This post will be a left turn from our usual travel posts. Life-changing seismic events have happened, and they are what I will write about today.
The first is the happy birth of our newest granddaughter, Eleanor Ann, to be called Ella. She was born just in time for the Paris Olympics three weeks early, July 24. Despite her early birth, she weighed in at 7 pounds and 3 ounces. She and her parents are well. The whole family, including her older brother and sister, are over the moon with delight at their new addition!
We brought the children to the hospital for our first look at our new grandbaby Ella.
Her siblings wanted to hold her right away.
My joy is tempered a bit with another event, though. My sister Linda passed this week, four days before what would have been her 76th birthday.
We were a family of ten children, six brothers and four sisters. Linda was nine and a half years older than I, and she doted on me. That bond has remained to this day. You can see her here, looking on attentively at the left while I sat on our oldest sister’s lap on the occasion of my first Easter.
Two of our brothers have already passed, and the last time us eight remaining siblings were together was in 2017. Unusually for us, we are not standing in this picture in age order. Linda and I are in the center.
Together, Linda and I shared many interests and our lives were similar in many ways. Like all of us sisters, we love to read. More than that, though, we both love travel, and we traveled together to China, Guatemala, and other destinations. Here we are at Pacaya Volcano in Guatemala:
I visited her in Turkey when she, her husband, and their oldest – a baby back then – lived there. Likewise they visited us in Germany during both of the times Cal was stationed there. Later, her family lived with or nearby ours for five months in Germany when her husband became ill. Despite four adults and the same number of little girls in one apartment, it worked. In retirement, she traveled often, and visited all of the countries in Europe but one. I enjoyed following her travels vicariously while I still toiled away at work.
She struggled with many health issues, though. Her life, beginning in her forties, had more than its share of grief and loss. Just a week prior to her death, I was concerned about her after a recent short hospital stay. Within a period of less than 48 hours, I was on a plane to New Orleans. Her needs were great but yet we visited and laughed and enjoyed our time together. We went out to eat for every lunch and dinner. She enjoyed her favorites: country fried steak, po-boys, and seafood. We went out to lunch with her oldest and out to supper with a special friend of hers. And, we got her nails done. She loved to feel pretty. How precious that I had that time with her, although I had hoped we would have more.
So, there is a layer of sadness mixed with joy by this wonderful new life that we all have in baby Ella. And with her, I have discovered a panacea for grief: holding a beautiful little baby by the hour as she sleeps. There’s not much that can be done except to gaze at her. Time disappears. She wakens and regards me seriously, trying to figure out just where I fit in her new life. She purses her lips into a tiny “O”, goes back to sleep.
From the day we arrive on the planet And blinkin', step into the sun There's more to see than can ever be seen More to do than can ever be done...
In the circle of life, it's the wheel of fortune It's the leap of faith, it's the band of hope 'Til we find our place on the path unwinding In the circle, the circle of life. --Sir Elton John
We left this place two years and two months ago to begin our full-time RV life, and haven’t returned. It was exactly a year after the Covid pandemic began. Cal was happy to finally be leaving the Midwest. I was happy to be off on our new adventure. Life has taken us elsewhere, but a special wedding brought us back.
The RV park in which we stayed in for the week, 370 Lakeside Park, is one that we visited many times when we first purchased our RV. It was close to our apartment. As soon as we received a wedding date, I was on the phone and booking my coveted spot.
This is in the back row of the park closest to the lake and the bike path. Score for me! I had never been so lucky as to be able to book this when we had previously stayed.
As always, the geese are here in plentiful numbers.
The wedding was for our godson, Chip, and his bride Jessica. It was held at our former church in Florissant, and the reception was in downtown St. Louis. We had a great time and wish them well in their new life.
Chip and his siblings, Shannon and Megan, grew up with our daughters.
Chip’s parent’s, Kris and Rusty, are our good friends and we were happy to see them again.
As it got dark, the lights in the reception room reflected outside the window, together with the full moon, for a surreal picture.
After the wedding events were over, we spent time with my sister Diana, my brother-in-law John, and their daughter Melissa and her family. We met Diana, John and their granddaughter at Blanchette Park, where there are some pretty gardens.
From Austin to St. Peters, we experienced spring over and over!
Clarissa, Diana and John in the gardens. It was a hot afternoon and we didn’t stay long.
And then…my blogging world met my real world. We had a lunch date with Betty and Dan Chambers. Betty has been one of my best followers on this blog, usually leaving thoughtful comments on what she has read. She also writes her own engaging blog, Chambers on the Road. I enjoy reading that, and in the past few months she has gone a step further and written an an e-book: RVing with Bikes.
We met at a little lunch restaurant, Lady Di’s, and were still visiting when the place closed for the afternoon! There was so much to talk about. We were on the patio, so we were able to stay long past their closing time. Although we had just met in person, it felt as if we had been friends for a good long while. They have kept their home in the area, but they like traveling with their RV and enjoy their e-bikes.
The week was a whirlwind of many family and friends to visit. One day I ate all three meals in restaurants or had carryout with three different groups of people. We saw many old friends from our church, and I also had a lunch with my former colleagues.
We decided to take one day out on our own to visit the aquarium and wheel at Union Station in downtown St. Louis. Both opened back when Covid was just beginning, so we were not able to go there before we left.
