my day | Peaches Prattlings

{June 6, 2024} Our next great adventure…open road style!

It’s been two weeks, why wouldn’t we go on a new adventure?! This time…open road style means…vroom vroom, motorcycle style!

This trip has been in the works for some time. Last year, while we were on the trip out west, we all started talking about next year’s trip, and we ketpt coming back to Canada. Keep talking and visualizing, and here we are!

We packed last night, yup, before we were leaving! ha ha. Since we were packed, easy to get out about 4p. PSM got home a little after 3p, I was still getting some work done, and just before 4p, took my bags out to the barn, strapped my bag to the back of my bike, Eunice, the 2022 Super Cheif Limited and we were good to go!

Paul was taking the Challenger, he calls it Challenger, sounds about right!

The big reason we wanted to leave around 4p was the weather, it rained last night, it rained this morning, and it’s going to rain this afternoon, potential, it’s going to rain this evening. It did…

We were going along, when we started out, it was 84 out, then it got up to 88. It was toasty, but…PSM routed us a great…well, route, that would take us away from a lot of highways and more importantly…away from Connecticut, which, I believe I’ve said this, it’s a lovely state, but the traffic is awful!

So…we realized he routed us for no traffic, but into the rain. If we had stuck with traffic, no rain… go figure! We got almost 100 miles and pulled into a rest stop, stretched our legs, checked the weather, and most importantly…put on our rain gear! Good thing we did, it started raining. Now, one of the guys in we ride with says…’put on the rain gear…no rain’, that didn’t quite work!

I’m just a wee bit short for this bike, I need a little bit of a heel or platform so I am flat footed when I come to a stop, unlike Charlene, my Scout, where I can wear my Converse sneakers. I found a pair at a Walmart near Sturgis, SD when we were there two years ago, I fought getting them, but I actually like them. They used to be a sandy/tan color, now…after almost 3 years of riding in them, through all sorts of weather, not so much. the real issue with these boots…rubber soles, ok, the rest…canvas. Can you guess what happened in the first few minutes of riding in the rain? Yup… I’m walking with a puddle in my shoe…fun!

We thought we would pull into a gas station, we were both at about half a tank, and get some respite from the rain. Couldn’t find a gas station and it was coming down harder, so Starbucks it is. We got some food, tried to dry off a little, as much as we could. We watched the rain come down hard, then let up, then come down hard, then let up. When it had let up enough, the sun broket hrough the clouds, really?

We decided it had cleared up enough to start riding again, but we weren’t taking off the rain gear, not taking chances, and it’s raining all over the PA/NY region. As we were riding, the sun was coming out, it was nice, but I started getting a little chilly, very glad for my rain gear, but brrr…

We ended up stopping at another rest area to check the weather one more time and take a bio break. At this point, the sky looked like it was clearning up, we were even chasing a few rainbows! I’m sorry i couldn’t take a pic whilewe were riding, they were bright and one of them had a friend, right next to it!

PSM said if we keep to a slower speed, we might be able to stay behind the rain, as well as the wetter the road, the more hazardous conditions, hydroplaning and all, which as you can imagine, would be bad!

Were we lucky? Nope, not a chance, why would we be? ha ha. I was in the lead at this point and kept it to about 55/60, if I got up to 65, I would slow it back down. When we left the rest stop it was about 8p, we had booked a hotel about an hours ride from where we were, we just needed to get there and crash for the night.

We were doing great, sky was clear, water from the road, but so far so good, and keeping that speed. Alas…the rain started again, and then it started getting dark, and darker, and darker, and now we’re riding in the rain, my windsheild, which as you may or may not know, on a motorcycle does not have wipers like a car! and why hasn’t someone figured this one out?! ha ha. I only think about this when it’s raining!

So… my windsheild is very rainy, my goggles are very rainy, and it is dark! A few times, I actually had to lean to the right to see the road! This was so much fun! lol. I’m glad I had my headphones on, that helped. Finally, I look in my mirror and see PSM has his signal on, I also saw the sign for the hotel near the exit.

We pull off the highway and ride for what seems like forever, only about a mile maybe, but…dark and rainy, great combination! We finally pull into the hotel, under the entrance, a nice guy who works for the hotel told us we could park there for the night, to avoid the on the bikes. Every little bit helps!

