Flashback Friday - Our First International Trip

Our very first passports in hand, we flew to New York and then on to Heathrow Airport in London. It had to be the late 1980s. There was no fuss with security and once through immigration we were greeted by Bob's sales rep, David, who was English but had lived for a few years in the US. He popped us into the car with our luggage and we were on our way.

Of course the steering wheel was on the wrong side of the car and we were driving on the wrong side of the road. With little sleep and anxiety over being in unfamiliar territory we began our crazy journey through the streets of London. Roundabouts made me dizzy and then I happened to glance at the speedometer from my place in the back seat. He was doing 100! It wasn't until later that I realized it was only about 60 mph. All I could think of was, "I'm gonna die!"

Finally it was time to check into the hotel and see if we were lucky enough to have our room ready for us. Thankfully it was. We may have napped a bit. I can't remember but I do remember the visitors we had. A knock on our door and we kind of looked at each other. Had David decided to stop by? Had we left something in the car?

Bob opened the door which was around the corner from where I sat. I could hear a female voice but couldn't understand what she was saying. Bob's voice came through loud and clear though.

"Uh, no. No. That's won't be necessary. Thanks anyway. My wife is here with me."

He closed the door and gave a chuckle. He explained there were two ladies-of-the-evening who had offered him their services. I laughed. He looked so uncomfortable.

Later we saw them hanging out in the entryway to the hotel. They didn't acknowledge Bob. I guess they didn't want to embarrass him with his wife. When we returned to the hotel, they were gone. We assumed when we never saw them again that they had been removed or just moved on.

During the day, Bob worked the trade show (our reason for being there) and I got to explore. David had shown us how to use the tube (the subway) and I ventured out several times. My only scare was hearing a rowdy crowd headed in my direction and I feared it was one of the demonstrations that were happening around that time with the IRA. They were upon me before I had a chance to react but I realized with relief that it was only a group of young men all dressed in soccer gear and celebrating. I breathed a sigh of relief although today I know that it could have been just as dangerous a situation. Those soccer fans can be intense.

Sadly David is gone now but while he was still with us we always blamed him for getting us to travel to London. It was the beginning of a wanderlust that has not yet abated.

Flashback Friday - The Smokies

One of our first vacations with all five of our kids was to the Smokey Mountains. We rented a beautiful house on a mountainside near Gatlinburg and drove to it from our home in Ohio. We had a station wagon at that time (later we would graduate to a van) that we packed up and headed south. There were no problems with it until we reached the mountains and began the climb.

Our youngest son, newly adopted at the age of five, did not have good speech skills yet. He is developmentally handicapped and at that point in life had few words in his vocabulary communicating mostly with grunts and sounds and hand signals. What he did and still does have is a great smile. He smiled all the way to Tennessee.

We began to notice the car not getting much acceleration up the inclines. We would make it to the top of one holding our breath and hoping that the next one would be okay. At one particular incline almost to our destination, the car crept along slowing and slowing almost to a stop. We were so close to the house. Bob didn't want to turn around and try to find a service garage at that point so he kept the pedal pushed to the floor and his hands tight on the steering wheel.

 I don't think any of us were praying out loud. Maybe I didn't realize it and I was. The kids had been very quiet feeling the anxiety of the situation with the car not having any power. Suddenly we heard a loud pop and for a moment the car lurched and chugged then began accelerating on the incline. Before anyone could say a word we heard a chuckle from Donny and then, "God fixa car!"

Not only did God fix the car (it ran like a charm after that) but it was definitely a break through in Don's language skills.

Oh yes, the rest of the vacation. We hiked. We relaxed in the big hot tub. And we fished. The fishing was the other dear memory. It was a stocked trout pond. Now imagine trying to keep track of five kids who were pulling in trout one after the other. Finally one of the attendants said, "Ma'am how many fish do you want to take home? You know you buy them by the pound."

I looked at the kids and the pile of fish. Yikes! "I think we'll stop now." It was a quick but successful fishing session and we enjoyed the fresh trout on the grill for dinner.

And then there was the indoor skydiving. But that's another flashback for another Friday. Fond memories.

Flashback Friday - Where Was I A Year Ago?

Facebook always reminds you of things from the past and I thought it would be fun to look at where we were last year on this day. The World Cruise had us in Columbia and here are some of the pictures I posted from then. Sigh, nice time.

