ALOHA!!!!

We did it, we actually went to Hawaii!!!! The vacation of a lifetime, with my sweet daughter Misty, her husband Jonathan, their children - Craig, 15 and Megan, 11- and Jonathan's mother, Sharon.  This was to celebrate them both turning 40 years old the week we were there, Sharon's retirement, and my retirement (albeit 2 years ago!) and my 63rd birthday coming up.  Misty and Jonathan provided the tickets, and provided all the lodging for this 12 day extravaganza.  Sharon and I helped out with meals, and a few activities.  Mostly though, we bought souvenirs.....wow, did we buy souvenirs!!

We left Charlotte on Friday, July 5, 2013 to fly to Newark and change planes.  Jonathan had all the boarding passes printed out already, and we all sailed right through security and check-in.  A funny moment: Megan carried her American Girl Hawaiian doll with her, and when it went through the x-ray in her carry-on, it looked like a ghastly skeleton in there.  The guard did a double-take, but laughed it on through.  We saw the Statue of Liberty from the air just as we approached Newark.  There was a slight delay boarding the next plane, they said to repair the a/c and a pilot harness.  Whatever----- sure made this white-knuckle flier even more nervous!  The plane to Hawaii was large, probably completely full, and the trip uneventful except for the Asian toddler who cried the ENTIRE 10.5 hours. His poor mom, and the grandma with the infant, were exhausted by the time we landed in Honolulu. They had walked the aisles and bounced that crying child the whole time. I felt so sorry for them, and that child must have been miserable!

We arrived in Honolulu at 6:30 p.m. Pacific time.  Jonathan had arranged a taxi van, and fresh flower leis for all of us.  They were lovely, but the smell of the tuberoses nearly made me sick.   At our hotel, The Embassy Suites, we were greeted with fresh fruit juice.  After we checked in and deposited our belongings in the rooms, we found our way to the Manager's Reception by the pool.  This is a nightly event, for two hours with unlimited free drinks, cocktails included, and light snacks.  There was a live band two of the nights we were there, but they were like most bands - far too loud for us to be comfortable, so we found seats at the far end of the lanai and just marveled at the beauty around us and the view of Waikiki Beach before us.  We were so exhausted that no one could bear the thought of trying to find a restaurant, so we made the short stroll across the street to one of the many, many ABC stores on the islands.  They carry alcohol, yes, but pretty much anything else you might need, and this one had a great deli as well.  We bought sandwiches and salads, carried them back and had supper in our suite, and crashed at 9:00 p.m., which our bodies were telling us was 3:00 a.m. in our 'home' time!

Saturday, July 6
We slept well, but woke up around 3:00 a.m. and dozed off and on until 5:00.  It wasn't too hard getting adjusted to the 6 hour time difference, just made calling back home a matter of deep thought..... 'now what time is it really back in SC?'.  Every morning we were there in Honolulu, we enjoyed the huge, bountiful breakfast buffet that was included with the room charge.  Typical breakfast fare, tons of fresh fruit, and even salad and Asian foods and soups, there were so many Asian tourists there.

That morning, Misty, Jonathan and Craig went on to the beach and the guys tried to ride boogie boards, but not very successfully by their report.  Megan, Sharon and I went shopping (our favorite activity, woo hoo!!) and got to see a Christian parade! It was apparently a big deal there in Honolulu, and there were huge numbers of people involved in it.  I was very proud of Hawaii for this event taking place.  Wonder if it would ever happen back here on the mainland?

That afternoon we took a boat tour of Pearl Harbor and went to the USS Arizona Memorial.  This is a very beautiful, somber place.  The tour guide did an outstanding job, and had personal stories about people who were serving on the ships at the time of the attack.  The Captain of the USS Utah (which is still partially visible above the water) had twin daughters, one of whom had died and he was to take her ashes out to bury at sea the next day.  She, and her father, still remain in the Utah, and her twin comes every Thanksgiving to place a lei there in their memory.  The Utah and the Arizona are considered as sacred burial grounds, and no one is allowed to enter them, or remove anything from them or around them.  Many of the other ships that were sunk have been raised and broken up for salvage, but there are large concrete piers at the site of each ship, with their names painted on them, to memorialize all those lost there in the harbor.  The tour guide's daughter, who looked about Megan's age, was aboard that trip, and the two young Navy men piloting the boat moved over and let her actually pilot it back through the harbor and right up to the pier!  She did an awesome job even on her tiptoes!  I told her dad as we left the boat that I enjoyed watching a future Commander in action at such a young age.....he grinned so big I thought he might get a cramp!!!

The manager's reception was a big hit again, and then dinner was at a pub Jonathan and his mom wanted to try, called the Yard House.  They had those beers served in those hideous yard tall glasses.  The place was very loud, a typical bar, and the waitress even managed to get a foul-mouthed rowdy group to move out of our area, since we had the kids with us.  Food was good, so I guess it made up for the atmosphere.

Sunday, July 7
Big breakfast again, yummy!  Then it was off to the beach for the whole morning. We rented chaises and umbrellas, and had a great time.  The water was clear, without the typical SC beach gunk floating around in it, and blue like I've never seen before.  The beach ran far out onto a ledge that was barely waist deep most places, and that was the single most enjoyable beach experience I have ever had, in all my 62 years.

