I know, I know. It’s
been a long time coming. I thought I
would sort of keep up the blog, but got busy enjoying being home and, well,
just didn’t. But, as you can tell, we
made it home (luckily with all appendages intact) and are now out gallivanting
again, this time in the good ol’ USA.
This leg of the trip, though, we are driving…which if you know us (aka
“me”), will no doubt lead to an abundance of stories to tell. Just keep your fingers crossed that there are
no tow trucks, doctors or hospitals involved!
So, to update you (in case you are interested), I will try
to summarize the goings-on from this last summer, and then we will proceed with current events.
On June 1, 2011 we said buh-bye to St. Maarten! It was very muggy when we left and I probably
could have taken several showers before we even left the apartment just to stay
cool. It was an unseasonably warm and
rainy month, and this day felt worse with getting ready to leave. I did the usual last minute packing…
weighing… rearranging…weighing… rearranging… weighing… rearranging! You know
the drill I’ve developed. Seems like I will never be quick or streamed lined about
it, no matter how much I practice. We
packed the car (and I do mean “packed”) and did some last minute dropping off
and errand running on the way to the airport.
We had a few hours to kill before we had to drop the car off and be at
the airport, so since I had broken a few nails in the jamming, squishing and
mashing process of what I call packing the suitcases, we stopped off in Simpson
Bay to a nail salon to repair the couple of nails I broke. It was there, while I was getting my 3 nails
repaired and Gerald was nosing around in the salon that he discovered he forgot
to leave the one and only room key at the apartment office. (By the way…he’s
not allowed to go with me again because he was nosing around the salon, picking
up all the polish, touching everything – including the FRESHLY PAINTED DOOR –
sigh…). Unfortunately, traffic was horrendous and there was no way we could
have taken the key back to the apartment complex and had enough time to be back
before the flight left now. We quickly
ran next door to the Mail Box to see about FedExing the key back to the office,
but the cost was going to run about $60!
Then we ran to the Dutch post office to see about mailing it, but they couldn’t
process any mail because GEBE had randomly turned off the electric in the area! Besides, they didn’t have any stamps anyway.
I guess since they became “Country St. Maarten” someone forgot to order
stamps. After continued failure, I
frantically called Henny at the apartment office and told her the story. Luckily we were able to drop the key off with
a friend of hers that worked at the airport.
PHEW! Catastrophe narrowly averted!
We got the car dropped off, made it to the airport with lots
of time to spare. We got to board first
because I was wearing my ankle boot (didn’t want some In-A-Hurry passenger to
step on me and reinjure my ankle!) and the flights went off without a
hitch. We flew into Chicago and spent
the night with my cousin Don, which was nice – even though the bedroom we slept
in was on the 10th floor
of his house and about 8 foot off the floor! Great news for a cripple! But, he did have some yummy fruit for us and
made a wicked yummy margarita…so all was forgiven. I ended up accidentally leaving my crutches
there when we hastily left the next morning.
Guess they are still in the corner of his entryway leaning in the
corner, just like Tiny Tim’s crutch next to the fireplace! Oh well!
The flight to St. Louis was uneventful. We got all our luggage that had been sent on
the night before, and headed home. When
we pulled in the driveway, the first thing I saw were the snowflakes that me,
Erica and Bradley cut out for Christmas still hanging in the window! How funny! The bad part was I couldn’t find and didn't know where my house key was. I couldn't remember
if I had given them to Avis or not!
Luckily we had a spare and was able to gain entry. We got the door open…and boy it was stuffy in
there! I guess flies had gotten in the
house at some point, ‘cause there was some BIG ones flying around! I got my handy dandy Skeeter Bat – now known
as the Fly Killer – and got busy killin’ flies!
We opened up the windows, turned on the attic fan and
proceed to turn off the faucets so we could turn the main water back on and not
have water pouring out everywhere! Internet was on and we finally got the phone
working, but not before I had to do a little chewing on a couple of phone techs
and supervisors for somehow giving us a different phone number instead of
restoring our old one. But, in the end
it was all put back the way it was supposed to be. And aside from a few leaky
faucets and minor stuff, everything looked relatively good.
HOME!!!
