Good Friday

This is the day that we want to sit up top on the Hop On Hop Off Double Decker Sightseeing bus. Consulting their brochure, it was determined that if we took a cab to the Museum of Women's Art, we could catch the bus there and not have to go all the way to Union Station. When we got there, it was hard to figure out where to wait because there weren't any signs or anything. Reading all of the fine print, we thought we would be better off waiting at the Hotel around the corner. After waiting for more than an hour, we examined the brochure more closely. What we held in our hot little hands was the Winter Schedule, which ended a few days ago. The Summer schedule says that they no longer come this way.
Waiting for the bus that never came!



So, a couple of hours later than we had planned, we took a cab to Union Station and caught a double decker. We weren't able to sit up top right away, but after a bunch of folks exited to go sightseeing, we went up and achieved our goal at long last!
You get a much better view sitting upstairs in the bus. The weather was perfectly wonderful. The sunshine was warm and comfortable. We put on sun screen for the first time in 2010. After yesterday, we felt much more familiar with the city, and recognized mostly everything, remembering what we had heard before. The traffic, of course, was still horrible - stop and go most of the way - but then we weren't driving! No stress!

Traffic, traffic and more traffic - a combo of Cherry Blossom Festival and Spring Break.



Paddle boats on the Tidal Basin



Mob scene at the Lincoln Memorial - swarms of people - it was a never ending stream of people!



Jefferson Memorial



Because of Good Friday, there was a re-enactment of Christ carrying the cross to Golgotha. From the bus, we could see the Roman soldiers leading Christ through the streets of D.C.



A portion of the World War II Memorial



We got off again at Union Station for lunch. It is a beautiful, huge, functional railroad station with shops and restaurants and lovely public spaces on the ground floor.





Downstairs, the Food Court is loud, messy, crowded, noisy, cramped - and did I say loud and crowded? And huge? This picture shows one half of the Food Court - it stretches as far as the eye can see.



After lunch we wanted to switch from the red line to the blue line - that turned out to be easier said than done! I'm sure that the entire bus system was overloaded and overworked because of the massive crowds in town this week - so we tried to be philosophical about the waits! I won't go into all of the details, but we did a lot of philosophical waiting.

Mobs of people enjoying the cherry blossoms.


Judging by the boot on this car, the District Police are serious about enforcing parking regulations!


Our beautiful Capitol Building!


After our bus tour, we met with Jana at the Pentagon Center Mall. Why they have palm trees there is a mystery to me.



One of Jana's favorite places to eat is the Union Street Station in Alexandria. We liked it, too !



These figures were under the stairway, peeking up at the people coming down - you just have to grin.



This was a full, full day - and most of it was very enjoyable!

Cacophony

Somehow we slept soundly all night and never heard the work that was going on across the street! Workers dug that entire hole, concrete and all, soundlessly! At the time of this picture, two men were sitting in the truck watching the hole and not doing much else!



Other workmen arrived and the first two left. Soon there were four or five men figuring out what to do, and watching the hole.



The hole was roped off and a sign was positioned which said Sidewalk Closed. Most pedestrians ignored that sign!



We spent the morning on the Hop On Hop Off Double Decker Sightseeing Bus. Dick bought a 48 hour ticket, so we can go again tomorrow. Today we Hopped Off at the FDR Memorial and toured all four sections of it. It is a wonderful Memorial - and it's nice to see such meaningful, rational, exquisite quotations engraved in stone. We enjoyed the whole thing, along with a huge crowd of other folks!

The traffic was horrendous all along the route. At one point, the bus was essentially at a standstill for half an hour! The hundreds of pedestrians were much faster than the bus was. We saw all of the important monuments and major buildings of this city. The White House, The Capitol, The Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln Monuments included.

Union Station was our lunch choice - take the down escalator and you're in a food court that is longer than a football field! Totally overwhelming!

One noticeable feature in the city this week is noise! Over and over again - sirens, car alarms and honking give real meaning to the word cacophony.

Tomorrow when we ride the bus we plan to sit upstairs in the Double Decker so Dick can take more pictures!

Jana picked us up and we went to meet her friend Dr. Wanda Rappaport. It turns out that Wanda is a little bit of a thing - she makes Aunt Odette look beefy! We liked her right away, and enjoyed our time with her - we seem to have a lot in common with her and it made for easy conversation.

