Tuesday 9/5/17 Johannesburg

Yesterday was a long day of being on the plane.  We got up early and went to breakfast at the hotel before getting on the airport shuttle at 6:20.  We got to the airport in plenty of time - Lana even had enough time to do a little shopping!!!  Our flight to Africa was long, but smooth.  I sat next to a couple from Amsterdam going on holiday to South Africa.  They were being brave to rent a car and go traveling on their own.  Lana sat next to a young man from South Africa who gave her a few tips on local dining specialities.  Our OAT driver, Gordon, met us at the airport and made sure we were all set with the hotel before leaving.  I must say, OAT does a lovely job of taking care of their guests.  Gordon told a few funny stories about things that have happened while looking for animals in the bush.  In one of them, he picked up a woman for a drive to a bush camp and asked her if there was anything she needed before their drive.  She mentioned that she needed a new hairbrush.  He said that was fine, but what happened to your old one.  She said that a baboon stole it!  He said she could have easily gotten it back by looking for the most well groomed baboon in the bunch. Our room was lovely and we were tired, but I did have a little trouble falling to sleep, but when I did, I was out for the count!  I can't give you any impressions of the country as it was dark when we got in last night and from looking out the window this morning, the view is of any anonymous city.  Later this morning we will fly to our first safari camp so am looking forward to getting out into the bush n seeing some of the country.  I do have to say that the breakfast buffet at the Protea Hotel here is extensive.  There were various stations for omelets, bread, juices, fruits, sushi, etc.  Your finished plate was whisked away as soon as you ate your last bite.  The staff is well trained and very friendly - lots of big smiles.  So . . . if there is wifi at Thornybush, I will get back on to let you know what happens to the rest of the day.

Amsterdam 9/3/2017

Wow!  It seems like I've been up for hours and hours (mainly because I have)!  We woke up early yesterday morning and had the car all packed so that when Lana and John got to the house a little before 8, we were all set to go.  We drove up to Laura and Nick's Hull house, visited with everyone, had a tour of the house and a quick bite to eat and then headed to the ferry.  The ferry is 5 minutes from the house, but I'm glad we left early as when it was time to board, we were the last ones allowed on board as it was very crowded.  Dan and Alex were right behind us - they were going to go into the city for the afternoon - and they didn't get on the boat!  The shuttle was easy and half price for seniors.  A shuttle took us to our terminal (a 5 minute drive) and we had arrived at Logan.  We got to our gate, which was at the end of the world and then just read, walked around, and people watched.  There was a flight that took off to Amsterdam a couple of hours before ours and there was a young couple who came off the plane after everyone had boarded.  Apparently, she has a huge sensitivity to peanuts and someone on the flight previous had eaten some.  The washed down the seat, but she could still smell it.  I don't really blame her as something like that could mean life or death to many people.  Unfortunately, that meant that they had to off-load their luggage, which took over a half hour so the rest of the people on that plane had a delayed take off.  We had no such issues on our flight and took off fairly close to the time we were assigned.  I did doze a bit, but not enough to call it sleep.  Dave had an "ants in the pants" lady sitting next to him AND she spilled red wine on his pants, which fortunately was removed with soda water.  We arrived in Amsterdam at 7:30 this morning and took a shuttle to our hotel.  We stowed our bags and then walked to the train station.  We eventually - with a little help from a young man - figured how to work the ticket machine, but unfortunately go on a train going in the wrong direction.  I told the conductor and, wow, what customer service!  He got off with us at the next stop, walked us around to the correct train to go back towards the city center and even passed us along to a conductor on the new train!  (Like that would happen every day in the U. S.!).  We arrived at Central Station and walked over to the Maritime Museum.  We had a lovely lunch in the museum cafe and then did a tour of the museum.  There were some awesome exhibits - one of which I think I will mention to Mystic Seaport!  We went outside to see the boats in the bay and discovered a swimming race was just starting.  Hundreds of swimmers were jumping into the bay and swimming down one of the canals in waves.  Just like a road race, they were swimming various distances - 2 K, 5 K and even 10 K!  It was fun to watch and I hope I got a few good shots.  We walked back to the station and then rode the train back to the hotel.  When we got off at our stop, we had to ask directions back to the hotel as we had gotten off at a different part of the station and couldn't see which way to walk.  A limo driver was very kind and set up off in the correct direction.  We took a respite for an hour or so and then went down to the desk to have our boarding passes for tomorrow printed.  One of the clerks had a suggestion for dinner so we went for another walk.  We passed it the first time, but asked a couple on the street and walked back two blocks to find it.  In our defense, the name of the restaurant was obscured by a large umbrella over the outside tables.  The dinner was very nice and one of the waiters even gave us a ride back to the hotel as we were all flagging by that time!  We have showered and are ready to hit the sack (actually, Dave is snoring already!) and will get up early for our flight to Africa tomorrow morning.  I will try to get pictures on at some point, but my eyes are at half mast so it won't be tonight.  I just wanted you to know that we arrived safely and are ready for our next adventure.

Thursday 7/27/17 Mystic

We got an early start this morning - 6:20 to avoid any traffic that may clog the road.  We made good time - arriving home by 1:30 which included a stop for gas, bathroom breaks, and lunch.  We have just unloaded the truck (just in time as it is sprinkling now) and the first load of wash is in.  The girls are gathering all of their treasures and all is well.  The highlight of today's trip was when we first entered New Jersey and the girls spotted an exit for Buttzville - that prompted a chorus of giggles from the back seat!  We had a wonderful trip and, even though the girls are anxious to see their parents and siblings, they had a great time.

