Barbara Pomarolli

40th Anniversary Trip to Hawaii

2008-05-24T19:33:00.000-07:00

The planning of our trip to Kauai began when Lucy Madilynn McGehee was three weeks old. Dick and I were in California helping Kerri after Lucy’s birth. One day when Mark was also visiting, Ron and Kerri asked us to come into Lucy’s nursery for a minute. Well, Lucy was lying there in her crib all decked out in a Hawaiian outfit complete with sunglasses and was the cutest thing we’d ever seen. We were making a big fuss over her when Kerri said, “you didn’t even notice the envelope”. We looked and in the corner of her crib was a big manila envelope with our names on it. I opened it and inside was a note saying that we were all going to Hawaii on April 27th to celebrate our 40th Wedding Anniversary and all the arrangements had been made. There were also pages with pictures of Kauai and the condo where we would be staying. Of course Dick and I were overwhelmed and touched that they had planned such a special celebration and we would have some truly wonderful to look forward to in the spring. At the time Mark was planning to go with us but as it turned out he had to work so couldn’t go. So this is the story of our trip.

After a night of very little sleep, the alarm sounded at 5:50 and I struggled out of bed, went into the kitchen to start my coffee pot so it could be brewing while I drenched my face in cold water to try and wake up enough to find my clothes which I had laid out the night before. I thought I had better pick out clothes when I was alert and wide awake instead of taking a chance on wearing mismatched clothes. That would never do for a southern lady. So I managed to get dressed and make my way back into the kitchen as Dick was crawling out of bed and wishing he could stay there for a few more hours.

When I got back to the kitchen I could hear the coffee pot brewing but there was no coffee in the pot. After checking to make certain there was coffee and water in the pot, I realized that for some reason this was morning for it to stop working. Since I really needed that added caffeine jolt I decided to pull out the larger coffee pot from the pantry and make coffee in it. That took some added time which I didn’t have, but I really needed the coffee. While the coffee was brewing I grabbed my handful of pills and vitamins that I swallow each morning and proceeded to drop the first one on the floor where it went rolling in some corner never to be seen again. I wasn’t about to get down on my hands and knees at 6:15 in the morning and look for a tiny white pill which matched the white tiles on the floor. So I just grabbed another pill out of the bottle and swallowed. While the coffee was brewing I put on my makeup, jewelry, and was ready to go. I poured a mug of coffee, heated a croissant, and took them upstairs to check email and turn off my computer. As you can imagine there were only advertising messages at that hour so I deleted them and shut down the computer.

Our plan was to leave at 7:15 and as we are always punctual, Dick had the bags loaded and we were in the car right on time. We were driving to Social Circle to a friend’s house who was going to drive us to the airport and keep Dick’s new Navigator. That arrangement had worked for us in the past and certainly was easier than us having to park and check in. Much nicer to be dropped off at the gate and then picked up upon our return.

Thankfully we had no problem checking in and only a little snag at security. I had put all my bottles, gels, medicine inhalers, and sprays in a plastic bag which was what I thought I was supposed to do. When the bag went through the conveyor belt the lady called me over and said next time to just put liquids and gels in a smaller bag and the medicines didn’t have to go in a bag. How was I to know that??? At least we didn’t have a broken bottle of Benadyl like we did on our last trip

Since we always arrive 2 hours before our flight, we had time to kill at the gate so Dick sat down and went to sleep and I walked around and purchased a turkey sandwich to eat during the flight. The flight was on time so we were seated and as the plane backed out; all of a sudden the lights went out. The flight attendant announced that there were some mechanical problems and we would have to pull back up to the gate while the mechanics checked the problem. So we sat for 45 minutes and waited. Of course Dick put his head down and slept (amazing that he can sleep on planes but not in a bed) and worked the Delta crossword puzzle. Finally the lights came on and we took off. The movie shown was “P. S. I Love You” starring Hillary Swank. Her Irish husband died and left notes which she received on a regular basis telling her what he wanted her to do to continue without him. It wasn’t the best or worst movie I’ve ever seen and it helped pass two hours of the flight. After it was over I took out my laptop and started typing this epistle until we were told to stow all electronic equipment and prepare for landing. Now mind you I had not closed my eyes or slept at all so was beginning to feel the effects of being sleep deprived. Dick on the other hand had slept for most of the trip.

We called Kerri when we landed at around 2:00 P.M. and Ron was there to pick us up at the baggage claim area. Thankfully our bags arrived with no delays and we were soon on the way to check into our hotel. Since Kerri had planned to have friends over that evening we decided to go our hotel and rest before going to their condo. We were staying at the Embassy Suites on the first floor which I prefer since I’m not fond of elevators. Unfortunately for us, our room was right in the front facing the drive up for people checking into the hotel so there was constant traffic noise not to mention noise from planes flying over since we were next to the airport. Every time I would doze off, either a plane or car would wake me up. So needless to say when Ron picked us up at 5:30 I wasn’t bright eyed and bushy tailed.

It was only a short drive to their condo and we were anxious to see Lucy and of course her mother, but Lucy got the first hugs. She was smiling and happy as usual so I forgot all about being tired. Kerri was busy getting ready for company. They have a club room in their complex so they were setting that up to eat which worked out very well as they expected about 20 people. The meal consisted of appetizers, pizza, and cookies and there was enough left over for everyone to take some pizza home with them. The purpose of the gathering was to pray for my lung mass and heart valve leakage and most of the people were from Kerri’s church, but also included several women from other churches who just wanted to come and pray for me which I thought was very special and thoughtful. So after dinner we had prayer time and I felt very blessed to have these Christian people praying for my healing, peace, and freedom from fear and worry. One more good thing was that I knew all these people would be continuing to pray for me during the next weeks and months.

I had thought it would be an early evening as Ron and Kerri were leaving at 6:A.M. the next morning to fly to Oklahoma and Dick and I were taking Lucy back to our hotel room to baby sit until they returned on Sat. (That was Thurs. night), but by the time everyone left it was almost 11:00. Dick and I helped them clean up a little and then grabbed Lucy and all her belongings and drove Ron’s car back to our hotel. We were totally exhausted as it was after 2:00 A.M. our time and we had been up since 5:30; almost 24 hours. Kerri had made a point of telling me how good Lucy was and how she slept all night usually from 8 P.M. to 8 A.M. She was of course was off her schedule and probably over stimulated from all the evening’s activities, so she didn’t want to just be put in bed and expected to go right to sleep. Finally with the addition of a pacifier she dropped off to sleep and Dick and I fell into bed hoping for several hours of uninterrupted sleep. Well that was not to be. Lucy woke up 4 times and cried for short time before going back to sleep. Well each time Dick or I would get up and check on her but we were both awake. Then the planes flew over all night and early the next morning, the activity at the front of the hotel began so at around 7, I just decided to get up and go partake of the free breakfast and much needed coffee. I brought my plate back to the room in case Lucy woke up and wanted her breakfast. She actually slept until around 8:30 at which time I changed her and gave her the bottle that Kerri had provided. She had just been introduced to rice cereal that week so I mixed up a small bowl and tried to feed her. She was more interested in grabbing the spoon and chewing on it than eating the cereal although she managed to swallow most of it. The rest went all over her and me.

Soon Dick was awake and we packed our belongings and loaded Lucy in the car and headed back over to Kerri and Ron’s condo where we would spend Friday and Saturday nights before leaving for Hawaii on Sunday. As you may imagine, there was still much clean up to do from the previous night’s party because Kerri and Ron had to pack and leave at 4:30 to fly to Oklahoma. So that day was spent cleaning, washing clothes, and playing with Lucy. You can imagine which one was the most fun. I also managed to take a long nap in the afternoon. Even with the nap I was dragging and was in bed at 9:00, Thankfully Lucy only woke up once and immediately went back to sleep. Can’t say the same for Dick as he was awake most of the night watching television.

Kerri and Ron’s plane was delayed so they didn’t get home until around 2 Saturday afternoon. Ron’s parents came over around 1 and as usual his mom brought enough food for an army and avocados and tangerines out of their garden. I guess they didn’t realize we were leaving the next day and couldn’t eat all that food. Plus Dick and I had already eaten lunch (I’m on the 3 meals a day southern schedule and I eat at 12 noon) so weren’t particularly hungry at 3 when they sat down to eat. Ron’s mom must have made 6 different Korean dishes and even with Dick helping the 4 of them eat, there was enough left over for several days. They visited for awhile and played with Lucy and then I packaged up what I thought would keep in the freezer and stored it for Kerri and Ron to eat when they got home from Hawaii. With their busy travel schedule Kerri doesn’t have much time to cook, but fortunately for them they are surrounded by markets with wonderful homemade food.

Since Ron’s dad has almost completed medical school to learn Korean medicine and acupuncture I asked him to bring his needles and practice on my digestive system. Now I think my family thought I was brave or crazy but nothing else had helped with the problem and I thought this couldn’t hurt (well maybe it hurts a little physically). Besides Ron’s dad needed someone to practice his skills on. To his credit he called his supervising doctor and got specific instructions before inserting any needles. He only used 6 needles and I’ve had acupuncture before and the doctor has used 20 needles so that didn’t seem so bad. After about 15 minutes he removed the needles and unfortunately I didn’t feel any different, but I knew that it takes more than one treatment to really get results. But Ron’s dad got some practice and the family got to watch the whole procedure and interjected many unhelpful comments along the way.

Kerri had to do a show in Long Beach that night so Ron went with her and Dick and I babysat again. She asked if I wanted to go, but truthfully I was still tired and knew we had to get up very early the next morning so I declined and let Ron go instead. Once again I was in bed by 9:30 and sound asleep when they arrived home around 11 and started packing for the trip. I slept right through most of the noise.

The next morning we were up and out of the door by 7:00 for the short taxi ride to the airport. Ron had called for a van and even with the van, it was so crowded that Ron had to sit on a suitcase in the door which I’m sure is illegal and definitely unsafe but we didn’t have a choice. Dick sat in the front seat and held the stroller in his lap. Do you get the idea that we don’t travel light??? When we pulled up to the Hawaiian Airline curbside, we noticed there were no people which seemed strange, but when we walked up to checked in the bellman pointed to a sign that said there was a $2.00 charge per bag to check in curbside. Upon seeing the long lines inside Dick decided to pay the charge for our bags.

Lucy was an angel the whole time and just sat in her car seat and smiled at everyone. She wasn’t particularly happy when they had to take her out to go through security and then strap her back in. They checked the car seat thoroughly; I guess in case we were smuggling drugs or illegal fruit into Hawaii.

The trip to Honolulu took 5/1/2 hours so I rented a DVD player and Kerri and I watched two movies. They tried to show “P.S. I Love You” on the overhead screen but the projector broke so they couldn’t show it. I’m sure some of the people were upset but since I had already seen it, it didn’t bother me. Of course Lucy kept us busy when she was awake so we took turns holding her and keeping her occupied so she wouldn’t cry. She was very good except when she was hungry or wet and then she let everyone know about it. Ron and Dick were able to sleep quite a bit of the time, but Kerri and I stayed awake the whole flight. I will say that they served an adequate meal and snacks which Delta doesn’t do anymore.

