U. P. Trip - Fall 2010 - Day #16

Like mother, like daughter!  The day had been planned as a gentle start to seriously moving south with a lakeshore run down beside Lake Michigan, a visit to Green Bay to at least see the outside of Lambeau Field, the home of the Green Bay Packers NFL Football Team, and perhaps a little more shopping in the various outlets to be found in Oshkosh.

However, the shoreline cruise took less time than expected, even with stops for gas and a walk in a State Park by the lake and in playing with Portia Marissa realized that we had allowed too much time for the day, since we would reach our two destinations much earlier than anticipated.  Portia also suggested that, to avoid the anti-climax that always comes with leaving the U.P. a run all the way home was quite credible, so having confirmed we could cancel our last hotel reservation without penalty we elected to make a run for it.

The problem with GPS device inexperience lies in the words "traffic" and "delays"!  Had we been traveling between midnight and early morning, the time estimate would probably have been pretty close to correct.  As it turned out, construction around Milwaukee delayed us a fair bit, but far worse was taking over ninety minutes to achieve a mere five miles of "freeway" distance around Chicago.  Nevertheless, by alternating drivers and making minimal & very brief stops, we managed to pull in to Marissa's driveway a little before midnight (Central time), tired but happy to be done with traveling for a while.  We will still look on the weekend as vacation time, but without the pressure to achieve a great deal in a big hurry.

While we have reported on our own experiences and behavior and described at times Zoe's enjoyment of unfettered freedom, we should also comment on Zoe's great general behavior.  We had zero "accidents" the whole trip, and she was spectacularly well behaved and uncomplaining even during the very long runs, especially this last one, which between pulling out of the hotel in Iron Mountain and arriving at Marissa's totaled 728.4 miles.  Although the trip odometer will continue to run in and around Mount Vernon and then back to Columbus, this effective end to the major travels has been reached at 3178.3 miles.

Just a couple of pictures of Lambeau Field were added to the set on this last day, so the complete Flickr set of the small proportion of our pictures actually put there may be found here.

U. P. Trip - Fall 2010 - Day #15

Giving a sense of deja vu it was again cool and overcast (and even with some rain in the evening) for our day in and around Iron Mountain, just like last year, but it was still a good day.  We started, after the usual gentle "we're on vacation" start, by driving east of Iron Mountain and south a little to Piers Gorge and the trail beside the river, which latter is used for whitewater rafting in the warmer months.  We walked the trail for a good distance, but it was very rugged and once we were past all the more active water activity we decided that we had gone far enough and made our way back to the van.

We then carried on to Norway, took a look around, visited a few shops but did our spending in a combination quilting supply shop (one of the best Marissa has seen) that doubled as a gift/Christmas decoration store.  Marissa's quilting activities this coming winter will benefit greatly from our findings & John added another piece for his Christmas home decor.

We then headed back to Iron Mountain but stopped en route to buy the very best pasties we have found for this whole trip so far.  We stopped at a nearby roadside park, featuring yet another pretty waterfall and enjoyed our lunch while it was still hot.  After that we drove back to, and all the way through, Iron Mountain to join Jerry & Carol and support their fence building activities with lots of socializing.  At the appropriate time we went into town to their currently favorite restaurant and had the most delicious and enjoyable meal, leaving poor Zoe back at the campground, in the house but separated from the cats.  After dinner we returned there and continued talking until well into the evening, saying our goodbyes for another year as we will head out and continue our homeward trek in the morning.

A few miscellaneous pictures have been added to the Flickr set of the trip, found here.

U. P. Trip - Fall 2010 - Day #14

Today we said farewell to Lake Superior and began making our gentle way southwards.  We did not hurry our departure as we were reluctant to leave, especially as we finally had the decent size breakers we had been wishing for ever since we completed our boat cruise.  After last night's little storm the day started crystal clear, in fact the stars at 6:30 AM were quite brilliant, although Zoe had other things on her mind.

Fully packed up, and noting that we ended this phase of our travels at 2220 miles on the trip odometer, we pulled away in late morning and had a smooth and trouble free run, listening to the end portion of our second book on tape as the scenery down across the U.P. was nice but not enthralling.  With no difficulty we arrived at our first objective, Bond Falls, which we had seen last year but in dull and damp conditions.  This year in bright sun they looked much better.  We walked (climbed?) the steps and trail up past the main falls and along the rapids which extended for a fair distance.  Zoe seemed to have boundless energy and was totally unfazed by all the steps at the lower end.

After Bond Falls we meandered on to the town named Crystal Falls (wherever they might be - we did not see any actual falls) and stopped at our second objective, namely Winks Woods, a major craft store.  After a good browse amongst their immense stock, covering every square inch of surface we both found things to buy, mostly with a Christmas decorating theme.

Our last short leg was on to Iron Mountain and since the first thing we came to was Carol & Jerry's Summer Breeze Campground we stopped there for the remainder of the afternoon.  Later we all went into town for a good meal, leaving Zoe in the campground building.  We returned just in time for C & J to welcome two overnight campers, probably their last of the season as the close at the end of the week.  We duly separated and came on to our hotel and settled in for a couple of nights.  It was not a long driving day, just 184 miles putting us at a total of 2404.

A few pictures have been added to the end of the set which may be found here.

U. P. Trip - Fall 2010 - Day #13

This was our last full day at the cabin/house and we took it nice & gently.  Much of the day was lovely, maybe a little cloudier than the last few, but after tea a small storm moved in from the lake.  However, after a very relaxed start we drove into Calumet, filled up the van's gas tank and went to our favorite shop where we both spent some rather more serious money on ourselves, but were pleased with our purchases.

We then drove over to the "other side", stopped in the village of Gay (no doubt named in days of yore when Gay meant merry and/or happy) and of course took a picture of the Gay Bar.  We then cruised up the coast and at one point Marissa took a video which expresses its essence better than any still picture could.  Eventually we arrived at Bete de Gris Bay, parked by the beach and let Zoe have a really good romp, also captured at one point on video.  Once we were all sufficiently exhausted we cruised back via one or two of the more scenic roads and once back at the cabin settled in to enjoy our last afternoon, by stretching out indoors or reading out on the deck in shirtsleeves, although time slipped away between pages at one point!

Our new neighbors (from South Bend, IN) invited us to join them at a beach fire & prepared one, but shortly after tea had been drunk the weather changed dramatically, the breeze sprang up & the sky clouded over.  We did try to walk Zoe on the beach, but cut the expedition short as we were insufficiently wrapped up, so we retrieved some of the unused logs and took advantage of the indoor fireplace for our evening flames.

From tomorrow morning on we will be heading generally and steadily southwards until we eventually reach Mount Vernon, but not in too much of a hurry.  Have just added a couple of pictures to the set, but also have added Marissa's two videos to give a better sense of our  day.  The set is here.

U. P. Trip - Fall 2010 - Day #12

This was another lovely day, but a little slower paced than yesterday.  An observation - in some places the deciduous trees are completely bare, yet in no time at all one moves on to an area where hardly a leaf has fallen, so every vista if different and most are still lovely.

We started very gently but eventually started driving up the peninsula loosely following the same circuit as yesterday, except we avoided Calumet, took the more coastal back road to Eagle River (where we did not stop) and on just a little way to Poorrock Abbey and its "Jampot" jams and baked goods store, where we bought but not as much as we have on previous visits.  (Diabetes takes the joy out of some things!)  We passed through Eagle Harbor and its intense road construction so didn't stop and look for anything and cruised onwards and then up Brockway Mountain Drive, whose summit we had virtually to ourselves while we all three walked and Marissa took a few pictures.

We dropped back down the other side into Copper Harbor and shopped a little.  As in so many past years John got a new pair of heavily discounted moccasins & yet another coffee mug to add to the collection.  After a little meandering we went to the general store & bought lunch supplies and once we had satisfied our hunger we went in to Fort Wilkins.  This year it was John's turn to have extensive dog detail while Marissa was able to enter all the buildings & see and read all she missed last year.  Some pictures were taken, of course.  On leaving we again did some browsing, but nothing caught our fancy so we decided to hightail it for the cabin.

We stopped in the impressive IGA in Calumet and bought supplies for a regular meal, since we have a comprehensively equipped kitchen at our disposal for Marissa to cook in and John to clean up.  But first we had our "cuppa tea" and then John & Zoe did a beach trek in the opposite direction to yesterday.  After we had eaten we again went to the beach, built a much bigger & better fire than yesterday and sat around admiring yet another truly spectacular Lake Superior sunset, that seemed to last for ages.  It has been another really good day.  Just before bedtime we observed some faint glows in the northern sky that were almost certainly week auroras.

