My Latest Rant on the Crack Pots of Society

 Another mass shooting and the looney leftist go nuts crying, “BAN ALL GUNS!”  “GUNS ARE BAD!”

WHAT A CROCK OF SHIT!!!!

Guns are not bad, the people who use them incorrectly are bad. We need to stop feeding the mentally ill pablum and babying them and lock them up in mental institutions where they can get the help they need. They need a hardcore, knocked on their asses discipline and if that does not work they need to be locked up and given serious mental health along with all these delusional people who think they are what they are not. 

The problem is that society has gotten too lax and has let the lunatics run the asylum for far too long and they are all a bunch of bleeding heart liberals who get their panties in a twist and cry for their mommies while sucking their thumbs.

We need to enforce the laws we have, be tougher on criminals and confiscate the guns that are being sold illegally and shared among the gangs like the BLM and Antifa. They are the real criminals.  It is not the average man or woman on the street who carries a gun for protection that is the problem, it is the psychotic criminals and the mentally ill who are killing people. The average America likes to use their guns for target practice, hunting, and for protection. They are not the ones who are going out killing people. The ones who are shooting people like the incident in Monteray Bay are mentally ill. They are delusional, angry, and are in need of serious help, not the pat on the head, it’s okay garbage that is being pushed today. 

After reading that the gunman was 72 years old I wonder if this was the result of dementia or something similar as I do not see him as terrorist or a threat due to his age, but he could have had something wrong mentally that set him off and we may never know as he killed himself, which in itself is telling that he was not fully in control of his mental capacity as people who commit suicide are often mentally unbalance, serverely depressed, or seriously ill. I feel sad for those that lost loved ones and friends in this situation and I wish there was more we could do to prevent things like this from happening, but taking away innocent people’s guns and restricting their use is not the answer. This is again a case where there was a mental issue that was not caught and should have been in my opinion.

I mean I can look at my stepfather who has dementia and his siblings and children were in total denial when I told them. They accused me of lying and yet his doctor told me he had dementia and had for several years. It had progressively gotten worse, but he never even told my mother that he was diagnosed with it. He hid it for a long time until it got to the point where he could not hide it any longer due to his strokes and other issues. 

People need to learn the hard way that not everyone deserves a medal and not everyone wins. That is a big part of the problem today, we have taught kids that everyone wins and everyone gets a prize or a medal. Not true. Life is not fair and we do not always win. There are the haves and the have nots and if you are not willing to work for it then you are a have not. It is very simple. You are not owed anything by anyone and especially not the government. 

People like the leftist demons who are currently occupying the White House and who have the majority by a margin in the Senate are nuts and need to be in padded cells. We should not be giving away money to other countries, especially money we do not have. We need to take care of our own first, our veterans, our citizens, and we should be sending every criminal (illegal) who crosses the border back where they came from. They are not our problem. If they want to come here for help they need to come the legal way. I have no problem helping those who come here legally who truly are escaping from a bad situation, but the invaders need to be stopped. I think it is time we arm our border and shoot first and ask questions later.  What is happening and being allowed to happen by the demented old man in the White House and his looney leftist cronies is destroying America. It is way past time to round up all the illegals and kick them out of America. I do not care what age they are. We need to take care of the real Americans who are citizens first,

You may think that I am being mean but I see the deterioration of our society in our schools and the dumbing down of our education system. It is criminal and is hurting our children and our country. It is time to put up a wall and stop this invasion and to stop printing money like crazy when we have nothing to back it up so it is not work the paper it is printed on.  

At the rate we are going we will be in the toilet like Venezuela and not have a leg to stand on. I for one do not plan to starve because the government is destroying our country. We need to vote everyone of the bastards out of office and vote in those who are real AMericans that care about the people not a bunch of money grubbing politicians that are getting rich off the backs of the people and robbing us blind to support the lazy trash on welfare and the illegals who are invading our country.

I have no problem helping those that really need help, but why the hell did we give money to people on welfare who were already getting money for free from the government during the plandemic. It helped those who were out of work but those who were still working or who were on welfare still had their monthly allotment coming in and did not deserve or need to be given money by the government. One of the reasons so many people are still not working is that they are still getting free money from the government which is criminal.

Do you realize that many people on welfare make more than I do for my retirement pay that I worked 30 years for. That is utterly ridiculous.  They should not get near that much and it should be a work program where they have to do so many hours of community service to get anything and it should be int he form of rent coupons and specific food items not cash.  It is all a scam. There should also be a limit of two children per family and if you have more you have to figure it out. I know kids on welfare who have $300 shoes for crimanies sake. I cannot afford $300 shoes and could not afford them when I was working full time, in fact I think it is ridiculous to spend that much on a pair of shoes.

The Coolest Thing I Have Ever Seen in a Foreign Country

The Coolest Thing I  Have Ever Seen in a Foreign Country was not actually in the country, but in the water off the coast of Australia. If you haven't guessed by now, it was the Great Barrier Reef. The colors, in the reef are intense.

I could spend hours just staring our into the water watching the fish and other creatures swim about.  We saw sea turtles, sea anemone, fish, and many other creatures.  It was fascinating and beautiful.

The water was so clear and such a beautiful color that you just wanted to dive right in.  I wish I could find fabric in the clear, bright colors that I saw there, but I do not think man can ever capture the pure colors of the reef. We can come close, but I doubt we could ever duplicate them.

It is like the Alaskan glaciers you can not match those colors in nature no matter how hard you try. Yo u can come close, but only Mother Nature can make those perfect colors.

Cruising the Alaska In-Side Passage One

We decided at the last minute to cruise the In-Side Passage of Alaska.  We booked a cruise to Vancouver from Whittier, Alaska and back.  Having never been to South-East Alaska or on a cruise I had no idea what it would be like, other than to expect rain.  We only had three days with rain the entire trip.

We took a bus transfer from Anchorage to Whittier, where we boarded the Sapphire Princess, our home for the next fourteen days. We had a false start on our trip as they told us to go to the Egan Center, only to discover that it was closed due to remodeling. Luckily our friend did not just drop us off, and was able to drive us over to the Deni`na Center.

Bryce met us in Whittier as he was delivering a load of bags to the ship. He came on the ship to have lunch with us, which is one of perks of his job.  He also gave us a brief tour of the ship including where the ice cream counter is.

We had an inside cabin, which was fine as we were only there for sleeping and showers.  We spend most of our time out roaming the ship, out on the deck, or hiking around the towns we stopped at, and I mean hiking. We sailed out of Whittier and were off on our adventure.

The big building in the background is an old barracks that the army built in WWII and is where most of the residents of Whittier live.