We arrived in Honolulu and then had to wait for a bus to take us to the connecting flight to Kauai. We were all glad to be out the plane and able to walk around and stretch our legs before boarding the little plane for the 30 minute ride to Kauai. By the time we arrived in Kauai we were all tired, but had to wait for Ron to go and pick up the rental car before we could leave. He pulled up in this big Dodge (couldn’t get a Ford) that looked a hearse, and even though it had plenty of room in the back we still all had to hold a piece of luggage in our laps. Fortunately it wasn’t a long ride to our condo. It was only 2:00 P.M. Hawaii time and our room wasn’t ready when we arrived so the bellmen were kind enough to unload our luggage and store it while we went in search of a grocery store to buy some basis supplies. Since Kerri and Ron had been there twice before they were familiar with the shopping area so we found the store without any problems and proceeded to fill up a basket and I don’t even want to remember how much money we spent.

By the time we finished shopping it was after 3 and we headed back to the condo where our room was ready. Kerri and I walked up first with Lucy and upon seeing that the master bedroom had a king size bed and huge bathroom with two sinks, and a large TV Kerri suggested that she and Ron get that room so Lucy’s bed would fit more easily. The other bed room had twin beds and the bath was not connected so we had to walk out through the kitchen/living room area to get to it. It had a shower and the washer/dryer in it. Being the sweet thoughtful mother that I am, I said okay you take the master bed room and Dad and I will take the smaller room even though we were there to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary.

We unpacked our bags and got settled in and by then it was time for dinner. I also noticed that our bedroom seemed unusually hotter than the rest of the condo so asked Dick to check the vents to see if cool air was coming out. He climbed up on the bed and said that only lukewarm air was blowing even though we had turned the thermostat down to 65 degrees. So I called the desk and they immediately sent a repair man up to look at it. He said he replaced a part and it began blowing out cold air. With that settled, it was time for dinner so we found a nice restaurant close by and we all enjoyed a nice seafood dinner. Kerri and Ron started off with Poki which I learned was raw tuna marinated in some sauce which they thought was great and made me kind of ill to look at. How did I raise a child who would like to eat raw fish?

We returned to the condo and since we were all exhausted decided to go to bed early and hopefully get a good night’s rest. That wasn’t to be as around 2:00A.M. I woke up burning up and realized the room was stiffly hot. Dick was awake and probably hadn’t ever gone to sleep so he climbed up on his bed and felt the vent to see if any cool air was coming out. It wasn’t. Now you would think we could just open the window since we were in Hawaii but the way the curtains and sliding glass doors were configured, the curtains would have to be completely open to open the doors and that would let in outside lights and morning light as well outside noises in the morning. Since Dick usually sleeps late that would interrupt his sleep. So instead we opened the door to the living room and I turned that AC down in hopes some of the cool air would get into our bedroom. The next morning I was up and calling the desk to get the mechanic to come look at the vent. To their credit they sent someone over immediately who worked on the unit and said it was repaired and we could only hope that it was fixed. It did work after that, but the next night the unit in Kerri and Ron’s bedroom stopped working so they had a warm room for one night. The repair man was back the next morning to fix their unit. We were getting very friendly with the repair man and asked if he might want to just sleep on our couch so he would be available night and day.

Monday morning Dick and I accompanied Ron and Kerri to our first and hopefully last time share meeting. It was two hours spent with the very friendly agent trying to sell Kerri and Ron more points and convince Dick and me that we needed to buy into the program.

Since we had to take Lucy I was eager to volunteer to take her for a stroll every time she made a sound so I missed a good deal of the presentation; thank goodness. After the time was up, we were presented with some coupons for meals at very nice restaurants and even some cash to do with what we chose so I guess it was worthwhile in some respects. Not enough to go to another one any time soon.
After the meeting we were all still jet lagged so returned to our condo and took a nap. Later we walked down to the pool area and beach just to look around. The beach closest to our condo was very rocky and the surf was strong so we wouldn’t be able to venture out into the water at that location. After our exploration it was time for dinner at another great restaurant where the same protocol from the previous night was followed with Kerri eating Poki and then seafood and the rest of us trying seafood dishes. They have different seafood than we have in the states and most of it was quite good.

FLASH!!!! LUCY CRAWLS FOR THE FIRST TIME AND GRANDPARENTS WITNESS THE FEAT. Lucy had been scooting and rolling around in order to get where she wanted to go for quite some time, but not actually up on all fours crawling. Well we had put a big blanket on the sitting room floor so she could play and then that day Dick and I were playing with her and all of a sudden she just started crawling all by herself. We called Kerri and Ron and they had to come in to see for themselves as they thought we might have just thought she was crawling. But sure enough she started across the floor on all fours and after that there was no stopping her progress. We had to watch her every second because she would be gone and under a table or off the blanket in the blink of any eye. We also had to be sure there was nothing on the floor for her to pick up because everything she touched went straight in her mouth. Wow what fun being a grandparent and seeing such marvelous accomplishments. I know you’re thinking that all babies crawl and so what, but Lucy was only 6 months old and we thought it was quite impressive.

The next morning since I was the first one awake, I make coffee and sat out on our balcony watching the workmen clean the pool. It was a very beautiful time of day right after sunrise and very few people were up so it was very peaceful and relaxing. I watched a woman going from trash can to trash can and I thought she was cleaning them and then realized she was just trying to see what she could find because every now and then she would take something out and put in a bag she was carrying. As that was my every morning routine, I saw her going through the trash cans every day as well. I wondered if she found anything worthwhile. Seemed to me it would only have been left over food stuffs since it was around the pool area. Guess you never know though what you might find. There were also chickens and a rooster roaming around the grounds looking for food. I felt like I was back in the country growing up in Alabama.

Soon Lucy was awake and Kerri brought her out in her stroller to sit with Nana and have a conversation about the beautiful scenery. She was very happy just to sit there and smile and listen and was very attentive for about 20 minutes and then it was time to get out of the stroller, go inside, and play. So Nana played with her while mommy and daddy slept.

After awhile everyone was up and we were ready to start the day by taking a driving tour of the island. Kerri and Ron wanted us to visit a light house and then the Princeville Resort which was probably the plushest place to stay on the island. When we reached the light house Lucy was hungry so Kerri stayed in the car and fed her while Dick, Ron, and I walked up the hill. We stopped at the gate to pay the $5 fee and the lady asked me if I had a Senior Pass for National Parks and I said no. (I hate it when people just assume I look old). Anyway she said I could buy a pass for $5 and use it at any of the national parks and take 3 guests so I bought one and Ron and Dick got in free. The light house was pretty much like most light houses but the view was spectacular and the history was of course interesting. The first men had to row over by boat and supplies had to be brought over by boat so I imagine it was a lonely existence. Dick struck up a conversation with a fellow veteran as Dick was wearing his marine baseball cap. When he found out Ron was a comedian he commenced telling jokes and trying to give him material for his act. Dick and I were ready to go, but Ron couldn’t seem to find a way to politely excuse himself and get away from the man. Finally I told him we had to go and he said goodbye and joined us. Then he related some of the man’s stories which I don’t think will find their way into Ron’s act.

When we got back to the car Lucy was fed, changed, and happy so we proceeded on down to the Princeville Resort. It was indeed very luxurious and we just walked in like we were guests there and made ourselves at home. We walked around the beautiful lobby, took pictures, and then meandered down to the pool and beach area. I must say it was somewhat nicer than our pool and beach, but I imagine the cost was in a different category as well. We debated having lunch there but Kerri had 2 $10 coupons for a restaurant nearby which was supposed to be very good and she wanted us to try it. Well after driving for about 30 minutes and making a few wrong turns and probably using $30 worth of gas, we decided the $10 coupon wasn’t worth the effort but we finally found the restaurant and went in. Upon reading the coupon it said “to be used for entrees” and the waiter said there were only 3 lunch entrees and usually people used the coupons for dinner. Not to be deterred, 2 of us ordered 2 entrees and the others salads and soup. The food was just okay and not great but it was adventure getting there and back so would be a memorable experience on our trip.

I forgot to mention that Kerri and Ron had rented an isolated cottage/cabin for part of their honeymoon and they wanted us to see it. The only problem was that it was down a road off the beaten path and they couldn’t remember exactly where it was. So all day Ron would turn down these little roads only to discover they weren’t the right ones. We did see lots of scenery and many of the natives, but never found the cottage.

So after lunch we did some more island exploring and it was getting dark by the time we returned to our condo. Well, would you believe it was also time for dinner so off we went to find another restaurant and more Poki. That evening we watched a little TV and I went to bed early again. I was finding that I was extremely tired by evening and fell asleep by 9:30 and slept all night. Thankfully the AC worked.

The next morning after mine and Lucy’s ritual on the balcony and play time, the rest of the group started stirring around 10 and we decided to spend the day at the pool even though it was cloudy and somewhat on the cool side. It took awhile to get everyone organized and Lucy fed again and decked out in her stylish bikini. She wasn’t thrilled when daddy started slathering her with sunscreen. We finally had everything together and walked down to the pool. Just as we excited the building, the first rain drops started falling and we realized it was much cooler than we thought. Not to be deterred, Ron took Lucy into the baby pool which was warm, while Dick, Kerri, and I went to the hot tub to warm up. Lucy loved the water and it didn’t even bother her when she accidentally put her head under water. Of course we took lots of still photos as well as movies. After the swim and the hot tub we wrapped ourselves in towels and sweatshirts and sat around on the pool chairs. We decided to try the sandwiches at the pool grill which was a big mistake as they were pretty much tasteless. Needless to say we were about the only people sitting around the pool on a cool rainy day, but hey we were in Hawaii. Lucy was tucked in her stroller with a top on it and blanket around her so she just went to sleep and enjoyed her nap.

Later in the afternoon, we drove down the to local Farmer’s market to get some fresh pineapples, coconuts, and papaya. Ron bought a coconut which had been peeled and had a hole drilled in the top with straw inserted so he could drink the juice and then eat the coconut. Well when we got back to the condo, he and Dick tried to crack the coconut with every utensil we had and nothing worked. They even broke the can opener trying to pry a more holes in it. Two grown men couldn’t crack a coconut. I watched the procedure for awhile and got bored and left. Finally and I’m not sure how, they managed to break it into pieces and we all tried some of it, but none of us thought it was too tasty. So much for the all man power and time involved in the process.

That evening Kerri and Ron planned to have an evening out for dinner at a Sushi restaurant while Dick and I baby sat Lucy. So Kerri showered and got all dolled up and then came out to tell us that Ron had a rash all over his arms and part of his chest. I went in to check it out as I am the allergy expert and it looked like either a sun reaction or allergy to something. I gave him a Benadryl and he promptly went to sleep so the evening out had to be postponed until the next night. We never discovered what the rash was but it kept appearing and disappearing for the rest of the trip.

The next day the sun was out and it was a beautiful day so we spent most of it by the pool just enjoying the sun. As I said the beach was too rocky and rough for swimming so we didn’t bother trying. I am always interested in the nerve that grown people of mature ages display in the swimwear that they choose. Somewhat over weight women seem to love to appear in skimpy bikinis and there was a man with a white beard with his grey hair in a pony tail wearing a Speedo. Dick looked at me and said “shoot me on the spot if I ever lose my facilities and wear something like that”. I told him not to worry I’d never let him outside the door in anything less than his knee length suit. My theory is that people must think when they’re away from home so none of their friends will ever see them and just let everything “hang out” and that’s literally. To each his own I guess.

