Trip prep and departure for our ‘Oregon Trail’ trip.
(posted from Southfield, MI)
(This post covers 9-21 August, 2009)
-------------------------------------------------------
Friday, 21 August-
Today we ran some errands then again hit the local library. Labashi continues with the Oregon Trail books and I spent my time researching things to see in Missouri (the Oregon Trail starts in Independence, Missouri) for our trip.
Late in the day I took my five-miler. The family watched a movie but I spent the evening catching up the blog.
------------------------------------------------------
Thursday, 20 August-
Labashi and I went shopping for a pillow for Mom and found the ‘right’ one at Target. We had lunch at Fuddrucker’s in the area, then spent the afternoon at the library. Labashi picked out wonderful books of old photos of the Oregon Trail to peruse and I read through back issues of MacWorld magazine.
Back home I washed Mom’s car and the van. Then I walked the five-mile Lahser Loop. I just arrived home as Labashi and her cousin decided to go for a walk so I accompanied them, tuckering myself out. I slept GREAT.
-------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, 19 August-
Today I ran some errands at the local Meijers and then washed Dad’s car for our main task of the day. In the afternoon we drove to the airport to pick up Labashi’s cousin, who had flown in from Belgium.
After settling her in at home, we all went out to supper at a local Mexican restaurant. I laugh whenever I see this place. It’s called ‘El Nibble Nook’. Apparently it started out as a hamburger restaurant in the Fifties and was known as the ‘Nibble Nook’. And when it transitioned to a Mexican restaurant they had a problem—lose the historic name or ‘mexicanize’ it. “El Nibble Nook” is the hilarious result.
I was actually looking forward to going to El Nibble Nook. On a previous visit I had seen a newspaper article about a search for the best margarita in Detroit (in honor of Cinco de Mayo) and El Nibble Nook was a top contender.
Though Labashi and I are still on a low-carb diet, we made an exception and had several of the very excellent Ultimate Margaritas.
Back home I decided I’d walk off the effects and did my regular five-mile loop.
-------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, 18 August-
I spent the ‘working’ portion of the day reviewing final accounting info for the estate for our lawyer. I was happy to break from that for my new five-mile route late in the day.
-------------------------------------------------------
Monday, 17 August-
Ahh, vacation… that’s nice. I spent an hour or so doing routine checks on Mom and Dad’s PCs, then ran some errands at the local Meijers. Later in the day I went to Best Buy to look at Mac accessories and enjoyed playing with the 24” iMac. That’s likely to be our next desktop.
By mid-afternoon I needed a walk. I again did the Starbucks-Lahser Loop for five miles.
That evening we watched ‘Finding Neverland’ with Johnny Depp (one of Labashi’s favorite actors). That was surprisingly good.
--------------------------------------------------------
Sunday, 16 August-
We spent today driving the 500 miles to Labashi’s parents’ home near Detroit. The temperature was around 90 but we did fine (the van doesn’t have air conditioning) as we cruised along listening to several episodes of a new podcast for us--- ‘RadioLab’ from New York Public Radio.
After supper I was feeling a bit ‘wired’ from the trip so walked to the local Starbucks for an iced tea, then walked what I call the ‘Lahser Loop’, to total five miles of walking. That was a big help for sleeping.
--------------------------------------------------------
Saturday, 15 August-
We spent all day today loading the van for our departure tomorrow.
--------------------------------------------------------
Friday, 14 August-
Today we continued doing little trip-prep items. I removed the heavy trailer hitch, put the KLR in the barn and spent what seemed like a long time printing off the latest wi-fi hotspots for each state we’ll be visiting (from wififreespots.com) and the free campground details (from freecampgrounds.com).
I continue reading about the fur trade after having finally finished ‘Tales of Old Florida’. I’ve been reading the latter for months, just a little at a time. It’s a wonderful collection of articles from turn-of-the-century outdoors magazines. I loved visualizing what it was like to travel in Florida in the 1870s to the 1920’s. Most of the articles were from New York and New England sporting writers. They’d take the train to Jacksonville, then either take a steamer inland up the St. John River or down the coast. The down-the-coast run was to Saint Augustine, Miami, and Key West.
I also loved seeing the old photos, particularly of the private sailboats. I’d love to have made the journey from Miami to the Keys, then along Cape Sable to Marco and on around to Fort Myers. I really, really need to spend more time in Florida…..
---------------------------------------------------------
Thursday, 13 August-
Today Labashi and I drove to Chambersburg to see a sell-your-house and staging presentation. The retirement villages are smart to assist seniors in selling their homes and we wanted to see how to help Labashi’s parents when the time comes.
On the way home we had lunch at Caledonia Bistro. We like this little place. We generally go there on non-prime hours and generally have the place to ourselves.
Back home I followed the mower around for two hours and that was plenty of exercise for the day.
We had no movie tonight. I worked on email then did a few SearchTempest searches of Craigslist.
