Snow in October?

Ok, I'll admit that I am not out gallivanting as my blog title suggests.  But the crazy events of the last two days seemed worth writing about. Snow in October.  Really?  Isn't this the predicted "Indian Summer" weekend, where temps generally rise into the low 70's?

Friday began as a glorious fall day, with bright blue skies setting a gorgeous background highlighting the fall foliage. Yes, there was a chill in the air, but  I was certainly skeptical about the predicting snowstorm and wondered just how bad it could possibly be?  It was OCTOBER for goodness sake!

Saturday morning brought rain which quickly turned to snow....heavy snow.....lots of it.  Twelve inches of it, to be exact.  Sure it looked beautiful. and we are quite fortunate that the sun was brilliant again today, beginning a thaw.  But not before many trees suffered permanent damage.

We found ourselves without power this afternoon, so Marty and I headed outdoors to begin the cleanup.  The center of my  burning bush in the front had snapped, so I decided to clear off the heavy snow, to save what was left, and while I was at it, do some quick pruning.  I noticed that the snow was very heavy, and sticky, which brought the perfect opportunity to build a small snowman.

One thing led to another, and the next thing you know, I had created my friendly Polamalu Snowman.
And the best part of my day was when I heard a child up the street say, "Daddy, look at what that girl made over there!"   Girl?  Well, perhaps I am kind of young at heart.

A Night's Delight - A Breakfast to Remember

I decided to post this morning's breakfast photo in case one was wondering just what a "Breakfast to remember" would look like.  I'll admit that it was tasty fare, but I can't say that it was an unusually astounding meal that would stand out in my memory.

What was most memorable in my mind, was how quickly the "night's delight" faded with the morning light.  Our room was directly across from the kitchen.  We were quite aware of that fact because the proprietor made mention of it when we checked in.

What he didn't bother to mention was that he and his cooking partner began "hooping it up" at 6:40 a.m. in order to cook this breakfast.   Let me just say that in an old house, where the doors don't meet the floor, when two people are making a racket just three feet away, they may as well be in the room with you.

Luckily, I was already awake in the shower when the commotion began.  But, for future guests, I'm thinking that their "Night's Delight" won't be very memorable when the sun rises in the morning!

Exploring Harrisonburg in Virginia

After a morning of fun helping Becky organize the nursery, Morena and I hit the road, and we rolled into Harrisonburg, Va just before 3:00.  After a quick run into the visitor's center, we headed across to the Quilt Museum, something that we both thought we'd find to be enjoyable.

Wish I could share some pictures, but photography was not allowed.  A bit disappointing to us both. There were several quilts from the Civil War era as well as some modern quilts displayed that showed off some newer techniques, including using photos printed on fabric.  Quilts that preserved memories from the past in a beautiful intricate pattern.  Really stunning.

The weather today was outstanding! A beautiful blue sky with nary a cloud to be seen!  Morena and I decided that the town's charm was partly due to the lovely weather which allowed us to enjoy its real beauty.

We are staying at the Stonewall Jackson Inn, in the Belle Boyd room, named after the woman who was apparently a confederate spy who reported directly to Stonewall himself.  According to the sign outside of the B&B, we are guaranteed a "Night's Delight and a Breakfast to Remember!"  We're just delighted to have had such a gorgeous day, a great dinner at Union Station, and hopefully, a good night's sleep, before hitting the road for home tomorrow!

A "Gorge-ous view!

Gallivanting through the painted hills of West Virginia was an amazing experience.  Today not only blessed us with magnificent views, but we were also treated to brilliant fall colors shining on the hillsides.  

Here you see a fantastic view of the New River Gorge, which my son cleverly commented as being truly "gorge-ous".  And, as you can see, his observation was right on track.

The drive was must easier than I had imagined, and my friend, Morena and myself managed to get the new mommy-to-be back safely into her home environment.  The weather was awesome with bright blue skies for most of the way after we left Pennsylvania.

But the drive was tiring, and I am ready for bed.  Hope you check out the most requent photos!

Fun in the strip

In the midst of Pittsburgh's famous Strip District stands St. Stanislaus Kostka  Roman Catholic Church, founded in 1875 by Polish Immigrants. In this very church, Marty's grandparents were married in the early 1900's.  Since we wanted to show Morena the sights of this unique Pittsburgh experience, we decided that we would attend Mass here and then walk around the area.

I can once again admit that Mass here offered yet another first for me.  Today, the songs that were sung during the service came from a Polish Hymnal.  I didn't bother to pick one up on the way in, because I don't read Polish, but I couldn't help but smile as I stood in the midst of the congregation singing these hymns that were obviously familiar to them.   How wonderful that this community managed to hold onto the traditions that were begun so many years ago, and that this beautiful church was able to be preserved so that we could be fortunate enough to enjoy the experience.

After Mass, we strutted across the street to Pamela's, another Pittsburgh favorite, for a scrumptious breakfast.  The pancakes filled the plate! And, as you can see, smiles filled our faces!

Of course, pancakes this large resulted in some much needed strolling around  to help us to work off some calories, so we wandered along the streets, listening to the blaring sounds of the Steeler's theme song,  and enjoying the hustle and bustle that the strip district offers.

And, we certainly couldn't ask for better weather to gallivanting around!  Yep!  Another terrific day to enjoy.

A Day for Shower Surprises

Today was the much anticipated day where Stacey, Amy and I hosted a baby shower for Becky.  The event was held at a lovely little tea house where we truly were treated like Royalty. The staff was highly attentive, the food was scrumptious, and, more importantly, the atmosphere was festive, with all of the invitees obviously enjoying themselves.

But don't think that the day was free from unexpected surprises.  My friend, Morena, made the trip with me, and we are staying with Stacey at her apartment.  When it came time to shower before getting dressed for the event, we suddenly found ourselves without hot water.  While we waited for the serviceman to check out the situation, Stacey turned the heat up in her apartment, which is somehow tied into the water heater, and she and Morena managed to successfully get hot showers. I was feeling jubilant that the hot water had held out for my turn in the shower, and had just yelled in response to Stacey's asking, that the water was nice and hot, when my aahhs turned to AAGGHH! Luckily, the sudden cold onslaught was minimal, with the regulation of the furnace, and I managed to finish up without further shock to my body.

We hit the road with plenty of time to spare, but soon found ourselves inching along  to the turnpike.  What normally takes 2 minutes to drive ended up being a half an hour creeping and crawling torture until we finally drove up the ramp through the toll booth.  Lucky for us, it was smooth sailing to the tea house, where, quite uncharacteristically, most of our invited guests had arrived early!

Everyone was eager to see Becky, and to share in the excitement of her special day. It certainly was a fun afternoon for everyone present.  And Becky's new baby will be the recipient of some terrific gifts, and lots of loving intentions. A win-win situation for everyone.

You just can't ask for more than that, can you?

Pitt is IT!

