I’ve been looking back on our July Cruise vacation. We flew from Florida to Alaska. We had a lot of anxiety but didn’t feel we could turn down our daughter’s gift of an Alaska cruise, The flight to Vancouver was not ideal, but it wasn’t as nerve wracking as we feared. We were both able to relax For the return flight, our daughter downloaded movies to her iPad Pro for her dad to watch during the flight and he was a happy man.
Our hotel in Vancouver was in the same shopping strip as the famous Tim Horton Donut shop. Now I am a die-hard Krispy Kreme fan. People from up north swear by Tim Horton donuts, so we had to give them a try as they were practically next door. Plus my husband hasn’t found a donut he didn’t like.
This picture was taken the morning after our late and traumatic arrival in Vancouver, so he wasn’t looking too perky. The donuts did lift his spirits.
We made several visits to Tim Horton’s and after multiple “tastings” we gave them a rating, comparing them to Krispy Kreme and Dunkin Donuts.
Overall taste and texture Krispy Kreme was the winner, with Tim Horton a strong second and Dunkin Donuts in last place. Tim Horton did win first place in the apple fritter category, my husband’s favorite treat. Eating one is like enjoying a fried apple pie with a nice amount of apple bits. Dunkin Donuts came in last place.
Moving along back to our flying experience…Going through airport security was exasperating. Seeing our stuff going through a scanner ahead of us made me crazy. ANYONE could pick up our stuff. My husband was in a wheelchair and I was always ahead of him while they detained him.
Our daughter became so stressed trying to make sure my husband and I were ok that on the flights home, I agreed to being wheeled through the airport too. It kind of hurt my pride, but truth be told, the wheelchair escorts walked so fast I couldn’t keep up with them.
By the time our trip was over, we had overcame our fear of airplane travel. We would definitely be willing to fly again if anyone offers us a free vacation! Well, except for the scam caller who claimed to be from Expedia and offered me a too good to be true deal.
This morning after breakfast, I headed back across the John A. Blatnik Bridge into Superior, WI to visit the Richard I. Bong Museum which was one of the main reasons for this trip. Richard Bong was the highest scoring U.S. Army Air Force fighter pilot in the Pacific Theater during WWII. I had followed his exploits and wanted to visit his museum for years. This small museum is filled with artifacts and memorabilia following the history of Bong and his fellow fighter pilots as they fought the mighty Japanese war machine in the pacific. Their beautifully restored P-38, representing Bong’s personal airplane, is the centerpiece of the museum.
Photo Credit: Bill Lites
Before leaving Superior, I wanted to visit The Old Firehouse & Police Museum situated in the old 1898 restored Fire Hall #1, which had used five horse-drawn fire fighting rigs, and I’m sure would have had a lot of beautifully restored antique fire fighting artifacts and memorabilia, but it didn’t open until noon today.
Photo Credit: Bill Lites
A few blocks from the Old Firehouse Museum, I tried to visit the World of Accordions, but they didn’t open until 3:00 today, so, I gave up on the museums there in Superior and headed north, back across the John A. Blatnik Bridge, into Duluth to visit the Historic Union Depot. This huge structure, built in 1898, is actually the second railroad station to be built on the site, replacing the 1st old 1869 wooden depot. The building (known as the St. Louis County Depot) now houses the Superior Railroad Museum, the Duluth Art Institute, and the St. Louis County Historical Society Museum, as well as being the departure point for the North Shore Scenic Railroad 1-hour & 6-hour train rides along the Lake Superior shoreline. The station provided railroad passenger service to and from the Duluth and Superior areas until passenger service was terminated in 1985.