Tom and I blowing bubbles as we cast off to sea. We read that this was a fun thing to do since you can no longer throw confetti from the boat. We had fun.

We sailed into Yakutat Bay on the seventh of July and Glacier Bay on the eighth. It was a drizzly day, but the glaciers were incredible.  I always get goose bumps when I see glaciers, and these were even more awe-inspiring than those I have seen in the past.  They are tidal glaciers and we were able to sail within five miles of them. The view was incredible. We saw them calve several times, and it is an amazing site.
 Calving is when a piece of glacier breaks off and falls into the water forming icebergs.

We also did yoga on the ship, three days each way, when the class the offered. It was great fun and good exercise. The only day we had a problem was the day we hit some rough seas on the way down and the boat was rocking very hard so it made it difficult to maintain our balance.

The third person is Kyle who was the yoga/fitness instructor on the ship. He is from Canada and did a great job.

Our first stop on the cruise was Skagway which is a small town that can be reached by road, ship, or plane. It is the only stop in Alaska on the cruise that can be reached by road, but like many places in Alaska you have to go to Canada to get there from here.

theiving TSA Agents

I was one very angry lady when I realized that when the TSA inspected one suitcase on our way down to Mexico they stole one of my skorts. That is $71.00 that they owe me. I am reallly angry and will not be letting go of this one. Theft is a crime and I demand my money or my skort back. The thing that really ticks me off is that this particular color is no longer made and it matched perfectly with a couple of my tops. I am emailing, calling, and raising cain with TSA and I filed a police report with APD who told me to file with the airport police in Anchorage. We left out of Anchorage, Alaska on the night of May 29th heading to Mexico. When we arrived at our destination I found a lovely little TSA card in one of my suitcases.  This was the first time that TSA had inspected one of my checked suitcases and I pray the last because they stole one of my expensive skorts.  When I arrived at our destination, I pulled out clothes to wear each day and did not realize until a day or two after arrival when I was looking for my purple skort which matches the top I want to wear that my purple skort had been stolen from my suitcase.   I am very upset by this and expect full restitution for the skort. It is not one I can replace as they no longer make that specific color.  The cost of the skort including shipping is $71.00.  I expect immediate restitution for this item. I am extremely disappointed that TSA has a thief working for their company, and suggest that they may want to vet all employees to find the thief.  I was not satisfied with their response to my email.  I also cced my email to the Anchorage Daily News. This is a horrendous wrong that they need to rectify immediately. Theft is not something I take lightly and I will be filling a complaint with the federal government.  Obama better beware because I am working on a letter to him also.  He needs to make sure that the people that work in government are honest, not a bunch of thieves.  It is bad enough they rob us blind with their taxes that are unfair and unevenly distributed, but to steal from our suitcases, which is to literally steal the clothes off our backs is an abomination.

Update:  I checked when we got home and my skort did not get accidentally left at home.  I have also called the airport lost and found and they do not have it.  I am filing a report with the airport police, TSA, and Alaska airlines.  TSA is a joke and a major theft ring that is government sanctioned and needs to be gotten rid of because it is not really doing anything except harassing and stealing from American citizens.

Branson Missouri

I had a long and tiring trip to get there, but enjoyed my visit with my cousin and her family. It was a long drive from St. Louis, MO to Branson, MO in the dark. It took me longer to drive in the dark than it would have in the daylight, but then I do not have that great of night vision and I am definitely not use to those big rigs whipping past me on the interstate.  Alaska does not have that many big rigs and we do not have major interstates.  It did bring back memories of when I use to choose to drive between those big rigs because you could go faster and use less gas.  I guess I have slowed down as I aged. Oh wait, I am still young, I must mean become more cautious since moving to Alaska.  Yes, that sounds so much better.

I arrived in Branson very late and had to find my way out in the country to my cousin's house and when I say in the country I mean she lives way out and up a winding road at the end of the road, or darn near.  In the dark I missed a turn and had to flip a U-turn to find the right road. They name roads after the ABC's there.  I was looking for T-road. The turn was lost in the dark.  I found it the second time and arrived at her house about 2:00 AM.
Of course, we did not just go straight to bed, not we stayed up for another hour or so talking and then slept in the next morning, me more so than her, but then I was running on about 3 hours of sleep total when I arrived at her house.  I never do sleep very well on airplanes.
The next morning we had a nice chat and took pictures.  It was a snow day for Branson as they had gotten a couple inches of snow. For this Alaska girl that was funny as we get 14" and all they do is cancel after school activities if the roads are bad.  In  twenty years of teaching in Anchorage I think I can count on one hand the number of snow or ice days, where they canceled school. Alaska is prepared for it, and we have all the heavy equipment to clear the roads, while Missouri and other places do not get much snow so they are not prepared when it does come.
Lauren still lives at home and she enjoyed the day off. She road her four-wheeler.

Janie and I preferred to stay inside and chat, though we did take a ride with her husband, Dan. We went way up to a housing area that is on the edge of the Ozark Mountains, and the roads were a little hairy with all the ice.  Dan reminds me of Tom when it comes to driving, he just goes. Janie and I held on tight on a few of those turns as it was scary.  Dan enjoyed and I think he enjoyed scaring us also.
I really enjoyed my visit with my cousin and hope to see her again soon.
I am also very thankful that she and her family are safe after came through the tornado that hit Branson this last week.

Trinity College

Trinity College was founded during the Reformation (to move forward) to educate people in the newly formed religion.  Former students include; Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker, and Jonathan Swift.

There are two statues of men in Parliament Square at of Trinity College. One is the former provost George Salmon, the other is is William Edward Hartpole Lecky, and Irish historian.

William E.H. Lecky

George Salmon

 George Salmon was a professor at Trinity College from 1896 to 1904.  Salmon had said that women would come to Trinity College over his dead body. He vetoed allowing women to enter the college until 1901 when the board voted to allow women to attend. In 1904 women were first admitted to Trinity College. He died  just before women undergraduates were admitted.

The Campanile or bell tower at Trinity Colege stands over 100 feet tall and was built in 1853.

The books were hand drawn and written in Latin by Monks. The pictures were embellished with gold overlays and the dyes were made with natural pigments.  The colors are still rich in the book on the page that was open to view. We were able to see three books from different areas, each open to allow us to view one set of pages, under glass, with diffused lighting.

Continuing Day One

We started off the city with a drive through the city where we saw many different things including Fitz William Square where we were able to view homes from the1780's. In the 18th Century Dublin was a Georgian city and they were a wealthy people. Dublin itself was built between the Grand Canal and Royal Canal.  Fitz William Square has wide streets and the wealthy lived here, and often were only here during the Dublin Season from February through St. Patrick's Day.  The season ended with a ball held at the castle. The houses here still have coal covers and some still have boot scrappers that date back to the 1800's.

