Bob and Jane's Excellent Adventure

~ Retirement on the Road

Bob and Jane's Excellent Adventure

Category Archives: Seeing the World

From Sea to Shining Sea

24 Saturday Feb 2018

Posted by Jane R Hendrickson in Retirement, Seeing the World, Senior Travel, Travel

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IMG_20180110_110804039.jpgPalm Springs turned out to be a lovely choice for a month…wish we would have booked here even longer.  The palms were among the highest we’ve ever seen and the population is less than 50,000, much smaller than we had anticipated.   We had read that the weather could be cool but compared to Michigan we knew we’d find it enjoyable. As it turned out the weather was in the high 70’s and 80’s for the entire month we were there.  Now that’s January weather I can get used to!  We rented our Airbnb apartment from a guy who lives in New York and it was perfect.  The two bedroom apartment was spacious, great cooking facilities, comfy bed, lots of stores were nearby and just a short drive from downtown.  Couldn’t have been better!

Our apartment faced the pool with two chairs and a table on our balcony making it a perfect location for an afternoon glass of wine to go with our cribbage game. The complex was divided into eight separate units each with its own stairway which was covered by a profusion of bouganvilla.  

 

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One afternoon as Bob was sitting there reading he swatted what he thought was a fly away from his ear.  How surprised he was when he realized it wasn’t a fly at all but a hummingbird!

One of the jaunts we enjoyed most was a side trip to San Diego.  It’s about a two and a half hour drive through the mountains from Palm Springs and oh so beautiful.

 

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Our route took us over the San Gorgonio Pass one of the windiest places in the US, and which acts as a wind tunnel between the coast and the Coachella Valley, so it was understandable that we would once again encounter the ubiquitous windmill.  And wide-lane highways made it possible for even the driver to take in the sights!

 

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Our first destination was the San Diego Zoo.  It was warm and sunny, just as we would expect in San Diego, and we saw a baby giraffe, pandas, koalas, even a zoo medical assistant applying lotion to a flamingo’s feet because just like people their feet dry out in the desert climate.

 

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We had made reservations to spend the night in San Diego so we could see a bit more of the area.  We asked locals about suggestions for a  seafood restaurant and Kings Fish House seemed to be the place. http://kingsfishhouse.com/.  Yummy! Bob had the seafood platter and I had the fresh salmon and both were wonderful. But I was a bit surprised that the menu marketed my plate as British Columbia Atlantic Salmon. Hmm… Last I knew BC was on the Pacific!

We woke up the following morning to unusually warm weather and headed for the boardwalk in Coronado where we watched the surfers. Then headed back to Palm Springs travelling first up the Pacific coast to La Jolla where we strolled along the water enjoying the sun and surf just like the sea lions on the beach.

 

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In August we had been in Seattle for the solar eclipse and were a bit disappointed by how little it affected the daylight, but on January 31 we were treated to a wonderful view of a lunar eclipse.  We got up about 4:30 am, took our coffee outside, and had a seat on our balcony for an amazing show.  For nearly an hour we watched as a shadow slowly covered the moon. Then much to our surprise, it quickly disappeared as the moon went down behind the mountain.  We hadn’t anticipated that!

 

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Another place on my “must see list” was the Salton Sea.  We had captured glimpses of it from the interstate on our initial drive into Palm Springs.  We were thrilled to find friends from Michigan were also visiting Palm Springs so we decided we’d make the trek together, about 60 miles. The Salton Sea is a really fascinating place.  It’s 236 feet below sea level and located directly over the San Andreas fault.

The sea is only a little more than a hundred years old and was formed when the Colorado River broke through irrigation gates in Yuma, Arizona, and the entire area around the main line of the Southern Pacific Railroad community was flooded.  This flooding went on for two years and wasn’t halted until 1907.  Now the Salton Sea is the largest lake in California.  In the 1950’s this was a big resort area; it has since deteriorated in large part due to the pollution of the lake.  We encountered many dead fish as we walked along the beach.

 

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And although we had read there is a stench associated with the sea, we didn’t find that to be the case.  We also read that there are mud pots and mud volcanoes on the eastern shore but we didn’t see either.  There are some unusual man-made sights, however.  For instance, there’s a banana museum which was unfortunately closed.  Hmm…and bananas don’t grow in California; well, at least aren’t commercially grown. Then there’s Salvation Mountain near Slab City.  This mountain was the idea of Leonard Knight who constructed the mountain from adobe, straw, and lead free paint.  The mountain is covered with biblical sayings.  Hard to explain.  You just have to see it!

 

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Driving back we came upon the now all too familiar sight of border patrol checking cars driving north. They gave us a smile and waved us on.  I can’t quite decide if this is racial profiling or credible security. IMG_0041

Palm Springs is also about a 45 mile drive from Joshua National Park.  I had seen where in the summer the temperatures can reach 115 degrees or more.  Winter is definitely the time to visit.

 

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The park is particularly interesting because two distinct deserts meet there. The northern part of the national park is in the Mohave Desert and much prettier, I believe, than the southern part of the park which is part of the Colorado Desert (part of the larger Sonoran Desert) and much more barren. We didn’t realize there was such a difference between the deserts. The Joshua Tree is a yucca and  we were told seeing them is a good indicator that we were in the Mohave Desert and as we left the high desert and moved into the Colorado they indeed disappeared.  (But later we were told some Joshua Trees  do grow next to the saguaro in western Arizona. It gets confusing!) There is also an abundance of boulders which makes the park a favorite place for rock climbers!

