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Memories and Moments
Thursday September 14, 2006
DAY THREE
A RIDE IN THE CLOUDS
We awoke about 7:00 a.m. on Sunday, October 9, 2005. When I peeked out of the curtains and saw frost on our car windshield I knew it was a 'cool' day. I flipped on the TV and it was 42 degrees in Elko at that time, and it had been 'warming' up. Uh huh.
We dressed in layers again. This time with heavy pants, hooded heavy polos and of course we had the overjackets. I added a light weight top under my polo and talked Rich into doing the same. Cold, cold is not great for faulty tickers.
Rich went down to the office and picked up continental breakfasts for two, while I made up some microwave decaf. He came back with orange and apple juice, 3 kinds of sweet rolls, two bananas and coffee. I brought out some pepperone to offset the 'sweet' and we had an ample breakfast.
We ate, cleared up and took another pit stop then set out to the car. The outside temperature in front of the hotel was now 47 and rising, but it still took a bit for the windshield to defrost. We gassed up at $3.24 and were now ready for our ride in the clouds.
Heading toward the high country of The Ruby Mountains, the temperature started to dip a bit, the further we climbed. Soon I was getting a crackling in my ears and the temperature was back down to 42 degrees. Rich was mumbling a bit that he was disappointed. He'd come especially to see 'color' and there wasn't an aspen in sight, plenty of evergreen and scrub, though.
We rode on, and the clouds seemed to be coming down to girdle the mountain tops up ahead. Around a couple of bends, up a grade and there it was!
ASPEN VALLEY
We rounded some more bends, ascending as we oohed and aahed at the panorama, and then stopped to take pictures of the valley.
The Malibu was taking a rest before its final climb into the clouds. It was the little car that could!
Now we began the real ascent. The hills rolled like lumpy blankets on a CA King bed, and high peaks, crested with snow, jumped out of the valleys. We stopped and watched an ancient glacier move down a tall mountain--it must have been moving, it was in the now!
Soon the thermometer showing outside temp got down to 32 degrees, and dropped several degrees around every turn up the mountainside. The clickity-click of sleety snow started hitting the windows and then rushed pell mell at the car, as we moved in a miasma of low clouds and sheets of snow, up, up to a mountain top turn around, where the temperature was 21 degrees. We took pictures, huddled in our hooded heavy polos--the first time I'd stood in a snowstorm for many years.
Too soon we were on our way down, watching the panorama from a different viewpoint, and reveling in the wonders of a nature that changes just as we move down or up along our chosen 'now'.
We spent the rest of the morning searching for fishing lakes, streams, and picnic areas in and around the area, after we came down off the peaks. That was a disappointment. Most of the area was very primitive, a lot of off pave road, and we didn't want to take the Malibu on that type of an outing. Rich is of the opinion that we would probably never do Elko again, there are too many other things we want to see to do a repeat, but the views were breathtaking.
We got back to the room about 1 p.m., showered and had our picnic lunch. We wanted to take it across the street to the park, but the wind was blowing up now, and it was much colder than the day before. So we opted to eat in and then drive around in the daylight to check out the town and search out a place for dinner that evening.
We've finally figured out that anywhere in the rugged north NV, if you want to get dinner, you're best off to stop in the town's casino/hotel. We ducked into a couple of the 4 or 5 in Elko, and decided to go back to the Cattleman's for dinner. We did that about 6:30 and it was less than spectacular. Rich had prime rib (cattlemans?) and I had an urge for fried chicken. That's what I get...because I shouldn't be eating it anyway. It was 'coldish', as was everything that came with it, except the salad which should have been but wasn't. Heheheh
I know, I must sound like a restaurant's nightmare customer. I think it stems from running a restaurant myself for years, based on hot must be hot and cold must be cold, and no excuses, if you're going to charge the customer the same price no matter what. There's two elements to that. Usually when I eat out, I opt for something that's a no-no for me ordinarily. Now, if I am going to take in the calories, the food better be damn good. The other is I don't want to be treated any worse than I would treat a customer. I don't usually make a fuss, I just send it back to be 'fixed' and of course you NEVER know what you will get back then!