This door was restored with the arched glass above the door to what was typical in the 1880s.

This is one of the coal shoot covers.  It would make a cook quilt pattern.

The first room behind the door was usually the study, and further back was the dinning room.  The upper floors were living areas with bedrooms above those. The rooms with the smaller windows on top were where the children slept. These homes were long and narrow with long narrow garden behind, and at the very back was an area for the horses.

This is not a parking lot this  is part of the street in front of the building. Our bus is parked across the street from this building out of the picture, but behind the cars you see here.

Across from this row of houses, which today are primarily rented out for two years nine months by attorneys and other business offices, is Fitz William Park. It is a private park which is open only to private owners.

We went by the National Maternity Hospital which was built in 1830.  It is off Marion Square which is a park open to the public as are most of the green squares in Dublin.  We also passed the National Gallery of Art, Sir William Wilde's Home, the Parliament House, Steven's Green, The Mansion House, and St.Anne's Church on our way to Trinity College.  All National Museums are open to the public free of charge like our Smithsonian Museums in Washington, D.C.

We entered Trinity College from Nassau Street which I am told is the most dangerous street in Dublin.

 Wow! Talk about an over dose of history and being right up my alley.  It was wonderful and the art work in The Book of Kells is incredible.

When we arrived at Trinity College we first entered Fellow's Square where an Alexander Calder sculpture is prominently displayed. Now I do not know about you, but when the guide asked us what we thought it was I was way off in the wrong direction.  What do you think this is?

Cactus Provisoire (1967) welded steel

 I do not think it looks like a cactus, more like a fish of some kind, but then artist have some wild imaginations.  I do like his work though, even if I do not always understand it.

 

Ireland Day One

After flying over seven hours we landed in Dublin. It was a beautiful day, and I was in Ireland, what could make a day better? The airport is 16 kilometers north of the city of Dublin. The city itself is horseshoe shaped and built along the banks of the River Liffey and Dublin Bay.

The first thing I noticed was that the signs were in Gaelic (Irish) and English. Most of Ireland speaks English, though the official language of the country is Gaelic. Most people in Ireland learn English at a young age. English names are often corrupted versions of the Gaelic names. The difference is that the Irish names have meaning. Kill or Cill means church or cell, and dates back to the days when monasteries were spread all over Ireland.

Dun meaning for or fortification came fro the times when Ireland was invaded. Towns that began with this name were built around forts.

Balli or Ballya means the town of the castle. Those are many towns that were built around castles.

The River Liffey is horseshoe shaped and runs roughly 8- miles from the mountains down to the sea. Dublin is in the area of the Liffey Valley.

Dublin has many parks within the city limits, and many are small roughly, one block square, but Phoenix Park is the largest enclosed park in Europe. It is 1,063 acres of park land, two times the size of Central Park in New York City. It is with in walking distance of the city center. There are two residents who live in the park, the President of Ireland and the American Ambassador.

The American Ambassador has such a place of honor because of America's support of Ireland in its fight for independence.

As we drove into the city we passed by the Guinness Store house which we will tour while here.   I got a kick out of this sign that we drove past which said "Guinness for Strength"

Dublin has a light rail system as part of its public transportation system.  I love the look of the train. I would love to have one like this in Anchorage.

We were dropped off at our hotel and had time to clean up and relax for a but before setting off on our city tour, which included a stop to see the Book of Kells. More next time.....

The Grand Canyon

Of all the places we visited this summer, the most breath taking was the Grand Canyon, and Grand does not begin to describe it. It is a gift to us from God., and is the most beautiful place I have ever been. There is what I call Alaska beautiful, but the Grand Canyon is a different kind of beautiful. It is beyond words, and gave me chills and goosebumps. Even just thinking back to standing on the edge of the canyon looking out I still get chills and feel in awe that such a beautiful place exists

.

We hiked down into to canyon in several places, and around every curve the views were more beautiful that the last. The colors of the canyon were some I have never seen before. Some of the plants that grow there are ones that I have never seen before, others looked more beautiful than because of the setting.

 I loved the sunset which we watched from one of the canyon. It was beyond words, I cannot even begin to describe the sight or the emotions I felt while standing there observing the sunset. The colors were brighter, yet softer and seemed to caress the canyon walls, painting a picture that was unlike anything I had seen before. Paintings depicting sunset in the canyon do not even come close to showing the true beauty of it. Even photographs cannot capture the real colors, though they come closer than any painting I have seen. The colors are pure, their rich, and alive. To truly understand you have to experience it.

The same can be said of the sunrise which I also witnessed. We awoke at 4 AM and stumbled in the dark to catch the shuttle to Hopi Point, along with a family of four and two young ladies.

It was so peaceful at that hour. Everyone went their own way, so it was as if I was alone on the edge of the canyon watching the sun rise. Tom went off a different direction that I did to watch and photograph the sunrise. I sat quietly watching to start, and took a few pictures, but mostly I was in awe.

I was numb overwhelmed with feelings of joy and awe. It was very spiritual for me. I felt closer to God that I have ever felt. It was a very emotional experience for me.

I was sad the day we left the canyon, I felt like I was leaving the place where my heart belonged. It was a place of such spiritual prescence, and comfort. Even with all the frowds of people it was very peaceful and calming. I felt that I was at peace in the canyon.

Tom and I did have some fun with a few pictures.

One last longing look at the canyon before departing..........

New Orleans

We had a wonderful ride to New Orleans. Our train attendant was Marcie. She is 76 years old and very spry, with a great sense of humor. She said she plans to keep working for several more years. She is from New Orleans and gave us some suggestions on places to visit while we were there.

We stayed at the Roosevelt Hotel which was beyond words. They lobby was gorgeous with gold everywhere. There were old paintings, a grand piano, a long hallway that just shouted elegance and money. I'm not sure what it costs to stay there, but WOW! I was in shock the minute walked it. It just screamed money.

The concierge had been to Alaska and said that if there was anything we needed to let him know. He even said that he could probably even find us Muktuk if we wanted it. That made me laugh.

Our room was huge! The bed was very comfortable. The room had a hinge window with drapes out of "Gone With the Wind." There were chocolates on our pillows, along with the next days weather forecast. There were bottles of water on the dresser and a walk in closet with robes and slippers. The bathroom was gigantic with a huge vanity, the size of my bathroom in length. I could have fit more than two of my bathrooms at home in the bathroom in our room. I was in awe. It was like a honeymoon suite. There was even a sitting area in the hallway near the elevators. I felt like royalty. We were just a couple of blocks off the French Quarter.

