Niagara Falls

I had seen Niagara Falls as a Girl Scout when I was in high school. Is that snickering I hear? "Still a Girl Scout in high school?" You may be thinking. Heck YES I was! I got to see and do things as a Senior Girl Scout that I may never get to do again. I saw the sunset in the Rocky Mountains. I rafted down the Colorado River. I went on a four day canoe trip on the Upper Iowa River. I hiked in Yellowstone National Park. I built a snowman in Colorado. And yes, saw Niagara Falls. All because I was still a Girl Scout in high school. Stick THAT in your pipe and smoke it.

Anyway, Willie had never seen Niagara. He loves fish tanks and fish ponds. He has built more water feature ponds in our yards over the years than I care to count. I decided it was time for him to see the premier water feature in North America.

The original idea was to park on the New York side and then walk over the Rainbow Bridge to the Canadian side. Well, ideas are just that, ideas. Sometimes life throws curve balls.

We set the GPS in Willie's phone for Niagara Falls, NY. We drove along and as we got closer to the falls I noticed the GPS took us off the interstate and into town. I saw these huge Niagara Falls signs and it was taking us away from them. I thought to myself, maybe there was a wreck down that way and the GPS was taking us around it. We kept following its directions, becoming ever more confused. Until finally it squawked at us, "You have reached your destination." I could see the mist from the falls, but that was about it. Otherwise we were in the middle of town. Then it dawned on me, it had taken us to the middle of Niagara Falls, NY, the TOWN!

So... what to do now. I said, "I see mist! Go that way!" Willie turned the car and we found a sign with a waterfall on it. That was good! We would follow the signs! How could that fail us? We took a turn, and ended up in a line of cars heading into Canada. There was no way to turn off the road or get out of the line. An officer with a drug or bomb sniffing dog was going back and forth between vehicles. Willie, not one to like unexpected turns in events, started to panic. At first I thought he was kidding around, but then realized he was truly scared.

I got out our passports and joked that the worst thing that could happen is if they found the tomato in the back that we got for tacos. This joke backfired, he was now certain that we were going to be pulled over and jailed for a tomato.

The dog came and sniffed out our car. The officer and dog went on their way. Willie seemed to calm a bit. We got up to the boarder and the lady took our passports, asked why we were going into Canada and how long we were going to stay. She gave us our papers back and we were on our way. Willie calmed back down and we followed the signs to Niagara Falls, even though it was right next to us. We finally found a parking place, and ran to find a bathroom. Sweet relief!

We walked to the falls, Willie was in awe. We looked at the Rainbow Bridge and decided someone was looking out for us. I wouldn't have been able to carry my camera bag and walk across that bridge without dying. It wasn't hot, but it was warm enough I was working up a sweat just walking where we did.

We stood and just watched the falls from above. The grandness and the roar holding us in one spot for the longest time. I don't know if I truly appreciated its power as a kid in high school. Now, it just held 

me in place. Feet firmly attached to the ground as it rumbled its rhythmic quakes under my feet. Its sound the song of strength. It was like we dare not move until it gave us permission to do so. 

Apparently, the falls and our bellies were having a talk. Suddenly, we were hungry and the falls let us go. We walked up the street and turned a corner. We saw DQ, a Burger King, I think, and other fast food. I was determined. I didn't want to eat the same old crap we could get at home. Willie kept trying to get me to just go for the fast food, but I was relentless and on a mission. We walked up a steep hill and found an odd little restaurant. I don't remember its name, but we went in. This is what we found. It was like a Chuckie Cheeses on steroids, growth hormone, and what ever Lance Armstrong used all rolled into one. Except there were no games and no disgusting pizza. 

We were shown to our seat. We looked up to find this fellow. 

While he was animated, he didn't sing to us or anything annoying. The food was good. Nothing to write home about, but the atmosphere, it was its own. I was glad we went there. It definitely was like nowhere I'd ever been. 

After lunch we walked back down by the falls to go on one of the boat rides. It wasn't the Maid Of The Mist, as that is on the US side, but the same idea. You don a cheap red poncho, you get on the boat, and you get to feel the absolute power of Mother Nature. I wouldn't get my camera out in the mist, but was brave enough to pop my phone out here and there. 

While we were in Canada, we had turned our phones off, so as not to get any international charges. This meant we had no GPS. We started following signs that said USA. I was driving, and realized I needed to adjust to using kilometers per our instead of miles. Once I had that down I realized we were not on the same road to get out of Canada as we took in. We got a nice tour of a bit of Canadian country side, but still were seeing signs for the US. I wasn't going to panic, because I didn't want to get Willie worked up again. We finally got to the boarder. The agent was not nearly as nice as the one we saw going into Canada. He asked us why we went into Canada, and if we had bought anything. I told him we went to see the falls and bought a few souvenirs for our grand kids. 

"What kind of souvenirs," he grumbled. 

"Just a little ball and three boat whistles," I told him.  As I pulled out the bag, I pondered on how we had all sorts of camping equipment in totes in the back and he's worried about a bag of toys.

"Let me see them," he growled. I showed him the bag, he took it and looked at it and shoved it back at me. Good thing he doesn't know about the tomato, I thought to myself. 

Back in the US, we turned on our GPS again. It took us a completely different way. This was probably because we came out at a different area, I figured. It was a very nice drive. All back roads in the country. No frustrating rush hour traffic. The leaves were starting to turn. It was a much more enjoyable drive than the drive to Niagara. 

We got back to our campsite and settled in for the night. 

Water Falls

The next morning the sun woke us up gently and we got our day started. It had rained a bit more in the night, so the air was damp and the ground soft and wet. We dug out some sweet rolls from the car and had breakfast. 