Flashback Friday - Pittsburgh 1986

Call it a return to youth. Call it a resurrected hobby. Call it coping with retirement. Bob has started back into ham radio. He's been buying old sets and restoring them hopefully to resell and got his license back to go on air and is working toward getting his old call letters again.

The last purchase he made found him driving to Pittsburgh to save shipping charges. (When you're retired you do things like that.) When he returned home, he unpacked all the equipment and found in the bottom of one of the boxes an old newspaper from October of 1986. It's always fun to look back.

Amazingly just as all the news coverage lately has been centered around the Middle East and Syria, so were the headlines back then twenty-nine years ago. And it was over a suspected act of terrorism.

On the lighter side, one of my favorite movies was playing in the theaters--Crocodile Dundee. Paul Hogan is right up there just below Sean Connery as one of my all time favorites. Of course now they're a lot older but then so am I.

The Red Sox were playing the Mets in the World Series. The article says the Mets needed two wins to stay alive. Spoiler alert: the Mets won!

A Sony auto-reverse AM/FM stereo cassette recorder/player was selling for $77. A Sharp VHS video cassette recorder for $239. And record firms were fighting the digital world as the digital audio tape looked to be the new approach to recording and playback.

Always fun to look back.

Flashback Friday

[Looking back at a fun time from 2007.]

Okay, all you who have had farm experience can sit back and be prepared for a laugh now. While I grew up next to my grandfather's farm, the animals and fields were gone by the time I was old enough to appreciate them and learn from them. I've always wondered what it would be like to milk a cow.

Yesterday, our grandkids accompanied us to a large public farm in our area set up to let kids learn about farming. We adults learned a lot too. (Hubby is a city-boy). I didn't know there were so many different kinds of cows and that they each produce different kinds and quantities of milk.


Nancy was in line to be milked next and she was quite the lady walking up a couple of steps and into her milking station. We got a few quick tips on how to gently squeeze and pull and then lined up to milk the cow. I was the only grown-up but I pretended to be there for my grandkids. Our grandson started to back out at the last minute but he stayed for Grandma's sake and we each milked Nancy a little bit.

What an experience! Nancy was so kind to stand quietly and put up with our inexperienced hands. I didn't know until I saw the picture my husband took that I had my pinkie finger out. Hmmm. Maybe that's the formal way to do it.

Flashback Friday - 70 Years Ago

"It was a monumental year--the end of an era and the beginning of a new one," says my copy of The Encyclopedia of American Facts & Dates. The year of course was 1945. The war was ending in both Europe and the Pacific.

Going My Way won the Academy Award for outstanding motion picture and earned Bing Crosby the best actor award. Commercial television came a step closer to reality as the FCC allocated thirteen channels for the new medium.

Rationing for shoes, tires, meat and butter ended. Seventy-three more consumer items were authorized for manufacture as War Production Board bans were lifted.

The Miss America title was won by Bess Myerson from New York City.

In boxing, a newcomer named Rocky Graziano scored five knockouts at Madison Square Garden. Ohio State University did not play in the Rose Bowl. (Neither did Michigan). The 71st running of the Kentucky Derby was won by Hoop Jr. The Tigers defeated the Cubs in the World Series. The NFL Championship was won by the Cleveland Rams who defeated the Washington Redskins.

And Mrs. "Snip" Robbins gave birth to twin boys! It was a very good year!

Flashback Friday - Meet The Man

My boys (all grown now) have a knack for finding the most unusual places to eat. Here's a look back at one we went to in the Seattle area in 2008. I'm assuming it is still open. The most recent review I could find on it was from April of this year.

So where would you take your parents for lunch when they come to visit? How about an old automotive garage under a freeway?

When we recently visited our son and his family out in the Seattle area, he took us to the place where all the Microsoft geeks get together, Dixies Barbeque. It's actually a very popular tourist attraction and known for it's very, very. . .did I say VERY hot barbeque sauce.

When we pulled into the place, I figured he was just turning around because he'd missed the restaurant. But no, he parked the car and we all got out and ambled past the back porch--or maybe it was the front porch--that stretched across the facade of an old automotive garage. The porch had a couple of long tables covered in vinyl cloths with an eclectic collection of chairs including a rocker, some computer chairs, and various wooden kitchen chairs. Could this be where they put together the idea for VISTA?