After we freshened up we went for a walk in the French Quarter and stopped for some grilled shrimp and onion rings at Felix's. The food was really good for little hole in the wall. We walked down Bourbon Street. There was loud music, half naked girls, and a variety of people. At one point there were half-naked girls on a balcony and two women on the street flashed their boobs at them. The girls on the balcony threw down beads for the girls. I whipped around, beat red. I was totally embarrassed. Tom said that was how you collect beads on Bourbon Street. I was shocked and not sure how to react. I told Tom that if I wanted beads I would just buy them.

We continued our walk, during which Tom got several eyes full, as half-naked girls shook their booties to entice men into their establishments. We stopped for a drink. I decided since we were in New Orleans I should try a Hurricane, it tasted like overly sweet Hawaiian Punch, definitely not my cup of tea.

We were stopped for being too serious and had to pay a fine to help the homeless. I got a hat in return, as well as two stickers. One for Tom said he was "Too Far From Puking" and mine said something about not smiling. THe guy who stopped is a teacher and he said teachers volunteer to collect money for the homeless shelters. He kept referring to me as Tom's daughter. It was an interesting experience, though a little too crazy for me. I'm sure it is worse during Carnival. After that we returned to the hotel to get some sleep.

The next morning we walked down Canal Street to Decatur to Cafe Du Monde for beignets. There were deliciously deadly, fried and buried under a mound of powdered sugar. An order is three and we split it. Tom had a cup of coffee with chicory. He said it was really good.

I bought postcards and Tom took a picture of me wearing a mask like they wear during Mardi Gras. The owner of the store has been to Alaska and we talked about the weather differences.I said I was dying in the humidity and she told me to think of it as a sauna that I did not have to pay for. It was clearing all the chemicals out of my skin as I sweated and to think what beautiful skin I would have as a result. I thought she had a great point. Every time I felt overwhelmed buy the heat and humidity, I told myself I am in a sauna and my skin will look beautiful when I leave.

We walked over to the river, the Mighty Mississippi. It is a bug muddy river. The water is very dark and you can not see down into it, but it reflects the sunlight beautifully.

We found a store called "Aunt Sally's" which I loved as I have an Aunt Sally. I bought postcards and candy. They had the best pralines. I bought three different kinds. We also went to an artist co-op called "Dutch Alley." I bought a beautiful silk scarf and a hat. I also bought several cards by an artist we met. She is an excellent artist. We ate at a place she recommended. It was very good.

We walked in the rain to catch the trolley along the river walk, but it was not running, so we ended up walking a lot further. Along the way we stopped and took pictures of the immigration statue and the Holocaust Memorial. One side has the star of David and the other has a Menorah. We took a break at the iMax theater and checked out their gift store and the aquarium next door. From there we walked to Harrah's for a hot drink and waited out a major down pour that hit. A couple came in drenched while we were waiting for the rain to stop. I was very glad we decided we wanted something to drink instead of continuing our walk since it started pouring so hard.

We caught the St. Charles Trolley. It is the oldest street car in New Orleans. We had a fun time on the ride and took tons of pictures while riding, including Loyola College, a trolley historical sign and other historical signs. We met some interesting people on the trolley, including a family from Australia. We rode to the end of the line and got off while they flipped the seats in the other direction and then we got back in and rode back to where we started.

We had dinner at Pat O'Brien's down on Bourbon Street. Tom took a picture of one of the dancers/hookers who was half naked. She yelled at him "No pictures!"

Tom told her that if she did not want her picture taken she shouldn't be out in the street dressed like that. Tom sent the picture to Bryce who texted back "Where are you?"

Tom responded "Bourbon Street, New Orleans."

Bryce texted back, "Wow!"

We continued our walk to dinner. I had shrimp creole and Tom had shrimp remoulade with fried grits. Both were very good. We shared a half of a piece of heavenly pecan pie for dessert. I took the rest back to the hotel to eat later.

After dinner we walked around Bourbon Street for a while and then headed back to our hotel to pack.

The next morning we had breakfast at Mother's which is in an old red brick building with bare brick walls. When you walked in the door you picked up the menu, walked to the register to order, pay, and get your drinks. Water is self-serve. They bring your food to your table when it is ready. The food was excellent, homemade biscuits and homemade jam. They served you a ton of food. They have a wall of Medal of Honor recipients and police and firemen. It is a pretty cool place. They had some water damage with Katrina, but was salvaged and for a period of time the employees lived in FEMA trailers outside while fixing up the place.

Grits are interesting, they have no real flavor. They need butter, sugar, cheese, or something to have any flavor. The fried grits Tom had were really good. They cook them until they are really thick, layer them in a pan to dry, then cut them into wedges and fry them lightly on each side in a little oil and serve with shrimp in a remoulade like sauce.

We had a nice walk back to our hotel where we relaxed for a while before heading to the train station for our ride to Memphis.

The Holocaust Museum

If you are ever in Washington DC and can only visit one museum, then I highly recommend the Holocaust Museum. It is dark, and yes, depressing, but it is also very well done and enlightening. It tells the story of a horrific time in history in a way that makes you see the bright side as well. The hope, the love, the belief in a better life that helped to hold many people together in a time that is beyond words for the horror that they endured.

To quote a sign I saw at the museum: "The Holocaust was the systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored, persecution, and murder of approximately six million Jews by the Nazi regime and its collaborators." (Quoted from http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005143)

The Holocaust Museum looks like any other building on the outside, if you ignore the signs. It does not stand out as a blot on the history of the world, but once inside and having ridden the elevator up to where the exhibit starts, you see a black wall with black letters, the lighting is subdued. Even the children who walked through seemed to know this was not a place to run and play, but a place to be reverent and respectful. There was an unsettled quiet in the air as if people's emotions were floating around, including those of the dead. It was unsettling and yet at the same time fascinating to be able to look into the past and pray that we learn from it, that we do not ever repeat the horrors of this past.


One thing that was really nice was that being that Tom is a retired military we did not have to get tickets in advance. We were given immediate entry passes. When you first go in to get on the elevators there is rack with booklets which tell about some one who suffered through the Holocaust. Each person is encouraged to pick up a booklet and to check at the end of the exhibit on the computer to find out more about what happened to them. By luck of the draw I picked a woman and Tom picked a man. My woman died while hiding from the Nazis. She and her husband and two children were hiding in a stream for several days and her husband said that at one point she was there and then she was not. He is not sure if the Nazi's got her or if she drowned and floated off down the river. Can you imagine spending several days standing in a river hiding from the Nazi's? Imagine how cold and shriveled you would be, no food, unable to get dry and warm. To me that is torture, and it does not even begin to compare to the actual torture that the Nazi's inflicted on the Jews.