Since Lucy has a wardrobe of Hawaiian outfits and even a grass skirt we decided that she should do a fashion show so we could take pictures. She cooperated for the most part and laughed for most of the shots. She even wore her sunglasses and grass skirt in between putting them in her mouth and trying to eat them. You see she’s teething and wants to chew on everything in sight. We managed to get some wonderful shots which will be special memories of our trip.

In the afternoon we decided to pay a visit to the only mall on the island. After all, it wouldn’t be a vacation without at least one shopping excursion. Since Lucy was sleeping in her car seat Dick volunteered to stay with her while we shopped. Kerri tried on lots of clothes at Macy’s while Ron patiently watched and I perused the shoe department. I also bought several gifts (shirts that he doesn’t need) for Dick for our anniversary. After awhile we saw Dick and Lucy coming in the door and she was ready to meet and greet all the clerks and customers. She just laughs at everyone and they all make a big fuss over her which she takes in stride while the grandparents watch with pride.

That evening Kerri and Ron went out for their sushi night and Dick and I ate leftovers and played with Lucy. I’m sure we had more fun than they did. As I said I’m not into raw fish. They had a nice time and only called once to check on Lucy and make sure we were taking proper care of her. After all they were about a block from the condo.

At around midnight when Lucy and I were sleeping soundly, the phone rang and Kerri answered. It was security calling to say they had received a complaint that loud noises were coming from our condo. So Kerri politely explained that our baby was sleeping and we definitely weren’t having a party so it must be coming from someone else’s condo. The phone woke me up and I thought about making some disturbing noises, but refrained.

The next morning, Kerri and Ron wanted to show us a waterfall and some other parts of the island that we had missed on our earlier excursion As Dick was feeling real well, he decided to stay home and rest. I had read about a little historic town which had the largest coffee plantation on the island and since I absolutely love Kona coffee I thought we should visit the town and buy some of the real coffee. On the way we stopped at another restaurant that Kerri had read about. It was very tropical and open and when we sat down and opened the menus which were already on the table we saw little tiny ants crawling all over them. Our table was next to the outside railing and surrounded by trees and foliage so that might have explained the ants. Anyway they were also on the table and even though we had a very nice lunch I kept feeling like ants were crawling all over me and when we left, Kerri and I stopped by the ladies room to check and make sure there were no “ants in our pants”.

After lunch we drove to the little town and tried to find coffee. Wouldn’t you think they would have a coffee shop to sell the plantation’s coffee? The only coffee we found was in a little grocery store so we bought a half pound for $18. Kerri said that was my Mother’s Day gift which was okay with me. Then we drove in search of the waterfall. We pulled off the road at the sign pointing to waterfall and parked the car. There were several other cars and people walking up and down in front a railing overlooking a beautiful valley of trees, but we couldn’t see a waterfall. Several people asked us if we had seen the waterfall and we said no so we just thought we were in the wrong place and got back into the car. As we were driving out of the parking lot Ron looked over and said “there’s the waterfall”. It was way at the end of the parking lot and actually was a very small waterfall off in the distance. Well I had worked at Yellowstone Park near the Upper and Lower Falls which are magnificent, so those waterfalls seemed like trickles. But they were pretty and we took lots of pictures.

We drove back to the condo because Dick had arranged for me to have a massage in the afternoon and Kerri and Ron were going to have a late afternoon massage on the beach. Now I couldn’t imagine laying out on a table in full view of anyone walking by or looking out of their windows, but they seemed to think it would be relaxing and fun.
So fuddy duddy Nana went over to the Spa and enjoyed a very relaxing hour. When the massage was over the girl gave me a cup of water and I walked up to the desk to pay my bill. A man was standing there so I sat my cup down on the ledge and handed him my credit card. In the process I knocked the cup of water over and it spilled all over his papers on the desk. He quickly grabbed a towel and started wiping, all the while saying nothing was harmed as I was apologizing and thinking that it wouldn’t have happened if they had given me a bottle instead of a cheap little cup. So I hurriedly paid the bill and exited before anything else could happen.

When I got back to the room, Kerri and Ron were just leaving to head down to the beach for their massages. I allowed about 30 minutes to pass and then took my trusty zoom lens camera and went outside to see what I could capture on film. As I walked around the side of our building I say two massage tables on the lawn down by the beach with Kerri and Ron being kneaded and rubbed by two attractive girls. Now mind you they seemed to be covered up, but people were strolling by gaping at them and probably wondering who would consent to such a public display. I didn’t want to get too close so I just used the zoom on my camera and took a few snapshots so they could later see how they looked in this setting. Actually my shots weren’t close enough to catch any details but they could get “the picture”. I was certainly glad I had opted for the indoor massage although they later said they loved it and since their eyes were closed they weren’t really aware of anyone watching. Lucky for them!

The next morning we decided to have breakfast at local café which was highly recommended. Well with out group, that meant having breakfast at noon. As we were leaving the phone rang and when Kerri answered, it was security asking if someone in our room was smoking cigars. Seemed the neighbors had complained again. I wondered if we seemed like the loud, raucous cigar smoking group. Oh well, at least they didn’t ask to come and check the room for smoke. Since Lucy and I had long ago had our breakfast on the balcony, we were ready for lunch. The place was crowded so we found a small booth and put Lucy on the end in an upside down highchair. Amazing that her car sit fit, but I guess they are designed that way. The waiter brought out water and menus and as we were looking over the selections, Dick moved his arm and knocked over his full glass of ice water all over the table and into his lap. What is it with our family and spilling water???? The waiter came over quickly with a cloth and wiped off the table and Dick had to just sit through the meal with his shirt and pants wet. Lucy thought it was funny and just cooed and smiled and we were thankful that none of the water spilled on her. The breakfast was actually very good and afterwards we walked around and visited a few of the little shops without buying anything.

Someone had told Ron about a park a few miles from our condo where they had a spot surrounded by rocks where children could go in the water without danger from the surf so we decided to take Lucy for a swim. Once again Dick opted to rest so Kerri, Ron, Lucy, and I went in search of the beach which was only a short drive. It was a beautiful beach and part of it had been sectioned off and huge rocks placed out in the water which created a peaceful little cove for children. Ron and Kerri took Lucy out and she loved the water so we spent about an hour just letting her play. Nana sat on a rock and watched and took pictures. Then it was time to try and shower all the sand off and make our way back to the condo.

Since that was our last night and the next day we would be flying on our actual 40th wedding anniversary, Ron, Kerri, and Lucy took us out to dinner to celebrate.
All week people had been telling us that the best place to eat on the island was the restaurant at our condo so we decided to give it a try. It was indeed very good and we enjoyed a delicious meal. Ron and Kerri gave us a card with 2 shell necklaces enclosed and Ron wrote a poem about how these necklaces symbolized love and a long relationship, etc. It was very sweet and touching. In honor of the occasion we ordered a decadent chocolate confection and all shared it. What a fitting way to top off a very special evening.

Well then it was back to the room to finish last minute packing as we were leaving the next morning. The week had seemed to fly by and I’m sure we would have enjoyed more time in that beautiful setting, but all good things must come to an end as they say. The next morning Lucy and I enjoyed our last breakfast on the balcony and said goodbye to the chickens, the pool guys, and the bag lady. We would miss them all. We loaded up the car and once again, each of us had to hold a piece of luggage. Thankfully it was just a short drive to the airport where Ron let us out and then returned the rental car. The nicest bellman helped us with our luggage and took us over to an American Airline counter that wasn’t being used and then called over a Hawaiian airline attendant to check us in. That really saved us having to drag and lift heavy suitcases. The thing I haven’t mentioned in this epistle is how nice and friendly the Hawaiian people are. Dick and I had noticed that characteristic on previous visits to the islands and it was still true today. Maybe living in that beautiful climate people feel less stress and are just naturally nicer; who knows but we appreciated it.

Ron arrived in short order and after a short wait we boarded the plane for the short ride to Honolulu. Then another wait for the bus to take us the terminal for our flight home. Once again I rented a DVD player and Kerri and I watched 2 movies which weren’t particularly memorable (because I can’t remember what they were), but they helped pass the time. When we arrived in LA it was after 10:00 P.M. and we were all tired.

Here’s a valuable lesson from a “southern” mother. I have always tried to tell Kerri that when she was out in public, no matter where, she should at least have a little makeup and lipstick on and be dressed nicely. She of course doesn’t listen to mom and says it’s what’s on the inside that counts and not how you look. That is of course true, but I still adhere to doing the best with what God gave you. Anyway as usual she had pulled her beautiful hair back in a partial ponytail, thrown on blue jeans and a tee shirt and no makeup. Of course after the long day we were all looking a bit frazzled. Anyway, while Ron and Dick waited for Lucy’s car seat to be brought out, Kerri and I took Lucy and went out into the waiting area and sat down. There was a very attractive young woman sitting down from us and she and Kerri began a conversation. She said she was waiting for her boyfriend who was on the plane and Kerri asked how she got through security. She said she was a flight attendant on another airline and they let her through. She was making a fuss over Lucy and as the conversation continued, she said her boyfriend was from Hershey, Pa. and was a singer in a pop group and had been performing in Honolulu. Kerri then told her that she had worked at Hershey Park one summer in one of the shows. So Kerri asked what her boyfriend’s name was and it turns out it was a guy named Shawn that Kerri had known very well and who was in a quartet with Patrick a boy that Kerri thought she was head over heels in love with. About that time Shawn came walking up and without looking at us grabbed his girlfriend and gave her a big hug. Then the girl said, “there’s an old friend of yours here” and he turned around and recognized Kerri and gave her a big hug as well. Since Dick and I had made 9 trips to Hershey over the summer that Kerri was performing, we of course had met all the kids and I remembered meeting Shawn and he pretended to remember me, but who knows. After that he and Kerri proceeded to talk non stop about Hershey and what they had both been doing for 12 years since they had seen each other last. Then Kerri asked about Patrick and Shawn said he was married and living in Hershey and working as a financial analyst. In a few minutes, Ron and Dick arrived with Lucy’s car seat and Kerri introduced Ron and we all began walking toward the luggage area. Kerri and Shawn exchanged emails and said goodbye. Then Kerri started lamenting the fact that she looked bedraggled and wondered what Shawn thought and more importantly what he would tell Patrick. She just looked at me and said “I know mom, I should wear makeup” and to my credit I think I kept quiet. I was probably too tired to care at that hour.

When Dick took my suitcase off the conveyer belt he noticed that one of the wheels had been ripped off so now it didn’t roll. I was very upset because it wasn’t an old suitcase and probably was unrepairable. Of course it weighed close to the 50 pound limit so was heavy to carry. By the time we got the rest of our luggage, and found a Taxi van which barely held us and all of our luggage, it was after 11 when we got back to their condo. Now that might not have been so bad except that Kerri and Ron had to leave at 4:30 the next morning to catch a flight to Pa. Needless to say none of us slept very much and I think Dick and Ron just stayed awake. Kerri and I slept a couple of hours and then they were rushing around waking Lucy and getting their bags out to the taxi. So we said our goodbyes which was very hard since it would be some time before we saw them again and I already knew I was going to miss being with Lucy every day. Dick laid back down to try and sleep a couple of hours before we had to leave at 7:00 but I just stayed up and tried to put things away and clean up with the kitchen. Soon it was time to leave and we made the short drive to the airport.