Once upon a time, Pitt had an awesome football team, and one of my favorite memories from my college years was trudging up "Cardiac Hill" on Saturday mornings to huddle on aluminum benches, with my fellow Pitt students, to cheer the team on.  With a demanding Chem E curriculum, I rarely took time for breaks, but home Saturday games guaranteed a few hours of fun where I could relax and relish in the excitement of the moment.  

Thirty plus years later finds the venue moved to Heinz Field in downtown Pittsburgh, quite different from the adventures of my college days.  Believe me, I'm not complaining. I'm perfectly happy to pass on the hike that tested my cardio, and am grateful for comfy seats in place of cold bleachers.  

There is a lot of hoopla and cheering and entertainment which makes the entire package just a whole lot of fun.  But what made today exceptionally special was the added experience of tailgating with college friends whom we have not seen in years.  They continue to live locally, have season tickets, and regularly tailgate.  So, when I contacted my friend to see if we could somehow meet up on this visit to the city, she was anxious to extend the invitation to us to meet them in the parking lot for some pregame socializing.

When we finally met up, the hugs couldn't be long enough, and the minutes passed by way too fast. I can't help but smile at the sheer fun that we had just "hanging out" today for just a couple of hours.  We know how lucky we were to meet so many years ago and form the bond that keeps us connected so many years later.

So, although it certainly looks like we can bid adieu to the glory days of Pitt football this season, it's great knowing that my friends still consider me to be just as special now as I was all of those years ago.  

So, I'll be counting today as a win in my playbook.  And for Pitt?  I think we're going to have to rely on our memories! 

How Now, Brown Cow?

The phrase, "How Now, Brown Cow" sticks in my mind from some childhood memory that I cannot place, but it popped right into my head when I opened this photo.  Although my blog generally relays my exciting adventures with Marty, today's subject matter is worth deviating from my normal course.

The picture was taken by the one and only Ernest Kirpach of Luxembourg fame.  If you have followed this blog from the start, you might remember Ernest as the delightful "tour guide" of our Echternach adventure, who greeted Marty and me at the airport, and drove us around the area in May 2010.  Ernest and I have been e-mail buddies for many years, as he took an avid interest in helping me with my research regarding Marty's uncle, Pvt. Frederick W. Goempel who went MIA on 9 Feb. 1945.  If you are interested in the details, you can take a look at my website:  http://www.searchforfrederickgoempel.com

In June, Marty and I attended another DPMO update meeting, this time armed with fresh photos including pictures that recreated the flood stage of the Sauer River, taken by Ernest this past winter.  I'm not certain if it was the new historian assigned to our case, or the "on the ground" photos that we presented at the meeting, but we were finally added to the list of field investigations by the DPMO.  I was informed in late August that a team would be on the ground on Sept.10 and 11th, responsible for an investigation.  Although I would have loved to have been part of the experience, I felt confident relying on my Luxembourg friends for updates. 

The team was eager to meet with Ernest and Mike Boehler, another Luxembourg native who has been out in the field searching for clues, for over two years.  Mike has managed to unearth several US Army military items in that area,  strongly suggesting that this area was never thoroughly searched after the war.  The blog photo features Mike at work with his metal detector, being checked out by a curious German Brown Cow.  Apparently the cow-in-the-field was a first for this American Team out searching, and all got quite a kick out of her curiosity.  

With the team marking and charting the landscape's pertinent details, Mike was able to locate the old tree that stands on the hand-drawn map from Leonard Maslanka, a survivor of the river crossing.  This man was kind enough to put pen to loose-leaf paper and sketch me an unbelievably accurate presentation of this area which included a bunker and a spot where he saw a new recruit step on a landmine. Leonard documents his own location near an old tree.  With so much "new growth" over 60 + years of time, this old tree was hidden among scrub trees, and not easily recognized.  But, quite remarkably, the tree stands pretty much in the spot drawn on the map.  This gives a reference point that narrows down the possible location of F company during this river crossing advance.

In addition to discovering "the Tree", Mike remembered that the Germans dug trenches that would connect bunkers in the event that the soldiers needed to escape "out the back door," so to say.  Mike was able to locate the trench and the team was able to sight an indentation in the ground that worked its way over to another bunker.  These trenches are 1 meter deep.  This discovery opens up the possibility that this "new recruit" could have stepped on a land mine, and thereby fell into the trench, disappearing from sight.  

I haven't received a report from the DPMO yet, but I am grateful, that after 9 years of hard work on my part, I was finally taken seriously by this organization.  Mike intends to continue searching out in the field, concentrating on the trench area between the bunker and "The Tree", in the hopes of locating items that could place Fred in this area.  This is a huge discovery, and one that extends the hope that Fred's remains just may be located in the woods that are just a few meters away from the watchful eye of  one Brown Cow.

I cannot thank Ernest and Mike enough, for their enthusiasm and their willingness to spend so many hours attempting to solve the mystery of what happened to Fred.  I am thrilled to know both of them and I look forward to the day when Marty and I can once again spend some time with them, and who knows?  Perhaps we'll even get to meet Miss Brown Cow ourselves!

Last Day in Stockholm

Here we are, relaxing after our last Swedish dinner at a restaurant in Gamla Stan. The week was certainly a memorable one as we learned all kinds of things dealing with Swedish History and the Swedish culture.

We nearly walked our feet off today touring Skansen, a 75 acre outdoor open air museum, the first in the world of its kind.  It was the brainchild of the same man who built the Nordic museum and has been in existence since the late 1800's. The old town not only featured houses that were authentic from days past, but it was also a living history museum, with people dressed in period clothes assuming the personalities of people from past days.  Marty and I had quite a laugh from some of the antics of these characters, one of whom was the "Doctor" who claimed to have some pills in his doctor bag that would be of great benefit to me, and to Marty as well!

There was just so much to see and we spent at least 4 hours walking through the various displays that are beautifully presented.  It was certainly a fun experience for us. Marty's favorite part was the matchstick museum.  Go figure.

We began the day at the Vasamuseet.  This was a fascinating museum that involves a warship that was built by Gustav II back in the early 1600's.  The maiden voyage of the boat lasted 20 minutes before the sail got caught in a gust of wind, resulting in the boat  leaning to one side, water filling into the cannon wells, and the ship sinking in a manner of 15 minutes.  The vessel sat in the mud until the mid 1900's until the Swedes decided to make the effort to rescue it, move it to a museum building, and restore it to its original glory.  It contains 98% of the original materials.  It is certainly awesome to walk into this building and see a huge Viking ship in tact in the middle of the room.