Since it was getting close to lunch time, I opened the
fridge…and the only thing in there was a stick of butter, soy sauce and some
old ranch dressing. I don’t think they
could even do anything with that on Chopped!
We do have a few things in the freezer though. So, being creative as I am, for lunch we are
having canned chicken, frost-bit tortellini topped with some expired parmesan
cheese. Yum. Made me feel like we were in Belize again!
Oh, I suppose it’s better than a stick in the eye, but then again, I’ve never
had a stick in the eye...so I can’t be totally positive in my assessment. A trip to the store is in order for
sure. But not before we unpack and get
ready to meet Bob and Judy at Steak-n-Shake for dinner! It’s our tradition to
do that after returning home from our trips.
The first night home I got a
good night’s rest. It was so quiet! No
roosters…no dogs…no motorcycles or 4 wheelers with whinny engines running up
and down the road. Ahhh….home. Gerald went down to the neighbors (Walter and
Marilyn) to get the mail they have been collecting for us since we have been
gone (January). It took about 3 days to get through it all, and Gerald even
helped in the beginning. What a
chore! It was nearly overflowing the crate
I had given them to put the mail in! And all our bills and statements are
electronic! Gerald however, enjoyed it a little too much, especially when he
read the AARP letters addressed to ME!
Here’s a piece of trivia and
knowledge for ya! Twinkies really don’t
spoil! Now, I love me a Twinkie or Zinger.
In fact I could eat a whole box in a day (although I will never publicly
admit that I have ever done that). Why,
you may be asking yourself, don’t I weigh 400+ lbs? Well, I’m close to it, but
that’s none of your business. Anyway,
upon hearing all this hoopla about a Twinkie containing all of these
preservatives and chemicals and having the capabilities of being able to eat
through metal etc., I thought I would put it to the test. So, before we went on this little sabbatical
(and before I finished off the last of the several boxes of Twinkies and
Zinger’s I got at the day old Twinkie store) I saved one of the Twinkies to see
if it would mold, spoil or rot. They are
so moist and yummy…surely they would sprout some mold or something. Of course,
one has never lasted long enough around me to see if that phenomenon ever took
place or not, so this would solve the mystery for me. I took the Twinkie, with sadness in my heart
that it would be wasted, and put it in a Ziploc bag. I figured I would seal it
up because it would just get dried out and stale in the open. Plus I had become weak and opened the plastic
wrap to take a bite, so I needed to seal it up again. (what can I say – I love
Twinkies!) That was back in
October. Now, it is June and I
rediscovered my science project on the kitchen counter when we got home. Still there.
Still as yellow and beautiful as ever.
Except it’s not as shiny as it used to be, and in fact, it’s quite hard.
Brick hard. Darn. Not a speck of mold to be found. It’s just hard, like a crouton – a yummy
yellow Twinkie crouton. Hmmmm…I think I will get lettuce at the store…
We didn’t make any plans for the
next several days after we got home.
Just tried to get the house in order, unpack and catch up. We were also preparing for the grandkids to
come stay with us for a week or so. So
we went shopping at Costco to get supplies and a new house phone...since only
one of ours works now! Gerald is working on getting the pond, I mean pool, open
since the grandkids are coming over. It’s
quite a chore since we hadn’t been here to empty the water off the top all
winter and spring! Al came up to help him get the cover off. My poor hummingbirds were neglected this
spring. I usually start putting out
sugar water in mid April, but as soon as I got home, they were buzzing at the
back door and window wondering where I’d been, so I quickly made a batch of
sugar water and put it out. I love watching them!
We watched the grandkids for
several days and had lots of fun.
Naturally Erica and I baked and cooked all week. Bradley hung out with Pawpaw
(Gerald) in the barn bugging him to ride the riding mower! Erica is old enough to ride it herself. She is getting so tall! The weather was not so cooperative when they
were with us though. The pool was pretty
cold, but that didn’t stop the kids from getting in. Only stopped me! We did get to take them up
to Mark Twain Cave. That was lots of
fun. It was a long drive up there. All we heard was: “Are we there yet?” “Are we
there yet?” But there was only silence
on the way back! =)
I went in to see the doctor
about my ankle. He took an x-ray and
said it wasn’t broken. Duh. I went through 2 months of physical therapy
and it did help a little. I have better
mobility, but it still is painful, weak and slightly swollen. I’ll wait until we return from Florida and
make another appointment. What can I
say!