For lunch, we split up and the girls went to PF Chang's.  We happened to hit their early happy hour, and we just shared several appetizers and wine.  It was a good thing :-)

Later, we met the bus that would take us out to Paradise Cove for the luau I had booked.  The guide was very entertaining, and when we arrived we registered for our Deluxe Luau Package that was my gift to the kids for their 40th birthdays.   We were given leis, again, and tickets for drinks.  We had our 'official luau pictures' made.  They ushered us, and the rest of the 1,100 people enjoying the experience that evening, into an area with craft tables to make island jewelry, get temporary tattoos, sand in a jar things, and watch demonstrations.  The pig was cooked in the pit, wrapped in banana leaves, and there was a whole ceremony with hula dancers and warriors to accompany it being lifted out of the pit.  Dinner seating was very nice, since we had the Deluxe package.  We had tables right at the stage, for the awesome show that was put on.  There were waitresses that served us our dinners on covered plates, the salad course, then the main meal which did include sample of that nasty poi, and later the dessert course.  The other 800 or so went through buffet lines, and sat much further away.  They also took drink orders and served us the entire evening.  The food was mediocre at best, the show was awesome and well worth the price of the event.  It had warriors, and hulas of varying types, as well as singing and a fire baton twirling "King" warrior.....now that was a nice example of eye candy, ladies!!!

Monday, July 8
We managed to 'sleep in' until 6:30 a.m. that day!  Another huge breakfast and then a split for adventures.  Misty, Jonathan and Craig went on a city bus to hike up to the top of Diamond Head.  Megan, Sharon and I were going to take a city bus to the lighthouse  on Diamond Head and then the aquarium.  A taxi driver pulled up before we all split and told us the aquarium bus stop was a few blocks over, so we walked over to that one.  After a very long time waiting, with other buses passing by but never the one marked for the aquarium, the same taxi driver pulled over and said he'd recognized us and it had been a very long time waiting.  He offered to take us, for free, since he felt sorry for us two old grandmas trying to entertain our granddaughter, and we were obviously fading fast in the heat and humidity!  He was a wonderful tour guide, and stopped at a scenic overlook and took pictures of us with that awesome view in the background.  We made it to the lighthouse, but it wasn't much to see, and looked closed, so he took us on to the aquarium.  That was a wonderful, small and interesting place.  We thoroughly enjoyed it, and discovered it was a very manageable walk back to the hotel, so we struck out once again.  I did, however, tip the driver very generously, and he gave me a big hug and thanked me graciously.  When we arrived back at the hotel, we met up with the rest of the family, changed into our swimsuits and went down to the pool, where we ordered lunch and relaxed.  We had reservations for dinner that night at the famous "Dukes".

"Dukes" --- hmmm, didn't meet up to the hype I'd heard about it.  Duke was a famous surfer, and the restaurant is sort of a museum to him, and many people eating there every night.  My food, again, was just 'eh', nothing special.  The salad bar was tremendous, with many types of prepared salads, but most had gluten of some sort so I was at a loss with the majority of the menu.  I ordered a 7 spice seared Ahi, and it was good but far too rare for my taste.  Once again, the place was extremely noisy and crowded, not the kind of place I enjoy.

Tuesday, July 9
To the airport to leave Oahu for the big island, Hawaii.  The flight was only 45 minutes, and the rental car was ready for us.  Jonathan drove the 2.5 hours of winding mountain roads to the Ohana House in Volcano, Hawaii.  It was raining gently when we arrived, and we soon found out what 'rain forest' truly meant.  It was an awesome house, though, and I actually had my own room, so did Sharon, and the kids shared the huge loft.  I slept better there than I did anywhere on the trip.  We had stopped at a Walmart in Hilo for groceries, and found prices extremely high.  We were shocked to learn we had to pay 5 cents for each plastic Walmart bag we got!

Wednesday, July 10 - HAPPY 40TH BIRTHDAY, MISTY!
Misty, Jonathan and the kids went off to snorkel and kayak somewhere about 2 hours away.  Sharon and I stayed behind and started laundry.  We planned to walk the mile or so into the little village of Volcano for lunch, but once out in the light rain decided it wasn't worth it and we managed to scrounge up leftovers from the previous nights tacos and salads. We also enjoyed, probably a tad too much, the wine we had bought the night before.  Leaving two grandmothers alone for a day, with plenty of wine in the house, can make for two silly women when the family returned!  She and I also had a great excitement......we discovered that at that house you cannot run the washer, and dryer, a room heater and the two dehumidifiers at the same time.....blackout, tripped breaker.  Sharon found a breaker box outside and managed to pry it open, it was rusted shut, and got the breaker back on.  We were back in business, and later discovered a secondary breaker box in the house, under a fabric wall hanging.  Oh well......

That evening we celebrated Misty's 40th birthday with dinner at the most amazing place - the restaurant at the Volcano House Inn, called "The Rim".  It is in plain site of the rim of the crater that is still actively steaming there.  During the day, the steam continuously rises from the crater, which is pretty impressive like it is.  But at night, oh wonder of wonders, the steam and crater take on an eerie red glow from the scorching hot lava far down below.  It is other-worldly, no better description.  Maybe a preview of hell.....  They all had fabulous meals.  Once again, mine was just 'eh'....I had to stick with a chicken dish to stay gluten-free, and it was not cooked as done as I like my chicken.  Also, it was stuffed with spinach and goat cheese.  Not far into the meal, that mess got scrapped off.  Sort of a disappointment in that, but the view made up for it!  This meal was Sharon's gift to the kids, as well as Jonathan's celebration dinner later that week.