 

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We were lucky to be there on a clear day which made the stop at Keys View (in the northwestern part of the park) spectacular. Just as we walked to the top of the viewing area a ranger came up behind us and explained what we were looking at. We were standing at just over 5,000 feet.  Wow! We could see Palm Springs, the San Andreas Fault and the Salton Sea.

 

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He also explained that the small cut outs in the road, which I had assumed were for water runoff, provided a way for desert turtles to cross the road! And while we saw lots of cut outs we never sighted a turtle! We also liked the Cholla Cactus Garden.

 

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We’ve seen other cactus gardens but this one is natural and wild.  There’s a flat trail less than half a mile long that winds through it.  I can only wonder how gorgeous it must be when it blooms! We didn’t encounter large crowds anywhere. Perhaps because we were there on Super Bowl Sunday? And with all our stops it was about a three hour trip through the park.

Time again to move on.  As we began our trip back across country we decided we wanted to see Las Vegas.  The drive there would take us a little over four hours across the high desert.  We were reminded that we were entering desolate country when we came upon a sign indicating no services for the next 96 miles.  The vast barrenness of the land is beyond description.  As far as the eye could see…nothing…  Then in the middle of no where we came upon a row of mailboxes, here in a place where we saw no evidence of a community.  I can’t begin to imagine how self-sufficient you’d have to be to live here. Surprisingly, and perhaps reassuring, we regularly encountered vehicles traveling in both directions.

 

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Las Vegas just appears!  This huge mecca of entertainment seems to rise out of nowhere. Evidently Las Vegas really sprang to life in the 1930’s when Boulder (now Hoover) Dam was being built.  We stayed at the Excalibur, and we walked down the steps, up the escalators along the strip and saw the famous fountain of the Bellagio, tried our hands at the slots in the Venetian.  We took in a wonderful show that was a tribute to the Bee Gees. (And were flabbergasted at how old Bee Gees fans have become!) But after a day and a half  we were ready to say enough and move on.

 

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We drove through Lake Mead National Recreation area toward Hoover Dam.

 

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The dam is amazing.  It is truly hard to imagine how this massive project was ever moved from a vision to a reality. Then there’s the impact it’s had on the area.  We forget that it’s created recreation areas, provided hydro electricity and irrigation. American ingenuity at its best! We also had to stop at Lake Havasu. Really London Bridge in Arizona? We were surprised by how very beautiful it is and how natural it seems in the desert environment.

 

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The forecast continued to be good so we decided we could take a shorter, more northern, route east as we headed for our next stop North Carolina.  We spent the night in Flagstaff, elevation 6900 ft,  and asked our waiter at dinner if this 50 degree weather were typical for this time of year; he shook his head and said last year at this time they had a foot and a half of snow.  As a snowboarder he was pretty frustrated, but added that it looked like in a week they should get some snow.  Great!  We’d be far far away by then!

The next morning we continued our drive through the desolate west. We stopped in Winslow Arizona, to see the construct of the Eagles’ “Standin on a Corner.”

 

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Then we stopped at the Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest spending little time there as we remembered both from camping trips when our kids were young. IMG_0376We felt like we were making progress as we crossed the Continental Divide just 25 miles east of Gallup, New Mexico.  We’ve been surprised by the number of trains we’ve encountered throughout the west.  And they’re long…often more than a hundred cars, mostly hauling containers.  Can’t help but wonder where are they coming from?  And where are they going?

 

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Every so often we’ve seen sights that make us laugh right out loud.

 

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And we were always on the look out for a place of historical significance.  So when we came to Fort Smith, Arkansas, we had to stop. Fort Smith was established in an attempt to restore law and order to the area. Under the Indian Removal Act the Cherokee Indians were forced to move onto lands of other tribes, and not surprisingly the other tribes, in this case the Osage, objected. Disputes arose between the tribes as well as between the tribes and greedy businessmen who wanted the land. 

The visitor center provided a lot of information about the disputes and how as the frontier moved westward, the fort was changed to the site of a federal court.IMG_20180211_141147387.jpg  An interesting character, Judge Isaac Parker–often referred to as “the hanging judge”–presided over the court for 21 years.  During his tenure 86 men were hanged for murder or rape and once sentenced had no right of appeal. The jail was one large room where all prisoners lived together.  One can only wonder how that worked out! 

One of the Osage leaders was Chief Bad Tempered Buffalo–wouldn’t those sorts of names be helpful in the professional world of today?  Particularly in education?  They could give us some sort of preview of what communication issues may arise.  Think of it:  as an elementary principal I could have been called Chief Bad Tempered Tall Woman.  I think it has real possibilities.

IMG_0453But the greatest stop for me was the Central High School Historic Site in Little Rock, Arkansas. The school is spectacularly beautiful with stunning architecture. The high school (grades 9-12) still operates with an enrollment of about 3,000.  Since we had stopped here in 2008 they’ve constructed a visitors center commemorating the integration of the high school in 1957. 

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Looking at picture books I came upon a story I had never heard.  The book, Ruth and the Green Book, by Calvin Alexander Ramsey,  tells the story of a family traveling south from Chicago and how they are given The Green Book describing for them restaurants, gas stations and motels where they could safely stay. While the story is fiction, the guide book is not.  It was written by Victor Hugo Green, a New York City postman.  It was published annually from 1936 – 1966.  1966!!! Unbelievable!

