It was off to Germany.  One of those trips I had been putting off for many yrs,  one of those places that was not tops on my list of places to go.  Dave, however, had a lot of places he wanted to show me there- and we were going to avoid all the drama an American Thanksgiving brings about and LEAVE J

 

So here it was 7am on Weds morning and Alli was at the house to get us, take us to the airport and get all the doggie take care of info.  Too early for me .  Our upgrades from Phoenix to DC have not cleared yet – though the trip from DC to Frankfurt had cleared at booking.  WE get there, check in, and there is one upgrade available at the gate,  being a very nice wife ( and having the exit row anyway) – I tell
Dave to take it since he has to write reports to send via email when we get to DC.

 

The trip over to DC and on to Frankfurt is , as it should be, uneventful.  – well except for the fact that the power ports are not working in our seats, from DC to FRA.  $200 vouchers and a move to the lower deck and we have power ;).

 

Before we had left I had purchased train tickets from Frankfurt to Amsterdam, as we were going to have Thanksgiving dinner there and then meet with our friends Ron and Kim the next nite.  I had managed to do this from the site in German and even manage to figure out how to print them ( it was supposed to print on A4 printer – too bad printers made in the USA don’t recognize that size).  But I had worked around that and had the train tickets and the Anne Frank house tickets with our plane tickets and hotel reservations all printed out and in my folder.  Too bad I can’t read German – but this was only to become clear later on.

 

So we arrive in Frankfurt  and look for the high speed (ICE) train.  For some reason the information lady says we need to go to downtown Frankfurt to get on it.  OK, no biggie, three stops and we have 2 hours.  Do that – get our first introduction to how the dollar is worth NOTHING ( well .67 euro) as we have coffee and cake that turns into 15USD.  Find our train car and assigned seats ( peek in at First Class and am glad didn’t spend 3 times as much for it ) – 2^nd class train travel surely has trained since I did this in my late teens J

Conductor comes down the ailse for our tickets – no problem – dave hands them to him.  UM  he says I need the credit card you bought these with.  Ooooops!!!!!!!!  I had  left it home – as it is not the one with the 1% foreign currency fee .   Well I thought the guy was being stubborn, but Dave said he was just doing his job ( well we were in Germany after all).  The full credit card number must be given to him .  Ok – we will use the wonders of modern technology and pull up the statement online . 
Sometimes the wonders are not that wonderful – could not maintain connectivity long enough L  So then we get the great idea – dave will bring it up on his PDA -  well that works – excepts that its too small to read.  Finally its 5:30am on the east coast -   and I WAKE UP my sister  ( Oh honey – can you get on the internet ) -  First words out of my mouth to her – she must have loved me –but she got into my credit card account  and found my account number for me – so at least the cell phone didn’t fail me ;)  Mind you I was so tired that I was sitting on this train crying as Dave is going you know worst case we buy another ticket.  Finally that is all straightened out and I get to wonder at a train that can go over 300 km per hour ( about 180 miles per hour).  We arrive in Amsterdam around 2pm and manage to find our hotel after a number of missteps ( apparently there is a annual cannabis judging contest  that goes over that week – and the people we asked were not necessarily in shape to give directions J ).  We check in, go out to explore the city and then come back to have a “Traditional Thanksgiving Dinner”.  Well, there was turkey, potatoes and apple pie – but it was all cooked so differently that it was incredible.  The apple pie was a crisp. The potatoes were made with …………………………………..  Thanksgiving didn’t really feel like Thanksgiving , ah well live and learn – guess I will just have to cook next year. ( well Dave will ;) )

 

An early wake up to get to the Anne Frank house by 9:30 am ( we had been told to get our tickets for an early time as the place gets very crowded).  I am already getting good use out of the UGG boots that I bought on our trip to New Zealand ( well the Sydney airport);  and my thermal underwear – it is damn cold out – but though it is gray and overcast it is not raining at least.  We walk over and there is not even a line – hand in our tickets purchased online ( whew no problems this time ) – and go on in.  I had been there many  years ago – what a difference.  It has been modernized to include an education center, machines that send video greetings ,etc. I found it very commercial and it did not evoke in me at all the feelings that I had felt when I had been there many years ago.  Sigh..

Time for food – we stopped and had a “snack”.  Then back to the hotel to warm up and catch the tram out to the Reijksmuseum.  Though this is currently under renovation all the really cool stuff was still on exhibit – “The Night Watch” was in its usual imposing position .  Shopping was a shock .  I think we agreed that Europe was probably off our agenda until the dollar-euro imbalance came back to a more normal range.  That nite we were to meet our friends Ron and Kim ( who live about 30 miles out of Amesterdam ) for a http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesian_rice_table      Indodonesian rice table dinner.   Um myum!!!!!!!1

 