An immense tankaround and above us in “Shark Canyon” included sandbar sharks, sting rays, and many varieties of fish
When our kids were young, we would often visit Union Station downtown. In the early 1900’s and in war time, it was a busy rail station. Fast forward to the late 1900’s when we were often visiting, it was a shopping mall with interesting one-of-a-kind stores, train memorabilia and a fun fudge shop where the workers had a whole “makin’ the fudge” show. The historic adjoining hotel had some pretty cool architectural features that even the kids found fun. They could stand in one part of an archway, whisper into the wall, and someone on the other side of the archway could hear them.
An encounter with an octopusSeeits little eye peering at me?
It’s exciting that St. Louis has an aquarium finally, and it’s not large, but I think they did a good job. The old mall went defunct and this is an excellent alternative. I just think it’s a little overpriced, and there is no price bundling with all the other attractions outside.
We did pony up to ride the wheel, though. It was a beautiful morning and we enjoyed seeing a different kind of view over St. Louis.
This is St. Louis’s brand new soccer stadium, which wasn’t finished yet when we left.
On our last evening, Diana, John, Cal and I brought Chinese dinner over to Darlene, who is a mutual friend of all of us. She lives just two doors down from our old house. We looked around our old neighborhood and it felt strange that we no longer call it home. Our house now has play toys in the front yard, and I’m happy to hear that there is a child growing up there.
Darlene was excited. She had the Corvette refurbished that she and her husband had dated in long ago. He passed away before he could begin his retirement dream to work on it. After a year in repair, she had just received it back and was proud to show it off. It’s a beaut!
It all happened so fast, and then we were gone. I have much to blog about regarding the rest of our journey to Denver. We’ve had busy lives since we arrived, and family obligations are now calling me.
I’m going to finish my Europe blogs, mostly without interruptions, till they are finished. Already it has been over a year since we arrived in Ireland so, while I’m writing, I figure that I can relive those memories at the same time of year as they happened. What is the next country we visited? Hmmm….
In my last post, I stated that I would be telling you about our travels as we’ve moved on. I’ve decided to write about our new ebikes instead. They are a lot of fun for us and I thought I would share.
My husband, Cal, and I have loved bike riding since we were each growing up. Bikes were part of our first purchases long ago as newlyweds. Our last few years in Missouri were spent riding the mostly flat Katy Trail, a rails-to-trails that stretches all the way across Missouri. We rode the entire 225 miles round trip but took years to do it, exploring local sights and bed-and-breakfasts along the trail. The Katy Trail is really the kind of trail we are used to now.
A flashback from eleven years ago, here we are on the Katy trail
We hauled our bikes out to Rend Lake in Illinois after purchasing our RV. There was a bike trail there, but the (small) hills on the trail were more difficult than we thought they should be. I guess we’re not getting any younger! We don’t ride enough now to attain any level of fitness on them. We’ve had the bikes out for rides since then, depending where we are, but not really all that often. I can tell you, most trails in the Southwest are not like the Katy Trail. So, mostly our bikes have sat, bundled up, on the back of our RV.
Cal wanted to buy ebikes from the beginning of our RV venture. I’m not mechanically inclined and although I liked the idea, I was honestly a little afraid of riding one. I was also somewhat tired of spending bundles of money after the RV purchase, so I put him off a bit by telling him we needed to save for them. Meanwhile, he researched the future purchase and talked to people who had them in some of the parks we have been in. In January I could put it off no longer – we had plenty of money saved in the little fund that I had set aside for this purpose.
We were in agreement on the two reasons we wanted the bikes – to be able to tackle hills with ease, and to be able to go longer distances on our rides.
When the time came, he knew exactly what we needed. He ordered the bikes from Lectric and they came in two big boxes – not much assembly required! They are Lectric eBikes XP 3.0 and they fold in half. He purchased them with a package that included better headlights, seats, locks and bigger batteries. He also ordered mirrors from Amazon.
The new eBikes, with one of the boxes they came in to the side, and the old bikes in back.
I was more than a little nervous getting on my bike for the first time. Cal was very patient with me and walked me through the use of the pedal assist, the gears and the throttle. There were some weird painted lines at the end of our street which seemed tailor made for an ebike rookie like me.
Soon we were riding around the RV park, and then out the gates on our first adventure. Just five minutes away was a Marine military academy. Everyone there must have been on a winter break because the streets were deserted. We found a huge empty parking lot where I could experiment with using the throttle, and tentatively took the bike up to 18 mph. Wheeee!
It was on the way back to our park from this ride that I realized that it was one of those windy Harlingen days. In our excitement over the bikes, we had not noticed. So it was that we found our third use for ebikes: riding in the wind. With our old bikes we would definitely been fighting the strong headwinds.
We rode the country roads around Harlingen:
and, later, around the naval air station in Corpus Christi.
Both places were perfect for learning how to ride. Contrary to what I used to think, I get as much of a workout as I want by adjusting the gears. There are seven, and I have my bike set usually at five or six. The pedal assist adjusts the speed, and it helps when I’m getting started or going up a hill. There are five levels, and level two or three is fine for riding. I’ve gotten it up to to four only once. That was for a granddaddy of a hill which I pedaled up with ease.