The flight home was uneventful and Dick slept most of the way and I read and watched the movie. When we arrived in Atlanta our friend was there with a luggage cart which was very helpful since my suitcase wouldn’t roll. Even though it was around 5 in the afternoon, we encountered no traffic problems and were home in less than 2 hours. We were both exhausted, but since it was only 7:00 EST it was too early to go to bed so we unpacked and looked at 2 weeks worth of mail. It had been a wonderful trip and certainly an anniversary that we would never forget, but as usual we were happy to be home and sleeping in our own bed. Thank you, Kerri, Ron, Mark, and Lucy for a very special thoughtful memorable trip. You are The Best and we love you.

Branson, Here We Come!

2008-04-05T12:04:00.000-07:00

Early on the morning of May 31, Dick and I loaded up (and I do mean loaded as neither of us know how to pack “light”) the Expedition and headed out for Selma, Al. where we visited my brother and sister in law on the first leg of our journey to Branson, Mo. We of course missed the barbeques and fish fries that we usually attend on Memorial Day, but we did enjoy barbeque and stew for dinner at my brother’s home. The whole state of Alabama was covered with a smokey haze from the fires burning in south Georgia so I tried to stay in the car and house and breathe only recycled air conditioned air. Usually when I cross the border into “Alabama the Beautiful” I just automatically breathe better because I’m going “home”, but that day it was too smoky to see much of beautiful Alabama.

After a short, but enjoyable visit with my brother and sister in law, we headed out early the next morning for Memphis where we planned to spend a couple of nights and see Graceland. Enroute we decided to stop in Tupelo, Ms. and visit Elvis’s birthplace which is now a shrine and museum. We traveled the back roads of Alabama and Mississippi and enjoyed the drive, but there definitely weren’t any Krispy Kreme donuts to be had in that territory. We even had trouble finding a place to stop for lunch and I settled for fast food but Dick decided to pass completely and wait for dinner. My theory is that at noon you have to eat something even if it’s a tasteless hamburger.

We arrived in Tupelo in early afternoon and just followed the signs to Elvis’s birthplace. To say it was humble is an understatement as it is a two room tiny wooden structure which his father built during the depression. Of course none of the original furniture was there, but the building itself was original and we stood right in the room where “The King” was born. And I thought I had humble beginnings. We toured the museum and saw pictures of his parents, school days, and early years as well as some of his memorabilia. Probably things they didn’t want in Graceland. And there was a gift shop stocked with everything imaginable to take along as a souvenir. We just figured Lisa Marie has enough money so we didn’t contribute any more.

Next stop Memphis where we checked into the Embassy Suites Hotel, unpacked the car and headed for Stein Mart, T J Maxx, and the mall in search of shoes; preferably on sale. The reason for that quest was that I had surveyed my shoe wardrobe before leaving home and decided that although I have more shoes than Almeda Marco (the shoe queen) many of them are out of style. I had actually purged my inventory which was a painful but necessary process. Somehow you just always think shoes are going to come back in style if you keep them long enough and that usually isn’t the case. Hence some of my 1990 stock had to go. So now I could rationalize restocking even though I’m not thrilled with the 1940’s styles of today. Or the stiletto heels which I don’t know how anyone can stand up in much less walk in without breaking a leg. Well, that shopping excursion was a huge disappointment as I only found one pair of white dress shoes which were a compromise between 1940 and stiletto. We did find the Fresh Market where Dick was able to purchase some bakery items for his midnight snack.

We had been told that the Italian restaurant in the hotel was very good so decided to have dinner there. I wasn’t particularly hungry after downing a milkshake in mid afternoon so just decided to order appetizers and share some of Dick’s entrée. The fried green tomatoes with crab meat topping sounded good so that was my choice and Dick had a sampler platter of 3 Italian dishes. Well when the food arrived it looked wonderful and my plate contained 6 tomatoes, but when I took a bite of the crab meat I knew it contained some kind of alcohol which does not agree with my immune system. I asked Dick to taste just to have another opinion. You see I’m highly allergic to sulfites which are in wine and if it isn’t cooked I go to the closest ER. Dick agreed that there was definitely alcohol in the topping and that I probably shouldn’t eat it. So I ate the tomatoes and left the drunk crab meat which was a very disappointing as I love crab meat.

I didn’t leave the table hungry as Dick shared his dinner and it was more than enough for two people.

We were both tired from the long day of driving, touring, shopping, and eating so went to bed relatively early. I went right to sleep and was enjoying a sound sleep when at 4:00 A. M. I heard the sound of a train going right past my window and blowing its whistle. Why would a train have to blow a whistle at 4:00 in the morning? I don’t know what it is about our travels and trains, but it seems we always manage to find hotels that are next to train tracks. So after the train whistle it took me awhile to go back to sleep, but I did manage to get a few more hours of sleep before getting up and making my way down to the buffet breakfast. Now I will say that Embassy Suites probably have the best breakfast buffets of any hotel that we frequent. That’s mainly because they serve real Krispy Kreme donuts and in my humble opinion that’s what makes a good breakfast. Of course they do have cooked to order dishes and everything else you can imagine so no one could possible go away hungry.

I went back up to the room to wake Dick (he doesn’t do breakfast) so we could make our way to Graceland. I guess the manager of the hotel thought we needed exercise because our room was the fartherest room from the elevator on the 3rd floor. I got off the elevator and made the long trek to our room only to find that my key didn’t work. Knowing Dick might still be asleep I knocked as hard as I could and he didn’t answer. I kept knocking and was just about to call him on my cell phone when I happened to look at the number on the door and realized that I was on the 2nd floor instead of the 3rd. Thank heavens no one was in the room and some nude person didn’t answer the door. So I hurried back to the elevator and went to the right room. Dick was up and dressed and I told him about my blunder with the room numbers and he just looked at me like “why am I not surprised at that”?

We arrived at Graceland around 10:30 and couldn’t believe the number of cars in the parking lot. I guess I thought there wouldn’t be many people at that time of year. Wrong!!! First we had to buy tickets which cost a small fortune and then stand in line to board a shuttle bus to ride across the street to see the house and grounds. We were amazed at the cross section of people; all ages, genders, and nationalities. Everyone was given a headphone which gave a guided tour starting with a history while on the bus and then each room of the mansion and the grounds. I won’t try and describe the home, but if you’ve never been it’s worth the trip to see the shag carpeted walls and ceilings, peacock stained glass windows, jungle room and all the memorabilia. We weren’t allowed to go upstairs but they did have Elvis’s white fur covered bed and chair displayed in the basement. Then we saw all his cars, motorcycles and private jet complete with gold sinks, faucets, and seat belts. Boy he might have had humble beginnings, but he sure made up for it when he hit the big times. I will say that there was a huge display of all the cancelled checks of contributions to charities and gifts to people in need. He did have a big heart and was very generous, but unfortunately he couldn’t handle the fame, fortune, drugs, and wrong group of friends. I’m sure I’ll handle the situation better when I’m rich and famous.

We had lunch at Corky’s, the world famous barbeque café. The entrance walls were filled with photos of all the famous people who had eaten there including presidents, sports, figures, singers, movie stars and Priscilla Presley. Guess Elvis never made it.

We had planned to go to Beale Street, the street where B. B. King is said to have started the Blues movement, but we were both tired and needed to rest for the long day of travel the next day. So we stopped at a few shops and went back to the hotel. As we were walking through the lobby of the hotel we were surprised to see a line of ducks strolling through the walkways. Now we knew that the Peabody Hotel in downtown Memphis was famous for the ducks in the lobby so just figured that Embassy Suites was trying to keep pace with them. My thought was, who cleans up after them??? How sanitary is it to have ducks in a hotel. I know from personal experience of having ducks on Dick’s parent’s lake front that they aren’t the cleanest birds to have around. Well we were on the 3rd floor so I guess it was okay for them to stay in the lobby and amuse the guests.

After another breakfast of Krispy Kremes, we started on the final leg of our journey to Branson. The route took us through Little Rock, Ak. and the scenery was rather boring until we approached the mountains. Of course I didn’t see much scenery as I was engrossed in several DVD’s while Dick drove and took in the scenery. He just remarked to me that there wasn’t much to see. I’m sure if we hadn’t been on a time schedule we would have stopped in Little Rock to see the Clinton museum, but thankfully that didn’t happen.

We arrived in Branson in mid afternoon and promptly got lost trying to find the office for our condo. For those of you who have never been to Branson, it’s composed of hundreds of theaters, restaurants, hotels, and souvenir shops. Plus bumper to bumper traffic. One of the first things that I saw was a Krispy Kreme donut shop so I knew I was going to love Branson. We were trying to see everything and find our lodgings and even with two sets of directions and a map, had to call the office to find out how to get there. Funny thing was that the street we were supposed to turn on wasn’t where it was supposed to be in my directions. We had to check in at 2 offices before getting keys and directions to our condo complex which was about 3 miles from the office. That particular complex had 3 separate sections and we were fartherest from the office. That didn’t matter except that the office with the computers and continental breakfast was not convenient to our condo. The sacrifices we make!!!!

We eventually found our condo which we thought was to be a two bedroom condo. Turns out it was 2 separate adjoining condos each with a bedroom, living room, kitchen and eating area. The larger of the two had a 2 person jacuzzi and shower in the corner of the bedroom and an additional full bath down the hallway. Of course Dick and I chose that unit since Kerri and Ron were staying at the Radisson for the first 2 nights and would join us on Saturday (that was Thursday) after Kerri’s show. They would be flying into Springfield that afternoon with Rhonda, Kerri’s publicist who had lived in Branson and was responsible for us being in such a nice facility.

Since Kerri and Ron had a business dinner meeting with the people from the show Kerri was hosting, Dick and I decided to see a show. There are 120 theaters in Branson so the choices were numerous. We decided on “Lost in the 50’s” with the Platters (not the real ones since they’re all dead) since that was our generation’s music. After a so dinner at one of the local eateries (the restaurants are numerous, but not particularly gourmet as they seem to go for quantity and not quality) we made our way to the theater for an 8:00 performance. We enjoyed the music and talked with one of the “Platters” who was from Montgomery, Al. (my home town) during the intermission. We shared a few memory stories so that was fun.

We also discovered that the theaters have very good marketing schemes to make extra money. As you enter the theater, you are asked to stand in front of a backdrop so some young thing that can take a picture that will be available for sale after the show. Then during the performance a camera will hone in on people in the audience which will be on a DVD also for sale. In that particular show, the audience members were encouraged to get up and dance in the aisles during one of the old familiar songs. Of course that was on the DVD for sale as well. Dick and I declined the dancing (both have bad backs and besides how can you dance on a slanted floor?). Maybe we’re just “old fogies”. So needless to say we didn’t add to the theater’s income for any of the promotions.