A few more pictures have been added to John's Flickr set, found by going here.

U. P. Trip - Fall 2010 - Day #11

This was the day we really lucked out.  The day started gently and unhurried, the usual good breakfast, packing and loading the van, and checking out at mid-morning.  The weather continues to be ideal.  We cruised up the middle of the peninsula finally turning shorewards and going to Eagle River (whose river is reduced to a trickle after no rain for days on end).  We visited the only "shop", North Country Crafts, and renewed our acquaintance with the proprietress and primary craftswoman.  As usual we both found several delightful things we couldn't live without.

Then it was the time for which Zoe had been waiting, a long walk on the firm sandy beach, in and out of the water, and generally rushing about at full speed.  However, as we neared the van she blotted her copybook by deciding on a unilateral exploration to our temporary frustration (& her subsequent loss of freedom from leashing).  We then cruised up to Eagle Harbor, took a short break enjoying the view, but decided pasties for lunch in Copper Harbor were becoming a priority.  Once replete we reacquainted ourselves with the locations of the various stores we plan to check out in the next couple of days and only actually shopped in the most remote of them.

By then it was time to cruise back all the way to our lakeshore cabin with private beach.  On arrival we discovered the gods were smiling on us.  The nice, but not outstanding, cabin had lost its heat so instead we have to "make do" with the 3-bedroom lower floor of the beautiful house (presumably rented to large groups as there is an upstairs too) with every luxury a well-appointed home would have.  It truly is just great.  After moving in we took a walk on the beach, a bit rocky but quite nice, and later, after we had eaten, we went down and started a beach fire in the large fire ring surrounded by log seating and watched the end of the sunset.  It just doesn't get any better than this.

A few pictures have been added to the Flickr set, which may be found here.

U. P. Trip - Fall 2010 - Day #10

This was a gentle and pleasant day.  The weather is still ideal and Marissa continues to feel better and better.  The hotel must be full for the weekend as the breakfast room was crowded & the hot food was going as fast as the server could put it out, but we did well before embarking.

In some ways it was a sentimental journey for John as we had not done this little excursion last year and it had been the last exploratory drive that Maria & John had made together to somewhere new.  Mostly on paved roads and partly on well maintained unpaved roads we went to the very bottom of the top of the Keweenaw, in other words over the channel and then down to where it first starts from the giant bay on the east side of the peninsula.  There is a small park and a long beach there and once again Zoe was able to run and run and frolic in and out of the water.

After running back up alongside the channel we diverted and went to Calumet where we stopped and tourist shopped, but not to excess.  Then we found the main regular shopping plaza and bought fast food.  Heading away and looking for a nice place to eat it we noticed the road which will take us to the cabin tomorrow and followed it to its end, eating next to where we think the cabin is, twenty feet from the lake.  After that we took a pretty road in a semi-circle back to Hancock, across the bridge and up to the hotel for a leisurely period of R & R (or was that Z & Z).

Later we went down to the shoreline & all three of us did the same walk as Zoe & John had done yesterday before heading back up to the Super Wal-Mart near the hotel to stock up our traveling pantry ready for moving in to the cabin tomorrow.  Back at the hotel we reorganized the van, after mopping up from the result of the cooler's drain having come open, and are ready for leaving here, touring around and ending up at the cabin tomorrow afternoon.

Just a couple of pictures were added to the set that covers the trip and that may be found here.

U. P. Trip - Fall 2010 - Day #9

This was the day Marissa had been dreading would occur - the migraine from hell, requiring many hours in a darkened room and even after some improvement further gentle rest.  Previous migraines had been warded off, but this one was out of control.

Fortuitously we had built in a "spare" day in this phase of the trip in our planning two months ago so nothing was lost.  It was a good day to refill the van, replenish the wallets, and clean several pounds of bugs off the windshield.  After taking Zoe for a good long walk, John left the two of them in darkened peace and went across the river and up the hill to the Quincy Mine to take the above ground tour, primarily of the largest steam powered winch ever built - interesting to an old engineer, but not something seriously missed by a librarian!  The underground tour option was passed up on the grounds of "been there, done that, and bought the T-shirt" many years ago.

After getting lunch for all to eat in the room and then some relaxation time a second burst of energy resulted in a grampa/granddog excursion down to the waterside on the Houghton side of the channel and then a very, very long walk all along.  It is all very pretty down there, especially at this time of year, and (sadly for Marissa) was the absolutely most pleasant day of weather with sunny, balmy light breezes that we have had so far.  Even so, Zoe has rarely shown more enthusiasm for getting into the van and settling down in her bed between the front seats, so obviously she was well exercised.

A few pictures were taken from either side of the channel as well as at the mine and they may be found, as usual, at the end of the Flickr set located here.

U. P. Trip - Fall 2010 - Day #8

This lovely sunny day was a day of travels.  Now that we are in Houghton we have added some 600 miles to the odometer since leaving St. Ignace and are at 1825 trip miles so far.  We started slowly and did not make a hasty departure.  Our initial ambitions for the day were not too severe, and were expected to be somewhat boring, apart from enjoying all the delightful colors, although in places we could see a lot of leaves were already off the trees.

To break up the pretty but rather boring inland cross-country section of the drive we made a couple of side trips.  We turned off along the pretty lakefront/shoreline of Marquette & ran down to Presque Isle, but like last year we disappointed insofar as there was no ore freighter at the dock being loaded (although there was rail activity on top of the pier) plus the road around the park was closed & wouldn't open for some hours and this park does not allow pets to even be out of vehicles.  We let Portia skillfully guide us back to the highway completely avoiding the commercial section of Marquette and carried on.  Next we made a pit stop at one of the chain of aptly named "Da Yoopers Tourist Trap" which was interesting.  Marissa resisted temptation but John bought a bird feeder in the form of a lighthouse, a U.P. tee shirt and a Christmas doggie coat for Zoe.

John's misconception that Canyon Falls was in Baraga state park were happily resolved by Marissa's sharp eyes and with just enough time to slow & turn off into a major "Roadside Park" area.  We started down a trail that led after a 1/4 hour's walking, mostly beside a pretty stream (river?) with occasional little falls and/or rapids, but at the end were most impressed by the Canyon falls.  Like most flowing water up here the water is clear but stained brown by tannin from the peat covering much of the area.  The falls are impressive, but it was difficult to get a good angle for still photos, although a video clip was rather better.

We made our way back, tossing Zoe into a couple of feeder streams after she found a nasty muddy spot to slog through in order to wash her off a bit!  We picnicked and recast our plans since we didn't want to be in Houghton too early.  We elected to go to the Porcupine Mountains (or Porkies).  By the time we reached the Visitors Center & talked to staff there we decided an extra 50-some miles round trip to see more waterfalls was more travel than we wanted, so we made our second trip up to the Lake Of The Clouds, which was just as lovely as last year.  After enjoying the views and a bit of walking we then headed to Houghton which will be our base for three nights before we head further up to the cabin.

For a few the day's pictures please see the end of the set of pictures on Flickr, found by going here.

U. P. Trip - Fall 2010 - Day #7

This was the day we finally slowed down a bit.  The morning was bright and sunny but the middle part of the day was quite overcast and much more breezy, making us very glad we had taken our cruise yesterday.  The clouds eventually left but the wind stayed, stirring up the lake nicely by the evening.

With pressure absent we took the start of the day very gently and eventually boarded the van and cruised along to the traditional Miners Castle viewing platforms, arriving at the same time as the boat we had been on yesterday.  We looked from both platforms, getting a good start to the day's exercise, then we headed on down to the beach, going to the left this time, to where the very clear but very brown Miners River finally enters the lake up against the cliffs at the end of the beach.  Once Zoe was suitably exhausted (not a quick process) John fetched chairs from the van and we settled down to sit and read.

After a while the clouds moved overhead and the wind kicked up, so we retreated and to get away from some noisy site improvements at the parking lot returned to Miners Castle area to sit & picnic.  Eventually we returned to town, visited a couple of interesting gift shops, then went back to the hotel for a lazy afternoon of reading & snoozing.

In a repeat of yesterday we bought pasties for supper and drove a little way out of town to a lay-by and associated beach where we ate and then walked, and walked, while Zoe raced about roughly alternating between lake shore shallows, wet sand, and dry sand.  As we ran out of energy luckily so did she so we were all ready to return for a restful evening.

As usual pictures & a video make be found here on Flickr.