The throttle is what helps me zip across a busy street, or catch up to Cal when I’m lagging behind. On a straightaway, it is fun to just use the throttle, sit on the bike like I’m on a scooter, and take up the speed. But I don’t do that often. It is both exhilarating and a little scary. It uses up battery life faster, too.
Harlingen and Corpus Christi are on a coastal plain, so the roads around both places are flat as a pancake. When we traveled further on, to Central Texas and Austin, we were able to see what the bikes could do on hills. Bastrop State Park had some paved trails, and I could go up the hills with no problem. In the picture below, we had just come off a pretty good down hill where the bike had gone up to 21 miles per hour.
The bikes weigh 70 pounds including the battery. They are fairly heavy to schlep in and out of our truck but so far Cal says he doesn’t think it’s too bad. I’ve helped him and I think they’re heavy. We’ll see how it goes down the road.
We found a couple of great paved bike trails in Austin: the North and the South Walnut Creek Bike Trails. The paths were wide, paved, and woodsy. You wouldn’t know you were right in the middle of the city.
I was taking some scenic photos of the Texas bluebonnets, and Cal thought it would be cute to put his bike right in the middle of them:
Another day, we went into Austin for a trail that didn’t pan out. This was exactly the way I was feeling on that trail. Only in Austin!
We did circle back on that ride to get on the trail that lines the Colorado River downtown and crosses over with bike-dedicated bridges. Although it was busier, the trail was wide and very beautiful.
It would be great to have paved trails where we are RVing so that we can ride bikes out of the park. We did not have that luxury in the places in Texas where we stayed. This is where my fellow blogger and friend, Betty Chambers, comes in. She has written an ebook “RVing With Bikes”. It shares the locations of full hookup RV parks that have easy access to bike trails right out of the park. The book is small but Betty is adding new parks to it as she finds out about them. I see a lot of value in this book as time goes on. You can find it on Amazon for the paltry sum of $2.99.
I’m going to close for now, it’s time for a bike ride. See you on the trail!
A couple of weeks ago, I listened and watched the entire oratorio of Handel’s “Messiah” presented at the Washington Cathedral in Washington, D.C. It had been quite a while since I had heard the lesser-known pieces. If you don’t think you’ve ever heard of the “Messiah”, you have probably heard of one of the songs in it: the “Hallelujah Chorus”. The music took me back to Messiahs of other years.
During the middle of my time in high school, my father became the pastor of a small rural Lutheran church in northwestern Ohio. There, we lived at least ten miles from a town of any size. In the fall of my senior year and the fall following my graduation, he and I joined 150 other singers of the regionally famous Mennonite Choral Society in Berne, Indiana for practices and a performance of the Messiah just before Christmas. I don’t know how he found out about it or even if any auditions were required. I enjoyed singing some pieces from the Messiah at my previous high school the year before, so that could have been the catalyst. He had a beautiful tenor voice, and I sang soprano.
Once every week night, he and I headed out on dark and sometimes snowy or icy farm roads over the state line to Indiana to attend practices fifteen miles away. He was a taciturn man unless there were subjects to discuss that he was passionate about, so I don’t remember our conversations on the road – or even if there were any. I just remember the pride that I, and I’m sure he, felt about being part of such a wonderful performance. Knowing my dad, he probably was very happy that I did it with him.
The choir had performed the Messiah every year since 1893. Soloists were flown in from Chicago, which was Very Big Stuff to a small-town Ohio girl like me. A grand, beautiful pipe organ and small orchestra accompanied us.
The Messiah takes words from the Bible and tells the story of the nativity and its prophecy, as well as the crucifixion of Christ and victory over death. Even if you do not believe, the music itself is dramatic, heart-stopping, and absolutely beautiful. Both the oratorio and another piece, “Water Music Suite 1”, put Handel firmly in the list of my favorite composers. George Frederic Handel was originally German but he adopted London as his home. At age 56 he composed and had the very first Messiah performance not in London but in Dublin, Ireland on April 13, 1742. Not Christmas time? No, it was originally written as an Easter Oratorio.
How the Messiah came into being at all is an interesting story. The words had been compiled and edited by a man named Charles Jennens, who gave it to his friend Handel to put into music. The well-known story is that Handel completed it in 24 days without eating or sleeping much. After the composition of the Messiah, Handel was going through a difficult time. Overworked and laden with debt, he accepted an invitation from Lord Devonshire for a ten-month stay in Dublin. He brought with him the musical score he had worked on while living in London, and the rest is history.
While we were in Dublin this summer, I looked for signs that Handel was here, and I found them. Dubliners are still proud to have hosted the first performance, all these hundreds of years later.
Before it could ever happen, Handel needed an organ to work the oratorio through, and it is reputed that St. Michan’s Church of Dublin graciously let him use theirs. The church has a long and storied history, which you can Google if you’d like. St. Michan’s is now a bustling restaurant and bar called “The Church”, and we had dinner there in what was formerly the balcony. The keyboard to the organ sits in the little alcove below the pipes. In converting to a restaurant, renovations were thoughtfully and respectfully made to keep some of the original architecture and furnishings in place.
It was interesting to think what the former parishioners would have thought about food and alcohol being served in their church!
It is still the same organ Handel played. The restaurant would like to renovate the organ. If you have $100,000 to spare, you can help them out!
The inaugural Messiah was played at the then-new Musick Hall on Fishamble Street. The original entryway is all that remains; behind it is an apartment complex.