IMG_0451We came upon an exhibit that shows the literacy test that Blacks had to pass in order to be able to vote. I wonder how many Americans could pass that test today! The ranger asked if we had any questions and I think he was surprised when we responded that no, we both could remember the event.  We then drove to the Capitol to see a sculpture of the nine very brave students who on that day in 1957 made such a difference for the future of so many!   How far we’ve come!  How far we’ve yet to go! 

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Moving on to Tennessee the landscape changed dramatically becoming much more lush. Yep, we were definitely in the east…we entered the eastern time zone, crossed the Appalachian Trail! And finally we crossed into North Carolina, the state that will be our home for the next two months.

 

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We managed to drive across country twice, in November and again in February, avoiding bad weather! I’m not sure I even thought it was possible. Once again we are  feeling VERY lucky! And while technically we hadn’t driven “from sea to shining sea” we started out just 100 miles from the Pacific and 10 days later we’re just 130 miles from the Atlantic!  We’ve traveled a distance of 2707 miles!  Wow!  After spending so much time in Europe in the past few years, we are reminded of just how vast and diverse our country is!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Panama: An Engineering Marvel

14 Sunday May 2017

Posted by Jane R Hendrickson in Living Abroad, Retirement, Seeing the World, Senior Travel, Travel

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We always try to get to our “new” location during daylight hours. We prefer to arrive when we aren’t exhausted and for us we’re more comfortable getting our bearings before sunset. But this isn’t always possible and while we weren’t thrilled with arriving in Panama City at 9:36 pm with the obstacles of customs and immigration ahead of us, we had arranged with the woman who ran our Airbnb, Sarah, to have a driver, Matt, meet us.  Coming through customs was surprisingly easy, and as walked through the gate to the main terminal we saw lots of people lined up with signs in their hand, but no where did we see Matt. We went back again, still no Matt.  Thankful for my cell phone I tried Matt’s number, no answer; I tried Sarah, no answer.  I tried Matt again. This time he answered. Oh, he told us, he was tied up in traffic (At 9:30 on a Wed night this seemed unlikely, but who knows?) and he had sent Hilary instead. (Frustrated, I wondered why he hadn’t bothered to send me a text indicating the change! But again it was late and I was tired!)  We went back and sure enough we found Hilary with a piece of paper with “Jane” written in light pencil.  Hilary, a young lady who appeared to be in her early 20s, spoke little English, but was very friendly and walked us to her car and then headed into the city, about 45 minutes away to find our apartment.  One problem was she really didn’t know where the apartment was. She asked us a few questions, the answers to which we had no clue and she chatted with someone on her phone. Finally we arrived at a skyscraper in downtown Panama, talked with a doorman, and then Hilary asked if I had keys to the apartment…which I didn’t, but I thought Sarah had said they would be left at the door. And alas! They were.  Hilary and the doorman escorted us up the elevator to the seventeenth floor and we were FINALLY (a few minutes after midnight) exactly where we were supposed to be. It was about this time that it occurred to me how much trust we have in process as we travel.  I had met someone online, who had been reviewed and verified by Airbnb, and I had talked on the phone with someone they had connected me with and then we had just crawled in the car with a complete stranger trusting that she would get us where we needed to be!  And the amazing thing?  It worked just the way it should!

The view from our apartment was spectacular:  during the day, at sunset, in the evening. It was even a fascinating place to watch heavy rain showers and we were lucky there were few of those and they usually found us inside.

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We found we couldn’t tire of it. Several nights we even enjoyed fireworks displays across the harbor! We had never stayed in a high rise before and a couple of times when we had power outages we did wonder about elevator access but that never turned out to be an issue as the outages never lasted more than a few hours. Looking at the building from a distance we found that we could easily locate our specific apartment because it was the one that had bouganvilla blooming from the balcony.

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This Airbnb was the first one I missed the mark on.  On paper it looked perfect.  The apartment was comfortable, the view great, but the location truly didn’t work for us.  We were located on a small triangle of land near Avenida Balboa–one article I read estimated more than 75,000 vehicles travel it in a day, and I think they were all next to our apartment. Our spit of land was bordered on both sides by lanes and lanes of traffic and as is typical with many larger Central American and Asian cities with little urban planning there were no pedestrian crossings. And the resulting noise was not to be believed. While we enjoy city life, here it wasn’t the cacophony of people and the neighborhood; the noise came from cars, trucks and most often, and annoying, motorcycles! We watched with wonder as locals strolled right out among the cars, busses and trucks, often indicating by a slight tilt of the hand that the cars should stop so they could cross.  On the corner by the busiest of crossings stood a huge sign that warned walkers to cross with care!

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Uber once again come to our rescue. In Panama you can order an Uber or an Uber English. And while they are extremely reasonable (I don’t think we ever paid more than $7 for any ride) we found it unnecessary to use an Uber English.  I know a little bit of Spanish and when I would initiate conversation with the driver (who was most often Panamanian or Venezuelan) they were pleased to communicate! Unfortunately, while I can usually figure out how to ask a question in Spanish, I’m often perplexed by the response I get. But with a lot of questioning looks, smiles and laughter we usually got it figured out. The biggest problem with Uber is that the drivers rely on electronic maps while the city taxi drivers know the city! So many times my phone would say 5 minutes to pick up and then change to 10 or 15 or sometimes they would even cancel!  Our building had a Papa John’s around the corner and that became our location point since everyone seemed to know where “Papa John’s in Paitilla” was!

