Arches

Not much time to write and struggling with technology trying to upload pictures. Just wanted to get get some pictures from the Arches up here. More later.

The Pilgrimage

Yes it was a pilgrimage. No it wasn't Mecca , but Kansas and an early morning trip to see the largest ball of twine. Now I know you have questions. Was it worth it? Was it everything I expected? Was it a religious experience? and the most pressing question.... Why?

The "Twine"

Cawker City, Kansas

Cawker City, early morning

If I had to pick a question to answer it would be the second one. Yes it was exactly what I expected. It was a super large ball of twine. Not large enough that we didn't miss it the first time through town and had to humiliate ourselves by asking someone for directions, but large none the less. Being that this "interesting " stop seems to be overlooked by most guidebooks,  I will give you the lowdown , the 411 the "everything you want to know but were afraid to ask" about it.  First this outdoor , open air, attraction or "The Twine " as it will now be referred to, is not located on the right side of the street, nor is it next to the water tower. Don't make this mistake or you will probably be asking the same guy we did for directions when it is practically right in front of you. Once you see the water tower, look to your left. The twine appears to be open to the public, free of charge, 24 hours a day. We arrived shortly after dawn and no one seemed to care that we were there. Yes, you can touch the twine . I actually restrung a piece that was lose. There are even numbers and email so you can contact someone to get twine to add to the ball. I didn't feel it was necessary to call someone at 6AM on a Saturday to get twine. I hope they appreciate that. There is also a gift shop. Can't say that we saw it or if it is ever open, but rumor has it there is one.                                                                                                                                                   Finally, only those that are familiar with the Griswold travel spirit  can answer if it was worth it or not.

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Deep River

After a ton of obstacles we are finally on our way. Just crossed the Mississippi. To quote Clark Griswold" the Mighty Mississippi. Ole Miss, deep river.... ". We didn't do the Griswold thing getting lost or losing car parts, but we did cross the river. Still trying to get into travel mode though. The last few days were really wearing. Too much pre-adventure for me. I am hoping the "Gateway to The West" will be a gateway to travel mode. Hoping I can shake some not so great news and the way way too much "stuff" to handle, do, take care of before we left. We are seeing friends out here so hopefully that will help. 

Forget about tomorrow Scarlet. I'll think about that in three weeks.

Well, we had our denial damaged a bit today, but we are still leaving tomorrow for our cross country trek. It is not great having the wind taken out from your sails right before a big trip but we will try to shake it off and get on with "bucketlistours".We will deal with these complications when we get back in three weeks. First stop St Louis.

A Lame Post

                                                              Just saw a blog  about the top 5 things to do in London http://www.dangerous-business.com/2011/06/top-5-things-to-see-and-do-in-london/. So glad we hit the number one suggestion, the London Eye. Thought I would use this as a lame excuse to revisit some of our London pics.One of the great things about the Eye was our secret find right next to it.The secret (or secret in our minds because no one we knew had heard of it) was an indoor carnival and bar called Namco Station. Walk, no run, past the McDonald's that's right alongside the Eye. Go into the County Hall building and downstairs. There are different levels with all kinds of amusement type entertainment- Bumper cars, Skee- ball and arcade type games. Just like a Jersey shore boardwalk, except indoors. They even have a bowling alley!. Go down another 1/2 flight and there is a bar complete with casino type machines, more games and pool tables. Now this place is not glamorous, nor is it going to win any culinary or service awards, but they have cold beer, drinks and some type of bar food. My husband loves the gambling machines (of course) and I am a Skee-ball fanatic so this place was perfect. Also great - free internet. I didn't see it advertised anywhere but it worked great  in the seating area. The staff is not all that concerned with serving you, but also not concerned if you hang out with your laptop for a while. Don't plan your big London meal here, but this is a great place for a break, to post your pictures or an afternoon drink when the rain starts. I will definitely be blogging from here on our next trip to London.

Adventure travels before we even arrived.

Double vision

Secret waterfall near Playa Hermosa

Costa Crocs

Sunset at Playa Hermosa

The ditch loving truck.

Marley's view

Last year, about this time, we were on our way to Costa Rica. Yes we flew Spirit who should have beat Ryan's for worst airline ever and of course we got stuck. And yes, my cancer battling husband and I spent the night in the  airport. Not an auspicious start. The next morning it was (finally) off to Costa Rica. Our friends who run Surf the Earth Costa Rica ( here I will insert a shameless plug for them   http://www.surftheearthcostarica.com ) had spent the night in San Jose waiting for us. We piled into their truck for a seriously bumpy hour and 1/2 ride. The  amusement park style ride ended about 20 minutes short of our destination in a ditch with a flat tire. Do we know how to have fun or what? We had been warned about how bad the roads were in Costa Rica, but being from Jersey we didn't give it too much thought. Well alright all you guide book writers, we get it! The tire was not fixable where we had landed, so we were stuck.  Somehow, and I really have no idea how, in the middle of nowhere we finally managed to get a cab who just happened to be in the area. We finally ended up in a wonderful (small but delightful) hotel on the beach in Playa Hermosa. Only about 40 hours for what should have been a 5 or 6 hour trip. Not bad for us. And all this before we even started our (modified) adventure trip. Fortunately things picked up after that. Just thought I would put up some pictures here as I am remembering our adventure.

No news is good news.

The CT scan is done.  Check

No post- CT scan phone calls from the doctor's office, so I'm thinking no news is good news and feeling like it's time to start packing. For me this usually means over- packing. I'm really trying to curb my over-packing for this trip, but doubt I will be successful. The luxury of having an entire trunk, plus a back seat, instead of one check/one carry- on will only encourage my evil tendencies. Really trying to simplify though. I will either be bragging or lamenting here by Tuesday, depending on how it goes.