The Seniors Europeon Vacation 2009

DAY ONE: GETTING TO OSLO, NORWAY.





It was upon a lovely Tuesday that we were scheduled to leave our little farm village and fly to Oslo, Norway to visit our cousin and her family. Oh, the excitement! We were packed: one backpack apiece, one 'purse' apiece, and thin 'fannypacks' for our passports and cards. No checking luggage for US! We travel light and are very low maintenance.

And...the Benefiber tablets were in my backpack. We don't leave home without it.

A final check on the house, and we were out the door ... ridiculously early, but, after all, it's a long drive to O'Hare Airport. A drive made a bit longer when I discovered I had left my cell phone at home.


After backtracking and restarting...a 45 minute delay...we made our way to our big Chicago Airport with no further incidents.


Remote Parking just does not do justice to how far away from ANYTHING you have to leave your vehicle. We took copious notes, hoping we would be able to find the car when we returned; we slung on our backpacks (made heavier by all the M & M's we were carrying for my cousin...a treat apparently lacking in Norwegian stores) and trudged to the train that would take us to: The International Terminal!


With a few hours to spare, we verified that our flight was on the boards, and we zipped through Security with no problems. We found our Gate, found a seat, and ... waited. But we were happycampers...better early than late, we always say!


Promptly at 7:15 pm, after a really efficient boarding, our British Airways flight to Heathrow lifted off. Oh, my, what a great feeling! On our way. I didn't really even mind that I was in the middle seat on a very full flight with a skinny, nervous, sweating, fidgeting twenty-something in dirty jeans and bad breath sitting to my right. Almost didn't mind. Almost.


BA knows how to treat overseas passengers! Even in the 'cheap seats' we had movies, audio or whatever with individual screens and headsets. Pillows, blankets, socks ...all at no charge. Best of all...FREE WINE! And a dinner that was actually edible! We wondered: what was going on in Business Class, eh?


Through the night's 9 hour flight, after watching a movie, we managed to doze on and off (despite my fidgety,oderous seat companion), and we were delightfully surprised when the Cabin Crew brought us: BREAKFAST! Also quite edible! And, almost before we knew it, we had landed at Heathrow, Terminal 5.


There is no way to describe the sheer magnitude of Heathrow .... especially Terminal 5. In case you think you are missing a session of cardio, try walking from the plane to the gates in this terminal. This task was made a bit trickier by the fact that we had to land at an outlying terminal (God knows where!) and deplane on the old stairways that rolled up to the doors, then wait on the tarmac before taking a bus to Terminal 5.


By the time we found the 'common seating area' for BA, and found our flight on the Board, we were well acquainted with the Terminal. There is shopping EVERYWHERE, and this one terminal is, I believe, bigger than all of O'Hare. We had a Starbucks each (5 British pounds for two coffees...sheesh!) as we watched the Departure Board. You are not allowed to run to the Departure Gates until your Gate shows up on the Departure Board. Then, you have 30 minutes to hoof it or train it to your Gate. This makes for interesting flows of humanity through the Terminal.


Once again, after boarding, our BA flight took off on time, and we reached Oslo in 50 minutes flying time. By now, we were into Wednesday afternoon in Europe, and learning about jet lag, but we were too excited to care.


Landing in Oslo, we cleared Customs, and got our very first stamp on our new passports! And Cousin Sue was waiting for us, waving and smiling, as we left Customs.


Part 2: Oslo and Norway, coming soon.

Gentlemen: Cover Those Knees!

Last Friday, my husband was entered in the annual Father/Son tournament with our son in law. The tournament is sponsored by our SIL's church, and the two men have been playing this outing together for a few years now. Both enjoy the outing, and SIL's church always makes sure that everyone is well taken care of.

Hubby and I set off early in the morning to be sure to arrive in plenty of time. In fact, we were a little early. This turned out to be a very good thing.

Our SIL, despite all his wonderful qualities (and they are many!), occasionally forgets to communicate little details.

Like the fact that all participants in the Tournament were required to wear long pants this year.

And Hubby was in his favorite Golf shorts.

The extra time was used to get a suitable pair of long pants for hubby to wear.

The field was spared the sight of these potentially offensive knees.

And we found the situation very amusing!

It's 10 pm. Do you know where your Seniors are?