The history behind the ship involved Gustav II and his cousin, who was the king of Poland at the time.  Poland and Sweden were at war at the time, and Gustav insisted that he needed to have a larger,  more impressive ship than Poland would have ever seen, in his fleet of ships.  The king was so worried about making a "bigger, more impressive" ship that he never took the time to look at the structural logistics of the ship.  So, as a result, he had this fabulous looking ship that ended up sinking in short time on its maiden voyage. So, the king was denied of his bragging rights without ever even setting eyes on the vessel, as he had been off the shores of Poland, awaiting the arrival of his brainchild, when the maiden voyage took place. Obviously Gustav was not happy with the end result, but the good news is that no one was punished for the mishap because the man at fault for the demise of the Vasa was Gustav himself, and you know well enough that he was not going to incarcerate himself for his own stupidity!

Well, the Stockholm adventure is drawing to a close.  Tomorrow night Marty and I should be, once again, hanging with the dogs. I hoped that you enjoyed our adventures!  I know that I did.

The Wonders of Gamla Stan

Yesterday's tour of the Royal Palace on the island of Gamla Stan was wonderful! English descriptions were on every placard, side by side ,with the Swedish, making the whole experience much easier. I toured the Royal Apartments as well as the Kronor Museum as well as Gustav III's Museum of Antiquities.

What is fascinating about the museum is that it has been in existence and open to the public since 1790.  I found it amazing that the King had these artifacts on display for the public to view since that time.
I also toured the Palace Treasury, where crowns and Royal items are displayed behind glass.  No photos were permitted, so I cannot share the beauty of these items, some dating back to the late 1400's.  One of my favorite displays held 4 crowns, each one ornate but similarly decorated. There were two large crowns for the King and Queen, and two smaller crowns for the prince and princess.  Very cute.

One of the highlights of the Palace is watching the changing of the guard everyday at noon.  The Royal band heads out of the Armee Museum in Normalm and processes down the streets across the bridge to the palace.  Everyone squeezes into the square, behind barriers to watch the event.  I managed to peek through some heads to view some of the festivities, but it was difficult to get the full effect with so many tall bodies in front of me.

During the event, a man described what is happening in several different languages, and he announced that the band would be performing.  "The music is what it is", he said.  For the most part, the music had a strong marching beat.  At one point, however, I was surprised to hear the band play, "Nine to Five", the old Dolly Parton hit from years ago.  I still can't figure out how that fits into Swedish culture.  I actually laughed out loud when they began to play, and waited for a twist in the music, thinking it was something similar to another song.  But, nope! My ears were not being deceived.  I kept the chuckles to a minimum when I noticed that I was the only one who seemed to think this performance was amusing.

Gamla Stan is a breathtakingly beautiful island, with cobblestone streets and tall building preserved from the 17th century, giving the observer the idea of what the area looked liked during the Middle Ages. Marty and I actually walked over there three nights for dinner.  We have tasted some excellent Swedish Meatballs and Swedish Hash. Today's blog photo features Marty enjoying a pork tenderloin on the outside terrace.

Today I'll have Marty along with me, since his work week is over.  Today's adventure will include Skansen, an open air museum, and the Vasa, a museum that involves a ship that sunk in the late 1600's.

Photo upload has been painstakingly slow, but you can scroll down to the bottom of the blog and look through what managed to get online.

Taking in the sights of Ostermalm & Djurgarden

With coins in my pocket and an umbrella in my purse, I headed out on a lovely excursion by foot through the area of Ostermalm.  The buildings are in Renaissance splendor; the streets are lined with lime trees.  Truly a lovely stroll, particularly with the beautiful weather that I as blessed with.  I was amused by the large boat that boasts a "Hop On....Hop Off" sign on its side.  It seemed to me that once on that boat and cruising across the water, it would not be in anyone's best interest to decide to hop off!
After venturing through the town I decided to head over to Djurgarden and tour the Nordiska Museet, the museum of Sweden's history.  I find the place to be fascinating and was not sorry that I made the extra effort to walk over.

I was fascinated by the dollhouses, which were actually what we call curios.  They did not look like "houses" at all, but they were set up to have rooms and floors just like our dollhouses.  The details were amazing and I probably took way too many photos, but each one brought a smile to my face when I thought about the entertainment that it must have offered so many years ago.

The museum offered so many delightful displays from various subject matters as toys, fashions, bathing suits, dinnerware, traditions, furniture, housing, and more.  They were uniquely presented and the experience was not only informative but also entertaining.  Many of the displays were behind glass to protect the items from light, but there was obvious some sort of light shining on many of the displays because I had a difficult time taking photos with my no-flash setting. But I think that I managed to capture most of the subject matter fairly well.

When I got back to the room, my feet were hurting, but I'm all recovered today and ready to head off to Gamla Stan to hopefully tour the Royal Palace and the beautiful streets of that island.  The weather is looking grand and I'm looking forward to the adventure.  The tourists are in full force, so I've been priming my elbows for my hike over to the island!  One thing that I've learned here, other than in Great Britain, people do not know how to queue and they will take up the entire walkway, headed towards you, sometimes 6 bodies astride, no one making the move for you to get through.  Annoying, I must admit, but there is enough entertainment around for me to take this in stride.

Surprises in Norrmalm

Just within a few blocks of the Nordic Light Hotel there is this lovely Lutheran Church, St. Clara's, hidden among the tall buildings of the city.  I spied the large steeple and ventured into the courtyard to take a peek. It's not mentioned in any of the tour information, and there isn't even a notation of a church on the map, so I was certainly surprised to stumble upon this gem.

As I was attempting to decipher the Swedish information in the doorway, this young man came out and began to speak in Swedish.  When he realized that I spoke English, he mentioned that there would be a free performance at noon in the church.  There were only a handful of people in attendance but these two musicians played beautifully together.  I was surprised that no one applauded until the very end of the performance. The one thing that I have learned as the foreigner who does not speak or know the language is to wait and watch what the locals do.  I went up to the young man after his performance and thanked him for having invited me, and mentioned that in the United States we applaud after every piece, not just at the end.  He said that is not typical for Sweden, particularly since this was in a church, but he thought that it was a fabulous idea and one that he would certainly enjoy himself.

When I exited the church, I was surprised to see that the beautiful blue sky had clouded up and rain was falling.  I was not prepared for rain, so back to the room I hiked to change  my shoes, don my raincoat, and grab an umbrella.  By the time I was outside again, the wind was whipping up and the rain was falling steadily.  I headed out with my tour book, determined to follow the suggested Tour of Norrmalm listed and found it increasingly difficult to follow the pages with the rain downpouring.

Again, I was surprised to hear thunder creeping up on the city, and there I was, walking along puddled roads once again, convinced that the weather must have hidden in my suitcase and followed me from Edinburgh.  Lightning began to flash along with the thunder and I wondered just how long I was going to be able to continue before I became drenched!

I ducked into the Dansmuseet, which is the Museum of Dance in Stockholm, located near the beautiful Opera House.  I had hoped to tour the Opera house, but since everything was written in Swedish, I was not able to determine just where the entrance to the tour would have been.  But the museum was free and I enjoyed the shelter from the storm as I looked at some of the unique and interesting displays.