The dampness in the air left a slight haze that the sun was fighting to burn off. There was still a chill, but the warm sun would soon fix that. We decided to check out more of the park, and go down to see the water falls. 

The gorge has three waterfalls. Simply named the upper, middle and lower falls. Not a lot of creativity went into the names, but made them easier to find. 

I can't tell you which falls is which. Except to say, these two lower photos are of the same one. I was fascinated by the railroad bridge that went over it. We even saw a train pass over.

There isn't a lot I can say to add to the beauty of this park, so I'll just let the photos take over from here.

Letchworth State Park

I love camping. There is just this feeling I get when I sleep outside in a tent that I don't get anywhere else. I'm not a backwoods camper, I like at least a pit toilet to do my business in. Squatting is just not my thing. With this in mind I tend to look for state parks for camping. I knew absolutely nothing about state parks in western New York when I started planning this trip. I went to the book store and picked out two National Geographic books, one about national parks and one on state parks. I knew I wanted to be within a two hour drive of Niagara Falls, but that was all I knew. 

Finding Letchworth State Park was a fluke. It was in the National Geographic book about state parks. It was within the distance to Niagara Falls that I wanted, so I booked us a site.

The day after the rainball game in Pittsburgh, we started out for Letchworth. It was about a four hour drive, almost due north. The sun seemed to be thinking about peeking out. I hoped it would be kind and grace us with its warmth at least part of the next four days.

It was still cloudy, but not raining when we reached the park. It looked as though it had recently rained, but sunshine started poking its way through. We got the tent set up and still had a few hours before dark. We started to wander about.

The park was even better than I had hoped. It apparently had been voted as the number one state park in the US according to a readers poll in USA Today. We were starting to see why.

Letchworth has the largest gorge east of the Mississippi. It has even been called the Grand Canyon of the East. I have never seen the Grand Canyon personally, but judging by photos I've seen, that may be stretching it a bit.

The gorge has been cut out by the Genesee River. We were there when the area was in a drought, so the river seemed quite calm and unassuming. There have been floods that filled the canyon area. It was a almost impossible to believe that entire canyon could become filled with water, but it has, many times. Happily, for us, that wouldn't be an issue over the next 4 days.

We got back to camp and built a fire to start dinner. We don't own a camp stove. I probably should have one for days when it is raining and we can't get a fire started, but I don't. In all my times camping as an adult, we have never gone hungry from not being able to build a fire. Ok, I always have back up lunch meat for sandwiches, just in case, but rarely have to use it. The lunch meat is usually for lunches, and pop tarts and cereal for breakfast. I don't want to spend a lot of time starting and putting out fires when I could be exploring. I suppose a camp stove would come in handy for those. Pop tarts are still easier.

Honestly, I love cooking on a campfire. The food gets a flavor that you just can't get any other way. To me, it is a lot more relaxing, too. Although, the food can get away from you and start burning before you realize it. Or the fire will never get hot enough and never cook the food at all. Yeah, I find that relaxing. Don't ask me why, but I do. 

After dinner we sat by the fire. The best thing about camping in October is the campfire. The sun goes down earlier, and the air is crisper. The campfire's warmth and beauty kept me mesmerized. I wouldn't have traded it for the best TV in the world. 

Steelers!

After our day in Pittsburgh Willie and I got in line to wait to enter the stadium. That's when it started, just a drizzle at first. Our new sweatshirts  seemed to be protecting us from the dampness and cool air.  Our hats keeping the rain off our faces. 

Yes, I am wearing Steelers gear, I'm still a little mad at the Rams for moving to Los Angeles after trying to blackmail St. Louis to keep them there. I don't really care where the Rams set up shop, but I am sick to death of pro teams blackmailing cities and threatening to move to get the cities to give them corporate welfare money that could much better be used elsewhere. That being said, I felt no disloyalty donning Steelers gear for one night. 

 We found our seats, your typical nosebleed seats. I could tell Willie was disappointed at first, but tickets were ridiculously expensive, we were lucky to have those. We could, however see the whole field and there were jumbotrons everywhere to see replays. All was good.

The rain gave us a break as we found our seats. We used napkins to dry the bleachers off and sat down. We had a little hope the rain was done as we waited for the game to begin. Willie looked around and seemed happy to be there.

Neither of us thought to go down to the concession stands to look for rain ponchos. That would come back to bight us in the butt. As the sun finished setting and game time approached, so did more rain clouds. These clouds had serious business in mind. These were clouds that were not to be trifled with. These clouds had a grudge and were going to have their way. We were doomed.

We got soaked, clear through to the bone. We tried to make the best of it and cheer the Steelers on as they beat the Chiefs. The pouring rain was relentless. Willie's sweatshirt didn't seem to have the water resistance mine did and I was soaked. He was freezing and the Steelers were way ahead, so we left with around five minutes left on the clock. He listened to the play by play as we worked our way down the ramp at full speed. The Steelers stayed ahead and won the game. It would have been miserable to sit there in that weather only to have them lose.

I think he had a good time despite being cold, and I got to check one thing off mu bucket list. I was starting to really about the weather for the rest of the week. Tent camping in cold rain? No, please.

The Day in Pittsburgh

Willie woke up early as usual for him. His back was feeling a little better, but was still not good. He hoped maybe getting up and moving around would help. The Steelers game wasn't until 8:30, but we wanted to spend part of the day site seeing. We had breakfast, Willie took some more ibuprofen,  and then headed out. We honestly had no clue where to go. The Steelers website suggested parking in the golden circle and riding public transportation to the stadium. I set the Google maps to The Golden Circle and we decided to see where that would lead us.

