Dingle

The owner of the place we're staying said when we stepped outside this morning if we could see the mountains we should go to Dingle which is on the Dingle Peninsula.  She said if we couldn't we should go to Cork.  We saw the mountains and off we went.  We drove north to Tralee taking the long way and early enough to be ahead of the tour busses.  The first picture above (of the hillside) was just breathtaking.  The roads were curvey and we didn't have much traffic going our way.  We got to Dingle, found a great parking spot and first stop was the Super Valu which is a grocery store.  I have this thing about grocery stores and this one didn't let me down.  Tim just shakes his head but thankful it's grocery stores and not jewelry stores I'm drawn to.

The sun was shining all the way there making for a beautiful drive and then, of course, it rained.  What's new?  It didn't last too long and we were back to partly sunny skys.  We had beaten all the tour busses to Dingle and there were many...German, Sweden and France.  I had packed a lunch so we sat in the parking lot and watched them unload and load.  The tour busses must all work together in timing when they arrive because there is not enough parking for more than 6 busses at a time.  

The next couple of days calls for rain so we will be heading to Cork.  Cork is Ireland's 2nd largest city (Dublin being the largest).  He also wants to go to Cobh (pronounced Cove) the last port the Titantic sailed from.

So far we've driven 2100+ kilometers which is about 1304 miles.  Believe me, that's a lot of narrow roads for me to hold my breath.  Some I just closed my eyes and said a prayer..

Slan go Foill

Blue Skies and swans

Blue Skies and sunshine.  Yea!!!  We left Cong this morning and drove 5 hours south to Killorglin where we are staying for the final leg of our trip.  We are in a 3 bedroom townhome that sits on the River Laune.  The picture above is from our deck and the white dots are swan.  I've counted 9 so far.  As I type this I am sitting in the kitchen watching to river flow by.  What a great location for our final week.  Plus the wifi works great.

Our week in Cong was wonderful (except for the wifi or the lack of).  It drove me bonkers.  I'd be on and then off.  Villa Pio, the apartment behind the main house was lovely.  The country setting was quiet waking to birds every morning.  The owners, Marty and Ann, have a dog named Rocky who is a cross between and corgi and something.  He was fun to watch especially when going after birds.  We spent our last day watching The Quiet Man and then decided to drive back into Cong to buy the DVD at The Quiet Man Museum.  Just didn't seem right to come all this way and not go home with the DVD.  

The drive from Cong to Killorglin was an easy one (or I'm getting used to the roads).  Tim says the scariest part of driving on these roads is meeting up with an American driver going the opposite way.  They both hug the middle line.  The lands in the north - County Donegal and County Mayo are rugged with rock fences and millions of sheep.  South of Galway is more pasture land, cows and hedges as fences.  There is more population down here and more tourists.  This leg of our trip will be more "touristy".  Tomorrow we are getting the lay of the land in Killorglin and then will be making day trips to Cork, Cobh (pronounced Cove), Killarney and Dingle.  I am so happy for blue skys.

Slan go Foill

Connemara

We drove from Cong to Clifden a couple of days ago.  The roads we were on (345, 346 and N59) took us through Corr na Mona, An Mam, Mam Cross, Derrylea, and Clifden where we parked and strolled the shops.  Of course it was raining...actually Tim said it was a "soft rain".  Quite use to it now...but sure could use some sunshine.  We have read many of Father Andrew Greeley's books (he died a few years back) and Connemara (which is an area) is where his Irish characters are located.  Nuala is one of his female characters and who we named our rescue dog for (she now has a new family and new name of Blue).  So we named our GPS Nuala.  The area is also known for marble and Tim wanted to get some "worry stones". I'm not sure why since I've never know the man to worry about anything.

We left Clifden and continued on to Moyard and Letterfrack.  Don't you just love these names? How did they come up with Letterfrack?  We stopped at Connemara National Park Visitor Center.  Lots of cars, busses and campers.  Their campers here are either Class B or Class B+.  Their Visitor Center is a lesson on "boglands".  Peat is cut from bogs and is still used as fuel.  Google "bog" to get a definition.  We continued on and stopped at Kylemore Abbey and Garden.  This place was beautiful.  And, there were lots of people and a gazillion busses.  It cost 15 Euros each to tour the inside and we took a pass.  Way too many people and we don't do lines.  Got some great pictures of the outside and the grounds.  From the Abbey we drove to Leenane (where many scenes from The Quiet Man were filmed) and then made our way back to Cong.