WE had a 6:30am train back up to Frankfurt where we were to pick up the rental car and head for Heidelberg.  This time I was prepared,  I knew where the credit card number was as the conductor coming down had said that I needed to have this and don’t lose this very important number.  The dutch conductor on the way up was, of course, not the least bit interested in it – scanned our ticket and said have a nice day.  On the other hand, no German police came around checking passports at the border which the dutch had done on the way down.  We were now in Germany to visit,  somehow this time we were able to get off the train at the airport rather than having to go downtown and back out ( you can tell right away that I hate not being able to speak the language).  Off to the car rental place, where we have been upgraded to a Mercedes 330 diesel.  ( Later Dave will drive this car 120 MPH on the autobahn- but that’s for later).  We hop in the car and 45 minutes later we are in Heidelberg.  Checking in our room is not ready, but we go wait in the lounge for the short bit until it is – enjoy the view over the river.   After getting settled into the room we go into downtown Heidelberg,   and go up to see the castle and the ride the funicular .  This thing is incredible.  It is in two parts – the lower part is only about  20 years old and it goes from the base of the mountain up to the castle.  We ride that and then walk all around the castle and explore the ruins ( mind you its freezing up there L ).  The next part was built 100 years ago – it takes you in two stages all the way to the top of this mountain that overlooks the entire city.

http://europeforvisitors.com/germany/heidelberg/heidelberg-funicular.htm

 Gorgeous views at sunset.   Come on down planning to have dinner but it turns out that we are both still full from our lunch.  So we figure we will make it an early nite ( after hitting the main shopping street before it closed) .  The purpose of the early nite is to get an early start the next day.  In a total shock Dave actually slept till 8:30am, so no early start.  We decide that we will see a castle that was  built in the 1100’s ( in other words a  pile of rocks ) that the Germans call a ruine that requires me to climb up a steep hill ( of course on the way down it turns out

            There was a path with an easy grade

            You could even drive a car up it

But no – we walked – I whined – and we walked some more.  ( and I whined some more ( that’s Daves contribution to this report).   After I finished that whining we went over to the Schewenzinham ( a palace ) this palace had gardens that I am sure look beautiful in the spring but, um, this is November,  I was not sure what was so thrilling about a bunch of trees with no leaves on them.  IOW,  this was my day to remember that I had no desire to be in Germany and so far had not really seen anything to change my mind.  Back to the hotel we go – me in a pissy mood and dave pissed that im not having fun .  The only solution to this seems to be dinner at VETTER.   Rob and Ashley had eaten here on their honeymoon and  now I just had to eat here.  OK – it was good JJJ.  Dave had the meatloaf ( which is definitely not what we Americans call meatloaf – it was made out of sausage.  And very very yummy.  Two tall steins of beer to go with this and we felt much better .  Since it was Sunday the town was closed , a brief walk in the cold was enough to persuade to head on back to the hotel where we went into the bar for desert and then up to the room to plan the next day.  Some more cheerful places were clearly in order.  So – Strasbourgh and Baden Baden went on the agenda.  Strasbourg to see the castles , eat French food and hear a language I could at least understand.  A boat ride on the rver was also taken and it was very enjoyable.  A fringe benefit – the Xmas market was open there and we walked around and looked at all the distinctive items.  We then headed for Baden Baden for the opening of the Xmas market there – I ate noodles and sauerkraut -  and pommes .  Quite delicious.  Back to hotel t( at 120 miles per hour – oh look – its raining and the car turns on the windshield wipers by itself – um that’s nice – but you are still going 120 MPH – I don’t care if there is no speed limit etc )to pack, eat at
Dave’s favorite Indian restaurant in the whole world he says ( I have to admit it was the best Indian food I have ever eaten)  and this morning we headed for the airport.  Now sitting 35K feet about the earth in bumpy weather writing this so I can add links and hopefully email it when we land in IAD – even th0ugh I am showing a wireless connection here – it just doesn’t seem to want to let me on the internet ( wonder why)

 

I guess there is a reason that they dock rotweillers tails.  Then again I always lucy was a mutt

 

So tonite I decide I will burn the rest of the nice Home for the Holidays candle - make the house smell nice.  Silly me decides the living room table is a good place for it.  I think you can see whats coming - Lucy's tail meets candle - candle wax goes all over the carpet.  Not just candle wax - RED candle wax.

 

So I learned

 

White towel

Hot iron

 

Put white towel over candle dripping.  Iron on medium high - keep iron constanlty moving.  Seemed to be about 30 passes over a spot would remove it.  Of course there were many many spots - but its all gone - and NO stain.

 

YAY!!!

This weekend was off to Chicago to see Rob and Ashleys new apartment and get to visit with them and Sharon.

We totally lucked out this time and the weather was in the 70's and the sun was shining - maybe that was to make

up for freezing us out when we went in Feb and it being sooo hot when I went in June.

 

Fri nite we went to see "Wicked" - the show was great - quite a twist on the original plot - and I would recommend it

to anyone.  The seats , unfortunately , were worse than the smallest coach seats that I have seen on an airplane.  Rob suggests that anyone

who goes buy "First Class" :)

 

Sat morning dawned bright and beautiful and it was off for a walk to the "Original Pancake House" for bkfst - most of the

menu was NOT on my diet - but hey we had walked there after all.  This was followed by a long walk around the University of Chicago Campus and , of coure ,  a mandatory  bookstore visit for souveniers.  While there we ran into one of Robs future law school professors and I had an interesting chat with her.  Luckily he no longer embarresses easily

 

Due to a last minute change in plans,  the 4 of us ( Dave and I and Rob and Ashley) were to join Sharon at a birthday party that night at Dave and Busters.  Turns out that for every 4 people under the age of 21 ,  a person over the age of 25 is necessary to let them in.  So Dave and I were to be "responsible" for 8 20 yrs olds.  Sure - no problem.  They actually carded us.  That was , of course , the highlight of the entire night for me .