U. P. Trip - Fall 2010 - Day #6

This was cruise day.  With bright sun (actually a bit of a nuisance as we didn't realize that this far north the sun stays very low in the sky) and the lake like a millpond we elected to take the morning cruise, so by 9:45AM poor Zoe was caged in a basement and we were in line to board.  We chose the cabin over the top, for which we would have needed eskimo clothing to be comfortable, and were able to move about and go onto the rear deck as the mood took us.  The cruise was all of 2 1/2 hours and most enjoyable and interesting.  The whole lakeshore is fantastic, but surprisingly different place to place.  Outbound we took a lot of pictures (far too many actually) despite the sun glare, but homebound we largely just sat and enjoyed the experience.  One could rave on about it indefinitely - but I won't!  This was definitely something we would recommend to others.

With Zoe retrieved we headed to Munising Falls and promptly picnicked in the parking lot.  Then we walked up to the falls.  Like yesterday, all falls have benefited from the wet summer and are much prettier, and the colors around them are lovely.  Feeling Zoe needed a break we went to Sand Point and let her loose for her favorite activity, rushing freely along the waterline at high rates of speed.  By separating and having her run from one of us to the other and back we exhausted her quite quickly.

Our next actual stop at a falls was at Wagner Falls, also prettier than last year.  Last year, in the rain, it seemed quite a long walk, but this year in the sunshine it seemed shorter!  We then made a run back to the Shell station for multiple reasons and followed that by a trip to the hotel for a period of rest.  Later we went out for pasties, which we took along the road west out of town and found a delightful scenic "roadside" with a big beach well away from the highway.  We ate our pasties and yet again walked along the water line, we at a steady plod in the soft sand and Zoe like an out-of-control rocket.  Eventually she tired and quite literally led us back to the van.  On our way back to the hotel we went up to another scenic overlook and looked at our hotel, scenery and Grand Island all bathed in the glow of the setting sun.  The day was pretty much complete although swimming & hot-tubbing was a lot more pleasant without a bunch of rowdy inebriates as had been the case the evening before.

Marissa has included some pictures in her blog, so I will once again direct you to Flickr by going here.

U. P. Trip - Fall 2010 - Day #5

This was a day of successful changes of mind.  It was again sunny, but quite breezy and distinctly chilly.  All three of us slept later than usual but otherwise the routine was normal and we pulled away from the hotel around 9:30AM.  First order of business was 3/4 tank of gas in the van (this is not a part of the country to run out of fuel) and then it was up onto the Interstate for the run up to Sault Ste. Marie.  We quickly discovered that to visiting tourists this town is both parking- and pet-UN friendly.  In the locks' visitors center we discovered that while 5 big ships were expected, none would be there until the afternoon.  We had also missed the morning tour boat and would need to wait over 2 hours for the next tour.  Up overlooking the locks (with the tour boat down in the nearest one) we realized it had little protection from the elements and out of the sun (or even in it) it was still very chilly.

We looked, and photographed the locks from the viewing platform and decided that a lock tour could remain on John's list for another year, deciding this would do for a "been there, done that" experience for Marissa who has much more interest in pretty and waterfalls than in man-made marvels.  So we decided to leave & change our plans to do Tahquamenon Falls again this year.  Last year the U.P. had been dry & the river was down, this year would be the opposite.

In due course we arrived and "did" the Lower Falls, a good long walk and several photo-ops.  We then made our way to the Upper Falls complex.  With the concessions closing we had to order carry-out from the one restaurant still open & had a very nice whitefish sandwich.  Then we walked, and walked.  Since the steps are such that Zoe needs be carried Marissa & Zoe turned back from the 117 step descent to view the falls from down in the gorge, leaving that to John.  He eventually caught up with them, passing on about the 50th step of the merely 97 step descent/ascent to the viewing area at the brink of the falls.  We returned to the van together & set sail for Munising.

We reached the town in good time & turned away from the hotel and drove some miles in order to get to Miner's Beach, where Zoe finally got to run free, which she did at extraordinary speeds and with a great deal of energy, although even she eventually flagged.  We cruised back and through the town and on up to the motel at which we had stayed last year, settling in for three nights stay.

It seems we have timed our trip perfectly from a color perspective.  It is truly lovely up here right now and it is just a pity that roadsides that look quite wonderful from a driver's seat simply do not photograph well enough to do them justice.

Since pictures are worth thousands of words, today's have been added to Flickr which you can find here.

U. P. Trip - Fall 2010 - Day #4

We knew this was going to be a good day when we watched the sunrise turn the sky orange out over Lake Huron.  It was cooler than even we would have wished, and a bit breezy, but sunny all day and gradually warming.  This was the day when we could finally look people in the eye after saying we had been to the U.P. and say yes to the inevitable question "Did you go to Mackinac Island?"

We three, a few other tourists and two full coachloads of Japanese tour groups took the 9:30 Arnold line catamaran (since it was "pet-friendly") for the 20-odd minute ride over to the island.  There we walked - a lot!  Transportation on this non-motorized island is either by horseback, by horse-drawn vehicle, on a bicycle, or like us, on foot!  Interesting, but watch where you step when crossing a road.  Marissa pointed out the irony of anachronistic transportation having seen a cab driver texting on his cell phone while his horses plodded along!

In general we resisted being nickel and dimed by the tourist traps, but did less well with items requiring plastic to purchase, eventually returning with several large bags!  But we did make the climbing walk up to the Grand Hotel, where we oohed and aahed suitably and took lots of photos.  In due course we found a place where we could sit with Zoe and have a hot lunch in the sunshine.  We discovered that there is no 2:00PM ferry back, so the shops benefited by our being there an extra hour before returning to the mainland in a much less crowded boat.  Zoe was equally well-behaved coming back.  She had enjoyed a good walking work-out and had been a great ice-breaker with many strangers, but was finally exhausted.

Once back at the hotel we rested, did a fair bit of organizing, relaxed a while and ordered our dinner delivered.  It has been a good day.  However, the Internet connectivity here has its quirks, to say the least and picture loading to blogger is excruciatingly slow.  Flickr is also slow, but much better relatively, so for some pictures of our day follow this link...

Despite a day of negligible vehicle mileage today, since leaving Columbus the van has now logged 1225 miles.

U. P. Trip - Fall 2010 - Day #3

This was a day of fits and starts.  Alarm, rush about, get Marissa to the hotel downtown for the 7:00AM breakfast, followed by a more leisurely clean-up and shave and another very good breakfast back at the motel.  The morning was leisurely, getting caught up on the PC as well as slowly moving our stuff out to the van ready for our next leg, plus sorting out, in mild panic, the fact that our tonight's reservation was not listed as for "Priddis" but for "John", but at least it did exist!.  Zoe felt energetic and dragged me for an extra long walk around the complex and even over to the edge of the adjacent shopping center.

After a noon check-out and the pleasant surprise that our deposit covered the whole stay & not just the first day, Zoe & I headed to a nearby park to sit, read, lightly picnic, growl and bark at several squirrels that had the temerity to appear within sight, and eventually take a another significant walk.  We were already on our way downtown, through traffic snarls & road works when Marissa called for her pick-up.

Soon we were heading east, making our way to Big John's cider mill complex.  It was breezy, very overcast and occasionally showery, so we stayed much more briefly than last year's visit, but got apples, cider, cheese curds and delicious cookies, and then headed northwards.  Some hours later we reached Mackinaw, kicked off briefly to visit our favorite pasties shop, then back up and over "Big Mac" leaving the Trolls of lower Michigan (so called because they live beneath the bridge!) for the Yoopers of the U.P.

The further north we went the less trees were green and the more they were somewhat colorful, appearing more so as we left the overcast and rain behind and moved into blue skies and sunshine.  Portia led us to our hotel, where we three ate our pasties (see Marissa's blog for pictures today), before unloading clothes more suitable for the northern cool than southern heat.  We have the same room as we had last year and Zoe has celebrated with a burst of zoomies in the sandy plateau outside our patio overlooking Lake Huron.

U. P. Trip - Fall 2010 - Day #2

This is the day the conference began, and the reason we are here in Grand Rapids at all.  Zoe did not get us up too early and after the usual routine we headed to the breakfast room.  Of all the hotels of this type this one has to have one of the very best breakfast selections we have yet experienced, fresh fruit & yogurt, omelets to be filled as desired along with home fries, waffles (without which no "UP Trip Day" would be complete) as well as all the usual stuff.

