More Camal Riding

Grandma Bev Riding a Camel

TWO WEEK MARATHON

Sunday, February 28, 2010 Judy and I returned home late last night from our two week tour of the Mediterranean. It was centered around a twelve day cruise. Thursday the eleventh we flew to Houston, Texas and stayed overnight with Chris and Lynn at Lynn’s house. The next day, Friday the 12th, we flew first class on Continental Airlines to Paris, France. Lynn and Chris were working the flight. They are both flight attendants. Chris will have been working for Continental for twenty years this April. From the Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport, Judy and I took a bus to the Arc d’ Triumph and from there a taxi to the hotel the Continental crews stay in. it is just a half a block or so from the Eifel Tower. We couldn’t ride on the crew bus since it picks them up on the tarmac and Judy and I had to go through customs. After sleeping for a few hours, we walked to the Musee Jacquemart Andre; a public museum located at 158 Boulevard Haussmann in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. The museum was created from the private home of Édouard André (1833 - 1894) and Nélie Jacquemart to display the art they collected during their lives. There was a lot of nice Italian artwork and the house itself was unique. We then took the Metro to another area of Paris where Lynn met us and Chris and Lynn bought us a nice dinner for our anniversary (13 Feb). We took a cab back to the hotel. Paris was cold and it had recently received snow but we didn’t see any on the ground. Then next morning, Saturday, the 13th, Judy and I took a taxi to Paris’s Orly Oest Airport, bought a ticket and flew on Vueling Airlines to Barcelona. We took a taxi from BCN to the Marriott Renaissance Airport Hotel where we met Bev (Judy’s mother), Sandy (Judy’s uncle) and Mary Lou (Bev’s friend), had a bite to eat and hit the hay. We saw a few snowflakes at the hotel. The next day, Sunday, the 14th we took the Hotel Shuttle to the port where we boarded NCL’s Norwegian Jade for our twelve day cruise. Judy and I were in stateroom 9120 which had a balcony; our preference. The next day, Monday, the 15th was a sea day. The day after, Tuesday, the 16th Judy, Uncle Sandy and I took the Angels and Demons tour of Rome, Italia. Bev and Mary Lou had been there before so they stayed on the boat. Judy and would probable have done the same since we have been there before too, except we felt it was better that 87 year old Sandy shouldn’t do it on his own. It was cool but not too bad since we wore plenty of warm clothing. We saw the Trevi Fountain and the Vatican including St. Paul’s Cathedral as well as other sights. Wednesday, the 17th was another day at sea. Thursday the 18th the five of us found a driver with a large Mercedes minivan who drove us around Athens for hours pointing out the sights including a changing of the guard. Again because of all the older people (including myself I sometimes feel) we didn’t climb to the Acropolis or any of the other hillside sights but we did get some good camera shots of them. The weather in Athens was sunny and fairly warm though we were dressed properly. The next day, Friday the 19th we landed in Izmir, Turkey where Judy had arranged a tour of Ephesus. (The Turks call it Efes.) for the two of us. We both felt that this was one of, if not the highlight of the trip seeing where the apostle Paul spent time and were we saw all the Roman ruins. Very impressive! The other three saw Ephesus on a different tour arranged through the boat. Saturday the 20th we were at sea. The next day, Sunday the 21st we landed in Alexandria, Egypt, North Africa. The five of us took a bus tour which took us to Cairo/Giza where we stayed overnight and went back to the ship the next afternoon. The part of Egypt we saw was very dirty and rundown but we had fun riding on camels, standing on the bottom steps of the Great Pyramid and going down into a catacomb. I was the only one that did the catacomb. It was hot when we got off the bus at the pyramids but almost immediately the sun went behind the clouds and the weather was perfect. We ate at a very nice restaurant called Cleopatra’s Palace if I remember correctly. That first night we took a two hour dinner cruise up and down the Nile River. On the cruise there was a very good looking and talented belly dancer as well as other entertainers. The next day was at sea. The following day, Wednesday the 24th we took a jeep safari around the island of Malta which was fun. One of the stops was at the village that was erected for the 1980 move, Popeye. The set which include many homes and shops etc, is still standing and maintained and for the tourists there are live characters in the streets singing and dancing and so forth. We didn’t get to go into the village but looked down from a ridge above and took pictures with the zoom on. We had another day at sea and got back into Barcelona the next morning Friday the 25th and took the hotel shuttle back to our hotel and checked it. We weren’t able to get into our room until later, so, Judy and I took the city bus into town, got on the sightseeing bus and rode it around then got off and had lunch at Casa Joan on the Rambla. We took the Metro (subway) to Espania Square (Plaça d' Espanya) where we caught the city bus back to the hotel. The next day Saturday the 27th, since the Barcelona to New York flight was canceled, we bought tickets to Madrid on Air Europa. From Madrid we flew first class on Delta to Atlanta, connected to Dallas/Ft. Worth and made another connection to Salt Lake. I was in my own bed around ten o’clock after getting up and flying for about twenty-four hours. Obviously I left out most of the detail. My brain is frazzled from the trip, especially the coming home portion. My memory is not that good anyway. I may have also made some errors in this telling.

GINNIE, WE'LL MISS YOU!