But even with the great Uber service we often felt like we were hostages in our apartment since we couldn’t just go out and walk. (I did point out in my review of the Airbnb that this feeling could very much be just Bob’s and my perspectives. I’m sure many young people or those who grew up in similar environments wouldn’t have any issue!)

One of our first places to visit was Casco Viejo which was established in the late 1600’s by the Spanish colonialists.  It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1997. This is an area of Panama that is in the process of being restored. We often forgot that Panama is a national capital and like most capital cities there are lots of monuments. New buildings are mixed in among the ruins.

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Lovely plazas are dedicated to historic leaders: Balboa, Bolivar, leaders of Central American countries. We visited the church with the gold altar which legend has it was painted black by its priests in the seventeenth century to protect it from pirates. IMG_0042 But everywhere we travel among my favorite monuments are those dedicated to the Ministry of Education which usually feature a child and a book. IMG_0016 (At the time of this writing I am hopeful we’ll never have a statue in the US of Betsy Devos, but I digress…)

Panama City is on the Pacific side of the country and we loved how we could watch from our bedroom as ships in the distance lined up to enter the canal. Its construction was first attempted by a Frenchman, de Lesseps, who had previously designed the Suez Canal.  As we walked through Casco Viejo following a pretty promenade along the water we saw a lot of French influence and the breeze off the water was a welcome accompaniment. IMG_0024There’s a lot of French history here including a French Embassy. While there is the old city and also the ancient city it’s really the canal that is the reason for Panama City’s existence. We met a family visiting from Germany and asked that they take our picture at what we thought was a particularly pretty point along the walkway! How surprised we were when our son, Patrick, shared with us a picture taken of him and a friend in the same exact location seven years ago. (The causeway in the background of our photo hadn’t been constructed when his picture was taken!)

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One morning we took an Uber to the Miraflores Locks, the first locks boats encounter as they enter from the Pacific heading to the Caribbean. We had seen online that it was important to view the locks in the morning to see the boats heading east (or really north) toward the Caribbean because by 11 am the stream of ships would shift from east to west and there would be few coming through for several hours. We found this explanation confusing as the canal is open 24/7 but didn’t question and we arrived just in time to see the boat in the locks that a couple hours earlier we had viewed from our bedroom window lined up waiting to enter.

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Patrick, sent us a link to  https://www.vesselfinder.com that made the viewing even more fascinating.  This site is live and gives specific locations of ships as they enter the canal describing their tonnage and cargo and also their ports of origin as well as their destinations.

For my birthday Bob and I visited the Biomuseo (designed by Frank Gehry) and located on the Amador Causeway. This road was built with the debris excavated from the canal’s construction and is today a very beautiful location with restaurants, marinas, hotels and a popular location for Sunday strolls.  Until control of the Canal was turned over to Panama this causeway was off limits to the local people. It’s easy to understand the frustration the Panamanians felt during the second half of the twentieth century given how much control Americans had over their lives (and economy)!  The construction of the museum is still in progress but it’s very interesting with lots of hands on exhibits.

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Afterwards we visited Mi Ranchito http://www.restaurantemiranchito.com/en/home.html which became one of our favorite restaurants. It is also located on the causeway, is partially inside and partially outside with thatched roofs covering tables.

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We particularly enjoyed the view of the skyline, the soft breeze off the water AND the great food!.  I had the shrimp creole which was yummy.  The restaurant is also a favorite with locals; its menu is diverse with lots of Panamanian choices and prices are reasonable. We returned several times during the month.

We made a trip via ferry to the Isle of Taboga, often referred to as the Island of Flowers.  It’s another favorite with locals as there are few nice beaches in Panama. Even with the crazy traffic, we found life to be pretty laid back in Panama.  And the ferry schedule to Taboga was no exception. The ferry landing was a modest affair, a tent behind a parking lot near the water. IMG_0022 (2)When checking in we were told there was an issue on the ferry and that when it was resolved they’d call us to board. People didn’t complain; perhaps they were used to it, and about 40 minutes later we were on our way. Our reservations were for the 9:30 trip but because we had way over estimated our travel time, we were boarding the 8:30 ferry departing at 9:15.  Funny how things work out!  It cost $20 for a round trip ticket and the majority of passengers seemed to be locals off for a day at the beach. (Although there is a sizeable expat community in Panama, we found that the majority of tourists tend to travel with organized tours.) Taboga is a lovely island. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

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The island has a lot of history including one of the oldest churches in the western hemisphere dating to the 1500s.  But the heat was so intense that after a short stroll up the hill to visit the church, and a stop for breakfast in a small hole in the wall (where we were waited on by an expat about our age from Wisconsin), we headed to the beach to enjoy the view under a sun umbrella. On the way we passed a mobile Uber stand.IMG_0047 (2)  Ever the ubiquitous Uber!  How strange, we thought! Taboga has no cars or trucks except for service vehicles.  The stand was closed so we couldn’t ask! (Then again the fact they were closed might answer the question!)  We found it interesting as we waited for our return ferry that residents returning to Taboga came loaded down with bags and boxes of groceries. Obviously they have to do their shopping on the mainland.  Then as we got underway for our twenty minute ride back we realized the boat was turning in a circle and returning to the dock.  What was happening?  Ah, we learned a woman, perhaps a regular? had missed the ferry and we were returning to pick her up!  Now just imagine that in the US or Europe!