----------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, 12 August-
I began reading up on the Oregon Trail in a wonderful book about the fur trade we bought two summers ago on our north-of-Lake-Superior trip. This is helping establish the general outline of our trip. I also charged up all the rechargeable batteries for the trip.
That afternoon we met with the elder-law lawyer and had our questions answered about the contracts used by retirement communities.
Late in the afternoon we had an early supper at Fuddruckers before returning home in time for my six-mile loop. Afterwards we watched Closer 3.5.3, the end of Season Three.
----------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, 11 August-
Today I worked on good ol’ circuit 25, the one that has tripped mysteriously while we’re away. I installed our new pole light and found bad ground connections in the outlet above Labashi’s mud-room worktable.
One of the rear windows in Mocha Joe has a bit of a transparency problem. The darkening (window tint) film I had applied years ago seems to have deteriorated and now the view through the window is wavy. It’s the same film as the other windows and they currently show no problem but if it spreads to the others, I’ll have to decide whether to have them re-done. While checking out the window problem I went ahead and took off the screens and washed both the windows and screens in preparation for our next trip.
Late in the day I walked my six-mile loop, then we watched Closer 3.4.1 and 3.4.2.
----------------------------------------------------------
Monday, 10 August-
Today was very hot and sticky—93 with a dewpoint around 70. I spent the morning on the web, then went to my doctor’s appointment. I’ve decided to get off the Lipitor prescription to see how that goes. The idea started simply enough. I bought some Fresca before noticing it contains grapefruit juice (which Lipitor patients can’t have). With the diet changes and the walking, it occurred to me I might be able to get off the Lipitor entirely and then could have Fresca and any other grapefruit I wanted.
Today the doctor and I reviewed my blood test results and determined I’d give it a try for the next several months, then have another test.
Back home I moved Labashi’s email addresses to the Mac using vcards (that was easy!) and took care of Netflix and cable and internet bills.
That evening I walked my six-mile loop. I’m looking forward to a break from the six-milers...
-----------------------------------------------------------
Sunday, 9 August-
I spent much of this morning updating the blog and then trying to determine if the retirement communities we are considering for Labashi’s parents are financially stable. I didn’t really have much luck at it—mostly because the available statements are too old. But now I know I want to see the most-current statements.
I also provided comments to Labashi on her prep document for an upcoming meeting with an elder-law attorney.
In the afternoon I rode the Concours to the Tollgate Starbucks for my regular iced-tea and Times before coming home to walk my 6-mile loop.
That evening we watched MI-5 1.3.6 and Wonderfalls 1.1.4.
************* END OF POST ************
(posted from Southfield, MI)
(This post covers 9-21 August, 2009)
-------------------------------------------------------
Friday, 21 August-
Today we ran some errands then again hit the local library. Labashi continues with the Oregon Trail books and I spent my time researching things to see in Missouri (the Oregon Trail starts in Independence, Missouri) for our trip.
Late in the day I took my five-miler. The family watched a movie but I spent the evening catching up the blog.
------------------------------------------------------
Thursday, 20 August-
Labashi and I went shopping for a pillow for Mom and found the ‘right’ one at Target. We had lunch at Fuddrucker’s in the area, then spent the afternoon at the library. Labashi picked out wonderful books of old photos of the Oregon Trail to peruse and I read through back issues of MacWorld magazine.
Back home I washed Mom’s car and the van. Then I walked the five-mile Lahser Loop. I just arrived home as Labashi and her cousin decided to go for a walk so I accompanied them, tuckering myself out. I slept GREAT.
-------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, 19 August-
Today I ran some errands at the local Meijers and then washed Dad’s car for our main task of the day. In the afternoon we drove to the airport to pick up Labashi’s cousin, who had flown in from Belgium.
After settling her in at home, we all went out to supper at a local Mexican restaurant. I laugh whenever I see this place. It’s called ‘El Nibble Nook’. Apparently it started out as a hamburger restaurant in the Fifties and was known as the ‘Nibble Nook’. And when it transitioned to a Mexican restaurant they had a problem—lose the historic name or ‘mexicanize’ it. “El Nibble Nook” is the hilarious result.
I was actually looking forward to going to El Nibble Nook. On a previous visit I had seen a newspaper article about a search for the best margarita in Detroit (in honor of Cinco de Mayo) and El Nibble Nook was a top contender.
Though Labashi and I are still on a low-carb diet, we made an exception and had several of the very excellent Ultimate Margaritas.
Back home I decided I’d walk off the effects and did my regular five-mile loop.
-------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, 18 August-
I spent the ‘working’ portion of the day reviewing final accounting info for the estate for our lawyer. I was happy to break from that for my new five-mile route late in the day.
-------------------------------------------------------
Monday, 17 August-
Ahh, vacation… that’s nice. I spent an hour or so doing routine checks on Mom and Dad’s PCs, then ran some errands at the local Meijers. Later in the day I went to Best Buy to look at Mac accessories and enjoyed playing with the 24” iMac. That’s likely to be our next desktop.
By mid-afternoon I needed a walk. I again did the Starbucks-Lahser Loop for five miles.