We did get downtown, but we were on the wrong side of the river and Willie wasn't comfortable with leaving the car so far away. We reset the GPS for the stadium and drove. We made some wrong turns, but made it down to the stadium area. We tried to park in a public lot, but were told we had to be out by four. That wasn't going to work. The lady suggested we park at the casino. It would be expensive, but it was within walking distance. It sounded like our best bet.

We crossed through the casino, and started walking around the downtown area. Across from the stadium was Carnegie Science Center. We decided that was a good place to spend a few hours before the game. It was only 10:00 am, we had the whole day to kill.

The day was gray and drizzly, being inside for a few hours sounded like a good idea. As gray as it was, it was supposed to clear off by game time, I wasn't going to dwell. The museum was interesting. It was geared a little more toward families, then middle aged couples. We saw some fun things though. 

I'm a bit of a science fiction fan. I'm not obsessed, I've never been to a comic con. I do love Star Trek and Star Wars though. Yes both, it is possible, lots of people do. Growing up in the '60s I also remember watching Lost in Space. Never a favorite, but I still liked the robot, so got a kick out of getting to see it. 

Then around the next corner, in the robotics wing of the museum, there they were. I couldn't believe my eyes. I had never met real celebrities before. Shut up, they are too celebrities, they just weren't active that day. CP3O and R2D2! Right there! In front of me! It was awesome! My vacation had been made. I don't know if they were just replicas, or original to the movies, but they were still fabulous! A little boy stood next to me as I looked at them. I knew I had to touch R2D2. I just had to! I looked at the boy, I waited for him to leave. I didn't want to set a bad example. He kept looking, too. Finally I looked at the boy and said, "Shhhhh, you don't see this," as I reached out and put my hand on R2's head. I couldn't resist. Besides, if they didn't want me touching them, they should have put them in a more secure display. It's their own fault you know. 

I caught back up with Willie. He wasn't nearly as impressed with R2 and 3PO as I was. We had bought tickets to see an Imax movie and it was about time for it. I looked back at my favorite robots once more before we left the room. 

The movie was fun, I always like a good Imax movie. Though, we went to see The Matrix on Imax, many many years ago. As much as I like Lawrence Fishburne, he just shouldn't be on that big a screen. He had some pox scars on his face you could drive a truck through on such a medium. It was all I could concentrate on. The movie about the ocean was much more enjoyable and beautiful. 

On the river next to the science center was the USS Requin Submarine. We still had plenty of time after the movie and decided to tour the sub. When watching movies involving subs, you really don't get the true idea how small and compact everything is. As we walked through corridors, ducking through door, I kept thinking of my 6'4" son.  It's lucky he had never had aspirations of being a naval submarine officer. He wouldn't fit. 

Even the officers' quarters were tiny. Josh would have to sleep with his knees in his ears. Luckily, he should never have to find out. 

The rest of our afternoon consisted of checking out everything around the stadium. One of my favorite things was the statue of Mister Rogers. He was born and grew up in Pennsylvania. The statue of him changing his shoes sits overlooking the Ohio River. I always loved Mister Rogers. His kindness and compassion for others are lessons this world could really use right now. 

Willie enjoyed the walk around the stadium. The sky seemed to be clearing, slowly, and gave hope for the game. There was a statue of Art Rooney, the founder of the Steelers, which interested Willie more than Mister Rogers. Mr. Rooney's statue gave you the impression he was a thoughtful man, who loved life and his cigars. I won't pretend to know anything else about him. 

After walking the circumference of the stadium, we headed back for the front. We bought sweatshirts. I talked Willie into buying a hat. He was't going to, he rarely wears a hat anymore. He used to, he has many, many baseball style hats. He just grew up and grew out of his desire to wear hats all the time. I told him he needed to get one anyway. I convinced him by telling him if it started raining again he would be glad he did. It would help keep the rain off his glasses. He relented and bought a baseball style hat. I kept hoping he wouldn't need it because of rain, the sun was peaking out more. They also had a floppy fishing hat. I joked he should get that one. He just shook his head and walked away. A little while later, it started to sprinkle a bit. I went back and bought the silly fishing hat to keep my glasses dry, maybe if I had it, I wouldn't need it...

Inexperienced Travelers

Way back in October, when the winds were still warm and the sun still made appearances on at least a weekly basis, Willie and I took a vacation. It had been in the planning for months and was finally to come to fruition. I had been looking forward to it, and yet anxious that things would happen that would make it miserable. I don't know why, but you know, "the best laid plans of mice and men" and all. I just kept myself on alert for possible last minute snafus.

I kept checking the weather. First for Pittsburgh, Pa, since we were going to a Steelers game at Heinz Field. Then for Letchworth State Park in western New York state. We would be camping there, in a tent, at the beginning of October. I kept worrying we were going to freeze. I really wanted this vacation to be fun, for both of us. The weather kept looking good for the game, which made me happy. The state park was looking iffy though. It looked like we could have rain most every day. That was disheartening. I really didn't want us both to end up sick.

Finally, the day came to leave. We packed up our car, that was a challenge. We barely got all of the camping equipment and suitcases in the car. At one point it looked like we could get all of the stuff in, as long as I ran alongside. We rearranged again, and fit me in, too. We made sure to put the suitcase for the weekend in Pittsburgh on top of the rest of the stuff. I decided that instead of dividing suitcases by my stuff and his stuff, we would divide them by Pittsburgh and state park. That way we only needed to take one suitcase out that first weekend. everything else could just stay put. It worked better than I had hoped, decreased stress exponentially.

We left about 4:00 pm on Friday, September 30. Our plan, non specific. Our goal, just to make the drive to Pittsburgh on Saturday a little shorter. Even if we just took a few hours off the drive that would be helpful. We hopped in the car, and headed out of town.