Since the clouds were getting blacker, the thunder continuing to boom, I decided that it would be wise to return to the room. Once again, I found myself blow drying my shoes which were totally soaked, along with the bottom of my pants.  And you can just forget that "Good Hair Day" shampoo treatment that my day began with!  And, I do have to admit that the mood lights were not very effective in improving my mental state at that point.

But the blue skies broke through again in the early evening, and when Marty returned we walked to a restaurant in Gamla Stan where we enjoyed a tasty Swedish meal and an evening stroll through the lovely surrounds of that island.

Oh, and one more surprise worth mentioning.  When I found an information center, I asked if the woman could direct me to a bathroom, which she did by telling me to follow the blue arrows. (Kind of like 'follow the yellow brick road').  What she did not mention is that one needs to pay to enter the bathroom, which I am certainly not opposed to, but considering that I had no Swedish Kronas on my body, and I was relatively certain that the attendant was not going to take my credit card, I had to hike the 10 blocks back to my hotel which was a bit of a challenge considering the circumstances.  Good thing those mood lights were in the lobby greeting me!

You can be assured that today I am armed with plenty of coins and my plans are to attempt to tour Ostermalm.  I'm hoping for only pleasant surprises.

The Nordic Lights

Can you tell that we are staying at the Nordic Light Hotel?  This photo doesn't do justice to the red glow that  greeted us as we walked into the room last night. The receptionist tried to get us to "upgrade" our room to one with Mood Lighting, a bathtub and a larger room, but we declined.  We certainly don't need our senses getting too overloaded!  Besides, you could stick two of the rooms from our last B&B into this one. And the shower is twice as large as well.  Plus we even got a bar of soap and a bottle of shampoo called "A Good Hair Day" which seems to live up to its name. Or it could just be that the hotel blow dryer actually had power, unlike the last place!

The lobby is equally entertaining with tree trunk slabs for tables and interesting lighting displays along with what I presume one calls "mood music".  I believe that it is supposed to be calming.  Can't say for certain as there were several men at breakfast this morning who appeared to be in a bad "mood".

And, speaking of breakfast, you better believe that I'll be going to bed a bit hungry tonight so that I have room tomorrow to dig into the fabulous foods that they have presented so beautifully.

Now that I'm armed with a satisfied tummy, great hair and a happy mood, I'll be off to explore the city of Stockholm.  Better bring my umbrella.....grey clouds seem to be rolling in!

The Sun Shines down on Edinburgh

It's difficult deciding which of today's events is one worth highlighting. The most exciting part of the day was actually seeing the sunshine, and I am pleased to be able to feature a photo of Marty and myself actually squinting from the brightness of the sun. What a welcome relief not having to come back to our B&B and blow dry our shoes! We still have wet pants waiting to dry!

But back to the dilemma. Could it be the floral clock in the Princes Street Garden? Perhaps at another time, but today it featured a ladder strewn across it, definitely diminishing the impact that it could have made.

Was it the statue of William Pitt standing high in the middle of the intersection of Frederick and George Street, offering an awesome view of the Firth of Forth? Or could it be the yellow and black striped lights that stand in his vicinity which Marty is convinced was the precursor of the Steeler Nation?

Could it be the Georgian Era house that we toured that took us back to that time period? Fascinating, indeed, with excellent tour guides to show us life back in the late 1700's when Edinburgh's New Town was built?

I'd say that I'm leaning towards St. Cuthbert's church, sitting somewhat in the shadow of St. John's, but offering fine views of the castle from the grounds. Besides being the oldest church in all of Great Britain, it holds a memorial to John Neperi, the founder of logarithms. How great is that?

But the real 'pièce de résistance', according to the locals, is the fact that Agatha Christie was married to her second husband in the chapel of this church. We were exuberantly showed the copy of her marriage certificate by the curator of the church and the woman who was the chapel tour guide delighted in describing the details of the "exciting" event, as she put it. After all, not too many people have the opportunity to have the bragging rights to such a happy occasion occurring in the same place where they worship daily, you know!

To be quite honest with you, it wasn't these bits of history surrounding this church that made my day. It was this same effervescent woman, who obviously loved her role as tour guide. She described in detail the construction of this chapel which was a memorial to the 115 young men who were parishioners who lost their lives fighting in the Great War. The best line of the day was when she said, "Now I can't say for certain, because I was only born in 1920, but I have been told that the cost of just one letter inscribed on the wall would be one day's wages at the time." This spunky wealth of information who was bouncing around with such excitement describing the history of this church, and bragging about the notoriety of Agatha Christie, was born in 1920? You do the math. And this same woman admitted to us that she could thank John Neperi for many a nightmare in her days when she was studying Math. Truly amazing, and well worth the highlight of my day! Although Marty is probably still sticking to that Steeler Nation theory.

Edinburgh: What an Experience!

      This photo shows Marty and me, relaxing at the Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh, after another crazy day of touring in the rain.  We began our day at Edinburgh University's Chapel of St. Albert for Sunday Mass.  The chapel is located on the second floor in a house (once occupied by Arthur Conan Doyle ) while a new Chapel is under construction behind this building. The music accompaniment was an accordian, played beautifully, and adding much charm to the whole experience. (Definitely a first for us!) When mass was over, Marty went to talk to the musician, and we found ourselves invited to coffee in the lower room where several of the parishioners were eager to talk with us.  What a great way to start off the day!

     We headed towards the Royal Mile and  Edinburgh Castle. We soon found ourselves in the former Castle School building, now the home of  the"Whiskey Experience."  Before you knew it, we were sitting in an oak barrel, traveling through the process of making whiskey which is, by the way, distilled twice. The tour was topped off by "tasting" the whiskey of one's choice. How appropriate to receive the lesson of making whiskey in an old school house!  

   We exited the tour and headed up to the castle when the rain really began to pour again.  The castle is a history lesson in itself, going back to the 800's.  There are some spectacular views from the grounds but, unfortunately, our photos are filled with rain clouds.

   After a full day of touring in the rain, Marty and I headed to the Balmoral Hotel for High tea.  We were just outside the door when a bus came by, hit a puddle, and soaked my legs and shoes completely through.  We walked in the door to the restaurant and the concierge took one look at me and insisted that I be escorted down to the "Spa" so that I could use a blow dryer to get my pants dry. I certainly had not expected such attention and would have been happy just to sit down in a warm room at that point, but I relented and soon found myself in a posh room holding a warm hair dryer to my pants. I joined Marty in the dining room for our meal, and we had a delectable High Tea, but not without several of the employees stopping by to be certain that I was "recovered" from my drenching.

   I asked if I would be able to take the scrumptious shortbread cookie that was left home with me in a bag, and I was assured that they would be happy to box it up for me.  I was handed this very cute box with a handle to carry my "cookie" home.  When we got back to the room and made ourselves some tea, imagine my surprise when I opened the box and found no less than four of the melt-in-your-mouth treats in the box. How's that for hospitality?  It may be horrid weather, but we are still having fun!