Thursday, July 11
This was a driving day.  In the a.m. we drove around the village of Volcano, went to Volcano National Park where we walked on lava fields and through a lava tube, and walked to the actual end of the road.....a lava flow had covered it completely across sometime in the past.  There were fabulous ocean views, and terribly strong winds.  It was back home to make late lunch, and pack up gloves, hats, blankets and snack suppers for our trip back up the mountain of Mauna Kea to do some stargazing.  Two hours of winding roads in the fog and mist finally saw us top out and be above the clouds, at 9,200 ft above sea level!  There is an observatory at the very top, at 13,000 ft, but they won't allow children under 16 or people with lung or heart conditions to go beyond the Visitor Center we were planning to stay at for the program.  There were huge telescopes fixed on different things.  One let us see the very small craters all along the edges of the moon.  Another was on Venus, very bright.  There was also one fixed on Saturn, and we could see the actual rings of it!  As a special treat, we also could see, with our naked eyes, the constellation of The Southern Cross!!!  That is the only place in the northern hemisphere it is visible, and only for about 2 weeks a  year.  We just happened to be there during the right time!  The stars were amazing....you could see the milky way so close it was tempting to reach out to try to touch it.  The sky was so full of stars that it seemed there was more light than dark in the sky!  We also saw lots of meteors, and y'all know that is a big thing for me, I look for them all the time!  About half way through the program, Megan started to feel sick so we gathered up our blankets (it was almost freezing up that high, and very windy) and trekked back to the van.  After some "googling" I found that Megan's symptoms were classic of altitude sickness!  My lungs didn't appreciate having to walk uphill from the van to the center, either, and felt like they were scorched by the time we got inside.  I was happy to leave, as well as Megan.  Oh! - we also had a bag of chips in the car with us and they exploded on the way up, from the altitude!! Quite an unexpected thing.   It was back home to the house in the rain forest.  It was raining there - still, or again - who could tell, it rarely ever stopped completely.  I was about 'over it' with the rain forest...cold, damp, dreary.

Friday, July 12
The morning was a drive into Hilo to shop, eat and sightsee. At least we were out of that God-forsaken rain forest for a while!!   We walked through the Atsuka Orchid Farm - WOW!! What exquisitely beautiful flowers!

We toured the Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Factory.  There was no production occurring at this time, but the gift shop, and samples, were good.

Next was the Botanical Garden.  It was a pretty difficult, steep climb in places, but oh my goodness, what beauty!  Tropical plants, lush greenery, and all on the edge of the ocean with breathtaking views.

We stopped at Akaka Falls, and the rest climbed down lots of steep stairs to view the falls from below, which I am sure was worth it to them.  I, however, was about done in, with the steep grade in the garden before that, so I sat at the top and rested, and got a nice photo of the top of the falls from right there.

We lunched at a local place in Hilo, and then had some of that famous 'shave ice'.  Looks like a snow cone but the texture is totally different, and the syrup is not as sweet as snow cones, either.  Really good!  Worth the brain freeze, too!

We drove around Hilo some more, walked a lot and shopped.  Dinner was at a place Jonathan had found online, that had good recommendations.  I had a drink called a Crazy Mimosa - mango and guava liquor and prosecco - yummmmmm!  Then it was back to the dreaded rain forest.  The next day we were set to be out of there, for the Waikoloa Hilton Resort....YAY!!!

Saturday, July 13 - HAPPY 40TH BIRTHDAY, JONATHAN!
Breakfast at the house, tidied it up and checked out by 10:00 a.m., hallelujah!  We had a long drive ahead of us to go to the resort, well over 2 hours. We stopped for lunch at a place they had spotted on their drive up to go snorkeling.  It was vegan and had gluten free!! I was so happy not to have to worry about what was in stuff.  The tuna melt on a g-free bagel was divine but expensive - that sandwich, a g-free chocolate chip cookie and bottle of water cost me $16!!

Then it was on to Jonathan's chosen birthday treat, a tour of a coffee farm.  We stopped at Hula Daddy Coffee and had samples, and a tour.  Our guide was very informative, answered questions readily, and showed us a lot of things.  One fact I'd never heard, that one coffee plant only makes enough beans in a whole year to make one pound of coffee.  Guess that is what makes it so expensive.  The beans ripen at different times, and there will be beans in every possible stage of ripeness all on the plant at the same time. This particular farm is the only Kona coffee that is handpicked, to ensure only the ripe berries get picked.  When the machines pick, they strip all the berries off at once, and many are in very green stages and cause the coffee to be bitter.  We sampled a variety of 'brews' and bought souvenirs here.

On to the Waikoloa Resort.  An interesting place, huge and very intimidating with trolleys and boats and a monorail to transport you between areas of the resort.  Our rooms faced the ocean, across a golf course.  We had the most spectacular sunset that night!  We had dinner at a Mexican restaurant right across from the room, and they made the guacamole right at our table!  Delicious!   I got to share a room with Craig this time, and being a teenager, he pretty much slept the whole time.  I hardly knew he was in the room. I find it interesting that the Robertson family from the TV show Duck Dynasty had vacationed at that very resort this year!

Sunday, July 14
Coffee was on the balcony.  That was the only thing provided, no breakfast.  We could ride the monorail to one of the bigger restaurants and pay for the $20 buffet, which had mostly things that are not gluten free.  No thanks.   So, my two mornings at this ritzy, expensive resort found me having a cup of peach yogurt with a rice krispy treat bar, that cost me $6.30.  The room was nice, large and quiet.  There were several pools, a lagoon with dolphins that you could pay $150 for 30 minutes and swim with them....no thanks again!  The boys left to play golf, and Misty got the car from the valet parking and drove us to the shopping areas at the entrance to the resort. We bought souvenirs, and both of us had to get an extra rolling duffle to be able to get them all home~checked one bag for the family going over there, but 3 of them coming back!!  The girls had lunch out at the Lava Lava restaurant, and it was one of the best meals I had there:  ribs that were so tasty and tender, fries, and a cole slaw with horseradish that was fantastic!! The afternoon was spent at one of the pools, as it was a little overcast and not really hot, so we enjoyed several hours there getting in the water, and having drinks served to us at poolside.