I also found a plaque nearby that commemorates the occasion.
A open-air Messiah is performed near these gates in the Temple Bar area every year on April 13. This past year it was presented by Our Lady’s Choral Society and the Dublin Handelian Orchestra. The streets are packed and people sing along with the music.
I came full circle with Handel when we later visited London and Westminster Abbey. He is buried there, and a life-size sculpture on the wall near his grave is a memorial to him.
A fitting tribute, indeed, to a great man.
There have been other Messiahs over the years since the two years in Berne, Indiana. A few years ago, I sang with the church choir that I was a member of for its Christmas Eve service. My oldest sang the soprano solos, and the torch was passed. Over the years, my voice dropped from soprano to alto, and now a frog has moved into my throat, so I no longer sing publicly. But no performance has ever been the same to me as those in the Mennonite Church long ago.
I looked up the choir on YouTube, and found a recording of the Hallelujah Chorus from the 2015 performance. It was years after mine, but all was exactly as I remembered. I have placed a link here for your enjoyment.
Here’s an interesting piece of trivia: why does the audience stand up when the Hallelujah chorus starts? The very first audience in the recital hall on Fishamble Street did not. Almost a year later, the Messiah performed in London, and King George II was in attendance. He stood up when the Hallelujah chorus began. It is believed that he was so moved that he stood to show his reverence. Although maybe he was just stretching his legs, who knows? Because the king stood, the audience had to stand too, and audiences have done that ever since.
It’s time for me to have some eggnog, a Christmas cookie, and another listen to the Hallelujah chorus. Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! See you again in 2023.
Next time – a return to the RV’ing life in New Mexico
Our previous post, from Western Colorado, actually happened two months ago. What have we been doing since then? Getting ready for our 3 month trip to Europe!
Anyone who knows me well will not be surprised to hear of our plans. Thinking about it and saving for it kept me going through the last decade of work before retirement. In its original conception, the trip was going to be 9 months, plus Hawaii tacked on at the beginning. Why spend a lot of money flying back and forth over the ocean for a few weeks when you can see more in one trip for several months?
Then, grandchildren started arriving. COVID happened, and the purchase of our truck and 5th wheel. We had our trip to Hawaii earlier this year, so now it’s time for the other part of the plan. The trip duration has been reduced to only three months, but three months is still a blessing, and I’m glad we can go.
I started planning for the trip last fall. And then stopped for awhile. COVID variants arrived, waned, came back around again. Ukraine was invaded by Russia. Optimistically, I reserved AirBnbs and purchased plane tickets. Cal was worried about Covid resurgence. And it is resurging again. We have been vaccinated and boosted twice, and have our masks, but who knows? Neither of us could have foreseen the airport debacle that is going on right now in Europe and here in the States. But all plans are made, and we will hope for the best.
What about our truck and 5er? Our RV is going into storage on an air base. What could be more secure than that? We have a nephew in Albuquerque who is graciously letting us keep the truck in his driveway. I suspect he will be enjoying a few drives in it. When we return to the United States, we will be back to our RV’ing life the same as before.
Meanwhile, besides trip preparation, our time in Denver has been filled with the mundane stuff of everyday life. We have been happily enjoying the company of our grandchildren – and their mothers, of course!
Two days after we arrived, we had a late May snowstorm.
A bewildered buck
One place I enjoyed returning to this summer was Denver City Park. There were a couple of walks with friends. I wish I could have joined them more often. This is the kind of weather I prefer!
This year, for the first time, I had opportunity to be in the park twice in the evening for concerts by the Mile High Freedom Band:
In Ferril Lake, the fountain changes colors, and swan boats paddle around it.
As we rose north from Arizona and Utah so did the gas prices, and they peaked during our stay in Denver. We limited excursions to those around town. We were curious about a couple of brown signs we’ve seen on streets we travel often, so we followed those signs. The first was 8 miles out from our summer spot at Cherry Creek State Park to Aurora Reservoir. Despite the cool and overcast weather, people were out fishing and SUP’ing.
We discovered a great trail through the rolling prairie around the lake, and some blooms that looked a little like thistles.
Another brown sign we see on our way to City Park in Denver is for Four Mile Park. I was hoping for a hiking/biking trail until I did some research on it: it is a historical park.
Source: Fourmilepark.org
Four Mile Historical Park is four miles from the heart of downtown Denver and was a last stop on the Cherokee Trail in the pioneer days. This house is the oldest house in Denver. A cabin was built to supply travelers, and then it became an inn and stage coach stop. Women slept in the parlor and the men upstairs, and the upstairs loft was also used for dances. It finally became a gentleman’s farm for a Denver lawyer and his family, and grew to 600 acres. Now there are only twelve acres and it is in the city with apartment buildings all around the outside.
Tim, the assistant site manager, walked us through the house. We could see its transformation over the years. The first room is the old cabin, then there is a walk through the parlor, and finally into the very genteel turn-of-the century home.
The interesting thing is that the dining room and kitchen are in the basement. It’s cool down there, perfect for hot days when the wood burning stove is always lit. The stove also warms the space in winter.
Outside, there are both replica and and original buildings, barns with animals, and a boardwalk for children to sweep when they are visiting.