 

 

Next - the Field Museum and the Tut exhibit

 

 

I cant believe its back to work already

 

Its been a great three months though

 

Dave and I went to Osaka Japan for our 1 yr anniversary ( courtesy of the Hilton Osaka having rooms for $2.96 a nite) and had a great time.  I went back to the east coast for 10 days and saw old friends and new as well as my sister and Sharon who spent the summer in Ocean City on summer project.

 

Rob has decided on the University of Chicago law school and his wife will be attending graduate school there.  Sharon just got home for two weeks and then will be returning to Northwestern.

 

Dave has taken a new job - this time working for Microsoft - he is a happy camper.

 

I am working on my next semesters courses which start on Mon

 

Life keeps moving on

 

 

Well this weekend was off to chicago.  We would be seeing Sharon and meeting Rob and Ashley there so everyone could see U of chicago law school and northwestern law school.  Such decisions he has to make .

 

Our first inkling that this was going to be a COLD weekend was the email from Sharon touting 20 degree weather.  She neglected to mention the ( feels like -28) .

 

Turns out we hit chicago on one of the coldest weekends they have had in years.  With tempatures in the single digits and feels like in the negatives - even wearing ski underwear and 3 layers was not enough for me.  The only bright side - it was even too cold for me to smoke

 

Lots of good food later - I understand why people in the midwest weight more !!!

 

Met about 15 of sharons friends, saw my cousins,  saw law schools ( well from the car for me ) - and all in all a great weekend.

 

I still vote for Peter Lugers over Gene and Georgetti though

So I got that infamous summons in the mail ( well in my case it was a second one - as it seems the first one "lost itself" - show up at 8:30 am on the 25th or else.  Not sure what the or else is,but being a good citizen ( and only have lab hour and office hour on Weds so no subs needed) - I dutifully dragged myself out of bed at 6:15AM this morning to make the drive to downtown PHX in rush hour. Took an hour and 20 minutes.  This meant finding a public parking lot as the free one requires a shuttle - no time for that.

 

Cost - $12.00 for the day

 

Walk in , check in and sit.  And sit.

 

Wait they said on the flyer there was wireless internet access.  Oops - they didnt mention it cost 10 cents a minute or $7.95 a day.  Guess I will wait before I sign on

 

Sit

Sit

 

At 9:30 they show some video.   At 10am they finally start calling people.

 

By 10:30 when I have not been called - I break down on the wireless

 

Cost -- 7.95

 

  By 11:30 there are 10 of us ( out of a few hundred) sitting in the room.  They send us to lunch , come back at 1pm

 

Lunch cost - $7.00

 

Supposedly they are going to pay me .41 cents a mile for coming today ;)

 

And I'm still sitting

 

 

 

 

Dave has covered most of this in his blog - which entries I am cutting and pasting in here with credit to him of course.

 

Trip to Bangkok – The flight over

 

Honeymoon finally!  It has been some months since our wedding and due to Internosis’ poor form in laying me off. Jan and I cancelled our “just-before-Christmas trip to Munich.  So it was about time to get our first *official* trip together into the can …

 

Our previous trip together was a couple of years ago to Hong kong – and was tremendous.  Taking a cue from that (and sensing an opportunity to gain some “miles” in the process), we decided upon Bangkok, Thailand.

 

We started in Phoneix (Ted flight) for our eventual departure from San Francisco where we were meeting two friends (George and Carol) for the remainder of our journey.  Off the airplane and into the Red Carpet Club for coffee and to catch up on some work before the trip.  Carol and George met us there and not to soon after we confirmed our business class upgrades and crawed our way into the upper cabin of the 747.  I’ve done these before and although the seating in the downstairs Business class is actually slightly more comfortable, I prefer the quiet and solitude of the upper deck.  I had taken a nap on the flight up from Phoenix so I wasn’t tired.  So while everyone else slept, I worked.  Some 10 pages or so of network design docs later (and I-don’t-know how many viewings of K-Pax later) we landed at Tokyo’s Narita International.  It was about 11:00 PM Phoenix time, but I was still going.  We had a two hour layover, so off to the RCC with us for some coffee, clean-up, and a free Internet connection (thanks T-Mobile) to dump some of the emails and docs I had written and download a batch more. 

 

The flight from Tokyo to Bangkok is about 6.5 hours.  I slept most of it.  By the time we left Tokyo, it was finally dark (1800 hrs local) and the remainder of the trip would be in darkness.  I finally woke up as we were flying over Da Nang, Viet Nam.  … interesting that after having served during that war that American airplanes (other than B-52s) are allowed easy passage across the country.  The flight actually skirts the Chinese coast (the Vietnamese may like us, but the Chinese still don’t trust us), then takes a sharp turn to the West over Vietnam to fly direct into Bangkok.  We landed at 2300 hrs BKK time, and thanks in part to the fact that we hadn’t checked any luggage, we were out of the airport and into a taxi within 30 minutes.  Our stay was at the Marriot Bangkok Resort, which is on the Western side of the Chao Phraya river, which bisects this city of 6 million.  It’s huge.  The book says it’s a 30 minute ride to the hotel.  I clocked it at some 45 or more – and that was after midnight! 