After the last Cruise Night of the weekend ended at 9 pm on Saturday, our weary but happy senior couple climbed into their 1960 Cadillac convertible for the slow drive home down winding, narrow, deserted Old Stage Road. Old Stage is one of our favorite roads. It's patched blacktop parallels the Illinois River for about 12 miles. Traffic and houses are sparse. Old Stage Road has no street lights, no center lines, and no curbs; it's just one narrow, dark ribbon cutting through woods and farm fields on the north and woods and the river on the south. Did I mention: no lights? Well, it is full of fireflies, owls, and frogs on a July evening. Because it is deserted and dark and surrounded by the woods. Deer are plentiful, also. And squirrels, possum and raccoons with an occasional groundhog or turtle trying to edge across the road. It sure takes us back to when roads were ROADS!

Cruisin' along in our Caddie, discussing the events of the past week (should be another Blog, by golly!), we were within - oh - maybe four miles of Seneca when a thought struck the driver of the car.

"Maybe I should have gotten gas again in Morris. We only put in $10.00 worth two days ago."

Now, $10.00 does not buy a LOT of gas. Especially when our Caddy only uses Premium. Do the math. It's about a squirt and a half.

We rolled on down the dark, deserted road for - oh, maybe 100 feet or so before the engine began to make starved, complaining noises.

"This isn't good". The driver stated the obvious.

"We need to pull over". (No...really?).

The engine coughed its last. The Caddy was silent. Coasting it's last few feet down the dark, deserted road.

"There's a driveway!" We spotted it together, and it looked reachable with the last of our coastability (is that a word?).

A typical Old Stage Road driveway peeked at us on the north side of the road. Two tire tracks of weed bedecked gravel wound through the trees. At the end of the long drive, a pair of cabins butted against even denser woods. There were no lights on. And that was okay by us. Seniors though we are, we could look a mite suspicious with lights and engine off, coasting into a driveway at almost 10 pm at night, and coming to a stop under the big, old trees.

"I don't hear anyone, or any dogs."

"Good thing, I think."

I volunteered to make a phone call to our friendly, local mechanic and 24 hour towing service. The driver was a mite embarassed to call.

As I took the phone out of my bag, I reflected on how beautiful and peaceful it was there in the woods on Old Stage Road. Stars twinkled in the perfectly dark blue sky; fireflies lit up the night around us as tree frogs sang to one another. Ah, summer.

Then the mosquitoes found us. The glow of my reverie diminished considerably as hordes of hungry insects, deprived of human flesh in the slim pickings along Old Stage Road, zeroed in for a good meal.

"I have organic insect repellent!" The compleat driver announced triumphantly.

"Let's use it!"

I do not know what is in the organic insect repellent that we used that night. I suppose I may make an effort to read the label some time. I do know that I have never smelled anything quite so evil. But it worked. I don't know if mosquitoes have a sense of smell, but I assume they must. They seemed to fly the scene en masse when encounted with the wall of stink we presented to the night.

I called our friendly mechanic's number.

"Hi!" I said cheerfully and respectfully when the phone was answered. Since it was so late in the evening, I was sure one of the employees would be on tow duty, so I explained our situation, our location, and our need for a tow, and ended by mentioning that we were good customers, too.

"Yeah, I know you are!"(laughter). Our mechanic himself was 'on duty'.

"So you really ran out of gas? Oh, man!" (more hysterical laughter). "So, where are you, anyway?"

After giving our location (we were only about 3 miles from his shop), I hung up the phone.

"That was Scott, himself. I think we aren't going to live this down for a while".

"Yeah", said my man. Yup, definitely embarassed.

It was less than ten minutes when we saw Scott drive up, and produce a lovely, full can of gas for the Caddy. He was still laughing. Through smiles and giggles the Caddy was given a good drink, and we were treated to the delightful roar of a happy engine.

"Home, James", I said. And that's just where we went. Finally.

Meet Eddy

Yesterday was adoption day. We could hardly wait. All our lives, it seems, we have talked about getting one. But we never acted.

Then, two weeks ago, we were offered one FREE...an old family retainer, no less, that had been neglected of late and needed a home that would make him feel wanted and useful again. All we had to do was take a drive up to Sturgeon Bay to pick up 'Eddy' and bring him home in the truck. We had to do it! 'Eddy' had been owned and loved by Rich's late uncle and aunt (Ed and Sophie), and was being cared for at this time by Rich's dear Aunt Irene.

