Budding Artist

While we were away, we hired a neighbor girl to cat sit for us. She is only 6 years old, so she did get some assistance from her mom, but she did an excellent job and took her responsibility very seriously. Of course this was a paid job, but she did such a good job of it that I bought her a little present as a "thank you". Her mom told me that they enjoyed the job and that Erika had drawn a picture of our Towanda. I said I'd love to see it and Erika obliged. Here it is...

Isn't that just precious?

I think this child has some real talent!

Visit to Iowa

It took quite a few tries to get this deer to pose for me. I was amazed at how common and plentiful deer were in the area we visited. We were seeing groups of 4 or 5 in some places.

Dec 30 2007 -We later checked into a guest house in Fort Atkinson. This was the Best Guest House, and I heartily endorse them for travelers in this section of Iowa. Beautiful four bedroom house that could accommodate ten people. All the amenities and comforts of home.

On the 31st Ken and I went sight seeing and traveled down to Dubuque where he went to college at Loras. We went to Pike's Peak and crossed over the Mississippi into Wisconsin and then back again. There was a little too much up and down and round about for me and I started to get a little motion sick by the time we got to Dubuque, but I napped on the way back and was fine after that. We had dinner at Culver's and I had a raspberry frozen custard shake for dessert. That was really yummy. We went back to the guest house and sat around chatting for the remainder of the evening and we all turned in before midnight. I think it's the first time I haven't stayed awake to see the new year in since I can't remember when.

New Year's Day 2008 We had a heck of a time finding a place open to have breakfast at - everywhere was closed for the holiday. Finally we settled for McDonald's and by the time we ordered it was too late to order breakfast. After this Karen was headed home to Iowa City so we said our goodbyes to her.

Clemmie got the Bily Clock Museum to open up for us. Originally she'd hoped to get the Florida visitors to join us there, but they had other plans and it was just the three of us who got the tour. I've never seen such intricate wood carving right up close and personal. Really mind boggling stuff. Of course there's a town ordinance against taking photos, so I don't have any to share here - but here's a link to their site for more information http://www.bilyclocks.org/BilyClocks/index.html

On the evening of the 1st we went out to dinner at a bar/restaurant that was just a block away from the guest house. It had the word Blooming in its name, but I can't remember it. I wouldn't recommend it anyway. We were the only people eating there, and now I know why. The food was really lousy and the service was very lame and lacking in personality or enthusiasm.

Back at the house, Clemmie entertained us by sharing her photo albums of Ron's, Roger's, Randy's, and our weddings as well as her own wedding album. It was really nice to reminisce with her.

On Wednesday morning we checked out of the guest house and met Clemmie at Ruby's restaurant for one more breakfast before it was time to say goodbye. It was a great visit.

We then got on the road to Minneapolis, MN to brother Randy's house. That was about a four hour drive, but we found their condo without any trouble. After we'd arrived they took us to return our rental car to a local store to save the trouble of doing it at the airport the next day.  We went out to dinner in the evening with Randy and Dee a Texas Roundup.  I found the food to be very good there.

We spent the night at the Minnesota Kinkor's home  Randy took us to the airport in the a.m. We got all checked in and everything went smoothly out of Minneapolis to Chicago. At Chicago they were a little behind schedule and so we got into Boston a little later than expected. They misdirected us to our luggage and it took a while for us to figure that out, and then we froze our butts off waiting for the bus to Hyannis. The ride to Hyannis was fine, and then we got to our car at the bus depot in Hyannis and were so relieved that it started right up. We headed on home and were congratulating ourselves on how well things went, and counting down the miles until we were finally back home - then oops - flat tire... and so that's where I began this tale.

Vacation - continued

more about our vacation... After arriving late on Wednesday the 26th, we slept well in our comfy queen beds. There was a "continental Plus" breakfast at the Country Inn which had a pretty good spread of the common easy fix breakfast choices, as well as a "make your own" waffle machine. We met up with Ken's sister Karen on the morning of the 27th and she checked into the hotel that day. Then we met up with Mom and we all had lunch at Ruby's.  We spent a large part of the day touring the countryside and churches and grave yards where relatives were buried. I took pictures inside the St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church in Spillville, Iowa. It's the oldest surviving Czech Catholic church in America, and it's stained glass windows are very beautiful. Ken's grandfather is buried in its graveyard. I took a picture of the outside of St. Lucas church where Ken's parents, Clemmie and Norman, were married. We had dinner at Culver's that night.  Ken's brother Ron, sister in law Deb, and nephew Mike arrived that evening and checked into the hotel next to our room. Ken's brother Randy, sister in law Dee and nephew Mackie arrived and checked into the Super 8 just around the corner from there.

Friday was Clemmie's birthday. We had lunch at Culver's that day and that's when Bill Clinton stopped in. The restaurant had a marquee sign that usually displayed the "flavor of the day" of their frozen custard, but on this day they had "Welcome former president Bill Clinton" on the sign too. So we were sitting there having lunch when all of a sudden these girls behind us started squealing like there was some sort of rock star or teen hero out in the lot. We could see law officers and secret service guys and then, sure enough - there was Bill. He went around to all the tables and shook hands with everyone and posed for pictures. Ron Kinkor shook his hand and asked what he should call him - he wasn't sure if he should say "Mr. President" or "former president" or what. Bill replied "You can call me anything you want, and most people have!" - LOL

Ken ducked into the rest room while Bill was making the rounds. When we finally left we were talking about this surprise visit and I said "he touched me" in mock adoration. Ken said "where?!" and we got to laughing really hard about this. Later he said that he would forgive me and he would try to forget.