 

The hotel is one of the finest properties I’ve ever been on in the Marriott chain.  The rooms are spacious, modern, and floored with mahogany.  Great amenities (even for a Platinum) and reasonably good high-speed Internet access make for a nice stay.  I had problems getting connected (turns out that our room’s cabling was a tad dodgey) but the nice lady at the help desk suggested wiggling the wires (that *almost fixed it) then I went ahead and swapped out the cable with one of my own, and oiala! We were on!

 

I must digress.  I like Marriott properties – if for no other reason than the Mormon brothers simply seem to understand hotels – even slightly better than Conrad Hilton did.  The both of us are Platinum, so that gains us additional upscale rooms (ours was a balcony overlooking the river) and access to the executive lounge and free breakfast in the Market Place Café.  It was exceptionally nice. 

 

Bridge Over the River Kwai

 

I don’t quite know how we came to the idea of visiting the site of the famous bridge, but it sounded interesting enough – and since I had seen the movie, I suppose I was interested in seeing just what it looked like now.

 

It turns out that the current site of the famed bridge is not the actual site of the original.  It’s close …  The current bridge is the permanent, steel and iron replacement for the original wooden bridge that was built some 100 meters upstream.  The bridge that now stands was begun concurrently with the original – the first one taking much less time and engineering effort – but a substantial toll in human life.  It turns out that of the 200,000 prisoners and conscripts that were brought to the area to build the Thai-Burmese Railway, only 100,000 survived.  Upon reflection, that was something in the nature of 8.3 thousand deaths per month. 

 

Our visit was simple.  Park the van and walk to the bridge.  Take some pictures and look some more.  The bridge is about 2000 meters across and the girls opted to shop rather than walk the bridge (it’s a bit narrow).  George and I decided to walk to the other side just for the adventure of it all.  Unbeknownst to us, there is a small hamlet on the other side that hosts a few trinket stands and two Indian elephants, where for 50 Bhat per bag, you can feed sugar cane to the elephants yourself.  About 20 pictures of greedy trunks later, we had exhausted our supply of cane and headed back across the bridge.  The girls got to see the pictures – we got to take them.  ‘nuff said.

 

The museum near the bridge is called “The Death Bridge Museum”.  (The sign says “Jeath Bridge” – but you get the idea.  The museum is a bit run-down, hokey, and ramshackle, but nonetheless heart breaking.  It’s a tribute to the 100,000 or so humans who were compelled by the Japanese to give their lives so that their empire could extend into India.  Much of the display is poorly arranged and badly preserved.  There are a few interesting displays: a pair of human skeletons, a number of bombs retrieved from the river, sundry weapons and ammo (including some very nicely preserved Lugers (were there Germans here?) Japanese rifles and pistols, and some Colt .45 model 1911s that would be very nice to have …  Among the other things that were entertaining about the display were the BSA motorcycle with the word “Japanese” painted on its side, a similarly adorned Triumph, a US M-151 Jeep with Japanese officer (dummy) driving and who-knows-what-else …

 

The drive up to the river is about two hours North from Bangkok.  We hired a driver and van from the hotel.  If you don’t count the charge for the occasional terrifying near misses (sugar cane trucks, tuk-tuks, and bicycles) the price – a paltry $200 or so – was well worth it.  After our visit to the bridge and museums, our driver took us to lunch at a riverside café that served us a native Thai lunch of fried rice and various concoctions of beef, shrimp, noodles, and cocoanut milk made *interesting* with the skillful addition of ginger and peppers.  The four of us and our driver dined on what seemed to be an endless supply of continually delivered food and drink (Coke from glass bottles!) and all for the sum of 520 Bhat.  (about $13 US)

 

As a result of the bridge’s notoriety, a small village of vendor’s stands and a couple of museums have sprung up on the Eastern side.  One may buy everything from Bridge souvenirs to knock-off designer clothing for less than half what one would pay for it in Bangkok (still a bargain). 

Thai Tiger Temple

 

I finally got to see something before the vast majority of the world did.  Our trip North from Bangkok to see the Bridge on the River Kwai was accented by a 45 minute out of the way jog to see the Wat Pa Luangta Bua Yannasampanno Forest Monastery – AKA the Tiger Temple.  The Tiger Temple is a refuge, run by local Buddhist monks, where quite a number of Burmese tigers have been brought for protection.  This location is a work in progress where for $300 Bhat a visitor can enter the facility and see the tigers.  Another $100 Bhat gains you the opportunity to have your picture taken with the tigers.

 

Upon arrival at the site, the visitor may purchase entry (and a souvenere t-shirt for an additional 200 Bhat).  Once through the gates, it is a short walk up a road into the monastery and into the small canyon where the tigers are displayed daily.  Once at the tiger site, visitors who would like their picture taken with the tigers may donate 100 Bhat.  Temple assistants will then lead you by the hand to various full-grown female tigers and take your picture with them.  From the way the tigers were handled by the monks and their assistants it seems apparent that before they make it to the canyon they are well fed.  I might add that in addition to the opportunity to take “Tiger pics”, early birds are given a tiger tooth and tiger carving (chachca) aumulet to bring home.