At the top of our must do list was a trip through the canal! After researching the various options we finally decided on a partial tour. We would leave Panama City on a bus and head to Gamboa, about 40 minutes away, where we would board a boat in the locks at Gatun Lake. While both oceans are at sea level, the major problem with the construction is the height between the two. Gatun Lake is significantly higher so we would travel through three locks, each lowering us until finally, after approximately four hours, we would be at sea level again when we entered the Pacific Ocean. Our boat accommodated 300 people and because there were only about 100 in our party we had plenty of room to move about. Sailboats in front of us were tethered together. (And all ships that pass through the canal must have a canal guide.)

Our tour boat
Our tour boat
Deepest cut of the lock
Deepest cut of the lock
Not much room on the sides
Not much room on the sides
Sailboats tied together in front of us
Sailboats tied together in front of us
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New locks just opened in 2016
New locks just opened in 2016
US Coast Guard ship positioned at entrance to lock on Pacific side
US Coast Guard ship positioned at entrance to lock on Pacific side

There were other small tour ships, huge cargo ships. As I watched the smooth water of the canal, I realized the stick I had been following wasn’t a stick at all but a crocodile.  I had read that the flooding was often so bad during construction that the men had to sleep in the trees. I don’t know what obstacle would have been the greatest: the climate, the snakes and crocodiles, the disease or the work itself. It truly is an engineering feat! As we entered the Pacific we were able to get a glimpse of the new lock, the one just opened in 2016 to accommodate larger ships. (It was also interesting to see a US Coast Guard ship sitting at its entrance!) At the end of the tour passing under the Bridge of the Americas, I felt like I was inside David McCullough’s book, Pathway Between the Seas.

We later toured the Museo del Canal Interoceanico de Panama.  Here in addition to reading about the history of the construction of the canal, starting with the French, we watched videos and read newspaper accounts of the Americans turning over control to Panama. I think it’s interesting to note that there was some doubt that the Panamanians would be able to manage the canal effectively. In reality they’ve done an amazing job far exceeding expectations! (Ever the jingoistic Americans!) We also read with fascination the United States Senate voting rolls from March 1978 that showed the individual votes cast by each senator including among others Biden, Byah, McGovern.

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There were unusual exhibits as well:  posters from the campaign for national sovereignty and a caricature portrait of world leaders from World War II.

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Finally before leaving we decided to take a vacation of sorts. (Yes, even in our travels we sometimes want a break from what we’re doing.) And so we made a reservation for two nights at the Country Inn and Suites right on the canal.  It had a wonderful pool where we could swim and watch the ships on the canal at the same time. Talk about up close and personal!  We virtually sat mesmorized watching ship after ship until it became so dark we couldn’t see any more!

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At dinner, we met a couple of expats from Canada and when we first began chatting the wife told us that she thought what we were doing was great, that they had made the mistake of selling their place in Canada and buying in Panama. It’s difficult to know how to respond to such a confession! That’s a pretty costly mistake that may be difficult, if not impossible, to correct. She spoke with a certain melancholy tone of her annual trips back to Canada. The conversation did a lot to reinforce that I’ve not yet found a place where I’m willing to settle permanently.

When I was booking our Airbnb’s and plane tickets for Panama and Cuba I had thought we’d travel from one to the other, but as I looked at prices of plane tickets, it was much more expensive to fly to Havana from Panama than it was to fly back to DC and then on to Havana from there. Perhaps it was because it involved one way tickets; I’m not sure. I only know that on a Wednesday morning at the ungodly hour of 4:45 Jose, our charming taxi driver, met us at our door and took us to the airport!  But at least our last jaunt out of downtown Panama left us with a picture of traffic that was a bit less chaotic!

Happy New Year 2017!

30 Monday Jan 2017

Posted by Jane R Hendrickson in Bob and Jane's Excellent Adventure, Living Abroad, Retirement, Seeing the World, Senior Travel, Travel

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Since we started our nomadic life two years ago, people often ask, “Don’t you miss your family?” What do your kids think?” To me living physically close to one another isn’t synonymous with being emotionally close. I’ve always believed my primary job as a parent is to love and guide my kids to become educated independent adults who have the confidence to fly toward their own dreams!  I think that’s why I like Krismas so much.  (It’s always been Krismas at our house because our oldest son is Kristoffer.) There’s a ten year span between our oldest and youngest child and for many years our family has been spread all over.  Several years ago we gave up the notion of gift giving (except for the grandchildren) and instead as many of us as possible try to gather together sometime during the holiday season.  This past year has been a challenging one for many of our family so we decided it would be a great year to gather in some place warm. img_20161213_141352 Florida seemed to be the easiest location for everyone to get to. Bob and I found a five bedroom house in suburban Orlando with private pool, less traffic and interesting wildlife.

Krismas isn’t a day to us but a time of year. Many young families want to be home with their own kids on the day itself and I think that goes for Stephen’s and Kris’ families as well.  All four of our kids and their spouses managed to arrange their calendars so their visits could overlap. Some would be able to stay for a few weeks, others for a few days. It didn’t matter, we’d all have a time together when everyone could catch up, laugh and cousins could have fun and get to know each other better!