After the show, we stopped by the Radisson to spend a few minutes with Kerri and Ron. It was fun to see how really pregnant Kerri looks although she still hasn’t gained very much weight. As we were all very tired and it was late, we said goodnight and planned to meet for dinner the next night. Fortunately the Radisson was just around the corner from our condo so was very convenient.

The next day Kerri had rehearsals all afternoon so Dick and I decided to see “Spirit of the Dance” which we thoroughly enjoyed. I am just always amazed that they can keep up that pace of dance for 2 hours. I never had that much energy when I was 20 and some of the dancers were much older than that. Made me tired just sitting in my comfortable seat and watching. It was disappointing that the auditorium was probably only ¼ filled and we found that to be the case for most of the shows that we saw. I think they have over saturated the area and there aren’t enough people to fill all the theaters. Either that or this wasn’t the busy season. Couldn’t prove that by the amount of traffic on the streets.

Now that evening’s dinner was supposed to be a treat for Dick in that Rhonda, Kerri’s publicist is a good friend of Johnny Lee who wrote and sang the song from “Urban Cowboy”, “Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places”. He has also written and recorded other hits through the years and now resides in Branson. Rhonda had invited Johnny to join us for dinner at the Moon River Grill, Andy William’s restaurant. Rhonda’s mother who lives in Springfield, Mo. was also with us. At any rate, there was a terrific thunder storm in the late afternoon and apparently Johnny had been out in a boat and although he made it to shore okay, was delayed and never made it to dinner.

So we enjoyed a nice dinner and were just sitting around chatting after dessert when someone tapped me on the shoulder and asked how I enjoyed my dinner. I turned around and there stood Andy Williams. It took me a minute to realize that it was actually Andy Williams standing behind my chair as he is 80 years old and doesn’t have the head of black hair that I remember. Well who cares if he looked a little frail; who wouldn’t at 80? All I could think of was here stood my all time favorite singer and he was talking to me about my dinner. Dick said he didn’t tell him that his “mother’s” meatloaf recipe didn’t live up to expectations. Rhonda had actually worked for Andy when she lived in Branson. So as they were chatting Ron grabbed my camera which was supposed to be used to take Johnny Lee and Dick’s picture and I just walked right up to Andy and asked if he would take a picture with me. He said of course and proceeded to show his still perfect teeth and smile and I am now the proud owner of a photo with Andy Williams. So Johnny Lee was quickly forgotten as we all started talking about Andy Williams. Kerri had not recognized him and thought he was the chef asking about our meal. “The younger generation”; what they missed. So I knew that was going to be the highlight of my trip to Branson. I couldn’t wait to get to Wall Mart and have the picture developed.

The next day was Kerri’s show which was scheduled to begin at 1:00. She was to be the emcee for a gospel show which was being taped as a TV show and would be presented to several networks who were supposedly interested in airing it. She was nervous as this was something completely new to her and they wanted her to do comedy as well as the introductions. Without going into all the details, she did great and Ron did the warm up and was very funny and they both filled in some time when the production was halted for technical reasons. The two gospel groups who performed were wonderful and the one group, Crystal River, composed of 3 very talented young men are already very popular in the gospel circuit and I’m sure will be very successful. As it happened a director of several Dukes of Hazard and Grizzly Adams television shows was working with the producer of the show and he was very taken with Kerri and Ron. Although he’s 77 and retired he kept telling me that he wanted to work with them on some projects and he just knew that Kerri was going to be rich and famous. Of course I said that would be fine with me and the sooner the better so she could stay home and take care of my grandchildren. So it was a fun afternoon, but exhausting for Kerri.

I had purchased tickets for Kerri and Ron to join Dick and me at the Grand Jubilee country show that evening, but Kerri was just too tired to go so she and Ron stayed in the condo and Dick and I went to the show. Dick tried to give our extra tickets away, but everyone already had their tickets. As expected the show was a group of local performers doing lots of the old familiar country and gospel songs as well as a few comediennes doing corny humor. It was very entertaining and we both enjoyed it. Afterwards, we stopped by the fudge shop in the lobby and sampled quite a few types before buying some to take back to the condo. We knew that would give Kerri some energy and a few pounds for all of us. But hey, we were on vacation. When we got back to the condo Kerri and Ron were up watching TV and Kerri asked if we’d like go to church with them the next morning. She had a friend from Branson and had called him and he invited us to his church. He is a musician and plays the keyboard so I asked Kerri if this was going to be one of those ultra contemporary churches with the rock band and hand waving, etc. She said she thought it would not be anything I couldn’t handle. What did that mean??? So I said we would go with them.

Church service was at 10:15 and I should have gotten a clue of what to expect when Kerri said it was held at Celebration City which was an amusement park. Well on the way over, as we were driving along, Ron said to Dick, “that police car we just met turned around so be careful”. Well in a minute we saw the flashing lights so knew there was trouble. Kerri quickly handed me her bible since I was in the front seat and said maybe he would see it and know we were going to church. The young officer came up to the car and said “did you know you were going 52 in a 35 MPH zone” and of course Dick said no. So Dick gave him his license and I displayed the bible. He took the license back to his car to check out Dick’s criminal record (thankfully he has none) and in a few minutes came back and said just be more careful with the speed limits. Dick thanked him and we drove on very slowly. By that time it was almost 10:30 so we knew were late for church and I hate walking into church late. As it happened it didn’t matter as you will see.

We found Celebration City and saw signs pointing to the church and men directing traffic in the parking lot of what looked to be a purple castle. As we got out of the car we could hear the music complete with band being broadcast over speakers in the parking lot. I just looked at Kerri and asked if she was sure we should go in. She of course said yes as she and Ron attend a contemporary church in Ca. So we made our way to the entrance and as we walked in we could see that the whole front part of the building was divided into sections for the children. It was called Critter Corner and had a section for each age group of children. There were elaborate colorful murals on the walls and a sign up desk at each door so seemed to be very organized.

At the entrance to the auditorium used as the sanctuary was a table full of coffee pots, soft drinks in cups, and bottles of water. Several ladies asked if we wanted refreshments to take in with us and I immediately said no thank you. I was getting more apprehensive by the minute and couldn’t imagine drinking coffee during a church service. We walked into what appeared to be a theater auditorium with a stage, theater seating, and all the stage lights. The band included drums, guitars, keyboard, electric guitars and 5 vocalists. There were two huge screens on each side of the stage with the words to the songs. I felt like I was at a rock concert and I’ve never been to a rock concert. The only difference I think would be that the words to the songs were Christian. To my surprise the congregation was composed of all age groups with what looked to be quite a few senior citizens and only a few people were waving their hands and clapping although they all to be singing. The singing continued for another 15 or so minutes and we were 15 minutes late so I guess it lasted about 30 minutes. After the music finished, the ushers passed out big tin buckets for the offering. Boy it would take a lot of money to fill up those buckets.

After the offering the words “Back to the Future” flashed up on the screens and the music from the movie started playing. A man who I assumed was one of the ministers (there were 3 listed in the bulletin) came on stage as the band exited. He said a brief prayer and announced that they would be studying the book of Daniel for the next 6 weeks and the study was entitled “Back to the Future”. Hence the signs. He gave a short explanation of how the study would go saying that more in depth study would be done in the Small Groups with an overview being given on Sunday mornings. That sounded good to me. Then he said, “here’s Jim to give the sermon”. In walked a man in Bermuda shorts and a very casual Hawaiian type shirt. I just kept asking myself if I was really in church or at a concert.

Jim proceeded to give a very good introduction to the book of Daniel and as he was talking he walked to the back of the stage and wheeled out a portable grill. He then lit the grill, put a steak on it, and kept talking as he seasoned the steak with all sorts of bottles of who knows what. Someone in the congregation yelled “make mine rare”. You can imagine what I was thinking about that time. Who was the lucky person to get the steak??? He opened a bottle of wine and poured a glass as he explained that Daniel refused to eat the rich food from the king’s table. I guess the king ate steak and drank wine. Eventually the steak was done after being turned several times as the minister gave what really would have been a good sermon without the theatrics. He removed the steak from the grill, placed it on a plate, and put the wine and plate on a silver tray and walked out into the congregation and placed the tray in front of a man sitting down front. As far as I could see there was no silverware so the man didn’t start eating it. At least I couldn’t see that he did, but it must have been tempting as it was getting close to lunch time.

The sermon continued and just when I thought the minister was finished he walked over to another table and removed a tablecloth and picked up a hand full of celery stalks. He immediately started chomping on one of the sticks and throwing the others out in the audience. I guess that was the common food that Daniel ate. Without a word he walked down the aisle and continued to throw the celery sticks as he exited. Fortunately we were on the other side of the church so didn’t receive any of the tosses. I have to say that about that time I started laughing because I couldn’t believe what I had just witnessed. Kerri looked at me and said “be quiet” so I tried to act somber. After all we were supposed to be in church. After that the first minister came back up and said a closing prayer and the service was over. We just sat there for a few minutes trying to absorb what we had witnessed. I’m still not sure what it was, but the church has 1200 members so I guess they must enjoy that type of service.

We walked back out in the hallway and by then I could have used a cup of coffee but all the drinks were gone. Kerri’s friend came up (he had been playing the keyboard) and asked how we liked the service. Kerri was very complimentary and I just kept my mouth shut. He just kept going on and on about how much he loved the church and the ministers. In the process he told us that when they have baptisms they blow up a big swimming pool in the amusement park and after the baptisms, they all go on the rides. This was getting more bizarre by the minute. Then he said we had to meet the ministers so what could we do but follow him back into the auditorium where we met the 2 ministers who were extremely friendly and nice and Kerri had to tell them that her mom was a “frozen chosen” Presbyterian who had never been to a service like theirs. As she was talking I noticed the steak sitting on a table and wondered who was going to eat it. It actually looked very appetizing and I speculated that the minister would probably devour it after we left. Thankfully he didn’t ask me how I liked the service so God was with me because I don’t know what I would have said and I know it wouldn’t have been the truth.

All I could think of was how thankful I am for my church back in Ga. and I vowed to try and be more tolerant of the praise music as long as we don’t have to watch a cooking demonstration during the service.

Now that we had “been to church” I think, but not sure, we had lunch and went to the outlet malls for an afternoon of shopping. We only had minimal success and Ron seemed to come home with the most packages as Kerri wanted him to have some new shirts and slacks which he found. As Kerri was still tired we went back to the condo to rest and later just ordered Italian food and ate in. Everyone was still full from the huge lunch we had devoured earlier.

Kerri and Ron had to leave at 8:30 the next morning to drive to Springfield to catch their flight home so we said goodbye and Dick went back to sleep while I drove over to check emails. Later we stopped by the Moon River Theater to buy tickets for the evening show. I was excited about seeing Andy perform and Glen Campbell was on the bill as well so we looked forward to the evening’s entertainment. In the mean time we had lunch and went back to the outlet malls where I had a bonanza shoe day. I found 7 pairs of shoes; 4 for me and 3 for Kerri so I had a wonderful afternoon and Dick was very patient while I shopped.

