Returning home from Germany

Mary and I had our cell phone alarms set for 5 am, but much to our surprise, Peter was already awake and ready to get dressed. We ate a little in the hotel then put our pajamas in our bags then left the Adina Hotel to walk to the Berlin Hauptbahnhof.

Peter finished his breakfast in the Berlin Hauptbahnhof

Once in the train station we bought a couple of pretzels for Peter to have with his hummus for breakfast. The train to the Berlin Flughofen (airport) was only a few minutes from arriving so we didn’t have long to wait. At first the train wasn’t crowded but as we neared the airport, more passengers boarded the light rail. One person appeared to be emotionally disturbed or under the influence of a drug became loud on the train but soon exited the car.

At the airport, we easily checked our three bags then moved to the first security where we got through quickly since we only had one small carry-on each and no unapproved items. We then went to the German exit point where we waited in a long time to present our passports. Once we were at the checkpoint we were approved quickly. When we got in the line only three of the fifteen or so windows were open. Some families were at the window for over 30 minutes. While we were in the line a group of passengers from some Eastern European country started cutting line. We knew that they were not from an EU country or they would have been in an expedited line. Some of the line cutters got through, but the ones who were seen by the agent received a severe scolding and sent to the rear of the line. We passed through this checkpoint in less than a minute once we were at the window.

After going into the next room, our passports and boarding passes were checked by an agent from the US then we walked toward the terminal gates, but had to pass through another passport check which took a very short time. When going through a checkpoint we would put Peter between us in case of a problem. At one of the checkpoints, photographic recognition was used but the camera clicked on Peter before he was fully in place. He was routed to a desk where a human verified the passport. However, Mary had already passed through with Peter’s passport. Peter and I communicated the issue to a German police officer, who got the passport from Mary and straightened things out quickly. At the terminal for our flight, we had a few minutes for a bathroom break and to eat some of the breakfast that we packed. A tall slim man of about 35 years with long hair had been in the lengthy security line with us. While at the gate he was approached by two Berlin police officers, airport security and a representative of Delta Airlines. The police told him that another passenger had reported that his behavior was suspicious and that he needed to have an additional security check and interview. Mary said that she believed that he had been talking to two young girls who were flying back to New York and may have said something that they believed to be inappropriate.

Although we were in group 6 for the flight from Berlin to New York, we boarded quickly, after yet another check of passports and boarding passes. While all of the checks may seem like overkill, we are certainly happy that measures are in place to assure passenger safety. Our assigned seats were in the center section of the Boeing 767-300 so Mary and I had aisle seats with Peter between us. As with the trip to Germany, Peter traveled really well watching the inflight entertainment and snacking on things that we brought for the flight. When the meal was served about 90 minutes into the flight, he even ate most of the chicken curry and rice which is pretty impressive for an eleven-year-old.

When we arrived at JFK Airport in New York around 1 pm, we saw that a flight to Cincinnati was leaving around 2 pm. Our scheduled flight didn’t leave until 6:30 meaning a 5 ½ hour wait in the airport. Mary went to the Delta Airlines desk and unsuccessfully attempted to get on the earlier flight. There was a series of checkpoints and security stops on the way, but we were surprised that we didn’t have to go through customs. Rechecking our bags was quick and easy. Peter has become very skilled at spotting our luggage at the airport. He usually has our bags before we even make it to the carousal.

We walked around the airport, got some food from airport restaurants then sat at the gate while doing some German lessons and reading some eBooks that we had checked out from the library. Peter fell asleep in the seats at our gate and slept hard for almost an hour. We woke him in time to board the flight.

The aircraft from New York to Cincinnati was smaller but we had plenty of legroom. There was no in-flight entertainment but the flight was supposed to take only 90 minutes. However, we were on the taxiway for nearly an hour before takeoff. The cabin appeared to be completely full, and the flight had little turbulence once in the air. Peter slept much of the way while Mary and I read eBooks.

When we arrived at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport, we were met by Sarah picking Peter up. Sarah and Peter were very happy to see each other. Mark and Cindy were flying out of Cincinnati on Monday morning after a visit to a graduation in West Virginia. They met us at the airport and gave us a ride back to the Hilton where we left our car parked.

Although sleepy, I made the one hour drive from the airport back to the house where we went straight to bed, We would unpack and do laundry on Monday but it was after 11 pm and we had been up since 5 am in Germany which was 11 pm Eastern. We are too old for these 24 hour days!

We had a great time on this trip and having Peter with us made it very special. We wanted this to be his trip and to be something that he will remember about us after we are gone. We wanted him to experience another culture and have a broad perspective. We were very proud of him trying different foods that he had never tried in the US. He was willing to try everything and actually really liked several German food items. We were proud of his manners while traveling especially when he offered his seat on the train to an older person. Although we didn’t put a limit on things he could buy or money he could spend, he was very conservative with his requests and wanted to buy things for his family, especially his brother. He loved the pocket camera that we bought for him before the trip. He took well over 2000 pictures, mostly of himself making faces but a lot of sites that he wanted to remember. We are hopeful that we can have successful travel with his brother and cousins when they complete fifth grade.