Don't forget to check out the newest flickr photos.

     

And Then came the RAIN!!

The day began with a bright blue sky and puffy clouds, seemingly perfect, particularly for Edinburgh where it rains most of the time.  Marty and I managed to climb to the top of Arthur's Seat...not an easy feat for someone existing on just 2 and a half hours of sleep! The views were spectacular, as predicted.
How lucky were we to manage to view these spectacular vistas?  Within an hour of our descending the trail,  we felt the raindrops so typical of this country.
Within the hour, drops changed to torrential rain, soaking us to the bone, despite being armed with appropriate rain gear.  We both spent some time blow drying our shoes when we got back to the B&B.
Despite the weather, the city is filled with people hoping to celebrate the festival of the Fringe!  Narrow sidewalks and umbrellas make it challenging to maneuver, but so far, everyone has been in quite an upbeat mood.
My favorite moment was in the pub ladies room last evening.  There was this charming older woman fretting about how wet she was.  I mentioned how comfy her woolen shawl looked, and she made a comment about the horrid weather.  I looked at her and said, "You could have traveled all the way from America for this."  And she said, in the cutest Scottish accent, "That's it!  I am NEVER complaining again!"  How cute!
Gotta run.
Check out the flickr photos. http://www.flickr.com/photos/jrcrazy/sets/72157627250134323/

Good Times with an Old Friend

We all seem to have fond memories of a best friend from our childhood. If one is lucky, you grow up together, rejoice in the good times, and help each other through the bad.  You graduate from high school, and you promise to remain BFF despite going separate ways in the world.

It's funny how the years can pass by with little or no communication, but one phone call or e-mail will restart that connection despite the miles that separate us.  Our lives are far different, but it is obvious to those around us that we continue to share that bond:  the excitement when we meet again, the exuberance in our voices as we share stories; the intense interest that we have in each other's lives.

And, that's how it was this morning, when Marty and I drove to Malvern to visit with Tammy who had spent the night at her brother Ted's home.  He and his wife, Gail, welcomed us into their beautiful home nestled in the woods, where we shared a delightful breakfast, got caught up on family news, and enjoyed stories with many laughs. Although the time seemed way too brief, it felt like it was standing still while we were enjoying the moment.

"Enjoying the moment" is something that Tammy and I seem to be able to rekindle without effort.  Perhaps the distance between us makes us realize how precious these minutes are.  If you look closely at the photo, you will see a reflection of Marty who is happily taking our photo. Now, I ask you: How lucky am I to have a husband who appreciates this "best friend" as much as I?  

Enjoying the Moment

On Saturday, Marty and I made the trip to Princeton, New Jersey, to attend the latest Family Update Meeting pertaining to his Uncle Fred's MIA status during World War II.    I have spent years putting together a case for this man, proving that the original investigation into his whereabouts was not at the correct location.  (The army review boards never seemed to actually check the coordinates to verify the actual place of disappearance.)  My information pinpoints an exact location where a PVT stepped on a land mine.  Marty and I walked the spot ourselves last year.

When Marty and I attended our first actual on-site meeting, it became immediately obvious to us that we need to show our faces at these meeting if we expect any type of action on their part.  The historian at the time felt confident that we had enough information to initiate an investigation on the part of JPAC.
Well, here we are two years later, attending yet another meeting.  The write up included in our folder has gone from one page to two and a half.  An impressive amount of data spelling things out quite clearly, (every piece of data was supplied to these people by me. It sure looks convincing when written by a 3rd party!)

This time we had the opportunity to meet with a woman who works with JPAC as well as our army service coordinator and the historian, both of whom were quite familiar with the case.  There were lots of smiles, and accolades to my work, but no real commitment to actually follow through on their part.
After sitting through presentations, particularly the one from this woman who is employed by JPAC, where we were informed of all kinds of difficult complications that arise in jungles, and result from air losses, water losses, etc.,  Marty felt compelled to mention to this lady that our particular case need only involve an air ticket to the area.  There was no dangerous terrain or country hostilities, or complicated ground to maneuver.  This only requires a walk through with a metal detector to prove that the area was never searched for anyone's remains.  That was proven by our contact last year, who managed to pull up a fox-hole shovel, Gilette razors still in their case, a K-Ration can, 3 grenades, and a lot of unfired artillery in about an hour's time.  The woman smiled at us, and said that she would talk to the people in charge and see that the case was put on the list for 2012.  Considering that we have gone this round before, I'll believe it when I see it.

We did not let our frustration keep us from enjoying the rest of  our weekend.  We stayed at a lovely B&B in Burlington, New Jersey, and I must say that I don't think that we have ever had such an entertaining proprietor.  We spent quite a bit of time laughing with this man, who is well versed in the local history.  If you haven't been to Burlington, and you live nearby, you really must consider taking the day to walk through this town with a map from the Burlington Historical Society.  The town is really quaint and lovely and holds a wealth of history worth investigating.
Stop at the Cafe Gallery for a bite to eat while you are there.  The veranda offers a lovely view of the Delaware River.

Our place of refuge was the Lily Inn.  It appears that we cannot escape mention of the dog, even while getting away for the night.  But, one thing was for certain, there was no little white dog waking us up in the wee hours of the morning.  The resident Yorkie, Harold, didn't so much as bark at us, although he did enjoy coming out and sniffing us when we would walk through the door.  We apparently met with his approval.

So we managed to get a refreshing night's sleep, a great breakfast, delightful conversation, and even attended Mass at the local Catholic Church just a few blocks away.  The weather was perfect, only adding to the highlight of the trip.  All that, in combination with a proprietor who was the "Resident Hugger,"  I can't help but wonder, "Who could ask for more?"

Here you will find my Military Investigation.
And don't forget to check out the flickr photos at the bottom of the page.

Restitution

OK, so I'll admit that I owe Marty an apology for not believing his "fishy" stories earlier in the week.  Today  the fish couldn't keep away from him, as he so modestly put it!  Here you see him holding a mullet and a spot, both hitting the line at the same time.  Jim was fishing alongside his dad and catching mullet as well.

Finn decided that today would be the day that he absolutely loved the beach and he spent nearly two hours entertaining us with his crazy antics.  He had a blast running in and out of the surf, chasing birds, looking for airplanes and collecting a few shells.  At least he managed to have some real fun (as did the rest of us) on this last day of our beach vacation.  

Fun in the Sand

Sandcastles have always been a big part of our beach vacations.  The kids spend hours creating an awesome structure filled with turrets and a huge moat, each year attempting to outdo previous works of art in the sand.   Then, they sit in anticipation of the tide coming in, slowly destroying their creation. They've even been known to sit in the moat while it fills up with water from each encroaching wave.

You can see from the posted photo that this year, the kids opted for a sand creation that was not a castle.  It appears that Mr. Crab made such an impression on them that they felt it appropriate to replicate him in the sand. The eyebrows reflect his sinister look, and the crown on his head signifies that he is King Crab, according to Amy.