We went back to the condo, packed some of our suitcases, rested awhile and then went out to an early dinner since Andy’s show started at 7:00. I’m sure that was for the benefit of the senior citizens and probably Andy as well. We were fortunate to have seats on the 3rd row so when Andy walked out I just knew he was singing to me personally. He looked very frail, but his voice was still strong and his songs were beautiful. We could see that the whole front of the stage floor was filled with teleprompters which he kept reading, but my goodness at 80 who could remember words to songs. I was just happy he was strong enough to stand up there and sing and tell a few jokes. Of course the audience loved him as did I. I felt sure that Dick and I were the youngest couple there since most everyone had walkers or canes.

The interesting thing was that in order to get to the auditorium we had to walk down two short flights of stairs and I could tell it was a struggle for many of the people. There must have been elevators but I didn’t see them. During the intermission, I had to almost run down several old people with walkers so I would have time to get to the restroom and back for the second act. I had to keep reminding myself that in a few years it would be me with the walker so I needed to be more patient.

I stopped in the gift shop to check out the Andy merchandise, but decided I didn’t need a $50 tee shirt with Andy’s picture on it. They also were selling purses that were actually made out of a record and album cover. The front side was the record and the back was the album cover. Very clever idea for $85 dollars. I told Dick I knew what he could do with his 10,000 albums.

I barely made it back in the 15 minutes allotted for intermission, but was just in time for Glen Campbell. Now Dick and I are both Glen Campbell fans and he put on an amazing show as well and still sings and plays the guitar as well as we remembered. Of course he isn’t a spring chicken anymore and has had his share of bouts with alcohol abuse so looked a little rough around the edges, but we still enjoyed his performance. I wondered if he would remember having his picture taken with me at a Ford Car show about 20 years ago. I’m sure he would but I didn’t get a chance to ask him. Toward the end of his set he brought out one of his daughters who sang several solos and then a couple of songs with him. She was very talented and then he introduced his younger daughter and they sang several songs together. You could tell he was very proud of his daughters as he should be.

Regrettably Andy didn’t come back out (probably went home and to bed at 8:00), but all in all it was a great evening. It took awhile to make our way out of the theater and to our car as once again we had to wait for all the seniors with walkers and canes to get up the stairs and outside. As we were standing on the stairs, a lady next to us was holding an Andy Williams Moon River album which she said Andy had signed for her. She said someone took it backstage so I hope it was a genuine Andy Williams signature and not some assistant who just signed his name. All that mattered was that the lady thought it was his signature and she was thrilled. I would be too.

Dick and I said goodbye to Branson early the next morning and drove back to Memphis. The drive was uneventful and we checked into our hotel in mid afternoon. During the drive Kerri and Ron had called to give us the news that an ultra sound had revealed that she was having a little girl. She was thrilled as was I because I knew how much fun it would be to buy clothes for a baby girl. So immediately after checking in we set out to the mall in search of baby items. The trip was a success and I found several wonderful sales and bought about 10 items. We also stopped at Stein Mart where I added two more pairs of shoes to my collection. Then T J Maxx and several more baby outfits. Dick asked me if the baby needed a different outfit for each day of the year and I said of course.

By that time it was late and we were hungry so Dick wanted to try the Blue Plate Café which is a famous diner known mainly for their breakfast items served all day. Dick ordered blueberry pancakes and I ordered the special beef stew and salad. I think Dick made the wiser choice, but I don’t like to eat breakfast at night. At least we were both full.

The rest of the trip home was thankfully uneventful and we were both very happy to see the gates of Reynolds Plantation. As the old saying goes “there’s no place like home” and we were happy to be there. It had been another trip to remember and I couldn’t wait for all my friends to see the picture of “Andy and Me”.

A Week in Florida Bonding with the Family

2008-04-05T12:03:00.001-07:00

Spending time with one's family is way up there on the list of priorities in the Pomarolli family. Recently Dick and I were a part of that important process thanks to a most generous couple from Chicago who heard Kerri speak and offered her the use of their beach home in Sanibel Island. There are definite perks to being a Christian comedian.

The wheels were in motion last fall when Kerri spoke at a women's conference in Chicago and Patti Margaron was in the audience and after the show said she and her husband owned a home in Sanibel and Kerri was welcome to use it any time she wished provided no one else was there. Kerri, of course, was overwhelmed that a complete stranger would make such a generous offer, but immediately looked at her calendar and saw that she had 2 shows in Fl. in mid April. She emailed Patti and asked if the house was available and Patti emailed back that it was. Then Kerri phoned to ask if Dick and I could join them and of course we said yes because we don't pass up an opportunity to see our children. Kerri mentioned that she was going to also ask Ron's parents and Dick's step mom who had not been back to Fl. since Dick's dad died over 3 years ago. They were thrilled at the invitation and we allstarted making plans for the trip.

So the long awaited day arrived on April 14th for Dick and me to leave for the drive to Sanibel. As it is a 10 hour drive, we opted to spend the night in Gainesville since neither of us are into long drives anyone. Been there; done that, and it's hard on the arthritic joints and concentration abilities.

I should have gotten an inkling that this was going to be an eventful trip as Dick was diagnosed with an abscessed tooth a few days earlier. The dentist said he needed a root canal but the infection would have to clear up first so he gave him an antibiotic and said it was okay to make the trip. Well it wasn't the doctor's mouth and he doesn't know the history of unlikely events happening to the Pomarollis when we travel. No wonder we stay home all the time. After all we have visited most of the ER's in every state and quite a few in foreign countries.

A second omen was that the previous day I had my first "aura" preceding a migraine. Since I'd never seen jagged lights before it scared me enough to make an appointment to see the eye doctor who confirmed my diagnosis ( I should have been a doctor) and eased my mind somewhat. It's bad enough to suffer migraines without having vision problems to boot. Because of having to see the doctor I had to cancel my nail appointment which was a disaster since my gel nails would probably all fall off before we got home. That's not a pretty sight. Then on top of that I had a call from my beauty shop saying that my beautician was sick and had to go home. Another major disappointment, but I rationalized that one hour in the Florida sea air and wind would wreck havoc on my hair anyway so I would persevere.

The night before we were leave, Dick's tooth started hurting and swelling and he expressed his concern ( rightly so) about going on the trip, but it was too late to change plans since his step mom was so excited and we had to pick up her at the airport on Sunday. I tried to be positive and told him the antibiotic just needed time to start working. Of course it wasn't my tooth that was in pain. But God is good and the next morning the tooth felt better and we loaded up his Expedition with enough clothes for a month and started out bright and early. The weather forecasters were predicting severe weather and even tornadoes so that wasn't a pleasant prospect. I failed to mention that Dick and I never drive in perfect weather. Our windshield wipers need exercise when we're on the road.

The weather cooperated with exception of clouds and that was okay because I had purchased a portable DVD player so I could entertain myself while Dick drove and listened to country music. I could see the movie better without sunshine. Since I have a "slight" problem with cataracts and double vision plus had been experiencing "auras", Dick felt safer in the driver's seat than having me seeing 2 semi trucks coming towards us, with one in my lane. Imagine that!!!! So I relaxed and watched movies while he drove. Such a sacrifice on my part!!

By the time we arrived in Gainesville and secured the last room at the Hilton Hotel near the U. of Fl. campus we were ready to exit the car. Traffic in town was horrendous and we found out at the hotel that Fl. was having the Blue/Orange weekend where all the new athletes come in with their families and there were several sports events going on. Leave it to us to be in the midst of thousands of college kids and bumper to bumper traffic. There were policemen directing traffic and I thought we would never get to Stein Mart and the mall to partake of all the sales. I wanted very much to shout out a "War Eagle" but Dick didn't want someone to run over us so suggested that I keep my mouth shut. It was very annoying seeing all the No. 1 flags on all the cars, since Auburn actually was the only team to beat them in football. Can't understand that ranking process. After eons we arrived at the mall and shopped for several hours without making a single purchase. That was a first for me, I think.

By the time we came out of the mall the sky was very dark and we thought we should find a restaurant and have an early dinner before heading back to the hotel hopefully ahead of the storm. After stopping at a couple of places with people waiting in line we decided to just go back to the hotel and eat in their dining room and hopefully be safe from the storm. Bad decision. Our food was less than palatable and the prices weren't so palatable either since we couldn't eat the food. Of well, I always carry a stash of Snickers and Baby Ruth's so we wouldn't starve.

We were both tired so after showering and hearing on the weather channel that tornadoes were heading our way, we went to bed. At least we were on the 2nd floor so thought we were as safe as we could be under the circumstances. The next morning we woke up early and turned the TV on to hear that Gainesville was under a tornado warning until 9:00 so we decided to stay put. Gloria (Dick's step mom) would have to wait for us at the airport. Of course they were listing all the counties under the warning and we didn't have a clue which county we were in so didn't know if we would be heading into or away from the storm... That's the beauty of not knowing where you are which sometimes happens in old age. So after a leisurely breakfast the warning was over and we packed the car and headed towards Fr. Meyers.

The weather cooperated at first, but about an hour out of Ft. Meyers the bottom fell out of the sky and the rain came down in torrents. Dick could hardly see the road and I was seeing 4 semi's instead of two so it was definitely nerve-wracking. Gloria's plane was due in at 11:30 so she arrived before the rain and called to say she would just read her book until we got there to pick her up. Kerri and Ron had performed in Orlando the night before and that morning so planned to rent a car and pick his parents up at 6:00. Kerri called at 1:00 to say the rental agency didn't have them registered for a car so they were frantically trying to find a car. Are you getting the picture that the week wasn't starting off exactly on a positive note?????

After what seemed like forever we saw the airport exit and just as we pulled into the terminal area, the rain stopped. Gloria was sitting outside on a bench waiting for us so after hugs and greetings we were off to Sanibel. Our hosts Patti and Brett were waiting for us so they could show us around and explain the operations of the pool, hot tub, sauna, etc. As you would expect they were lovely people who have spent their lives doing good things for other people. Besides the home in Fl. which they bought 3 years ago, they own a home in the woods of Wisc. which they bought years ago so they could share it with people in the ministry field or people who they think need some time away by themselves. That's in addition to their main home in Chicago. They are in their early 50's and he retired early from the construction business so they could join a missionary project in Kenya and build a children's hospital which necessitates them spending a lot of time in Africa. Their oldest son is a surgeon and he's getting ready to leave to spend a year in helping with this project and taking his wife and 6 month old baby. Okay so I felt a little guilty about complaining about the weather and hair and nail appointments.

The home was located on the main road through the island about a block from the beach and was completely secluded from all the neighbors. It was on 2 acres of land surrounded by trees and flowers complete with a huge pool, hot tub, and sauna off the living room. Patti had told Kerri that it wasn't fancy, but comfortable and that was indeed the case. It was a 6000 square foot ranch home with 3 bedrooms, a separate apt. with sitting area, kitchen and private lanai; plus a huge living room, family room, large kitchen, and office with fold down couch and sitting area. Since Dick and I were the first to arrive we of course had first choice of bedrooms. We decided that Ron's parents would enjoy having some privacy so they should have appt. and Gloria opted for the room with twin beds. Since the master bedroom had a king size bed and Dick needs space for all his back pillows we chose that room which left Kerri and Ron with a nice room with queen size bed. Just to be considerate I checked with Kerri by phone to make sure she was okay with these decisions and after quietly mentioning that since she was responsible for getting the home, maybe she and Ron should have king size bed, she agreed that the Christian thing to do would be to let Dad have the larger bed. I had to keep checking my Christian charity attitude as we moved our belongings into the spacious master bedroom.