 

Once done with the grown tigers in the canyon, you are guided to the pens in the preserve where a number of tiger cubs (and a full-grown leopard), tapirs, water buffalo, cows, and chickens roam about in various states of control. 

 

The aim of the donations is to fund a permanent home for the tigers on the 12 acre temple grounds.  The Tiger Temple is located just off Hwy 323 32 kilometers North of Kaeng Sian Intersection.  More information about the Tiger Temple can be found on the Internet at http://www.tigertemple.org. (Thai only! <g> 

 

Rob has been accepted at both Georgetown Law ( #14)  and University of Virginia Law ( #8)

 

Guess we did something right ;)

It is common knowledge that moving is a PITA. :) .  One of the things it does give you the chance to do though is to go thru what it is you really need - and dump lots of excess.

 

So this was to be the lets get rid of all the things we dont need to move to AZ weekend.  Let's just say that people who shop at garage sales are not normally looking for $400 Shopsmith tools or $800 couch sets - but they do want $1 plastic boxes. :(

Well the game was over - the 45 minute wait for the shuttle was over <ggrrr>  and we were all enconsced in "lisas" ( a coffe shop in the bottom of a dorm"  waiting for Sharon.  We still have not seen this years dorm room so we make the treck up four flights of stairs -  wow this room is humongeous ( at least twice as big as last yrs) .  Sharons roomate and friends are nice.  The game has gone sooo long that instead of going out for lunch - it appears that it may be "linner"  as it is approaching 5pm.  Mom ( as in me ;0 ) - had had the forsight to call when in line for the shuttle and make reservations at Merles ( a local bbq restaurant) .  We all trot on over there for a marvelous meal.  Sharon has an appegelo thing to go to at 10pm ( due to failure in communication Doug and I did not realize that we were invited and she thought that we didnt want to go ) so she takes us over to the hotel in Skokie.  Sunday morning, while Sharon is at church,Doug has said that he wants to go in and sitesee in Chicago as he has not been there in more yrs that anyone can remember.  Since he sleeps in till noon - that plan is shot :( .

 

So Sharon picks us up around 1pm and takes us into Evanston to Paneras,  this is a local bread company that makes the most incredible sandwiches and soup in a bowl.  She then leaves to go to some bible study thing - but calls about 2 hours later that got totally lost and is back at NU.  Having had the grand tour of Evanston and Nortwestern University , its time to pick up one of Sharons closest friends and go out for dinner.  The original plan was to go into Chicago - but having pursued menus online  ( and seen the $$$) and considering the time and sharons 4 midterms this coming week. it will be Wolfgang Pucks in Evanston.  Another marvelous dinner was had- Sharons friend was a sweetheart. Sharon then drove us all the way to Midway so that we could be up at 5am for my 7am flight to PHX  and Dougs flight at 8:30 am to LAX.  In another one of those instances of poor timing ( or should I say stupidity ) I had agreed to substitute for another teacher at 11am and noon and then had a meetingat 2:30.  So from the airport ( and of course this flight was full and I didnt sleep ) - I went to the office did the teaching ( well gave tests :) ) - went to meeting and then came home to see Rob and Ashley who had been in PHX for a wedding.  I was going to cook - but my daughter in law sometimes has more sense than my son , and suggested we eat out.  She had said something simple but as we cruised 83rd ave Texas Road house called Rob's name.  The prime rib was good and lucy loved the leftovers .  Came home - they drove back to Tucson and the bed was calling my name !!!!!!1

 

It was so good to get to see three of the kids this weekend - now its back to dealing with students

 

I had been   a lot over the weekend but at least a visit to the doctor today put a curable name to the problem and all will be well in a few days

Well in one of those unfortunate coincidences,  I had to be in Kingman AZ for a meeting on Friday morning of the day that I was to leave for Chicago that night for parents weekend at Northwestern.  My coworker that I was going to the meeting with decided that since Kingman was only “over the hill” from Laughlin – what would make the most sense was to drive up Thurs nite – get $20 hotel rooms in Laughlin and then go on back for our meeting Fri morning.  This sounded a lot better than getting up at 4 am to make the 180 mile drive to Kingman and then back the same day, especially since I had to get on an airplane at 6:30pm and fly to Chicago.

 

So around 6pm Ray and I get in our district car ( thing of course says “for official use only “ all over it – felt kinda weird pulling into the casino parking lot in it  ☺.  Arriving in Laughlin around 9pm we decide that food is in order.  We eat – go to our hotel – check in – sooo funny – they give us next door rooms ,  and go on downstairs to make “our contribution of  $”.  7am came way too early……….A drive thru bkfst at Carls Jr ( yech yech) and we are back in Kingman for the meeting.  The saving grace of this meeting – there is a culinary school there and the students cooked lunch for us – yum.  After the meeting its back in the car for the dash down to PHX to pick up my car at work and head for the airport.  I am actually going to fly Southwest – so this means parking my car in Terminal 2 ( where its $5 a day versus $16) and taking the interterminal bus over to Terminal 4.   Go thru security ( discovered at the other end that there were actually 2 lighters in my purse – oops)  and get in the “B” line.  Somehow manage to snag a whole row to myself and , you guessed it, went to sleep.  Woke up to “please fasten your seatbelts etc “ for the descent into Chicago Midway.  Got off plane – had a comedy of errors finding Sharons dad , finally did and we were in the shuttle over to the hotel at Midway.  Next morning took a cab ( well it was supposed to be $29 – when the meter hit $37 and we were still in downtown Chicago I started to get concerned).  Turned out that there had been a failure in communication and the price quoted was for Northwestern downtown – not Evanston.☻  After resolving that it was time to see Sharon and meet my cousins.  Sharon would not be sitting at the game with us as she would be in the student section.  Pictures of us freezing at the game are here -------note that Northwestern upset Wisconsin  51-48.  Though the game seemed to be played at a high school level ( as in NO defense ) it was pretty exciting to actually win.  Guess Wisconsin is not ranked no. 14 anymore ;)

