Big Beluga Birthday Bash

So, here I sit...at the gate in Winnipeg...my 3rd time at the airport trying to get to Denver, only a two hour flight away. I worry that two planes so far have been delayed/canceled due to mechanical problems. I thought the daring part of my trip was the Churchill trip, but it appears getting home is instead. It looks good, but then yesterday we were on the plane with the door being closed when the pilot noticed a puddle of oil under the plane and the mechanic had to be flown in from Chicago to fix the oil leak. So I was rebooked for this morning with the hotel and dinner paid at least. More sleep for me, I was lucky to get a room at the airport hotel. So at 5:30 this morning I was checking in for a 7:30 flight...delayed because of mechanical problems also! I got rebooked for 2pm and now I will see if I get out. It looks good, and I hope so, the hotel is already booked for tonight. Apparently a lot of fishermen come in this time of year. So quite possibly this adventure is coming to an end. I'm not sure Denver has felt this far away for a long time!~~~~~so while I have a few minutes I will share this big adventure~~~~~well that is as far as I got before being distracted and then leaving Winnipeg behind. I arrived in Denver in the evening, with new birthday memories, not all of them good...but being home safely is the important thing.

Reality

I signed on to write more about the end of my last trip, and start writing about this trip...but after seeing what happened in aurora, only a couple miles from my home, I have many different thoughts and feelings, totally unrelated to my adventures. Although with some thought, I realize that in a way they are connected. Life is so fragile and in a second it can change. So I will continue to believe that each day should be lived to the fullest. No one knows what is ahead, so hopefully I can continue to make the most out of the opportunities I find along my path. Maybe it will be trying a macaroni and cheese/bacon hot dog at America's Dog, or eating Swiss fondue in Switzerland, maybe it will be wandering the charming streets of Mykonos or Bruges, or maybe it will be sitting in a zodiac in the Churchill river feet away from beautiful beluga whales...whatever comes along I will grab on and relish the joy and thrill of the moment. And that is exactly what I'm doing now...embarking on my Big Beluga Birthday Bash...in Churchill, Canada!

Mitzi and the Amish...part 2

Hmmm, with the weather so beautiful I have to admit that the flight delay is a surprise...well sort of. I guess they are not ever a real surprise, but the lines are so long that I chose not to wait in one to see why. I recently sprained my ankle...sounds minor, but it is quite painful in certain positions. It was taped up, but was just too tight so I removed the bandage in favor of the boot like ankle support, only to find out it really doesn't work well with my tennis shoes. So at some point I will have to try to find an ace bandage, even though I don't know the proper way to bandage it, which apparently is important. It will be better than no support. Ligaments take 5 weeks to heal, I really don't hve time for this injury, but it could be so much worse, so I'm trying to be grateful for that.~~~back to Lancaster, PA and that last adventure. Not much to see in Lancaster on a Sunday. We didn't go to Bird-in-Hand or Intercourse (yes, really that is a town in Pennsylvania!), but did enjoy the experience at Millers Smorgasboard. We got there a bit early for the restaurant, so enjoyed browsing in the gift store and the quilt shop. I never thought of myself as a quilt person, but I loved so many of the ones I saw! Lots of bright colors and beautiful patterns. I looked at the price of my favorite...$700, so no quilt for me! But maybe it is time to get out the fabrics and pattern books I bought a few years ago when I thought I would start one, and just make my own. After browsing we went to the restaurant. Our time was limited because we had the hour drive back to get to the matinee performance at 2. We decided on the soup and salad bar, and what a great choice that was! The breads were delicious, the soups unbelievable! 8 or 10 choices, and although I only tried 3, I'm quite sure they were all just as tasty. Highly recommend this place if you are in the area. We also had the choice to have the full meal, too much food for us, and we could have even have chosen a dessert buffet, which,if we had more time, I just might have done! But we were running out of time and so I just ordered one piece of pie...the pie I was told I HAD to have in PA...shoofly pie. And was I glad I'd ordered that! You know I'm one to try anything that is recommended by locals, and my, that was quite an experience. I would say it sure comes close to Lilys caramel topped waffle in bruges! I had wet bottomed pie, not sure what it means, but it didn't matter, it was incredible! The top crust was brown sugar and probably butter, the filling molasses...and butter..the crust, probably flour and well, more butter. I haven looked up the recipe on line because I DON'T need to know how to make it! If you have a chance you just might want to try it yourself. Then later we tried the whoopie pie, another recommended delicacy of amish country. That is two large devils food cake like soft cookies filled with a delicate cream. Delicious! Then off to the play. Other than the close to unbearable heat, it was delightful. So much fun to watch a family member on a stage like that actually one of the main actors. What fun! After the play we went to get a snack in the famous 'Jiggers' but with very long lines a nd the fact we weren't hungry at all, we decided to go on to Hershey, PA. Chocolate is quite the theme there as you would imagine! I was told to smell some of the flowers, they even smell like chocolate, but I forgot. I did however, get a chicken sandwich, and the chicken had been marinated in chocolate! Can't say I tasted that, but it sure was good! Signing off now to see if my flight really is leaving...hope I won't be writing more soon!

Mitzi and the Amish...

Well, here I sit at the airport once again! Was it really only 10 days ago when I returned from Pennsylvania? Busy time and no time to write, but as I sit here waiting once again...I have time to reflect on that short, but great trip.~~~I just realized I'm on my iPad so there won't be paragraphs so back to my squiggles to show a new paragraph, hope it works for you!~~~back to PA...the trip was short and the purpose was to see my cousin perform in a summer stock performance of "grease" in the 'mountains' in mt. Gretna. It was beautiful there, so green, especially after dealing with our record breaking heat and drought conditions. I arrived late and found that I was quite nervous about renting a car and driving in an unknown place. My hotel was at least a 30 minute drive from the Harrisburg airport...on a very dark turnpike with few exits. I realized I was more nervous about that than some of my international trips! But once I got settled in the car,learned how everything worked, and got my directions right, I was fine and ready for a new adventure!~~~luckily, it was a gentle adventure! My cousin was staying at another hotel so I didn't get to see her until the next morning. Her son is the actor, singer, dancer, and always a pleasure to see. So I knew it was going to be a delightful weekend. When I arrived it was late and I would have had to drive on some dark country roads for quite a while to get somewhere to eat. So time for the 'picnic' I am always prepared for. I got a cup of hot raspberry tea and lots of ice so I had a nice iced tea to drink. I had crackers from the airport lounge and my individual peanut butter containers so I opened that and had a nice little meal. Then I had my banana for dessert and I was set for the night. I believe you should always travel with food because one never knows when you might be 'stranded' far from anywhere to eat. I always have a couple of the individual containers of peanut butter in my 'liquids' bag now, wherever I go. I don't use them often, but I'm sure happy to have them when I need them!~~~I had a good nights sleep and was ready to go explore Amish countryside the next morning. I'd already accepted that I was there on a Sunday so I wouldn't see much of that life, but with my signature persistence, I finally found a smorgasbord with gift shop that was about a half hour away. Well they SAID it was half an hour away, but as my cousin told me when she picked me up, everywhere is further than they say as she had learned the few days she had already been there. She was right! Ahh, but when we arrived it was well worth the drive, what delicious food they had!~~~time to head to my plane, so more later!