Saying goodbye to Whittingtons for now

We woke at 4:30 am to get Mark and Cindy to Cincinnati Airport. Mark’s flight to Boise, Idaho was at 8 am but Cindy didn’t flight to Tampa until 3 pm. Mary dropped Mark off at the airport then she and Cindy went to several of the outlets in Northern Kentucky then had lunch at Izzy’s in Florence. Cindy seemed impressed with the reuben sandwich and the kartoffelpuffers (potato pancakes) from Izzy’s. Mary dropped Cindy at the airport around 2 pm.

We were very happy to have them visit. They enjoy doing the kinds of things that we enjoy and are just fun to be around. We look forward to seeing them in Florida in less than a week. They are promising to return to Kentucky in late May.

While they were away, I took advantage of the warm day to mow. I cut the front and back yards as far as the stream but didn’t mow in the field or in the back garden. After mowing, I showered and watched an episode of Gunsmoke.

Mary got in around 3:30 and started preparing for our Master Gardener’s meeting at 5:30. We called the Extension Office to confirm the availability of the room and learned that we needed to go over 4:30 to get the room before the Extension Office staff left for the day.

Home from Ecuador

We took the shuttle from Rincon de Puembo to the Quito airport a little before 8 pm. We made it through check-in with no problems. The security staff at the airport was friendly and helpful. Our flight to Atlanta boarded on time and the five-hour flight was uneventful. We all slept some during the red eye flight before arriving in Atlanta. Our Global Entry status allowed us to get through security in Atlanta with no line. We remarked how valuable Global Entry is to us during international travel.

Our flight to Cincinnati was scheduled for 8:15 in concourse B so we met Whittingtons in concourse A as their 7:15 flight to Orlando was boarding.

Mary picked up a fruit parfait as a morning snack while we waited for our flight to board. The aircraft was completely full for the 8:15 am flight from Atlanta to Cincinnati and left Atlanta on time.

We arrived at the Cincinnati airport a little after 9:30 am, picked up our bags and headed for the ground transportation area. Probably for the first time ever, we got there as the shuttle for the Hilton was arriving so we made it back to the car in record time and made it back home before noon.

We did laundry and started catching up on things that we hadn’t done in the time we were gone. Although we had left the Galaxy Yacht on Saturday, we still felt the boat rocking for several days after we returned.

While it felt good to return to our routine, we will never forget our time in Ecuador. Everyone agreed that this was one of our best trips ever. The activity level of the outings was just right for us, and we got to see so many things that we have read about in National Geographic or watched on PBS nature specials. It was nice to just be immersed in nature. We were initially concerned about not having access to cell telephone signals and Internet, but it wasn’t a problem at all. In fact, it was quite pleasant to not hear about runaway inflation, plummeting stock markets, supply chain breakdowns and political bickering.

We did our best to identify and check off the variety of birds, mammals, reptiles and fish that we saw on the trip. I think that we did a pretty good job of identifying everything but the fish since we all saw so many different fish depending on where we happened to drift by while snorkeling.

We have already started discussing a location for our next adventure. Right now, I think the movement is toward sub-Saharan Africa, perhaps Kenya and Tanzania. There is also discussion of something in the Middle East.

Returning home from the Pacific

As with most vacations, we are always anxious to leave on a trip, but we are always ready to return home. Perhaps just getting back to a routine is a lot of it.

We were at the airport around 4:30 am. I dropped Mary and the luggage off at the Delta terminal of Sacramento Airport then drove to the rental car return area. The Enterprise representative checking in the cars was very pleasant and helpful directing me to the place to catch the shuttle to the terminal. We left a note on the seat of the rental Ford Fusion describing the many problems that we found with the car. We made sure to notify Enterprise of the car’s problems when we were consulted on the satisfaction survey. We had driven over 2500 miles on our trip and tolerated the car, but I would never take another one like this for any extended travel.

The shuttle returned me to the airport quickly, and Mary had already checked our bag. This time it was just under the 50-pound limit thanks to Mary shifting some heavy items to our carry on. However, that caused an issue at security. The huge bag of wheat pennies caused my camera bag to be pulled for inspection. The TSA agent was pleasant and found no problems with the bag, and we made our way the short distance to the gate. We had some time before our flight, so we ate the granola bars and other things we had packed for breakfast.

The short flight from Sacramento was fairly full but because of COVID-19 social distancing, we had an empty seat between us. We watched some of a rock documentary on the life and career of David Crosby of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young before landing in Salt Lake City.

We bought a sandwich to share from a vendor at the Salt Lake airport. It was too early for lunch. but there would be no meal service on the flight, so we took it onboard with us to have during the flight from Salt Lake to Cincinnati. We were pleased to learn that the CDC was reporting that air travel is very safe during the pandemic because of the precautions that airlines are taking. The HEPA filtered air exchanges appeared to be a major reason for the safety of the flights. As with our travel two weeks earlier, the cabin was sanitized between all flights, and the crew gave out sanitizing wipes as we boarded.

We finished watching the David Crosby documentary then watched a similar program on Linda Ronstadt that had many of the same people being interviewed. Both were part of the Southern California musical movement of the 1970s giving rise to the Eagles, Poco. Flying Burrito Brothers, The Byrds, Jackson Brown, Buffalo Springfield, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and many other of our favorites. We both enjoyed the programs although we had seen part of the Linda Ronstadt special a year or so ago.