We elected to let Portia guide us to the conference hotel, hitting a slight snag at the end where a ramp was closed for rebuilding, but after making several squares we found the right place, but were much too early, so we headed off pretty much at random.  In due Course we saw direction signs to the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, about which Marissa had read so we thought we'd give it a try.  It was delightful and impressive and even had the traveling Chihuly exhibit, which we were able to see before finally being busted for having a dog (not allowed in the park) and asked to leave. This is a place that Beth Campbell should put on her "must visit" list, some of the samples being:

Although still a little early we elected to return to downtown & for Marissa to drop off & try and meet some of the delegates she knew before things started officially.  John & Zoe promptly went into GPS Purgatory!  Portia could not comprehend that a ramp was closed & led us around and around in ever larger circles but always ending at the same useless place.  Eventually we drove way off in a random direction until she could "recalculate" an entirely different route involving miles of a main city street with traffic lights every half mile!

In the afternoon we allowed Portia to guide us to Grand Haven, but inexpert programming guided us to a dirt road, whereupon John became unmanly enough to ask directions - twice!  We finally found the beach area, but disappointingly it is also "no pets allowed".  However, we did find a long riverside boardwalk leading right out to a pier/lighthouse in Lake Michigan and walked the whole thing - both ways.  Needless to say Zoe was less than scintillating company coming back to the motel as she slept the whole way!

Marissa gets fed at the conference so a quick foray into the gigantic Meijer store next to the motel (which is equipped with refrigerator and microwave in each room) solved the eating problem.  Marissa finally called for transportation around 9:00 PM & an error-free run was made in to get her.  With two lots of eyes & better experience we were able to fake out Portia & return via the Interstate so were back at the hotel and ready to go hot-tubbing by 9:45PM.  We have now driven the van about 900 miles so far.

U. P. Trip - Fall 2010 - Day #1

After an erratic night with us all sleeping, waking, and sleeping at different times we made a reasonable start and had the van fully loaded and ready to go at 8:45 EDT (7:45 local).  These pictures fully illustrate the Priddis expression "traveling heavy":

The first "leg" went smoothly and after almost exactly an hour we pulled in to the Pilot just after turning north on US 41 from I-64.  We topped up (1/2 tank) with gas, bought surprisingly tasty Subway omelet flatbread sandwiches and large cups of Pilot coffee.  Then with John still driving we headed north, and north, and...north!  Zoe was surprisingly good and mostly just lay in her bed between us, but once in a while she liked to get the cobwebs blown away:

The picture really doesn't do justice to the way her fur was blowing in the wind.  Later, with Marissa driving a leg north of Terre Haute she had another chance & using the outside mirror John got a more or less front view:

Apart perhaps from driving across Kansas there can be few less interesting drives than Hwys 41/63 from the bottom tip of Indiana to a little south of Chicago.  It was also very windy, but at least it was sunny.  We knew the upper part of the state had some wind-power activity, but we were completely unprepared for the massive extent of them - horizon to horizon, north-south and east-west:

Eventually "Portia" told us to kick right and over to I-64 and on to I-94 and eventually to I-196, so the latter stages were slightly higher in speed but much denser in traffic.  Throughout the day we made periodic stops for all the normal reasons and eventually Portia guided us into our motel for the next two nights at around 5:30 PM.  The room is very nice & convenient and we had a bonus, not only do we get a free breakfast but late afternoon/early evening we get free pizza, which with a little supplement from our road food took care of tonight's need for food.  Afterwards, we took Zoe for an extensive walk around this large complex with lots of grassy areas & finally settled down for the evening.

Since John pulled out of his driveway with the trip odometer set to zero the van has racked up 693 miles so far, so a "local" day tomorrow will be welcome.

U. P. Trip - Fall 2010 - Day #0

All went slickly in Columbus and serious driving commenced just after 10:00AM following a meeting. Apart from a 15-mile stretch of construction on I-64 (the usual 14 miles of nothing at all and 1 mile of actual activity, but all at reduced speed) traffic and road conditions were excellent; the roughly 210 miles were completed in just over three hours. After communications were established we met at the library where Marissa showed off all the summer improvements – impressive, then John took her to lunch. We then separated for the afternoon. Zoe was ecstatic to have unexpected company, but soon resumed guard-dog position, watching the veritable dust storm created by the farmer laying lime on to dry as dust fields just across the meadow! She still doesn’t know what is in her future as Marissa has yet to dig out suitcases, etc.

During the afternoon John had an appointment for a haircut, Marissa completed the preparations to leave the library for 2 ½ weeks and then had an appointment with her chiropractor.  Since there is no readily available food in the house we popped out for a sandwich.  Subsequently the primary activity was Marissa packing & miscellaneous joint preparations, including a toenail cutting for Zoe (strictly a 2-person operation) and the baking of cookies for the lady next door who will keep an eye on the house.  Slowly but surely we are approaching full readiness & the van isn’t groaning under the load – yet!

U. P. Trip - Fall 2010 - Preamble

Following the success of last year’s trip we decided to do it again in 2010. After Marissa was accepted as a delegate to the ACS Relay For Life convention in Grand Rapids we debated the before or after aspects but decided to get the convention behind us before embarking on the vacation proper.

Since Zoe would again be with us we needed to make hard reservations well ahead to ensure getting “pet-friendly” rooms, especially as it would be what was anticipated as peak fall color season.

Less than a week before departure we got word that Peggy Livermore, or Mum-Mum, our matriarch had passed away in her sleep. John had spoken to her four days before and had seen her (and effectively said the good-byes) in February, so after many phone calls and messages it was generally agreed that the presence of a extra body in England at this time served no useful purpose and that the vacation should go ahead as planned.

Perishable foods & cold drinks excepted all is packed in the van except for overnight essentials and the first activity will be for John to go down to Mount Vernon for a night before we head north tomorrow. As usual, Priddises “travel heavy” when going by road!

U.K. Duty Visit - Day 21

Quite surprisingly the daylight portion of this day was largely sunny, although it was extremely and unrelentingly windy as well. I spent much of the morning in packing exercises trying to keep my “to be checked” bags within weight limits without making my carry-on overflow bag too heavy to be easily managed. Pam & Nick were also confined to barracks awaiting the first delivery of the materials for the flat upgrade Nick will supervise prior to the flat going on to the market. The stuff finally came, short two washbasins and during the unloading the delivery people dropped a porcelain toilet onto the tarmac & smashed it! Their problem, our inconvenience.

With all that behind us we took off heading west on the “main road” as far as the Cuckmere River estuary, once winding & pretty and now oxbow lakes and a straight man-made channel on the last dash to the sea. We scrambled to find two pounds fifty for two hours (or less) of parking but were delighted to find the Pay And Display machine was out of order! We then trod delicately across a fair bit of grass, watching our feet until we reached the concrete footpath/road where we also found we had to watch our feet and tread delicately. The many sheep grazing in the area almost totally ignored us. We marched bravely into the headwind until the concrete path degenerated to roughly leveled chalk, still very wet, and shortly decided discretion was the better part of valor.

Back near the car we eschewed the shortcut & walked around, climbed in the car and rejoined the road taking our place in the line waiting for the eastbound traffic to end over the classic British “two-direction, one lane” bridge to the Golden Galleon pub on the other side, in which we had a very nice lunch sitting next to a real wood fire. On leaving we took the “scenic route” down even smaller roads coming out at Polegate where we stopped for Nick to sort out the delivery shortages/accidents, prior to going on to the nursing home.

Mum-Mum was quite bright today and stayed so even when she finally realized that this was the last visit from both Pam & me. We stayed quite a long time, as usual doing crosswords to fill in the conversational gaps and repetitions. We eventually took our leave with remarkably little emotional outbursts or guilt trips & drove home, to spend a quiet evening before a very early morning tomorrow.

U.K. Duty Visit - Day 20

I made the silly mistake this morning of remarking that despite the gloom it hadn’t actually rained for a whole three hours, so needless to say it rained pretty hard for the rest of the day. This area is truly saturated, standing water in fields & along roadsides.

Pam buckled down this morning to completing the sort out of Mum-Mum’s former bedroom, chests, vanities & wardrobe, with Nick & I helping when appropriate, which wasn’t often. She found it emotional and hard going, but did complete the exercise. She and Nick then made a run to the Charity Shop with all the usable stuff we knew Mum-Mum would never need again. Later she went off to lunch with Jane, a friend of very long standing & also Katy’s godmother. Nick & I left around the same time and dropped assorted stuff off at various offices, all to do with the family’s business. After that we went up to our usual parking place & took a walk in the gloom. The tide was way out, exposing the underlying chalk at the bottom of the beaches so we made a short side trip down to take a look “up close & personal”. In the end we almost made it back to the car before the rain but didn’t get too wet – in fact we got wetter walking from the nearest available parking spot to The Ship pub where we enjoyed a very nice lunch.