Yesterday we went to Ashford Castle which is down the road from where we are staying.  It, too, has quite a history belonging once to the Guinness family.  You can stay there (quite pricey) and has award winning restaurants (also pricey).  We thought the Abbey was more photogenic.

We're winding down our stay in Cong and will be heading to the southwest on Tuesday.  Hoping for less rain, some sunshine and better wifi.

Slan go Foill

Post about Roy

This will be short.  I just spent the last 1-1/2 hours in trying to log on...finally succeeding and writing about our visit yesterday to a sheep farm and about Roy, the border collie sheepdog.  It was great and I fell in love with Tip, a 3 month old border collie. However, I must have hit a button or something because everything I wrote is gone. I'm done.

Slan go Foill

Cong and lousy wifi

I finally have able to get on Blogger to post something.  Whether it shows up remains to be seen.  Someone please add a coment so I know whether it went through.  After having such great internet at Wild Rose Cottage I am, at the moment, going through withdrawal!

We made the 126 mile trek from Dunkineely to Cong without incident (which is a good thing). We had rain on and off plus that dreaded wind.  I have finally reached the point in our trip I have had enough rain and especially...wind.  We are staying at another cottage - Villa Pio - in Cong.  We are located behind the owner's B & B.  It is a lovely apartment that is a kitchen and living room combined with a separate bedroom with a king size bed and separate bathroom with a HUGH walk-in shower.  The apartment is only 3 years old and has all the amenities except sharp knives, cutting board and a cookie sheet.  I would imagine many people who stay here (or any self-catering rental) are not here for cooking.  However, it's what I do and based upon eating out every meal for 27 days it would break the bank which is already strained with the cost of the car insurance.  Tulips, roadies and lilacs are in bloom and they are beautiful.  We are in another rural area about 2 miles from the entrance of Ashford Castle and 3 miles from Cong.  Not able to post any pictures due to wifi which is a shame since I got some great pictures this morning after our visit to Cong.  I'm hoping at some point I can post the picture of the road (?) to where we are staying.  Someone will definitely be backing up.

Today the weather has been decent.  Even the locals are depressed saying it's the worst in years.  There is a dog here - Rocky - which looks to be a cross between a corgie and ??.  He's skittish around Tim and won't come to me until Tim disappears.   Another tidbit is we pay for electric. There's a contraption that you feed euros into.  It's interesting to watch the meter when the hot water is turned on, toaster or any other electric guzzling appliance.  You flip a switch for water - switching from "sink" to "bath".  Another switch for the cooker...really sucks the power.  And, the heat  is also on a timer.   Have to remember to flip switch off or be prepared to feed euros to the contraption.

Nuala (GPS) got us to Tesco (supermarket) in Ballinrobe and I thought I died and gone to heaven.  I finally found yellow mustard and boxed wine.  My needs are so simple.  Tomorrow we are off to Joyce Country Sheepdogs which is a farm about 15 minutes from here and they hold demonstrations 3 times a day.

Slan go Foill

Slieve League FINALLY!!!

The picture is Tim, Jennifer, Sue and Willie taken yesterday at the top of Slieve League!  Willie and Jennifer are the owners of the Wild Rose Cottage where we are staying.

Jennifer read my blog about our attempt(s) to go to Slieve League and decided they would drive us there!!  What a wonderful gesture and what a sight to see!

Also, riding in a car driven by natives is an experience!  And, I am so grateful we had the experience.  Willie took a different way home seeing more sights that Tim and I would never have seen.  Also, they pointed out the cottage owned by Sarah Jessica Parker. (Actually, I think it is owned by her husband, Matthew Broderick whose family is from the area.)  

Wild Rose Cottage - our home for the last 10 days.   Staying here has been a dream come true.  Knowing that we would not ever live in Ireland this has been the closest to feeling like we do.  We did a lot of day trips returning "home" at night.  Killybegs, Ardara, Carrick, Ballybofey,  Glenties, Derry, Bushmills, Giants Causeway, Coleraine, Donegal Town, and Buncrana.  Besides, being able to cook our own meals I was able to hang my laundry outside on the clothes line.  Been a whole lot of years since I did that.  