One thing I like about Denver is that, even when just going about running errands, I can look up and see the mountains when driving westward.
Of course, the best thing of all is the time spent with our grandchildren. Merely gazing at that perfection of a truck is happiness in spades for our grandson.
As with our trip to Hawaii, I don’t know how often I will be blogging while in Europe. We do have some places that we will be settling in for over a week, so maybe I’ll be catching up then.
Do you follow Facebook? If so, Twosna Travels is there, and a search on the name will find me. I may be more likely to post random photos there.
First stop – Belfast, Ireland. Until then: goodbye, slán, tschüss, arrivederci, antio sas!
I met her when I was 20, the year before I married her son, Cal. I was in the Army and on my way to Germany from Ft. Hood, Texas. Marriage wasn’t yet in our plans, but it was time to meet the family in Cloquet, Minnesota. She was still married to my boyfriend’s father, and our visit necessitated a large family gathering to the home. This included aunts and uncles and some cousins, the siblings and a couple of nieces, and friends from high school that she managed to find. She loved a family gathering and had lots of food ready for everyone. We married a year later. Her name was Luella, but I called her Mom. My mother had always called her mother-in-law “Mother”, and I saw no reason not to do the same.
Later, after she divorced, life was in a tiny apartment. She supported herself by cleaning at a motel and for people’s homes, and regaled us with stories of things she found in the rooms she cleaned. Once, while staying with her during this time, she made the biggest buttermilk pancakes I had ever seen in my life to that point, the size of a dinner plate.
The happiest years for her were after her remarriage. She married a man named Paul, and began being known as “Grandma B” because no one could pronounce Grandpa Paul’s Macedonian last name. Together they had a wonderful life in a tiny house in the Minnesota countryside. They planted a garden and canned their produce to last for the whole winter. They visited and lunched with their many friends, and had family over often. Over the years, their walls became filled with her cross stitched pictures which were always framed by Paul with wood he had laying around in his barn. Paul would cut out wood crafts and she would paint them. She also embroidered, quilted, and crocheted. She would go to rummage sales and boast about what good deals she received – stacks of vintage material for a dollar that would go into her quilts, embroidery, craft, and household items, books, and whatever she thought someone else might need.
Mom and Paul. Mom would have just taken a break from preparing Christmas dinner. She made the quilt behind the couch, the clothes that the dolls are wearing, and the apron she has on.
Mom B was a cross stitcher and so am I. I would bring my latest project to show her – usually the same project because I was so slow – and she would show me all of the things she was working on, something I looked forward to. We also shared a love of reading – especially non-fiction on her part – and we’d discuss the latest book she’d read, and she always had several to give me.
She was a giver. She shared their canned and baked goods, garden produce, crafts, and rummage sale finds not only with us but with family, friends, and anyone who had done her a good deed. And she was a giver of love. There was so much love to go around in that little house. Our girls loved going to “Grandma B’s and Grandpa Paul’s” house. They’d bury themselves in her craft room. One cold winter day, Mom and Paul built a big bonfire out in the snow, and we roasted marshmallows. Grandma B had Tupperware containers of homemade goodies to eat, and “pop” to drink from the refrigerator. There were hours of Rummikub played at their table with both of them, and they were tough to beat.
After Paul died, she moved into a retirement home near where she had been raised, in Duluth Heights, and made many new friends. She volunteered for the activities department. She slowed, and finally stopped, her crafting. Last summer she was no longer reading her books. With her usual efficiency, she gave away a lot of what she had left over the ten years she lived there. If I told her I liked something, she’d then want to give it to me. When her daughter came to clean out her apartment, the cupboards were bare. She had even either given away many of the dishes, or put them in a rummage sale. She took care of the things in her life so that no one else would have much to do.
Our last visit with Mom in August, 2021
My own mother was 44 years old when I was born. She spent the last several years of her life with dementia before she passed. Mom B was only 22 when Cal was born, so I enjoyed many more years with her after my own mother passed. Although I had given her the title upon my marriage, she truly became my Mom with the love that she gave to me, and so I have been blessed with two wonderful mothers.
Life never brought us to the Duluth area to live, so she is not someone I ever knew on a day to day basis. Once our daughters were born, we focused on getting them up to Minnesota at least every eighteen months or so. There would be a summer visit, and then a winter visit. During most of their childhood years, the trip to visit her was a twelve hour drive for us. They were never far from her thoughts. She made stuffed animals with elaborate clothing for them, and cross stitch pictures for their rooms. Letters and packages were always going back and forth. After each visit she would load them up with more “stuff”- handmade items and rummage sale finds for them, baked and canned goods for all of us, including her famous cinnamon rolls. There would even be a frozen pie in a rummage sale pie pan which we could keep, and which we hurriedly had to get in the oven once we got home.
Life is seldom perfect, and it was not for Mom. She had a hardscrabble upbringing and bore six children at a young age. She was a young Army wife who often lived far from the home and family that she loved. She struggled with mental illness, the worst times being prior to her marriage to Paul, and did not always receive the help or consideration that she should’ve had. The divorce from her first husband was rancorous. All of that left marks not only on her but on the people she loved.
Yet she didn’t wear these scars on her sleeve. Instead, she focused on giving her love in many forms, especially to her grandchildren. She loved every one of her fifteen grandchildren and nineteen great grandchildren, but the ones that she was able to see and communicate with regularly were most special to her. They loved her in return. In her example, I have learned what kind of grandmother I want to be.