Since we all got back at the same time we went straight off to visit Mum-Mum, letting her choose the clothes Pam thought she might want now or in the summer, which was most of what we took. Pam again did some drawer & wardrobe tidying for her. She seemed well, was in no pain, but not exactly full of joie de vivre. Since Pam & Nick had a late afternoon appointment to view a potential investment opportunity once the nursing home sells, we left her watching her favorite TV program with her earphones on (to avoid blasting out her neighbors).

Recently we offered to take to her room a set of pictures (her father, brother, her family when she was young & a woodcut of Phil done by Lucy) that had always had pride of place in her lounge. She declined. Today she had us rearrange the pictures already in her room moving some into the more easily seen positions, and others to the background or windowsill. Later Pam reflected on her choice and we realized that she no longer wanted to easily see dead people (her mother, Freddy Priddis, Fliss, Phil, Roy, etc) and only wanted recent pictures of family members still around, with my formal portrait picture in pride of place, which we thought rather interesting.

In the evening P & N went out to have dinner with the Nursing Home co-owner/manager & his wife, and shortly after John had eaten his own supper Robbie Hartwell rang from the top floor flat & invited me up for a chat. We were both part of the Church Youth Group & social set in the early sixties, had last seen each other probably in 1964 and have spent 40 & 45 years respectively in the USA, both of us have lost our life partners within the last 4 years, so we had a lot of catching up to do. It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

U.K. Duty Visit - Day 19

This was a day of varying activities. Nick went out to meet with the family lawyer/tax man for advice on his & Pam’s behalf. Pam made a huge start on Mum-Mum’s wardrobe, primarily making selections for Mum-Mum to choose from, especially the summer clothes she will need later in the year, as well as making up bundles of “charity shop” donations. I took advantage of Nick’s scanner that can scan & then separate for PC filing up to six separate pictures simultaneously; scanning the hardcopies I will take back to Indiana anyway.

To our astonishment the weather cleared for a while mid-morning treating us to some blue skies, sunshine & moderate temperatures so we all simultaneously proposed, as soon as Nick returned, that we take the walk we had hoped would have become “usual”. It was nice & refreshing. Once back, Pam & Nick left for a lunch with former Eastbourne friends, and I continued scanning before microwaving a chicken curry for my lunch.

By early afternoon it had become dismal again and later it started raining quite hard. We headed to the nursing home & Mum-Mum. There she chose the clothes she still wants and we marked them for laundry purposes & put them away for her in drawers and her wardrobe. After quite a lengthy stay with her we finally left and detoured to one of the nicer supermarkets for immediate supplies plus a few additional items for me to try & pack and take home.

I also found today that I can no longer access my bank account since the switch from IUB to First whatever, and I will be very glad to get back home & start getting my affairs in order again.

U.K. Duty Visit - Day 18

This day had all the D’s from yesterday with the addition of super low clouds, or maybe fog making it even more miserable & dreary. We went out in the morning & parked in the Arndale Center but did most of our shopping in the streets outside. We added more prepaid time to our dongle (telephonic Internet connector), and also went to the post office & established that shipping a box of stuff home was not a financially sensible option compared to paying airline fees for an extra bag. We visited Sainsbury’s en route back through the Center to the parking garage, having done P & N’s other shopping, but did not buy. Finally we went back to the flat and had a lunch of good old British bangers with potatoes & beans. In the course of the last two days all ninety-something scans of old family photos, plus all the pictures I have taken so far on the trip are now loaded in both Pam’s and in Nick’s computers.

In the afternoon we unsuccessfully went to the Sovereign swimming center & failed to get a racing swimsuit for Pam to take to Faye, and then were equally unsuccessful at a giant Tesco. We went on to the nursing home & spent the afternoon with Mum-Mum, reorganizing her some more as far as clothes, her drawers in general & her “bar”, and then had desultory conversation & did a couple of crosswords before saying goodbye & heading back to the flat. She was quite bright & looked very well, having had her hair “done” at the home earlier.

To add to my general dissatisfaction I am now convinced, after having visited all the major supermarkets, that Rowntrees no longer package just the red and black fruit pastilles and also that liquid Bovril is unobtainable, at least in southern Britain. More personally, my cold seems to have returned with a vengeance both in the streaming nose & even more irritating (both to me and those around me) is the incessant dry cough, which nothing seems to touch.

U.K. Duty Visit - Day 17

Dull, dreary, dismal, depressing day of downpours describes this day the best (for my alliterative friend) as it was a day with virtually no redeeming qualities. Much of the morning was spent as first one & then a second realtor inspected the flat to provide us with a second and third opinion as to how best to present the flat for sale & roughly the kind of price that might be expected once it is ready for market.

Pam & I worked with pictures & with re-setting up Pam with a viable Flickr account so that she can see the USA side of the family’s pictures on a timely basis. In due course we had the lamb, along with separate vegetables that Nick & I had bought; very nice & just right for three of us despite being labeled as “for four”.

In the afternoon we went out & stopped first at Mum-Mum’s lawyers offices to get the documents previously stored there & that we will need to proceed with the sale of the flat. Then we went on to Mum-Mum in the nursing home & had a productive visit, sorting out a few things for her, putting up some more pictures for her, and generally chatting and (of course) doing crosswords. At a most suitable time her former helper stopped by with a bunch of flowers & intending to visit, so we took our leave of them & headed back to Eastbourne. We stopped at a supermarket, to get supplies for the flat, a few things for me to take home, and a lot of alcoholic beverages to take to Mum-Mum’s “cellar” tomorrow. We were reasonably successful and headed home for the evening.

U.K. Duty Visit - Day 16

This was a day that very largely did not go according to plan. The reason was the (popularly misconceived as “typical”) English weather. There was almost non-stop rain, varying from light drizzle to heavy downpour, but very cold on any exposed human surfaces. Initially we were not bothered as the three of us visited Mum-Mum quite early, finding her much the same but incrementally improved. We did some minor sorting & rearranging her personal stuff in the room, chatted, somewhat repetitively, and as usual fell back on a crossword to keep things going. As always she was delighted to see us, and, knowing we would be back tomorrow, not concerned when we took out leave in order to go and pick up Pat & Ange.

All five of us piled into Nick’s car and we headed along and out to the Sovereign Harbor, dashing from car park to some cover through the rain. We all had coffees and shared some pastries and began to plan alternatives to our former plan for a long walk across the Downs. After a short, damp walk to see a bit more of the harbor we again piled into the car and headed for Pevensey making a long tour of the sea front behind the barrier houses on their bank that protects the marsh from storms & high tides.

Since the road fringes it we looped around for a better look at the ruins of the ancient Pevensy castle complex, once thought to be 1500 years old but now thought to be 6-700 years older than that, in part. We walked in, but the rain got harder & when we found we would need to pay we beat a retreat back to the car. Eventually we headed back & took a motor tour of Eastbourne going from one Nick association to another.

We headed on up to the downs, thinking, erroneously, that the Beachy Head pub would not be very busy on such a nasty day, but we did get a table for the five reasonably quickly and we had a long leisurely and very nice lunch. On leaving we headed west as far as Birling Gap, but didn’t stay long, only Pat & Ange even trying to view the Seven Sisters from the balcony top of the stairway down. Time was now running out so we headed back to the hotel, all made our goodbyes, separated and we three returned to the flat to take it easy for the rest of the day.

U.K. Duty Visit - Day 15

This was the Bron/Robb day. After a nice frost (no doubt considered sharp over here) everything was sparkling in the bright sunshine as Nick & I set off for London around 8:30 AM. Since it was a Saturday we had little trouble, although I was very glad it was Nick doing the driving (dodging & weaving?), especially as we got closer to Katy’s. Much of the day’s activity concerned either the children, or houses and flats, realtors, etc. Pam & I walked to a nearby emporium for some lunch supplies. I couldn’t help reflecting, as I looked around, that I would have needed a team of horses to get Maria out of there had she been with us!

After lunch we left Pam to babysit the sleeping kids (a state that lasted about 3 microseconds after we left) and went looking at the neighborhood Ben & Katy would like and at various dwellings on the market, just from the outside. I found it somewhat mind-boggling that the equivalent area of four of my family rooms stacked one above the other was worth close to a million dollars!

We returned to Katy’s for a “cuppa” and then made our farewells and headed back to Eastbourne. I must admit that previous reluctance to contemplate relocation to the UK was reinforced 1000%! I simply could not bear to live here anymore.