We entered a tiny room brimming with smells of barbeque sauce. The limited menu included pulled pork, pulled pork over sausage, BBQ chicken, and side dishes of beans, beans and rice, and corn bread. You could purchase plain or sweetened tea or go to the vending machine near the exit door to buy your soda.

The lady I assumed was Dixie sat at the end of the serving counter pouring tea and taking money and all the while kibitzing with the customers. But the big question of the day was "Do you want to meet the man?" The man is how they refer to their hottest BBQ sauce. My acid indigestion was churning up just smelling it but my son said he couldn't go back to his office without "meeting the man."

Only a few drops on a small section of his sandwich was enough to redden his face, cause his neck to sweat, and send his father back in to get a second glass of tea hoping that would cure him. Once he could talk again, we sat back and enjoyed our sanwiches which, by the way, could have fed an army of computer techs, and wondered how in the world anyone would think to come here to eat. It just proves the power of word of mouth advertising and finding the right mouths to spread the word--that is if they can still talk after meeting the man.

Flashback Friday - The International Beach Project

Looking back to a post from the summer of 2008 I realized that it is just as relevant today as it was when I first wrote it. Our children are our greatest hope for a better tomorrow.

Yesterday we visited a beach on a lake near where our grandchildren live in Washington. The weather was sunny but a little chill was in the air. It didn't stop several kids who were in bathing suits from wading waist deep into the cold water. I shivered to watch.

What was truly fascinating however was the international beach project that took shape in a matter of minutes. I say international because there were Asian, Hispanic, Caucasian, and Indian children involved in the rather spontaneous construction of a river that began at the edge of the grass and ran through the sand about 50 feet to the lake. Several children started the dig and curiosity drew others. As the project escalated, some became dredgers, some supplied water (they owned buckets), and still others banked the sides to keep the water from flooding over.

One enterprising young lady formed a square with her fingers and proceded to interview the others on the project. Questions such as "What is the importance of this river?" were tossed at the workers who answered with surprisingly intelligent responses like, "It will help the lake."

One young boy must have been the ecologist of the group as he shooed the ducks away to keep the project from injuring them. The ducks obviously thought it was a feeding trough.

As the dozen or so children worked for a good hour on keeping the river running, I saw what gives us hope for our future--young people who can come together and work so well to "improve" the beach will certainly grow into adults with the same capabilities to improve our world. I pray no one spoils their enthusiasm.

Flashback Friday - The Happy Parrot Fish

I've been at this blogging thing for a long time--since early 2005 when my son said it was something I needed to do if I was a writer. Where did he get so wise? Thought I would look back to some of my early postings. Here's one from August of 2006.

Diving in Cayman the other day, I couldn’t help but be amused once again by the colorful parrot fish of the Caribbean. They are brightly multicolored mostly on a turquoise blue background with a mouth that looks like a beak—thus the name parrot fish. They go along crunching on rocks and then excreting them. Know those sandy beaches you love? The parrot fish helps make them.


While this may seem like a mundane job, the parrot fish seems to be quite happy in his lot in life. With all that roughage, he’s probably not constipated which certainly helps his mood. When you see the parrot fish from the side, his eye looks bright and clear and his “beak” is shaped like a smile. Rather than swimming along, he seems to skip through the water making him appear carefree and happy-go-lucky. You can almost hear him singing, “Don’t worry. Be Happy.”

Ah, yes. The Caribbean. Even the fish are happy!

Flashback Friday - Casa Loma

Back in 1955, my mother decided she was tired of making the long drive to Noelville, Canada, and passing up all the interesting sights along the way. I think that Dad may have bought her a car by then because he would have had to have transportation unless he and his fishing buddy drove together.

She invited his buddy's wife along and their two kids who were close to my brother's and my age. We headed north, crossed the Peace Bridge and stopped in Toronto to do some sightseeing. I'm said to say I don't remember a whole lot about the trip. Some yelling when we kids got too rambunctious--after all there weren't any electronics to keep us busy.