Photo Credit: Bill Lites
Heading northwest out of Duluth on US-53, I drove for hours thru the beautiful Superior National Forest, stopping in Virginia, MN and Gheen, MN (we have good friends named Gheen) for potty breaks and to rest my bottom, before finally arriving at the Koochiching County Historical Museum located in International Falls, MN. This 2-gallery museum displays exhibits and artifacts covering the 10,000 years of local native American history and culture, the early fur traders, and settlers to the area, which includes the development of the lumber and natural resources industries. The second gallery is devoted to the life and career of the 1930s football legend & Football Hall of Fame inductee, Bronko Nagurski who was born and raised in International Falls.
I was a little apprehensive about crossing the border into Canada, as the van I had purchased in Wisconsin only had a “Temporary Tag” and I wasn’t sure how that would play with the Border Officials. However, the temporary tag was not the problem at the border crossing. There was construction going on at the crossing lanes and only two of the four lanes were open to cars. It took me 1-½ hours to crawl along the approximately ¼-mile line of cars waiting to cross. What a MESS and big waste of time that was! Once it was my turn to show my Passport and temporary Wisconsin Auto Registration, my papers were checked, and I was passed right on with no problems.
Photo Credit: Bill Lites
—–To Be Continued—–
Bill is a retired Mechanical engineer living with his wonderful artist/writer wife, DiVoran, of 65 years in Titusville, Florida. He was born and raised in the Southwest, did a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy, attended Northrop University in Southern California and ended up working on America’s Manned Space Program for 35 years. He currently is retired and spends most of his time building and flying R/C model airplanes, traveling, writing blogs about his travels for Word Press and supporting his wife’s hobbies with framing, editing and marketing. He also volunteers with a local church Car Care Ministry and as a tour guide at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum there in Titusville. Bill has two wonderful children, two outstanding grandchildren, and a loving sister and her husband, all of whom also live in Central Florida, so he and DiVoran are rewarded by having family close to spend lots of quality time with.
Day 7 – July 21: This morning after an early breakfast, I headed north in my rented pickup truck, for 6 miles to meet Glenn at the Chrysler Dealership in Wausau, WI. I wanted to see what kind of used vans he had available. Glenn met me at the door and already had a red 2013 Chrysler Town & Country van out front for me to inspect. We took it for a test drive, and I was satisfied that this van would suit my needs. We settled in his office to do the necessary paperwork and he told me they had just recently received the van in a trade and had processed it thru their service shop with everything for resale, except it had not yet been detailed. Since that would usually take about two days (for the carpets to dry) he would take $600 off the price for that not being done. I was okay with that!
I told Glenn that Clayton (the mechanic) had told me he might be interested in buying my 2006 Dodge van if I decided to sell it. I told him I wanted to add that money as a down payment on the 2013 van. I called Clayton and we struck a deal for him to buy my van. Then I said, “Okay Clayton, now you have my van, and you have the money for my van, how do I get the money to Glenn for my down payment? “ He said, “Let me talk to Glenn.” He told Glenn, “I’m out hunting this weekend, but you know I’m good for it (friends for 25 years), I’ll bring the money to your office Monday morning.” Well, Glenn was okay with that (I was amazed!) and he said, “Well that settles that, you are good to go. All we need to do now is run this by the financial office.”
That done, Glenn said, “The final paperwork will take a while to put together, so why don’t you return your rental truck and then we’ll drive this van up to Clayton’s shop and I’ll help you transfer everything from your 2006 van to this 2013 van so you will be ready to continue your road trip as soon as possible.” That worked for me. He followed me the 8 miles to the Mosinee Airport, where I returned the pickup truck to the National Car Rental office. When the agent handed me the receipt, he said, “I don’t understand this, but you only owe $2.53 for your rental.” I was shocked! And I said, “How can that be?” He said, “I don’t know, but that is what it says here on your receipt.” I told him I wanted a paper receipt showing the balance of the $750 I had paid for the week’s truck rental had been credited back to my credit card account. He did that, and I was happy with that. All I could say was, “Thank you Lord, for the miracles you work in our lives every day!”