We saw videos of American, and British soldiers getting to the camps, rescuing the survivors. They came to Ohrduf Concentration Camp in Central Germany in April 1945. We saw video of Dachau Concentration Camp's liberation.

"The things we was beggar description...The visual evidence and the verbal testimony of starvation, cruelty, and bestiality were...overpowering..." General Dwight D. Eisenhower, April 15, 1945.

It was inhuman how they were treated. It is ridiculous that people can deny that the Holocaust happened when there is so much evidence the it did happen.

Walking through the exhibit were saw actual uniforms that were worn by the prisoners in the concentration camps.They were tattered and stained. These people were robbed of their lives and their homes. They were treated like animals, not as human beings.

We watched a video on the "Nazi Rise to Power" which showed the German Mark being used as wall paper in 1921 because it was worthless. The video showed work by Kathe Kollwitz a German Artist, protestations stating "Death to Marxism" and discussed Hitler's stint in jail, during which time he wrote"Mein Kampf" which means "My Struggle." Hitler blamed the depression on the Communists, the Jews, and the Versailles Treaty. By 1933 Hitler was the master of Germany.

The Jewish people had lived in Europe over 2,000 by 1933. Heinrich Heine wrote, "Where books are burned, in the end people will be burned." He was a Jewish poet and he wrote this when he books were being burned that were written by many authors, both Jewish and non-Jewish, before Hitler came into power.

One reason many people survived is because no matter what Hitler and the Nazi's did they could not stop them from thinking or take away their imaginations. Many who survived, did so because of their ability to picture things as different than they were.

Operation T4 was the Nazi code name for the systematic killing of the handicapped by using them for medical experiments. Hitler considered the handicapped to be inferior. A person who is handicapped is not inferior, look at Stephen Hawkings. Does it matter that he is in wheel chair? Not when you consider what all he has done for science.

Walking through the exhibit we saw a display of shoes from those who were gassed. The Nazi's kept them as if they were something to be proud of. The poem by this part of the exhibit began with the following words: "We are the shoes, we are the last witness..." by Moses Schulstein, a Yiddish poet. It was so sad to see all those shoes, a silent reminder of the six million Jews who were killed. There was also a picture of the hair piles from the concentration camp. The hair was used to stuff things, like pillows and beds.

The exhibit contains a train car and tracks from Treblinka. The car was actually used to transport Jews to the camps. Stacked near the trains were pile of luggage from Auschwitz. Suitcases in which they had packed their most precious belongs and clothing thinking they were were going to work camps, or simply being relocated, they had no idea they were going to their deaths. There were beds from the barracks at Auschwitz and Baden-Wooden. The beds were slats of wood where five or six people were huddled together for warmth and comfort. There was not mattress to soften the wood, and most did not even have a blanket for warmth. There were iron cast models of the ovens, and a table from a camp, with a hole for the blood to drain, where they had laid out the dead to pull out their gold crowns. There was also a diorama showing people lined up to enter the "showers," as they are gassed and transported to the ovens, and pile of bones.

More horrifying than this were the videos showing the pictures the Nazis took during their medical experiments, that included putting them in pressure chambers to test the effects and submersing them in freezing cold water until they froze to death. It was horrible to watch this form of torture. Hitler and the people who followed him and did his will were monsters. They were all sick, insane, people who needed to be locked away. What they did to the six million Jews, gypsies, handicapped, and others is a crime against humanity. What is even sadder is that many people let this happen, they did not believe what was happening and so did nothing.

There was poem by a Lutheran minister, Martin Niemolher, that says, "First they came for the communists, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me." This poem is so true as many people turn their heads and ignore what is happening around them because it does not directly affect them. We all need to be aware of what is going on around us and to pay it forward, help others, and be there for our fellow man. If we do nothing history could repeat itself and we could end up with another Holocaust or something similar.

There were survivor stories on audios. They told of children being gassed when they arrived at the camps, as well as pregnant women. At the end the videos of survivors and liberators told their stories. On particular one stood out to me. It was a woman who told of an American soldier when he found her with a group of women in a barn after they had been marched there by the Germans. When she saw the soldiers she told the first one "I must tell you I am Jewish." The soldier responded, "So am I." She said at that moment she felt liberated. She also talked about a friend who died just before they were liberated. She said they had made a bet three years earlier. She said she would be liberated, her friend said they would not. She told her friend when they were liberated she had to get her strawberries and cream. This woman said she survived because her father told her to wear her ski boots. She said they protected her feet on the long, cold, death march. She said her boots protected her feed from freezing. Her feet did not freeze, like many others feet did. She said people' feet froze and their toes fell off.

Elie Wiesel said, "For the dead and the living must remember." We must never forget the horror of the Holocaust, or we are doomed to repeat it." I pray that we have learned from this experience and that it is never repeated. If we learn no other lesson in life, this lesson is the one should learn.

Other Thoughts on D.C.

We did not tour the Newseum, but I did like the fact that the quote "Congress shall make no laws..." about the right to print newspapers was on the outside of the building. Every morning they display the front page from a major newspaper from each state, so we were able to stop and peruse the front page of the Anchorage Daily News to see what the newspaper thought was the big news of the day.

The capital city in Maryland is divided into four quadrants: northwest, southwest, north east, and southeast. The city proper meaning the area in which all the government and historical areas of interest are in a diamond shaped layout. I know pure trivia, but interesting to me, must be the history teacher in me. :)

There is a statue of Albert Gallatin who served under President Jefferson and cleaned up a fourteen million dollar deficit, plus added some surplus to our national treasury. Where is he when we need him. Can we bring back a reincarnation of him so he can clear up our national deficit today? We certainly need someone like him.

The third oldest building in D.C. is the treasury building, It took three years to build. THe second is the capital and the White House is the oldest. Government and money, seem to be the rule of the day even back then. I do love the architecture of the old buildings and the columns that seem to be everywhere. I would have loved to have lived at Tara in the movie 'Gone With the Wind" only with air conditioning, please.

Speaking of the White House, it was opened in 1800 and every president except our first, George Washington, has lived in it. George Washington oversaw the construction. He died in 1799.

We did not tour the White House but man would I hate to have to clean the place. It has one hundred thirty-two rooms, twenty-eight fireplaces, three elevators, thirty-five bathrooms, a forty-six seat theater, and a bowling alley. It is 5,500 square feet in area with five floors and an attic. That is a lot of cleaning. The president and his family live in the back of the house, but there is no back door. There are about six entrances, but not one is called the back door because the president cannot bring anyone in the backdoor without insulting them.