Back in Eastbourne we watched some Olympics (the British are simply ecstatic about their gold). However, we discovered that the quick meal Nick & I had bought required two hours in the oven, so we moved to plan B, our last bit of pasta & some sauce Katy had frozen & sent back with us!

U.K. Duty Visit - Day 14

This was a pleasant, gentle sort of day both in weather and socially. The primary activity of the morning was a visit to Mum-Mum, who was glad to see us but seemed a bit down. We later concluded that she has forgotten how recent the operation was and is now expecting to feel as well as she did a year ago already. She did say that the pain in her hip was far, far less than before. We again kept things going, when nurses weren’t attending her, as usual by doing crosswords, for which her mind is still good. We eventually left around lunchtime and bought a few culinary supplies en route home.

After lunch we enjoyed some quiet time and finally went out into the largely sunny day and made our usual vigorous seafront walk to the Martello Tower and back up the hill to the free parking, which was much fuller than recent days, as the locals took advantage of the nice day. We then identified a restaurant for the evening & made a reservation, after which we went up onto the Downs as far as Belle Toute (former) lighthouse and scoped out the proposed mass walk scheduled for Sunday, thereby cutting our grandiose ideas down to size.

In the evening we picked up Pat & Ange, who had made a nice long visit to Mum-Mum themselves in the afternoon, and went and had a nice leisurely Chinese dinner, served to us but buffet style in that we could order a few dishes at a time, with more following until we were all well (over?) fed. All in all it was a pleasant and relatively stress-free day.

U.K. Duty Visit - Day 13

This was a dismal day, cool and largely wet, with just a short break in the afternoon, providing little incentive for early activities. At mid-morning Nick & I went out, first to the Meads for some necessities plus a bottle of wine for Mum-Mum, then on to Hailsham & the nursing home. Mum-Mum was, of course, delighted to see us. We stayed about 2 hours, chatting, and doing crosswords. I was delighted that she was still quite well able to contribute. Eventually, we unpacked her suitcase from the hospital & put everything away for her & took our leave just as they were serving lunch.

Back at the flat we made lunch for ourselves, watched some Olympics, read my paper on-line, and then I got back to scanning. I have now done all the one-of-a-kind pictures (about 95) and I am delighted with the results. We eventually got a call from Pat, made plans for the evening and since we were in a brief spell of drier weather went out. We booked a table for dinner in the Meads, then went to the usual parking place & walked briskly, with the wind down by the banging & crashing sea, and against the wind, a little more sheltered back up the pavement (sidewalk). It did us both good, although we just made it back to the car in time to avoid a serious dampening.

Later we went down and met Pat & Ange at their hotel & all went in Nick’s car to the Meads where we spent a truly enjoyable evening. The food, all three courses, was delicious & I was glad nobody from Sandcrest Medicine could see me ignoring dictums left and right. We have arranged to meet for dinner tomorrow as well.

U.K. Duty Visit - Day 12

The majority of this day was bright sunshine & gentle breezes, with just the statutory shower in the late afternoon. Serious activity began at mid-morning when we drove halfway down the hill to the end of free parking and took what is becoming our “usual walk” which was very pleasant under the weather circumstances. Afterwards Nick dropped me and the wheelchair at the Esperance Hospital & while he went to a car auction (just for the experience against the future) I joined Mum-Mum, made sure all was ready, we had coffee together, I got as nurse to do something about her bare feet (they’d been wrapped on the way there so we didn’t have socks & shoes). We hadn’t been able to get an appropriate taxi until noon. In due course we vacated the room, with some help, and established ourselves in the lobby.

The taxi was only a few minutes late, all went well with the loading, although the walker was a tight squeeze beside the wheelchair, in which Mum-Mum rode. The journey was smooth & speedy and the nursing home was prepared for us and she was duly installed in “her” room, just in time to get lunch, although she wasn’t very hungry. Nick had preceded us there & had a chat with his partner/nursing home manager. Once we were sure all was well we left Mum-Mum to digest and rest & headed to the flat to eat some lunch.

The early afternoon was spent in programming my laptop to work with the scanner/printer & all the attendant irritations of the switch from Nick to me, but eventually I got it working & the bugs out. Nick left for tea with the family’s former long-term pastor (who married both Faye & Katy, inter alia) & I slogged away scanning the one-of-a-kind pictures into the PC. I have made better progress than I had expected to do. I’m sure I’ll do some more tomorrow, as they seem to be coming out well.

It is good to know that the whole hospital/operation phase is over & done.

U.K. Duty Visit - Day 11

This day was largely dominated by those at the far ends of the age scale. We took the morning gently since none of us had slept particularly well, me because I had forgotten the cold/sleep aid pill. While Katy took the two little ones to see Mum-Mum, Pam & I sorted through the last of the picture pile, dividing duplications between us & assigning a great many more to the “to be scanned” pile.

Katy & the children arrived & largely dominated the rest of the day. After we had all eaten, Pam & Nick went out, primarily to visit Mum-Mum in the hospital. Luckily the children both took decently long naps so Katy and John were able to have some one-on-one “quality time”, during which we both learned a fair bit.

Pam & Nick returned, reporting that the outside was windy but bearable, so John, Katy, the kids and Pam as well went down to the front. Katy wanted to park on the level, near the bandstand which, of course, despite few other vehicles, was in the active “Pay & Display” zone – which applies to 90+% of all parking except way up the hill towards Mum-Mum’s flat. Having little change between us she negotiated with an adjacent car for the breakdown of a pound, we bought our ticket & set off. Pam & Anna went down the beach, staying close to the groyne to get a windbreak, while John, Katy & Luke in the pushchair went at warp speed along to the pier and back – Katy demonstrating that she would be in the championship class of mall-walkers! It was a great burst of exercise. The sea was really rough – just as Maria would have liked it.

Back at the flat more discussions followed, severely interrupted by the demands of the infantry; we all ate something, the kids were readied for bed then they, Katy & Pam took off for London leaving Nick & I in peace.

Before Pam left we got a call from the surgeon, saying that unless the nursing home would have a problem, he would discharge Mum-Mum tomorrow, and let her recover from both the operation & the urinary tract infection at the home.

U.K. Duty Visit - Day 10

Wow! We awoke to bright sunshine & clear blue skies! It didn’t endure all day, but did last for much of the morning. Unsurprisingly there was also quite a sharp frost. Nevertheless, we decided to take advantage and went for our sea-front walk quite early (by UK standards, anyway). John was so pleased he took a couple of pictures to put on Flickr.

While waiting for Katy to drive down from London Pam & I started tackling the large stack of “scan??” pictures, starting with rough sorts and gradually getting more subject specific. As we suspected there are a lot of duplications, or nearly so (taken on the same occasion) so when we found “one each” we took them to diminish the pile for scanning before we both went back home to our own scanners. There is still a lot of sorting to do, but the advent of Katy & two toddlers encouraged us to return things to piles, safely away from little fingers!

I am beginning to realize that my “available weight” (& suitcase space) allowance is unlikely to be enough, so have begun thinking about options, as I realize a fair bit more than lightweight photographs will need to go to the USA one way or another.

After entertaining the kids for a while and all catching up a bit we had lunch, a fairly long drawn out affair, after which the children were consigned to their grandparents’ care while Katy & John (with his laptop) went to the hospital. At first Mum-Mum was a bit down & feeling cold, so we left the nurses to get her back into bed, warm & comfortable, then rejoined her. Katy is a marvel with her grandmother, although I was not surprised. When things slowed down the PC was used to show Mum-Mum the pictures taken so far (including a few from this very morning) as well as some of John’s older ones.

After returning, Pam, Katy & the little ones went for a walk, getting very muddy/chalky in the process (we will NOT be walking the cliff-tops anytime soon), Nick watched some recorded crazy skiing Olympics, and I caught up with the news from Indiana. Katy & kids left for their overnight stay with friends and will return tomorrow, while we continue to do this ‘n that.

U.K. Duty Visit - Day 9

Another day of universally gray skies, although there was some brightness out over the sea in the morning, and actual precipitation was limited to drizzle during the mid-day hours. The cold continues into the tedious stage, much worse on first arising than during the rest of the day.

We largely took a break from our sifting & sorting activities today, electing to take a decently long and reasonably brisk walk along the sea front, the cliff-top areas being suspected of being too mucky after the snowmelt, drizzles & absence of either sun or a decent drying breeze. I made a couple of “photo-ops” to be sure there was some record of us here. After judicious cropping a few of them seemed to be good enough to upload to Flickr. Even more than usual there were a lot of phone calls made & received.