An important part of any of our family gatherings is always game time.  We drew names for Charades teams.  Then each person wrote names of movies, books, songs and television shows on slips of paper for the other team to act out! Oh my!  What fun! Our age range was from 14 – 71 so you can only imagine how foreign some of the titles seemed to others.  “Really?” some asked.  “Sentimental Journey?”  “Ebb tide?”  On the other hand there were those from a younger generation that some of us older folk were absolutely no help with. “Reservoir Dogs?” Or “Narcos? Or “Parents Suck?” I had the luck to draw, “Dave and Mike Need Wedding Dates!”  Get one word and you don’t necessarily have the title. Guess that’s why it’s an acting game!  Then there were the rules…no props!  And ”No, you can’t point to yourself and your wife to get someone to say, married.”  Or can you?  I think you get the picture: we are a highly competitive family who take our games very seriously! But there was lots of laughter, and I don’t think any hard feelings, and it worked out well that we played two games and each team won one. download_20170130_123130 Every year we try to add a new game and this year Patrick had created a trivia game about the hometown of all but two of the adults. He had divided us into two person teams.  Talk about tough!  After the third question, my teammate, Allison, and I decided we needed to latch onto another team.  I truly think someone in Big Rapids ought to think about marketing this game to locals! (Perhaps whomever teaches Big Rapids history in the schools!)

Another fun game we played was Heads Up.  This game is played on the phone with one person showing the clue on the phone while holding the phone on her forehead and her teammate giving clues to get her to say it.  This game can be played with fewer people but the drawback is it tends to get really loud so it makes it difficult for others to sleep while the game is being played.  I’m sure it didn’t help the noise level that the grown-ups were all consuming large amounts of beer and prosecco as they played!

But the game we usually resorted to was euchre, a card game played a lot in the Midwest.  I think we managed to get in at least a couple of games each day and partners were always changing. In fact on the night before our oldest son’s family was leaving, my two oldest grandchildren, Alli and Brian and my daughter and I played euchre until 3 in the morning (knowing they’d have to get up at 5:30 to make the flight home).  I think it was one way we felt we could keep the visit from ending. (Too Brian and I kept thinking if we played one more hand, perhaps we could win! Doesn’t matter we’ll get em next time!)

One thing I really like about our family get-togethers is the lack of schedule and routine, the spontaneous way we can do whatever we want to do. (A belief I’ve held as I raised my own kids is that overly scheduled kids tied to a routine tend to grow up to be pretty inflexible adults!)  When we’re together people purpose ideas and those who are interested join them. People got their own breakfast when they got up. Lunch when they were hungry. Dinner was whatever was thought of at the time: a planned dinner, or pizza was ordered, or Chinese. A couple times we ate out. (After all, on New Years it only seems appropriate we’d go to the All You Can Eat Seafood Buffet.)


Stephen and his wife, Sadie, have two little girls ages 6 and 4, a perfect age to see Disney. So off they went for a day along with Kris and Alli. The rest of us stayed back. I’d say we did it to babysit Desmond, their 14 month old, but truly Andria, Kris’ wife, had that well in hand.

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One day some of us drove up to Blue Spring State Park to see the manatees who gather there in the winter in the warm water while others chose to stay behind and see the new Star Wars movie.


A big must do for many was an airboat tour.  After researching it on the web a decision was made to visit one close by on New Years Day.  In the end, nine folks went. They saw a lot of wildlife and because it was a warm afternoon, they got to see a lot of alligators.  (Evidently when it’s cool the alligators submerge themselves in the water to stay warm.) The guide started to lift into the boat a small, well maybe not so small, Bob described the gator as about 3 feet from nose to tail. The guide first grabbed it by its back, and then by the tail and as he was trying to hold it closer to the head it nipped him. The guide then reached down and washed his bloody hand in the water. Having situation well in hand he held the gator up and asked if anyone wanted to touch it, no one responded, so he tossed it back into the water.  Our four year old granddaughter, Meta, was not thrilled. She snuggled into her cousin and started crying.  The poor guide tried to console her, apologizing again and again but she was having none of it.  I’m not sure what Meta’s “take aways” were from the experience but I’m thinking she may never ever want to get in an airboat again. But sometime in the future it may make for a pretty good story about the time I was in an airboat and the guide got bit by an alligator.

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After Krismas Cary’s friend, Claudio, flew in to spend a week with us. (You may remember that we visited his family in Sicily last fall.) It was his first time in the States so Cary felt compelled to provide him with An American Experience.  So what would that entail?  Well, for starters there was American food:  Waffle House is a definite part of the American Experience (at least in the south). img_20170107_131041-1  Absolutely wonderful food, the fact that it perhaps has no nutritional value is a different story.  Then of course, he had to try wings.  And barbequed ribs!  Can’t forget those. And while we’re on the subject of food…what’s a trip to the US without a trip to Costco and making a meal out of all those samples?img_20170107_122254  Trivia is always a big deal for our family and we had already played once before he arrived. Claudio is fluent in English…fluent enough to play trivia in a second language is pretty impressive! At half time we were in first place, but only managed to get third when the game ended. Even so it came with a gift certificate for a later date but since we were leaving soon, we passed it on to folks at a nearby table.

People first arrived on December 20 and too soon it was January 13 and the house was empty except for Bob and me.  But oh what happy memories we’ve made: games, miniature golf, swimming, just relaxing and enjoying each other.  We feel so lucky to have family who genuinely like, as well as love, each other and look for those times when we can all gather!  It truly is a Happy New Year!

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Galway Bay…just as I pictured it!

14 Sunday Aug 2016

Posted by Jane R Hendrickson in Living Abroad, Retirement, Seeing the World, Senior Travel, Travel

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Whenever we told people that we were going to spend three weeks in Galway, the response was always the same, “You’re going to love Galway!” It’s so pretty and the people are so friendly! And they were right!

