A HUGE THANK YOU To Amtrak for the Free trip!
When I first won the trip from Amtrak, it became a huge cluster of misfortunes that made it impossible for me to adhere to the rules so that I could accept the prize.
The basic thing was that I could not travel on the train to anywhere without 24 hour layovers, bus transfers and being stuck in a seat for the whole trip for days at a time. That is something I am sure all of you know I cannot do.
So, I tried to turn down the prize. When I entered, I was in good health and able to deal with the physical aspects of traveling on the train. But, now it was impossible. But, Amtrak would not have it. “You won, and you are going on a trip!” was what the coordinator said! And I cannot thank her enough for all her help in getting us to Ohio to see our daughter Sarah, her husband and all the In-laws including Sarah’s new niece, Jaidyn. Oh, what a doll she is!
Me and Jaidyn, I heard and FELT that girlfriend!
We had a blast when we got to meet Michaels Sisters, mom, brother in law and niece at a restaurant called “Hoggy’s” near Columbus. I have to say the food was fabulous and so was meeting everyone. I could not eat all that I got and the 3 tiered platter of appetizers full of wings, onion rings, and everything else you can think of was off limits if I was going to be able to even have any room for lunch! It was so good and had to take home a “piggy bag.”
We had a lot of fun since we were celebrating Michael’s birthday, except when Michael had the temper tantrum because he did not want anyone singing happy birthday to him. Gee, spoil all our fun! You know it was all about us and our fun…not yours! I know how you feel though, I hate it too!
Then of course we had to go shopping afterwards to burn off all that food! I am glad Sarah insisted because I found a beautiful denim skirt that Papa bought me for an early birthday present. Right now I cannot wear pants or anything that rubs against my leg because it causes extreme burning pain so finding a cool casual skirt that was my style and was soft on my leg was a huge score! I love it, thanks Sarah for forcing us to shop and a huge thanks to Papa for the birthday gift!
The drive was wonderful especially since all the leaves were turning for fall. I tried to get as many pictures as I could as we sped through the back roads through the car window. But, if it was not for Sarah and Papa, I would not have gotten a lot of these great pictures of the fall colors. I wanted to stop several times, but, Michael was bound and determined to get to Columbus in record time!
Not bad for going down the road at 60 mph! It was just
beautiful in so many places! I have so many more I could show you!
What I forgot about living in West Virginia and the Ohio area was how people kept there lawns and gardens so lush and green. Not a brown blade anywhere! It brought back the memories of the many older neighbors where I use to live and how they were always coming out to yell at us to “Stay off the grass!”
We got to go to a auction sponsered by a fund raiser the day after we got there. This was one thing I wanted to do since Sarah is always telling me how much she loves going and all the good deals she gets. But, I was a stick in the mud and not much fun since it was freezing cold and I ended up having a low sugar. So, we did not stay the whole time. We did see some beautiful wooden inlaid boxes I thought I would try to bid on, but, lost. I could not understand ONE WORD that auctioneer was saying! I would have gone up to 60 dollars for the big one that sold for 55! It just happened so fast and had no idea what the price was at! So, I thought I would try to get the smaller one. I was ready, Michael was telling me the price from behind me as the auctioneer was rambling in a foreign language. I bid 30, 40, then it went to 50 and I was…NO WAY! Not when the bigger one that was 3 times larger sold for $55!! I was surprised at how high things cost and Michael told me that when it is for a fundraiser, they always pay much more. I guess it was not the right one for us to attend. But, it was the only one they were having while we were visiting and it was quite the adventure!
It is just all confusing as they ramble, and the price he yells out is high, then low, then high..then I DON’T KNOW!
I guess I have to attend them more often so I can get the hang of it. There was some beautiful handcrafted furniture and even wooden trunks that are my favorite things and would love to have been able to afford! Shoot, then I would have to ship it. I will just have to go to the auctions around here and see what they have!
We did a lot of driving, and visited some great restaurants, Amish owned eateries. We also saw a LOT of buggies and Amish folks around. Very quaint. It makes me feel that they are responsible for keeping the country side so beautiful.
I was hoping to get more pictures of the Amish Buggies and especially some sites around Berlin, but, time was not on our side. Too much driving and legs that don't cooperate!
But, did you know they have little carports at the Wal-Marts so the Amish can park their buggies?
But, we also spent a lot of time relaxing, especially since my legs has swelled up to the size of Evergreen Tree Trunks! So, trying to keep them up was a must. They actually did not loose the water until a couple weeks after getting home!
It really made traveling very uncomfortable, but, I was determined not to let it spoil the good time I was wanting to have.
Sarah and Michael came by very early the next morning.
Notice the heating pad on my legs! LOL!
Heck, it was family so we were in no hurry to get dressed,
besides, I can't hurry if my life depended on it!
It was a great bed that we could either make hard or soft on each side, depending on what we liked. Papa liked it soft and I liked it hard. It was more comfortable then MY OWN bed!
