07/13 - 07/25

7/13/08 Wasn’t sore from the ride, but tired. Randy had to get up early to cook a pancake and sausage breakfast at the church. Later we went to Aaron and Dezina’s for dinner. She cooked ribs and potato salad – really good. Dezina and Randy are always comparing cooking techniques. Aaron and I just enjoy the good food.

7/17/08 Randy needed to put new tires on the RV, so we packed up the house. After I left for work, Randy and John took the RV out to get the new tires mounted and fill it up with gas. Unfortunately that day I missed the bus and drove to work, and got a ticket for running a red light. I say it was yellow, but I can’t prove it, so I will have to pay.

7/18/08  Randy was talking to one of the RVers in the park who likes to bike and wants to see some of St. Louis, so Randy agreed to bike over to Soulard’s market again on Saturday, to guide him around. Peggy, the other guy's wife, and I decided to bike along. We got there almost too early – some of the stands were still opening up for the day. But it was interesting, and they couldn’t believe the great quality and price in the market. When we got ready to leave, Peggy’s bike had a completely flat front tire. Peggy and I stayed at the market while the guys biked back to the RV park and brought the car to pick up us and our bikes. Later that afternoon Randy and I biked to Forest Park again. That’s about 13 miles, and although it was still very hard, it wasn’t quite as hard for me as it was the first time.  

7/20/08 Randy read about a local church named St Stanislaus that was going to have a Polish sausage lunch on Sunday. It’s a few blocks away so we walked, but boy, was it a hot day! Lunch was really good - Polish sausage, beets (neither of us liked those), sauerkraut and really great chocolate cake. Afterwards it was just too hot for a bike ride, so we got in the car and drove around, and I bought a pack to put on the back of my bike. It’s a metal frame sits over the back tire, and a pack that looks like those insulated lunch bags that snaps onto the frame. So I can carry protein snacks, sunscreen, water, etc when I bike.  

7/25/08 Spent the weekend with Mom, Kathy and Ruth. 

7/12 Tour De Donut!

Randy and I did the “Tour de Donut” bicycle ride today. Wow, was that hard - it was 32 miles long! They have free doughnuts at two stops along the route and for each doughnut you eat (and keep down), you can subtract 5 minutes from your ride time. I ate one doughnut at each of the two rest stops just because of it’s expected, plus who am I to turn down free doughnuts? Aaron, Dezina and Jacob did the ride with us. At one point Jacob's bike had a problem which Randy was able to fix. Then Aaron and Jacob pushed ahead while Randy stayed with Dezina and me to make sure we were OK. Randy talked Dezina and I through the rough spots, and about halfway through when Dezina decided to stop, Randy stayed with her until Jordan could pick her up. Then Randy caught up with me (easily) and finished the course; unfortunately it took me about 4 hours. But at least I finished!

July 5 - 8

7/5/08 Saturday we got our bikes out and rode to Soulard’s market, which is a mile or so from the RV park. On the way back we biked through the pretty Lafayette park and stopped at a coffee shop. St. Louis sets off fireworks on Saturday also, so in the evening we biked down to the riverfront for a better view than we got from the RV park. It was lovely, resting in the Arch park and watching the fireworks overhead.

7/6/08 Sunday we went to church, then had a great lunch of fried chicken at Moonlight. We organized our remaining stuff in the trailer, then went on a 12 mile bike ride.  

7/7 Getting a few tomatoes from our two potted tomato plants now. We also have chives, rosemary and mint in pots.

7/8 We've never been to America’s Incredible Pizza yet so we went there for dinner – a pizza buffet with the old “Flipper” movie.

07/04/08 Ballon walkers

Today Randy and I were part of the group from Enterprise who volunteered to be balloon walkers in the St. Louis 4th of July Parade. Our group was assigned to walk the Blue Angel helium balloon in the parade. The underside of a parade balloon looks quite different than the top!