       
I can't say enough good things about the cottage or Willie and Jennifer.  If you are considering a trip to this part of Ireland check them out on Trip Advisor...Wild Rose Cottage.  Wild Rose Cottage is also on Facebook.

Tomorrow we are off to Cong for a week.  (Think John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara in The Quiet Man.) We've had great WiFi for the last 10 days but if you don't see a post on this blog for awhile it may be we may have WiFi challenges in our new location.

Slan go Foill

Slieve League or Bust

Slieve League (Irish: Sliabh Liag) is a mountain on the Atlantic coast.  At 1972 ft, it has some of the highest sea cliffs in Ireland.  They are not far from here and we thought we were driving there last Monday when it actually turned out we were in Glencolmcille on the coast.  We had missed the turn in Carrick.  I posted pictures a few posts earlier. (Look for sheep on hillside and one by the road.)  The road was narrow and one had to give way to sheep and some times cattle.  Beautiful scenery.

We took another shot at Slieve League a couple of days ago.  Locals said we had to see the cliffs as they were breathtaking.  So, this time we made the right turn in Carrick and followed the Slieve League signs with the road becoming more and more narrower the higher we went.  We pulled into a car park to survey the situation since going on meant we would have to negotiate with workmen and a tractor on the road to the top.  We chickened out since we hadn't a clue on what we would run into on the top of the hill and I was already blue from holding my breath.  So, back down the road we went.  I still can't fathom how a tour bus can manuever on some of these roads.  We decided to take the road which said it was a viewpoint by the harbor.  Not.  Plus, half way down the lane we encountered a car heading our way.  Wasn't much of a standoff since Tim already had the car in reverse looking for a spot to pull into. We never saw the cliffs.  I'll have to buy a postcard.

Slan go Foill

Jack and Ozzy

Jack (the collie) and Ozzy belong to Cyndi Graham who has a handweaving studio on St. John's Point which is only minutes from where we are staying.  St. John's Point is a narrow peninsula stretching seven miles into Donegal Bay and is a world renowned diving site.  The thatch cottage is where she has her shop and when we stopped we were greeted by Jack and Ozzy.  Jack reminds me of our Tootsie.  He's a rescue dog and is just three years old.  I could have taken him with me if I could have figured out how to get him back home.  She does beautiful weaving and has the most idyllic setting in which to weave.  One of her looms faces out to the bay.  

The weather is 4 seasons in one day.  It was raining this morning (not unusual), cold and now the sun is shining and blustery.  They have some real heavy duty winds here.  I think we've only seen 55 degrees so far.  The locals apologize for the cold, rainy weather but when we tell them where we are from and we don't mind they understand we are enjoying the weather.  (I could do with less wind, however.)  

Today we went into Donegal Town which is not far to the local craft center which sort of turned out to be a dud.  Probably too early in the season for many shops to be opened.  Trying to find parking in the town to eyeball the shops is a challenge so we just made a grocery run and headed back to Dunkineely.  Tim says I'm the only person he has ever known who gets excited about going to grocery stores in other countries.  I love going up and down the isles to see what they have.  They have lots of "mushy peas" but are lacking greatly in spinach - frozen, canned or fresh!  

Next post will be about our attempt to go to Sliabh Liag Cliffs (Slieve League).  It involves having to back the car down the road.

Slan go Foill

"O'Dochartaigh"

Cahir "Rua" O'Dogherty - The last chieftain of an ancient gaelic civilisation - 1587-1608
Killed by the oppressive British forces July 18th, 1608.  It's interesting to note the last name was also spelled O'Doherty.  The O'Dochartaigh, O'Dogherty, O'Doherty and Daugherty Keep is located in Buncrana.  Tim finally has been able to get home to his people.

Buncrana is on the Lough (Lake) Swilly northwest of Derry.  It was about 1-1/2 hour drive from Dunkineely.  

I would like to have grouped these pictures better but I am limited with my Kindle.  

Anyhow, it was a great day.  The first person we even talked to was a Doherty!  