Wednesday 7/26/17 DuBois, PA

Not much to report today - more driving and more construction zones - not much fun.  We did pass the Wright Museum (Orville and Wilbur) and Puxatawny (of groundhog fame).  Ella's big news, as a creme soda lover, is that she found a red one (a combination of cherry and strawberry she said) and Zoe, a non-soda drinker, found an apple juice in a storm trooper bottle.  We did hear from Louise and she said she was feeling a little bit better, but she is still taking her drugs.  They will fly to NH tomorrow.  Hopefully, the trip will be okay for her.  We expect to be home sometime tomorrow afternoon barring anymore traffic delays.  We are looking forward to sleeping in our own bed.

Tuesday 7/25/17 Terra Haute, Indiana

We ended up eating at the Rib Crib last night - tasty and the girls were excited as they got free sundaes with their meals and, on the plus side, we could walk from the hotel.  We then walked over to Target to pick up a new book for me as I am out and I always read before going to sleep.

We got on the road again just before 8.  There wasn't too much to remark upon except that I forgot that western and central Kansas had rolling hills.  It did finally flatten out in Topeka.  We waved hello to Lawrence, Kansas as that is where Amy got her doctorate.  A few "Go, Jayhawks!" out the window and we were gone.  Kansas City traffic was a bit of a mess even at 10 in the morning and we ran into construction here and there - only two bad spots that had us sandwiched between tractor trailers as we slowly went by construction sites in one lane of traffic.  Our most important find was in Casey, IL - exit 129 boasts the largest rocking chair, golf tee, and wind chime in the world!  Unfortunately, none of them was visible from the road.  We arrived in Terre Haute to discover that they are on Eastern time so we did dinner first and now the kids are in the pool.  Tomorrow is another travel day, but we are getting closer and closet to home.

July 24 Salina, KS

We were going to take Mike and Louise out to dinner last night, but Louise was still hurting from her fall so we opted for take-out.  We were all set for Chinese, but when Dave and I got there, they were closed (Sunday).  We knew another restaurant around the corner, but they were also closed.  I looked down Main Street and saw that the Brew Pub was open so we brought back burgers for all.  After dinner Louise iced her ribs again, but when she got up, she was in terrible pain.  We thought at first she was having muscle spasms, but the pain just got worse.  Finally, we got her down the stairs and into the car and Mike took her to the emergency room.  Four hours later, she was diagnosed with one and possibly two fractured ribs!  They sent her home with Vicodin and recommended bed rest.

Louise was still in bed this morning when we came up and I hope she will stay there for 2 or 3 days to allow the ribs to begin the healing process.  We had a quick breakfast, stripped the beds, started a load of towels and got on the road.  The first picture is of Zoe saying good-bye to Sugar in the driveway.  We stopped in Eads for a bathroom break (the first one we had seen for miles) and to switch drivers and stopped for lunch in Kit Carson, CO at the Trading Post Cafe.  About a half hour later, we crossed the border into Kansas.  We passed a sign for Mt. Sunflower, the highest point in Kansas - didn't really expect to see a Mt. anything in Kansas as so much of it is flat.  I saw a doe and three beavers at Louise's this morning - the only other wildlife we encountered today were Angus cattle, 3 llamas, and a hawk.  We did pass lots of fields of corn, wheat, soybeans, rape weed, a few small oil wells, and some very large wind farms.  I really like the wind farms - they look peaceful and majestic and I love the fact that they are so "green".  We got onto I-70 and are stopped for the night in Salina, Kansas.  The girls opted for pool before dinner so I am watching them as I type.  They move between the pool and the hot tub and are having a good time doing forward and backwards somersaults and swimming underwater.

July 23 Alamosa

We had a nice dinner last night.  The girls and I helped Louise prepare a pork tenderloin with pineapple and kiwi salsa, roasted corn salad and stuffed mushrooms and peppers.  Mike grilled burgers and dogs and we had a feast!  We took the dogs for a walk and I had to run back to the house for my camera as we saw the tail end of a rainbow as we approached the end of the driveway.  We sat around and chatted for a bit and the girls tried out a game Mike and Louise have downstairs - electronic Burger Time.  We all went to bed on the early side as we knew we were going to get up early.

We got everyone up and out in good time and drove out to Great Sand Dunes National Park.  The highest dune is 755 feet - very impressive.  We took off our shoes to walk across the shallow river and then walked a long way on the sand before getting to our first dune.  Everyone had a grand time, but there were certainly some spills at the bottoms of the hills.  Zoe did a roll over and got sand in mouth, Mike landed on a rock and got a cut on his elbow, Ella hit her hip on the sled as she landed, and Louise fell and hurt her ribs.  Despite the walking wounded, everyone had a great time.  We stopped back at the visitor center so the girls could collect their last jr. ranger badges and got home in time for lunch.  Mike checked his phone when he got in and discovered that his mom had passed away just an hour before.  She had been in a nursing home in NH for a while, but no one was expecting her fast decline.  We changed our plans so that we will be leaving tomorrow morning instead of Tuesday morning - so we will be getting home a day earlier than expected.  We figure that they need some space to make arrangements to fly to NH, get someone to care for the dogs, etc.  The girls have just come in from the pond.  They had a great time paddling the float all over - saw some frogs and fish, but no beaver (they usually don't come out except early in the morning and in the evening).

The weird shadow picture is of Ella's shadow as she carried her sand board across the parking lot.