As we drove we hit some rain. I kept an eye on the weather app on my phone. Since we had no specific goal in mind. driving in the rain in the dark, just wasn't necessary. We crossed the Mississippi into Illinois, and the rain slowed down. We kept driving down the interstate. As the sun set and darkness set in we started talking about where we might stop. I checked the weather app again and it looked like there was a pretty heavy storm brewing around Chicago and east. We stopped in a town west of Chicago, called Manooka. It was dark, so I have no idea what the town was like. We found a hotel and settled in for the night. As we were settling down to bed, at about 9:30 pm, (yes, we are getting old), I kept hearing what sounded like someone bowling in a room above us. Willie had already passed out, but I laid there trying to figure out what the people above us were doing. A few minutes later, it dawned on me, we were on the TOP floor. So, what the poop was going on?

I got up and went to the window. I didn't know what I would see, because the sounds definitely sounded like they were coming from above. I peaked out the curtains, like if the world were coming to an end in a nuclear strike, the curtains would protect me. As I looked out I say a bright light. "A storm?" I thought. I opened up the curtains a bit more, and saw, FIREWORKS! I love fireworks! I decided this was a sign that our vacation was going to go well. I sat down on the footstool and watched the show out the window of our room. I tried to wake Willie, but he was down for the count.

The next morning we got up early, ok, early for me and headed out. The rain was still around making our drive gray and dull. Of course when we got to Chicago proper, it started to storm. It was hard to see, and Willie was stressed due to the traffic. Maybe the fireworks were an omen, rather than a sign of good luck. 

We powered through, following the GPS on my phone. Being rather inexperienced travelers we had much to learn about toll roads. The tolls going out of Illinois and into Indiana were manned by people, and they were very kind and let us know what to do. As we drove through Indiana the GPS took us off the interstate. We didn't know why for sure, but followed it anyway. We stopped at a rundown gas station in a rundown town to use the restroom. Being as shabby a place as it was, it was quite busy, with a line to the bathroom. A lady waiting while I was, asked me if we had been detoured off the interstate? I said we had just been following our GPS and it led us there. She said there was a big wreck on the interstate and they were directing everyone off, which explained why our GPS did the same and the number of people in line for the bathroom. We chatted a bit more, about a shared love of camping, as we all danced a bit waiting for our turn to finally pee. Willie and I left  and headed back on the road, impressed that Google Maps was able to direct us off the interstate, without delays due to the wreck. 

We finally got back on the interstate, and came to the Indiana-Ohio boarder. Another toll greeted us as we entered Ohio. This one did not have a human to help us along. We stopped and looked at the toll machine trying to figure it out. Willie pushed buttons trying to figure out what to do. The turnpike stayed down. People behind us started to get angry and a truck driver blew his horn, because, you know, that helps. I bent way over to try and see the the whole machine. It had two buttons and Willie kept pushing them. No ticket was coming out that we could see. I leaned farther over and spied it. Way up at the top of the machine, there was our ticket. Apparently, and this did make sense, the lower button was for cars, the upper button for semis. There it was, way up high. Willie climbed out the window and reached way up high for the ticket. As he stretched as far as he could his muscles spasmed right as he grabbed it out. The turnpike finally went up and we moved forward, but by then the damage had been done and Willie was in a lot of pain. Ok, so the fireworks were officially and omen. We stopped for some ibuprofen and food and finished the drive to Pittsburgh. 

The rest of the drive was uneventful, but Willie was miserable. We had tried to make plans with a friend's daughter to see her while we were there, but Willie really just wanted to just have supper and go to bed. We made our apologies, but took her recommendation for a nearby restaurant. We went to bed early and I hoped Sunday would be better. I really wanted Willie to enjoy his football game. Luckily, it looked like the weather still looked hopeful for a nice game night. 

M-O-N-KEEEEEEEEESSSSS!!!!!!!!

With the long, horrible, tortuous and torturous election season we have all been suffering through, little glimmers of light have been welcome relief. Things like the vacation Willie and I took, (I'll write about that in another post.) The Cubs in the World Series was a second glimmer. I'm not going to pretend I'm a huge Cubs fan, I'm not even a baseball, or sports fan in general. The Cubs in the series though, that was a great distraction from the 584 days of political commercials and campaign horridness. You read that right, here in Iowa, the commercials started April 4, 2015. FIVE HUNDRED EIGHTY FOUR DAYS!!

Watching Cubs fans post their happy, excited posts made me happy for them. Seeing Bob Newhart posing on Facebook with a W flag after every win, that's what got me the most excited for the Cubs. Not him in particular, but the idea that people his age have been waiting their entire life to see the Cubs as world champions, through thick and thin. This made me happy they won. I figure, I wasn't the only "not really a Cub fan" very happy when they pulled it out in the tenth of game seven. What a great relief from the campaign insanity.

My third great light in the tunnel happened this last weekend. I got in my car Friday, a beautiful sunny warm day. The weather was what you'd expect at the end of September, not on November 4. I left from my son's house and hit the road for a weekend of fun and music with my great friend Dawn. On my way down I stopped in Pella to buy a box of wonderful. A box of the most delicious pastry ever to be created on earth. A box of a dozen Dutch letters. The idea was to bring them down to Dawn. She loves them, too. Most of them did make it, but it is a long drive to St. Charles.

I got there around 9:30 and Dawn and I talked until the wee hours of the morning, as we usually do. I went down stairs to go to bed about 2:30 am, and slept until I think 11:00 am. The guest room at Dawn's is beautiful, but has no windows, so is devoid of natural light. It gets very, very dark. That makes it very easy to sleep and sleep and sleep without realizing how late it is. I hadn't set an alarm, so there was nothing to wake me up. It was wonderful!