We landed in Cincinnati on time and picked up our checked bags quickly and made our way to the area where the Hilton shuttle picks up. We waited for the shuttle for nearly an hour before I called the number from onestopparking and was told that the shuttle now runs on an “as needed” basis as travelers call from the airport. The van came shortly after our call. The driver, originally from Williamson, WV, was very pleasant and helpful taking us to our car at the Hilton for the hour drive back home. We knew that we would have a mountain of laundry, mowing and other chores in the next few days, but we were happy to be home. The pandemic would require us to have a two-week self-quarantine, but with all of the upcoming work at home, that wouldn’t be a problem.

Leaving for Egypt

We left home around 9:30 am to make the hour drive up I-75 to the Cincinnati airport. We parked at our usual source OneStopParking at the Hilton off Turfway since we can park for about $5 per day and the free shuttle is reliable. Our drive was uneventful, and the short trip to the airport from the Hilton was pleasant since we rode with two pilots how shared interesting stories of some of their pleasure travels.

The Global Entry pass was great since we went straight through airport security with no line then didn’t have to take shoes or jackets off. We also didn’t have to take anything out of our carry-on bags. We had some time in the airport before our 2 pm flight departed so we ate the lunch we packed and walked around between the concourses until our flight to New York.

We got to JFK airport a little ahead of schedule and waited for Mark & Cindy to arrive. They had come to New York a few days earlier and had taken time to visit a few sites including the memorial at the site of the World Trade Center. They met us at our gate then we went to one of the airport vendors for dinner, Mary & I had salads then split a sandwich. Mark & Cindy were not very hungry because they had eaten a large lunch while sightseeing earlier, so they just had a snack.

After leaving the airport food court and returning to our departure gate, Cindy realized that she had lost her wallet and cell phone. She and Mark ran back to the food court and bathroom to search for the missing items with no success. The wallet had her credit and debit cards, driver’s license, Global Entry ID and several hundred dollars in cash. She was pretty disappointed to have lost them but was glad that she had put her passport in her carry-on bag and could board our red-eye flight that was leaving at 7 pm.

Our flight was uneventful with Mark and Cindy in the seats behind us on the flight. The seats were fairly comfortable, but neither of us had much success in getting much sleep. I watched “The Current Wars” and a little of the animated “Addams Family” movie. Mary watched “Maleficent 2” and Amazing Grace, the Aretha Franklin documentary which she enjoyed.  We tried to sleep some but without much success. 

2019 Cincinnati Christkindlmarkt

We took advantage of a pretty November day to go north up I-75 to the Colerain area of North Cincinnati for the Christkindlmarkt.  This reminded us of the Christmas markets in Germany.  These festivals called Weihnachtsmarkt in much of Germany and Christkindlmarkt in Bavaria and Austria, become very busy in the evening.  The food, craft and Gluwein stands fill the air with fragrant aromas. We met up with Emily & Ian around 9 am and met up Sarah and Peter at their home.  Peter had been complaining of an earache but his doctor said that he has pneumonia and gave him a prescription for Amoxicillin.  While he takes the course of antibiotic he was free to do anything he wants. 

The Christmas market, sponsored by the Germania Society of Cincinnati, was held at the Germania Park.  Heated tents were set up for events and meals since the weather this time of year is very unpredictable.  Just two days ago the weather was cold, snowy and windy.  Today was in the mid-40s and beautiful.  There were pens with a variety of animals set up for the children to pet.  Peter liked petting the sheep, goat and donkey. 

We walked through the craft tent where vendors were selling nutcracker figures, beer mugs, gluwein and carvings among other things.  In the food tent, we had wurst, schnitzel, potato pancakes and sauerkraut balls.  Peter ate part of his hot dog and a cup of applesauce. 

After lunch we walked through another tent of vendors and bought pretzels to snack on as we walked.  The last tent we visited had Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte, strudel, cream puffs and other pastries.  The group bought several choices to share as we sat out in the sun but near the steel drums with hardwood fires.  We walked around a little more then headed for home.

Sarah and Peter had driven separately so they headed for their house and Mary, Ian, Emily and I drove back to Georgetown.

Our last day in China

We awoke early, as usual, but stayed in the room and got ready for our return to the US.  Since we didn’t leave for the airport until 11:30 we had some time.  We met up with Mark and Cindy to go for a morning walk.  We had seen a park near the Beijing Ritz Carlton Financial Street when we checked online maps.  We wanted to have a late breakfast that would allow us to eat lunch a little later in the afternoon.

Because this is the first day of the Golden Week holiday, we wanted to stay away from attractions that typically attract Chinese tourists. We had seen so many people the day before in the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square that we knew that we did not want to go in that direction today.

Writing Chinese characters in water on the sidewalk

We found the small park after walking only a short distance.  There tends to be a small fee to enter parks in China.  Having an entry fee provides a funding source to provide for cleaning and upkeep.  In addition, the entry fee helps to keep vagrants out of the park.

This small park was very well kept and clean.  There were maintenance staff constantly cleaning and making the park more attractive.  There was a nice selection of trees and shrubs that were all labeled in English and Chinese.  The grass was well groomed and there wasn’t a shred of litter to be seen.  One of the buildings was getting a new roof of the grey tiles that are so common throughout China. 