Jana cooked dinner for us and we had a very relaxing time at her home. It was enjoyable to see her kitties - they are amusing and fun. Dinner was yummy!

DC Photos - Wednesday

Eventually, there will be text!























cherry blossoms
geocaching
gandhi
khazakstan
dinner @ Legal Seafood
More blossoms with Jana

Today Through a Fog

The Port Clinton Comfort Inn gets a low grade for continental breakfast. It was the pits.

Ohio is very flat and marshy along highway 2. I might add not very interesting. Once we got away from the lakeshore and gained some elevation, guess what? Fog. Not just a little bit of fog. Dense, low visiblility squintable kind of fog.

We actually drove for quite a while before we stopped for breakfast. We found a Perkins close to the end of the Ohio Turnpike - it was outstandking - and so we had breakfast for lunch.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike is mostly under construction! The finished parts are great - much nicer than the Ohio Turnpike. Pennsylvania is working on the bridges and road surfaces. They need to do something about the fog! Sharing the turnpike with tons of 18 wheelers in the mountains is tense enough - add dense fog, and it's white knuckle time. Occasionally the fog would lift and then around the next curve, there it would be again. Holy Hannah, enough already!

We pulled in at Bedford - founded in 1750! Its downtown really looks colonial. There are lovely homes here, and the town reflects a lot of civic pride - it was fun driving around...in the rain. We found a cache at the Coffee Pot - yes we did! It was a fun, clever hide.





It's interesting to us to be in the mountains. Our motel room has a front door and a back door. The front door is at ground level, and the back door opens onto the second floor balcony! Quite a slope we have here!

Yuck of a Day

Got an early start, and were ready to roll. Before we even got to Garfield Dick noticed that something was flapping on the roof of the car. It turned out to be a plastic strip from the roof rack - it must have been loosened in the car wash last night. Then, on Meauwataka Road, a turkey flew into our antenna - no damage to us or to the turkey, but it was kind of a shock! We began to wonder what else would happen on this trip because we were off to kind of a shaky beginning!

Around Midland we began to get a misty, moisty hazy kind of a light rain. Stopped for lunch along the highway at Panera Bread - creamy tomato soup in a bread bowl - a real love pat for the tummy.

By the time we got to Brighton it was a hard, splashy, low visiblility kind of a heavy rain. This continued through Ohio. We stopped in Port Clinton in time to watch the fabulous Michigan State/Tennessee tournament game! That was the most cliff hangiest of all cliff hangers! It was a miraculous win. They should have won, too, because they were seeded higher than Tennessee, and we know how accurate that seeding process is!

Port Clinton is right on Lake Erie. Our motel was on the shore of the lake, and we had a great view of it out of our motel window.





The only problem was that it was so rainy, misty, hazy and gray that the sky and the lake looked the same - I'm sure the views would be much better on a clear, sunny day.

I'll bet you didn't know that there really is a Catholic Church named Little Sisters of the Poor! It's here in Port Clinton. Dick also liked the Happy Hookers Bait Shop.

Port Clinton was all excited about their boys' basketball team who had come in second in the State tournament. This very morning they lost the championship game - ruining their streak of 26 straight wins! The signs were all over town - go Redskins, or just go Skins.

Who Likes Birthdays?

That would be me! This b-day was spectacular! First thing was a rose and a card when I woke up! Then Dylan called and sang me the b-day song, and we chatted until he had to go to school.

I went downstairs, and found a dozen yellow roses (my all time favorite flower!) another great card, and a ca-a-a-a-ke (we don't get much cake around here).



Laurie called, and sang you know what, and we planned spring break in D.C. Can't wait to do the Smithsonian with Dylan!

Went downtown and spent a whole hour at Miner's North upgrading my bracelet - good old Dick waited at Horizon.

I had the best time - it was almost the highlight of the day. That jewelry store is so helpful and friendly - I really enjoyed spending my birthday money in there :)

On the way home, Jana called on the cell and she sang her own original version of the b-day song, which I think she should copyright - it was very much fun. There was a message on the machine when we got home that Hibbard's had been out to deliver flowers and of course we weren't there. So I called them and they came right back out with a gorgeous bouquet from all of the "Eggs".



Dick asked me where I wanted to go for dinner. I thought and thought - I could think of more places that I didn't want to go. Finally decided that I just wanted to relax and have fun, and so let's just go out to Art's Tavern in Glen Arbor! Yaay! It was a beautiful evening for a drive - bright sunshine and blue sky. Leelanau County is beautiful any time of the year.