We got into the room and stripped everything off! Everything that was wet went on the heater, and we cranked that sucker up! We changed into shorts and sandles/slippahs, and headed down to the bar for a much needed drink! PSM had a Woodford Reserve bourbon, and I had Disorono, an amaretto, on the rocks. I have one a few times a year, when I want to pretend to be a grown-up. I have yet to finish one, but I like it because it’s a sweet liqueur.

After we closed the bar down, we headed back to the room so I could talk to you and we could crash.

Tomorrow…is the official start of our trip. That’s what PSM said, I’m good with that! So…I say bon nuit to you and sign off for the night, tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and bright and hot, I’m planning on drying off as we ride!

G’night!

{May 24, 2024} Another great adventure begins!

So… I spent the night at CWB’s house last night because she’s closer to the Philadelphia airport than we are, That part would have been amazing!

I got up early, before the alarm, go figure, but no dogs to walk, I could have at least slept until the alarm, sigh…so…I got up, got dressed, and set up to teach my Day 1 of my class. I’m teaching two 2-day classes very week, for a few weeks, except when I’m on vacation. I do love what I do!

I got my setup going, it’s always a little challenging to be in a different space when you’re working. Now, I know you know that I was traveling for work for years, that’s not what I’m talking about. Being remote, I have my desk set up just the way I like it, and I’m comfortable, two monitors along with my laptop, and a keyboard. Today, I have my laptop and my portable monitor, and when you’re teaching, or at least when I’m teaching, it’s definitely easier to have mutlipe screens, set this up on this monitor, set this on that monitor, and so on. I made it work!

Once I was settled, I made myself some breakfast and a cup of hot tea, yum. I opened the call about 8a, 830a, people started joining. I got people settled, we started the class, I told bad dad jokes and it was on!

Oh, I also had some fur baby company, you can’t beat it!

PSM had been in Harrisburg at a food bank, a volunteer event for work, then came to CWB’s house, got there before I finished. it was fun, I could hear the two of them in the other room chatting, occassionally talking about me.

I finally finished class at 445p, got up, took a break, said hello to both of them, packed up my stuff, and we were off. 5pm…heading into Philly? really? Wasn’t thinking clearly of course…rush hour? Our first flight of our journey was leaving at 655p, boarding at 615p, great… Normaly, as I mentioned, CWB is closer to the Philadelphia airport, on a normal day…30 minutes…today…not so much! ugh!

Let’s just say…several accidents, slow drivers, lookie-loos, general rush hour, 50 minutes, eek! We got to the airport, about 608p…nail biting! Then when we made it to the parking deck, the entrance was closed, what?! We drove around, return to the airport, found the other way to get into the parking deck, whew.

Run! We made it through security, thank gawd for TSA pre-check! Made it threw security, ran to the gate, they were boarding! Hadn’t quite gotten to our zone, but…with my limited status, they let us on the plane a wee bit earlier than it would have been. No complaints! We boarded the plane at 635p!!! They noramlly close the doors 15 minutes before departure, we still made it, who cares!

Now, some of you know, I have cut it close on flights, but this… this was ridiculous! I never want to cut it that close again!

So…here we are on our flight from Philadelphia to Salt Lake City, first leg. Hmmm…do I tell you about the second leg, nope, not yet!

Oh! I completely forgot…dad is joining us, along with some other family and friends, which I’ll tell you about later, but… his flight was canceled! Nooo! But…he’s on the same flight tomorrw. He’s going to get there, of that I have no doubt!

Ok, that’s it for today, more tomorrow! Whew!

{April 4, 2024} London Day 6: Crown Jewels, The Thames, Chinatown, Six!

We start with an 8am alarm, that’s not too bad, we woke up with the sun, which is better than the alarm, but the alarm kept us honest!

Start with breakfast, we gave ourselves two hours to get breakfast and get an Uber to where we were going. First stop of the day…The Tower of London! We had 1030am ticket times and we got there at 1022am, walked right up and in, it was perfect!

The first thing we did was speak to a yomen of the guard who showed us, on the map, where all the accessable and non-accessable points were, thank you very much!