 

After a 2 minute discussion,  it was determined that laid off or not - the trip to Seattle would take place,  what better place to network for a MS person than the MS campus .  So Dave flies up bright and early Tues morning and I am to meet him there Thurs nite.  I do ( contrary to popular belief) have to work sometimes ;  and this week I am to deal with the student that I had removed from my classroom for using the "f" word ( ah the joys of teaching college).  With that resolved to everyones satisfaction - it was time to go meet Dave and see what was up in the world of Microsoft ( well I wasnt going to get to go to sessions - but I could go to the parites ;) ).  Of course it turns out that Thurs nite is "closed" -- so I go to hotel -  a nice junior suite thanks to status !!!!!!!- hit the concierge lounge and wait for Dave to return).  Fri I am to meet an old friend of ours - go out to lunch and we decide to hit the ferry to Bainbridge Island.  As we are parking the car we have a discussion about what we do with our parking ticket ( me - i leave it in the car so I dont lose it - her well we might get validations - well as she is driving - its in her pocket with it ).  We eat at one of those places where you order and then go find a seat - great steamed clams for me and mussells for her .   Over to Bainbridge Island for the most incredible cherry pie I have ever had ( baked by her cousin ).  Back to the car - oops no ticket - seems that when we mailed her mail - the ticket went with it.  A good laugh later - we pay and leave.  Back to the hotel to dress for the party at EMS and SF museums.  In typical MS fashion - lots of good food and drink - but I am not feeling well - so at 10pm we depart back to hotel where I spend the whole nite shaking and freezing ( even though the room is set at 72 and I am under every cover I can find ).  A 6am ( what  is with this guy) wakeup call and coffee finds me feeling enough better that I venture out with Ann and Kim for bkfst , Nordies and the Peir before we are to drive up to the campus for the closing BBQ and I am to get on the shuttle to the airport .  First trip on Alaska Airlines in more yrs than I can remember - and 3 hours later ( which goes quickly when you eat and then sleep [ is it obvious yet that planes = sleep to me ] . , I am back on the ground in PHX.  I call Dave - who has not yet left SEA to let him know.  About 10 minutes later he calls back that his upgrade is somehow unsupported- after some nice talking to the woman at the counter the issue is resolved for the moment ( although I will have to find out what went wrong) - his cell phone battery is dead, and I assume he is on the plane for VA.

 

Rob and Ashley were in PHX today as he was taking his LSAT's-  they left before I landed .  Luckily though, although I am going to Chicago next weekend to see Sharon for family weekend ( this should be an interesting weekend - I am hoping to not have a repeat of last yr where I fell and broke my 3 front teeth ), Rob and Ashley will be up on MOn and I will get to see them then.  Doug is flying up to Chicagp  from LA- we will meet in chicago and do all the "family" weekend stuff - will be nice though because not only will my cousins from Chicago be there - it turns out that my cousin from PIT will be flying in with her BF-----so root for Northwestern to win their football game against whomever they may be playing :)

So I went :)

 

Met my GF in ORD - where we promptly hit the RCC for some relaxtion before boarding our flight to SJU.  As we sit down and comfortable in 2CD ,  we are ready for a pleasant weekend.  On walks this guy in a net top and workout pants.  He promptly sits himself in 1D - and it becomes clear that he did NOT shower after his workout - ugh ugh and more ugh.  Both of us reach for a little fan thingies ( I never use mine because I am always cold - but being able to breathe is going to have to take presidence over cold this trip - and luckily there are blankets on the seats ).  A hot meal and a few "Baby Marys " - as the FA called them and I am off to sleep .  Land in SJU we grab a cab and pull up to the Courtyard by Marriot.  Now this is not like any courtyard I have every seen - chandeliers in the lobby etc.  We are quickly given room keys to our top floor room by a charming man at the front desk that we will see lots of ( seems that putting the keys next to anything- credit card, cell phones, anything - stops them from working) ,  2 free drink coupons ( as long as they have rum in them) , and $25 in match play coupons.  Up to the room we go to get out of the clothes we have been traveling in, ( and find out that the hot water does not seem to go to the 12th floor   a quick trip down to eat ( and  for me to dump nickles , in the form of a $20 bill, in the slots - when the $20 is $40 it seems like time to meet the rest of the group in the bar :) ).  I am to meet the famous "got earrings Im ready to travel".  Woman loves to whine ( nuff said)............ free drinks ,  walk on the beach its bedtime - as we are to be up at 7 to be on the road at 8:30 for the rainforest. 