I find the likeness to be remarkable, and I particularly enjoy the moat that surrounds this guy in the sand. And even though his likeness will be gone in the morning, we all know that the real Mr. Crab will continue to be on the lookout for beach invaders.  Hopefully he has a sense of humor and won't be feeling the need to retaliate tomorrow.

I used my panoramic setting on the computer to snap this photo which includes the likeness of Mr. Crab as well as the family sitting under the canopy, relaxing after putting out so much effort on their creation. It certainly will be a great memory for years to come. After all, isn't that what family vacations are all about?

Fish Kissin'

The kissing of fish is an old family tradition, begun by Jim at a young age, and it generally involves the trout species.  But this year, Marty felt compelled to smack his lips on a mullet.  You can tell from the photo that the fish isn't all too keen on this idea, but a kiss is, more than likely, a much better option than being made a meal of, when you are a fish.

The week is speeding by and we've made the most of this beautiful weather.  The area has been plagued by a thick cloud of smoke from a burning forest fire in North Carolina.  The air gets thick and one feels like there should be a campfire nearby.  Visibility becomes substantially decreased.  Luckily, the wind changes course several times a day or we'd be stuck inside all day.

Our unfriendly crab continues to rule the beach.  We saw him take on a family of 5 yesterday.  The mom was commenting on how cute the crab was, when he went barreling toward them at rapid speed.  He taunted them by skirting back and forth, defending his stretch of the beach while we waited to see just how bold Mr. Crab would be.  But the two little girls found his antics to be amusing, and since they were vertical and could run as fast as he could, he decided to retreat to the top of the dune and let them pass by.  So, we spend time keeping an eye on his antics while he keeps two pop-up eyes on us.  Entertainment at its best. And, so far, we still have our body parts intact.

Crabby Crab

You know those little ghost crabs that look so cute and innocent, popping their head up out of the sand, doing a quick scan of the area, then running a few feet to bury down into another hole?  Well, today's morning adventure brought a whole new light to the “cuteness” of those little creatures.
We were sitting under the tent on the beach, Heather & Finn sitting on the beach blanket, spotting some rather large crabs poking their heads out from the sand, when Jim decided to sneak  up on one of these crabs who was just hanging out a few feet from the tent.
As soon as the crab was spooked,  he began to run straight for the tent, directly towards Heather & Finn.  Before any of us realized what was happening, this rather large crab (I mean he was large enough to be dinner!)  had managed to scurry across the diagonal of the tent and run up Heather's leg as far as her knee, where he obviously found himself catapulted to the ground when Heather jumped up to get rid of the guy.
What was once a cute little adventure soon became a horror story in Finn's eyes and you can only well imagine the distraught cries that resulted from the boldness of this crab.
And, to make matters worse, when Jim strapped Finn into the stroller to bring him back up to the house, he was surprised to find Mr. Crab hanging out under the stroller, where he proceeded to jump on Jim's foot, causing Jim to jump and Finn to start wailing all over again!
I don't know if the crabs are a bit bolder here in Duck, but I can tell you that we will be watching our backs for the rest of the week.  Just in case this guy decides to sneak up on any of us just for fun!

It's Just a Perfect Day

I couldn't help but hear Susan Boyle singing "Perfect Day" in my head while walking along the beach last evening with Marty.  "It's such a perfect day...I'm glad I spent it with you."
This first full day at the beach offered the perfect temperatures with plenty of sunshine and only one looming black cloud that somehow managed to roll by without affecting our beach time.
Little Finn is keeping us all on our toes as he is one busy guy always on the move. He was enjoying the early morning beach time, sitting on Marty's short beach chair, when suddenly, he tumbled forward into the sand.  Somehow, he managed to balance himself on his belly, with both arms, legs, and face held off the ground, reminding me of a turtle.  He really doesn't like the feel of the sand and it is entertaining to watch him attempt to pick off any sand that accumulates on his body.
But he loves to point his finger and yell at the ocean.  Perhaps he is scaring all of the fishies away.  He certainly does make enough noise!
An evening game of Canasta resulted in Jim and Heather killing Amy and me.  OK, so maybe it wasn't such a "Perfect Day" after all!

Europe-oly

Marty & Barbara drinking Tokaj wine in the Hungarian Embassy

Today Marty and I attended the European Union Open House event in Washington DC.  Once a year the embassy's of the European Union host an "Open house" where they invite the public inside to experience the cultural of that country.  We started our day with at our favorite B&B in Takoma park, then rode the metro into the city.  We picked up an official European pamphlet which featured the location of the embassies as well as 8 spots to have "stamped" as we attempted the tour.

Let me begin by saying that the embassies are located all over D.C. There were four "groupings" by area on the pamphlet, and we began by heading out to Slovakia and Austria, which coincidentally are neighbors in D.C. as well as in Europe.  Walking through the doors of Slovakia, we were greeted with samples of homemade Haluski and from that moment, our enthusiasm caused us to tackle as many of the houses as our feet could handle. 

 
Security was extremely heightened, and we found ourselves standing in long lines waiting to go through metal detectors and have our coats and personal items searched by nearly every embassy.  That certainly took up a lot of time, but we met some delightful people while waiting in line. 

We ate Haluski in Slovakia, tasted pastries and coffee in Austria, had some Tokaj wine in Hungary where we also managed to pet some very cute Hungarian dogs.  Marty feasted on Czech Goulash while quenching his thirst with a Pilsner.  We were certain that Lithuania was our favorite embassy when we found ourselves being offered free beer, bread, cheese and chocolates, without having to go through a search at the door,  but then we headed to Poland and found ourselves with free Kielbasa, pierogies and beer.  Needless to say, a new favorite was found.

Marty and I managed to fill all 8 stamps, and actually visited two more, for a total of ten embassies. I think we passed "Go" a few times, but didn't collect $200.00.  Luckily we didn't end up in jail either!

Fun with Family & Fish: What more could you ask for?

Today the long anticipated meeting of Marty and my Slovak cousin, Mary, was fulfilled!   Mary is my fellow "Takach" family genealogist.  Her father and my grandmother were siblings, so we share the bond of tracing the family from Slovakia to Pennsylvania, and, lucky for me, Mary speaks and reads fluent Slovak, which has come in handy on many occasions!

Now that Marty and Mary are facebook friends, Marty felt that it was finally time for them to meet, and Mary was equally excited.  She welcomed us into her home where her lovely daughter, Diane, had prepared a delicious lunch for us.  You'll note Mary standing with me, holding a DQ Ice Cream Cake which was truly scrumptious!  What a real treat!

Marty and Mary really hit it off, and he is looking forward to a return trip sometime in the near future when we can spend a bit more time together.  Mary and I didn't even have time to delve into much genealogy!  We did talk a bit about last year's adventure to the town where Mary's parents grew up before emigrating, but there's much more that we need to catch up on before too much time slips by!