We decided to start with the Crown Jewels, where else should we start! Luckily, the queue to get in was not long, still a lot of people in walking around, but wow! Shiny, blingy, shiny, and more blingy! If you haven’t seen them, go! Unfortunately, no photos at all, not even of the entrance sign! sigh…

There was one cool feature, it was a moving sidewalk near the last set of crown jewels, wish there were moving sidewalks near all the exhibits, then you might be able to see them all!

When we were finished, we went to wander around the grounds to see what else we could see and, while taking a picture, we noticed that Miss A was missing part of her hair bob concoction, the skull and rose, uh oh. So, they walked down the hill to retrace their steps and I went into where the crown jewels were and spoke to the guard at the entrance. He radioed and guess what…someone found it! See David, the guard with the hair bob! How cool!

We walked around, went to the new cafe, had a snack, then wandered around some more, headed to the gift shop and out to Tower Bridge. We took some photos and headed towards the Tower Cruises, we got a one-way trip to Westminster and The London Eye area. While we waited we chatted with a nice couple from Orlando who were here following a band.

It was starting to rain, so we were glad for the cover, then on the boat, it was a double decker, we were inside, I got us some tea and then the rain came down heavy and all the people from upstairs came downstairs, they weren’t feeling sitting in the rain I guess!

The captain was funny as we traveled he told us some history and funny stories, I’m sure some of it was to see if we were paying attention!

We docked and began walking in the rain, it’s London, of course it’s going to rain! We walked towards Trafalgar Square, then through the West End to Chinatown. It was still a little early, but we had to be at the theatre at 730, why not wander through Chinatown and see if maybe we get a very late lunch/very early dinner, it was about 430 when we got to Chinatown and we began to wander.

It’s such a cool neighborhood, lots of people, shops, restaurants, and the entrances and lanterns let you know where you are. There was street performers to enjoy, sights to take in, and restaurant after restaurant after restaurant to tempt you!

We decided on China Modern, it had a great selection and was relatively empty when we got there! It got even better, they had a healthy vegan section for me! Except for most of the dishes having chili peppers indicating spicy…I was set!

I ended up getting stir fried mock chicken with ginger and spring onion and veggie dumplings, the food was very appealing and tasty, I was set! I ate more than I normally to, but it was good and apparently we were hungry!

After eating, we ventured into Chinatown, stopping at Chinatown Bakery, which reminded me of the place that JCT takes me when I visit to get all sorts of Chinese treats! I was looking for Chinese almond cookies, but no one carried them, sigh…but I did get a few red bean bun items, so very excited to eat them on my flight home!

We stopped to hear a musician who was from Sweden, he was great, he put his own spin on Whitney Houston, Coldplay, and ABBA, we were set! We sat and listened to him for his last three songs, then moved on to wander through Chinatown some more.

Eventually, it started raining again, and we still had about an hour before we needed to get to the theater, and we were only about a 10 minute walk, if that… so, we went into Paul, a patisserie chain, which I love when I’m over here. They actually have a few locations in the states, it’s fun, but I prefer it over here!

We had some tea and just sat to enjoy the warm and dry, Miss A decided to take a nap on SDL, and we spoke with a family from Sweden sitting next to us, who had the same idea, since they were going to see Back to the Future, which it turns out was next to the theater we were going to.

About 715p, we got motivated and walked to the theater, they let us in a side entrance, then made a chair lift to lower Miss A and her chair to the stalls, where we were sitting! It was so cool! The taxi driver with the ramp and now the theatre with the list, we were spoiled!

Now…we’re seeing Six, the hit musical about the six wives of Henry VIII. This is the third time I’ve seen the show, first time in Boston in 2022 with Dad, LaLa, GES, and MGS. The second time in St Louis with PSM, and now, here in London with SDL and Miss A! We tried to go in NYC last summer but it was sold out.

It’s not a huge theater, but it was cozy and the accoustics were great! I sat in the middle of a row near SDL and Miss A, they were at the end of their aisle in accessable seating. The best part…I could hear Miss A when she started singing and really enjoying the show, it was awesome! I knew they would love it!

When the show was over, we grabbed a taxi, ramp out to roll Miss A’s chair right into the taxi, got to the hotel, they took showers and have gone to bed and I stayed up to talk to you!