Mark and I looked for a geocache while we were in the park.  After a short hunt, Mark was able to make the find of a small metal can covered in camo tape.  I was happy to find one last geocache while we were in China. 

We walked on for a bit and saw a man writing on the sidewalk with a large sponge brush and water.  We watched him for some time creating the Chinese characters on the concrete.  There was also a man juggling a large yoyo as he exercised. 

Man exercising with a yoyo in a Beijing park

We took the short walk back to our hotel and checked out before going to a late breakfast at the hotel.  We especially enjoyed our last Chinese breakfast.  We will certainly miss the selection of Asian vegetables and items that we don’t usually get at home.  Even more, it was a nice treat to have someone cooking and cleaning up for us.  I have some to enjoy the yams and sweet potatoes and the rice congee at meals.  Mary will miss the dumplings stuffed with everything from pork to shrimp to bean paste. 

We got on the bus taking us to the airport at 11:30 and made the trip to the airport in less than an hour.  We had no issues getting through security although there were long lines. and we knew it would take a while.  We saw a few people from the Viking trip once we were through security, but they went to different areas of the huge Beijing airport.  We sat with Mark and Cindy until near our boarding time then we walked to our gate and caught our flight. 

Our seatmate was a lady from Detroit who has been living in China since her husband works for Ford and is assigned to China.  She was interesting and had some great insights into living in China as an American.

We dozed a little and watched a few movies to while away the time on the flight.  I hoped that I could sleep for much of the flight but I was only able to nap a little.  I knew it would be difficult to adjust to the 12 hour time difference back in the US.  We had heard that our bodies require one day to adjust for each time zone crossed.  By that reckoning we would be nearly two weeks recovering from the jet lag after returning from China. 

We arrived in Detroit to change planes.  We picked up our bags from the international flight and took them to security for the short domestic flight from Detroit to Cincinnati.  There were no issues getting through customs or security.  We didn’t have a lot of time to spend at the Detroit airport but had plenty of time to get to our flight. 

We got to Cincinnati a little before 6 pm and had a nice surprise waiting on us.  Sarah came to the Cincinnati airport to meet us and drive us to the airport Hilton Hotel where we used OneStopParking to park the car during our vacation.  It was great to see Sarah and to hear how she and the Koehlers were doing while we were away.

We made the drive from the Cincinnati airport to our home in a little over an hour.  When we got home we had another nice surprise.  Emily had stocked the refrigerator for us.  We had cleaned most of the perishables out of the house in anticipation of our three week trip so we were very scarce on food.  It was nice to have food there waiting on us. 

Although we are still sleeping on air mattresses at the house, we had no trouble sleeping.  We were still excited from all of the things we had seen and done on our trip we were still happy to be home.  We were anxious to see family and friends and get back in a normal routine.

Terracotta Army Invades Cincinnati

My birthday gift this year was a visit to the Cincinnati Art Museum with the entire family.  The special reason for the visit here was an exhibit on China's terracotta army.  The exhibit included over 120 period artworks as well as 10 of the life sized terracotta warriors.  

 We had seen a similar exhibit at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis in September 2014.  Since this was in Cincinnati we had to go, especially since we will be at the site in China later this year. 
We are fascinated with the find of clay warriors, horses and chariots that were found in a farmer's field in the mid 1970s where they were hidden since they were made around 210 BC.  It is believed that there are over 8,000 soldiers and many hundreds of horses buried in the pits in China's Lintong District.  We loved looking at the differences in the features and faces of each warrior that are said to be unique from one to another and may have even resembled the appearance of one of the craftsman making the figure.  It is believed that nearly three quarters of a million people worked on making the soldiers, horses and chariots.  When the figures were placed in the pits it is believed that they were painted with bright colors that were typical of a human army of the time.  However, in the 2000 years of burial most of the paint has washed away from the figures.
All of this were done to honor the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang who founded the Qin Dynasty (pronounced "Chin") in 201 BC.  He ascended to the throne at the age of 13 and saw the size of his Chinese state expand greatly under his reign.  He ordered the fragments of wall structures found throughout much of China to be unified into what we now know as the Great Wall of China.  He also oversaw the construction of a network of roads that became a national transportation system. To assure the continued unification of China, he abolished feudalism and arranged the country into administrative units. He standardized units of measurements for the nation to assist trade and commerce within the country. Shortly after becoming emperor, he ordered the construction of a giant mausoleum that included the terracotta army.   There is speculation whether the 700,000 workers who built the tomb and warriors were paid workers or slaves but there is some agreement that everyone who worked on the tomb or knew where is is located was killed to preserve the secret.
We had a great day at the museum.  After walking through the terracotta army exhibit, we were entertained by Peter in the children's play area of the museum.  I can't think of a better birthday than to spend the day with my family and to visit an exhibit on the fascinating aspect of ancient Chinese history.
We stopped by Jungle Jim's on the way home to get a bag of our favorite tea then on to Georgetown to drop off Ian and Emily.

Oktoberfest Zinzinnati 2017

Because Sarah had a conference in Columbus and Greg was visiting friends in Colorado, we were able to spend a day with Peter in Cincinnati.  We were fortunate that it was also Oktoberfest weekend.  We never miss Oktoberfest Zinzinnati.