By the time we visited with Patti and Brett and got familiar with the house it was time for Kerri and Ron and his parents to arrive. But of course the plane from LA was delayed because of the weather so it was after 7:00 before they left the airport. Patti and Brett suggested that we drive down to the beach while we were waiting. The temperature had dropped and it was cool so we donned sweaters and beach shoes and set out. Brett explained that he was leaving his SUV for us to drive around the island as it had a parking sticker and parking was $2 at hour at the beach. Their halos kept getting larger by the minute. The wind was blowing 50 miles an hours and I was happy I hadn't spent money having my hair done as it took all of 2 seconds for me to look like a wild woman. Plus my light sweater wasn't keeping me very warm. Sanibel beach is known for its shells and the beach was covered with them. We walked for a short while and decided to head back so we could meet the others for dinner. I was certainly ready for that.

Patti and Brett were spending the night with friends before flying to Va. the next day to visit their two sons so we asked them to join us for dinner. By that time we felt like we were good friends and they also wanted to have some time with Kerri and Ron and meet Incha and Jae Ha (Ron's parents). They suggested we meet at the Island Cow, a local favorite with good food. We arrived before Kerri and Ron which was okay since we had to wait to get a table. Shortly Ron and Kerri and parents arrived and after more hugs and introductions we were shown to a large table where we proceeded to indulge in some delicious entrees. Incha, and Jae Ha do not eat out at restaurants other than Korean very often, but were very open to trying new things. Incha ordered barbequed salmon which she had never tried (neither had I for that matter) and seemed to enjoy it. Conversation was lively and mostly about the work that Patty and Brett are doing in Kenya. By the end of the meal Kerri and Ron had offered to do a benefit concert to help them raise funds. So now I'm feeling guilty and thinking that we'd better make some kind of contribution as well.

After dinner we went back home and by the time we got everyone settled and visited awhile longer it was after 11 and I was exhausted as was everyone else. We said goodbye to Patti and Brett and thanked them profusely for their generosity. After that it was good night and fall into bed for a very good night's sleep. Even Dick who doesn't sleep said he slept better than he had in a long while.

Monday morning: It had been decided that we would all travel to Okeechobee to visit Dick's dad and Gloria's old home site which had been devastated by several of the hurricanes shortly after Gloria moved away 3 years earlier. Even though we planned to get an early start it was 10:00 before everyone was up and ready to leave. Dick had brought hats for everyone and Incha gave all the girls a pair of bedroom slippers and Dick some aromatherapy for his car. Incha also gave Kerri and me a little "pig" charm since in Korea it is the "year of the Pig" and the charm is supposed to bring good luck. Well as you will see, it didn't exactly work for that week.

After the gift exchanges, we all piled in the Expedition and I was reminded of the vacation trip movies of the Griswold family. It took a few minutes to decide who was going to sit where, then get the air conditioning adjusted to suit everyone's body temperatures, look at the map and find the best route to take, etc. Since Incha and Jae Ha had never been to Fl. they were interested in everything we saw along the way and Dick and Gloria gave a running commentary on the foliage, trees, history, and alligators. After awhile Jae Ha dozed off as did Kerri and Ron who were tired from the previous weekend's activities. Dick and Gloria wanted to make a detour into Sebring and have lunch at Homer's Smorgasbord; Dad's favorite place to eat so that added an hour onto the trip.

It's hard to describe Homer's except to say that it is a senior's citizen's paradise; lots of food and cheap prices. Incha and Jae Ha were fascinated by the endless array of every kind of food imaginable and everyone quickly filled plates to overflowing. Incha got barbequed ribs and promptly wiped all the sauce off with a napkin. She probably didn't know what she was missing in the way of plaque for the heart. I will say that none of us walked away from the table with hunger pangs even if it was cholesterol heaven.

After lunch we headed out for Okeechobee to visit the mobile home park where Gloria and Dick's dad lived and where our family spent many vacations after Dick's parents moved to Fl. Since 2 hurricanes had passed through that area, there was still evidence of devastation. Gloria's home was unoccupied and it was sad to see their once beautiful yard and gardens overgrown with weeds. She felt fortunate to have sold it and moved before the hurricanes came through.

We then drove 10 miles into the town of Okeechobee and noticed quite a few new businesses; all with Mexican names. The town seemed to have recovered fairly well from the hurricanes. We stopped in to visit one of Gloria's old friends, Irene and what a delight she is. She's an 86 year old widow who lives alone and still does accounting work for several clients. She also makes and sells homemade pickles. We each left with a jar and they are delicious. As we sat around in her living room and chatted, she entertained us with some wonderful witticisms. The only major problem she has is that she can't hear so we had to talk very loud and hope that she heard what we said. Gloria asked if she was still driving and she said of course. There's nothing wrong with her driving; it's all the other old people on the road that you have to watch out for. Some other Irene sayings: She didn't need a man because she never found one who could take care of her as well as she could take care or herself. Probably missed out on a lot of marriage proposals because she didn't hear them. Marriage advice: stay married until kids are 30 or 40 so they can take care of you when you go your separate ways. Still likes to go "jukin". That would be to the local dance hall. Some man asked how many of those drinks have you had and she said "not enough". As we were leaving she asked Kerri if she could find her a man in Hollywood?

We could have stayed and listened to Irene all afternoon but it was getting late and Gloria wanted to visit the cemetery where dad and Dick's mom were buried so we said goodbye and thanked her for entertaining us. We hoped she heard us.

We made our way out of town to the cemetery and as we were standing at the gravesite, Dick picked up a plastic stature of the Madonna and said he had given it to his mother when he was 10 years old. Gloria had found it in the closet and put it on the grave. Dick then said it opened and had a secret compartment so he took the top off and lo and behold pulled out 3 wet one dollar bills which were filled with holes. We were all amazed and decided that we should do something special with the money and the obvious thing of course was to buy 3 lottery tickets. Was that my suggestion??? So on the way home we bought the lottery tickets and didn't have a single winning number. Guess we should have left the money in the statue.

We decided to take a different route home just to see different scenery, but Gloria, Incha, and Dick were the only ones to see much of anything as the rest of us slept. After all, it had been a long day and it wasn't over. Instead of stopping to have a quick dinner Incha insisted on cooking dinner so we made a stop at Albertson's to buy fixins' for fried rice, regular rice, salad, and marinated beef. By the time we got home it was after 8 and "Dancing With The Stars" was in progress so we just left Incha in the kitchen and watched "Dancing" I failed to mention that there was no cable television and only 5 stations with rabbit ears which had to be adjusted. ABC was very snowy so we did the best we could in watching our show. Reminded me of the days "long ago" without cable. How did we survive????

Well it got to be 9:00 and I was hungry, but dinner was not ready. I'm not used to eating that late, but it was only 6:00 Ca. time. So I went in the kitchen and dipped into Incha's salad bowl where she had cut up 10 different kinds of vegetables by hand and poured some dressing on it and enjoyed a healthy meal. The rest of the crew waited and ate the fried rice, and beef at 9:30. Incha loves to cook, but doesn't know how to cook small quantities so we had enough beef and fried rice for 5 meals at least. Little did I know that I would be eating fried rice for the next 3 days?

It had been a long day and everyone was tired so we were in bed by 11. That is everyone except Kerri and Ron who stayed up into the wee hours. Probably better for digestion instead of going right to bed after eating a big meal.

The next morning we all piled in the car again to explore the shops on the island. Kerri and Ron had to go to Bradenton that afternoon for Kerri to do a show so we had to stay close to home. The island shops were very nice, but also very expensive with no "sale" signs so needless to say we looked but didn't buy anything. We did make some bakery purchases at the local market. Dick cannot survive without snacks in the middle of the night. Since Kerri wanted to rest before leaving, we went home and ate leftovers from the night before. Then I got out the floating raft and spent the afternoon in or on the pool.

Dick's tooth was swelling rapidly and he was in terrible pain. He tried to reach his dentist, but no one answered the phone. He called a local dentist on the island, but he wasn't in that week. Finally about 3:00 Dick reached his dentist who prescribed penicillin which he called into the local CVS pharmacy. What a relief, we hoped.

Kerri and Ron left about 4:30 to drive to Bradenton and about 5:00 the rest of our group decided to drive down to the beach, pick up shell, and take pictures of the beautiful sunset. None of us realized how cold it got as the sun went down so we didn't dress appropriately. I actually had on shorts and a sleeveless top. Gloria, Dick, and I walked up and down the beach for about an hour and thought we had more than enough shells to last a lifetime. We had definitely decided not to start a new collection at our house since we have to have room for baby things.

The wind had picked up and we were all beginning to freeze so Dick volunteered to go back to the house and get some sweatshirts. Gloria and I sat down in the chairs we had brought and tried to block the wind. Jae Ha and Incha were still walking on the beach picking up shells and didn't seem to feel the cold; maybe because they were moving quickly. It took Dick about 20 minutes to return with the sweatshirts which we quickly put on. I also wrapped up in a beach towel and I was still cold so at about 7:30 Gloria and I decided to go back to the car and hope the sun set soon so we could go home and get warm. Dick, Jae Ha, and Incha returned to the car around 8 exclaiming how beautiful the sky was and showing us the wonderful pictures he had taken. We did agree that they were beautiful.

Well by the time we got home it was 8:15 and I was starving and Dick's tooth was hurting so he laid down. We deposited our shells on the front steps except that I noticed that Incha brought her bag inside and dropped some of them in the kitchen sink. I thought she was just washing them off, when all of sudden she yelled and jerked her hand back. Unbeknownst to me she had picked up several live creatures and planned to cook them. One was a huge conch shell and the others looked like clams or mussels. I just casually said, "You aren't really going to cook those are you" and she said "oh yes, they're very good delicacy". So she got out a huge pot and put the conch in it to boil and proceeded to clean the smaller creatures. One was very black so she rubbed salt in it to clean it. I had never seen anything like that in my life so was fascinated that as she rubbed and scrubbed the black part disappeared. Well almost disappeared. By that time I was having a hard time really believing that they were going to eat those fish, but both she and Jae Ha kept telling me how good they would be and I should have some. At that point, I just casually mentioned that I really didn't want to have to take them to the ER in the middle of the night. They just laughed and went on cleaning and cooking.

Well since I was hungry I just heated up some fried rice and beef and went into the den to watch "Dancing With the Stars Result Show" I was beginning to feel very Asian after two days of fried rice. There was a bar opening between the kitchen and den and Incha would periodically show me one of the fish and asked if I wanted a taste to which I replied "no thank you". During the commercial I went back into the kitchen and saw that the water in which the conch was boiling had turned a horrible green color. They moved the pot to the sink and Jae Ha lifted the conch out and tried to remove the fish, but apparently it wasn't done enough to come out so they put the pot back on the stove. I went back to my dinner and TV. After the show I went back into the kitchen and the insides of the conch were laying on a plate and it's hard to describe what it looked like except part of it was a kidney shaped orange color with 3 smaller parts which I wouldn't have touched much less eaten. Incha prepared some kind of sauce and I went back to the den. Gloria stayed in the kitchen to watch the meal in progress. After awhile Jae Ha came running into the den licking his lips and saying how great the sea creatures tasted. He even did a little jig to show that it had given him energy. I just calmly said again, "I hope I don't have to take you to the ER" and he just laughed. Soon afterwards we all went to bed.