The hotel was fabulous. We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn. We had to pay for it, but, we wanted a nice place with an indoor pool. When we went swimming it was wonderful. My body felt so good being weightless. And it seemed all the swelling caused my legs to insist on floating! It was hilarious to try and tread water only to have my legs keep floating up to the surface even though I tried my best to keep them down. But, it was worth staying there and joining their rewards program. We were able to accumulate 2 free nights from just this trip! The room and service was 3 star in my book. Though it was only a 2 star hotel. The room was HUGE! As well as the king sized bed that had options on how hard or soft you wanted your side to be.
I loved my new bathing suit, it actually looked good on me and was so comfortable. So glad I bought it. If you missed that post, you should see it. I got it for a great price and they have many great styles. Check out this post here: http://cusmile2day.blogspot.com/2009/05/my-review.html
Though, I really want one like Sarah had! Hers was a two piece and very stylish. Since swimming those few times, it has made me want to go all the time. It is so good for me and feels wonderful! I can get my exercise without going through so much pain! I wish we had an indoor pool here in our community association, but, both pools are outdoors and closed down for the season. Guess I will just have to strike it rich and build one in the house! It is the best exercise for me and makes me pain free just floating weightlessly on the top of the water. I REALLY want one! We do have a community pool in town. But, no car. Even if I had a car I cannot drive. I guess I just have to strike it rich and build it myself!
The trip was a great success, even with the few “hiccups” we had to experience. One being when the elevator went out and we were stranded on the 3rd floor since they were not going to get the part in for another 36 hours! (No, they did NOT even have a service elevator!) But, they carried down Gaget (My HUGE mobility scooter) and put us down on the first floor. Then when it got fixed they moved us back. Then we had them double charging us and putting all our money on hold, along with the car rental. But, that too got fixed. It seemed that even the airlines were bound and determined to mess things up, but, they couldn’t ruin a trip that meant the world to us. Poor Gaget, they lost or broke off her bumper, and with the way I drive, she got a crack in her front panel! Reminds me that I need to get the info so they (Airlines) can replace it. They even confiscated Papa's favorite Peanut butter sauce he got at the Amish Deli that he LOVES at the security gate. Oh, he was upset! He loves that stuff since Sarah and Michael sent it to us last Christmas.
It was so good to see the North-east again after a lifetime of being away and even better to meet my daughters new family. I promised myself that I would not go my kids lifetime without meeting their in-laws. My parents have never meet my husbands parents and we have been married over 20 years now. I don’t think they have ever even spoken to one another. And even though Sarah and her family live so far away, there is no reason why we could not eventually make it happen. I am so happy I did. Now when Sally and I email each other, we know each other more intimately which will help us to become closer. It is a wonderful feeling when your family grows by leaps and bounds! And very soon, Paula, Sarah’s sister in law will be adding another new member!
HORRIBLE picture of me, but, this is a good indication of how much the cats missed us! These two DO NOT get along or get within a few feet of eachother much less next to one another because they needed their loving the morning after we got home. Ashly never comes in since Kitty chases her away in the mornings, but, this day Ashley was not letting us out of her site and would not stop crawling all over us as well as Kitty. I think they are now a bit more tolerant of each other and willing to share us. I hope they know how much we missed them too. Especially when I am going to post such a horrible picture of me so everyone can see how attached they were to us when we got home. Boy, you should have heard them yelling for us when we came through the door! They were so happy we were home!
It is hard to have all the kids so far away now. But, I will be working hard so that we can travel to see them more often. Yes it is next to impossible when I am not working or making money, but, where there is a way, Michele always finds it. There is hope that I will be able to get some treatment that will make me much better after the beginning of the year. But, that is another post. Both Greg and I want to be traveling, by ground that is! But, we are waiting for a Hybrid RV! So, it might be a while. Plus I have to make it rich first. That is coming up, I just know it!
Our trip was quite the adventure and I have a couple more posts to make about it. One is about meeting someone on our return trip. You never know who you are going to meet or when you do meet them, who they really are!! Little did I know what a special person she was until I decided to “Google” her. So, be sure to look for this story coming up.
Also coming up is Mason and his race at the PAC-10 Cross Country Meet in Long Beach. His misfortune while he was in California when somebody decided to rip off the catylitic converter off his car that is costing him his savings to go to Japan to fix. ($1000) This will be a rant I am sure!!
Also I have some knitting and jewelry I have finished and getting ready to post and sell. Plus a giveaway! I will also be taking special orders if folks want things made in particular colors, or certain types of jewelry made. Stay tuned as I get myself together as well as my extremely slow computer that is moving about as slow as I am, to get these things done.
I am also trying to work on my blog to add more functions to it. But, it is a “Teaching myself how to do it” process so it is taking some time. But, hopefully you will be able to navigate much better to see my projects, be able to buy them, watch videos, etc. Wish me luck!
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