Another fun and jam packed day! We’ve gone to almost all of the places on our list, at least the highlighted ones, some are just a would be nice if we could do it, the rest, we’re getting them all!

Tomorrow is another jam-packed day, or I know it will be the way we do it! So…won’t you join me tomorrow! For now, I’ll say fare thee well! G’night!

{April 3, 2024} London Day 5: Covent Garden, Transportation Museum, Picadilly Circus, Soho, oh my!

What a day! It was a very nice start to the day, no alarm! We got up liesurely, Miss A kept trying to dig herself deeper into the bed, and under the covers, we totally get that feeling!

Got up, dressed, and headed to breakfast. Muffin for Miss A, waffles for SDL, and my usual…hard boiled egg on multi-grain baguette, y u m! And a cup of tea with sugar cubes, of course!

Back to the room to get our stuff to get out to greet the day. We went down to the lobby, called for an Uber, and headed to Covent Garden. The driver dropped us off, we got out and started to wander. It’s a beautiful area, classic architecture, as always, beautiful walkways with shops set in, something to see around every corner, nook, and cranny!

When we got into the center courtyard, well, even before we got there, we could hear the musicians, one cello, and four violinists, how wonderful! Later, there was an opera singer, and later, there were two violinists playing the opening overture from Barber of Seville, my favorite opera.

We walked, explored, looked, touched, admired, bought a few things here and there. Then we went to the Transportation Museum, that was a lot of fun, and full of wee tots! Since it’s a charity, it’s one of the only museums not free in the UK, goes to a good cause, we’re good with that!

After the transportation musem it was time for some lunch, we walked around and found someone to help us with the lift, elevator, to get to the lower level and we went to the Punch and Judy pub, a very nice establishment, very friendly staff, warm, and cozy place to spend some time. I had pea and mint soup, it was quite good, SDL had fish & chips and Miss A had some fish & chips, peas, and sweat peas, there was sticky toffee pudding for dessert, but she wasn’t interested. Truth be told, it wasn’t very good, I think some of the toffee they made was burnt, oh well.

Back outside, we walked around a little more and headed towards Picadilly Circus. On the way, we stopped in a theater, I’ll tell you more about the theater tomorrow, and we got tickets to see Six, the musical about the wives of Henry VIII, I can’t wait! i saw it in Boston with MGS, GES, my dad and Lala, can’t wait for SDL and Miss A to see it, Miss A is going to love it, it’s a 90 minute concert basically!

We continued on to Picadilly Circus to see all the pagentry! The sights, sounds, people, movement, nothing stands still! Sometimes reminds me of Times Square in NYC! We stopped at the Hard Rock Cafe store, of course! I didn’t buy anything because I got GC’s pin at the other location and I got him one at this store when I was here two years ago.

We ventured out of Picadilly towards Soho, which was another thing on our list. It’s beautiful, lots of shops and pubs and people, so much to look at. We were taking photos, someone offered to take ours and then we asked for food recommendations and they pointed us towards Kingly Court.

This was lovely! It’s outdoors with canvas covers at the roof, so you could sit outside comfortably. There were trees in the center, benches and tables for different restuarants, with heat lamps to keep you warm while you sat outside, since the seating was limited in some of the restaurants. There were only restaurants in the Kingly Court, all on the permiter at each level. It really was lovely.

We ended up at Paradiso Burger & Cocktail Bar. Most people were sitting downstairs, but they had room for us upstairs, where the kitchen happened to be. It was kind of nice, we had the place to ourselves. I had a viking vegan burger, no idea why they called it that! SDL had a chicken sandwich, and Miss A had a sweet potato with some butter and magnos, then for dessert, avocado and mangos, not a bad meal overall!

Back out onto the road, wandering around Soho, the sights, sounds, people, feeling, experiences, and finally back onto a main drag to get an Uber back to the hotel, we were done!

Miss A and SDL went down to the pool, and I stayed behind to talk to you! I’m so glad I did, so much to share with you!

Tomorrow is a new day, the alarm is set, not as early as yesterday, but we’re going to see he crown jewels, gotta be up and ready to go in case one happen to land on our heads, gotta look our best!