Once back suitably weary, Pam cooked our roast pork lunch, including roast potatoes & roast parsnips, along with more colorful boiled vegetables. The meal was delicious. After we were done & had cleaned up – we do miss our dishwasher machines, disposals, and even mixer taps (faucets) – we headed out again.

We spent our afternoon with Mum-Mum, who was a little less perky than yesterday having reached the 3-day mark after the operation, with which Pam sympathizes, & we assume a reduction in strength of medications. However she was delighted we were there, and having her traditional Sunday crossword with us the time passed quite well. We eventually returned to the flat & have no further ambitions for today.

U.K. Duty Visit - Day 8

This is yet another largely gray & gloomy day with nothing startling to report. I feel “over the hump” but will no doubt be irritated by this cold for many more days to come. I have adequate voice to enable communication but I definitely “sound funny” especially to my own ears!

We continued to plow through photos and memorabilia, a long morning of it, but we think we are near the end of discovering any more caches not yet reviewed. Now will begin the process of seeing what are duplications (or nearly so) and what most definitely need to be scanned before we separate - not an easy exercise in itself. We (Pam, really) have decided to make up one small album of modern pictures for Mum-Mum, using only those in which she still may remember the subjects or locations.

We finished up “Pam’s stew” with potatoes & vegetables as our primary meal and after a while left to visit Mum-Mum. We were all delighted to see how much better she looks and how much brighter she acts & speaks, although the memory lapses are still rather disturbing to us, as we have not really grown accustomed yet – especially when she looks so well.

We had intended to go out for “Sunday Dinner” until we realized that tomorrow is Valentine’s Day itself, meaning crowded pubs/restaurants, slow service & probably expensive “special menus” so after leaving the hospital we went to Waitrose & bought supplies to enable us to make it through until Monday morning.

U.K. Duty Visit - Day 7

I had gone to bed almost totally unable to breathe, but having taken one of Nick’s “bombs” & liberally used my prescription-strength nose spray I was amazed to wake up after an undisturbed night still breathing nasally. Once I was vertical all that changed. A little later while greeting Pam as she made their morning tea we discovered that I literally had no voice at all! As the day wore on I was able to communicate at close range to some extent, but I sound extraordinary.

This was Mum-Mum’s 94th birthday. We all signed a card for her and in the afternoon Pam & Nick added it to the many others in her hospital room. During a leisurely morning we tackled the second bookcase, this time older books & many mementos. The books are gradually being sorted into piles, mine/the girls, Pete, & Pam & Nick, plus those that nobody wants & which appear to have no intrinsic value. This process, along with sorting mementos, again largely duplications including many postcards filled up the morning. I’m beginning to suspect I may have to post/ship some books home separately, but we’ll see what they weigh.

Eventually we went down to The Pilot and had lunch, curry for John & Nick, pork for Pam, & established that Mum-Mum’s (temporarily John’s) credit card & code does indeed work. We then separated, John walking up the steep back alley & around back to the flat, for a leisurely afternoon of trying to get better, and Pam & Nick on to the hospital to spend some time with Mum-Mum, who apparently drifted in and out but was glad to see them when “with it”. They also shopped for a few supplies to keep us going in the flat.

The rest of the day bodes to be a light supper & lots of television, as Nick will not be denied.

U.K. Duty Visit - Day 6

What a difference a day makes! We awoke this morning to a significant snowfall, enough to effectively paralyze Eastbourne & surrounding areas, especially the hilly streets, which provided quite a bit of amusement as non-snow-savvy drivers in 2-wheel drive cars tried & failed to reach the top of the street outside the flat. Were we ever lucky! Part of our concern yesterday, as flurries came & went, was the proviso in Mum-Mum’s schedule of “if it doesn’t snow”! Had the original schedule been held the operation would not have happened as the surgeon quite literally was unable to get to the hospital today! Luckily we only had a flurry or two more during the day, plus some brightness & it was well above freezing so the roads became more & more passable as the day wore on.

I (John) took two hits today. The progress of the cold Nick gave me made for a miserable & relatively sleepless night, and although not totally debilitating we all agreed it was wise to stay inside & not go shopping and especially not go to see Mum-Mum in a hospital environment. Otherwise it is more irritating than anything else. The second blow came when reading the Republic Newspaper online & seeing a front page headline that the only card that still works over here will be “killed” on February 20th, making me totally dependent on the family for any expenses I might incur during the last week. No doubt in amongst the 3-weeksworth of mail I will retrieve from the Post office on my return will be a replacement under the new bank’s name & no doubt some new PIN that I will have to get changed. But I do feel strangely vulnerable, even though via the family we can get around the issue.

When Pam called the hospital to see how Mum-Mum was we learned that to their dismay, even though a catheter was in place she felt a need to pee, forgot she was in hospital, got out of bed & subsequently crashed to the floor, dislocating her newly installed joint, while her surgeon was snowbound somewhere out of town! Luckily it occurred right around a shift change & with extra staff around she was restored to bed, given a strong sedative (rather than more anesthesia) & another doctor was able to manipulate her joint back into place without any other damage! Much later in the day the primary surgeon called Pam to fill her in. Mum-Mum did not have arthritic degeneration, as supposed (although the speed of her decline amazed everybody) but something called vascular necrosis, which means that the blood had been cut off from that area of her hip bone & the bone was literally crumbling away. This dictated a change to the original plan, but the “fix” was successful. They also think she still has (or has yet again) a urinary tract infection the irritation of which caused her desire to go to the bathroom. With lots of hindsight a number of changes have been made to ensure she stays in bed when she is supposed to do so, plus the surgeon will fit an external brace on her leg to ensure that no twisting occurs for several weeks & it has regained some strength.

The telephone has been busy. I called Michelle to update her/Marissa (who was no doubt still in bed at an hour later on Central Time). Right after Pam & Nick went out to do some shopping & move the car (Nick’s “strategic spot” proved to be too close to the icy corner & the car was nearly hit) and, as it happened, the roads in town were improving so they went and paid a quick visit to Mum-Mum, who appeared to be more worried about my cold than about her own condition! Katy called me for an update. Pat called me and we had a chat & arranged to meet next week. Pam later called her back to give Pat their mobile number & explain why she won’t be here when Pat & Ange visit. In fact, for one reason or another the telephone has been well used, incoming & outgoing, all day.

Once Pam & Nick were back, and all done with the outside world until the evening, when Pam went back out to have the dinner cancelled yesterday, we had lunch and settled in. We continued with the massive sort out of pictures (still largely duplicates we had sent, but also some seriously old ones) and the “to be scanned” pile grows bigger. We are definitely making progress, unless we find another cache in the other bookcase. So we decided finally to just rest and relax until tomorrow.

U.K. Duty Visit - Day 5

This was not the sort of day one wishes to have very often, if ever again! If people think that Indiana’s weather is changeable, just imagine it at 10 times speed! It has snowed some six times, been gray at least as many and been bright and sunny six times, & that is only the morning and afternoon! It has also been fiercely windy all day.

All of us had a poor night, especially me, as I suspect I am in the throes of coming down with Nick’s cold. Nevertheless we were out of the flat before 9:30AM and over to the nursing home where they had prepared Mum-Mum for the day excellently. Mum-Mum had her last food and drink before 7:30.

At 10:00 AM the “handicapped accessible” taxi came & Mum-Mum was loaded in her wheelchair. John rode with her and P & N followed in the car. All went smoothly, but incredibly slowly. After a while she was admitted to her first, or preparatory room, where we killed time while little happened but periodic paperwork & the basic checks. Eventually, Nick & John went out for a walk to get some lunch, getting Pam a sandwich on the way back.

The doctor, an absolute delight of a man, came & saw her & spoke to Pam & I afterwards outside the room. Incredibly, when asked what she was there for, Mum-Mum said “Is it my arm?” Suitably prompted she eventually remembered it was to make the agony in her leg (hip) go away. As the final stages of her preparation were underway they became concerned about the state of her legs, as any sort of “open wound” is a show-stopper. They eventually took her up to the surgeon for final review while we three chewed out fingernails wondering if the already long day was all for nothing. At last we got word that they would proceed; so with nothing else we could contribute we returned to the flat & tried to relax a bit, while watching sunshine change to snow.

At 6:00 PM Pam called the hospital and eventually found someone who knew and could tell us that it had been successful. Mum-Mum will spend about the next 24 hours in an approximation of intensive care before being moved to a regular room for a few more days.

Since the friend she had expected to meet this evening lived out in the country (with no road attention at all) the last snow squall caused a cancellation, so after a while Nick & John drove down to the front to the Fish ‘N Chip shop to get our dinner (even a few mushy peas for John) which we all enjoyed very much. With no plans or expectations for the evening this day’s report will be concluded.