The weather was perfect – sunny but not too hot and, very importantly, no wind. Afterwards Randy and I had lunch at Guido’s on the Hill, where we enjoyed an excellent deluxe salad and sangria. The owners are an Italian man and his Spanish wife, so the menu includes both Italian and Spanish food. Later that evening we joined friends in the St. Louis RV Park to watch fireworks from the 2^nd-story office patio. There was one building that blocked some of the lower fireworks, but we had a pretty good view of the rest.

Cruise to Cozumel and Progresso - Chitzen Itza is very cool

2/8/08 Friday – Met Aaron and Dezina and drove in their van from 6 am to 7 pm, from St. Louis to New Orleans.  To kill the time we watched DVDs of Scrubs and Frasier.  We wanted to have lunch at Corky’s in Memphis; the GPS couldn’t find it so we drove back and forth around the area until we finally just asked directions.  Corky's was great as usual.  Drove on to New Orleans and the GPS could not find our Queen and Crescent hotel either, so we missed it a couple of times.  After we checked in Aaron and Dezina drove over to see their friends.  We walked around looking for a place for dinner.  Kay Paul’s had a long wait, so we ended up at Pierre Maspero’s.  Had stuffed pistolettes, BBQ shrimp po’boy with baked potato salad and Crescent City sampler – everything was great!  Simple food prepared just right.  Walked over to Café Du Monde for coffee and beignets, and took the extras back to the hotel.  

2/9 Saturday – Discovered that Beignets do not keep well over night.  We walked down to the dock area to find where the ship would be.  Then Aaron and Dezina met us downtown and we went looking for breakfast.  Café Du Monde was too busy to get a seat so we went elsewhere for omelets – they were just OK, not very good.  Walked through the shopping district of the French Quarter.  The guys got pralines.  Checked out of the hotel and went on board the Fantasy cruise shihp.  Got handed a drink as if it was a welcome-aboard freebie, then asked to sign for the charge, so we handed the drink right back.  Had lunch on the Lido deck – burger and fries.  We walked around the whole ship.  For dinner we had steak, tilapia and chocolate melted cake.  Randy and I got in the hot tub, and later went to the 10:30 show, which included singers, dancers, the entertainment host and a comedian. The singers were excellent – found out later they were married.  Our cabin was inside and near the back.  It was quiet, and very dark when the lights were turned out – excellent for sleeping.

2/10 Sunday – day at sea.  Breakfast in the dining room.  Sunbath.  Workout and walk around the track on the upper deck.  Dress dinner – lobster.  The evening show was a tribute to various musical styles.   The boat rocked during the night, but not too bad.  

2/11 Monday – Had room service for breakfast.  At Progresso we got on the bus to Chichen Izta for a 2 hour drive.  The land we drove past was very poor, with dilapidated buildings, some with ruined thatched roofs or no roofs.  The driver’s name was Manual.  The bus guide Andre was very proud of his Mayan past – his father was full Mayan, his mother was part Spanish.  He said that almost all Mexicans are "mixed blood" like him.  He didn’t have much use for the Spanish of the past.  He told us most Mayan books were burned.  Three known remaining books are on astronomy, algebra and rituals, and are in various European countries.  He said that Orientals, Mayans, Alaskans, some Africans and some American Indians share physical traits which indicate a common history – short, stocky body type, straight black hair, no body hair, but most important - they share the Mongolian spot – a green/purple spot that looks like a bruise at the base of the spine at birth, which disappears as they grow up.   Eventually the bus stopped at a ‘rest stop’ which was really a shopping stop, and it was only about 5 minutes from the ruin site.