Until then…g’night!

{March 31, 2024} London Day 2! Let’s Explore!

We were all so tired last night we just passed out! Let’s go greet the day and see what adventure London holds for us!

No alarm, thankfully, we got up liesurel, got dressed, and headed downstairs. It’s Easter Sunday, what are we going to do? Well, first…food! We headed to the restaurant for some food, Miss A was dressed ready for Easter, she had an Easter Bonnet fasinator on, very British of her!

Aftef breakfast we went into the lobby, they had baby bunnies and chickies! I cannot believe I don’t have any photos of the bunnies or chickies, I’m sorry! I just realized all my photos are with the bunnies, chickies, Miss A, and SDL, and you know I won’t post those here!

They were soooo cute! Only about 15 weeks old, they were brought in by a company called Living Things, ‘A Five-Star Animal Welfare Company’. Very nice people/kids working it, you sat on a bale of hay and they put a drape on your lap and gave the child the animal to hold. SDL and I held the animals, and we helped Miss A pet them, lots of great pics! They were so soft and fuzzy!!!

I told PSM about it later, he told me I couldn’t bring one home. Party pooper!

After the bunnies and chickies, we headed out and walked down by the river and across the Millenium Bridge towards St Paul’s Cathedral, stopped to take some pics and as SDL is trying to take a selfie, I’m also taking pics, a guy jumps on the bench behind her and basically photobombs her pics without realizing it! We al had a good laugh, especially his wife and I, SDL, not as amused in the moment, ha ha! I even texted him the pics!

We walked by St Paul’s, went to the tourist office, asked some questions, and then got an Uber to Camdentown to see Camdentown and the Camden Market.

Camden Market and Camdentown are very ecclectic, hippy-dippy-trippy, punk, alternative, you name it, it’s there. Reminds me of Greenwich Village in the 70s and 80s. There are markets, one-off shops, flea markets, some name-brand shops you may have heard of, and most you probably haven’t. There is Camden Locks, pubs, restaurants, shops, stalls, vendors, all types, clothes, art, collectables, foreign, local, you name it, you can probably find it there!

After a while of walking in and out of some stalls, shops, markets, it was time for a break. We went to Dingwalls, it was up a level, we could get in, they have food and drink, and we found a spot to sit. Actually, a few people offered up their space for us to sit and enjoy, very kind! We met Winston and Master Nelson, two very sweet dogs who love to give kisses.

We settled in, I went up to the bar and ordered us some food and drink. The food and SDL’s drink I got from inside, my tea had to be ordered at the outside bar, ok. It took a llllooooonnnnggg time to get our food the drinks were right there at the bar. When I went to get a refill on my hot water, I thought I could get a refill for SDL from the same outside bar, not the case. They only had certain beers inside, ok…

There was someone who walked in looking for things, I ended up giving them the lowdon on where everything was, bartender confirmed!

I have to say, my veggie burger was quite tasty! The fries were soooo good. I hadn’t had fries like that since Germany! All in all, a tasty lunch, if not a very slooooowww lunch. I know, I know, it’s all about taking our time and enjoying, and I agree, but it’s hard to take time and enjoy when there’s nothing to enjoy! ha ha.

After lunch, we ventured back out, the weather was fabulous! As we were walking by the lock and taking pictures, a boat was coming through and we got to see them ‘lower’ the water and boat, then open the locks, so cool!

Back out onto the main road, shops, shops, people, food, pubs, and more shops and people and food and pubs, oh my!! Camdentown is such an ecclectic place! I love seeing everyone’s style and individuality and even a few true and honest punk rockers with fabulously long spiked hair, what more could you want?!

Don’t you just love the character of the buildings, some of them modeled what the store was, like the Rayban shoppe was covered in glasses, the New Rock store had a New Rock boot above the sign, Cold Steel selling body jewelry, like I said, individual in every way!

Eventually we went into Camden Market itself, more shops and food, I love the umbrellas lining the ceiling, the horse at the entry to the horse stable tunnel shops, talk about using he space, some of the shops are set up in horse stalls!

Eventually, it was time to head back to the hotel, I grabbed a snack in the executive lounge, SDL wasn’t hungry, she very smartly packed a lot of good snack food, that’s what she was looking for, worked for me!