Since Mary lives only 5.4 miles from the Bass Pro Shops, Marty couldn't resist stopping in for a "quick" look.  Lucky for me, Sunday hours are only until 6:00 p.m., so we only had about 25 minutes to wander through the place, but he didn't waste any time checking out the items of most interest to him.

Marty sports his new Bass Pro Shops while sitting on a "Fish" Bench

I've decided that the next time that we make the trip to visit Mary, Marty will have to drop me off, so that Mary and I can really talk genealogy, and Marty can spend as much time as he likes in the Bass Pro Shops.  This way we'll both be able to enjoy our favorite things.

No offense to you, Mary.  I'm sure Marty likes you more than fish.  But he'd definitely put this place ahead of the genealogy.

Hanging with an Angel

Most of my posts as Gallivanting Geismom involve exciting adventures to fun and fabulous places, generally accompanied by my husband of 30+ years.  But today I offer you an entirely different experience to ponder. This weekend finds me in Peabody, MA attending a Granulosa Cell Tumor Symposium with my daughter, Stacey, at her request. We hopped in the car early Friday morning and made the drive to the hotel in just short of 8 hours.  We've been quite busy since we arrived and today was spent sitting in a conference room listening to a myriad of speakers offer their expertise surrounding the subject of Granulosa cell Tumors.  Now, one might find such a subject to be a bit less than exciting, but I can assure you that the day was filled with enthusiasm and Stacey and I found this event to be of great value.  We met with some fabulous doctors, all who had a wealth of information to offer to us. The above photo shows Stacey posing with Dr.Penson, a man whom we had only corresponded with via phone or e-mail, but the one person whom I consider directly responsible for directing us to the best possible care for Stacey.  He remembered her name as soon as he saw her namecard, and he was thrilled to pose with her for this photo.  Don't they both look fabulous?  If you look hard, I think you can spot a halo around his head. Attending this conference was probably one of the best decisions that we could have made.

Genealogy at its Best

Nearly six years ago, Marty and I stumbled upon a B&B on the North Side of Pittsburgh, called the Priory.   We celebrated our 25th anniversary there and enjoyed the close walking proximity to PNC Park as well as to the city of Pittsburgh.  As we explored the hotel, perusing through the on-site history books as well as the photos on the wall, we realized that the Priory was actually part of the Church and Benedictine Monastery where Marty's Dad and siblings had attended grade school while growing up.  A stroll around the neighborhood led us to the actual street where Josef Geisler, a tailor, set up his residence after he emigrated from the small town of Zell am Ziller. Matthias Geisler, Marty's grandpa, raised his family of eleven children just a block away.  It was great to see that both houses still stood on streets where the original Belgian Block roads intact.

Just about a year ago, the Priory purchased the building adjacent to theirs after it had been gutted by fire.  They added 17 rooms to the hotel and as part of their Grand Opening celebration, the Priory offered a room special to past customers.  The offer was "too good to refuse", and Marty and I decided to reserve a room for Saturday night.

We began our Saturday night retreat by attending Mass at Most Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church, located on Troy Hill.  The church has genealogical significance to Marty's family as some of his relatives were baptized there in the late 1800's. We opted to have dinner at Max's Allegheny Tavern located on Suismon street, just a couple of  blocks from the original Geisler Homestead and down the street of the home of Leo Woelk. ( Leo's sister married Matthias).  Max's restaurant is in the original building that housed a hotel and restaurant as early as the 1860's. The venue is German and Viennese food, typical of the immigrants who immigrated to the area.

Marty enjoyed the four beer sampler of specialized brews from the restaurant.  Our food choices included Schnitzel Royale and Viennese Chicken, which came with side dishes of potato pancakes.  We ended up switching meals as the chicken that I ordered came with a sauce that was filled with green peppers. This seems to be the trend anymore when Marty and I go out.  They say that cats migrate to people who are allergic to them.  I seem to have the same penchant with green peppers.  Luckily, Marty is happy to switch meals when this occurs.  The food was fabulous.

As part of the Priory hotel special, we found a dozen fresh Roses in the room as well as a chilled bottle of Champagne  and Priory Baker sweets.  So, we sipped our Champagne while enjoying a delectable mini cheesecake and chocolates.  I'm willing to bet that none of Geisler family relatives partook of such delicacies, but I, for one, am thrilled to have had this opportunity. Marty is certainly not complaining either!

Celebrating Spring

On this beautiful first day of Spring,  I realized that one does not have to travel far to experience adventure worth sharing.  Today, Marty and I decided to drive through the countryside to Annville, PA to the Allen Theater to view a showing of "The King's Speech".
The drive is certainly a familiar one, made countless times on our way to and from Lebanon Valley College in years past.  But, it has been awhile since we traveled this route, and I'm happy to say that the scenery continues to be as unspoiled as in the past, full of farms, many with signs featuring an inspirational reading from the New Testament, either on a placard by the mailbox, or painted in brilliant white on a dark blue silo.
Our travels took us back to the Allen Theater, a single stage theater with an old fashioned appeal.  It kind of reminds me of the Beaver theater where I remember going a few times as a little girl, but I do believe that that theater is long gone.  The Allen Theater was renovated with a state of the art sound system and crystal clear projection which adds to the entire experience.
Where else can you pay $6.00 for a ticket to enjoy not only a movie in plush, comfy seats, but pre-movie entertainment while you wait for the showing to begin?  Today's talent featured a young man playing classical music on a violin with background music piped through the sound system.   When the young man was finished, the audience was greeted personally by the owner who offered a "satisfaction guaranteed" experience.  At this point, your eyes are drawn to the stage to await the opening of the red velvet curtains when the performance begins.   Marty and I rarely see  movies in the theater, probably because we are spoiled by these personal touches at the Allen Theater.

Today's showing of the "The King's Speech" was spectacular.  I highly recommend this film which is based on a true story of King George VI of Great Britain.  The scenery, music, and attention to details make this movie well worth seeing.  Colin Firth's performance is deserving of the Oscar which he received.   I prefer "happy ending" movies, and this one was no disappointment.  The musical score at the end only added to the pleasure that I felt as we exited the theater.

On our way back home from the theater, we stopped in Cornwall at the BlueBird Inn for dinner.  They had 14 types of beer on tap to choose from, but Marty finally settled on the Yuengling Bach which he found quite tasty.  I decided to treat myself to a "Frozen Leprechaun" which was "magically delicious", despite the lack of Lucky Charms.  We had the dining area practically to ourselves and dinner was fabulous.  I chose the pistachio-encrusted chicken topped with melted brie, served on wild rice with a light Bing cherry sauce, while Marty ordered the Whiskey Salmon over browned butter & bacon Risotto.  It's a good thing that we both decided to take a hike through the neighborhood prior to our leaving, since I'm certain that we consumed way too many calories today!