At the ruin our tour guide was Felip.  I loved how he worked to give is a great tour with extremely limited resources.  He had several carefully folded pictures from National Geographic which he used as visual aids during his recitation.  He brought paprika from him mother’s back yard to help us understand how the buildings were colored red, eons ago.  He shared coco beans (also from his mother’s back yard) and sea salt for us to taste, explaining that it used to be used as currency.  He shared a natural gum substance (not sweet) for us to taste, explaining that it was used by natives to generate salvia because water was scarce.  He explained that "Chichen" means mouth of the well and "Itza" is the name of the family that owns the land.   The buildings are from the decline period, which included human sacrifice.  The main monument is in the middle of a flat bare plain. 

Until recently people were allowed to climb the pyramid, but now it’s roped off, either because some tourists fell, or because of damage to the structure.  

Scattered around this structure and up to the forest line are other buildings, including a ball field. The ball field includes a couple of stone porch-like areas up at the top of the wall.  One has a bas-relief sculpture of a man with a beard; this is hard to explain because the local people did not have any body hair.

There is a wall that is filled with bas-relief sculptures; very creepy . . . but I like them.

I found the wall decorations to be fascinating.

A sack lunch was provided on the way home – ham on pretzel-like bread (pretty good), chips, apple, and something similar to a Ho-Ho, plus water.  Our bus guide said that Cozumil is the Spanish mis-pronunciation of the Mayan word which means Land of Swallows.  Back at the port we walked through the gift store before getting back on the ship and Dezina bought a beautiful multi-colored bracelet.  We had a late lunch on the Lido – grilled sandwiches and fries.  This might be when Aaron and Randy discovered the great goat-cheese pizza, which became a staple for them for the rest of the cruise.  We looked through the ship photos, then showered and napped.  Went through the shopping area on the ship to look at jewelry and booze; Randy bought booze.  Dinner included a duck appetizer, Mahi Mahi and Beef Wellington.

2/12 Tuesday – Had breakfast in the dining room with Aaron and Dezina, and met Norma and Aileen.  At Cozumel we had to take a tender boat ashore.  There was a long wait to get on the tender, and a longer wait on the tender.  We met a couple of guys on their first cruise – Clint and David, cousins.  Clint had been adopted when he was 2 weeks old.  He said he was Mexican, but he was as tall as David and didn’t look like the locals at all.  Aaron and Dezina went for a tour on a submarine.  Randy and I walked around looking at all the stores.  Randy bought some beer and I bought a couple of earrings.  We had agreed to meet Aaron and Dezina at Margaritaville for a late lunch.  We had to ask directions to Margaritaville and the guy who directed us there gave us a card for a free calamari appetizer.  And the calamari was so great that we ordered a second plate.  To go with the calamari we had margaritas, a daiquiri and a nacho volcano.

Randy and Aaron swam off the dock.  Dezina went out too but she slipped and hurt her shin - her operation left her without much tolerance for alcohol.  After lunch we walked around again, then shopped at the $1.00 shop while waiting for the tender.  Got back around 4:40 and took a nap.  Dezina wasn’t feeling well, so after dinner Aaron joined us for the show – a magic act and comedian.   Then we walked around to the back of the ship and talked.  Terri and Bob joined us to check out the midnight Mexican buffet.  I just got some chocolate cake.  

2/13 Wednesday – day at sea.  Breakfast in the dining room again, where we met Mary, who raises chickens.  Attended the de-embarkation talk.  Randy went for a massage so I lay out for a few minutes, then went in for lunch where I sat with Terri and Bob - ham and cheese on the Lido.   Aaron and Dezina joined me outside after lunch, but it was very windy and too cool to lie out for very long, so we got in the hot tub, where Randy joined us later.  Afterwards we went shopping and I bought a link bracelet.  Took a shower and attended the Return Guest reception with Terry and Kathy.  Later at dinner we shared our champagne (from Carnival for setting up the cruise) and Terry’s (he won at the hairy chest contest).  Later that night we packed up.

