Michigan Road Trip!

I'm going to attempt to write a bit.  I can probably only write until Rene wakes up (which may be HOURS from now - who knows!) because after that, I am FORCED to play and chat and swim and laugh.  (Because you all know I would NEVER want to do any of that!)  It's harder than you think to keep up with things on a blog.  And there's all kinds of formatting and stuff that I seem to have to constantly be adjusting, but I want to make your experience easy and fun to read.  I have had to change the look of the blog and there are MANY things about blogger I DO NOT LIKE!  But you don't have to hear any more about that grumble...


We took off for our Michigan Road Trip on June 9th.  I took a couple of roadside photos to fit into my "Photo of the Day" album.  One interesting thing we saw that I didn't get a photo of was a wind generator arm being transported.  Those things are HUGE!  Now I'm just talking ONE propeller being trucked down the highway - it took a trailer with THREE extensions on it to fit!  No dramas that first day or night.  We spent the night in Lincoln, Nebraska.  Remember Chris said no more Motel Sixes?  Yay!   Also, remember that Chris bought an electric skillet so he wouldn't have to take me out for dinner?  After we got to the motel, he headed to the grocery store and  brought home what he was going to fix for dinner.  I got a three course meal!  First, he brought me some veggie sticks with dip.  Next, he cooked up some pork chops and served it with crab salad!  For dessert, we had cantaloupe and a candy bar.   PLUS, he did all the clean-up as well!  Isn't he just the sweetest, cutest husband alive?  I was thrilled.


The next day we tootled on along to Davenport, Iowa.  The motel was quite nice, though the elevator was being repaired and our room was on the third floor.   Again, I had a delightful Chris-bought, Chris-made, Chris-cleaned dinner!  I even volunteered to go shopping FOR him, but no, he wanted to take care of it himself.  The only thing that marred the evening was that at 7:30, we suddenly heard a shrill, shrieky, ear-splitting, high-pitched siren in our room!  WHAT was THAT?  Chris thought it was the smoke alarm, but we had already eaten and cleaned up - so there was no smoke at all!  I had just turned the coffee maker on to make some hot water for tea, but wasn't that odd to set off the smoke alarm??  It didn't last long, only a few seconds, so we put it down to a fluke, and brushed it off.  We settled in to watching TV, checking email, etc. and danged if about 9:30, the damn alarm went off again!  Startling us and upsetting us.  This time I called down to the front desk and the clerk there claimed that someone had been smoking in the hall underneath the smoke alarm and he had chased him off and reprimanded him.   Unfortunately, for safety reasons, if the smoke alarm goes off in ONE room - it goes off in EVERY room.  He hoped it wouldn't happen again, and sorry for the disturbance.  Well, yeah.  WE hoped it wouldn't happen again as well!  We turned off the light about 11:00 and JUST as we were getting to sleep, the alarm went off a THIRD TIME!  Aargh!  "That clerk is going to be getting a LOT of complaints now!"  Chris figured that someone had a grudge against either the clerk or the hotel in general and was setting off the smoke alarm on purpose.  We went to sleep again.  And DANGED if that smoke alarm didn't go off EVERY TWO HOURS throughout the night!  We were awakened at 1:30, 3:30, 5:30 and again at 7:30 (see - I was sleeping later than usual because my sleeping was intermittent!)
Grumble, grumble.  I figured that clerk was going to be handing out a LOT of refunds that morning - and mine was going to be ONE of them!  We went down for breakfast, and while my waffle was cooking, I went to the desk.  "Are you giving out refunds this morning?"  I started politely?  After asking me my room number, the clerk (a different one) told me, "Oh, since you booked with a third party (Priceline) we have no control over your refund."  
I said, "So what are you going to do about our appalling night?"
She said, "Well, I offer my sincere apology that your sleep was disturbed."
"Is that all you are going to do about it?"
"Well, ma'am, unfortunately, we have no control over the smoke alarm system in the building, but we will work to get it repaired as quickly as possible."
"So, aren't you going to offer me a voucher for another night in one of your hotels or something similar?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, Ma'am, but I have no control over vouchers - that would be the head office." (Notice how many things she has no control over!)
I'm getting pretty angry by now, so I asked, "Is this what your MANAGER suggests you do to help your guests feel better?"  
"Oh, no, Ma'am - the apology is straight from ME, not from my manager.  I'M the one who is saying sorry!"
Thoroughly disgusted, and obviously getting NO satisfaction, I walked away grumbling. 
At the breakfast table, we discovered from others who had been staying in the hotel for several days that this problem started TWO NIGHTS ago!  Some woman had hung her laundry on the fire sprinkler outlet in her room, it had come out of the ceiling, set off the fire alarms in every room, water had gushed out of the hole in her ceiling and she flooded three or four rooms on two floors!  So, the elevator was out, four rooms were under reconstruction, and there was obviously a short in the system, because the smoke alarms went off every two hours SINCE THEN!   Don't YOU think the hotel should have probably turned away new guests, KNOWING that they were not going to get a good night's sleep?