That evening we watched ‘Finding Neverland’ with Johnny Depp (one of Labashi’s favorite actors). That was surprisingly good.
--------------------------------------------------------
Sunday, 16 August-
We spent today driving the 500 miles to Labashi’s parents’ home near Detroit. The temperature was around 90 but we did fine (the van doesn’t have air conditioning) as we cruised along listening to several episodes of a new podcast for us--- ‘RadioLab’ from New York Public Radio.
After supper I was feeling a bit ‘wired’ from the trip so walked to the local Starbucks for an iced tea, then walked what I call the ‘Lahser Loop’, to total five miles of walking. That was a big help for sleeping.
--------------------------------------------------------
Saturday, 15 August-
We spent all day today loading the van for our departure tomorrow.
--------------------------------------------------------
Friday, 14 August-
Today we continued doing little trip-prep items. I removed the heavy trailer hitch, put the KLR in the barn and spent what seemed like a long time printing off the latest wi-fi hotspots for each state we’ll be visiting (from wififreespots.com) and the free campground details (from freecampgrounds.com).
I continue reading about the fur trade after having finally finished ‘Tales of Old Florida’. I’ve been reading the latter for months, just a little at a time. It’s a wonderful collection of articles from turn-of-the-century outdoors magazines. I loved visualizing what it was like to travel in Florida in the 1870s to the 1920’s. Most of the articles were from New York and New England sporting writers. They’d take the train to Jacksonville, then either take a steamer inland up the St. John River or down the coast. The down-the-coast run was to Saint Augustine, Miami, and Key West.
I also loved seeing the old photos, particularly of the private sailboats. I’d love to have made the journey from Miami to the Keys, then along Cape Sable to Marco and on around to Fort Myers. I really, really need to spend more time in Florida…..
---------------------------------------------------------
Thursday, 13 August-
Today Labashi and I drove to Chambersburg to see a sell-your-house and staging presentation. The retirement villages are smart to assist seniors in selling their homes and we wanted to see how to help Labashi’s parents when the time comes.
On the way home we had lunch at Caledonia Bistro. We like this little place. We generally go there on non-prime hours and generally have the place to ourselves.
Back home I followed the mower around for two hours and that was plenty of exercise for the day.
We had no movie tonight. I worked on email then did a few SearchTempest searches of Craigslist.
----------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, 12 August-
I began reading up on the Oregon Trail in a wonderful book about the fur trade we bought two summers ago on our north-of-Lake-Superior trip. This is helping establish the general outline of our trip. I also charged up all the rechargeable batteries for the trip.
That afternoon we met with the elder-law lawyer and had our questions answered about the contracts used by retirement communities.
Late in the afternoon we had an early supper at Fuddruckers before returning home in time for my six-mile loop. Afterwards we watched Closer 3.5.3, the end of Season Three.
----------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, 11 August-
Today I worked on good ol’ circuit 25, the one that has tripped mysteriously while we’re away. I installed our new pole light and found bad ground connections in the outlet above Labashi’s mud-room worktable.
One of the rear windows in Mocha Joe has a bit of a transparency problem. The darkening (window tint) film I had applied years ago seems to have deteriorated and now the view through the window is wavy. It’s the same film as the other windows and they currently show no problem but if it spreads to the others, I’ll have to decide whether to have them re-done. While checking out the window problem I went ahead and took off the screens and washed both the windows and screens in preparation for our next trip.
Late in the day I walked my six-mile loop, then we watched Closer 3.4.1 and 3.4.2.
----------------------------------------------------------
Monday, 10 August-
Today was very hot and sticky—93 with a dewpoint around 70. I spent the morning on the web, then went to my doctor’s appointment. I’ve decided to get off the Lipitor prescription to see how that goes. The idea started simply enough. I bought some Fresca before noticing it contains grapefruit juice (which Lipitor patients can’t have). With the diet changes and the walking, it occurred to me I might be able to get off the Lipitor entirely and then could have Fresca and any other grapefruit I wanted.
Today the doctor and I reviewed my blood test results and determined I’d give it a try for the next several months, then have another test.
Back home I moved Labashi’s email addresses to the Mac using vcards (that was easy!) and took care of Netflix and cable and internet bills.
That evening I walked my six-mile loop. I’m looking forward to a break from the six-milers...
-----------------------------------------------------------
Sunday, 9 August-
I spent much of this morning updating the blog and then trying to determine if the retirement communities we are considering for Labashi’s parents are financially stable. I didn’t really have much luck at it—mostly because the available statements are too old. But now I know I want to see the most-current statements.
I also provided comments to Labashi on her prep document for an upcoming meeting with an elder-law attorney.
In the afternoon I rode the Concours to the Tollgate Starbucks for my regular iced-tea and Times before coming home to walk my 6-mile loop.
That evening we watched MI-5 1.3.6 and Wonderfalls 1.1.4.
************* END OF POST ************
posted by Bezabor&Labashi | 23:59
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