We drove the van over to Clayton’s Auto Repair shop there in Mosinee, and the transfer of my things, that would have taken me 2-3 hours, only took about 30 minutes with Glenn’s help. That was a huge thing for him to do for me! That done, I left my key and vehicle registration to the 2006 van in Clayton’s drop box with a note promising to send the van title to him as soon as I returned to Florida. Another example of small-town trust on Clayton’s part. By the time we got back to the dealership in Wausau, all the paperwork was ready for my signature. That didn’t take long. I thanked everyone for helping me through one of the most intense 24-hours I could remember. I said my goodbyes and was on my way north on I-39 in new wheels by 1:00 pm.
In order to arrive at this evening’s destination without losing my room reservation, I had to pass up the Chippewa Falls Museum, the Thorp Telephone Museum, the Wisconsin Logging Museum, and the Wisconsin Canoe Museum. I’ll just have to visit them on another one of my road trips. It was late by the time I arrived in Superior, WI and all the museums were closed. I drove across the John A. Blatnik Bridge into Duluth, MN and Greta (my Garmin) took me to the motel there. After I checked into the motel, I asked the desk clerk for a good place to eat, and he said he liked the Buffalo House Restaurant not far from the motel. I found it and had their Seafood Enchiladas plate (Never had that dish before) and they were wonderful. After that delicious meal, it was back to the motel, and right to bed for me. As you might imagine, I was a tired puppy and the bed felt great.
Photo Credit: Bill Lites
—–To Be Continued—–
Bill is a retired Mechanical engineer living with his wonderful artist/writer wife, DiVoran, of 65 years in Titusville, Florida. He was born and raised in the Southwest, did a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy, attended Northrop University in Southern California and ended up working on America’s Manned Space Program for 35 years. He currently is retired and spends most of his time building and flying R/C model airplanes, traveling, writing blogs about his travels for Word Press and supporting his wife’s hobbies with framing, editing and marketing. He also volunteers with a local church Car Care Ministry and as a tour guide at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum there in Titusville. Bill has two wonderful children, two outstanding grandchildren, and a loving sister and her husband, all of whom also live in Central Florida, so he and DiVoran are rewarded by having family close to spend lots of quality time with.
Here I was almost 1500 miles from home, with a disabled vehicle, only 6-days into a 20-day Road Trip with few options. I asked Clayton, the mechanic at the auto repair shop, about rental cars and he told me he could have his helper run me over to the local airport where I could rent a car. He also told me that he had a good friend (of 25 years) who worked at the Chrysler Dealership in the next town who might be able to help me with a car if I was interested. I told him yes, and to give his friend a call and see if he had any vans available. He called his friend, Glen, and he said he had a couple of vans, and I made an appointment to see him the next morning (Friday) at 8:00 am.
Then Clayton had his helper take me to the local airport to rent a car. He dropped me off at the rental car office and I was surprised to see only two agents in the office. With both showed big smiles, the first one asked me if he could help me. I said, “Yes, I would like to rent a car.” He said, “I’m sorry, but we don’t have any cars.” I said, “No cars?” And he said, “Not until late tomorrow at the earliest.” I looked at the other agent and said, “How about you?” And she said, “We don’t have any cars either.” I said, “What is going on here?” He told me something about a big annual reunion or something like that and all their cars had been rented for the week. So, I asked him, ”What DO you have that I can rent?” He said, “We have pickup trucks.” So, I asked him about the estimated cost of renting a pickup truck from him and dropping it off in Florida (I was considering renting a pickup truck and a car dolly to take my van back home). He said it would run somewhere in the neighborhood of $1000-$1200 for that scenario. It never dawned on me that National Car Rental didn’t put trailer hitches on their pickup trucks or cars because they don’t allow people to pull a trailer or trailered car with their vehicles. Duh! I really wasn’t thinking straight by this time in the evening.