Dawn and I waned away the afternoon chatting some more. Until it was time! We were going to the Monkees concert!!! I had missed their last several concert tours. Most sadly, I missed the tour in 2011 while Davy Jones was still alive. It was his last time performing with his Monkee brothers, I wish I had gone. When the Monkees went on their tribute tour for David, with Mike Nesmith, they didn't come to eastern Iowa, and at that time I was very busy taking care of my ailing father to be able to go anywhere very far away. Now, Mike has decided his Monkees days have come to an end as well. I never ever got to see him live with the band, and now I never will.

Me and Magdalena
(please excuse the quality of the photos. All I had was my phone to take pictures. )

The three surviving Monkees, including Mike, made a new album for the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the Monkees. For 50 years these men having been entertaining people, since 1966, can you imagine? The album, entitled Good Times, is wonderful. Each of the guys wrote some songs, they had some songs written by others, and yes, they played their own instruments and yes they had a back up band as well. It also has a song they found in archives with David singing lead, and included that. All of the Monkees were represented.

Other groups, over the years, have replaced missing members, whether they quit or passed, they were replaced. Some groups have done this so often, there may not be an original member in the group anymore. The group may have the same name, but a true fan would not even recognize the group any more. Not the Monkees. In the 1980's the group had a resurgence thanks to MTV airing the reruns of their show, (for you young's, that may not know any better, MTV used to be about music. That's what the M stands for.) Mike had no desire to go on tour as a Monkee. When he didn't join the tour, the others did not try to replace him, nor try to deny his existence. His songs were sung, his face on jumbotrons romping around in clips from the show. When Davy passed suddenly in 2012, again, the guys never even thought of trying to replace him, and thus he was included on the new album. Like brothers, the quartet had their squabbles, but like brothers they had an unbreakable bond.

For Pete's Sake

The new album is fresh, it is fun and it is the best of the Monkees. It is what you expect when you buy a Monkees album. It has a mix of styles, something that has always been true of the group. They have always played a wide range of music. From rock and roll of Randy Scouse Git, to country sounding Papa Gene's Blues, to the vaudevillian Cuddly Toy, this group has always been eclectic. Good Times continues this tradition. The ballad sung by Mike and harmonized by Micky, Me and Magdalena, is as beautiful a ballad as I have ever heard. The title song, Good Times is fun, bouncy, sixties sounding yet contemporary at the same time. Micky pokes fun at himself in I Was There (and I'm Told I Had a Good Time) and Peter brings his own twist to Little Girl and Wasn't Born to Follow. I couldn't wait to hear some of the songs in concert.

Daydream Believer 

Dawn and I decided to go out to dinner before the concert. She told me what restaurants were close to the concert venue, one place had Brazilian food. I'd never had Brazilian food, (or at least that I know of) and thought that sounded like fun. We got to the restaurant, were seated and went up to the huge salad bar. I glance over at the bar, and there sitting alone was a man in a hat. I looked closer, it was Micky Dolenz!! Poked Dawn, "I think that's Micky Dolenz," I gestured toward the bar.

"It is," she said, "If you want an autograph, now's the time." I was the real Monkeemaniac of the two of us.

I'm not really an autograph seeker, and being "Iowa Nice" and having aversions to being rude, I said, "I don't want to bother him while he's eating." I looked back over, and he didn't have food in front of him.

"Don't you think he'd be thrilled someone recognized him?" Dawn asked.

"I don't know, he probably has people bug him all the time," more 'Iowa Nice.'

I saw that the bar tender hand him his bill, and he started to sign it. "I'm just going to go thank him for his music." I said, and with empty salad plate in hand, for some reason I brought it with me, I approached Micky Dolenz. "Excuse me," I uttered.

"Yes," he said as he turned toward me.

"I just want to say thank you for your music," I smiled, and was oddly not nervous at all. Usually, in any situation meeting someone new, I am nervous and shaking like a leaf, I'm rather introverted and uncomfortable in new situations.

He held out his hand to shake mine, "Well, thank you he said."

I shook his hand and thanked him. "Are you going to the show tonight?" he asked.

"Yes, I am," I said proudly.

"Great!" He said and was on his way.

I turned around to Dawn, and it hit me, I just shook hands with MICKY DOLENZ! I don't think I stopped smiling the rest of the night. Yet, when I went over to Dawn, the first thing out of my mouth was, "I thought he'd be taller." I'm pretty tall and he was a bit shorter than me, but not much.  Now, WHY that was the first thing to come out of my mouth I had no idea.  Then I thought, wow, Davy must have been TINY! I just meant one of my favorite singers EVER... and my first words about it was, "I thought he's be taller?" REALLY?!? At least I didn't say it to him.

Micky on drums

We got to the concert and it was everything I had hoped for. These guys were around way before autotune so what you hear is what you get. The voice on the album is the voice at the concert. There is no disappointing, "what the hell is that voice coming out of my favorite singer?" They are just as good in person as on albums.

Peter's voice has changed a bit since his bout with throat cancer, but his ability to carry a tune has not.  His performance is still energetic, bouncy and quirky. he has a bit of a lisp, probably from dentures, but it works perfectly with his style and personality. His voice may be a bit higher, from the cancer, but it was just as awesome! Peter Tork was my first love as a little kid watching Monkees reruns on Saturday morning, and that will never change.