We ate a quick dinner at home then drove to the Finnell Pike property to spend the night.  We inflated our air mattresses and turned in.  Since we needed to be in Cincinnati by 7:30 am, we woke early.  I was surprised to learn that I hadn’t secured the valve on my air mattress and I had been sleeping on a flat mattress with no air.

We made a quick stop at McDonalds for a biscuit breakfast and arrived to see Peter a little after 7 and Mary drove Sarah to where she was to meet her car pool by 7:30.  Peter & I stayed home and romped.  We rough-housed most of the morning then left for Oktoberfest a little before 11 where we met up with Emily & Ian.

Ian & I had beers from the Weihenstephaner tent.  Ian had a Fest Bier which is the Oktoberfest special and I had a Kristallweißbier, the light wheat beer.  We both enjoyed our selections.  As we walked we had schnitzel sandwiches, goetta balls, Kartoffelpuffer and reuben sandwiches.  We never remember that our favorite booth for most food items is Izzy’s.  Their reuben sandwiches and Kartoffelpuffer are outstanding.  By early afternoon the crowd was larger and the music was pretty loud so we thought it may be best to leave with Peter.  He had been really good but we didn’t want to over stay his patience so we left for the playground on Ridge Avenue near Peter’s home.

He played on the ladders and slides for quite a while.  There were several children there but it wasn’t crowded.  He is a daring little guy and has no fear of climbing and sliding.

We god back to the house around 2 pm got Peter down for a nap by 2:30.  He slept for over two hours, almost until Sarah got home at 5.  Since Sarah and Peter were leaving for St. Louis by way of Indianapolis we didn’t stay so they could get on the road.

We stopped at Babe’s Barbecue in Scott County although neither of us was very hungry.  We split a cup of brisket and had a small cup of baked beans then went to Finnell Pike to sleep.

Since I secured the air valve better my air mattress held up well on Saturday night and we awoke at 5 am feeling rested and ready for a day of work.  We started working at the lagoon before 9 am clearing more brush.  I cut most of the willow trees that had overgrown the perimeter of the lagoon and Mary piled them up along the ditch for burning at a later time.  The hardest part was sawing the stumps off near ground level since the weather had heated up to near 90 degrees.  We stopped working around 3 pm when Emily stopped by for a visit.  We got our showers, made a quick stop by the Post Office and came back to Milton to get ready for the week ahead.

Returning Home from Southern Arizona

Our alarms went off at 5 am so we could shower and leave for the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport.  We checked the rental Camry back in to Enterprise then checked our bag at the Allegiant desk.  We ate a breakfast of oranges and cold cereal before we went through security.  For some reason we didn’t have the TSA PreCheck status but security at the small Gateway airport wasn’t terribly busy.  While we were sitting at the gate waiting area a fellow struck up a conversation with us.  It turns out that his in-laws are from Frazier’s Bottom, West Virginia.  He had grown up in central Kentucky but has lived in the Phoenix area for a number of years.  It was nice chatting with him.

Mary & I were seated about 10 rows apart.  Since selecting seats carries a significant extra charge with Allegiant we typically opt to sit wherever we end up.  Sitting in row 9 I was in the baby section.  My seatmates, an older couple from Cincinnati, remarked that they had never seen so many young babies on a flight.  We were fortunate that none of the infants was much of a crier and the trip was fairly quiet.  We arrived at CVG in northern Kentucky on time a little after 1:30 pm.

Because we were confused regarding the place where hotel shuttles pick up passengers we missed a couple of opportunities to get back to our car at the Hilton parking area.  We arrived at the correct pickup point as the shuttle was just pulling out so we had a bit of a wait.  We got back to the car and drove home on the AA Highway.  When we arrived in Barboursville we stopped at Walmart so we could have something for meals in the coming week.  We decided to pick up dinner so we stopped at the Arby’s in Ona for sandwiches.  Mary got a reuben and I had a brisket sandwich and we split an order of fries.

We got the water and crucial appliances turned on and started preparing for work and the week ahead.  We estimate that the expenses for the week came to about $1000 which was quite a bargain.  Our expenses were much less since Whittingtons split the house and car rentals as well as fuel and food items for breakfast and lunch.  Because we share a lot of interests with Mark and Cindy we would gladly go on another trip with them.  Like us, they enjoy going out into the desert and walking around.  In the evenings and in the car Mary and Cindy enjoy playing games and chatting.  Mark and I enjoyed irritating them and catching up.  We look forward to another trip together.

The map below shows places that we visited on our trip.  You can zoom in to see additional detail or click on any of the tagged places to see more information on that attraction.  We drove a total of 1355 miles in the week that we were in southern Arizona.

Terracotta Warriors in Indianapolis

After packing our bags and enjoying a full breakfast, we left the Sleep Inn around 9 am.  We continued to be impressed with our lodging.  I don’t know how we could beat it at around $65 per night.  We arrived at the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis about 9:30 and parked in the free spaces at the garage across the street.  Admission to the museum is $20 but we got a 10% AAA discount.  Tickets for the Terracotta Army exhibit are an additional $10.  A family membership at the museum is $155 which would be a great deal for someone living nearby.  Our tickets for the Terracotta Army were for the first group at 11:45 so we had some time to walk through the other displays.  The first thing we saw was a massive 43 foot tall glass sculpture by Dale Chihuly that ended in a glass ceiling viewable from the lower level.  This Fireworks of Glass display was quite a spectacle.