When I added that to the cost of repairing the engine ($1500 estimate from Clayton the mechanic), I was looking at as much as $2500-$3000 to get my 17-year-old van running again. And then there was the problem of having to cancel the rest of my Road Trip. Bummer! So, I decided to wait and check out the vans at the Chrysler Dealership in the morning before committing to anything right now. I rented one of National’s pickup trucks for a week (cheaper than by the day) and headed for my motel, which luckily, was just 8 miles north on I-39 in Rothschild, WI.
On the way to my motel, I saw a Denny’s Restaurant and decided to stop for one of their 3-egg breakfast plates with hashbrowns, link sausage, and a biscuit. I love a breakfast meal any time of the day, especially when I can get a hot cup of Earl Gray tea to go along with it. After that delicious meal, Greata (my Garmin) took me to my motel for the night. After I got checked in, and got my things in my room (not much tonight as everything was still in my van in Mosinee), I didn’t even look for anything to watch on TV, but just recorded as many of the details of today’s events as I could remember, and went to bed. I was tired and had no trouble going to sleep tonight.
Bill is a retired Mechanical engineer living with his wonderful artist/writer wife, DiVoran, of 65 years in Titusville, Florida. He was born and raised in the Southwest, did a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy, attended Northrop University in Southern California and ended up working on America’s Manned Space Program for 35 years. He currently is retired and spends most of his time building and flying R/C model airplanes, traveling, writing blogs about his travels for Word Press and supporting his wife’s hobbies with framing, editing and marketing. He also volunteers with a local church Car Care Ministry and as a tour guide at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum there in Titusville. Bill has two wonderful children, two outstanding grandchildren, and a loving sister and her husband, all of whom also live in Central Florida, so he and DiVoran are rewarded by having family close to spend lots of quality time with.
A few weeks back, hubby and I got busy preparing our trip from Orlando to Lexington. “Honey,” he said, “I’m concerned we won’t make it to our connecting flight. We only have 30 minutes and the gates are in opposite sides of Charlotte’s airport.”
I gave him a silly grin. “No worries, God’s got this.”
We boarded the plane, but the flight was late in departing. That meant we only had 20 minutes to meet our next flight.
The minute we landed, we jumped to our feet, squeezed among the passengers, and once the path was clear, we took off. Yes, we began to run, oh no, not a light jog, but a sprint. Hubby held one suitcase in the air with one hand, pulled the other suitcase with the other and I gripped his arm as we took off. We dashed, zig zagging between people in the crowded airport.
After 15 minutes of non-stop running, our hearts were beating furiously. But no time to worry about that. We could not miss the flight!
Finally, huffing and puffing, we arrived at the gate. But the gate was empty. The plane left us.
That meant only one thing—I also had something to leave behind and that was any and all traces of stress, sadness, or worry. These three invaders would have drained my joy. That wasn’t happening!
You’ve been disappointed like that, haven’t you?
Maybe not because you missed a flight, but because after you worked and worked, no results appear. You tried and tried to overcome, but the pain was still there. You ran and ran to meet your goal, but never reached it.
Your passion has vanished. You have been tempted to give up, and stress, sadness and worry are about to join you at the dinner table. But before you let them, consider this:
Wash away doubt because victory will arrive.
Sometimes disappointment is the driver of the vehicle of discouragement. We ride in it asking question after question: where was God while I tried so hard? Do I have what it takes? Do I even want to keep trying?
This psalmist might have ridden in that same vehicle and prompted him to ask similar questions.
Will the Lord reject forever?
Will he never show his favor again?
Has his unfailing love vanished forever?
Has his promise failed for all time?
Has God forgotten to be merciful?
Has he in anger withheld his compassion? (Psalm 77:7-9)
The answer wasn’t so much in what he thought or how he felt. But the answer was in what he remembered:
I will remember the deeds of the LORD;
yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.
I will meditate on all your works
and consider all your mighty deeds. (Psalm 77:11-12)
Passion comes back when we consider this:
God sent Jesus to set us free (John 3:16), gave us power not fear (2 Timothy 1:7), God fights our battles (Exodus 14:14), and Gpd promises His protection (Psalm 91:1-2).