We made the long round trip to Sturgeon Bay on one day (6 hours each way). Aunt Irene, all 93 wonderful years of her, had lunch waiting for us: chili and homemade cherry pie. And, as Rich and I put Eddy into the back of our truck, we felt the promise of all that Eddy could offer us.

Now that Eddy is safely housed in our garage, we plan to run out and get some new fixings for him: oars, padded seats, a new motor, and lifevests.

Hope you enjoy meeting Eddy!

The Seniors Do Father's Day - Saturday & Sunday

SATURDAY:We survived Friday. Saturday morning, as we S L O W L Y got up, we rejoiced that we had nothing whatever to do in the morning. So, after a good weekend breakfast, we did ---nothing.

Until we couldn't sit idle anymore. Curse that inner drive! We made our way down the stairs from the Great Room, intent on cleaning golf clubs for the day tomorrow.

And we found the package in the garage! Our thoughtful, considerate daughter and son-in-law had sent hubby a BIG box of Bing Cherries for Father's Day! Yum!

Noon found us, full of cherries, down in the studio, creating pots and tiles. Then, wifey had a go at finishing the editing on a book that had to be done for a friend. And she did it! A flurry of activity kept us engaged until dinnertime.

The energy flurry ended right after the food, and TV took up the rest of the evening...until a very early bedtime - 9 pm - for the wife. She assumes the hubby got to bed at a reasonable time, and that she didn't snore too much...

SUNDAY: Father's Day, and we were out the door by 6:30 am, grabbing our Subway Breakfast Sandwiches on the way to the Club to play in the Father's Day Scramble! Yee Ha! We met up with our golf buddies Bob and Brenda, and the Scramble went off at 8:30 am., finishing by 1 pm. It was a good day on the course: we came in 3 under par. Never mind that the Scramble leaders were, like, 15 under par. And Hubby bought a shirt. He does not have enough golf shirts. Like Imelda didn't have enough shoes.

No time, however, to linger over a beer at the bar: we had a CAR SHOW to go to in Oakbrook. Not for our car. These are the totally classy 'Concours' cars that make one's mouth water. Into Roxy, the IROC Z Convertible, and we were off and running. A quick stop at Jimmy John's for a sandwich, and soon we were parking at Oakbrook. Noting the parking spot. Really. Just in case.

We walked all around the car show, with Hubby taking pictures, and me enjoying the cars and the crowds. There sure are some classy looking people at the Oakbrook Mall. Not like my local Wal Mart. Wow. And they smell good, too!

Sometime during the show, we got a text invitation from our thoughtful, wonderful son and daughter in law to come over to their house for cake after we were done at the show. It was an invitation we just had to accept!

What fun to have that GREAT home made Dark Chocolate Cake, Ice Cream! The grandsons were both there, too. Great conversation, and good times. And...Hubby was appropriately gifter with a very classy, very useful 'day pack' which he will fill with many wonderful, intriguing things.

With a full tummy, we set off for Seneca. Well, one of us had a full tummy, but Father's Day Boy was hungry again, and wifey didn't feel like cooking or eating, so we stopped by the Katie Hooper tugboat/restaurant on the Illinois River for one drink and a pork chop sandwich for the Dad. As we sat at the deckrail overlooking the river, we felt so blessed. Tired, stinky, and blessed.

So home it was for a shower and a relaxing time before willingly falling into bed to be ready for: Monday!

The Seniors Do Father's Day Weekend: Friday

Today, Tuesday the 23rd, is recovery day here at the Seneca Senior Home. The air is on, the shades are closed, and we are lounging around, revelling in the total absence of committments today.

The weekend was 'killer': fun, but killer. It all began Friday.....(dissolve, fade to flashback).

Early Friday morning, we had an Estate Sale on our little list of 'fun things to do in life'. We headed out in the big truck (always optimistic!), and found the location of the sale. Touted as a 'Farm Sale', we found it curious that our 'farmhouse' destination was a small, brick ranch home on a major roadway, not far from large, newly built homes.

At least 40 vehicles lined the roadway, and many people were millling around in front of the house. We wondered why. We asked. We found out. The small house would accomodate only a few folk at a time; there was a 'waiting list'. A waiting list with a LOT of names before ours. In fact, at least half and hour's worth of names before ours!

After walking around the one outbuilding and looking at the rusted, nearly unsalvagable bicycles, milk cans, and general 'junk' that was offered there, we opted out of waiting and hopped in the truck to go to: Blain's Farm and Fleet! Yee Ha!

