Busy August

So, now it is the middle of August. My bride and I both celebrated our 66th birthdays. We did so in places many miles apart! We had been invited to go to a hoe-down at Corrie’s brother’s house in Jenison, Michigan. This was scheduled to take place on August 13. We decided to go a few days early so we could celebrate Corrie’s birthday in Michigan on August 12.

For my birthday on August 5, we went to Hickory Park in Ames for dinner and visited White Oaks winery on the way home. The dinner consisted of a mixed platter of barbequed food, chicken, pork, and including some of the best ribs in the state. The desert menu was our place-mat, so we ate with dessert in mind.

After this great experience off to the winery.

They have a life band at the White Oak winery on Friday nights. When we got there they were playing “our” music; so we got to dance. Monique and I even did a twist... I used some muscles which I did not know I had. They were aching on Saturday, so I must have really had a good work-out. Not too bad for 66, but I had to work of some of the calories, didn’t I ? We had planned to ride our motorbikes, but because there was a solid rain coming down, we had to go on four wheels. We hope to make up for this on this coming weekend. We plan to do a similar trip as last year. (See my blog of August 13, 2010)

For Corrie’s birthday we were in Michigan visiting with family. She celebrated in a nice restaurant in Ionia surrounded by brothers and sisters (and in-laws as well...) We had to hold the hoe down inside, because there were storms in the weather forecast. Most every liked the air-conditioned gym better; no mosquitos to contend with either. On Saturday morning Corrie’s sister, who has been a life-long beautician, “lowlighted” her hair. It turned out really great. She looks younger than her age.

We visited some very nice lake side properties visiting with relatives. On Monday we went to Ludington to visit with my cousin and his wife. We had not seen each other for about 45 years. We took a nice boat ride and enjoyed a scrumptious dinner.

Because we were in Ludington we planned to cross the lake (Lake Michigan) to Wisconsin, rather than drive back to Chicago and fight the traffic there. It was a long day! The boat trip on the SS Badger was great. Sunshiny day with little wind. We stayed on deck the entire crossing, which lasted about 4 ½ hours. Getting there early and waiting for the car to get off-loaded added about another hour or so to this part of the trip. Then driving home, another 8 hours with a stop for pizza on the way. After we unpacked and relaxed we needed to prepare for our motor-bike weekend trip with our kids.

Vacation (5)

I thought it might be fun to share the beauty of Glacier Bay, AK.
Corrie shot the video on the way in, showing the Johns Hopkins area.
The bay was cool, as you can see by the ice floating in the water.
We really enjoyed the beauty of creation and went on to spend many hours in this gorgeous Natural Park.

Vacation (4)

Alaska vacation.

As I said before: most people are enthralled by an Alaska-trip, but for most of us it takes planning and saving. Most people we talk to are either planning to go, wishing to go, or have been there. With the help and encouragement of our daughter and our son-in-law we embarked on a sea cruise from Vancouver, BC, to Seward, AK; followed by a land cruise to Fairbanks, from where we flew home again. We spend the night in Minneapolis, where we were visited by Tony & Dawn, our children from Hollandale, MN.

In my previous post I gave you a very brief description of some of what we saw and did and I shared a few pictures. There are more pictures on the blog-site of our children (http://realrick.blogspot.com) .
Rick and Monique also posted a few albums on face-book. So if you have access to either our or their page you can feast your eyes on many pictures of us and the beauty of Creation we were blessed to see and experience.

We were really blessed with many days of sunshine. The weather in Alaska is usually expected to be cloudy with rain showers, but we mostly missed that; not that we “missed” it. We had four ports of call and we cruised two fjords. During both “days at sea” the weather was more in keeping with Alaska’s norm, but the port visits were enjoyed with beautiful sunshine. We rode a paddle boat in Ketchikan and were treated to a saloon show while on board and the performers explained the days of the gold rush.


We also explored some more of the town and took some nice pictures.

In Juneau we did some sightseeing and got a repair kit for Corrie’s glasses. Her primary glasses broke, her back up glasses were missing one nose pad. I was successful in repairing the back-ups. In the afternoon we went on a bike trip, north of town, in the area of the Mendenhal glacier. After enjoying the beautiful spring scenery,

the snow still in the ditches, we also visited the visitor-center at the glacier. At the close this memorable ride we stopped of at the only authentic commercial brewery in Alaska, appropriate called “Alaska Brewery.” Every thing needed to brew beer here is imported, except the water. We got a really good taste some of their specialties. All in all a very good day.