No stress, sadness or worry can ever overtake us when we remember God is cheering us on as we run under the banner of His grace. He holds up the flag of victory every time.
Without stress, sadness or worry, we can think clearer, we can walk in confidence and call upon the Lord’s power at work.
Happy to report that for hubby and me, His power was indeed at work. After we missed our flight, we dragged our feet to the customer service counter. Though exhausted, we still smiled. To our joy, the friendly agent put us in first class on the next flight. She even added dinner vouchers to use as we waited.
Let’s Pray
Father, I praise You for the way You clear the way, removing sadness, stress or worry. No matter what goal I’m after, I vow that negative emotions will be replaced by the reassurance You have the outcome prepared. In Jesus’ name.
What fills your heart as you run to meet your goals these days?
Celebrate with me! My new release, Now I See: How God’s Amazing Grace Transforms the Deepest Pain to Shining Joy won the 2023 Memoir of the Year Golden Scroll Award.
You and I are only a click away. You can use this CONTACT FORM to leave your prayer request, make a comment, ask a question, or invite me to speak to your group. Or simply reply to this email.
I also invite you to visit my WEBSITE. You’ll find more inspirational blogs along with my story, books, and videos. You’ll also learn the passion and mission of JC Empowerment ministries.
Some say she should be the last person to be dancing. Her life is summarized in this 3-minute video: http://bit.ly/1a8wGJR
Janet Perez Eckles’ story of triumph is marked by her work as an international speaker, #1 best-selling author, radio host, personal success coach and master interpreter. Although blind since 31, her passion is to help you see the best of life.
Day 6 – July 20 Continued: As I mentioned last week, I was heading north on I-39 just north of Knowlton, WI when I heard “ding-ding-ding” and I glanced at my dashboard, to see my water temperature gage pegged on “HOT.” I started to slow down and pull over, but before I could get to the shoulder of the road, the temperature gage went back to “NORMAL.” “What was that all about?” I wondered. I went back on the highway and proceeded on my way for another few minutes. Then the “ding-ding-ding” sounded again, and the temperature gage was once again pegged on “HOT.” This time I quickly made it to the shoulder and slowed down before the temperature gage went back to “Normal.”
I stopped and called my friend Ray (auto mechanic) to get his advice on the problem. He said it sounded like a faulty temperature sensor, and to have a mechanic check it out the first chance I had. So, I thanked him and continued on my way for another few minutes before I heard the “ding-ding-ding” again. This time I stopped under an overpass, opened the hood, and was greeted with steam from the radiator. “Oh Boy!” I thought, “I have a really bad situation here. What am I going to do now?”
First, I needed to call my Roadside Emergency people for a tow to the nearest auto repair shop, but I hadn’t noticed any mileage markers before I stopped. Then I checked both sides of the overpass for a road I.D. but there were none. Then I remembered the gallon of water I had brought for just such an occasion. After the engine had cooled enough to remove the radiator cap, I added the gallon of water and prayed it would be enough to get me to the next exit so I would be able to tell the Roadside Emergency people where to come pick me up.
I found the next exit and pulled off to call for a tow. While I was sitting there looking up the number this “Angle” on a motorcycle pulled up beside me and said, “Do you need help?” I told him my problem and he said, “Well, my name is Steve, and I own a small trucking company near here and know a little bit about engines, can I take a look?” I said, “Sure” and popped the hood.
Photo Credit: CanStockPhoto.Com
He looked it over and said, “It looks like you may have a radiator leak. Do you have any water?” I showed him the case of bottled water I had brought along for my trip, and he didn’t say a word, just emptied the whole case of bottled water into the radiator. Then he said, “That should be enough to get you to the small ‘Stop-N-Go’ store just up the road a short distance. Follow me and we’ll see what they have to get you on your way.”