We took Miss A to the pool, she had about an hour to play and she was quite happy! At 10pm, they came and kicked us out of the pool area, so upstairs for showers and jammies!

We have a tour tomorrow, can’t wait to tell you all about it! Are you tired yet? I am! G’night!

{March 30, 2024} We made it! Welcome to London!

Landed in London about 9am, went through customs, no stamp! What?! They do that now, they have machines that you can put your passort in, it takes your picture and you are good to go. Sort of…I wanted the stamp! I discovered this the last time I was here. Now…if I wanted to stand in the very long line, I could get the stamp, no thanks, I’m ok! I’ve got stamps from other countries, if they all start doing this…hmmm… Good thing here are souveniers!

I went through customs, didn’t even talk to a person, that was odd, but ok…I bought a round trip ticket for Heathrow Express, it takes you directly to Paddingdon Station, about a 15 minute trip, if I took the tube, about 30 minutes. I got out in Paddingdon Station, grabbed a croissant, I needed something, and walked out of the station and ended up taking a taxi. I wanted to take an Uber, it’s definitely cheaper here, but it was so crowded where I was that I said ‘you free?’ ‘Yes?’ ‘Hilton Bankside, please!’ and away we went!

I got to the hotel, SDL and Miss A weren’t due in for another hour or so, and it would take them a minute to get through customs and on the road, so I dropped my bag, went into the Executive Lounge, gotta love friends with status like yours! It was still breakfast time, I got a cup of tea and some toast, I wasn’t quite ready for real food.

After sitting still for a bit and chatting with a nice family who had a son that reminded me of Miss A, I went out in search of adventure and found it I did! One block away was the Tate Modern Museum, one of my dad’s favorites, and now one of mine!

One of the great things about the museums in the UK, they are free. A special exhibit might cost something, but the main musuem is free, isn’t that wonderful! Offering art to the people at no charge!

It’s a great museum, they have modern art, special exhibits, expressionist art, installations, odd, interesting, photography, you name it. There was a Yoko Ono exhibit, but I just wanted to explore the free stuff! And explore I did. I went from one floor to the next, to the next.

There is a window box that is on the 3rd or 4th level that looks out over the museum and a giant installation of a metal flag of some sort, I love this piece. What I also love is watching people come in and see it from a different perspective, it’s great. I was so tired at that point that I sat in the chair and nodded off quite a bit, not complaining by any means! When a guard came in and asked me if I was ok, I told him I love watching people come in and see the piece. Then I got up and left! ha ha!

That was just the bit of rest I needed. I wandered a little more, then onto the balcony to see the riverwalk and the Millenium Bridge. I then went down to one of the gift shops looking for a magnet, not as important this trip since I was just here two years ago, but it would have been fun. They didn’t have any that had the name of the musem and the pieces they did have, I hadn’t seen, so no magnet for me!

I went out towards the riverwalk, walked down to the river, put my feet very close to the water, did not get them wet, but watched the swans, the ducks, the dogs, the kids, the boats, you name it, I watched them go by.

Back up to the riverwalk, I walked up and back, stopping to enjoy the people, sights, and sounds. I didn’t want to go too far in case they got to the hotel, I didn’t want to be too far away. I wandered up and down streets, into a few shops, nothing major, got the lay of the land.

I was starting to get hungry, it was about 2p and I stopped in a local bakery chain called Paul, got a chai and something to eat, which I didn’t finish, it wasn’t very good. About that time, I got a text from SDL, they were in the hotel, finally!

Turns out I wasn’t getting her text messages, she was getting mine! This area isn’t great for texting/signal! We finally found each other! Whew!

It was snack time for Miss A, then our room was finally ready, we went upstairs, our bags magically appeared! We pared down and headed out to greet the world! We walkedto Borough Market and walked up and down the aisles, looked at the stalls, tasted a few things, bought a few things, then it was time for food.

We went into a pub that was right there, The Market Porter, it was great. Miss A and I both had a veggie shepherd’s pie, I had a pot of tea, and SDL had fish and cheeps and a local beer. The atmosphere was great, very inviting and warm, the food was good, we were both just exhausted! It was nice to chat and catch up. Miss A, on the other hand was having none of the food, she was in a snuggling mood, until it was time to go, then she was interested in eating, nope, not happening!