The offending smoke alarm - looks happy - sounds ATROCIOUS!

We went back up to the room, Chris called Priceline and explained the problem.  They got confirmation of the situation from the hotel, demanded that the hotel reimburse THEM, and then they allowed that they would reimburse us for the cost for the night.  OK then, at LEAST we didn't PAY for it!  As we were leaving through the lobby shortly after that, the clerk called out to me, "Oh, I took care of that refund for you!"  I just glared at her and walked out.  If I had had my wits about me I should have retorted something clever, or at least "YOU didn't take care of ANYthing!  It was out of YOUR control!"


OK then, on to Michigan!

May 25 Rafting Trip

It was just a little raft trip, but it was FUN!  Chris, Thomas, Sky & Forest coerced me into coming along on a trip down the Rio Grande.  Chris claimed that it was the highest and the fastest it's going to be this year - which is probably true - but since the winter was so light, it's still considered low and slow by the experts.  However, it was just right for us novices.  There was just enough white water, just enough slides, rapids, mini-waterfalls and rock dodging for it to be fun and a little bit exciting without it being very dangerous.

Ready to raft! Thomas,Kathy, Chris, Forest & Sky

Cap'n Tom

Sky writes:  We went down a stretch of the Rio Grande called The Race Course.  It's famous for its rapids.  I was a little bit nervous.  We came to a rapid and there were rocks on the right and a mini waterfall on the left.  We went left.  As we approaced, we got hung up on a little rock just before the waterfall.  It was also really narrow so we thought the raft might not fit.  When my dad finally got us off the rock, we plunged down the waterfall, just barely missing the rocks on either side. What a relief.


Forest writes: Chris and Cathy came with us so we had some extra paddle power. The first rapid was a little one and it was not hard at all. On the river there were some commercial rafts taking people down. One of the commercial rafts went threw a big rapid and there raft flipped over. So we pulled over to the side of the river to check it out. It did not look like a hard rapid it was just that the people who got flipped went the wrong way. I was pretty confident that this rapid was going to be a piece of cake so I got back in the raft and off we went. As soon as we got there Sky accidentally tells us to go the wrong way. So everyone got confused so we accidentally went the wrong way. We ran over some rock but in the end it was all ok. I think we got lucky that our raft did not flip. After that it was pretty mellow. There weren’t very many big rapids but when we got farther down the river there was a really big one. Guess what happened we went the wrong way and we got stuck on a rock, right before a mini water fall so we pushed off with all our strengths, but it was not enough. We pushed off three times until we finally got off the rock, and then we went down the mini water fall and almost got stuck again. When that was over we were all a little shaken by the rapid but we did not let it get to our heads.  The last big rapid was a slide and it was not hard at all it was just really fun. After that there was really nothing to do until the wind kicked up so for the last ten minutes we had to paddle against the wind which was not fun. 

We are watching one of the commercial rafts pull in a girl
who got tossed on the previous slide.

Kathy Writes:  It was so fun that Tom and Chris and the boys are going on ANOTHER trip from Ottowi Bridge near Los Alamos to Cochiti Lake. It is a bit longer trip, and I will drive them to their drop-off point and then drive myself to the airport because I'm flying "half-home" to Colorado tomorrow.  Talk to you Later.
Love and light,
Kathy

You can't really see a path through, so there was some rock dodging

New Mexico in May

Half Home – May 23, 2012

My sister, Joyce, and me

No sooner had we settled in than we decided to take off for New Mexico so we could see my sister one more time this year.  Joyce & Jim were visiting their son/my nephew, Tom, and his family in Albuquerque. We only had a couple days with them before they headed on to see their next son, but it was fun while it lasted.  We talked a lot and of course, played cards.  Chris suggested that Joyce and I spend some time at the Sandia Casino while we were in Albuquerque (there are casinos on Indian land) so the two of us took Sky and Forest there for lunch (my great nephews) and then hung out for the afternoon. Joyce played the slot machines, but I went into the poker room to see if I couldn’t play a bit of Texas Hold’Em.  I lost all my chips in about the first five hands, but there WAS a funny story involved.  When I sat down to play, the table was really friendly (8 other players).  They asked where I was from and when I told them I was from Australia, they were surprised and asked me a bunch of questions.  The lady beside me won the next hand, and I turned to her and said, “Wow – you did a really nice job!” 

She said, “What?”

I said, “Wow – you have a lot of chips!”

She said, “I beg your pardon?”

 “I said, Wow – you are really winning!”

She said, “OH!  You said, ‘Wow’.  I couldn’t understand you.  Now, did you say you came from Pennsylvania?”

“No, I come from Australia.”
“OH!  AUSTRALIA!  No WONDER I had a hard time understanding you!”

Don’t you think that’s funny?  It’s because I have SUCH a broad Aussie accent!  Tee hee.  Anyway, although I lost money at poker, I won on the pokie machines, so I came out $9 ahead! Hah!