A large water clock moved blue tinted water to track the minutes and hours.  Another display was the Dinosphere which is a live sized diorama with reconstructed dinosaur skeletons and plants of the time.  The domed ceiling had projections of the sky that simulate the passing of days and seasons.  One thing in particular that we noticed was that the museum was divided up into areas that would separate noisy groups of children. We also liked the Reuben Wells steam engine which is a locomotive that could push a load of rail cars up the 5.9% grade near Madison, Indiana that is the steepest railroad incline in the United States.  We found it amusing that the steepest rail grade in the US was in one of the flattest states!

When we entered the Terracotta Army display we saw about 6 of the excavated statues from China.  This is the first time that artifacts from the Terracotta Army than have been in the US.  There were many interactive touch screen displays that described the layout of the excavation and the history of how and why the soldiers were built and placed in the underground rooms.  Illustrations of work showed how up to 700,000 workers toiled for 30 years to build the soldiers, each of which has unique faces, uniforms and postures.  There were also clay horses that were constructed with the army.  We learned that the clay soldiers were originally painted with bright colors but that over the 2000 years since, the paint has degraded and flaked off.  It is believed that over 8,000 terracotta solders, 700 horses and many weapons, chariots and other artifacts are in buried in the Shaanxi province.

After leaving the exhibit on the terracotta warriors we walked around the museum a little then headed across the skywalk to the car in the parking garage across the street.  We had a lunch of peanut butter and crackers, fruit, jerky and corn nuts then drove the short distance to the Indianapolis Museum of Art.

The art museum has a huge collection of excellent art in their permanent collection that includes works by Picasso, Monet, Chagall, Matisse, Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Renoir and many others.  There was a special exhibit of works by Georgia O’Keefe while we were there.  The art museum was huge and we hardly saw a small portion of it but we really wanted to see the gardens on the grounds of the huge property.  The Indianapolis Museum of Art is built on the property of the Lilly family and includes over 150 acres.  About a third of this is maintained as gardens.  

We walked around through many of the gardens and took some snapshots of some of the more interesting flowers.  We went into the greenhouse store and saw some of the plants for sale.  I would have purchased some succulents for my houseplant collections but I am not 100% certain that my problem with powdery mildew has been eliminated.

We left the garden area of the museum around 4 pm and headed toward Cincinnati.  We parked at the Gateway Garage (where we parked for Oktoberfest on Saturday) and met Sarah & Greg for dinner at Taste of Belgium in the Over the Rhine (OTR) area of Cincinnati.  We had meat croquettes as an appetizer that we all enjoyed.  Sarah had a chicken salad, Mary had a traditional crepe, Greg and I had the waffle and chicken.  I was a little apprehensive about it since the meal is roasted chicken coated in Texas Pete Hot Sauce served with a waffle covered in maple syrup.  I have to admit that it didn’t sound all that great but I trusted Greg’s recommendation and gave it a try.  It was actually very good.  The spicy chicken and the sweet waffle worked well together.

After dinner Greg needed to leave for choir practice so Sarah, Mary and I walked around OTR for a bit then stopped in a Graeter’s for ice cream which we all enjoyed.  We took Sarah home and picked up some LED light bulbs that she bought for us then headed for Georgetown, Kentucky to visit with Emily & Ian

On arriving at their Georgetown, Kentucky home, we visited with Emily & Ian for a short time before turning in for the night.  We woke around 6 am on Wednesday and set to work painting Ian’s “man cave” in Secret Meadow which is a hunter green color.  Before we could start the final green paint, we had to prime the walls to cover the claret red that the walls had been painted.  We used much of the leftover paint from the other rooms to put a good primer coat on all the walls.  The Behr paint covered well and looks good in the room.  I know Ian is anxious to get moved into the room and get it set up for his needs.  We finished painting around 6:30 and were pleased with the results.  Emily made an excellent auflauf for dinner that was a casserole of potatoes, carrots and cauliflower with a light sauce. 

Although we hated to eat and run, we needed to get started on the over two hour drive home so we headed out around 8 pm arriving home by 10:30.  We were very tired but had a great vacation and still got back in time to take care of some chores at home over the next few days of vacation.

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Zinzinnati Oktoberfest 2014

We always look forward to the third weekend in September because that means that we go to Oktoberfest in Cincinnati, Ohio.  Zinzinnati Oktoberfest is the world’s second largest with only Munich’s being larger.  Oktoberfest started in Munich in 1810 as a wedding celebration for the popular Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese.  Although starting in September, the original two week long party lasted into October 1810.  Even today’s Oktoberfest celebrations begin 16 days prior to the first Sunday in October.

Cincinnati’s Oktoberfest is only one weekend but is no less festive.  There are tons of bands from Germany, the US and other countries.  Dancers, street performers and other acts line five blocks of East Fifth Street as well as out Vine, Walnut, Main, Sycamore and Broadway.  The streets are closed to all but foot traffic.