We also went out near the Arlington National Cemetery and saw the oldest section, number 27. Two presidents are buried in Arlington, John F. Kennedy and WIlliam Howard Taft and his wife. Taft weighed over three hundred pounds. As we drove by the cemetery I was thinking of all the lost souls buried there. All those who fought for our country and our freedom. Many people do not stop and think about the fact that freedom is not free. It is paid for with the lives of every person who has died fighting to keep our country free, fighting for our rights to stand up and protest, or burn the flag, or to march in honor of anything we believe in. We have the right of free speech and religion because of those who died to defend our right to it. There is a poem that was written by a high school student, Kelly Strong, in 1981 as a tribute to his father, a marine who served in Vietnam.

"FREEDOM IS NOT FREE

I watched the flag pass by one day,
It fluttered in the breeze;
A young Marine saluted it,
And then he stood at ease.

I looked at him in uniform,
So young, so tall, so proud;
With hair cut square and eyes alert,
He'd stand out in any crowd.

I thought... how many men like him
Had fallen through the years?
How many died on foreign soil?
How many mothers' tears?

How many pilots' planes shot down
How many died at sea
How many foxholes were soldiers' graves
No, Freedom is not Free.

I heard the sound of Taps one night,
When everything was still;
I listened to the bugler play,
And felt a sudden chill;

I wondered just how many times
That Taps had meant "Amen"
When a flag had draped a coffin
Of a brother or a friend;

I thought of all the children,
Of the mothers and the wives,
Of fathers, sons and husbands.
With interrupted lives.

I thought about a graveyard
At the bottom of the sea,
Of unmarked graves in Arlington.
No. Freedom is not Free!

©Copyright 1981 by Kelly Strong
http://iwvpa.net/strongk/

I love this poem. It expresses what we all need to learn, freedom is not free it is paid for with the blood of our forefathers, our brothers, and sisters, friends, and enemies who have fought for our right to make the choices we do, even those that are dangerous and immoral.

Washington D.C. Two

We went on a bus tour of the monuments and memorials in the evening, We started in China Town where our hotel was. The driver pointed our several points of interest as we drove to other hotels to collect other tourists and then to the Old Post Office Building to meet our tour guide, Larry. We rode past Freedom Plaza where Martin Luther King started his march to the Lincoln Memorial, August 28, 1963. We rode down Pennsylvania Avenue; also known as America's Main Street.
We started at the Old Post Office Building. You can climb to the top during the day and have a 360° view of the city. We plan to do that tomorrow. Our tour group included a couple from Hawaii and one from Canada as well. Larry pointed out that the Canadian Embassy is in a prestigious position as it is on Pennsylvania Avenue and close to our Congress. Our embassy is afforded the same prestigious position in Canada. We drove by the Capital Reflecting Pool and the statue of President Garfield, he is one of the four presidents who were assassinated. The statue consists of three statues each wearing a different hat, to represent his three roles.
The Capital Building was built in stages with left side ( when looking from the front of the building, though most of the time we see it from the back as that is what faces the Mall), being built first. Our guide shared lots of interesting tidbits, such as the fact that a flag was flying over the right side of the building, from the back view, meant that the House was still in session at 9:00 at night. He said that was unusual. No flag was flying over the right side of the building which meant the Senate had adjourned for the day. Next time we go to Washington we need to arrange a tour with one of our representatives of our senator. I think it would be interesting to observe them in session to see if they really get anything done. (I know pure sarcasm, but look at the boat we are in and it is sinking fast.)
We stopped to look at several of memorials as there are really only one monument in D.C. The rest are memorials or statues to people. I liked the statue of Benjamin Franklin at the Old Post Office as it has a plaque on each side with a title for each of his roles in life: patriot, philosopher, philanthropist, printer. I love the fact that it credits his different roles in life and in the founding of our country.
We also went to the Lincoln Memorial which has two tiers of states carved above it, the first is those that were states when he was assassinated, the second those that were states when the memorial was dedicated, and lastly so as not to be forgotten Alaska and Hawaii are engraved in the steps below the memorial. We get walked on and most people do not even realize they are there. I would not have known it if Larry, the tour guide,had not pointed it out to us. Sadly, I did not get a picture of them and that is one I really wanted. It was too dark when we were there on the tour and we did not get back over there the next day before we left. Inside the memorial are carved quotes from his Second Inaugural Address and the Gettysburg Address. His memorial is representative of Greek temples with Doric columns.
The Jefferson Memorial is also very powerful. Seeing it at night may have made it more powerful, but you look at that ginormous statue and think of the man and all he did for our country and it is very overwhelming and powerful. It made me feel small and insignificant in comparison. I mean I have not done near what he did in my lifetime and I can never surpass his writing of the Declaration of Independence. His memorial is modeled after the Pantheon in Rome, which is magnificent and his does it justice. The statue is bronze, though originally it was a plaster model. I find it interesting that a man who did so much for the beginning of our country almost got a lesser memorial because it was thought that this memorial would rival or overpower the Lincoln Memorial when it was being built. Both men are great but Lincoln would not have been able to do what he did if Jefferson had not done what he did. Think about it, the country had to come first before it could divide and be made whole again. The memorial represents him as a philosopher and a statesman. There are five quotations from his writings carved in the memorial.
The Washington Monument is also powerful, but in a different way. It stands like a centennial in the center, tall and straight like a soldier watching over the city. It is very stark when compared to the memorials to other presidents. There is no face, no quotes, nothing to show the man who lead our country in war, and as first president under the Constitution. It is 555 and 5 1/8 inches tall. Because of a lack of funds the monument was build over time and marble from two difference quarries was used to complete it. It is because of weathering and the different quarries that the monument looks to be two different colors. George Washington was also the only president not to live in the White House, though he did choose the architect who designed it. He also set the standard of two terms, which every president except Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
While in D.C. we also visited the Smithsonian Museum of American History. The first flag actually took my breath away. It was huge, and the emotion tied to the history was overwhelming. I wonder where the missing star is and what about the other pieces that were cut off and given away to visitors. I think the efforts to preserve the flag are exceptional and show the love of our country and our history. The exhibit is well done and I love the interactive display where you can tough different parts and have information revealed about the flag's history and preservation. I think it is an excellent teaching tool and am glad that it is also available on-line.
We went in search of the National Gallery of Art and by change ended up in the building the old art or the West Building. It houses art from the Medieval period through the late 19th century. What I consider to be art, Rembrandt, Monet, Degas, van Gogh, da Vinci. My kind of art. I was in heaven trying to take it all in, as was Tom. We were there until they kicked us out at close. I did get some postcards of a few of the pieces we saw. I was thrilled to get to see Ginevra de' Benci by Leonardo da Vinci, as I love his works. There was Saint George and the Dragon by Raphael, and The Annunciation by Van Eyck. There were pieces by Degas, Botticelli, and Rodin. I could have spent days in there alone. It was magnificent and definitely on the list to spend more time at when we return to D.C.
We also visited the Holocaust Museum, but that is a post in and of itself.