We visited some family and
friends this summer too. Saw “The Girls”
(Patty, Jane and Linda – who we met in Placencia, Belize) on the 4th
of July weekend at Lake of the Ozarks.
It was great to see them again, and we got to meet their families, which
was such a treat. Gerald brought his
guitar and played a little music with Patty and Jane’s sons. So much fun.
We stayed several times at Avis
and Bob’s various places at the Lake and up North. Did some fishing and the boys pulled a dock
out of their pond! That was cool to
see. Of course we went fishing. That’s always fun.
I went to the Illinois State
Fair (as usual) in August with my cousin Machelle. We had a blast, naturally. Got to see a Michael Jackson impersonator at
the Coors tent. Thought it would be
dumb, but it ended up being a hoot recalling and singing all the great
songs. Did a lot of one legged dancing
(on the good foot) and paid for all the fun the next day. Got the usual fair food: corn dog, fried
cheese, fried onion, fried Twinkie (natch!), fries with malt vinegar, gyros and
this year the new item was fried bacon.
Yep. Deep fried, beer-battered
bacon. And it was AWESOME!!!! Good thing I didn’t have to go to the doctor for
a checkup or to have my cholesterol tested.
I would have failed miserably!
The day after I got back from
the fair, we headed up to Michigan to visit Tom and Linda. It was a long drive,
but the 3.5 hour detour due to an accident on Hwy. 70 didn’t help any. Plus we
visited every rest stop between here and there.
Going up, we drove through Indianapolis and coming home, through
Chicago. Saw more orange barrels and
construction signs than China’s entire population, but only a total of about 10
workers. Another thing I like about Michigan is the speed limit; 70 mph, and
construction zones are 65 (unless workers are present). I’m having a hard time grasping the idea that
some politician had common sense. Good
for Michigan. It’s a beautiful state (at
least where we were) and the weather was perfect. A little too cold for me to
be swimming in the lake, but those hard-core Michiganers were skiing at first
light! Them are some tough peoples! While we were there, we got to go to an old
time county fair. Took me back to my
younger days. The bad thing was the fair
had no beer tent, but we found a Moose Lodge and it went downhill (so to speak)
from there. We met some wonderful people and had the best
time. Thanks Tom and Linda! (I hope they invite us back!)
The weekend before we left town,
we headed up to Lincoln, Illinois to visit my family and attend my nephew
Zack’s wedding. My brother, as a surprise
to Zack, got his band buddies together (I don’t think they have played for
about 30 years) and performed at the rehearsal dinner. It was awesome, and of course, they invited
Gerald to play too. I think Zack liked it – I know everyone else did. It was so much fun listening to the old songs
they used to play back when I was in high school.
I also got to spend some time
with my Grandma Miller (who is 95 years old) and my Grandma Mayberry (who is
101). It’s really kind of fun and
interesting listening to the tales they tell.
They have seen a lot of things in their lifetimes – some good, some bad. But it’s fascinating nonetheless.
Back home we finalize our plans
for the last leg of our sabbatical, which ultimately will end in the Florida
Keys. Plotting out our visits with friends and relatives, we calculate that we
will need about 3 weeks to make the drive!
Which includes various stops along the way, mostly to rest areas and gas
stations (the price of getting older!).
Which brings us to today,
September 21, 2011. We’ve packed our
stuff and crammed everything in the Explorer (with barely room to see out the
windows). The house is closed up, and we
pull out the driveway. I’m sure I’ve
forgotten something…there is a little bit of space left at my feet yet! J After a stop at the bank, book store and
dropping off keys, our adventure begins…but not without incident, of course. Nothing tragic thankfully, just an accidental
side tour of the roads and houses in East St. Louis…due to a missed
turn. You would think that with my GPS
on, a new Atlas and my iPhone, we could make it out of our home town without
getting lost. Well, stop thinking. It just causes me problems and headaches! Finally on the right road headed towards
Tennessee; it’s going to be a long journey, 8+ hours (not including potty stops
– that will make it 12 hours). So far the ride hasn’t been bad at all. But we are on
country roads now…so I better put the computer up and help Gerald drive. Can’t wait to see Jan!