We met our friends, Rex and Natalie Dillinger, at 9 am to drive down the AA Highway to Cincinnati.  Since we were planning to drive on to Indianapolis, we needed to take a separate car from Dillingers.  We took a break from the three hour drive in Cold Spring, Kentucky at a Gold Star Chili which we all enjoyed.  When traveling to Cincinnati, a bowl of Cincinnati Chili can really hit the spot.  We continued on to the Cincinnati Museum Center to see the Cincinnati Under the Sea exhibit.  Although not a large exhibit, the informative displays illustrated what the area of current Cincinnati was like during the late Ordovician Period (450 Million Years Ago).  

We moved to the Cincinnati History Museum where we saw a model of the city as it looks in the early 1900s through the 1940s.  A large display showed the role of Cincinnati in World War II.  In the replica of the Cincinnati waterfront there was a full sized replica of a riverboat of the late 1800s and many historical interpreters to explain the significance of the items.  We finished up at an exhibit of black and white photographs of the Cincinnati area.  We all enjoyed our visit to the museum especially considering that we had seen only about one third of the exhibit area.

At three o’clock we drove to the Over the Rhine area and, on Greg’s recommendation, we found parking easily at the Gateway Parking Garage.  Although this parking area was further from Oktoberfest than other parking areas we have used, it was very easy to get in and out.  As we were parking we saw J. K., Deanna, Ian and Emily outside the parking garage.  It was great to see them there.  We walked several blocks over to Fifth Street and we were very surprised at the size of the crowd.  In other years we typically came earlier in the day and had much smaller crowds but at 3:30 the streets were packed.  Lines for beer and food were very long.  There were bands on the stage at Fountain Square as well as sponsored tents on each of the streets intersecting Fifth.  Lots of guests were in lederhosen, dirndl, and chicken hats.  There were living statues and even a “naked cowboy” on the street.  We ate goetta balls, goetta reubens, sauerkraut balls, potato pancakes from Izzy’s, Kaiser Schloss, Mecklenburg Gardens, Laslo’s Iron Skillet and other street vendors.
Of course we took part in the "world's largest chicken dance" led by Drew and Nick Lachey (formerly of the band, 98 Degrees) with just under 50,000 people participating.

I was pleased to meet up with my former student Andy Adkins.  Andy was a classmate of Sarah’s and was a star member of our school’s Quiz Bowl team.  It was great seeing Andy and we hope to meet up with him again soon since he is living in Cincinnati. He told me that his brother, Tim, had lived in Cincinnati but is now living in Arizona.

At five o’clock, Greg was part of the Young Professional’s Choral Collective that performed several German songs on the main stage at Fountain Square.  We enjoyed the performance and our visit with Greg afterward.  We left Oktoberfest and said our goodbyes to everyone and drove west to Indianapolis where we had reserved a room at the Sleep Inn near the convention Center.

We were very impressed with the Sleep Inn here.  The lobby borders on luxurious and our room has a king sized bed, microwave, refrigerator and tasteful décor.  With our AAA discount, this motel is quite a find.  We watched a little of Ken Burns’ The Roosevelts on PBS then turned in for the night.

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Old Pogue and New Riff Distilleries

In completing the Kentucky Craft Spirits Trail, we left home at 7:30 am headed for Old Pogue in Maysville, KY and New Riff in Newport, KY.

The drive to Maysville along the AA Highway was nice, there was a little patchy fog along the Ohio River but otherwise easy driving.  We got to Maysville a little early and enjoyed the drive through the historic old town.  There are some beautiful old homes on the Kentucky hill facing the Ohio River.  Many of these old homes are still occupied and appeared to be in good repair.  Some large buildings nearer the river appeared to have been boarding houses or hotels in Maysville’s boom days.  We especially liked the old row houses along the Mary Ingles Highway (W. 2^nd Street) that looked to need some work but may well be still structurally sound.

It was a good thing that we got to Maysville early since the GPS took is to the exit for the distillery.  We were able to make a quick U turn then go up Germantown Road to get to the entrance to Old Pogue Distillery.  We drove down the steep and winding driveway to the small gravel visitor parking area.  As soon as we opened the car door we were greeted with the unmistakable sweet smell of a distillery.  We were struck by the beauty of the Pogue home nearby that overlooked the original Pogue Distillery that was located below on the Ohio River. 

When we entered the small distillery building we were met by John Pogue, the six generation of master distillers.  The two of us were the only ones for the 10 am tour and John met us warmly and shared the history of Maysville, how Bourbon helped to shape Maysville’s growth and his family’s role in that growth.  The Pogue Distillery dates back to 1876 and was able to sell remaining Bourbon for medicinal purposes during Prohibition.  However before the 18^th Amendment’s repeal by the 21^st Amendment in 1935, the Old Pogue folded in 1926 when the last barrel of bourbon in storage was sold.  

Members of the Pogue family worked as distillers and consultants for other companies, bringing the Bourbon expertise to other brands.  The recent revival of interest in quality Bourbon caused members of the Pogue family to tap stored family documents and recipes and begin making quality Kentucky Bourbon.  Members of the Pogue family had backgrounds not only in distilling but in business, law and, in the case of John, geology, came together to recreate family traditions of fine Bourbon.

The Pogue family buys rye, malted barley and locally grown corn that are ground for distillation in the small distillery.  After fermentation, the “beer” is piped a few feet to the fermentation tanks for a few days to allow the yeast to convert the grain sugars to about 10% alcohol when it is piped to the copper still a few feet away.  After distillation, the barrels of white whiskey are shipped to rented rickhouse space in Bardstown, Kentucky, a few hours drive away. 