Mom B passed on St. Patrick’s Day of this year, and her funeral was this weekend. It was a celebration of her life, and four of her grandchildren stood up to say what she had meant to them. The visit to Duluth was an occasion for Cal and I to have all of our own family together. We visited favorite places and shared memories with other family members. We went with our family, including our grandchildren, to Canal Park. That is a place we have enjoyed visiting with every trip over the years, and it feels that the torch has been passed. The grandparents are all gone, and now we are the elder generation. It was bittersweet, because I don’t know when or if we will ever have this time all together in that place again.
Our family at Canal Park, Duluth, minus Cal – the photographer
Thanks for the memories, Mom. Rest in peace knowing you were appreciated and so, so loved.
We have been in Denver for over two months and it’s been eventful and fun. Of course, one of the most exciting events has been the birth of our cute and adorable granddaughter, Josie. She is loved by her mothers, her big brother Teddy, and of course, us! We have also assisted with their move to a new house.
Denver’s commercial RV parks did not work out for us, so we have been residents of two different state parks for the summer: Cherry Creek and Chatfield. There is a two week limit to a stay, so after two weeks, off to the other park we go. It seems crazy, and it’s been interesting telling people I live in a state park. But it has worked for us. Each time we return to the parks, we go to a different site, and we’ve liked having that changing perspective all summer.
Cherry Creek State Park
Cherry Creek is very close to our family. It’s also closest to the places we have established for medical and dental care, and all of the associated places one needs to go. It’s an urban park, with the Denver suburbs all around it. This is very handy on the one hand, but on the other, it makes for more noise and less of an “out there” natural experience. On our second rotation to the park, it began being populated by lots of bugs – mostly miller moths and mosquitos. I was very happy I was staying at my daughter’s house, waiting for the birth of her daughter. A medical technician I talked to one day had this to say: “I tell my friends that if they are new to camping, or have new equipment to check out and set up, Cherry Creek is good for a night or two”. It’s also great for bike riders, boaters, walking, being close to the city of Denver, and to have a place to stay for the summer. We’ve seen animals – mostly deer, but also coyote, squirrels, rabbits, and different birds.
We had a flock of chattering magpies at our second site. I could hear them hopping around on the top of the RV.
These flowers came into bloom along the roadside and stayed in bloom for the summer.
On a hike through the wetlands area, this burn area had its own beauty.
Another hike, this time along the dam.
Our grandson enjoyed the beach.
Our second site at Cherry Creek
Chatfield State Park
We’ve come to look forward to our stays at Chatfield. It is a half hour away from Cherry Creek and closer to the foothills of the Front Range of the Rockies. It’s also a half hour away from our family, and just about the same distance from anything we need to do, but we relax and feel like we’re more in nature. On our first stay we were overlooking the lake and the marina. It was fun to watch all the activity on the lake from a distance – boats launching in and out of the water, sailboaters readying their sails and doing evening laps around the lake, and waterskiers having a grand time. But we have come to prefer the sites on the back loop, in the pine trees, looking at the foothills. We see deer going through our site so often that I no longer run for the camera when I see one. One day, we came back after being out for a bike ride, and a doe and her two fawns were calmly having their lunch, unperturbed that we had arrived. Chatfield is a great place to head out for all kinds of excursions into the foothills and mountains. It’s a very photogenic place – I have way too many pictures!
The “natural” part of our view from our first site
Chatfield Dam is connected to the South Platte River and protects the area from flooding.
We took a bike ride up to the top of the dam…
…got a great view of Denver from there…
…and were able to see look over at our site and the marina for a rare view.
The evening skies are ever changing
Our second site at Chatfield, one of our favorites for the summer
Chatfield has a hot air balloon launch and the balloons have become a regular sight.
One of the visitors to our site
Some of the residents of the prairie dog village outside Chatfield’s gate
We have also enjoyed having several human visitors this summer:
Kris, Rusty and Bailey were our first visitors. Bailey had a lot of fun chasing sticks in (the very cold) Cherry Creek.
We had a quick but enjoyable evening visit with my sister and brother-in-law, Gloria and Chuck.
Our daughter-in-law’s brother, Emmett, came to visit during the longest hail storm ever
Next time – one of our excursions. Which one? Hmmm…
Almost 28 years ago we arrived in St. Louis Lambert Airport on a hot and muggy day in June, our two little girls in tow, on a flight from Frankfurt, Germany. It was to be Cal’s last military assignment. We had family here, my two sisters and their families. For a time my mother lived here too, several years in a nursing home until she passed. We were a cross roads for other family members coming through town. The girls had older cousins and there were family gatherings and all of life’s busy-ness. When we arrived, Cal and I had not lived anywhere in our lives much longer than 5 years, and we were in our mid-30’s. We are both nomadic people at heart; it boggles both of our minds that we stayed here this long. But there were kids to raise, educations to finish, and careers to maintain. Now the girls are grown and gone, living in other cities. Most of our extended family have left too except for one of my sisters, her husband, and her daughter, husband and kids.