After a pleasant hour at Blain's (we cannot 'do' a Farm Store in less time!), we popped my purchases in the truck (3 new outfits!) and headed for the home front.

A quick lunch, and it was off to the other property to weed the veggie garden, pick strawberries, and work on the Caddie for the car show that night. And cut the grass at that property, too.

With just enough time for a shower (badly needed. Stinky seniors), we headed off in the Caddie for a double feature evening:

1. The LaSalle County Cruisers Car Show

2. The Ottawa Art League Gallery Opening

Both were on the main drag in Ottawa, and it promised to be an adventurous evening. Just how adventurous we were about to find out.

Dinner with a friend, and --bingo--we were all set up for the Gallery opening in the outdoor patio area at Jeremiah Joe's Coffee. It sort of looked like rain, but we were protected with a roof over our heads, and the gallery was totally inside. Cars began arriving for the Car Show; the main street was blocked off, the DJ began broadcasting, and we were happily greeting people and watching cars.

Then the thunder began.

To say we had a storm is like saying poison ivy is a little bit itchy. It rained sheets of rain. It boomed and it blew. People huddled under the coffee shop roof, looking out at the sudden night created by the black of the storm. Some of the show cars left, but the sensible ones waited it out. And it did finally end.

As commerce resumed, and people began to stroll, we were rewarded for persistance with a trophy for our Caddie! It's always a tickle to get recognized!

As we sat in front of Thor (our Caddie...so named because he sounds like thunder when revving up), we learned from a friend that our town, Seneca, was out of power from the storm. We headed home.

Yup, Seneca was black!

We stabled Thor in his garage at the 'other house', manually opening the overhead door...the power outage meant, of course, that the garage door openers would not work. We headed home through darkened streets with citizens milling about in the quiet, steamy night air. The silence was only broken by the hum of ajn occasional generator.

Oh, heck! Did we have keys for OUR house? We NEVER used them, relying on the garage door opener...which wasn't gonna work! Augggh!

I found that I had a key for the lock on the front door, but I didn't have a key for the deadbolt on that door. I had no luck with the other doors at all, and the windows were all shut tight and locked ... of course. Just when things were looking dismal, another key, hidden in hubby's pack, fitted itself neatly into the deadbolt! We were IN!.

The power had been out for 2 hourse by then, and we actually started our generator. Exhausted, we watched TV, hoping to hear the welcome hum of power coming on. Finally, hubby went to turn off the generator, unwilling to let it run while we slept. And, with amazing coordination, the power came back on.

We fell into bed, grateful to Com Ed, and thankful for working keys.

Seniors Surfing through Sturgeon Bay

Sunday morning: rising with the Sun (or an hour or so thereafter), we climbed into our truck (name: Dually...all our vehicles have names. Don't yours? Why not?) for our trip up to Sturgeon Bay, WI. Relatives were awaiting us: Hubby's fabulous Aunt who is 93 years young and still keeping house by herself in a really cool cottage on Lake Michigan; Cousin J, who, in his later 50's , is getting married again! He's visiting his Mom in Sturgeon Bay from far away Massachusetts;and Cousin K, who is the artistic member of Auntie's family. We were looking forward to a couple of great days of family. Longer than that with family is probably too much, unless a lot of alcohol is consumed.

Before hitting the Highway, first things first. Stopping at Subway for a breakfast croissant and coffee would make the trip go MUCH better. Yum. And Yum again. Seniors like their food. Especially breakfast.

After becoming mired in Fond du Lac-which we blamed on Garmina (our Garmin. She has a name. Doesn't yours?) and her inability to foresee ROAD CONSTRUCTION and DETOURS- we rediscovered our route and made our way unerringly to Sturgeon Bay, WI.

As we pulled into the long, well-remembered driveway to Hubby's Aunt I's year-round cottage, a sense of peace settled over us like a cherished blanket. Okay...enough.

The nice thing about visiting relatives older than you is that they make you feel young again. They remember you when you were just a kid. Your cousins remember the 'growing up' days when they hated you. Now, of course, you all only remember the fun you all had. Ah...memories.

Sunday night was spent eating and talking. More eating. More talking. Computer slide shows of houses far away. More eating. More talking. Goodbyes to Cousin K., who had to be home to go to work (not old enough to be retired like us!).And, finally, sleep on the pull out sleeper sofa. Well, one of us slept. The other kept hogging the bed and the blanket. And Cousin J, in the adjacent bedroom, snored. Not softly. Nope. It was a long night.