Randy Scouse Git

Micky's voice and performance, now I never got to see them in their younger years, has improved, if that is even possible. The maturity in his voice has made it fuller and even more versatile. He can go from a soft harmony to a full deep voice in a split second. His voice has always been unique, one of the very best in music, and now it is even better. Is it because as he gets older he isn't worried about impressing but just enjoying the music? Oh, how I wish I could have asked him that. (As well as, would he ever want to take on a 53 year old apprentice in his wood shop. He is a master crafter with wood and I would love to learn. I love working with wood, but have no idea what I'm doing.)

About half way though the concert, there was a short intermission. I was a little surprised by that, but not bothered because they kept us entertained with show clips and music. Then it occurred to me, these are men in their seventies, SEVENTIES! Something you completely forget while watching them. They probably needed to pee. As I looked around the venue, I realized, most of the people around me were also in that baby boomer generation. A generation Dawn and I were born at the very end of. Most of the audience probably needed to pee, too. The intermission was a darn good idea! 

Davy was also well represented during the concert. They used TV clips of him singing Shades of Gray, with Peter, still so very relevant today, this election day. And of course, HIS song, Davy's song, Daydream Believer. Micky and Peter both knew that his song had to be a part of any concert, but that neither of them could every get through singing it. So, they gave it to us, the fans. They played the clip of him singing it in the show as they sang along and encourage the audience to join them. Which we did. There is truly no better way to include Davy in the show, and no other way to include Daydream Believer. As you may remember at the end of the song in the TV show, Davy is shown walking away from the camera during the last bit of the song. That, THAT was just so emotional to watch. It just seemed like a way to say one last goodbye and know he was in a better place.

The show ended on the most upbeat of songs. Micky looked around the audience, found a few youngsters and told them something. "This next song, it didn't start with Shrek. We sang it FIRST!!" 

Mike, Davy, Micky and Peter made believers out of us 50 years ago, and Peter and Micky, are keeping us believers today. 

Vacation Planning

 Willie and I haven't had many "real" vacations in our married years, at least not with traveling involved. Heck, I've still never been on an airplane. If you don't count visiting my friend Dawn down in the St. Louis area, I think I can count two. One to South Dakota when the kids were pretty little. That was basically on an angry whim on Willie's part when he got passed over for a promotion. We took four days and saw Mt. Rushmore, The Badlands and camped at Custer State Park.

Last year, while my sister stayed with my dad for us, we went up to Minnesota. We camped at Jay Cooke State Park and also checked out a lot of other state parks along Lake Superior in Minnesota. We had very wonderful and relaxing time.

Jay Cooke State Park
Duluth, Minnesota

I decided that we were going to go on a "real" vacation again this year. I looked at the calendar and tried to find a time when we wouldn't be gone during any special occasions, like a birthday or such. I decided on the week of October 1-9. I had Willie ask for it off, and then started to figure out where to go.

I didn't want to have to spend the entire vacation in the car getting to and from wherever we went. I started looking at places. I looked at areas between a 12 to 16 hour drive away. First place I checked, the Grand Canyon. Neither of us had ever been there. It was just too far to be able to drive to and get back in a week.

I then looked at Colorado, but many of the campgrounds in the mountains close on October 1. That made that a bit more difficult, but not impossible. The same was true with Yellowstone, and most of the National Parks in the mountains. Next I looked south. We could get down to the Gulf Coast, and I'd never seen that, nor an ocean for that matter. I looked east. Niagara Falls would be awesome. I've always wanted to go to Washington DC, and Philadelphia to walk in the footsteps of our nations founders. I asked Willie what he would like to do. Never really got any kind of a real answer. I kept looking. I bought two National Geographic books, one about national parks, the other about state parks. I looked and looked. I kept prodding Willie for what he would like to do to no avail. So, one day when he was at work I decided.

"We are going to Niagara Falls for our vacation." I told Willie. He looked at me like I should have asked him first. I looked back at him and I think he realized he'd better not say that.

"Ok," he said, "what made you decide on that?" Willie loves digging and creating water features. He loves trying to incorporate waterfalls. He liked the waterfalls we had seen last year in Minnesota. I had been to Niagara before with Girl Scouts when I was in high school. That was a long time ago. I figured it was time to get him there and for me to see it again.

I looked in the National Geographic books to see if there was some place near by where we could camp. I googled New York State Parks. There were plenty, and October is not exactly peak season for vacationers. I decided I was going to reserve a campsite anyway because it would be close to peak fall colors, so the weekends might be full.

I started looking at google maps to see how far Niagara was from this campground and that. What route to take to and from our house. Would we need to stop along the way for a night, and where would be good. Then I noticed one of the longer routes to the falls was through Pittsburgh.

My husband is the biggest Pittsburgh Steelers fan ever to be put on this earth. And he lives in Iowa. Living in Iowa does not make it easy to go to a Steeler's game. He had been to one. A pre-season game against the Vikings in Minneapolis. He loved it. He never really expected to get to see them live again.

I looked up the Steelers' schedule. Now, when I do things on a whim like that, it rarely works out. I knew I had a 50-50 shot, but maybe, just maybe, they would be playing at home that first Sunday of our vacation, or even Monday night. Lo and behold! The Steelers were playing Kansas City that Sunday night AT HOME! One thing on my bucket list had been to get Willie to a home Steelers game. It'd been on the list for years. I never thought we'd ever be able to make it happen, but there it was, a home game while we would be in the area. BUT would there be tickets?

I pulled up the Steelers' website. I knew they sold out often. Maybe there was still a chance, it was only May. I clicked on "Tickets." There were some available. I was floored! Was this really going to work out? I clicked on best available, and about pooped my pants. I knew NFL tickets were expensive, but good grief. I backed down the price range and found some still ridiculously priced tickets, but ones I could bite my lip and manage. I bought the tickets!