I have always loved the St. Louis area. My sister Diana moved here in the late sixties and it was so exciting to visit her, two brothers who were also here for awhile, and the “big city” from my small-town home in Ohio. Although I’m ready to move on now, I thought I’d leave a list of our favorite places. St. Louis is mostly known for the Arch, pictured at top. That’s been a great place to visit but not on our top 10. Without further ado:
#10–St. Charles County Parks, and St. Peters City Parks. This was a new discovery in the past year when we had our apartment here. Our impression of this area “west of the Missouri river” was that of burgeoning subdivisions, chain stores and restaurants, and way too much suburban spread. What we did not know was how St. Peters has created wonderful walking paths in and among the housing, through woods and prairies and around little lakes, and sometimes we could walk or ride a bike without an awareness that civilization was close by. Even with COVID and more people wanting to get outside, we were able to find paths that were not crowded. Many county parks have been created by original family farms left to the county for that purpose, with more miles of trails and some interesting things to see.
#9–Ice Cream! Ted Drewes, of course! Then there is Fritz’s, and Doozle’s, and Skeeter’s. I know, it’s more than one. But they all make a mighty fine concrete, especially hot fudge and peanut butter flavor.
#8–Wineries–Hands down for us, Montel Winery in Augusta. Take a pretty day, a scenic drive down Route 94, then have some lunch on their patio overlooking the valley. All of that would be wonderful, but there are several great wines to go along with it. And maybe some live music too. We’ve whiled away many happy hours here.
#7–Restaurants–Many more than one here, too, and the favorites have changed over the years. For Chinese dine-in and dim sum – Lulu’s in University City. Chinese takeout – a new favorite, China King in St. Peter’s. Mexican – Casa Juarez in Maryland Heights, Casa Mia in St. Peters, and for mariachi and margaritas, El Maguey in Bridgeton. Gyros – Sweet Spot, Bridgeton. Barbeque – Sugarfire both in Olivette and in St. Charles, and Pappy’s downtown and (new) in St. Peters. Pizza – Pantera’s in O’Fallon and Racanelli’s in St. Peters (you won’t find us eating “St. Louis style” pizza). Best for lunch – Joe Fassi’s on the Hill, and Gioa’s Deli both on the Hill and in Creve Coeur. Now you’ll have to excuse me, I think I need a lunch break….
#6–Driving the River Road from Alton to Pere Marquette, IL has given us so many wonderful memories. The bluffs on the Mississippi River are imposing and tower over the road. Barges are moving their loads up and down the river and there are yacht parties and waterskiers. There is hiking and perhaps a picnic lunch upon arrival at Pere Marquette. Or lunch in a restaurant overlooking the river in Grafton, or at Fin Inn when we had kids, where they could view the fish in the tanks right at the table. Also some antique shopping in Grafton. But the primary focus of this trip for us was usually apple picking near Grafton, usually on Labor Day Monday, and we would patronize the small orchards. These have all but disappeared now, so we go to Eckert’s and pick the Jonathan variety of apples. Then put the car on a ferry to go home. A free ferry goes over the Illinois River to Calhoun County, where we could buy peaches in August, and enjoy the hilly drive through the countryside. Then another ferry over the Mississippi to St. Charles County.
#5–The Bluff Rd, also in Illinois, and this one is Cal’s choice because this was his favorite scenic motorcycle ride along the bluffs south from the bridge coming from I255. There was an area where there were old open mines above the road, and fresh cool air would come pouring out. He would stop in Prairie du Rocher for lunch at Lisa’s Market Street Grill. It also makes a great afternoon drive in the car. There are a couple of hiking trails along the way and Ft. Prairie Du Rocher to see. A close second favorite drive for him was on Highway 94 north of St. Charles.
#4–A sneak peak to #3 will show our favorite, Forest Park. The Muny, which is in Forest Park, is in a category all its own. It’s America’s largest outdoor theatre and we have seen numerous musicals there. It makes for magical summer nights. We would pay for seats when there was a children’s musical, but when the girls were older they and I would pick up supper somewhere and sit in line for hours for the free seats. And then, we went back to paying for seats because after all, who wants to sit in the summer heat 2 hours to use binoculars for the show? But it was all fun. Close mentions for entertainment in Forest Park: the Shakespeare Festival which takes place before the Muny opens, and the St. Louis Symphony concert on Art Hill in September.
#3–Forest Park and this is huge but if I listed everything it would take up my top 10. The Art Museum, the Science Center, the Zoo, the beauty of the park in all seasons, the trails for biking and hiking.
#2–After seeing the pictures above, local St. Louisans will know the #2 top spot, Missouri Botanical Gardens. It is a place of beauty in all seasons. We have been to other gardens all around the US and nothing ever compares. The first picture I posted is from a postcard I sent my parents way back in 1975 when I was here visiting. As you can see by comparing it to the next one, they’ve added many improvements in the years since then. The second is a more recent postcard and shows the “onions” in the water from the Chihuly glass exhibit that was a favorite a few years ago. The onions became a permanent fixture, as did the “sunshine” glass in the next picture in the Rose Garden. We work off all of the benefits from walking through the garden by visiting Joe Fassi’s, as noted in #7.
#1–The honor goes to the Katy Trail, and no one who knows us would be surprised. The Katy Trail runs 240 miles across Missouri and we have ridden all of it, round trip, over a period of years. We enjoyed incredible scenery, bed and breakfasts, historic hotels, and local restaurants, funky attractions, the fun of discovering the state mile by mile, and have a bushel of incredible memories. Much of it goes right through the St. Louis area so we have walked or biked some sections many times.