Public transportation makes it really easy to get around the Ireland.  We took a train from Dublin to Galway.  It only took a little more than 2 hours and cost $55 for the two of us. Then we got a taxi from the train station to our new apartment.  IMG_20160716_180427The owner met us there, which I especially like because she provides us with details about how things work and we also get a chance to ask questions. One of the best parts of the Galway apartment was that it had a piano!  I hadn’t played one since we left Big Rapids in early January! Off we went in search of a music store to get a piano book. While there we found Irish whistles and I realized this was a must have for our oldest granddaughter!

Galway was founded in the early 1200’s by the Anglo Normans who built a wall around the city.  This medieval wall still exists in some places.  Part of it is built into the Eyre Square Shopping Center and the Spanish Arch still stands although this part was added later in the 16th century.  The Claddagh, which means stony shore in Gaelic, is the area  just outside the wall where the Corrib River meets Galway Bay.  There are lovely places throughout the city to stroll along the river.

The Claddagh
The Claddagh
Part of Medieval Wall inside Eyre Square Shopping Center
Part of Medieval Wall inside Eyre Square Shopping Center
Spanish Arch
Spanish Arch
Views from the walk along the Corrib River.
Views from the walk along the Corrib River.
The Corrib River, the shortest river in Europe
The Corrib River, the shortest river in Europe
Bridge across the Corrib
Bridge across the Corrib

One of my favorite parts of Ireland is the music so when a friend said we had to go to the Western Hotel (http://westernhotelgalway.ie/) to listen to their traditional music, we went. In this small hotel bar, a few locals who played fiddles, Irish whistles, drums, concertinas, even a portable harp, began to gather and as the night went on more and more musicians joined the group.

Local Musicians at the Western Hotel
Local Musicians at the Western Hotel
Portable Harp
Portable Harp

The audience also seemed to be mostly locals. The place was packed…standing room only. At one point a young man, probably about eight or nine went to the front and began to step dance. Everyone loved it and Grandpa, who was standing in front of us, was especially proud! There were two older guys sitting next to us, one with an obvious American accent. Bob asked where he was from.  “I’m from here,” was the response he got. The guy said when his kids were grown, he and his wife were trying to decide where they wanted to live and because his wife had an Irish passport, they decided to move to Galway. That was a decade ago.

When we booked our stay in Galway we didn’t realize that we were going to be there during the Galway Festival.  The streets were mobbed (and we met more Americans than we have in total during our five months in Europe). I love the street performers! And everywhere we looked they appeared. My favorites were the violinist who played wonderfully and had made a puppet who played in sync. (A note on the puppet said that the violinist had made him!)  And then further down the street we encountered another violinist.  This time he was a tightrope walker…playing as he walked!

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Because we don’t have a car we decided it was important to check out day trips so we could see some of the spectacular scenery that surrounds us. We have found that local tourist information centers give us a lot of insight into the area we’re visiting.   A must do was the Cliffs of Mohr. We had never taken an organized tour but this one looked really interesting and it was reasonably priced. This tour was especially nice because they picked passengers up at various stops around the city. We were told they could pick us at at the Supervalu right near our apartment.  The coach was comfortable and we had an entertaining driver who added little interesting tidbits throughout the day.  He could field our questions and also knew how to keep 50 people on schedule.  He said early on in the trip that he would announce how many minutes we had at each stop and if you were late you would get to sing!  When a woman and her two children were late getting on after our first stop, he invited them to sing (and they subsequently sang Happy Birthday, VERY quietly).   It is important to note, however, that the son, who was probably 13, was appalled at their singing so later on in the tour he invited the group to join him in a fabulous rendition of “We Will Rock You!”  Most of us, however, lacked that talent so we all made sure we returned at the appointed hour!

We stopped for lunch at a pub in the little village of Doolin which looked like something out of an novel.This was a great call on the part of the driver/tour guide. It allowed us to avoid the mobs of people (as well as the prices) of the coffee shops at the Cliffs of Mohr and allowed us time to meander through some of the village shops. The Cliffs are located in the Burren National Park, IMG_0585 (2)a barren landscape where the hills are made of carboniferous limestone. While the focal point of the tour was the Cliffs we stopped at several places along the way including Dunguaire Castle, once home to a sixteenth century king. We also stopped at Gleninsheen Wedge Tomb, which dates back to 2500 BC and just further down the road, we came to Poulnabrone Bolmen which was built about 5800 years ago making it older than the Pyramids and far earlier than Stonehenge that had fascinated us just a few weeks earlier. We also stopped at Kilfenora Cathedral with its many Celtic Crosses. Kilfenora was a sixth century monastery .

Poulnabrone Bolmen (dating to before the Pyramids)
Poulnabrone Bolmen (dating to before the Pyramids)
Gleninsheen Wedge Tomb
Gleninsheen Wedge Tomb
Kilfenora Cathedral with Celtic Crosses
Kilfenora Cathedral with Celtic Crosses
Dunguaire Castle
Dunguaire Castle

And from our bus we saw mile after mile of stone fences. These fences were constructed from the stones that lay in farmers fields and are constructed without any adhesive.  Our drive told us these are called “hay penny walls” because workers were paid a half penny a day for their toil.