All I can say about that is walking, steps ( 98 up to be exact ) -  more walking , lousy giftshop that wants $8.95 for a magnet,  more walking,  and listeing to msearring say "are we on schedule" ----after we are all exhausted and have had enought of nature ( it was beautiful and pics will be posted later) - we drive back in SanJuan for lunch.  We had tradition PR food ,  breadfruti !!!!!!!!!Some people love Sangria ..........me not being one of them as I know we have miles more of walking to do ..........we walk the whole city - all the way to the fort ------- and then back down - my reward for this being ...........the COACH factory store. Unreal - the bags there were not much more than the fake ones you get on the streets on NY.  Being now tired and broke , it is time for us all to head to the hoitel for more showers ( without hot water--- well those on the lower floor had hot water).  Another fantastic meal .   MOre casino for me and sleep .

 

Up again at 7am for the trip to the caverns.  What an incredible place.  these are caverns with "open air" access.  You can see underground rivers hundreds and hundreds of feet below.

 

To the radio observatory ---"are we on schedule" -- back into SJU ( a good hour + car ride away) -  we say goodbye to all the rest that have Sunday flights and decide that we are going to go back into Old Town to eat and spend more money.  Lucky for us all the stores are closed ,  but we find a great Indian restaurant.

The Jacuzzi is calling as our legs HURT .  Off to bed - where I wake up the next morning covered with bug bites ( note to self - email to Marriot is in order).  We catch an early flight to ORD where we will go our separate ways - while sitting in the RCC I get a call from Hubby - I just got laid off ( hmm could think of better phone calls to get  ) .  All in all a nice weekend - regardless of the bug bites and the end of it

 About a month ago a girlfriend of mine sent me an email....how about San Juan. 

 

Well what about it?  Never been.  Realized that since January the only travel I have done has been to family events.  Time to go play .  By the time all these thoughts ran thru my head ( about 25 secs I guess) - I clicked "Reply to all " --- I'm in.  With the help of a UA voucher and some Marriot gift checks ( as well as sharing a room with above girlfriend - net cost for the weekend will be around $150 ( Of course I just found out there are casinos there -  maybe net cost will be 0  )

 

We have ended up at about 15 people and a great agenda

 

Friday Sept. 23, 2005
Welcome Cocktails at the Hotel Bar/Lounge (8:30pm - midnight)

Saturday Sept. 24, 2005
El Yunque Rainforest Tour (9:30am- Noon) w/picnic lunch
Bacardi Tour (1:30pm-3pm)
Old San Juan Walking Tour (3pm - 6pm)
Dinner at Ajili Mojili (8pm)

Sunday Sept. 25, 2005
Camuy River Caverns (9:30am-11:30am)
Arecibo Radio Observatory (11:30am - 1:30pm)
Lunch at local restaurant

Farewell cocktails at a place TBD

 

Maybe thinking about this will get me through dealing with my students :)  ( I loved the one today who after I showed her how to print out her test reults that showed which questions she got wrong - looked at me and said - so I take it over tommorrow ???????( um no - an F is an F)

Dave and Meghan have written more about the activities and BBQ than I could have thought of

 

but the return turned into quite a challenge

 

Somehow our orignal tickets had us leaving Medford over a 7 hour time span and left Peter with a 10 hour layover in SFO.  Dave thought it would be nice if I could get Peter into the Red Carpet Club in SFO  ( using my comped RCC membership that came with my comped Luftansa Senator status from my AA PLT status from a challenge - in other words - FREE is good   - Flyertalk is GREAT !!!!) .  Only trouble was - Peters flight from Medford was not due to land in SFO until 5 minutes before my flight left SFO for DEN on the way to PHX.  ( well yes that is the long away around) .  So an executive decision was made - Pete would get dropped at MFR with me to standbye on my flight to SFO and Dave and Meg would keep the car and go explore some more.  So we get to MRF and find that my flight is 1.5 hours late - Daves flight "might" be late - and Megs flight to PDX looks ok.  So Pete gets on my flight to SFO - we get off and find a message from Dave that he and Meghan are both on the next flight to SFO and Meg is now going thru ORD  to ORF .  Well since they were on an RJ - and we were on a prop they land 5 minutes after us.  After I finish shuttling everyone in ( that one guest rule ;( ) -  Dave mentions that oh he forgot to return the car keys in Medford.  We leave the kids in the RCC and head off for Budget in SFO to return the keys.  ( OH yes - I have "misconnected" , on my flight to DEN and am now on standbye for the nonstop to PHX that Dave is on - since its only booked to 85% and I'm a 1K  this should be a no brainer) but they wont give me a seat.  .  Somewhere after dinner Meg decides to look at her ticket and finds out that she is not on the 11pm but the 8pm - oops.  After finding out that changing this is too risky as she would be on standbye out of ORD at 6am ( not a good thing for a nonstatus flyer),  we also find out that her plane is a 1 stop with a 90 minute layover in LAS.  A  quick call to Ali generates the promise to show up at the airport with Ashlyn and Gareith - sounds good to all of us .