Morning brought breakfast. Cousin J made banana bread. His ALWAYS is moist. Mine has a crust like lava. It was delicious. Hubby made coffee. Aunt I was regaled with good food and good coffees. Nice.

After a long walk down the nearly deserted road, I came back to the cottage to find that Cousin J had planned an outing on Lake Michigan. He had a kayak. I had a rowboat. Hubby had a camera. We were ready to ROCK! After testing my ability to row a boat, I headed back to shore and Hubby creaked into the boat. Cousin J launched his kayak, and the three cousins cruised along the Lake Michigan shore with the sun shining, the gulls diving and calling, and the light waves lapping at our respective crafts. It was an afternoon of delights.

Late afternoon was spent searching the stores of Sturgeon Bay for a sturgeon (this is not to be found IN ANY STORE IN STURGEON BAY) and looking for photographic barns ; we worked up a powerful hunger, so we all headed back to Aunt I's for a GREAT supper of homemade chili and homemade cherry pie. May we just say: Yum!

Tuesday was departure day for all. Cousin J: we dropped him off at the Green Bay airport. His fiancee was meeting him at the other end in Massachusetts. And he sure was antsy to get back there! After Green Bay, we just tooled on back to the Illinois River Valley, grateful for another family weekend with relatives.

THE SENIORS SURVIVE SATURDAY

Seven am on Saturday found us up and (this is a joke) at 'em. We had to move it (another attempt at humor) earlier than usual, because one of us (whose initials are PAN) had cheerfully committed us to golfing with our buddies, the Wildas, at 8:40 am.

Now, 8:40 isn't really early, but...this was a Saturday, so another one of the team (whose initials are RLN) likes to partake of a weekend breakfast feast on Saturday and Sunday, and the other team member has to cook it. That would be me.

Breakfast before Golf: Farm-fresh eggs and farm bacon (from our CSA) turned into bagel sandwiches! Hash browns, coffee and juice, and...Benefiber. We were good to go.

And we went...in the IROC convertible. It was 50 degrees out. We had the top down. We were cold. We put the heat on and bundled in our sweatshirts.

18 holes later, done at a blistering pace (the Wildas are just young folk compared to us), we had warmed up considerably, but our bodies, having been exercised for 3 hours, wanted us to go home. We did, grateful that the sun made the convertible ride much, much more pleasant.

Lunch. Benefiber. Nap.

Up at 3 pm, we impulsively decided to take the IROC out again and head out to Goose Lake Prairie for a short hike through the prairie grasses. Got turned around a bit, but finally found Goose Lake Prairie again. Wish they would quit moving it. Hiked for about 1/2 hour, checked out the boat rentals (for future fun excursions), and then cruised Morris, stopping by the Lindy Gertie's car show for a bit.

We cruised back to Seneca, getting home about 7 pm. After a quick watering of the newest garden transplants, grilling our dinner sounded like the order of the night. We had some GREAT country style ribs just begging to be marinated and grilled with BarBQ sauce. Yum! Lit my big gas grill and began the session.

Made iced tea, watered the deck planters, and watched the country ribs. Basted and basted. When the meat thermometer indicated almost perfection, I ducked inside to ready the side dishes, keeping one eye on the grill. That's when I saw the smoke billowing out from under the cover of our grill.

"The grill is on fire!" I mentioned cheerfully, as I pulled the ribs off as quickly as possible (first things first...save the food!).

"Hoo Boy! A grease fire!"

"I'll get the flour!"

The handfuls of flour that I was tossing onto the flames (flames that were eagerly feeding off the drippings from the ribs and that were licking out of the grill, and that could just reach the rail of our wooden deck...) did nothing.

"I'm going for the fire extinquisher!" It was the ONLY thing to do. So we did. And...it worked!

When the flames were out, we wearily went inside to eat our slightly char-broiled ribs (they were really tasty, by the way), keeping an eye on the deck for any resurgence of flame. It was a night for dessert..and benefiber.

A glass of wine later, and some TV, and it was time for bed. We had looked at the grill, with thoughts of cleaning, but ....there is always tomorrow.

The grill is sitting on the deck, today, Sunday, waiting for us to clean it out. It's covered in a green substance that looks like...flour. Or green Benefiber.