We went back to our room and watched some more TV and read, and then we had an early light's out. Alllll that fresh air!
Life is a ball.....
Dance or be a wallflower!
| | Posted by GrannyJo at 10:43 PM - | |
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DAY FOUR
THE BIGGEST LITTLE CITY
We slept until about 8:30 on morning four, October 10, 2005. Our original plan for the day was to drive to Winnamuca, stay the night, then go to Bishop and further west to CA to visit some relatives. Before we went to bed, though, we decided instead to go on to Reno, NV to spend the night, and maybe just drive on home the next day. Rich was getting a bit tired, I could tell, and if we did that, we could be home to spend his birthday on the 12th with the family. So I called Reno and made a reservation at Days Inn there.
We didn't bother with the continental breakfast. We just dressed, packed and headed on out. It was only about three hours to Reno, and we figured we'd have 'brunch' when we got there.
On the way though, about 11 a.m., we had to do the pit stop and in the town of Larkton or something like that we stopped at a nice little casino hotel and had lunch. I had chicken noodle soup and a tuna sandwich and Rich had the special, teriyaki chicken. They were both good. We inquired about pie, but were told their pie case was broken & they hadn't carried it for a long time. Sometimes I think my doctor is calling these places ahead of time and warning them about me!
We gassed up $3.35 (a bargain) and headed on in to Reno. Driving in that town is a madhouse! Too many 'places' shoved into too small an area and trying to park ANYWHERE in Casino Row is a lesson in futility. The Days Inn was again very nice, and the room there was only $36.95 for the 2 of us. Of course, that was for a Monday night...weekends are always more expensive, everywhere.
We did our usual afternoon shower and rested until about 5 then started thinking about dinner. I was kind of hungry for Italian (I don't go long without needing a pasta fix) and Rich said it sounded good to him, too. We picked out a couple of nice sounding Italian restaurants and started downtown to find them.
After a harrassing drive in a town that seems to have all one way streets, we finally found the street where the restaurants were. Every single Italian restaurant was 'closed' on Monday nights. That's how a lot of those places work. They are open five to eleven, and everybody is off on Monday, that way they only need one shift of workers, 6 days a week. 5 x 6 = a 30 hour week. Saves on payroll! We should have known that's what they do in most busy towns.
Anyway, we decided to go back to the biggest hotel there, The Ex Caliber. After fiddling around trying to find how to get the car parked, we finally found the valet entrance and got parked.
It was a BIIIIG place. Several stories, about 5 (expensive) restaurants and a $13.95 buffet, which had some Italian food on it. Well, that turned out to be a good choice. It had several great soups, a huge salad bar, seafood, beef, pork, sausages, pizza, Italian pasta dishes, etc., etc., topped off with a huge dessert pastry/pie bar and soft ice cream sundaes.
I had salad, and minestrone soup. Then I cruised the steamer bars, and found tortellini in alfredo sauce, mushroom ravioli in cream sauce, and then, wonders of wonders....baby clams in shell in garlic butter lemon sauce. I had about 2 dozen of those, with a hard roll and just 2 tortellini and 2 ravioli. I figure in any of the restaurants those 2 dozen clams would have set us back about $50. Gad! They were soooooo good!
I ended with a small piece of cherry pie with a dab of chocolate soft serve on it.
I don't even remember what Rich had. I was happy as a clam!
As we started back to the motel, we became adventuresome. We had taken a wrong turn, but we knew that our motel was on 7th St. As we drove down the road looking for the freeway to go back the way we came, a street to our right had Seventh St. on it, so the daredevils took it. It was pitch black and the street ended abruptly but came back on the other side, several times. After about 6 minutes of "Ohhhhh, we shouldn't adun that!" we came out of the dark and right ahead of us was the bright sign, 'Days Inn'. Talk about lucky?