At this time, Old Pogue makes only 50 barrels of Bourbon per year.  In addition to Old Pogue Bourbon, they make Five Fathers Pure Rye Malt Whisky that has a mashbill of 100% rye and Limestone Landing Single Malt Rye Whisky.  The huge demand for super premium Bourbon has caused a shortage of Old Pogue and has driven the price to $80 per bottle.  The distillery may be the only place remaining with bottles of Old Pogue to sell and they limit purchases to one bottle per visit. 

As we were leaving the distillery, another group of six visitors came and John took us through the old brick Pogue house next to the current distillery.  

The home has been beautifully restored with hardwood floors, photos of the original distillery and vintage Bourbon and rye bottles.  We walked out on the veranda to look down on the river and to appreciate the sunny summer day.  After touring the house, we returned to the distillery to sample Old Pogue Bourbon.  Mary bought a couple of very good Bourbon ball candies before we said our goodbyes and left for Newport on the AA Highway.

After about an hour drive, we arrived at Joe’s Crab Shack in Newport, across the highway from the Party Source and New Riff Distillery.  We were pleased that Sarah and Greg could meet us for the afternoon.  Joe’s Crab Shack has a good seafood selection and is generally well prepared.  While we waited on our lunch we had the appetizer sampler which included crab dip, spicy crab balls and calamari. For our meals, Mary had a shrimp platter and Greg had the East Coast platter, Sarah had mahi tacos and had crawfish half and half which was fried crawfish and crawfish etouffee.  We all enjoyed our meals.

Since our tour at New Riff wasn’t until 2 pm, we had about 30 minutes to spend at the nearby Party Source.  I had a shopping list of my favorite Bourbons but was surprised that there is a shortage of Eagle Rare, Blanton’s Reserve, Willett and W. L. Weller.  Although we were disappointed that these spirits were unavailable, we bought a bottle of ready to drink Mojito for Mary and Bulleit Bourbon, Johnny Drum Private Stock Bourbon and Gentleman Jack Tennessee Whiskey.  We hope that production of Bourbon catches up with demand and our favorite brands become more available.

The New Riff Distillery is a beautiful structure with a towering column still that is located in a glass area making the glowing copper visible from the Party Source parking lot.  Silos outside the distillery store corn and rye to be ground for the mash to be turned into Bourbon or rye whiskey.  They also grind small quantities of malted barley to include in about 5% of the Bourbon mashbill.  Although they consider themselves a Kentucky Bourbon distillery, they also make rye whiskey.  The Bourbon mashbill is 70% corn, 25% rye and 5% malted barley.  To keep the distillery operating in the four years until the Bourbon ages in a nearby rickhouse, New Riff bottles and sells O.K.I. Bourbon that is named for Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana where parts of the Bourbon making process took place.

The ground grain is piped to one of the large stainless fermentation tanks where yeast strains convert grain sugars to ethanol.  The Vendome copper column stills and pot still distill the fermented mash to clear white whiskey.  Distillers assess the flavor, smell and alcohol concentration of the distillate at each step of the process to assure quality.

The distilled rye and Bourbon whiskeys are sent to large stainless steel cisterns where new white oak barrels are filled.  Unlike many Kentucky distillers, New Riff doesn’t get barrels from Independent Stave Company but rather from Kelvin Cooperage near Louisville.  

New Riff also does not chill filter their spirits prior to casking.  While the chill filtration makes the Bourbon less cloudy and removes oils and fats from the grain that may lend off or unpleasant flavors, the filtration also removes substances that contribute to complexity and unique flavors to the whiskey.  We also noticed that New Riff shrink wraps their barrels to reduce the volume that evaporates from the barrels as the “Angel’s Share”. 

After our interesting and informative tour, our guide took us around the building. In addition to the distilling operations, there are two beautiful party spaces in the distillery building.  Once of the spaces on the second floor even has a nice outdoor area that overlooks the river.  Both social spaces have a great view of the copper column still.

We finished our tour back near the distillery entrance where we did a tasting of the O.K.I. Bourbon.  It needed a splash of water to open the flavors up.  It was a little higher rye (35%) than we prefer but was a very drinkable Bourbon.  The guide told us about the Ranger program at New Riff in which a $60 Membership in the distillery gets a special bottle of New Riff Bourbon as soon as the four year aging is complete.  In addition, Rangers get first opportunities to purchase new or limited products that come to the distillery.  I was glad that I had taken advantage of the opportunity to join on the first day the program became available in May 2014.

After we left New Riff, we drove to Cincinnati for a short visit with Greg and Sarah.  We checked on their gardens and chatted about what is new with us.  Sarah gave Mary some knitting tips until we left for home at 5 pm.

We came back part of the way on US 52 along the Ohio River.  The drive wasn’t bad once we got out of traffic around Great American Ballpark where the Cincinnati Reds would be playing the Pittsburgh Pirates later that evening.  We crossed back into Kentucky at Maysville, had a fast dinner at Taco Bell, filled up with gasoline ($3.49/gallon) before driving on back on the AA Highway arriving home by 9 pm.

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