At the Stop-N-Go store, Steve refilled my Emergency Water jug and found a couple of different kinds of ‘Stop Leak’ while I was in the restroom. We added the Stop Leak, topped off the radiator with water and he told me about an excellent auto repair mechanic in the town at the next exit up I-39 to see about my problem. I thanked him and told him how much I appreciated his help and headed for Mosinee, WI. I found the repair shop and told Clyton, the mechanic, my problem. He removed the radiator cap and asked me to start the engine. He immediately told me to shut it off and said, “You have a blown head gasket.” I said, “Great. What does that mean to me?” he said, “I’m booked up with work and wouldn’t be able to get to your engine for at least a month. I can call other auto shops in town, but I doubt any of them could repair your engine in less than a week.” So, “Now what was I going to do?” I wondered.
Bill is a retired Mechanical engineer living with his wonderful artist/writer wife, DiVoran, of 65 years in Titusville, Florida. He was born and raised in the Southwest, did a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy, attended Northrop University in Southern California and ended up working on America’s Manned Space Program for 35 years. He currently is retired and spends most of his time building and flying R/C model airplanes, traveling, writing blogs about his travels for Word Press and supporting his wife’s hobbies with framing, editing and marketing. He also volunteers with a local church Car Care Ministry and as a tour guide at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum there in Titusville. Bill has two wonderful children, two outstanding grandchildren, and a loving sister and her husband, all of whom also live in Central Florida, so he and DiVoran are rewarded by having family close to spend lots of quality time with.
We had planned for our next adventure to be to drive to see the Haleakalā Crater. It was a long drive, and we stopped several times along the way just to take in the island beauty. We saw lots of sugar cane fields, and a few pineapple fields, as well.
We stopped at the Visitor’s Center at 6500 feet up. This most unusual Silver Sword plant grew all around that area. We were told that the Silver Sword plant only grows in that area near the Haleakalā Crater – nowhere else in the entire world! Gorgeous!
We stopped again on the way up to get some pictures, and were amazed that the ocean color is really as blue as it is in this picture! Beautiful!
The summit of Haleakalā Crater is 10,023′ and the air is thin and quite cool. We were glad to have our sweaters and jackets! Silver Sword plants were quite abundant there. Inside the pavilion was a legend telling about “The Life of a Volcano.” Interesting.
We arrived at the summit about 10:00 a.m. – and the FOG rolled in! We were told we needed to be there for sunrise to see the crater. Someone should have told us that before, right? On our way up, we were passed by a man and his sons on their way down. His comment as he passed us was, “Best view of the clouds you’ve ever seen, right?” So we had to content ourselves with pictures of fog – and postcards of what we would have seen at sunrise. A very impressive sight, to be sure.
Since we are known for being directionally challenged – we totally missed Kula, so we drove on down to Kahului for lunch. On our way after that, we stopped and took some gorgeous pictures of Molokai in the near distance. Really a beautiful island.
When we finally drove into Lahaina, we stopped at the Lahaina Cannery Mall, thinking to have a light supper. But somehow we found that, if you go through the mall, to the other side, and then outside, across the street is a unique outdoor restaurant, called the Aloha Mixed Plate. Nothing fancy, but the food was delicious! As a side note – when we returned to the mainland and told Fred’s sister about this little restaurant, she had never heard of or seen it! Something for them to explore on their next visit to Maui.
~~~~~More to come~~~~~
Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .
Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.
After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.
After breakfast this morning, I headed northwest on I-65 & I-90, across the border into Illinois, and for an hour or so toward Chicago, where I visited the Chicago Maritime Museum located in the Bridgeport area of the city. This museum displays a widely integrated history of how the early indigenous tribes used the many waterways for transportation and communications, and how much of this early knowledge has evolved into the maritime system we enjoy today. The museum’s many exhibits, artifacts, and memorabilia bring to life how the early maritime influence has changed modern day transportation systems growing society.