So far we have driven 1250 kilometers or 776.713 miles.  I don't think I mentioned the car we rented is a VW Goff, automatic, diesel.  Diesel is 1.339 (Euro) per litre or $5.75 gallon U.S.  We rented the car through Enterprise at Shannon Airport and took all the insurance that was offered...including theft, tire and windshield.  We had the option of using our credit card as insurance but in the end bit the bullet and decided to go with what was offered through them.  I didn't want to have to hassle with the credit card company for reimbursement in case of a claim.  Even with the insurance we took we still have a 250 Euro deductable per incident.  The cost of this insurance was $1450.00.  Having the car for 27 days added to the cost.  It also included me as a driver.  I don't think I can drive and hold my breath at the same time.  

Slan go Foill

This, That and a Police Escort

Long day driving yesterday.  We drove to Giants Causeway which is a World Heritage Site .  It is a 5 mile long stretch of coastline and is famous for its bizarre basalt columns.  (For more info - just Google it.)  To get there (which is in Northern Ireland on the coast we had to drive through Letterkenny, Derry and Coleraine as well as Bushmills.  We stopped in at the visitors center at Bushmills Distillery and took a pass on the tour since it involved lots of steps.

The weather was cold with gale force winds.  I swear it was spitting snow.  

We left there drove along the coast to Portrush and passed this crumbling castle called Dunluce Castle.  

Our aim was to go back a different way than we came.  We had the trusty GPS, Nuala, and our faithful Collins Ireland Comprehensive Road Atlas, 

however; a motorcyle race closed the road we were to take.  We looked at each other and knew we were screwed.  We followed the traffic and somehow ended right back where the road block was.  Tim pulled over as far as he could and said a motorcycle was coming up behind us.  I flagged it down and it turned out to be a policeman.  Told him our predictament and he said "follow me".  Hence, our police escort out of Northern Ireland!

  

Slan go foill.

Ireland Roads

It's somewhat difficult to get the layout of pictures right using my kindle and wireless keyboard.  Bear with me for what I'm sure will be lots of screw ups.

The picture shown is a snapshot of where we are.  Hard to see on my Kindle but we are staying about in the middle between Donegal and Killybegs.

Explanation of roads.  The green lines (N15) Primary/National route.  In other words, good, somewhat narrow, 2 lane roads.  The red lines (National, secondary route) are more narrow two lane roads.  The lighter yellowish roads are the ones you hold your breath on until you pass out.  Well, at least I was holding my breath...Tim was driving like Mario Andretti.

Our trek today took us on the lighter, yellowish roads.  We went to Malainn Mhoir.  It was hard getting any decent pictures since the wind was so strong.  But, as you can see, we did have blue sky...no rain.  As another car approached us we had to pull over as far as we could to let them go by.  Also, sheep posed another challenge.  The road is theirs. Passing cars didn't bother them at all.

By the time we got back to our cottage I was ready for a nap.  Holding one's breath for hours is hard work.

Erin go Bragh!

We are In Ireland...Dunkineely which is between Donegal and Killybegs on the western coast.  We will be here for 10 days before we trek to our next location.  We rented "self-catering" houses.  The one we are in now is a 100 year old cottage.  It was originally built as a farmer's cottage, has been extended over the years but still retains its original stone cut features and thick walls.  The house is cozy, comfortable and I have WiFi!  Between my Kindle, wireless keyboard and my phone I'm good to go and am able to blog about the trip.  We are only minutes from the North Atlantic (at the moment it is blowing and raining) and we have all the technology to stay connected to home.  We use WhatsApp to text and Viber for phone calls and yesterday I Skyped with my daughter.

We flew into Shannon, rented a car, got out my trusty GPS and drove to Galway (where the above picture was taken...Tim with his first Guinness).  Before we left the airport parking lot we sat and watched traffic go by to make sure we got on the right side of the road.  Tim has driven in Europe many, many times but it has been 11 years since we were last here.  The drive to Galway was about 1-1/2 hours and we drove straight to the hotel parking lot without getting lost.  Of course, it was funny listening to "Nuala" our GPS pronouncing the Irish names.

We spent two nights in Galway.  We even managed to get to a pub to hear some traditional music.  For those of you who know us...we took a nap so we could stay up for the music.  Didn't really do any touristy stuff in Galway.  We didn't want to take the car out and deal with all the traffic.  We were in the center of town where all the shopping and pubs were within walking distance.