That evening was dinner out alone for Misty and Jonathan, so Sharon and I took the kids and got carryout pizzas and sodas, back to the room to pig-out.  I risked the gluten in the pizza crust, and it was a huge mistake.  By 4:00 a.m. I was horribly sick, for a couple of hours, and have decided regular pizza is a no-no for me from now on.  Just not worth the price physically.... plus, it nearly made me sick to pay $45 for two 12 inch pizzas, and then later almost $30 for two Klondike bars and two pints of Ben and Jerry's for the kids.  YIKES!  We watched America's Funniest Videos and laughed ourselves silly.  We all got along really well on this trip, and it was so nice.  In bed by 10:00, to get ready to leave the Big Island the next afternoon.

Monday, July 15
Sick, sick, sick from that pizza crust.  Miserable night.  Medicine finally began to help some.  We dressed in our Hawaiian clothes we had bought and walked down to the beach for some family photos.  Some of us went to the pool, others relaxed and packed up to leave that afternoon to go back to Oahu, so we could fly home from Honolulu on the 16th.

The flight between islands was smooth as silk.  We could see the other islands this time as we passed over them.  They were on the wrong side of the plane coming into there.  We couldn't get back in to the Embassy Suites.....booo.  We were at the Hilton, which had no breakfast again.  The room was okay, but the wall between it and the bathroom had two long windows in it, and the light shone through even with the blinds closed.  Made for a long night, trying to sleep with the light behind me and not in front of me.  The street was very noisy, even though we were on the 9th floor, which I hated.  I am no good with high places, at all.  I don't even like the second story on a house!

Once back in Honolulu, we walked to the Tiki Bar and Restaurant for dinner. GREAT food, I had prime rib.  The negative was the very large family behind us, who let all 8 kids sit together alone at one table while the drinking adults were at another one.  I never saw such ill behaved kids, up and down all over the place, yelling and laughing really loudly.  They finally left but not until a table full of young, drunk Asians sat on the other side of us.  It was sad to have such a great meal clouded by this poor behavior.    Dead tired, back in bed by 10:00, ready to leave tomorrow to come HOME!!!

Tuesday, July 16
They say all good things must come to an end, and so it was with our vacation of a lifetime.  We checked out at noon, left our bags in storage at the hotel and shopped and ate until our cab to the airport arrived at 4:00.  Got through the check-in process, boarded and off by 7:30 p.m. Pacific time.  We had three rows of two seats on a 777, and boy howdy, is that a big plane!  Still cramped and uncomfortable, but big!  There were 5 infants on board this time, but they were all very good, and made almost no noise.  The engine was close to my window so that was noisy, and they had a big screen TV playing movies all night long, so the flicker of the screen was a nuisance, but I was on my way home and it didn't matter!!  Eight and a half hours later we landed at Chicago for a short layover and plane change to a teensy little hopper, and after a total of 13 hours from leaving Honolulu we were back at Misty's and so happy to be finished with plane rides!  We all fought sleep and stayed up until 9:00 but just couldn't push it further, and 12 hrs later I crawled out of bed to make the drive back to Barnwell.

It still doesn't seem real, that we actually were in Hawaii.  It is beautiful, exotic, full of wondrous sights that I never dreamed of seeing: steaming volcano craters, clouds below where I stood, sea turtles, black sand beaches, flowers of beauty that is impossible to describe, a rain forest, a sky so full of stars there was very little blackness, moonscapes made of black lava, and just a paradise all around us.  I am so grateful to Misty and Jonathan for being so loving and generous, to make this trip possible for me and including me in their special 40th birthday celebration.  I am so blessed!  

To those of you who have trekked along with me here, as they say in the islands, "Mahalo" (thank you) and Aloha!

New Adventures Ahead.....Yippee!!!

Well, well, wonders never cease!  In a couple of weeks, I will have another great vacation post on here.  My precious daughter, Misty, and her sweet hubby decided to celebrate their 40th birthdays in Hawaii.  Of course, their kids would want to go, being 15 and 11.  They very graciously have included me and Jonathan's mother, Sharon, in this vacation of a lifetime (for me, anyway!!)  So, keep an eye out later in July for the ramblings of a very appreciative and excited retiree!

AND....I'll be starting another blog, that hopefully will continue for a long, long time, to record the experience of being a first-time camper owner!  Tomorrow I buy a lovely used 1990 camper from some good friends who have it immaculate inside.  I can't wait to get it in my driveway and start exploring all the little ins and outs of a camper.  My sweetie, Jimmy, is going to be joining me in this little adventure, and he is as excited as I am.  We will be pulling this 26 ft Terry camper with his Dodge Ram Hemi, so we both need to be fully familiar with all of it before we head out on our ramblings into the world of the Roamin' Empire!!!

Stay tuned.....

Chapter 5: PLANS, PLANS, AND MORE PLANS : HERE'S THE NEXT ONE....

I'M GOING TO MAINE!!!!
How do you ever thank someone for sharing their two week vacation with you, to turn into your dream vacation/retirement celebration extraordinaire?  There are no words sufficient.  So, I'll just tell you the story and let you see for yourself how awesome my daughter, Misty and her husband, Jonathan are, and both their kids, Craig and Megan.