Wild times in Western Arizona

Finally, Marty and I got to enjoy some sun in the morning before the Wild crew showed up to meet the Pa cousins. These folks sure do know how to have a Wild time, befitting of their surname.  The house was filled with babies:  six month twins, Indigo and Marley and nine month old Mackenzie, three little girls who surely have melted their grandparents' hearts, that's for sure.  Cousins came wandering in throughout the day, but not before we managed to check out some of the Glendale highlights, including a local candy store where one can actually see the employees hard at work dipping the chocolate.
The day was surely a sweet one in more ways than one.
It's a darn good thing that we managed to soak up some of the sun's rays because the news from home tells me that we will be heading back to a cold winter wonderland tomorrow evening.

Memories for a lifetime

Let me begin by saying that I do appreciate the concern voiced from my friends regarding my possible encounter with the netherworld last evening.  I will embarrassingly admit that I awoke every hour to look at the clock and tuck my head back under the covers and was relieved to have made it through the night without incident.  Marty, of course, had quite a bit of fun with the whole adventure, and you can witness his antics for yourself here:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/jrcrazy/5461163989/in/set-72157626091359986/

The morning brought bright sunshine and we headed off to the Boyce Thompson Arboretum on the way to Phoenix.  We were lucky to be able to walk the main path which offered sensational views as well as some interesting birds who entertained us on our journey around the park.  We hopped in the car and headed to Scottsdale just as the rain began to torrent upon us once again.

We pulled into Scottsdale just as the blue skies began to appear as the clouds finally rolled out of town.  Here we spent some time with my cousin, Tina, and her husband David. Neither of us has met the "husbands" as our last encounter must have been nearly 36 years ago.  We had a great time catching up and sharing fun stories, wondering how the years had slipped by so quickly.

But we soon said our fond farewells, and Marty and I found ourselves basking in the sun as we headed off to the home of my high school "best friend" Tammy, who, as you can see from the photo, looks as wonderful as ever.  The hours flew by way too fast as we caught up on memories, enjoyed a delightful meal,  and shared so many laughs......just like old times.  It's funny how the years can go by with so little contact, but in a brief time together, we just reconnect as if we'd seen each other just yesterday.  How wonderful it was to rekindle the bond from time gone by.  It was certainly the perfect ending to our on the road adventure in Arizona.  We came to escape the cold, and although the weather did not accommodate us on that request, the warmth that we felt from the welcomes that we received certainly made up for any lapses from Mother Nature.

Tomorrow is sure to guarantee warmer temperatures and lots of action as we spend the day at the Wild Homestead in Glendale. I'll keep you posted.

Traveling Backwards in Globe

Pictured above is Marty and myself aboard the Copper Spike Railroad Dome Car leaving from Globe, Arizona. Just for the record, it is certainly well worth staying in this old mining town since it offers easy access to roads offering unbelievable views of canyons and Tonto National Forest, but let's face it, when the sun goes down, there really isn't much to do in Globe.  I had stumbled upon the website for this train excursion and decided that it would be fun and so I reserved the tickets, and we were certainly not disappointed.  We came to Arizona to escape the cold and found ourselves in the pouring rain with temps hovering around 50 degrees, so this train escape certainly was timed perfectly for the day.
Since the restaurant choices in Globe are pretty bleak, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to enjoy lunch while admiring the scenery from the windows.  We still managed to have a great time despite the raindrops on the windows and the haze from the rain.  The cabin is very plush, the staff was exceptionally friendly, and the music was from the 40's era, which seemed to be appropriate as we found ourselves in the presence of many "snowbirds" who flock to Arizona when the cold weather hits in other parts of the country.  It took two hours to make the trip over a mere 24 miles total round trip.
Upon our return we need only to walk across the street to the Holy Angels Catholic Church built in 1918 for Mass. Afterwards, since lunch was quite substantial, we decided to just munch on some snacks from the local grocery store in our room and relax.
Marty began asking me some questions about the B&B school where we are staying, and I did a quick search on google to find the history.  Big mistake!  I was soon delving into articles featuring paranormal activity in the very room where we are staying.  Although I must say that we made it through last night without incident, Marty has spent the evening finding all kinds of creepy u-tube videos and sightings regarding this place, so I can't predict what tonight will bring.  Going back in time on the train was definitely a pleasant experience, but sleeping in a supposedly haunted schoolroom is something that I think I can do without.  I suppose that I'll just have to leave you guess until you hear from me tomorrow.  Hopefully.......
In the meantime, be sure to check out the flickr pages from today's adventures. The rainbow over the Salt River Canyon was certainly a lucky shot.

Arizona and an Apache Trail Adventure

Our day began with a trip to the Botanical Gardens in Phoenix.  As we walked to the entrance, Marty was amazed at the beautiful cacti sparkling a shiny green, until I informed him that they were glass.  Chihuly glass, to be exact.  Not the first of his works that I've seen, and I'm sure that it won't be the last.  The shiny, pointy structures were indeed, quite beautiful, but paled in comparison to the amazing Sonoran Desert scenes that we would wander through in the Gardens.
After touring the gardens, we drove off to Apache Junction, a turn onto Highway 88, and we soon found ourself on the Apache Trail.  The vistas along the road were amazing. We weren't on the road long when we spotted flashing lights, and it was obvious that someone had taken the curve a bit too fast and had rolled off the side into some cactus.  Two people were crawling out of the open top of the sports car, and they were fortunate that they had not rolled off where there had been a very steep drop off, and that the car had come to a stop fairly close to the highway.  The scene was just what I needed to assure that Marty took this drive seriously and kept his eyes on the road.
We stopped for lunch at Tortilla Flat and there must have been a retirement special since the place was loaded with seniors.  But, lucky for us, they traveled in small groups, and since we were a couple, we were seated right away.  The restaurant was interesting, with dollar bills pasted all over the ceiling and walls.  There is definitely a lot of money invested in that place!  The saddle seats at the bar and the boar with the sunglasses hanging on the wall only added to the ambiance of the place.  We couldn't pass on a prickly pear cactus ice cream cone before heading off to the real challenge of the trail.
A few miles past Tortilla Flat, the road turned from pavement to dirt and the rest of the trail  was certainly a challenge with hair pin turns and several one lane bridges, not to mention the fact that some of the road was  not wide enough for two cars to pass.  All in all, we handled the drive well, but I was certainly happy to reach pavement once again.  It took a couple of hours to drive 20 miles and I found myself rejoicing everytime we passed another mile marker on the way.
The drive from the Roosevelt Dam to Globe was through the Tonto National Forest.  The vistas there were equally remarkable, with rolling hills of green cacti on either side of the highway.  Fortunately, I had printed up driving directions since our GPS unit was thoroughly confused.  and we managed to arrive safely at our destination in Globe. We are staying in an old school house, built in the early 1900's,  that was converted to a B&B. Let's just say that we are "learning" a lot about the area! Be sure to check out the flickr photos.