2/14/08 Thursday – back in New Orleans.  It took a long time to get off and through customs.  Then we could not get back into the building to use the restroom or wait for Aaron and Dezina.  Eventually everyone got out of customs, and we took Terry Disher’s bottles, so he wouldn’t have to take them on the plane.  We checked back into the Queen and Crescent, then had lunch with Aaron, Dezina, Bob and Terri at Pierre Maspero’s – stuffed pistolettes, seafood platter.   Then we all walked around shopping.  Eventually Bob went back to the hotel.  The rest of us continued to shop – mostly looked at artwork.  Went to Acme Oysters for dinner – it was great!  Oysters and smoked sausage sandwich.  

2/15 Friday – Terri and Bob were sleeping late, so Aaron and Dezina joined us on a walk to Café De Monde for coffee and beignets.  There was a gospel jazz singer who was very good, so we bought his CD and asked him to autograph it.   We walked across and down the street for breakfast, which was very good – omelets, grits, bacon.  Listened to a live band at the restaurant.  Afterwards we walked around shopping again in case we missed something - we didn't.  Bought some coffee, etc.  Made it back to the hotel just in time to check out.  Drove back to Corkys’ in Memphis for dinner, then home.  We watched every episode of the first season of Frasier on the way home.

01/09/08 Financial Peace, Body Worlds

Yesterday Randy taught the first class in the Financial Peace series at the Ivy Heights Church of God; we had a good turnout and it went really well.  Afterwards Aaron, Dezina, Jordon & his girlfriend Becky met us as Applebee’s for some fun conversation and half-priced appetizers.

Today Randy went to see Body Worlds 3 at the Science Center. I did not really want to see a bunch of skinned bodies; I had another kind of body image in mind. I went to Ideal Image for a little hair removal. 

2003 Niagara Falls

Sunday: We have an incredible view of the Falls from our hotel window; we are high enough to see it all. We headed outside to get a closer look, stopping alone the way to get an ice cream cone - they have really good ice cream in Canada. Then we took the walking journey behind the falls. There are small windows where you can look at the back of the falls, but truthfully, you can't see much. Next we took the Maid of the Mist ride, which is much more enjoyable. The boat goes right up to the base of the falls, into the cold mist. They gave us lightweight rain jackets that didn't protect much, due to the high winds. But it was so wonderful that we didn't care.

The Canadian side of the falls includes the great horseshoe falls. Technically this section is not quite all in the Canadian side, but that's it's name, anyway. Most of the time we were here there was a brightly colored rainbow ending in the falls. 

The American side is beautiful, too. There is more rubble at the base of this side; there have been several rockslides that caused this, but it's still gorgeous. 

The falls constantly throws up a tall mist, visible everywhere. There is so much water pouring over falls and I find it amazing that it never ends. I couldn't get a good picture of it but at the edge of the falls you can actually see a cross-section of the river, as the ground beneath it falls away and the water heads straight down.

We walked up Clifton Street and through the Rainforest Cafe. We were looking for a wine store; we only found one and it was closed. Downtown there are a lot of stores with big, over-sized characters rising high over the streets.

Monday: Breakfast was a small buffet with eggs, potatoes and toast. Then we walked through town, looking for another wine store. And when we finally found one, it was closed, too. In the evening we went back to the hotel for dinner: salmon appetizer, cedar plank salmon entree and apple dumpling.

Tuesday: Breakfast was stagecoach eggs, Canadian bacon and pancakes. Then we toured a route for wineries. We drove to the Whirlpool, and on to see the floral clock. It's beautiful, and actually keeps time.

Next we drove to Niagara-On-The-Lake; it's a very pretty little town. We went through several shops, and in one I bought a red knit hat with matching knit gloves. Back in Niagara we ate dinner at Carpaccios, an Italian restaurant, where we had grilled chicken with provolone cheese, mashed sweet potatoes and very sweet tea.

Wednesday: Breakfast was brioche and pastries that we'd bought at the Niagara-On-The-Lake bakery. Then we drove to Buffalo to the Anchor Bar, home of the Buffalo Hot Wings. But, like the Canadian wine stores, it was closed. Poor Randy!