July 22:  We started out from their home in Charlotte, with their Toyota Sequoia loaded to the brim inside, dog crates folded down and strapped to the luggage rack on top, and their four bicycles anchored securely on the rear bumper.  The first leg of the trip was for a double treat: first we were meeting my son, Rusty and his family, in our old home town of Oak Ridge TN and spending Saturday with them and all five grand kids at the Science and Energy Museum, and having lunch together at Rusty's favorite high school hangout - Billy's Time Out Deli.  That evening after Rusty's family left for home Craig, Megan and I walked to Chick-fil-A for dinner while Misty and Jonathan went to her 20 year high school reunion.  The kids are so awesome to be around, and we have great fun together.  Craig had bought himself a laptop with his own money, so he stayed up in the rooms with both dogs, Nick and Leo, while I sat out by the pool and watched Megan play mermaid for about an hour.  The next morning we loaded back up and headed out on the first day of our two day drive to Bar Harbor, Maine.

July 24:  Jonathan drove, and drove, and drove....he is such a great sport about taking the family on long vacations and never complains about all the driving.  I saw scenery I had never seen before, and enjoyed sharing the middle seat with Megan and both dogs, who slept pretty much the entire trip up and back!  Craig had his own little 'cave' in the rear seat, and seemed content there.  We stopped for the night at the Hilton in Stamford CT, and our room, yes, ROOM (all five people and two dogs in crates) was on the 10th floor.  Not fun taking two dogs up and down the elevator to 'go potty', no matter how well they behaved.  We managed just fine, and had a great breakfast in the Executive Suite before heading out for the rest of the trip.

July 25:  On the road again, oh yes!  We stopped in Freeport, ME at the LLBean store.  Wow, it is HUGE!  It's actually store(S) and we spent a long time there.  We finally arrived at our 'home away from home' about 8 p.m. and unloaded the car, ordered a pizza for supper and crashed, all exhausted but excited to be there.  It was about 55 degrees that night.  Ahhhh.

Misty had found us the cutest little house!  "The Head of the Harbor Overlook" was a three bedroom one bath cottage right on Main Street in Southwest Harbor, ME.  We were directly across the street from the harbor, with a fantastic view from the living room window!  We spent the day getting settled in, buying groceries, playing games, and walking into town (all of a 10 minute easy walk) to see what was available there to eat and do.  For dinner that night we went to a 'lobster pound', where they bring the lobsters right from the boat to the pot, and you choose which one you want cooked, go sit on a screened in deck over the water, and have a very messy but delicious fresh 'lobstah dinnah'.

I forgot to mention that two bedrooms were upstairs, and the bathroom was downstairs, so the old lady got to pick her room first.  I chose to room with Megan in the bunk bed room downstairs.  It was so sweet to be able to share a room with my granddaughter for ten days, and whisper and giggle into the night!  I also forgot to mention that the heavy truck and work traffic on Main Street, about 20 ft from our window, started up about 4:30 a.m. just about the same time that daylight started showing through the blinds.  ARRRGGGHHH!!!  This is vacation, for crying out loud!  I didn't want a 4:30 wake-up call daily, so devised a way to cover the windows at night with black plastic bags.  It helped a lot, and I managed to sleep through the traffic till nearly 6 a.m. every day!

We did so many fun things, and saw some of the most magnificent natural beauty I have ever  seen.  The Maine coast is not 'beachy' like our sandy SC beaches; it is rugged, rocky with nothing underfoot in many places but huge flat granite boulders that seem to run for miles.  Even the place they had named "Sand Beach" was just crushed gravel, no real sand, and the water was freezing even this late in the summer.  I did step into it, up to my ankles and took a picture of my feet in the water to prove I really did 'get in the water' in Maine, ha ha!  We had great food everywhere we went, and the restaurants were all small, quaint, family places and no 'chain restaurant' places anywhere except in Ellsberg where we went to find a Walmart and the LLBean outlet - yes, outlet!!  

Here are some of the trip highlights, for me anyway:
1)  Actually completing a 2.7 mile 'hike' around Jordan Pond.  This was over a trail that at first was nicely paved with rocks, then was over larger rocks, then was NO trail but make your own way over huge boulders sticking out into the lake and you needed to be a mountain goat to get through, and finally over a wooden plank trail over mushy marsh, and sometimes it was three planks wide, sometimes it was two planks wide, and sometimes ONE PLANK wide and there were no handrails.  Quite a challenge for someone with tendencies to vertigo, and terrible balance on a good day. But I did it, and told the kids that I had hiked in Maine now, and didn't need to do anymore hiking!
2) Went to Cadillac Mountain and saw a great view from this rare pink granite mountain. We went back there one morning at 4:30 and watched the sunrise, the first place in the US to see it rise every day.  Breathtaking!  
3) We saw lots of lighthouses, the best one being Pemaquid Point Lighthouse. I have a beautiful watercolor of that one, painted by my sister, Deidre, as a 25th anniversary gift for Terry and me. I had been looking at that painting for 16 years, hoping to someday get to see it in person.  Dream fulfilled.
4) We took a picnic lunch to the coast, and went to Schoodic Peninsula where we saw the awesome sight of the waves crashing into the rocks and sending up huge plumes of spray.  Great pictures from there!
5) My birthday was spent on a whale watching cruise.  We actually saw 8 whales that hung around for about half an hour, and I felt I had my birthday prayer answered, since the two boats out before ours had not seen any whales at all!  Whales on my birthday - how awesome!!  Dinner was in Bar Harbor at Pupununi's, in the fresh air on their patio, and the lobster bisque and lobster empanadas were unbelievable!
6) A couple of days the boys did outdoor guy-things, and the girls did things we enjoy more.  Misty, Megan and I took a 2-hour horse drawn carriage ride on the Carriage Trails in Acadia National Park to see all the pretty stone bridges.   One day we went to two gardens, Thuya Garden and Lodge, and then Asticou Azalea Garden.  Such breathtaking beauty! Total flowers at Thuya, and total shrubs and landscaping at Asticou, but equally awesome in their own ways.  Asticou has a Zen sand garden, and we got to watch the caretaker 'grooming' the sand, making amazing patterns with big wooden rakes.  That night, Jonathan took Megan and me to tour the Atlantic Brewing Company, and we came home with some great local beer and blueberry sodas for the two kids...they had blueberry sodas every meal we ate out, and every day at the house!