What does stand out is our visit to Toronto's Casa Loma. Maybe it was my eight year old imagination running wild as we toured the "castle" but it made a great impression on me. So much so that when Bob and I had the opportunity to visit Toronto a few years back, I asked that we stop there. It was very different seeing it through the eyes of an adult than a young impressionable girl but the visit renewed the memories and was very satisfying.

Casa Loma was built by multi-millionaire businessman, Sir Henry Mill Pellat over a period of time from 1911-1914 for a cost of $3.5 million. When things went badly with his business base, he was forced to auction off his prized possession and contents. After some attempts to complete and expand the castle, it eventually came to be the property of the city of Toronto in payment of back taxes. The Kiwanis Club of Toronto began offering tours of the castle in 1937 and that continued until 2011 when a new Casa Loma Corporation was formed. The Liberty Entertainment Group in 2014 entered into a long lease with the city and is now using it for special events as well as maintaining it as an attraction to see when visiting Toronto.

Flashback Friday

When I was in the first grade, my dad took us all to visit friends in Michigan and we got to go to Greenfield Village. I don't remember a whole lot about the trip, but we have some pictures in our album to prove we were there.

Greenfield Village is in Dearborn, Michigan, and is part of the complex with the Henry Ford Museum. At the museum you can see of course the history of car making but also so many other elements of American history. Well worth the trip in itself.

The village takes you back through the years of Henry Ford's life and the development of his cars including the farmhouse where he was born. It also traces many other events in history and includes artisans and craftsmen demonstrating their talents.

Then top it all off with a tour of the Ford Rouge factory and see today's cars being made.

Okay, enough talk. I'm putting this on the to do list, again!

Flashback Friday - The Cleveland Zoo

If you have followed my blog for any length of time you know I love the zoo. While we've been to some really nice zoos--San Diego, Columbus, Sydney--I love our Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. Maybe it's because I've been going there since I was very young.

The picture here is of me with a mounted Cleveland policeman and I was told it was taken at the zoo. Why Mom didn't take more pictures of me with animals, I don't know. But I do remember our visits to the zoo. At that time it was called the Brookside Park zoo. We would ride a bus and get off and walk down the long hill to the zoo entrance.

I also remember stopping at a hamburger place that was near the bus stop. The picture in my head is this building that is now a Western Union, I think and I believe it was a Royal Castle that was quite popular until the new kid on the block, McDonald's moved into the area.

My memories of the Brookside Park Zoo turn into memories of the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo which took over in 1975. By then, I was bringing my children to the zoo. Lots of good times remembered with several other moms who would get together for a day at the zoo.

Now we have zoo memberships and often visit just to walk around and get some exercise on a nice day. There's always something interesting to watch and we visit our favorites, enjoy watching the new generations of zoo visitors
making memories, and seeing how the zoo is ever changing.

Flashback Friday - Canadian Tales

[This is a post from a few years ago about our vacations in Northern Canada. I came across a picture of my mother and me sitting on the steps to our cabin in the woods. Scary hairdos. For more about these vacations use the search box at the right and plug in Canada or French River.]

Do you have a favorite childhood vacation memory? I do--many, as a matter of fact. But the memories surround the place that we always spent our two week vacation before my father built a vacation home at Put In Bay. We went to Canada.

My father and grandfather were avid fishermen. So was my mother but since my brother and I were too young to be left on our own she didn't get to fish as often as she wanted. The place we went to was on the French River near Noelville, Ontario. I always thought it was somewhere near the northern Canadian border but it is actually situated east of Lake Huron about even with the top of the "mitten" of Michigan. To my child's mind, 12-14 hours of driving seemed enough to get me to the North Pole at least!

The cabins we stayed in were rustic to say the least. Fifty-five to sixty years ago, they had no electricity there yet since it was not a populated area. Our refrigerator was an icebox--literally. Every couple of days, the iceman would come and check to see if we needed a new block of ice. He would set about a foot square block into the metal compartment of the insulated cabinet that served as our "refrigerator."

Our lights at night were oil lamps that lent a warm glow and made everything cozy and at times mysterious.

The stove was wood-burning and I have fond memories of my grandfather getting up before dawn and banging around as he got a fire going in it to cook his famous pancakes. He would also make a morning trip to the community well and pump full a pail of water for us. In those days, that kind of well water was considered premium. I wouldn't be surprised if it was showing up in plastic bottles today.