We left Galway and drove north to Sligo passing through a whole bunch of towns that I can't pronounce.  Western Ireland, especially, speak "Irish" (Gaelic).  The roads are narrow and some of the drivers here are idiots like they are at home.  Everyone wants to go fast.

That's it for now.  Slan go foill ("Slawn for fall" Goodbye for now) There should be a mark above the "a" and the "o" but I don't how to do that with this keyboard.

This and that

I have spent today so far on the computer.  Started at 8 am and it is now almost 2 pm.  Tim wanted a Facebook icon for his email signature.  I had already done this a few months ago but his computer went haywire and I had to take it back to factory settings.  I remember it had taken me some time to figure out how to get the icon with the link to his Facebook page.  I was going back and forth from his computer to mine since I was looking at YouTube videos for instructions on mine.  I may spend a lot of time on the computer but I’m also the person who couldn’t figure out how to get 12:00 to stop blinking on the dvd player.  Today I had to do it all over again.  And, I couldn’t remember how I did it.  So, once again I was searching YouTube videos for instructions.  Actually it didn’t take me as long as the first time but then I decided to add icons for our SkyMed pages for my email signature.  Tim saw mine and he wanted the same for his email.  I would send a test email from his computer to me to see if the icons with the links would work.  I’d then roll the office chair back to my computer to read the email on my computer.  Drat!  Didn’t work.  Where did it go?  Back and forth, back and forth.  He has three different email accounts and they were driving me crazy.  Back to YouTube.  Duh.  Forgot that step.  He’s on his own the next time.

Rain Barrels and Trinity Library

My rain barrels are not scheduled for delivery until tomorrow.  After the rain. My timing in ordering them turned out to be lousy.  One might think that a rain barrel in Phoenix is an oxymoron.  Not this year.  Oh well, I’ll be ready for next year.

Back to books or rather libraries. I loved my hometown library but the library at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland is one not to miss if you find yourself in Dublin. We’ve been there twice and still don’t feel like I’ve seen it all.  There is so much history on display to read not to mention The Book of Kells. I’ve included links at the bottom on both the library and The Book of Kells. The “Long Room” as it is known looks like something straight out of Harry Potter.  The library was built between 1712-1732.  Below is a picture taken in 2013 and the other one is a painting of how it looked in the 18th century.  Where did all the books come from?  What’s the oldest book?  What secrets does the library hold? 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity_College_Library

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Kells

My Grandmother’s Autobiography

My paternal grandmother wrote her autobiography in 1972.  The title is “From Death Into Life”.  I came across her manuscript a couple of years ago.  Her autobiography is a mixture of her life story and her testimony of her belief in God.  I had forgotten she had a glass eye.  Didn’t know what had happened until I read how at two years old she was climbing on some old lumber piles and as a result of a fall a rusty nail pierced her eyeball.  She lived on a farm and the family didn’t have any money for an eye specialist so they treated it with “home remedies and put poultices of various kinds on my eye.” 

I found out all sort of things in reading her manuscript. My grandmother was the youngest of 17 children.  Her mother’s sister had 18 children.  Her education, according to her, was a hit and miss.  Kids would make fun of her eye and she would refuse to go to school the next day.  Her father only cared that she learn to write her name.  “He asked the teachers not to make me study for he was afraid it would affect my good eye.”

Her father enlisted at the beginning of the Civil War and remained in the army until it was over.  He use to ask her and her brother “which would you rather have money or food?" They would say money because they had all the food they wanted…they didn’t have any money.  He told them how they (soldiers) had the money but didn’t have any food and nearly starved to death.  Sometimes they had no shoes and had to walk in the snow and ice until their feet were cracked and bleeding.  They left trails of blood in the snow. 

Grandmother also wrote how she loved to hear her mother tell her life story.  Her mother (my great-great grandmother) had died when she was six years old.  Her father was a Circuit Rider and a Baptist minister who travelled the countryside preaching and helping where there was need.  She went to live with uncle where she lived until she married.  Her only brother died from wounds received in the Civil War – the Battle of Shiloh.