I was going to wait until Willie got home to tell him, but I couldn't. I sent him a text. "I did something, you can't get mad, because it's already done and there's nothing you can do about it. I got tickets for a Steelers home game for October 2!" I know he doesn't check his phone while he's working so I didn't know when I would get a response. I thought he'd be at least as excited as I was.

He got home from work. I hadn't gotten a response. I asked him if he got my text. "Yeah." That's not exactly the response I had hoped for, but ok.

Next step, Hotel in Pittsburgh and campsite in New York. Hotel was easy, Google, Travelocity, done. I looked for parks around Niagara, Ontario in Canada. They don't have a park system like we do in our states. They have national parks, but I wasn't sure if I could get Willie to get a passport, so I looked again at the state parks in the NatGeo book. One was within 2 hours of the falls, Letchworth State Park. I looked it up and booked us a spot.

Never being completely sure about decisions, I kept googling Letchworth. The more I googled the more I was happy with the choice. Turns out, a USAToday readers poll voted Letchworth the number one state park in the US. It also had three waterfalls. A deep gorge went through the center of it. It was nick named the "Grand Canyon of the East." The deepest gorge east of the Mississippi. So, that would be good.

Next, waiting...

She's Incredible!!

My oldest daughter is, and always has been an incredible person. In junior high school she decided to join the track team. She did not get a love of running from me. Not even in the slightest. I didn't even like running as a little kid. I much preferred hide and seek to tag. Way too much running in tag. I was slow, so I ALWAYS ended up being "it," and then could never tag anyone else.

Valerie got her inspiration to run from her dad. He was in cross country and track in high school and continued running for years after. He was pretty good. He won a few medals in both sports, but was never what you would call a star. He ran because he liked it.

Valerie was dedicated when track season rolled around. She went to all practices, she always worked as hard as she humanly could, she went all out. However, like most teens, when it wasn't track season, she went about doing other things. In seventh grade she came home crying during the first week of track. "The other girls are all better than me, I feel like I don't belong," she said through tears. I reminded her that they had all been playing different sports all year. She was at a very small high school in rural Iowa. Most of the kids that liked sports were in sports practically all year round. She wasn't like that. She had other interests that didn't involve chasing a ball around a court or field, and her school didn't have cross country in the fall. She always had a lot of catching up to do every spring. The amazing thing was, no matter what, she kept at it.

She would never be a star. She would never win a race. In fact, she came in last, every single race. You know what though, every time, she sucked it up, she practiced harder, and determined to do better next time. Which, she did. I was always so proud of her. Never once did she give up. Never once did she not complete her race. Never once did she quit. She kept running track every single year until she graduated high school. She amazed me. As the other girls reveled in their medals, Valerie looked to run a little better time next time. The courage it took for her to go and sign up every year, and finish every single race. I was probably prouder of her than any of the mothers who's daughters always came in first or second. She was my rock star.

Valerie graduated high school, started her life as all young people do. She kept running on and off as casual enjoyment. Two years or so ago, she really started running again. She started getting serious about it. Her feet gave her problems. She has issues with the her joints, especially in her toes and ankles being overly flexible. She also has high arches. Finding running shoes became a horror for her. She saw a podiatrist who told her what to look for in a good shoe for her. All of this set her running back, but never stopped her.

She tried shoe, after shoe, after shoe. She wanted to try to run a 10k, but the shoe issue kept making that impossible. Finally, she found a shoe that worked for her. She found the best way to wrap her ankles, and tape her toes. Once she got the combination all down, she was off.

She started training. She trained relentlessly for months. She trained all on her own, I'm sure doing research all along the way to get the most of her training. She is an avid researcher. If she is interested in a topic, she will learn all she can about it. You see, she also happens to be, really, darn smart.

She set her sites on a half marathon. The IMT Des Moines Marathon, in well, Des Moines, Iowa. This marathon, the full marathon, is a qualifier for the major marathons and the Olympics in Olympic years. It aint no wimpy thing. Not that she was running the full marathon, or trying to qualify for anything down the road, but even the half marathon brings in very good athletes from all over. The full marathon brings in elite athletes from around the world. It may not be the Boston marathon, one day, it might come close.

Marathon day came. It was a very foggy day in Iowa. Willie and I had a rather harrowing drive to Des Moines. The fog was so thick, and it was dark. The full moon helped light our way the first twenty miles. The last sixty, even the super moon could no longer cut through the fog. By the time we reached downtown Des Moines, the fog had lifted, but only a bit.

We caught up with Valerie's husband at the back of the pack of runners. The full marathoners and the half marathoners were starting together. They were, of course, organized by their mile pace times. Elite at the front, novice at the back. There were about 8,000 runners running the race. Valerie was waiting, a bit impatiently, at the very back of the pack.

Anyone who knows Valerie knows this look. Her lips squished to the side as she bites the inside of her mouth look. Her very nervous, yet very determined look. She may be at the back of the pack, but it wouldn't deter her. She maybe one of the last now, but she would still run her hardest and best run ever. Because, that's just who she is. That was 8:00 am Sunday morning. The marathon started, the elite runners taking off, as the back of the pack slowly made their way to the start line for their chance to start. It took about five more minutes before Valerie got to the start line. Off into the fog she went.

Willie, Joel and I walked back to the car. We tried to get to Grays Lake to cheer her on as she did the two mile loop there. There was an app for the run that you could keep up with where the runners  were on the corse. Once we got back to the car, it looked like Valerie was almost to the lake, with the road closures, we probably wouldn't get there in time. We found a place close to Principle Park, where the I-Cubs play, which was totally engulfed in fog, and waited. It was about halfway through the corse.