Washington D.C. One

We got up at 4:00AM to catch the train to Washington, DC at 5:30, though it did not arrive until 5:50 so were about 40 minutes late. They did not do checked baggage so we had all the luggage in the business class car on the train. Our first stop was Syracuse and I got some nice pictures of the lake on the way. I liked the station at Utica, it had an old time train. We went through Amsterdam, Schenectady, Albany, Kingston, Poughkeepsie, and crossed the Hudson River on our way into New York City. There was what looked like the ruins of a castle on an island in the river. I got a picture, and once I figure out how to post pictures on my iPad I will add them to my blog.
The cafe car attendant on the train was a riot. He had a great personality. Business class was really nice. The seats were really nice. We had free coffee, tea, and soda served at our seats.
Once we arrive at New York's Penn Station we had a red cap help us with our luggage as we had to change trains and we had to carry all the luggage, not just the hand carry. He took us to a waiting area and said he would be back to get us when it was time to board our train. I called my mom to let her know where we were on our journey. Tom had a Nathan's Famous Hot Dog, just so he could say he had one. I found a Starbucks and had a chai frappe and a turkey wrap from a deli in the station. The red cap helped us to our next train and we were off to D.C.
We went over bridges leaving New York City, and went through Newark, and Trenton, New Jersey. It reminded me of the time Tom told me to ask a teacher I knew which exit she lived off of in New Jersey. She got angry, and I had no idea that it was a sore spot for people from New Jersey. Tom thought it was funny. When we went through Trenton I saw a sign on a bridge that said "Trenton Makes, The World Takes."
We passed into Pennsylvania and stopped in Philadelphia and then moved on to Delaware where there was a cloud painted on a building. Tom said "That's a terrible picture of a cloud. My kids could do better than that." He was referring to his students. We went through Baltimore, Maryland where we saw a beautiful old church and stopped for the airport, though I did not see the airport. People must have to take a separate local train to get to the airport from that station. We stopped at a metro station in the suburb of New Carlton before pulling into the DC Union Station where we had red cap service to help with the bags. Though we could have walked the few blocks to the hotel we took a taxi because of the luggage.
We stayed at the Fairfield on H Street. It was very clean and we had a nice room. After checking in we went for a walk and ate dinner at the Green Turtle. Tom had the turkey burger, sans bun and I had the raspberry turkey flat bread with sweet potato fries. It was delicious and I recommend you go there if you are in DC.
After dinner we went for a walk to the Capital and took pictures. We walked down the Mall to the Washington Monument, passed several Smithsonian buildings, then over to our hotel. We also passed the Commerce and Treasury Buildings and the road that runs in front of the White House which was blocked for security. We also passed a building that said "Freedom Forum, First Amendment, on the front. We watched some lightening, and got sprinkled on as we walked down Pennsylvania Avenue, Maryland Avenue, and Constitution Avenue. We passed the Bullfinch gate to DC, which had a high water mark from the 1800's. I was tired and sweaty when we got back to the hotel.
I should explain why I mention the lightening. We do not see lightening very often in Alaska so it is a treat when we see it. I love to watch lightening flash as it is beautiful and lights up the sky. I was also excited to see lightening bugs as we walked and wanted to go grab a mayonnaise jar to catch some like I did when I was a kid. Simple pleasures I know, but wonderful memories.
In the morning I talked to the concierge about a night bus tour of the monuments and he is holding us spots for tomorrow night. In the process I misplaced my sunglasses and that caused some confusion. They were actually in my camera case.
We walked to Ford's Theater where President Lincoln was shot and saw the house across the street where he died. We took pictures of both and I bought some souvenirs, including a t-shirt, magnets, and post cards.
The heat and humidity are killers and I'm dying. I think I am melting. I know I am sweating my henna tattoo off. We went into Barnes and Noble for a rest break and to cool off then walked to the White House. We went to the visitor's center and saw paintings by fourteen prominent American artist called "An Artist Visits the White House's Past: The Paintings of Peter Waddell." It was very well done and I enjoyed looking at all the paintings.
From there we walked over to the White House. We did not tour the building but did get some great pics from the outside. Also took pictures of the zero mile marker across from the South lawn. There were a lot of people there and it was neat to see the building in person and not just on TV.

Rochester

We arrived in Rochester tired but we made it. Tom's brother Bobby picked us up at the train station and took us to his house. Tom's sister Judy was waiting for us there. We dropped off the luggage and went to Olive Garden for lunch. Tom's brother Jimmy and his friend met us there. After lunch we went back to Bobby's house for a short nap and then went to his sister Amy's house for pizza on the back deck. The family was there. including Tom's sister Linda and her daughter Danielle, Bobby, Judy, Jimmy, Amy, and her two kids Paige and Joey. It was nice. Danielle talks really fast and her focus jumps every where which is hard to follow and exhausting when you try to keep up with her. It was nice to see all the family. After dinner we went back to Bobby's to shower and sleep. We can't go in Amy's house because she has a cat.
We went to the mall to look for yoga pants and bras for me. It took forever to find a bra that fit and was comfortable. The ones I had found in Seattle were being discontinued, and they do not have my size here in that style. No luck on the yoga pants, they said to try the mall on the other side of town, which was like an hour away. Not going over there, we will look as we travel. We headed back to Bobby's.
Bobby took us on a drive to Lake Ontario. It was beautiful and cool on the beach. A nice break from the heat. We only stayed a few minutes before heading off to run other errands, including a stop to get some wine.
We went to Amy's for dinner, chicken and corn on the cob. The kids are still in school as their summer vacation does not start until next week. We gave the kids a nickel hockey game, they had fun playing it, though they shot a coupled of the nickels so hard they flew down and went through the boards on the deck. Tom and Bobby took the kids for a long walk to the play ground and I took a nap on the deck. I was really tired. I slept over an hour.
The next dat we had a quiet morning at Bobby's house, and then went to a late lunch, early dinner at Amy's. Her husband cooked on the grill. Then Amy, Judy, Bobby, Tom, and I went to a wake for Tom's mother's brother's wife's sister's husband. (I know that is confusing) We went to represent the family and it was nice to see Aunt Judy and Uncle Dave though I wish the circumstance had been different.
Tom and I went for a walk after and I got a Starbucks chai. I miss my morning chai. Both boys called Tom for Father's Day. When Bryce called he told us there is are three bears out at the Boy Scout camp and they are getting into the trash and stuff. He said the camp director said not to kill them, even though fish and game said to kill them. He said he is taking his gun out when he returns to camp because if he sees the bears he is going to shoot them. It worries me because there are young boys out there and the Cub Scout camp is just down the road from there. I am afraid one of the kids will get hurt, especially since the one bear is a cub and if they were to get between the mamma and the cub the momma would definitely go after them.
I slept well last night. Today we went for a walk at Lake Ontario, with Bobby, Judy, and Jimmy. It was a beautiful day. I took some great pictures. We walked along the board walk and walked along a street of house on the lake, until we came to a paved path that ran behind the house, along the lake. We saw some beautiful flowers that I took pictures of. There were some very nice decks and boat launches, as well as some sculptures. We also saw some ducks wandering around the yards.
In one front yard there was a Japanese Maple which is a very pretty red leafed tree. There was also a wooden light house in the yard.
We had lunch at The Pelican Nest. It was very nice. I had a tomato and mozzarella cheese salad. After lunch we went back to Bobby's to pack and to chill for a while.