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Hay penny rock wall extending up the hillside

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More rock walls

They are omnipresent but we never tired of seeing them. The Cliffs themselves are over 700 feet high and stretch for more than 5 miles along the western Atlantic coast of Ireland.PANO_20160720_144526 We were incredibly lucky to have a sunny day for our trip. We felt as though we could see forever! We returned to Galway via The Wild Way of the Atlantic with its narrow winding road along the sea.

IMG_0590 At one point the driver told us he was going to quit talking so he could concentrate on the road.  Great idea!

As we traveled throughout Ireland we saw sheep, sheep and more sheep. While some sheep were kept within the brick walls, most seemed to wander free range including often on the highway! The color markings indicate who the owner is.  Now that we’re in early August we see that most sheep have recently been sheared. This is a really big deal in Ireland and Scotland where the sheep’s wool is a big product.  I read online where a Donegal man set a record shearing 731 ewes in 9 hours.  He averaged 96.33 lambs an hour or one lamb every 37.37 seconds. Wow!  Who knew?

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We’ve had a bit more rain here than we’ve experienced elsewhere. Bob says the percentages of rain in the forecast here don’t mean the chances of rain but instead refer to the percent of the day it’s going to rain! So now I carry our rain hats, two umbrellas and our slickers in my daypack just as a matter of habit no matter how sunny it is when we venture out! One of the tour guides told us that trees in Ireland grow three times as fast because of the rain and the mild temperatures.  I was amazed by the number of mountain ash trees.  They are so beautiful!  And the fuchsias! IMG_0670 They grow wild among the hedgerow. I always thought my fuchsias in their pots were lovely but in the UK and Ireland they’re bushes!  So spectacular! Obviously the climate has its advantages.

We walked from our apartment out to Salt Hill, an area just south of our apartment, located right on the sea. The first time we did this is it was very foggy but still lovely.  Later we went again and it was clear and warm with folks swimming in the North Atlantic. Two very different places. We had tickets for the Trad on the Prom.  Trad refers to traditional music and the Prom is the promenade that extends from Galway out to Salt Hill. IMG_0402 The music and dance were wonderful!  It was an extremely warm day and one of the performers explained that this was the warmest day in 400 years. Obviously, sunny warm days are a rarity in Ireland.

Churches are all beginning to look the same to us. But we did tour the St. Nicholas Cathedral, the church where supposedly Christopher Columbus worshiped in the 1400’s. On the floor there are tombs with engravings indicating the person’s profession… i.e. goldsmith indicated by crowns and hammers; sheep shearer with a lead and shears. If you look very closely you can see them in the photographs below.

Sheep shearer's shears to left and lead to right
Sheep shearer’s shears to left and lead to right
Goldsmith's hammers with crowns above
Goldsmith’s hammers with crowns above

We decided to take another bus tour. This time to Connemara. This area is primarily farmland but still near to the sea and it is known for the peat harvest. People have sections that they own and they go out and cut the rectangles of peat, let it dry and then use it for fuel in the winter.  We also saw many thatched roofed cottages and a man training his sheepdogs…had we been travelling independently by car I would have loved to stop there and learn more.

Thatched roof cottages
Thatched roof cottages
Fjords, pretty even in the rain
Fjords, pretty even in the rain
Peat drying for winter
Peat drying for winter

Kylemore Abbey was the primary destination on this tour and the rainy foggy weather made it even more beautiful in our estimation.  There was a prestigious girls school here that closed in the 1960’s. It was run by the Benedictine nuns who came here during World War I after their school had been destroyed in Ypres, Belgium.  Because we had visited Ypres a year ago and learned a lot of their history, we found this Abbey particularly interesting.

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Kylemore Abbey

On our way back from the Abbey we stopped in the little village of Cong.  This is where the movie, The Quiet Man, starring John Wayne was filmed. IMG_0731 Several people had mentioned this to us in the past few weeks. It was fun to see the statue of John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara as well as the pub that is also in the movie.  One evening a few nights later we decided to watch the movie via our computer, Amazon Prime and Chromecast.  The scenery was beautiful and we enjoyed seeing places we had just visited, but the movie itself?  Oh my!  Did all movies in the early 50’s lack a plot? 

After three wonderful weeks in Galway we were ready to head to Northern Ireland. Unlike other places we’ve been, it’s not possible in Galway to purchase tickets from the tourist information office.  We had to go directly to the bus station. We knew we wanted to go to Derry/Londonderry next…which name you use depends on whether one is Republican (Derry) or Loyalist (Londonderry). When we inquired at the ticket office the clerk said, “Derry and Londonderry are two different places.”  Before I could figure out how to politely disagree, another man in the office corrected him.

On the morning of our departure we called a cab but inadvertently asked to go to the coach station.  As soon as we got out of the taxi I realized we were in the wrong place.  Luckily our bus station was a short walk away.  I now realize that coach and bus are not synonymous! But it was no big deal. We had plenty of time, got on our bus and headed across another national border.  This time to Northern Ireland!  Another currency change…leaving the Euro behind and returning to the pound! How did travelers ever manage just a few decades ago when they changed in every country?

Our bus stopped in Sligo, Ireland, we thought for a driver change. We got out to get a snack and imagine our surprise when we returned, only to realize it was a different bus. Unlike in England, passengers are responsible for lugging their suitcases from one bus storage to the next. Bob managed to grab our coats and my backpack off the coach, as well as our suitcases, while I went ahead and got us seats!  Just as I think I know what I’m doing we’re thrown another wrench! Next stop Derry!

 

 

 

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