Later on that evening we all went out to dinner at the Stone Hearth Inn - this was now the whole family except for Ken's brother Roger and family. They arrived until later in the evening. Ken and I had prime rib - which is our traditional Christmas dinner choice. It was good, but it wasn't really great. Clemmie had a birthday cake delivered with sparklers and we all sang Happy Birthday. Back at the hotel we all visited together in Karen and Clemmie's room until it was time to turn in.

Saturday the 29th was the day of the big reunion party. We had the use of the big conference room off of the breakfast room and Ron and family brought in sandwiches and soft drinks and another birthday cake. After we'd all eaten then the grandson's presented Clemmie with her flowers and gift. Mike led the group and handed her a pole to "keep your children and grandchildren in line with". Then Chris, Mitch, and Ben along with Mackie presented her with a bouquet of flowers and a wrapped gift. This was the memory quilt I'd made. As predicted - Clemmie wept when she saw it, and that was worth every minute I put into its making. She loved it and that's all that mattered.

The lobby of the hotel was very nice and so it made a great back drop for photos. Dozens of combinations of the various family groups where posed for pictures. I took several shots with my camera, but it was acting very odd. Half the time it wasn't taking a shot when I thought it had and then the battery died and I had to change it and reset the clock and photo settings. A lot of the photos were out of focus and had people looking every which way, but hopefully the ones taken by cameras with film will come out well.

Originally we were supposed to lose the room at 2 or 3, but the people who'd reserved it after that canceled, so we didn't have to leave and instead of moving the party back to the Stone Hearth Inn again, it was decided we'd just stay there and order up pizzas for supper.

We stayed on in the conference room until after 9:30 and then everyone who hadn't left already retired to their rooms.

... to be continued further...

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!

We are still settling back in from our vacation to Iowa. We left on December 26 th, and returned on January 3 rd.  It was actually the 4 th by the time we got to our house, because we had a flat tire on the way back from Hyannis. We didn't get into the house until around 2 or 2:30 a.m.

The main purpose of this trip was to celebrate Clemmie Kinkor's 80 th birthday with a family reunion, but we stayed long enough to enjoy some sight seeing as well as long chats with Mom and other relatives. Ken had not been home since the fall of 1991, and although I had met all the family members, save for 3 of the kids, I had never seen them all together at once, and I've never in my life traveled that far west.

Christmas was a non event for us this year because we were so focused on preparing for this trip that we didn't do any of the usual traditions. I was also busy making mom's present - a memory quilt wall hanging, and because that got started so late, I was really working up to the last minute on that.

We postponed the traditional visit with my folks on Christmas Eve because I had come down with a horrible cold and we were still involved in last minute details for the trip.

On Christmas day we had steak and baked potato so as to have a festive meal that didn't involve big clean up. I made an apple crumb pie that we enjoyed on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

On the 26th we were up early and out of here to catch an 8:30 bus from Hyannis to Logan. We parked our van in the extended parking area at the bus station. When we got to Boston we used the curbside check in and then made our way through security. We had lunch at MacDonald's and had plenty of time before we got our flight to Chicago. That first leg was hard on me because my head was so horribly congested, and I was sandwiched between two woman as Ken was sandwiched between two men in front of me. I had my heavy winter coat with me and that made the squeeze even tighter. Thank goodness that the woman were both tiny. I made a mental note that I should not wear such a big coat on an airplane, and that I should lose at least 40 pounds before I fly again. I don't remember the seating arrangement for the leg from Chicago to MN, but at least Ken and I were next to each other. When we got to Minneapolis there was a long walk and tram ride to get our luggage and then get to the car rental place. It was very hot in the airport and wearing or carrying that big coat made it worse, but we finally got our car. It was a Pontiac G6 - a mid sized car. It had a "change oil soon" light that came on as soon as we started it and it stayed on for the entire vacation. We finally made our way out of the airport, but as soon as we got out onto a highway the car started to make a loud thumping and groaning noise and there was a peculiar odor like hot plastic. I hollered for Ken to pull over and he did. I thought we had a flat or that there was something dragging on the tire, but we couldn't find anything. A cop pulled up behind us and wanted to know if we were alright. Ken explained the situation and the cop told him to pull into a gas station off the exit ramp to check things out. So we did. The noise/smell stopped and it never returned. A mystery for sure. This little detour got us a bit lost. We found a Sub Way to have dinner at as it was after 7 now and we were hungry. After that Ken found his way onto the right route and he went right along at a good clip to make up for lost time. We made it to the Country Inn in Decorah, Iowa between 9:30 and 10 p.m. and we checked into our room. It was a nice room with two queen sized beds and we each took one to really take full advantage of the place. Our cell phone service didn't work there, but we did have free wireless internet, so I was able to email folks to tell them I'd arrived safely.

.... to be continued.....