Meg gets on the flight to ORD via LAS and Dave and I go to the gate to get me a seat to PHX ( all is well - I actually end up with an exit row all to myself ;)  ).  Peter stays happily encompassed in the RCC with the coupons for free drinks and wireless access I have handed him .   After a noneventful flight ( well other than the fact that it too was 2 hours late),  Dave and I land in PHX to a phone call from Meghan that she has seen the kids and is heading back to get on her flight to ORD.  Oops - two minutes later -  "I missed my flight"  - meghan says.  We say---- you did what??????????.  Meg says -And they insist Im on the plane ( some FA didnt do a manifest check) .  Dave hears a call for a flight to IAD - tells Meg - get on that ( the options at midnite are slim to none - and slim just took a walk ) -  after some arguing with the Gate Agent who insisted she was already on the plane to ORD (well the computer said it - so what if you are LOOKING at her) -- she is put on the plane to IAD.  Calls to UA elite customer service have her booked on the first flight out of IAD to ORF in the morning and she lands 5 minutes before she was going to !!! Her luggage actually made it there too - kudos to UA .

 

Peter had a nice noneventful flight back to Lubbock !!!!!!!!1

After the coordination of all our flights in from around the US- see

 

 

We we on our way to FT Jones ( mind you I have NOOO clue where this is ) --we had upgraded to a Hyundai SUV ( well Budget considered it an upgrade) - and it was probably just as well as it poured over the mountain passes.

 

Arriving at the wedding location showed cars and cars and cars - they ran a shuttle service up to the house - which was just as well as I had worn heels (oops) --- Meghan and I quickly decided that the pink sandals she was wearing would work fine - no need to put on the white heels I had brought with me as they would get wrecked and be uncomfortable..

 

The ceremony consisted of the "marrier" going to the front under a "chupah"- no it was NOT a Jewish wedding but it was definately a chupah :) - - he read their vows after teh 7 bridemaids and groomsmen walked down.  The best man was the grooms dad - that was really cool.  We now present ...........Mr and Mrs ..........oops Mrs says - you forgot my ring !!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Oops- I'm fired he says - and the ceremony is repeated.

 

Dinner - cooked on the open air grills by the Yreka Fire Dept follows - the sun sets - the  chill sets in and the decision is made to go check into the hotel and go to Daves Dad's ranch for more socializing and some wedding cake ( well see they had put cakes on every table - since there were going to be 11 of us at the ranch - we figured that merited our own cake

 

Having been to a bunch of weddings the last few months ( including my own) - I have to say that what has made them all special is whatever "little thing"  has gone wrong

 

Next .........The Miners Inn - ureka -  no Hilton or Marriot points there

Well last night  we  finished packing up the car and Sharon picked up her friend from the airport that is driving to Chicago with her.  At 7am  this morning they left on their 30 hour adventure across the country to Northwestern. 

 

On the bright side - she could see out the rear window.

 

She wont be back in Phoenix till Winter Break in Decemeber

So Sat afternoon I pick up Doug ( the kids dad) at the airport.  We chat for a while, and I take him to go to his hotel.  After all,  I have a PARTY to go to .  Sharon is slated to go ice skating with a friend,  so he decides that he wants to go to Gallegers to watch dog racing - no problem - I will drop him off and  he can call a cab to get back to the hotel.  And aloing comes ...............a monsoon ( but wait you say - its Sept - the  monsoon season is over - well tell that to Mother Nature)...

 

After waiting the requisite 15 minutes for the storm to pass.......it hasnt passed . Afgter 30 minutes it appears I have 3 choices

 

  )Real life had returned --------- it was time for me to return to PHX and go back to work ( ok I know some of you dont think I have a "real"  job )    but college was starting and I needed to get back for the week ofaccountability ( i.e. meetings)  and then go ahead and do what I get paid - stuff some knowledge into these kids brains

 

It had been  a good summer -  Meghan - Daves 21 yr old had come to live in VA - we had gotten her set up in college there ,  Peter the 27 yr old had spent the summer there earning money ( always a good thing to do ;0 )

 

Rob and Ashley had gotten married-  Sharon had come and visited in DC- as well as seemingly traveling all overthe US visiting her church friends ( thanks to Southwest and free tickets and bump vouchers - I  taught her well

 

I siurvived the meetings- have full classes at 24 each - and as usual - the few *interesting* students that keep me awake !!!!!!!!

 

A long  time ago we had bought tickets to the Dave Matthews band concert at Cricket Pavilion here in PHX.  Of course that required getting Dave here to see them.  His company seemed to think that he should be in Pensacola- but some negotiating allowed the trip out here

 

The  concert was fantastic- very different from Randalls Island- I think they actually only played one of the same songs - Dream Girl - which luckily is one of my favorites

 

A relaxing  4  days - desperately needed by Dave who had been working 16 hours a day - and then got the call on 24 hours notice to go back to Pensacola ( well yes we know there has been a hurricane )- and stay there through next week.  Our planned Labor Day weekend trip to Maine ( on those $20 Delta tickets just went whoosh .....................).  Oh well - maybe we would have stayed home and seen the Beach Boys instead.  Eitherway -   he is now in Pensacola ( which he says has refugees streaming in constantly), I am in PHX  and Meghan is alone in VA

 

Sharon is home for a week now - then she goes back to Chicago to become a Northwestern student again.  I will miss her.  At least we had fun over the summer - and we still have a week.

 

Rob and Ashley will be up for a day this weekend.

Sharon and Robs Dad is going to come on over and see them

And Sat nite I will go to a party