After that, Chris stayed in Albuquerque, but moved to Elisa’s house (his daughter) so he could help her out with a couple of things.  I went up to Los Alamos to see my son, Jonathan.  On Saturday we went to the Los Alamos Kite Festival where Jonathan and Cael (my grandson) were volunteering – helping kids build and design kites.  I got lots of good photos of lovely kites so that was a nice day.

  On Sunday, there was the solar eclipse – I got some really good views of it through other people’s generosity and it was the most exciting eclipse I’ve ever seen.  I was quite impressed.

This guy constructed this machine that I watched most of the time.  

This shows the size of the image I watched - SO much better than a pinhole.

Ring of fire!  I also got a chance to share some of the special viewing glasses which made it look really cool.

Monday I did a few errands and caught up with some good friends.  Oh, and did I forget to mention that I won the weekly poker game at Jonathan’s house?  All his friends are afraid of this little old lady! 


Now we're back in Albuquerque - Chris is still helping Elisa, and both of us are helping Tom and Sara get their house ready for sale - as they might be emigrating to Australia!  You can imagine how much work there is for a chore like that.  But there is fun involved, too.  Stay tuned.

We Begin May 11

Leaving Brisbane Airport

May 11, 2012  

Dear Friends,

This is the beginning of my travelogues for this year, 2012.  I’ll try to keep you informed of what’s happening – IF it seems to be of any interest.  I’m not going to tell you how many loads of laundry I’m doing, but I WILL tell you that it took FOUR HOURS for my dryer to dry one load and that my kitchen sink does not give hot water.   That doesn’t mean I’m going to complain all the time, either, it just seems that when something’s wrong, it makes for a more interesting story.  Are you ready for this?






If you'd like to follow along our route, you can check out my Google Map at Kathy's Half Home Journey
Just click on the link above and be sure to read the little anecdotes along the right hand side, as I'm not sure I'm including them in this blog.  I'll keep updating it as we go.

Chris and Sam

While in Los Angeles, we visited Sam, the partner of Chris' Aunt Lucy who recently died.  He is a lovely man and made us feel very warm and welcome. Chris also visited with a colleague of his who still works at his Alma Mater, University of Southern California.

Then we had a LOVELY week in Oregon with my sister, Joyce and her husband, Jim.  We went to a fun dinner dance and played a lot of cards.  In fact, when I called Joyce three days after we had left to tell her we had arrived safely in Colorado, Jim was still saying, “It’s YOUR deal, Kathy.”  He claimed he was suffering from Patterson withdrawal.

Pizza night with Joyce & Jim

We spent the first night here in Fort Collins with Aaron and Karla.  It was DELIGHTFUL to hug Lily, 3, who remembered us and snuggled in right away.  We got reacquainted with Jude, 1½, who is a funny, pleasant, darling little guy and warmed up to us quickly.  AND…we got to meet Owen, who was born on my birthday in February.  The kids (the BIG kids, Aaron and Karla) have been so sweet and welcoming – having us over for dinner, dropping by to take us out for dessert, inviting us to church – it’s a blessing to be with family!

Karla and Jude (1 1/2)

Above:  Tutu with Lily (3 1/2) milk mustache and all
Below: Happy Owen - 3 months

About Half of the stuff we had stored in the basement.
You  really can't see how much is there because we did SUCH a
good job of stacking!

We really got stuck in on Saturday.  It was fast going, thanks to our lovely tenant, Laura, because we had stored all our “stuff” in her (our) unused basement for the year.  Now was our chance to “move in” and find out what we really had!  It turns out it is an odd assortment of quirky things!  We had too many lounge chairs, but no couch.  We had a dining room table and china cabinet, but no chairs; a bed and two dressers, but no bedside tables; three frying pans but no sauce pans.  Well, you get the picture.   My dad died and we stored his stuff.  Chris' sister died, and we have some of her stuff.  And we also got cast-offs from my son in New Mexico, even though it was actually MY furniture!   (Basically, he and his wife bought my house with all my furniture in it - so we got BACK any furniture he didn't really want.)  We also have stuff from both my sisters, my grandmother, and now we have bought Aaron and Karla’s couch so THEY could get another one!  We’re calling our decorating style “early in-law”.   We found a great little used furniture store and bought six dining chairs and a computer desk.  We have yet to find a headboard and bedside tables that fit AND match – but we may have to break down and buy unmatching ones!  The only thing we have bought NEW in the furniture category is a TV.  Chris bought a HUGE 50” thing that fits just great on my dad’s long hall table (NOT in the hall, obviously.)  Everything is coming together just fine, and actually looks pretty nice for second hand stuff.  

Empty

The mess during

Dining room - after

Living Room after

Meanwhile, my 19-year-old great-niece has moved in with a roommate and a cat. Amber and Gaby are going to live here when we are back in Oz, and since they both have jobs as part of their work/study scheme, they will be here with us this summer.  Since our condo has three bedrooms, we’re full up now!

This is probably enough for now, I don’t want to inundate you with details.  I’ll write more if things get interesting.  MISS you!

Love and light, Kathy & Chris