A huge tip of the hat goes to both Atonement and Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Churches, who provided us with spiritual nourishment, friendship and support, and became our community.
Thanks for the memories, St. Louis.
And now, the trip begins. We are on the road, and my next posts will be from our new journey.
As Labor Day comes to a close, so does the summer of 2020. If you’ve followed the news through this historic summer, you know it hasn’t been exactly uplifting. So we must all try to stay uplifted in our own lives. Having Frodo and Sam has helped to do that for us. From June all the way through the end of last month, we were out in the RV just about every other weekend. When we’re not there, it gives us something to look forward to. When we’ve been out, we’ve found respite from the times we’ve been living in.
We’ve been to our local 370 Lakeside RV park three times and though not woodsy or particularly scenic, I’ve enjoyed the wetlands, the birds, and the bike trail around the lake. It’s close to home so it’s been a good place to learn our new RV’ing skills. We had epic rainstorms on two of our Saturday nights and on Sunday morning of the last one, the entire picnic pad at our site was a miniature lake–and the only one in the park to still be wet! We were really glad that our tenting days are over. The next pictures are from our various weekends there.
Geese at dawnThe early bird catches the rainbowBlue heron in the wetlandsA goose in our backyard for the entire weekendSeen on the bike trail
There was also an Onandaga State Park weekend with some friends of ours, Kris and Rusty Thompson, and their granddaughter, Alexandra. We were able to share a family site, thank you very much to them. When you have a kid around, it’s absolutely obligatory to have a campfire. When it’s 95 degrees out even at dusk, though, what do you do? Well, if you’re RV’ing, you have can use an electrical outlet to have your fan going!
Social distancing while enjoying the fire…and the fan.
Part of what made Onandaga fun was this manic cardinal who kept attacking our window. He returned often through the weekend. It wasn’t the first time we’ve seen this behavior in a cardinal, and I did feel a little sorry for the poor confused little guy.
Our family campsite at Onandaga
We stayed at another state park, Cuivre River, which is a park we had tented with our girls a couple of times back in the day. It was a different business altogether driving the long narrow road through the park with a 34 foot RV. Together with a tightly packed campground, it wasn’t our favorite stay of the summer, but we did enjoy two great hikes with trailheads just off the RV camping area. One was a prairie walk and the flowers were in bloom. These pictures are from those hikes, and the last picture is from the one commercial RV park we stayed at, Lazy Day.
Morning on the prairie
Hiking through the tall prairie grass
We were on a trail aptly called “Mossy Trail”.Campsite at Cuivre River, a challenge for leveling..complete with a great big stump!Here we are!An Ozark fishing pond
With our successful home sale and move to the apartment, all systems were go. I looked forward to starting to plan a trip to Hawaii and other international travel for the next year. We were all settled in for just two weeks when COVID 19 became a reality in everyone’s life. My company told everyone to go home, work remotely, and not come back to the office. The gym that I had just joined closed down. And it wasn’t long before Hawaii mandated a two week quarantine for anyone arriving. We enjoyed Saturday walks and bike rides in various parks which, Cal being retired, he was enjoying every day. With COVID isolation, getting outside was the only thing to do. I had started wondering if we were going to be able to travel over any ocean the following year. A flight to Denver to see our grandson was canceled. And so was our family reunion planned for Washington state in July.
After a few weeks, we noticed an RV motorhome in the parking lot behind us on Thursday afternoons. On Friday morning it was gone, only to return again on Sunday, and then disappear. An idea began to germinate. What if…?
I started seeing Cal spending a lot of time on his notepad researching RV’s and Ford trucks. We both came around to the idea, he sooner than I, that an RV would put us in our own little bubble so we could keep traveling. He did the research, took me out to see his favorites, we had endless “what if” discussions, and in May we found ourselves to be the proud owners of a Montana High Country 5th wheel and a Ford Super Duty 350 truck. Frodo is the truck, and Samwise Gamgee is the “5er” (RV lingo for our 5th wheel) following him along, just like in the Lord of the Rings ( We were fans of the book before the movie ever came out, by the way).
It may have seemed like a sudden, impetuous move. But it was an idea we had played around with for years. We used to go to one or two RV shows a year until we pretty much decided what we wanted. I have nine siblings and 3 of them have had RVs, two of them living the life full-time and now on the other side of it, so we’ve had many years to observe, discuss and plan. It just wasn’t supposed to happen this soon. Life has a way of planning things for you when you least expect it, right? And who could’ve expected the COVID pandemic?
Here are some views from the inside:
Our new living room/dining room/kitchen comboLooking back towards the door and the bedroomStraight ahead, that’s a picture window to the side of the king-size bed. But from the outside, it doesn’t look like a window. If you look at the picture of the RV, it’s where “Montana” is splashed across the front. At first it was a drawback for us, but now we think it’s awesome. We can sit on the bed and have a bird’s -eye view of the kingdom.Our view from the living room window, which is even better in the back row of the park.
Right now there is no better feeling than getting Sam all set up and unhooked from Frodo, and stepping into that RV for the first time on a Friday afternoon. And we’re always sorry to leave on Sunday. There’s no place like Sam!
Twosna Travels 