that I was missing my gorilla pod, and wanted to check several bags in the car. It wasn’t there, so I realized the only place it could be was back at the cache I found in Ehrenberg yesterday. Steve picked up his spare battery, and we walked up to the other castle, where Ludwig had grown up. We chose not to tour the inside, but it was nice to see the outside close up. Ok, there was a cache near there, too. Since I’m being generally pretty choosy about what caches I want to find, Steve has been tolerant, especially the past few days.
We left the castle area and returned to Austria. Steve wanted an Austrian shot glass, there hadn’t been one at Ehrenberg. Since we were going so close, we went back to Ehrenberg, and sure enough my gorilla pod was still at the cache! Then went back to Reutte and couldn’t find a souvenir store to save our souls…finally decided to head toward Oberammergau via Austria and Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. We found a small souvenir store and Steve got his shot glass. Drove north and ended up in Oberammergau.
Mom had told us that the clock they bought in Germany (which we now have) was from Oberammergau, so since Steve didn’t find one in the Black Forest, we wanted to look here. We drove around a bit until I saw a place that had cuckoo clocks. We went inside, and Steve finally did find the one he wanted. While he was looking, I noticed the “Zimmer frei” sign, inquired as to price, etc. For 60 euros we have a nice room, including bath, TV, little refrigerator, and even wifi. I was smart enough to ask for two codes this time as the code they give you is only good for one computer. Oh, also includes breakfast in the morning! We were given a generous discount on the clock since we were staying there as well. Still, it would have paid for several nights stay at a nice Vaduz hotel. ‘Nuff said. This is what Steve really wanted to have from this trip.
After we settled into the room, we took a walk around Oberammergau. It was late enough in the afternoon that we didn’t go to the Passion Play museum (sorry Mom) but really enjoyed just walking around and seeing the town. We ended up just down the street for dinner. I had a pork “lion” steak with “woast” potatoes. Not served by Elmer Fudd, though. Steve had something breaded pork with French fries. Also two beers. He liked those.
I’ve looked at some of the pictures that are of me. I’m not looking any smaller in them. I’ve probably put a few pounds on, but the traveling stuff I’m wearing doesn’t help any. I have my neck pouch which I wear cross-ways under my right arm, and the Scottevest has so much in it that it makes me look bigger as well. Still, going home time will be time to get back in gear.
And I hope we get to go home on time. Not that I wouldn’t like to stay longer. But we’ve been watching CNN and have heard about the new volcanic eruption in Ireland. We fly home out of Frankfurt to Dallas then Grand Rapids, so less likely our flight will be affected. Nothing we can do about it right now anyway.
Steve fell asleep shortly after we got back. I have a lot of catching up to do internet wise so it may be a shorter night for me. Tomorrow – heading north but looks likely that we’ll end up back at Scott’s in the evening.
May 22 - a better day
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Both of us awake and needing a bathroom. So we drove around Vaduz until we found the bus station with open bathrooms. (McDonald’s doesn’t open until 9 a.m.) After that, decided I might as well try to get a Liechtenstein cache and we found one with a short walk. I think it’s the first time I’ve ever found a cache at 5:55 a.m.! There was a nano at the McDonald’s somewhere that I’d tried to find last night but finding a nano in the dark is about impossible.
Now catching up while we are waiting for the store to open. Then heading north to Reutte. We can check in at 2 p.m., then hopefully we can get a good nap.
(insert day going by….)
Well we recovered nicely today. I am happy to report that neither the rapture or sleeping in the car did us in. Shortly after I finished writing this morning, I was getting antsy and Steve had fallen back to sleep. I found out there was another cache about .2 from where we were waiting, so decided to take a bit of a walk in the village. 7 a.m. on Sunday morning is an interesting time to explore, very quiet and not much happening so you can really take a look at things. Unfortunately, didn’t find the cache. But did find the Liechtenstein souvenirs that Steve wanted, and some very interesting places downtown. Came back to the car shortly before 8 and we went into the store, bought some more cold drinks for the day, and were off.
We were briefly back in Switzerland then into Austria. Decided to take the scenic route, another mountain pass. A different kind of beautiful – not as steep and stark, more green but still definitely alpine mountains. The big difference that I saw in small Austrian towns today was that many of the buildings have paintings on them, didn’t notice that so much in Switzerland. As we neared Reutte, our destination, I noticed a cache just off a side road. Steve stopped when I asked, so that I could get an Austrian cache. Before I got out of the car, motorcyclists also stopped. One walked to just about where I thought the cache would be and stopped (back turned thankfully) to relieve himself. I was relieved to find the cache not so nearby. It was a glass jar hidden under a rock, I don’t think it’ll last all that long with that combination. Then on to the Reutte area. We were looking for Ehrenwald and had made those reservations last night for here. Turned out to be great! Six rooms over the restaurant – clean, modern, towels, electricity, and even TV – stuff we’ve been missing the last few nights. And thankfully the price was right even in Steve’s eyes. This is the Klause area, originally it was the tollbooth area for the castle which lies in ruins at the top of the hill. Really wish that we could have hiked up there but shortly after we arrived it started to rain and has done so most of the rest of the day. At least we weren’t traveling through it! Right now all the tourists have gone home so I’m assuming it’s the six rooms worth of guests, if they’re full, plus perhaps the proprietors, as the only people around. While Steve took a nap after we checked in (and we were allowed to check in at noonish!) I explored the buildings in this area, also checked out the cache that was .25 away. Nice little walk…and that made two Austrian caches…
We actually ate dinner in a real restaurant tonight! First one on the trip except for the burger place on base with Scott. I had checked out the menu while Steve was sleeping and thought (correctly!) that the prices were reasonable enough, so we went down about 4:30 for an early supper. They closed at 6 p.m. and we hadn’t had lunch anyway. Steve had Burgherrenteller – which was about five different kinds of meat – beef, chicken, pork, ham, and even a wiener cooked to look like a little octopus. I had the Tiroler Grostli – which was beef, potatoes, and onion with an egg on top. Tasty! The only thing I paused at was the egg which came with the yolk still runny. I decided that if I mixed it all in with the hot food, which I think I was supposed to do anyway, that the yolk would finish cooking. Tasted all right so guess it must have worked. We both had Apfelstrudel for dessert. Didn’t need it, I know, but it was make up for last night time. Had hoped to climb to the castle after dinner but it started raining again so no go.
Planning to get an early start tomorrow so we can get tickets to Neuschwanstein as early as possible. So with my precious little sleep last night, I’d imagine I’ll get an early bedtime tonight.
Looking back at last night…ok, I still probably would. But I have serious doubts as to whether or not HE would ever want to leave again. Though things seemed more turned around today – was it because we were leaving Switzerland, which was so beautiful but sooooooo high priced?
Hard to tell. The grip this cold has had on him has finally lessened, too.
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