Maybe this is why I’ve starting posting again.  Some day my grandchildren will read what I’ve written over the years and know a little more about who I was.  Of course, they’re going to have to find the blog first!  I wonder how long Blogger will be around? 

Books continued…

I’ve always turned to books for solace, comfort, advice and how to cook sauerbraten.  Yes, sauerbraten.  Smelled the house up so bad when it was done I threw it out.  I just couldn’t eat it.  I’ve collected so many cookbooks over the years I could start my own library.  Each time we travelled whether in this country or overseas I always bought a cookbook that represented the area we were in. Some were in another language I couldn’t read but the pictures were great!  I don’t remember actually cooking anything from them (except maybe the Irish one).

The oldest cookbook I have is dated 1881.  “Just How – A Key To the Cook-Books” by Mrs. A.D.T. Whitney.  Author of “Real Folks”, “We Girls”, “The Other Girls,” and “The Gayworthys”.  Somehow I missed those books in the library.  Part of her Preface reads:  “There are in cookery, as in all things, three definite stages of doing; and, they are the stages of the children’s play-rhyme:  “One to make ready ;  Two to prepare ;  Three to go slambang,  And there you are!”  I like the slambang part…I can relate to it.

She finishes her Preface with…”By the same progress, you have become, in like degree, a capable journeywoman at your trade”  I wish you a very friendly good-by.”

I’m not sure about being a capable journeywoman…but I can slambang with the best of them.  I wish you a friendly good-by.

Sears Catalog

I think the Sears Catalog was my first picture book.  Do you remember the catalog?  It was huge.  Had to be 4+ inches thick and must have been 1000 pages.  I didn’t grow up with a lot so when the catalog came I would lose myself in those pages of shoes, dresses, toys and furniture.  I would ear mark the pages hoping my mother would get the hint.  (She didn’t.)

Speaking of my mother she, too, loved books.  I still have her 14 volume collection of the classics:  Jane Eyre, Emerson Essays, Les Miserables, Best Know Works of Hawthorne, Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde.  Not sure how old they are but she signed her name in them in 1944.  Plus she also had Grapes of Wrath by Steinbeck, For Whom the Bell Tolls and a Farewell to Arms by Hemingway.  And, of course, her favorite – Doctor Zhivago.  Toward the end of her life she read romance novels.  You know the kind…bare chested men with flowing hair named Fabio. I’d rather have a Sears Catalog.

Books, Books and more Books

 I was sitting on the patio a couple of days ago (before it reached 110 degrees) listening to the early morning as it came awake and thinking.  Just thinking.  I watched morning doves fly over and land on the fence. Humming birds fighting for their turn at the feeder.  Not sure why but the thought of books popped into my head.  The constant in my life has always been books.  I don’t remember my parents ever reading bedtime stories to me.  I do remember them buying a Encyclopedia Britannica set when I started Jr. High.  I would sit for hours and go through those books.  I also remember I loved to
go to the library.  This is a picture of the Lincoln Library.  Big wooden tables, chairs, card catalogs and a librarian who made sure nobody ever talked above a whisper.  You even whispered to her when asking for help at the main counter.  Libraries are sure different today.
I would spend hours at the library looking at books.  Pulling one out and sitting on the floor while flipping the pages to see if I wanted to check it out.  I guess in looking back the library was where I escaped to.  It was quiet and I could lose myself in other’s adventures.  I did a lot of my homework there.  It was almost reverent.
I haven’t been too interested in blogging because there wasn’t much I wanted to write about.  Books, however, has ignited a spark and my brain is on fire.  I think there’s a point I’ll be getting to but at the moment it’s still kind of hazy.  I just know I have to write about books.
Stay tuned.

I’m Back

Decided it was time for me to start blogging again.  The last time I posted anything was August 2013 after our 5200 mile odyssey.  Not sure what direction this will take.  Will it be a journal of sorts? How about observations of life around me?  A little of this and that.  

So I’m sitting here with a blank brain.  I have no clue what I want to write.  Let’s see.  It’s going to be 900 degrees here this summer.  I didn’t plant my “square foot garden” this year.  Not too much grows when it’s that hot.  I spent a lot of time last year trying to shade everything plus dragging the hose around to water the poor, shriveled up plants. and didn’t get much of a harvest.  I do much better with a winter garden. 