We walked back to the hotel, we were almost done! We made a plan for tomorrow, where we are going to go explore, what time w need to be up, breakfast, the whole 9 yards! Then Miss A was ready to eat. Luckily the food was still warm, so I fed her, then it was time for bath and bed.

I may have been asleep by the time they came to bed! I was SOOOO tired! I’m not even sure how I’m writing to you! I am still getting over being sick and flying didn’t help, so I am mustering up the strength to talk to you, sort of, but I’m not going to last much longer!

Tomorrow is Easter Sunday, what adventures does London hold for us? I’ll let you know tomorrow!

Have a brilliant evening! The clocks get set ahead tonight, here! Good thing we don’t have anything scheduled that we might miss!

G’night!

{March 28, 2024} Step one… get to dad’s

And here I am!

Finished work, gave the dogs lots of hugs, got some kisses, put them in the crate, turned on the radio, loaded the car, called PSM to tell him I was off, and Annie and I were on the road!

The ride to dad’s was uneventful, I stopped for some Muscinex DM and cough drops, did some planning with SDL, put on a podcast and all was right with the world.

I didn’t hit traffic until I was about 30 minutes out from his house in Bayonne, NJ. And… no rest stops…I needed a bio break! Oh well…

Finally got to dad’s, he knows me, he opened the door and stood aside! Whew!

When I could breath again, went back to my car to get my stuff, we turned around and went back out for some dinner, to…you guessed it, our new favorite place…Zara Forest Grill for some Turkish food. Yup, same place, same order, I’m ok with that and so is he!

We talked, laughed, and ate, and talked, and laughed, and ate. And cheered for the flaming meat platters and the birthday celebrations, not sure, but I’m pretty sure they sing the same thing, just add Happy Birthday!

Back to the house, catch up, look at stuff, change into jammies, and sit down to watch something. We settled on Bitconned, the documentary about crypto currency. When we realized neither of us was paying attention and falling asleep, I said good night, time to tuck in.

Here I am, snuggled in my childhood bed, talking to you and getting ready to sack out.

Tomorrow is work, I’m sure breakfast with dad at Z One, back to work, then off to your airport.

Can’t wait! Gotta get to sleep so I can start my trip! G’night!!

{April 2, 2018} Day 9…Good morning Guam!

Hafa adai from Guam!

It’s Sunday and we left Chuuk at 250am and we have a, twelve hour layover in Guam, what to do?!

We collected our bags, they wouldn’t check them all the way thru to our next location, rented a car and away we went. Mind you, it was about 5am at this point.

We wanted to find a place to watch the sunrise, love Google! We went to a beach known for great sunrises in Guam. When we got there, it was still quite dark out, so we closed our eyes for a few minutes.

Somewhere between 545 and 6am, we got up and went to sit on the beach with everyone else. There appeared to be a sunrise service about to start as well, we weren’t sure if it was a regular Sunday service or an Easter Sunrise service.

We sat there enjoying the sunrise where ‘America begins its day’, crazy, huh? Eventually, it was grub time!

We wanted to try something new, that goes for when we’re back in Guam, the hotel executive lounge breakfast, not great… We looked on Google maps and Pika’s got great reviews, away we go!

We had a, great breakfast, I got an omelet and PSM for something local with Chomorra sausage and we shared khalua drunken French toast with caramelized bananas, y u m! Oh, they had decaf coffee, so PSM was a very happy camper!

I got to color, we laughed, talked, got silly and had a great time. Then we had to figure out what to do for the day, we had to be back at the airport about 245pm. Not a bad thing, gotta love the United Club!

One of the things we talked about was new water shoes for PSM and fins for both of us. When we had been at the dive shop last week, a woman we talked to told us about Cost-U-Less where we could find fins a lot less expensive, and she was right!

It was like Costco on crack! And the Spam! They have it in fifteen different flavors! The Pacific Islanders do love their spam!

After our purchase we decided we weren’t going to get in the water today, so to the movies we go! We say Ready Player One, really liked it!