As we waited, we started to realize, perhaps the app, wasn't completely accurate. Joel had a cousin running the half marathon, too. He was tracking both her and Valerie. About the time that his cousin should have been passing us, he didn't see her. She was about a quarter mile ahead of Valerie, or that was what the app showed. Joel never saw her. Then the app showed that Valerie should be coming down the road soon. I lifted my camera to may face to use the long lens to scan the crowd. We couldn't see her anywhere. Joel kept checking the app. "She should be right in front of us," he said. We looked our hardest to find her, to no avail.

I was getting a little worried. Valerie also has asthma which flares with exertion. "The app still has her moving right?" I asked Joel.

"Yup, she's moving," He answered. We kept looking. Every woman we saw with a hat that remotely looked like her aqua colored hat we watched closely until we could verify that it wasn't her. Nope, too tall. Nope, she had black shorts on. Nope, hair too long. "Maybe she took her hat off."

Another ten minutes went by. Still no sight of Valerie though the app said she had come and went. "I don't know how we could have missed her," Joel said. "Unless she took her hat off." We waited another five minutes. "We must have missed her, the app says she is way past. I'm going to find a bathroom," Joel sighed. He walked away, and quickly returned. He pointed to the crowd of runners streaming past us, and there she was! Slowly, as she moved through the foggy air her features became clear. She was doing great. She was in the middle of the middle pack of runners, looking very good. Steady and smiling when she saw us.

We cheered her on, me particularly loudly. We watched her go by and disappear into the crowd again. The worst part of the corse was yet to come. Some very large hills (yes, Iowa has them) were in her future. She was keeping steady to her pace. She knew what she needed to do, but I still worried about those hills. I am MOM after all. It's in the job description. 

We went and found a place about a block from the finish line to wait for her. We watched the elite marathoners, flanked by motorcycle police, run by at a pace that astounded us for the end of a 26 mile race. They ran by as if all they were doing was running across a busy street. The pace was quick and looked so easy. They looked like they'd been running after a bus for five minutes, not a marathon for two hours. 

We kept watching as more full and half marathoners ran by for their last block of the race. Some looked exhausted, some looked fine. A few stopped, hunched over and the crowd cheered them on. They took a deep breath, straightened their backs and started on again to the finish. 

I could see the large hills that the runners had to face from where we were waiting. Joel kept checking the app, and we tried to recalculate to guess where Valerie really was. He told me that she was probably on the hill at that point. I asked him if she had her inhaler with her, of course she did. "She hasn't needed to use it much though, lately," he told me. I looked at the hill, and said a little prayer under my breath. A little later he told me she should be on her way down, her line on the app still staying steady. 

We watched as more athletes ran by. We saw the women's marathon winner run by. We saw a group who was helping a friend in a wheel chair finish the race. We saw another man in a wheel chair, arms as strong as a weightlifter's, cruise by on his own. We saw a man dressed up like Forrest Gump, so obviously, I had to yell, "Run, Forrest, Run!" We tried to guess how long before we would see her. The app already had her past the finish line. We recognized many runners that we saw when we were looking for her before. I again scanned the crowd with my camera. Pretty soon, there she was. 

She smiled and giggled a bit when I screamed "GO VALERIE!" at the top of my lungs. Her pace was as strong as it was when we had seen her last. She was doing great. Not only that, but for the first time, she was not the last person to cross the finish line. Far from it. She was well in the middle of the pack with hundreds of runners behind her. The clock said 2 hours and 44 minutes, but it was set for when the first runner crossed the start line. Her real time was 2 hours and 37 minutes. She originally thought it might take her 3 hours. She said she'd be happy with 2:40, she beat that by 3 minutes! 

She was, as always, amazing!!!

ARRRRRGGGGGGGGGG!!!!! Sprint sucks!!!

I am beyond angry. My father came to live with me 2 1/2 years ago because he suffered from vascular dementia and could no longer be left alone for any amount of time. He has, still, a Sprint plan. I do not know the stupid PIN number to get it turned off, and my dad, because of his disease could not remember. He went into hospice on November 10, at which time I tried to get help to turn his phone off. I did not know the answers to the security questions, so the person I was talking to sent a report to someone and that division was supposed to call me back within 48 hours. Never received a call back. Dad passed away on November 18. After dealing first with the funeral preparations and burying my dad, I called Sprint customer service again. Explained that my dad had passed away. The service rep was short with me, cut me off and told me I needed to take the death certificate into a store to have it turned off. Once I finally had the Death certificates, I went in to the store in Coralville, Iowa. I had all of the documentation I needed. This store is 20 miles away from my home. I was greeted by the assistant manager. I told him what I needed, and he told me to put my papers away because they couldn't turn my dad's phone off at that store. I would have to drive another 30 miles to Cedar Rapids to go to a "corporate store."

Needless to say, I was not happy. I shouldn't have to drive an extra 60 miles round trip to have a phone disconnected. This "assistant manager" wouldn't even pick up a phone to find out if there was any other way to deal with it. If a store can sell me a phone and start up a plan, they should have the ability to TURN ONE OFF!!! It is ridiculous that this store could not help me. Isn't losing my dad enough? Then, I admit, I got angry, but I did not become abusive in anyway, even admitted I was being a bitch and apologized, and begged him to help me get this done. As I was leaving he got very snarky with me. He had no sympathy for my situation, and laughed at me as I left. I am livid! I have been through hell watching my dad slip away over the last 2 1/2 years, and watching him die over a long sleepless week. Then the nightmare of the everything that comes after, and this punk rubbed salt in my very raw wounds.

I went out to my car, called customer service AGAIN, the rep was very kind and tried to help, but I don't have the PIN so again she had to refer it on to someone else, who, I'm not expecting to hear from.

Well played, Sprint, well played!