So, onward to Glacier Bay. The silt filled water was smooth as a mirror, with lots of ice flows, mini bergs. Then we saw where all this ice came from: Marjory glacier did not disappoint us by calving many times while we were in her vicinity. A powerful display of “white thunder” and falling “chunks” of ice. Our brides brought us some special “Captain’s coffee” while we were enjoying the spectacle, during bright sunshine and cool air.





The next day we called on Skagway. This is a very small town, which still retains some of its frontier character. We bought hoodies, expecting cooler weather farther North; and they came in really handy, as expected. In the afternoon we went on a hike, away frm the bustle of the town and all the cruise boat passengers. We hiked along the shore, through the woods and over rocky outcrops.
Obviously we were treated to many gorgeous views and scenery. Spring had fully sprung here also. Again the weather was sunny and relatively warm; although, we did wear our hoodies on the hike.


Overnight the swell became very noticeable. We had ordered breakfast in our room, and although it took some time to arrive, we got it and ate it without spilling any.
During the morning the sea quieted down and by the time we were cruising “College Fjord” it was very still again.
There was a lot of cloud cover, and it misted, so we were privy to some regular Alaskan weather as well. The next day we disembarked without difficulties in Seward. Here we started the land portion of our trip. (To be continued)

Sea, sand and sun

We are on our way home from CEF, with a stopover in Panama City Beach.
We had a great time in Missouri, working and visiting. The trip to Florida was uneventful and the weather here was nice and cool so we could get used to the warmer temperatures we are enjoying now. We have been positively lazy: sleeping in, walking the beach, enjoying the water, getting dry in the sun, (without burning :-), sitting in the hot tub and watching some commercial free TV. I guess there must be things to see and do around here, but our days were filled with rest. Sand, sun, sea, surf and sun-sets. We should arrive back at our home by Tuesday of next week (April 28). I think we have found spring. It has been green, we have seen flowers burst forth, and we have soaked up the sun.
Enjoying creation come to life, enjoying life such as it is, and being assured of LIFE, we live on as travelers as time marches onward.

Glen Eyrie, Still beautiful!

Another Saturday and another local hike. This may sound like a drag, but as you have seen in the previous two postings, we reaaly do enjoy these hikes. On our third weekend at Glen Eyrie we hiked up “Lady Bug Overlook.” We were able to get a (almost) birds-eye view of the Garden of the Gods, located just south of us. Also we were able too overlook our glen and get an idea of the size. It was an effort to get proper orientation of all the landmarks we were familiar with.







On Sunday we drove through the Garden of the Gods. The weather was an another beautiful sunny day. There were some clouds in the sky to help with the contrast of the beautiful scenery we were privileged to behold. We were able to see the golden Aspen on the mountain slopes to the west of us, and noticed a bit of fresh snow on Pike’s Peak.
Our work continues to give us much satisfaction; the relationships with the staff here are awesome. Corrie is spending the evening with the girls from housekeeping on a “girls’ night out.” I get to play with the computer this time. (Corrie’s facebook activity takes away some of my computer time, just kidding!)






















Yesterday, (October 6) the cook was alone in the kitchen, two of the helpers had called in sick. My sweetheart told the cook, just ask Joh to help you, he has worked in the kitchen before... Asks the cook: “Joh Who?” “My husband,” was the retort. As I walked into the dining room for a nice quiet breakfast, I was cornered for a tete-a-tete with my loving wife, whom I had not seen for 45 minutes, because she left for work early. Thinking I would get some “sweet nothings” I instead was encouraged to help Karen, the “lonely” cook. “You can do it, you know how!”
So, what is a man to do? I talked my supervisor into letting me help in the kitchen for the day. I had a wonderfully fulfilling day, – preparing meals, doing dishes; – cutting “cold cuts,” doing dishes; – setting up the salad bar, doing dishes. But in all earnestness it was a fulfilling day in the kitchen. My dogs were barking and my back had a work-out, but we got out-of-there on time. Accomplishment melts away fatigue. (Appreciation works too.)
It is our last week here, Friday we leave this wonderful retreat, but plan to be back next year.