Photo Credit: Bill Lites
After leaving the Maritime Museum, it wasn’t too far to where I visited the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry located in the Jackson Park area. This huge museum has the distinction of being housed in the only remaining building (one of the “White City” buildings) from the 1893 World’s Fair, and was built to house the Palace of Fine Arts for the Columbian Exposition. After the fair, the building was restored in 1923 and again in 1933 for other museums that came and went. This building is big enough to accommodate vary large exhibits such as half of a full-sized United Airlines Boeing 727 airliner and the captured WWII German submarine U-505 and others. I was impressed with the amount of free open space between exhibits, unlike many large museums. It is a “Must See” museum if you are ever in the Chicago area.
Photo Credit: Bill Lites
I had to kind of rush thru the MOSI because I my plans were to visit my niece Karen and her husband Brian this afternoon and I wanted to save as much time as possible to spend with them. So, after that amazing museum visit, I headed north on I-94 & US-41 to visit the National Museum of the American Sailor located in Great Lakes, IL. However, Brian had informed me about Fort Sheridan, located in the Highland Park area of North Chicago, and since it was on my way up US-41 to visit the Sailors Museum I decided to stop there first. As it turns out, an original French trading post was built at this location in 1670 and was enlarged and named Fort Sharidan in 1840. Used as a military base until 1968, it was deactivated and taken over by the U.S. Navy and now includes parts of the U.S. Naval Training Center Command. I was impressed by the design of their 1891 “Water Tower” located in the center of the base.
Photo Credit: Bill Lites
There was some confusion (with Greta my Garmin) about the address for the Sailor’s Museum, and I never did find the museum (I think it is on the naval base and not open to the public) but I did end up finding the Main Gate to the U.S. Naval Training Center, there in Great Lakes, where I did my original 13-weeks of Basic Training (Boot Camp) in the winter of 1956.
Photo Credit: Bill Lites
Just seeing the words on that entrance wall brought back memories that replayed in my mind. I was young and thought I knew where I was going and what I wanted out of life when I got there. Boot Camp was a rude awakening! It was a grueling period in my life, but I learned a lot about friends, discipline, my duty to my country, and responsibility there during those 13-weeks. I must admit, I really needed that.
Photo Credit: Bill Lites
After that short trip down memory lane, I headed northwest a short distance to visit Brian and Karen, who live in Lake Villa, IL. We had a wonderful visit and Brian cooked a delicious meal, so we didn’t have to go out for supper. We spent the evening reminiscing about the good-old-days, my Road Trip, and their European Christian Ministry. As it happened, they were leaving for Budapest in two days and would include a long-needed vacation there after their European business conference was over. Since Karen had to work and I wanted to get an early start after breakfast the next day, Brian helped me get my things into their guest room and we called it a night. A family visit like that is so great!
Photo Credit: Judy Wills
—– To Be Continued—–
Bill is a retired Mechanical engineer living with his wonderful artist/writer wife, DiVoran, of 65 years in Titusville, Florida. He was born and raised in the Southwest, did a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy, attended Northrop University in Southern California and ended up working on America’s Manned Space Program for 35 years. He currently is retired and spends most of his time building and flying R/C model airplanes, traveling, writing blogs about his travels for Word Press and supporting his wife’s hobbies with framing, editing and marketing. He also volunteers with a local church Car Care Ministry and as a tour guide at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum there in Titusville. Bill has two wonderful children, two outstanding grandchildren, and a loving sister and her husband, all of whom also live in Central Florida, so he and DiVoran are rewarded by having family close to spend lots of quality time with.
After a good night’s rest, we were ready to start our Hawaiian adventures!
First off, we went to the Maui Ocean Center – a really neat aquarium and sealife center.
Fred’s dad and Judy
We enjoyed everything about it…especially the to-life-sized bronze tortoise – and with eggs! – near the entrance to the center.
The center contained all the things one might expect in such a facility – a living reef, a surge pool, a turtle lagoon, a touch pool, sharks, whales, and how the Hawaiian’s related to all of it. Most fascinating. We spent several hours there.