When we got back to our room, we talked it over some more, about whether to make reservations in Bishop, CA. It didn't seem too much going to the coast, but the thought of having to drive about 350 miles BACK, was a bit overwhelming for our first trial adventure. So we opted for home.
Life is a ball.....
Dance or be a wallflower!
| | Posted by GrannyJo at 10:27 PM - | |
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DAY FIVE
HOME AGAIN HOME AGAIN, JIGGITY JIG
We rose early on Tuesday, October 11, 2005, and started our way down to Las Vegas. It was going to be about 10 hours drive, but we planned and did take many rest stops and ate a good lunch. We each had a soup and whole sandwich. Rich had turkey on sourdough, and I had ham on toasted white, and we took half of each. And we DID get to share marvelous apple pie ala mode' this time. It was just another little dinky hotel casino, but the food was good.
We went through the town of Hawthorne, NV. It is a munitions depot---acres of bunkers all containing arms and munitions. That is actually what supports that tiny town. It kind of freezes your blood looking at all those killing fields.
We pulled in here about 6 p.m., very tired, but glad to look forward to sleeping in our own bed. Rich had been too tired to even think of stopping for a snack before we came on home. About 7 p.m. I made us a "dinner" of bacon and eggs and toast, to make up for the breakfast we didn't have.
When we were climbing into bed, Rich said, "Well, I'm proud of myself, now I know I can 'travel' again."
And I'm proud of him too. He's my best fellow traveler.
The End.
Life is a ball.....
Dance or be a wallflower!
| | Posted by GrannyJo at 10:14 PM - | |
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Tuesday September 12, 2006
My dad passed away in '65 at the young age of 58. I still miss him very much today, we were very close and much alike. I also was extremely close to my maternal grandfather. Grandpa Ralph used to take walks with me and tell me stories of his life in Italy, and I still remember his promise to buy me a 'pony'. He didn't live long enough to do that.
It's getting pretty close now to Grandpa Ralph's 120th birthday and my dad's 99th. On this day of remembrance and mourning for all those who have gone to untimely deaths because of 9-11 and the resulting conflicts, I spent a lot of time thinking about how rough it is to lose loved ones, and also on how youngsters react to losing someone from their lives. I went back through some of the poetry I've written and found this poem from 1972--one of those thoughts that come in the night that you just have to get up and put down on paper. IMO, they come from the memories of the reactions of childhood to losses that we cannot understand. Thought I'd share it here with you today:
GRANDPA IS AN EAGLE
Grandpa is an Eagle,
Last night I saw him fly
Up, from the grass on his own front yard--
Going fast and soaring high.
Grandpa is an Eagle,
So, loved ones, don't you cry.
Grandpa is an Eagle;
But, first he had to die.
I was six years old and the air was cold,
Early in the month of May.
"You won't be going to school," I was told,
"Because Grandpa died today."
They laid him out in his Sunday best,
The neighbors all came around;
And I watched and wept with all the rest,
As they put him in the ground.
So many nights I dreamt him,
And the way it used to be;
Guess my Grandpa wanted to spend
A little more time with me.
In my dream one night, he hugged me tight,
Next, I only saw a bird,
Flapping its wings before it took flight;
And this is what I heard--
TELL THEM!
Grandpa is an Eagle,
Last night I saw him fly
Up, from the grass on his own front yard--
Going fast and soaring high.
Grandpa is an Eagle,
So, loved ones, don't you cry.
Grandpa is an Eagle;
But, first he had to die.
That was forty long years or more ago,
Grandpa never came again--
But, there's times when the month of May is cold
That my memory mourns for him.
Then, when I get to feeling sad,
Wondering why all death must be--
I hear again his happy voice,
Singing out to me....
TELL THEM!
Grandpa is an Eagle,
Last night I saw him fly
Up, from the grass on his own front yard--
Going fast and soaring high.
Grandpa is an Eagle,
So, loved ones, don't you cry.
Grandpa is an Eagle.........
But, first he had to die.
(copyright 1972)
Life is a ball.....