I know I have left out a lot.  We cooked great meals at the house, had lots of relaxation on the front lawn watching the harbor and the tourists walking by on their way into town in a never-ending parade of strange clothes, shoes, and languages.  We shopped at all sorts of quaint stores, ate at all sorts of quaint restaurants, and walked into town at least once every day.  Megan and I walked into town one morning and had ice cream cones, oh wonder of wonders - ice cream for breakfast!   The weather was awesome, in the 50's at night and rarely up to 80 during the days - while back home they had heat index of 114 one day.  Great timing, Misty and Jonathan!!  We all got along great, the dogs got along great, the house was cute and clean with everything remodeled and brand new, and even though Craig was getting sick with fever and a very bad sore throat that ended up at a doctor's and antibiotics, he never complained and was a real trooper.  Misty and Jonathan had done a wonderful job of planning the trip and activities.  They had been to the area several times before, and knew where to avoid and where to be sure to go! The trip home took two more days of driving, poor Jonathan, and the first one was in hours of a torrential rain.  Again I sing his praises, so much patience and great driving skills!

As vacations go, it was a dream-come-true for me.  As for retirement celebrations, it was the icing on the cake.  If I had listened to people at work and hung on until the hospital sold, I would surely have been in the big layoff that happened on my birthday.  True, I would have made a little more money this year, and could have drawn unemployment.  But none of that was worth the soul-filling, memory-making adventures that I have had this summer. I would never have been able to take that much time off from work and would have missed out on these magnificent things.  God has blessed me beyond belief, and I give Him thanks every day, several times a day, for allowing me to retire and still have enjoyment in life. I really am going to be okay.  It was the right decision, the best one I have made since being on my own again, and I can't wait to see what is coming up to write about next!!!!!

Chapter 4: PLANS, PLANS, AND MORE PLANS - HERE'S THE FIRST:

Oh, the plans!  For a year or more I had saved money for a trip that got cancelled.  This was now my fund for what became my summer-long retirement celebration.

After toying with and discarding the idea of a sisters' cruise, my youngest sister decided to follow her heart and buy a used camper, and arranged to do missions work by volunteering to tutor at a childrens' home in the mountains.  It seemed logical that she would need a teacher's aide, so I volunteered to volunteer and she graciously accepted.  We started buying things for the camper, stocking it up for the summer and planning our travel and work schedules so we could enjoy the whole experience.  I also was thrilled to be invited to join my daughter and son-in-law, and the two oldest grandchildren, (and both our dogs) on a two week vacation in Bar Harbor, Maine later in the summer!  They had spent several vacations up there, but this was to be my first experience with "Mainers".

I arranged for bills to be paid before I left, for internet access to pay things I couldn't pay ahead, to have the mail held, for the lawn care, and got the dog up to date with his vaccinations and tags.  I didn't plant a veggie garden since I knew I would be gone most of the summer, but I did have shrubbery and flowers I didn't want to lose, so I set up a sprinkler on a timer that would water regularly while I was away. I have wonderful neighbors who kept a keen eye on the place for me, and good friends who drove by to check on things, also.   I got my clothes together, several times before I was satisfied that I had enough for a month but not too much to store in the limited space of a camper with two grown women, two dogs and their crates, and teaching supplies for a whole summer.  April and May just FLEW by, and suddenly it was time to go!

CAMPING FOR THE MONTH OF JUNE:  Nevilee and I, our two Shih Tzus, and a camper full of stuff to use doing reading intervention at the school headed out for Foscoe, NC outside of Boone.  Our brother David and his wife and son were kind enough to pull the camper up there for us with his big pickup.  We got set up on our campsite, which was right on the banks of a creek with a view of Grandfather Mountain.  They stayed the weekend, and then we were on our own.  

But I forgot the 'health' issues we started out with!  Two days before we left, I had a bad fall in my kitchen, and sprained my back severely.  I headed out for a month of camping with pain pills, muscle relaxers, heating pads and not much confidence I would be able to stick it out.  Before that first weekend was over, Nev's diverticulitis had a very painful, serious flare-up, and she ended up in the ER having a CT scan, and back to the camper with pain pills, two antibiotics, and bed rest.  What a sorry lot we were, but we had a week before our teaching was to start while waiting for our security clearances.  So we rested a LOT, and sat by the creek a LOT, and moved around really slowly and trying not to moan too much.

Finally, we were better and the clearances came through.  We started volunteer tutoring at the Crossnore School.  It is a beautiful facility outside of Boone.  Some of the kids live there, having been removed from their family for various reasons, and some are day students.  We were assigned to 3 little girls from 5-7 years old, and two brothers 8 and 10 but with wildly differing abilities and needs.  We had another teacher friend of Nev's there too, and we did individual work with these kids four days a week for 3 hours a day, rotating the days and kids.  Nev and Tina are very experienced reading intervention specialists, and I am just a gopher, but with the materials they brought to use I was able to work as a tutor also.  What a blessing these kids were to us, showing us how blessed we are with the lives we had as children.  I think it really hit me hardest when the 8 year old boy was talking to me the first day and I mentioned that I have a granddaughter the same age.  He quickly looked up at me and asked me "who does she live with?", as if he expects all children to live with someone other than their parents. I really fought hard to keep the tears back.  I was amazed though, at watching and listening to my kid sister teaching, and counseling, and the depth of her knowledge and experience.  She is an amazingly gifted teacher and I am very proud of her!