At 7:15 the next morning Gloria knocked on our bedroom door and said that we needed to get up quickly as Jae Ha had been throwing up all night and was deathly ill. Thankfully Dick's tooth felt some better so he quickly dressed and went into the kitchen to find a pale and weak Jae Ha sitting at the kitchen waiting to be driven to the ER.

Apparently he had started getting sick about midnight and Incha called their doctor and friend in Ca. and he said to try and find something to make Jae Ha throw up. Well he didn't need anything because he started throwing up and continued all night. Incha said she was sleeping soundly and when Jae Ha shook her to try and wake her up she thought he said someone was breaking into the house so just covered up her head with the blanket. Not sure how that was going to protect her, but fortunately there wasn't a burglar. They didn't want to wake Dick up because they knew he was sick with his tooth. I also think they may have felt a little sheepish because I had teased them so much about getting sick and going to the hospital.

At any rate Dick practically carried him to the car and I'm sure broke the speed limits getting to the hospital which was across the bridge to Ft. Meyers. He got there in 35 minutes and there was no one in the ER so they took Jae Ha right in and when Dick explained what had happened and showed the doctor the conch shell he said that it was probably Red Algae poisoning. Apparently everyone in the area had been warned about the poisoning and not to eat seafood off the beach, but we didn't get the message. However there is a sign going to the beach saying that it is illegal to take live sea life from the beach. Ron said that it didn't count for his parents because it wasn't written in Korean.

So the ER staff put Jae Ha in a cubicle and began running tests and gave him something in the IV for nausea and he began to feel better. The tests eventually came back with confirmation that it was the Red Algae poisoning. The doctor said it was good that he had thrown up and gotten most of it out of his system, but it would still take time to get over the effects. In the mean time, Ron and Kerri had driven from Bradenton to the hospital so Ron and Incha drove his dad home and Kerri came home with Dick. The doctor told Jae Ha to just eat soup for a few days so Incha stopped at Publix and bought the ingredients to make enough soup for a month. She came home and began chopping about 10 different kinds of vegetables and cooked chicken breasts and made soup in a 2 gallon pot. Ron said his mom does not know how to cook in small quantities and I believed him. I knew what we were going to be eating for the next few days and we still had rice and beef from the day before. My plans for trying out all the wonderful restaurants on the island were dwindling away.

We were grateful that Jae Ha was home and he was feeling somewhat better but still very weak and tired. So for the next two days he slept most of the time. He got up to eat and tried to sit out by the pool but would doze off and wake up and go back to bed. We were thankful that Incha didn't get sick and no one knows why except that maybe Jae Ha's immune system was not as strong because of his diabetes.

A little side story to this one. That was week of the horrible shootings at Va. Tech and much to our sorrow it was a South Korean student named Cho who had done the shooting. Well Incha and Jae Ha's last name is Cho and they were mortified to hear about the shooter and his name. As they were leaving for the hospital that morning, Incha said to Dick "maybe we shouldn't tell them our name is Cho or they won't treat us". I think she was half way serious.

So between Jae Ha's poisoning and Dick's swollen tooth, there was definitely a damper on the vacation, but since April 18th was Kerri and Ron's second anniversary we decided to have a small celebration. Dick, Kerri, Gloria and I had gone out to lunch at a very nice restaurant on the island. The waitress was extremely friendly and in the course of the conversation she learned that Kerri was pregnant so we heard all about her pregnancy and babies and a lot more information that we didn't need to know. I don't know how the subject came up, but Kerri said the reason for her emotional problems was that she wasn't breast fed to which I replied that I was on drugs which would have harmed a baby. I should have said medications, because then Kerri said she was a Coke baby. The poor waitress started stammering and stuttering about people making mistakes and look how well everything turned out. I was mortified and no one saw fit to enlighten the waitress. When she left to get our check Dick said "well you did drink a lot of Coca Cola so I guess that makes you a coke addict". I couldn't disagree with that so we left the restaurant with the waitress probably thinking I was a drug addict and feeling sorry for my children. However she did recommend a restaurant for us to have dinner that evening.

Since Dick couldn't eat very well and Incha didn't want to leave Jae Ha, the three of them stayed home and Gloria, Ron, and I went out to a small restaurant that someone had recommended and had a wonderful; would you believe seafood dinner? I can't believe we actually ate seafood, but we did. We hoped that it had been shipped in and not caught off the coast of Sanibel Island. Dick sent a package with Ron and after the meal, we each received a present of a Sanibel tee shirt. Then much to our surprise the waiter brought over a bread pudding (their specialty) with a candle and said "Happy Anniversary" from the Godfather. Dick had called and talked to the owner who agreed to let him come by the next day and pay for the meal. Either Dick sounded very honest or he was a trusting guy; maybe both. It may have had something to do with the fact that the owner happened to be the husband of our waitress at lunch and he felt sorry for Kerri for being a coke baby. At any rate it was a nice evening, at least for the four of us.

There is a lighthouse on the end of the island and Ron has an interest in lighthouses so Thursday morning everyone except Jae Ha piled in the car and we drove out to the lighthouse. Now as lighthouses go, that could be the ugliest one in the country. It was just a round metal cylinder center surrounded by metal rods to hold it up. I don't think a lighthouse keeper ever lived there. At least I hope not. We walked down to the beach and it was covered with dirty debris and smelled awful so we didn't stay long. We definitely did not pick up any shells. After stopping at a couple of shops and the local grocery where Dick loaded up on bakery goods and fudge, we headed home.

Gloria and I donned our swimsuits and I spent the afternoon laying on the float in the pool and Gloria just sat out in the sun and baked. Kerri joined me for a short time on another raft and we discussed baby names; a topic dear to my heart. For some reason she didn't like any of the names that I liked and definitely none of my old family names. After awhile she just said she would surprise me so I'll have to live with that.

Later Dick decided that he was feeling well enough to cook a special dish for dinner so he went back to the store and came home loaded down with bags of groceries. Now, mind you we still had 2 gallons of soup and rice and he proceeded to make an Italian shepherd's pie in a 9 by 13 casserole. None of us knew exactly what was in it, but it tasted delicious and was certainly filling. After dinner I put 4 big containers of soup in the freezer. A little present for our hosts.

After dinner we all sat out by the pool and talked and then watched TV until bedtime. Gloria was the first one to get ready for bed and a few minutes after she went into her bedtime we heard a yell so naturally we all went running in to see what was happening. She pointed to a huge long grub worm type creature in her bed. When she pulled the sheets back there it was in the middle of the bed. She wasn't afraid, just startled when she saw it. Since the doors are open with no screens, we had seen the bugs in the house, but that didn't mean we wanted to sleep with them. So she got a Kleenex and disposed of it and then made a thorough inspection of the rest of the bed. I did the same thing before we went to bed. Sure wouldn't want to wake up and find a worm crawling on me. So another eventful evening.

The next morning Kerri and Ron were the first to leave for the airport, so we got up at 6:30 to say goodbye to them. Then we had breakfast and started taking sheets off beds and washing them along with the towels. For some reason the dryer was on slow motion so it took forever to dry everything, but we managed to get everything in order by 10:00 when it was time for Dick and me to take Gloria, Jae Ha and Incha to the airport. Dick and I were staying at extra night so we could finish cleaning the house and have things in order when our hosts returned. After saying goodbye we headed toward home, but decided it was time to at least visit a few of the shops at the outlet mall as well as Stein Mart and TJ Maxx. We shopped all afternoon and I tried on clothes and shoes for hours and didn't buy one single thing. I was beginning to worry that something was the matter with me as that was the second shopping excursion when I didn't buy anything. My back started hurting so I told Dick we'd probably better head home as we still had some cleaning chores to do.

It was a strange feeling to be alone in the house after all the activity and we missed the rest of the family. On the other hand it was very quiet and peaceful so I spent some time in the pool while Dick vacuumed. A sacrifice on my part, but my back doesn't allow me to use the vacuum cleaner. Later I did mop the kitchen and bathrooms and clean our bathroom. We talked about going out to dinner but we had so many leftovers that we just decided to eat some of them. Besides we had eaten a big lunch at Smokey Bones barbeque and had a milkshake at the Dairy Queen. So we ate some of the shepherd's pie and I put the leftovers in the freezer. Hopefully our hosts liked our cuisine for the week as they had several meals in their freezer. We would never know one way or the other.

The next morning we woke up early, changed the sheets on our bed, straightened up the bedroom and headed toward home. We had planned to spend the night in Gainesville in order to break up the trip and besides I had an extra 15% off coupon at Stein Mart. Once again I watched a movie and Dick drove, but fortunately the weather was nice and there wee no tornado warnings. There was a slight mishap as Dick was trying to find an exit with a place for us to eat lunch. He saw several restaurant signs and exited only to discover that the town was several miles down the road. He turned into a street and made a U turn. As he pulled back onto the main street, he heard a siren and saw a police car with the lights on following us. He had no idea what he had done wrong, but a very young police woman walked up to his window and told him he had made an illegal U turn. She took his lisence back to her card to check out his record and came back shortly to say she would only give him a warning this time. My thought was that she must not have much crime in her area if she stopped someone for making a U turn on a side street with no traffic. On the other hand we needed some excitement to make our day complete.

We arrived in Gainesville about 2 and checked into a new Homewood Suites Hotel and then headed for the shops. Wow did I make up for the last 2 stops? I hit the jackpot with golf clothes at Stein Mart and TJ Maxx. Then I found a pair of golf shoes at an outlet store. Now I'm thinking that I'd better continue playing golf so I can wear all the new outfits. Hopefully my back will cooperate.

By the time we finished shopping it was almost 7:00 P.M. so we decided to have dinner at a little restaurant that I had seen advertised in a hotel booklet. It was actually quite good and much better than our meal the previous week at the Hilton. We were both tired when we arrived back at the hotel so I took a shower and prepared to lay out my clothes to wear the following day. When I reached in my suitcase to get my shoes I saw something slither into one of my shoes and immediately yelled for Dick to come and see what it was. He picked up the shoe and took it into the bathroom and found a little lizard which had traveled with us from Sanibel. All I could think about was what if I had put my foot in the shoe and felt the lizard or if it had been in some other article of clothing without me knowing about it. I might have had a heart attack on the spot or at the very least a panic attack. I do not like creepy crawly creatures and especially not in my clothes. I guess God just thought that we had to have some more excitement for the day. After all something unexpected had happened every other day of the trip. So I proceeded to unpack the rest of my suitcase to make sure there weren't any other surprises waiting for me and thankfully there were none. It took a little while for my heart rate to settle down, but I was soon in bed and asleep after a long successful day of shopping. I also felt better knowing that there was nothing seriously wrong with my shopping abilities.

The next morning we got up early and headed home. The only thing we encountered out of the ordinary that day was driving through the smoke filled air of southern Ga. where the forest fires were burning out of control. We even stopped at a couple of outlets stores so it was late afternoon when we arrived home; tired, but happy to be home. After all there's "No Place like Home" and that was a week that I'm sure our family and Ron's will never forget. We had "bonded".