The trip to Rochester

We met some interesting people on the train during our trip. We had dinner on the train, the food was not too bad, and then went back to our seats. I want my bed, because the seats are not that comfortable to sleep in, but they are nice for sitting. I know part of the issue is I am over tired and ticked off that I lost my sleeper, but in all honesty the seats are not that comfortable for sleeping. I am so glad we have a sleeper when we get to Chicago.
I woke up outside Flagstaff, Arizona. We have crossed the Continental Divide and gone through or near Red Rock State Park. We have also passed through Gallup New Mexico. There are a lot of plateaus and black shale is everywhere on the way to Albuquerque, New Mexico. There was a lot of sage brush across the area.
I am not sure I could live here as there is not much greenery. It is very brown and beige. I prefer more color in my scenery. (Sorry Karen and my other friends in this area, but it looked kind of dead out there.)
We were rerouted out of Albuquerque due to the fires. We backed up into the station and will go straight east from here for a while. They are busing the people who are headed to Trinidad and La Junta, Colorado, as well as those heading to Raton, New Mexico because of the fires.
We ate breakfast in the dining car and it was not bad, but we have a nazi waitress. I called her the dining car nazi. She was a real piece of work. She told you where to sit, two to a side, and there was not arguing with her.
The train stopped at a red light waiting for a freight train to go through and I saw a cowboy, or at least a guy on a horse with a cowboy hat on. There was nothing out there but wide open spaces and the lone cowboy. It made me think of the old west in the movies. We were southeast of Albuquerque, between Contreras and Mountain Air, New Mexico on our way to Clovis, New Mexico.
We had crossed the Rio Grande River before we got to Albuquerque, and saw the San Andrea Mountains. I thought most of New Mexico on the east after the mountains looked like Kansas, very FLAT! There was one lone tree in the miles of flat land. It looked very lonesome out there by itself.
We saw a few other straggling trees scattered out around the country side. We also saw some interesting rock formations.
Tonight the moon was full, some people said it was a harvest moon because it was very orange in color. It was beautiful to see.
We hung out in the lounge car for a while talking to people and playing rummy, until 1:00 AM. We had a fun time. One of the guys let Tom try some herb saint liqueur, which is like absinthe. It tastes like black licorice, or so I am told. I do not like licorice.
We also tried Dubliner Cheese that Spiro, one of the guys on the train who is of Greek descent from Long Island, had. It was very good. I drank a half bottle of wine, that Tom put in my water bottle.
The train wet through Woodward, Oklahoma and we came into some awesome thunderstorms as we went across the panhandle into Kansas. The lightening was awesome, huge and bright. It lit up the night sky like it was noon. Some of the strikes seemed to be way to close to the train, but they were beautiful to watch.
I went back to coach to get a few hours of sleep. They were stopping in Newton, Kansas in little while to let off the people who had to be bussed to the areas we were rerouted around because of the fires. We headed from there toward Kansas City.
I woke up around La Plata, Missouri. I was woken up by a kid screaming, another reason I prefer a sleeper car. I slept through Kansas City. We passed through Fort Madison, Iowa. The fort is by the river. As we crossed the river we moved into Illinois. It was small town America. The are was lush and green, beautiful and quaint. We saw horses, and quaint old houses that reminded me of my Grandma Wilson's house in Altamont, Illinois.
There was a young kid, Anthony, seated across the aisle from us who was moving from Oregon to Vermont. He is a farrier. A farrier is a "hot" horse maker. He heats the horse shoes and shapes them to fit the horses hooves. It sounds like an interesting job from what he told me. It sounds very old timey, from the old west. He works with the owners of farm and race horses and talked some about the different styles of horse shoes depending on what the horse is used for and also the different types of farriers, hot and cold, and the impact on the horses. Hot shoes are designed to fit a specific horse's hove, while cold shoes are just basic horse shoes that can fit any horse, but are not fitted to their hooves. Cold shoes are often loose or to big as they are not shaped to the horses foot. Anthony had on really cool rope sandals with woven straps, I think it would be cool to make a pair and use old tires for the sole.
We went through Mendota, Illinois. I took some pictures of main street and the water tower, very typical of small town midwest, USA. We also went through Naperville, Illinois. The station was an old building like many in this area of the country.
We arrived in Chicago tired from three days in coach with minimal sleep. At the Chicago Union Station we went to the Metro Lounge which is for sleeping car passengers and they let us check our hand carry bags. Then we met up with two people who we met on the train and found a place to eat. It was a cajun grill, a Chinese fast food joint. They had good food. After we ate Tom and I went for a walk around the station and I found a long African skirt that can also be worn as a dress. Tom said I am the only one he knows who would find something to buy in the train station.
We headed back to the Metro lounge to relax for a while, charge the iPads, and wait to board the train and our sleeper car. We boarded about 8:30 PM. Our sleeper cabin was cute with two single bunks, a toilet, and a sink. There was a wine tasting in the dining car for sleeper car passengers. We had white cheddar, cheddar, blue cheese, red and green grapes and our choice of a red or white wine. Tom and I both had white.
Our neighbors in the sleeping car cabin across the hall were a mother and daughter traveling from Wisconsin to Springfield, Massachusetts. They were taking the train because the mother does not fly.
Our train attendant was very nice. She was named Francine. She put the beds down while we were at the wine tasting. The bed in the sleeper car was not to uncomfortable, though a little on the hard side. I slept well. I was rocked to sleep by the train.