The restaurant was fun - lots of interesting conversations to eavesdrop on, and lots of local color. I had a marvelous time. Back at home, as soon as we opened the door the phone started ringing and it was Tom from California. We had a great talk, and It was a really nice way to end my perfect birthday!

Dick asked me if I felt any older, and I said, "Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies." More and more old cliches are beginning to make sense to me :)

Maturity Levels

Yesterday, when the Northern Iowa Panthers defeated the Kansas Jayhawks, I felt so bad because I had picked Kansas to be the National Champions. It was not meant to be. I was upset and bad-mouthing the Kansas athletes who were so sad. I was thinking, "You mean you didn't see this coming? You're surprised to have lost? Considering that your only lead in this game was when it was 2-0?"

I posted this whiny entry on the famiy message board:

>

The N. Iowa Panthers are a bunch of big fun-messer-upper-ruiners !!!
I'm getting no sympathy from my husband !!!
Good luck everybody.

My niece Shelly had a much better reaction to the whole thing - she took the attitude of a much more mature adult when she posted:

Way to go Northern Iowa, you have made some history. 40% of brackets on ESPN have now been ruined. Yes, I took Kansas to win it, but as I watched the game I couldn't help but cheer for the underdog. Maybe MSU will have a chance to go farther in the bracket. This sure is a fun year to watch the top seeds fall.

Then, my daughter Jana found a way to pique renewed interest in the tournament and gave us all something to look forward to. She posted this on Facebook:

Just in case anyone else is also confused, I just had to google to figger it out -- Ali Farokhmanesh is the N. Iowa dude who sunk the three-pointer; Al-Farouq Aminu is the Wake Forest dude. I now want Wake Forest and N. Iowa to get to the finals so they can play each other.

Another niece, Susan, validated Jana's plan:

Yes! Good for you. Now that we are no longer contenders we need to find something fun about this tournament and you did.

Well, gee whiz, these family members have all demonstrated maturity, acceptance, and grace under disappointment. I'm so proud of them! So I have changed my own attitude. I just have one thing to say: The KANSAS JAYHAWKS are a bunch of big fun-messer-upper ruiners.

March Madness

Here we go again! It's Bracket time! I'm not sure why I enjoy this so much, but I do. Right now my West bracket is looking horrible, but I'm tied for third in the family pool, so it could be worse. There are twenty of us in the pool, and three of us are tied for third. (Jana and Melanie and I). Jana is bummed, though, because she picked Minnesota to go all the way, and they're already out. Dick picked MSU to go all the way, and I think he's going to be bummed, too, judging by the way they played last night!

This seems to be the year for upsets. There are always a few, but there sure a lot this year! Everybody was surprised by Georgetown losing I think - but I also picked Vanderbilt, Minnesota, Temple, Florida State and UTEP to win, and they were all ousted. Not doing so well so far! Last night, Michigan State almost lost in the first round - we were glad to see them pull it out - but it was a really ugly game.

Win or lose, this is always fun!

Bracketology

Filled out my brackets yesterday, so I'm good to go.

We have a Gen Family pool, and no money is involved. It's online and really easy to keep track of. You can see how everyone else filled out their brackets, and see what your standing is in the pool so far. Kevin and Sharon started it about seven years ago. You can even look up how you ranked in previous years. Such fun.

This morning at the gym I filled out Norene's bracket for her for the MCHC therapists' pool - poor thing - talk about the blind leading the blind. She said she didn't care - she just wanted Ron to stop bugging her!

Alden Park and Greensky Hill

Our Greensky Hill cache is over near Charlevoix. When a cacher reported that the cache needed maintenance, we were happy to have an excuse to go over there. First of all, it's a delightful location. It's an old Indian mission and burial ground, and it's very sacred to the native Americans. The grounds are well maintained, and many of the markers have native language inscriptions.

As long as we were heading that way, we had noticed that the Alden Search Party had put out a new cache in the Alden Park. That darn Ron and Barb! This was a very tricky hide! We were turning over every stone and kicking gravel for twenty minutes before we decided that we were skunked. Then Dick had an inspiration, and voila! There it was! Whew. That was a toughie.

Lunch at the Juilleret Restaurant in Charlevoix. We were the only ones there. It was hard to figure out why, because their food is really good. When we got the check, we figured it out. It was $30 for sandwiches and coffee. Live and learn.