I guess we did some things right, though.  They had a program there where mothers and kids could live on campus if the mom agreed to work in their fabulous Thrift Shop as well as continue her own education.  One of our little girls was in this program, and we shopped at the Thrift Store frequently and met her mom. One day the mom told us her daughter was mad with us, and we asked why in the world....she said because we weren't teaching her EVERY day!  What a great feeling, and no better compliment could she have given us.

We did tons of sightseeing, and cooking at the campground, and going to neat restaurants.  We spent lots of time (and money!) in quilt shops and antique stores, and even ended up with me buying a dulcimer before we left.  No, I still cannot play it, but it sure is pretty :-)

One Saturday we went to the Wayne C. Henderson Music Festival up in Mouth of Wilson, VA. Some cousins were going to meet us there, and said it was only 55 miles from the campground and we could be there in an hour.  Well folks, these were 55 mountain miles.  No lines, no guardrails, mostly twisting single lane and 35 mph if we were lucky.  Two and a half hours later we finally arrived, me with cramps in my hands from clutching the door handle and console due to being extremely, extremely skittish about riding on curvy roads that drop off into infinity right outside MY car door.  Nev is a really good driver.  I am a poor passenger.  She deserves a medal... for driving so well and ignoring my gasps and flinches, and staying in a good mood!  It stormed not long after we arrived there, and about half the crowd left, but the show went on and we had great fun listening to the music and even getting a private dulcimer lesson!  Needless to say, we left in time to get us back 'home' to the campground before having to travel those horrid roads in the dark!  Adventure????

A couple of our weekends were pleasantly shared with Nev's daughter and son-in-law camping near our site, and my daughter and grandkids sharing our camper. It was great to take the kids 'mining for gems' and to the Mystery Hill so we could walk crooked and watch water run uphill, to make s'mores around the fire, and walk up the hill to see the nightly display of literally MILLIONS of lightning bugs.  I have never seen anything so breathtaking, better than the stars in the sky and those who know me well know how crazy I am about sitting out late at night looking at the stars!

Did you see us on America's Funniest Videos??  We should have been on it... our campground neighbors missed a golden opportunity to video us if they didn't. We were parked in a spot between two huge, brand new, jaw-dropping-gorgeous RV's and felt like the poor cousin stuck in the middle.  You see, our little camper was old, dented from being wrecked, and not everything worked exactly correctly; there was the leaky tub, the freezer door that wouldn't stay shut, the heater that wouldn't come on the night it was 45 degrees outside, and the awning....ah, the awning.  We knew the supports didn't pull out just right, and had C-clamps holding it in places.  What we didn't know was that it was dry rotted and in two layers.  We found this out the morning after a huge all night rain.  I opened the door and it dragged against the sagging awning!  The rain had run between the two layers and filled up the bottom one like a huge bladder.  The weight of this had bent the roller, so even after we pierced the bottom layer and let the water gush out we had trouble, lots of it, trying to roll it back against the camper. Mind you, this was all happening during a pretty steady rain, us 'old women' with raincoats, hoods, and glasses that kept blurring from the water.  I can't imagine the comments that must have been made in the neighboring campers, but I am sure they had the best laugh of their week!  An estimate later that week to replace the bent roller and rotted awning, and seal the top of the camper came in just a little under what had been paid for the camper to begin with that summer!  It still isn't fixed.  Adventure, right?

The month came to an end, and the experience enriched my life beyond belief.  I am amazed that two 'mature' sisters could spend a whole month crowded up in a small camper, trying to adhere to a very strict diet for her with no wheat, gluten, sugar, dairy or yeast (and pretty successfully, too!) and never once get all huffy and exasperated with each other like we sometimes do in just short visits.  I guess we have both finally grown up.  I love my sister, and love the woman she has grown up to be....heck, I even LIKE her!!

Back in Barnwell, everything was fine at home.  It was time to recover a little and prepare for the next big adventure at the end of July!

Chapter 3: RETIRE? BUT YOU ARE TOO YOUNG! ARE YOU SURE??

My decision was made. That was the easy part.  Now I had to tell my boss and the CEO about my plan. I worried about when, and how to do this, but eventually decided to just forge ahead.  They were pretty much flabbergasted, and asked me several times if I was sure I really wanted to do this, and if I could just wait a few months and see what was to come with the buyout. Nope, my mind was made up and I was already making plans for my new life!

I didn't want a big fuss, but knowing 'the gang' I worked with there was no way to avoid it.  I got a lot of kidding about retiring, that it was for 'old people' and I wasn't old enough.  Yeah, right.  You should live a month in my body...   I was given 'the royal treatment', by coworkers tricking me into meeting them at Mi Rancho for drinks and dinner (and nice gifts, gang!).  I was honored at a reception given by the hospital where many employees came by to give me good wishes, and lovely parting gifts that will always warm my heart.  I had to make a 'speech', and told my little story about my first day and being told there was no team there, but that this person was very wrong!  There is a strong sense of being part of a team, and not just from the department I was assigned to but with people from every department, and that I had been very blessed by working at BCH.  I was later told I bawled like a baby, but I think that was an exaggeration, Tricia ;-)   A dear friend had me and some close friends for a home-cooked meal that was very special, in honor of my retirement.  I received flowers, plants, cards, hugs, and wonderful gifts.  But that's not why I retired....I wanted to be free, free to visit family, to go out of town for grandkids school events, to spend time fishing with my aging Daddy while he was still able, and not have to budget my vacation days to have time with family at holidays and in the summer yet still save enough to be sick, because as good as they are, BCH has a really lousy 'sick time' policy and me having asthma now meant several bouts of bronchitis or even pneumonia every year!