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 06, 2010 Wow. Judy and I went to see the movie, When In Rome, a very cute funny movie. When we got out and turned our phones back on, Judy had six missed calls from Jim. She called him back. He said that Stacey’s mother passed away at about 9:15 p.m., about the time we were going into the show. Almost immediately Corey called me and told me the same thing. He is the one who said what time she died. He was calling to ask if I would go to their house at around 7:00 in the morning and let buddy out. He thought Stacey and possibly he and Jayden and Bailey might stay with Wayne, Stacey’s dad tonight. Stacey was so upset that while Corey was talking to me, she was out of their car throwing up. They were near the Maverick Station on Redwood Road near Bangerter Highway. Stacey, we love you. It is ironic that we were talking about her mother and her cancer over dinner last night at Café El Lago. I think we were all thinking she might live for up to another year.

- NEW GIRL in The PICTURE -

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 05, 2010 Today Jayden and Bailey’s school had parent and teacher conference so there were no classes. I had them much of the day at our house. We played Monopoly for a while and then went swimming for a little over an hour. Most of the time in the pool they wanted to wrestle with and play catch with Grandpa. I have only been to the pool once in many months and I could tell I didn’t have the stamina I had, had. Best I get back on it. We are going on our cruise next week and there will be a bit of walking in Rome, Athens, Ephesus, Cairo and Valletta, Malta, as well as Barcelona before the cruise. We may also spend some time in Paris. At least I have my new tennies broken in. Corey announced that Jayden has a new girlfriend. Her name is Nicole. But when I mentioned it to Jayden he said, “I am just helping out a friend.” I guess she broke a leg or something while back. I told Corey that, in front of Jayden and Jayden said, “I didn’t say that!” meaning there is more to it than just a “helping” friendship. Jayden says in so many words that he and Issie are not totally broken up but he is now riding his razor (scooter) to and from school and she walks with her friends.(Bailey is riding her's razor also.) At parent and teacher conference, Jayden’s teacher expressed some concern over how close Jayden and Issie are, though admitted that it is just teasing and playing etc. Corey and Stacey agreed with her but expressed they weren’t sure how best to handle it. Throwing a third party into the mix should make for an interesting love triangle. They’re only forth graders; I’m not too worried about it. I guess I think it is just cute and funny. After we got back from the pool the kids were hungry. Bailey ate two hotdogs. Jayden ate the better part of two hotdogs then announce he wanted an egg sandwich. He fried an egg over easy and put it between two slices of bread. When he bit into it, the yolk came out onto his plate. He thought that was an extra treat and sopped it up with the excess bread. He liked it so much he made another one though this time when he broke the shell to put the egg in the frying pan the yolk broke too and cooked at least semi hard. He didn’t seem too disappointed. In all this, he ate nearly five slices of bread, two eggs and nearly two full hotdogs. That boy has capacity. He is too skinny according to his doctor, but Corey was that way too at his age and is now over weight. I hope Jayden doesn’t have the same situation. Tonight, Corey and his family and Judy and I met at Café El Lago for dinner. It was there that much of the details on Jayden and his love life came out. Stacey’s mother is in the hospital with complications from her cancer. She refuses to allow even her children to visit her. She and Wayne keep saying they are “strong” and everything is going to be ok. I wonder if they are in a state of denial or what. Stacey thinks her mother will be gone in a year or so and believes her father will die of a broken heart/loneliness not long after that. Niki and Alexa are in Phoenix for a couple of days visiting Brittany and her family. It was Maya’s fifth birthday a couple of days ago. She and I got to be good friends when I was down there visiting once upon a time.

NUTTIN MUCH

Tuesday, February 02, 2010 Yesterday I didn’t feel so bad, but I woke up today feeling worse again. In fact I may feel the worse since the first day; a week ago last Friday. I went to the Saratoga Springs Intermountain Instacare and a doctor whose name I did not get, poked and prodded and asked a bunch of questions including, have you been out of the country, have you been around sick family member etc, then said “Well you don’t appear to have anything exotic. (My word no his) It appears to be the same as what’s going around though it has lasted longer than usual. Take Imodium, stay hydrated and lay off the caffeine. It sometime makes diarrhea worse.” He then said that since we are going on a cruise next week, I should see my regular doctor and see if she has any special instructions in consequence of that. Later, I was driving out of our circle to get me a bite of lunch. I saw Raleigh Huntsman on his front porch hanging onto a small white dresser. I pulled over, rolled down my window and asked if I could help. He said, “No I have a pretty, young helper.” I asked, “Your daughter? She’s a cutie.” He said, “Yes she is.” At that point she came out the door, saw me and walked up and asked if I had access to a truck. I said no but I have a van with the back seat out.” She said, “Will a couch fit in it, a small couch, a futon actually?” I said I thought it would. She said “Good, I’ll text your son (Jim) and see if he will help me. That should be fun!” I told her Jim knew where the key was and I drove away. She has recently moved out of her parent's house and up to Park City.

STILL NOT BETTER

01 FEBRUARY, 2010 Here it is Monday. I have been fighting this, whatever-it-is since a week ago last Friday. I think maybe I am starting to get better but then who knows. I often don't feel the worse until later in the day and not until sometime after I have eaten. It is only 8:30 a.m. right now. We'll see.