Of course with all this rugged outdoor living, came the not-so-pleasant outhouse. During the day it was not so bad as we could see to get there and there were no critters of the night to be wary of. At night however, the outhouse was off limits to my younger brother and me. Mom preferred our safety and always came prepared with a bucket for our emergency needs. She would have loved our modern day portable chemical toilets.

My brother and I were always asleep early and missed out on some of the creepy adventures that took place after dark. Mom loved to tell stories and her favorite was one that made the cabin shake. . .

Flashback Friday - Ice Fishing with Dad

[This is a post from June of last year but with it being Father's Day on Sunday, I thought it appropriate for a look back today.]

With a grandfather and father who were avid outdoors men, fishing and hunting whenever they could, and a mother who learned to fish in self-defense (besides, at that point she was smitten with the guy), is there any reason to doubt that I would love to fish? I grew up with a fishing pole in my hand. My fondest memory of fishing with my dad though was the time he took me--just me, the daughter, not the son, out on the ice of Lake Erie to go ice fishing.

Our winter weekends were spent at Put In Bay, OH, and once the ice was thick enough, a village of ice shanties would appear on the ice covered water. People actually had old cars usually with doors removed for a quick exit that they would use to drive onto the ice, plant their shanty, and return to fish in it until the ice began to melt as weather warmed.

When my dad invited me along, I was so excited I could hardly contain myself. A whole day on the ice with my father fishing! We took the old car out onto the ice and parked it a safe distance from the shanty. Grabbing our gear, we stepped carefully to the door and stowed what we needed inside and out. Dad had brought a few pieces of wood and a couple of large chunks of coal to stoke the fire he started in the little tiny potbellied stove inside the shanty.

The ice shanty was about the size of a playhouse for kids. It was framed in wood that was covered in treated heavy duty canvas and had runners on the bottom. You couldn't stand up in it. The stove sat in the middle of the floor at the back wall, a hole in the floor on either side of it and a bench opposite each hole to sit on as you fished. Heavy white twine was anchored to the beam above each hole and  looped with a rubber band that allowed you to see the matchstick tied at eye level bobble up and down when a fish bit on the hook.

Live minnows were the bait of choice. I was careful to hold on tightly as I baited my hook since I knew Dad would get frustrated if I let too many get out of my hands instead of on the hooks. We dropped our lines in the water shortly after our arrival and just about the time that the little stove began to pleasantly warm the shanty. Eventually we sat in shirt sleeves in the pleasant little shanty.

We caught a lot of fish that day and tossed them into the burlap bags that hung from hooks in each corner opposite us. When we ran out of bait, Dad showed me how to pop the eye of a fish out and use it for bait. This girl was no prima donna. Whatever it took to fish, I was ready for it.

At noon, Dad pulled out a small iron skillet from the sack beneath his bench and reached in a little cooler for some kielbasa. We ate warm sausage sandwiches, munched on chips and apples and held each other's meal when a fish needed to be pulled in.

All too soon the day ended and we headed home. I think he was proud of me that day. He always grinned when he was proud and that day his grin wide, he said to Mom, "She's a real fisherman." I could not have received a greater compliment.

Flashback Friday - Cappuccino in Venice

[From a 2004 post]

This past summer, we traveled through Europe with Bob’s brother, Dick, and his wife, Polly. Venice was a unique adventure. We arrived amidst gray skies and drizzle. The buildings around St. Mark’s Square looked dirty and dingy. I wondered how anyone could claim this as a beautiful spot. After our dinner, however, the sun broke through the clouds and illuminated the façade of St. Mark’s Basilica bringing the building to life with shimmering golden mosaics.

In the square were outdoor cafes where some musicians were beginning to perform. We were attracted to a café with a stringed ensemble and made ourselves comfortable at a table. When the waiter came three of us ordered cappuccino (Dick was off to look for gelato). We didn’t pay attention to the menu. We only wanted cappuccino as our dessert. Oh what a dessert! The cappuccinos were excellent but the bill was outstanding. When converted to dollars, it was $15 per cup of that delicious brew. By not looking at the menu, we had missed the mention of a cover charge if your order did not meet a minimum.

Ah, Italy, so crazy, so frantic, so romantic, so expensive! Everyone said it was a once in a lifetime experience. That’s for sure. We’ll never order $15 coffees again.