U.K. Duty Visit - Day 4

We got off to a fairly slow, gentle start as both P & N had passed poor nights & John was in no hurry for anything, playing with his PC & drinking coffee. We were all surprised, after seeing snow settle last night, to see dry roads and not a sign of snow. In due course Nick went off with a friend (who was buying a house) to offer an unofficial review service of the type for which he used to charge a fee. It took most of the morning.

Meanwhile, John & Pam took on the first bookcase. P & N will eventually ship a container to Australia that could include a number of books (mostly very old “Book of the Month” reprints) in which Pete had expressed an interest. John picked out a couple of books, and Pam a few more to which we had a connection & most of the rest are now marked for disposal.

The bottom section was full of photos & the rest of the morning was spent in sorting into piles, one for scanning, two for each of us only, and a lot of obvious duplicates many of which Pam will add to the container stack with a view to a long-term project of making up albums for her children of their childhood.

As lunchtime approached Pam realized she was developing a migraine, took a pill & went to lie down. John & Nick made themselves some lunch & then relaxed, read and fiddled around. We eventually went off to the Nursing Home to see Mum-Mum, and John entertained her with lots of photos while Pam lay on the bed quietly listening. We decided to leave the “packing” for the hospital until tomorrow morning.

The day was chilly, and sufficiently windy to discourage outdoor walking, but from noon on there actually were spells of bright sunshine in between the clouds.

U.K. Duty Visit - Day 3

Major hiccup!!!! None of John’s credit cards can be used in the UK since the UK now ONLY accepts cards with a chip & associated PIN number! This was discovered while trying to buy some extra Vodafone Internet access time & did cause a heart palpitation or two. However, enough UK cash had been brought to cover that, and shortly thereafter it was proven that my new ATM card, with pin, does work, allowing cash to be drawn. Later it was decided that John will use Mum-Mum’s cards & pin for the duration & let Katy sort it all out later, to which she has agreed. However, note should be taken of this insular UK aberration.
Talking of Vodafone, after two tedious phone calls & a little computer time Nick was able to get the “18-year old” restriction lifted & we have now been able to see both Marissa’s and M & D’s new Flickr photos.
We did some assorted shopping in the Arndale Center, and again mutually agreed about how much we would hate to live in Eastbourne ever again! Since much of the day was gray, frequently rainy (until mid-afternoon when it turned to snow) there was no exercise walking. Nick went off to lunch with his old Rotary organization, Pam & John heated up Indian Food from Sainsbury’s, and began the early discussions, mostly around pictures & photos, of who does or doesn’t want what. P & N have installed a printer/scanner in the flat, so all desired pictures will be scanned to ensure we all have everything we want.
Later in the afternoon we popped down to the Meads (in the car) & picked up a couple of things we forgot in the morning before heading on to Mum-Mum. When we got there it was to find Jacqueline, Molly’s daughter, visiting with a friend in tow. We all chatted a while, with me wondering why Jacqueline seemed familiar but unplaceable. Luckily they stopped en route out to talk to Nick, who is avoiding Mum-Mum because he has a cold & doesn’t want her to catch it before the operation, & after a tip from Pam John was able to mend fences with Jacqueline (who looks amazingly like her mother although I don’t think we have met for 50 years).
She and her friend were replaced by Sharon, who used to clean, shop, and do odd-jobs for Mum-Mum, and still visits and after she left John fired up his PC & showed some photos until Mum-Mum showed signs of tiredness. We then left, drove through the snow, which is now settling a little bit & headed home for an evening of R & R. Katy called and we all had a chat with her.

U.K. Duty Visit - Day 2

Having been picked up at the airport we sailed along back to Eastbourne, with little traffic problems as it was still early on a Sunday. The day was largely dull, but had a few bright moments. I felt like I was surviving on half a brain pretty much all day and despite falling into a number of brief cat-naps I managed to survive the whole day without falling into a major sleep at an inappropriate time. On that subject I did go to bed fairly early and proceeded to sleep about 10 hours straight!

After settling in and relaxing for a while we drove down to the front and took a nice brisk walk which did all of us good. From there we headed to the nursing home where Pam & I visited with Mum-mum while Nick either did errands or read a paper in the lounge area. Mum-mum was obviously happy to see us, although sustained conversation was difficult but mutually doing a crossword helped. We had coffee together and eventually made our escape as lunchtime approached.

Pam had previously prepared a stew which she heated while vegetables cooked and we had a nice late lunch. The rest of the day was just talking, reading, playing with PCs and watching TV. The Vodafone thing works, once set-up, on John's PC (allowing Internet & hence this blog) but we can not access Flickr until we somehow manage to convince Vodafone that we are "over 18 years old!!!!") We'll try and do that Monday.

UK Trip 2010 - Start

There is snow on the ground, but none coming down. The accumulation appears to be far less than was threatened by the weather doomsayers so at this point, two hours before departure, a certain amount of optimism prevails. Packing is virtually done, all but the really last minute stuff so I appear to be good to go.

Well, I've never blogged from above 10,000 feet before, even though it costs me a little, but I thought I'd try! Michelle came over promptly at 9:00AM, as planned, but rather than hand about we hurry-scurried to get the bags in the car, do a last minute check & head for the airport. It was good we had an extra half-hour, as we needed it. Michelle did an excellent job and I was glad to be a FWD vehicle as it was definitely slick. We must have seen 10-15 cars off the road, and 5-10 semis (possibly more of both) some alone & others getting help and adding to the traffic confusion. However, with all due caution we reached the airport & short-term garage parking.

I was glad Michelle came in with me and showed me the ropes as humans won't think about helping until you have tried the machines & inserted a credit card. Although my inyternational segment is supposed to be 2 bags at no charge, and even though I checked them straight through to Gatwick I was still gonged $50. My "listed" ticket price was $700+ but so far I must be over the $1000 mark, and I'm wondering what the grand total will be by the time I get back home.

Once we had done our thing at the machine, which didn't want to scan my passport the first few times but eventually did the Delta girl was quite happy to tag my bags & take them & so we headed into the staging area. We both had a Starbucks & sat and chatted for a while. Michelle was not in a hurry as I-65 southbound was clearly in more congestion, stalled traffic, trouble than nortbpound had been & needed to clear.

After we had drunk our lattes Michelle gave me a lesson in simplifying passage through security & coached me into what to put where. After we had said our goodbyes her teaching paid dividends and passage through Security was as painless as might be expected, mildly tedious, annoying, but better safe than sorry, and it was the only time necessary this trip. After finding the gate and waiting a while, we duly boarded.

I discovered two things. One is that Kindles fall in the “if it has batteries and an on-off switch” category and is supposed to be off between gate departure (or arrival) and below 10,000 feet, which is annoying as long as these activities can take. Secondly I discovered one can buy “Internet time” & use it above 10,000 feet, so for the sheer novelty I did so. Assuming that this applied to all Delta planes I bought 24 hours rather than “one flight” but it appears that the facility only applies to domestic flights – ah, well, one lives & learns!

Once in Atlanta I did some walking and some electric train riding & found my way to the Gatwick gate with hours to spare, so I played with both Kindle & PC but (wrongly as it turned out) didn’t do any Internet stuff, thinking it would help pass the time in the air over the Atlantic. It eventually dawned on me that it would be a long time until I ate on the plane so I went looking & found, combined with a Nathan’s an Arthur Treachers Fish & Chips (having thought that the whole chain went out of business years ago). Not sure what kind of triangular fish they catch on this side of the Atlantic, but it was quite tasty, the chips (fat fries) were excellent and they did have malt vinegar.

On went the tedium, back at the gate. Watched our plane hauled in, empty, & stocked up & prepped. Read my Kindle some more & otherwise followed the tedious routines of modern air travel. It turns out a late comer is occupying the far side aisle seat of my expected-to-be-empty row, so I won’t get a 3-seat stretch-out after all.

The first part of the flight was strictly routine, a classic “been there, done that”. I did not get a diabetic meal, which didn’t surprise me, but the food was bearable. Unfortunately during the middle of the “night” part of the flight, while most, including me were trying to get a semblance of sleep we moved into turbulence and despite trying all kinds of altitude variations they could not find us smooth air. Breakfast was nearly cancelled, no beverages were served although at the last minute they did pass out the pre-packed snack with included a small sealed orange juice.

Everything went well at Gatwick, I decided to come in as an American, so that on leaving it will be obvious where I had come from. Baggage claim was not as slow as sometimes, nothing to declare in customs & out to see Pam & Nick who had been waiting for every bit of two minutes.