Then off to Greensky Hill. Here is Dick's description on the cache page:

This cache is located adjacent to the grounds of the Greensky Hill United Methodist Church also known as The Pine River Indian Mission. It was added to the National Register of Historic places in 1972. Take the time to look around, visit the medicine garden next to the parking lot and as you take the path to the east toward the lake, seek out the sign by the grave enclosed by a picket fence.
The church was built over 150 years ago under the direction of Peter Greensky alongside a circular grove of trees which had long been used by the native people as a religious gathering place. Notice the replica circular grove in the modern cemetery west of the parking lot.
The Greensky Hill Church is a rectangular, front-gable wooden structure built with walls of hewn logs, below the clapboard gables. It measures thirty-five-feet long by twenty-five-feet-wide. In the early 1940’s the entrance was changed by the addition of a low vestibule and porch with a hip-and-gable-roof surmounted by a square, louvered belfry. The church and grounds are recognizable in many of Ernest Hemingway’s Nick Adams stories.
One of the oldest churches in continuous service in west Michigan, today it serves a small local congregation of about 50. Approximately half are Anishnabek and half are non Native Americans. In the worship service the congregation continues the use of the Ojibway language in some of the hymns and prayers. On some weekends in the summer, camp meetings are held which feature activities designed to perpetuate the ancient skills and crafts used by the people before the arrival of the Europeans.
In addition to the small church and the new fellowship hall, the entire 20+ acre grounds are sacred to the parishioners. While you explore the site, please observe the reverence the area deserves.

It was a beautiful day and an inspiring place to be. Dick had the cache replaced in no time at all. I enjoyed walking around and reading the stones.

On the way out, we took a wrong turn. If we hadn't, we would have missed seeing this one of a kind trailer! Does this make you want to go camping?

Cattle Track

Hooray for the new kitchen floor! We babysat flooring and the installer for the past two days, and so now it's time for an adventure.

Cadillac has tons of interesting caches in and around town. We met Tim and Susie for breakfast at the Cadillac Bob Evans and made plans for our day of caching.

First of all, right in downtown Cadillac, along Mitchell Street, there are two series involving signs or parts of signs. You have to locate the signs pictured, and then put them in order from north to south to arrive at the coordinates of the cache location. We had a great time driving up and down Mitchell Street 87 times (may be a slight exaggeration) trying to find exactly the right signs in exactly the right color! We had two sets of pictures - one for each series - and we got really confused flipping through pages, so we decided to do one series at a time. Even with four sets of eyes it took us hours to finish! We had a super good time, though, and that's the whole point!

We took a break in the middle to get some fresh air and found three caches out in the surrounding area. One was named The Bridge to Nowhere - doesn't that sound intriguing?



We sat in McDonald's so Dick and Tim could figure out all of the final coordinates. After a minor glitch, we found both of them. It was laughable to spend so much time searching and then have the finals be a lamp post skirt lifter and a cemetery! But the search was the fun part, so it didn't really matter where you signed your name.

All in all, it was the kind of day you'd like to put in a bottle - we had a wonderful time.

My Class is History!

Yesterday's Grand Traverse Herald had this picture in its historical pictures feature. It's the kind of thing where they ask, "Can anybody identify any of these individuals?" It was like a bolt out of the blue for me. I could identify six of them without even wracking my brain - they are kids I went to school with from grades 1-12 ! They're in my TCHS class of 1953. This picture was taken when they were in 8th or 9th grade, at the new BoGi Club, so it would hve been 1949 or '50. (BoGi stands for Boys and Girls) I'm not in the picture, but if I could walk into the picture, everybody there would know me, and I would know them all very well!

The girl closest to the camera at the table is Jackie Brown, one of my best elementary school friends. She and Pauline Brigham and I were best friends at Union Street School in grades 1 to 7. Pauline passed away a few years ago, and I've lost track of Jackie. We used to have one birthday party for both of us - her birthday is March 20, and mine March 22. Such good memories.

I hope everybody can live long enough to become historical (without becoming hysterical).

A nice man is in our kitchen laying down our new vinyl flooring. He'll be finished today. The old floor was beginning to come apart at the seams, so this time we're having no seams.

Kitchen Floor

Diary of the new kitchen floor.

Beginning:
This is what your kitchen looks like when the floor is torn up!





Middle:

Underlayment - nail guns are loud!



Almost the End:

Choose a color

How does it look?



Finished pictures later!