There wasn’t much time after that, so we went to the Hilton to relax. PSM sacked out on a chair by the water and I went wading for a bit until it was time to head to the airport.

Not a bad day, huh? There’s more! Talk soon!

{April 2, 2018} Day 9…Goodbye Guam…Say hello to Saipan!

Long time no speak!

Forty five minute fight on a puddle jumper to Saipan, our next location! We got off the plane like we did Palau and Chuuk, outside the terminal. I think we talked about the Latte, the symbol of freedom and the pillars the Chammoran people used as supports for their buildings. It’s part of their flag, license plates, everywhere. I loved the welcoming lattes at the airport!

We picked up our rental car and headed to our hotel. It was a long grueling eight mile drive! The island is only about 12 miles long!

Here’s the thing about the hotel… The hotel listing made it look like it was right on the beach with cozy little rooms or bungalows. The image, it turns out, was of the restaurant! The rooms are exactly as they looked on hotels.com, modern, comfortable and an amazing a/c unit, we were going to stay cool!

After checkng in, we went in search of foods, to said restaurant, just as we caught the sunset, our new favorite activity!

The restaurant was open on to the beach, the bar was an lcd panel that looked like a riverbed with swimming fish, very cool! We enjoyed dinner, the breeze, the sound of the surf and the company.

I can’t wait to tell you all about our next adventure… whatever it may be!

{March 31, 2018} Day 8…Chuuk

Good morning from Chuuk!

Today… We snorkel! Yesterday, we finally got in touch with the Blue Lagoon Dive Shop. They answered the phone!

That’s part of the reason we didn’t stay with them to begin with, we couldn’t get them on the line, maybe they were out diving. We couldn’t ask the dive folks at the Hilton questions, they were out diving!

We took a taxi to the Blue Lagoon, about a twenty minute drive to the other side of the island and wad I mentioned yesterday didn’t change, it was the same type of housing and markets. There is even a guard at the gate of the Blue Lagoon.

Here was the interesting thing! As we are driving, the driver drove very slowly, which was good, the road was not paved that well and lots of pot holes. He was saying hello and nodding hello to people along the way and one time stopped and someone got in the front seat, no words were spoken until almost the gate at the Blue Lagoon, I think they were friends, or related, as most people are on Chuuk!

Then, and this is an actual taxi, the styrofoam board said so in black marker… We got to the Blue Lagoon and he could not make change… the shop didn’t seem to have change either, funny enough, had change when we paid for the snorkeling… so, with the driver we tried to arrange to have him come back at three when we were done. With very little English, what do you think he did with our $20? Yup. We knew what we were doing…

We settled in for an adventure… paid for our snorkel adventure, got our equipment and we’re off! Private boat, just us, our guide Rocky and the driver, I do apologize, I can’t remembr his name.

I believe I mentioned yesterday that Chuuk is known for its WWII wreckage, that’s what we saw! Planes, boats, subs, bombs. I met a diver, before we went out, who showed me pictures of the betty bombs, bombs that spelled out Betty, we couldn’t get down enough to see those, but we saw some spectacular sites!

Luckily my phone got some decent pics! It’s just amazing to me to see these implements and machines of war and destruction with coral and new life growing on them.

After two more stops of amazing, we stopped for lunch at an island in the middle of… nowhere. It was fabulous! There’s a cabin you can reserve for the night, no internet, but there was electricity. There are two boys, well, young men, who stay on the island for two weeks and then two more come out and so on, well take care of the island and the people who rent the cabin, cooking meals, things like that. Oh, they also take care of the two dogs who guard the island, so to speak. Two short legged stumpy dogs who just want to say hello.

We sat there, eating, contemplating, enjoying the view, weather, company, can you blame us!

After a while, we decided to snorkel around the island, especially after seeing the reef sharks! Can you see him? The tips of his tail and fin are black.

When we were ready, one more place to snorkel, this time a plane, upside down, PSM even touched some of the wrecks!

Then it was time to head back in and head back to the hotel. Guess who didn’t show up… it’s all good, someone who works at the dice shop drove us back to the hotel and we got some food, chilled out, packed and got ready to get some rest, we fly out at 145am!

We’ll get the shuttle back to the airport, we have an eight hour layover in Guam and then head to… tell ya soon!

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