I’m really not all this boring.  I bake bread.  I make homemade meals.  I drink wine.  I read books.  I read lots of books.  I read all kinds of books.  I should have been a librarian. 

5208 Miles – Been there…done that.

We left home on July 15 on a road trip back to the Midwest to visit family and friends.  This was done via our car not motorhome (no longer have motorhome).  There is something to be said about a road trip in a car.  Lucy definitely has something to say about sitting in her car seat for a total of 5208 miles let alone the strange smells she smelled in the various hotel rooms we stayed in.  There was one hotel/motel room where she wouldn’t get off the bed.  We had to carry her in and out of the room.  I glad we don’t have the same sense of smell a dog has.  Tim would have been carrying us both in and out.  Not all hotels will accept pets.  We found the best one to be LaQuinta.  Of course, we found this out the last two nights on the road. 

Knowing the Midwest would be 95 degrees with 95% humidity I packed every pair of shorts and short sleeved shirts I owned.  Tim always packs the same thing…2 pair of long pants, 1 pair of shorts and 5 knit shirts regardless of what the weather is.  He fits everything in a tote bag.  I had to buy a new suitcase to get all my stuff packed.  We left Arizona and 112 degrees.  Our first night on the road was in Gallup, NM.  The next morning it was 68 degrees and raining. Fortunately, I had packed a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt and I pretty much wore the jeans and sweatshirt the whole month.(Yes, I did change clothes periodically so I could wash them.)  The weather was absolutely beautiful in the Midwest.  The high was 75-85 with the low’s in the 60’s. I swear I could see my breath one morning. No humidity and not one mosquito bite.  The moral of the story…pack a tote bag.  I never wore any of the clothes in the suitcase.

We arrived in Bloomington, IL on July 19 (Friday) staying with Lucy’s Godparents, Pat and Mike (Mike is also her attorney) and their yorkie, Daisy.  Sunday, I took Tim to ER at 6 am. The next Wednesday I took him to ER again after he collapsed getting out of the car .  This time he was admitted and spent the next 4 days in the hospital.  Sparing all the details leading up to his hospitalization, the diagnosis was orthostatic hypertension and severe dehydration resulting from a C.difficile infection.  C.diff is an antibiotic-associated diarrhea where the antibiotics a person has taken (he was on antibiotics for a sinus infection) takes over and kills all the good bacteria and the bad bacteria grows in the intestines.  What was suppose to be 3 days in Bloomington turned into 10 days.  It was truly a blessing this happened while we were at our friend’s house.  They were comforting and supportive and I didn’t have to worry about Lucy.  I will also say it was a blessing we had our SkyMed membership because I knew, without a doubt, that if we had to get him back to AZ, all I had to do was make a call. I had complete peace of mind.

After the first ER trip and before the second, I made arrangements to meet with some girlfriends for lunch in my home town of Lincoln, IL. I hadn’t seen three of my
                   
friends for 48 years!  We had a great lunch and lots of catching up to do plus loads of "remember when...?"  I drove around town to see what had changed since being there 13 years ago.  Lincoln 's population is 15,400.  The courthouse square use to be surrounded by clothing stores, the dimestore, a bank or two, a jewelry store, Sears and a furniture store.  All gone.  I didn't recognize any store.  I drove by the library and I was surprised how small it was.  In my mind, I remembered it the size of the National Library.  I loved the library.

The "rec" was where we hung out on the weekends. Pool tables were in the front. Dancing in the rear.



 The building has been long gone.  All that remains is the parking lot.  We would walk across the alley to Guzzardo's for pizza.  Thank heavens Guzzardo's is still alive and well.  It was bitter sweet driving around town looking for landmarks and previous houses I lived in.  The house I lived in with my grandmother has been replaced with a commercial building.  The outhouse is gone.  The streets seemed narrower.  Kroger moved out toward the Interstate next to the Super Wal-Mart.  The Tropics (restaurant) is still standing but vacant.  The Heritage Inn where I bussed tables and later worked my way up to waitress has been torn down.  I couldn't find the housing complex my paternal grandmother lived in.  I'm pretty sure it was been replaced with a new townhome complex.  The high school has expanded but still has the circular driveway.  A lot has changed in my home town but some things haven't...I can still hear the corn grow.