Next, we went into Lahaina proper to see the city and all it holds. One of the most interesting sights is a huge banyan tree. It was planted in 1873, and has grown so that it’s limbs cover the entire city center. Many of the limbs need to have supports so they don’t drag the ground. It is over 60′ high, and covers more than 2/3 of an acre. It was planted to mark 50 years of Protestant missionary work in Lahaina.
Next we saw the Baldwin Home. It was built in 1834 as the home for Dwight Baldwin, Protestant medical missionary to Lahaina. The house served as a medical office, and the general center for missionary activity from mid-1830’s to 1868.
We saw the ruins of the brick palace of King Kamehameha 1. The footprint seemed really tiny, but the accompanying legend shows it to be a two-storied thatched building. So I guess important guests were more impressed than we were. It was built near 1800, one of the first western buildings on the island, and the bricks were locally made.
We saw ruins of the old fort.
We went into Lahaina proper and to the waterfront. A cruise ship was in port that day, and we watched as the ferry brought tourists from the ship to Lahaina, as the port isn’t deep enough for the ship to anchor right at the harbor.
We saw the Ko’a Fisherman’s Shrine along the harbor, as it faced Molokai.
As we walked along Front Street, we saw some young men tossing literally dozens of Mahi-Mahi into the back of a pick-up truck. Amazing.
A good day in Maui. This was such fun for us. Something we shall never forget.
~~~~~More to come~~~~~
Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .
Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.
After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.
Our suitcases had been packed and ready for two days. Our daughter had spent her day off work getting us organized and she had done an outstanding job of it. We didn’t want to mess it up but of course there was some stealthy tucking here and there in our carryons. We felt a bit like children hiding something from their mom.
We had chosen an evening flight in the hope that my husband would have less anxiety and even sleep part of the way. A friend offered to give us a ride to the Orlando airport but I suspect she may have been rethinking her offer when she saw how much luggage we had. Her car was a midsize SUV and we weren’t sure our luggage would fit but our daughter once again came to the rescue with her excellent luggage placement.
We arrived at the airport feeling relaxed and not the least nervous about the flight. There was a bit of confusion checking our luggage and getting the wheelchair for my husband, but soon we moved on to security. That’s when the chaos began.
Since we were basically first time fliers, my husband watched a lot of You Tube videos about processing through security. He was carrying a CPAP machine and a nebulizer and felt anxious about them being confiscated. ( I had assured them they wouldn’t be allowed to do that)
Photo Credit: Michael Gray, Flickr
Our daughter went through the scanning process first, then an airport attendant pushed my husband forward. I followed behind. But somehow, my husband was pulled out of the line and abandoned by the attendant. The line was chaos. Our daughter was frantically gathering our things from the scanner and we were both looking for my husband. She went back into the line and found him sitting alone and stressed. No one in security had any idea why he was left. it was upsetting.
We got the attention of the airport staff who was supposed to bring him through security and finally we were all processed. As if to make up for the delay at security, the attendant pushing my husband’s wheelchair sped through the terminal so that I could barely keep up. We arrived at our gate with no further incidents and settled down to wait for our flight.
About an hour before the flight an announcement was made stating the flight was overbooked and asking for volunteers to not board. Our response was no way!.
We were flying into Vancouver, Canada and I was hoping that would be a better experience….
After my retirement, I decided to re-learn the canning and preserving skills I learned from my mother but hadn’t practiced for twenty years. I titled the blog Old Things R New to chronicle my experience. Since then I have been blessed to have six other bloggers join me, DiVoran Lites, Bill Lites, Judy Wills, Louise Gibson, Janet Perez Eckles and Melody Hendrix
In addition to blogging, I’m a general “mom Friday” for my author daughter, Rebekah Lyn. I also manage her website, Rebekah Lyn Books
My 2023 goal is continue to use my love of photographs and words to be an encourager on social media.
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Old Things R New 