Dance or be a wallflower!
| | Posted by GrannyJo at 12:10 AM - | |
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Saturday September 9, 2006
The other day I visited the forum of an old and dear friend and found the following post that he had gotten in his e-mail.
VALID POINT!!!
Think About This One. It's short but very interesting!
A car company can move its factories to Mexico and claim it's a free market.
A toy company can out source to a Chinese subcontractor and claim it's a free market.
A shoe company can produce its shoes in southeast Asia and claim it's a free market.
A major bank can incorporate in Bermuda to avoid taxes and claim it's a free market.
We can buy HP Printers made in Mexico.
We can buy shirts made in Bangladesh.
We can purchase almost anything we want from 20 different countries.
BUT, heaven help the elderly who dare to buy their prescription
drugs from a Canadian pharmacy...
That's called un-American!
And you think the pharmaceutical companies don't have a powerful lobby? Think again!
That sort of brought the umbrage up in me, because it reminded me about something I've been struggling with for months, and of many other Senior Citizens who have even BIGGER problems with affording the medications they need to survive. I decided to take a chance with the 'big brother' that seems to watch everything we write and say, and posted up the following:
AND IF THAT'S NOT ENOUGH...
Not only are they making it illegal to buy drugs out of the country, they have SO screwed up the application process for MedicareRX that I doubt everyone eligible for the plan understands how to do it!
We went to a MedicareRX seminar in November, supposedly to learn how to apply. I already had done so online, but I wanted to double check myself. What a SIGHT! People on crutches, wheelchairs, hearing aids, half blind and many uneducated in computers and filings---waiting to hear that the best way to apply was to go ONLINE, or visit the local SS office, and bring all your information. WHAT? It is SO SAD for most of our senior citizens.
You know, I applied early in Nov., did everything right, got my card and OK from AARP and on Jan. 3 ordered my first meds at WalMart (still the cheapest in-country source). When I went to pick up my meds, I was overcharged $47, because of a 'mistake' by AARP/Medicare in the computers.
"Do you want the medications?" I was asked. Huh? My diabetes and HBP medications---do I 'WANT' them? Geesh! After being assured I could apply for a refund from AARP, I paid and went home, took my medications and then called AARP.
It took over a month, to get things straightened out between SSMEDICARE and AARP. They finally sent me a form to apply for a refund. I had to send the ORIGINAL register receipt, the ORIGINAL prescription slips on the bottles, and a long refund form. On top of it all, WALGREEN'S does all the refund for AARP! Now I'm not happy sending 'Originals' off, so I copied EVERYTHING for my use and sent off the originals on Feb. 28 2006, and being OK with a 45 to 60 day wait.
It is now September 6. I started calling and looking into my refund around May 15. I have made calls to Walgreens, AARP, Medicare, etc. A GAZILLION of them. You can't talk to ANYONE in the business office. Everytime there is a different person on a phone who sounds like they are from outer Bangledesh, none of THEM can talk to the business offices, either. Everyone passes you on to a 'superior', who ALSO cannot access the business office. It seems any phone calls to the source of the mess is considered an even bigger mess!
Anyway, it is now over 160 days, and I have never even received ONE phone call or letter, per my request, from anyone-let alone someone who knows what the heck is going on. I stopped calling in July. It's futile. I told them then that if I didn't get the refund by July 30, I was going public with the mess.
And here I am. Next stop, Channel 8. 8-)
PS--I do have to say that since that first purchase, I have never had a problem or an overcharge with my meds, and I've saved much more than $47 on my prescriptions,---but it is the principle. It is MY money, and I pay a monthly membership fee. They are making enough already!
I'm wondering, are there any more Seniors out there that want to share some nightmare encountered while trying to stay alive? You know, when you get to the place where you have to choose between soup and synthroid, and it seems like this administration and the pharmaceutical companies have decided just to push us all out on the ice to await the hungry bears---thereby diminishing the surplus population? If so, please share.
End of Saturday rant.
Life is a ball.....
Dance or be a wallflower!
| | Posted by GrannyJo at 12:12 PM - | |
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