It took a while to sink in, that I was not just on vacation and would not have to return in a few days.  I was making grand plans for my summer-long celebration, and there was much to do to prepare myself and my home for all the time I would be away.

Chapter 2: AND THEN THE DREAM ENDED....

Well, not completely ended, but changed drastically.  The CEO retired unexpectedly early, the CNO was asked to 'fill in' until the Board could find a replacement, and so 'my boss' moved to another floor, another office, with another assistant who was probably the glue that kept the hospital together ~ she knew everything that needed to be kept up with, when to do what, and who to expect to do what.  So, that left me hanging, waiting for a new CNO to be hired.

Happy Day!  The nurse manager that had been sharing our triple-room office was named as CNO!  I really enjoyed working with him, he had a wicked sense of humor (well, still does, but he is no longer CNO...more story later), and had so many fascinating life stories to share, as he has been in the nursing profession since he was 16!  But alas, he had trouble letting go of duties and tasks, and I found my days dragging, not having enough to do to make me feel needed.  I found myself asking for projects from other departments within the hospital. I got to do so many fun, interesting, and yes - BORRRRRing - things.  There were minutes of meetings - good grief, the meetings! - and booklets, bulletin boards, copies by the thousands it seemed.  I got to create the pamphlet that promoted the hospital's new venture ~ three satellite clinics manned by a physician, nurse practitioners, and physician's assistants.  There were health fairs, and setting up luncheons with physician offices to introduce new medical staff members to them, and various community events involving the hospital. I helped plan and orchestrate Nurses Day celebrations, a Nursing Dept drop-in, and holiday celebrations galore.   Most of what I did was enjoyable even though I was reluctant to jump into some of the projects.  This may be boring by comparison to some careers, but it suited me well for this time in my life.

See, I have never been a 'career' person. I have never desired the 'power suit and power heels' that come with the attending career stress, headaches, and numerous physical ailments created by such stress and long hours.  I am very much a 'knit pants outfit and flats from Ross' kind of gal, content to work hard all day but clear my desk and leave at 5:30, not to think about the job again until I clocked back in - no beeper, no taking call.  I was happy there.

Before the end of that year we had to prepare for the Joint Commission Survey that was due by Dec. 31.  This involved review, and subsequent revision of hundreds of lengthy policies and procedures all over the hospital.  Guess who got 'asked' to do all this, and due to the missing programs on the computer, completely retype every letter of most of them?  Yep.  Yours truly.  Wouldn't have been so bad if the managers had worked on these all year long like they were instructed, instead of all waiting until the last couple of weeks and dumping them on me.  Whew!  That was stressful, and I determined then that I would be gone before the next Joint Commission Survey in 3 more years.  I did not intend to live through another one and I started making comments to that effect.  There was great news though ~ we passed with flying colors, and are still accredited!

Well, life is full of changes, and this CNO decided to leave for other opportunities. Here I was, hanging in limbo again.  The hospital was in a financial crisis, as it had been for a very long time, and I was concerned my job might not be considered crucial.  There were furloughs, then a 10% pay cut hospital-wide for a quarter, and eventually layoffs.  This is all publicly documented in the Barnwell paper, so I'm not telling secrets.  They did hire another CNO, a delightful, beautiful young woman who was very easy to work for also.  However, she also had problems delegating duties and projects, and I seriously worried about the state of my job.  The county wanted out of managing the hospital, and it was put up for sale. Right now it looks as though a good company is going to buy it and manage it well.  The company that was initially to buy it though sent in their corporate suit-and-tie-guys who would not even speak to employees in the halls; didn't send employees a good 'vibe', but we had no say, it was all management and County Council.  The rumor was they would wipe out all accrued vacation, sick time, and retirement once they took over.  I couldn't bear the thought of yet another set of management, rules and regulations at my age.

I started thinking.  I was already 60 years old and a widow, so I could draw my late husband's Social Security and have some income, and am still on his company's health insurance as a retiree, so I didn't need benefits.  We had invested wisely in income producing annuities, and I have a very astute young financial genius managing these for me.  We determined I could use these sources and have enough income to be okay, so I made my decision at the end of February to retire by March 31, 2011.  I have never felt such fear and yet such relief in my life!  Would I really be okay??

Chapter I: IN THE BEGINNING THERE WAS THE DREAM JOB...

Why people read things that other people write about themselves puzzles me, except that I do it, too, so I puzzle myself!

This is my story, about my retirement decision, the actual retirement itself, and the adventures it has afforded me.... up to this point.  I'm told it may bring up painful, sad memories that might make me, or others, uncomfortable.  Remember, it is MY story, from MY point of view, and is meant to point no fingers, place no blame, or cause hurt to anyone.  If you don't like what I'm writing, click out of it.  Pure and simple.

Okay...here goes:

All my life I wanted to work at the Barnwell County Hospital, in any job, anywhere.  My mom worked there as an RN for many years and I guess now that she has passed on, it would make me feel more connected to her, and that she would be proud of me.  When the opportunity arose in late February 2008 to apply for a full time job, which I desperately needed to support myself since being widowed four years prior, I was so afraid it wouldn't work out.  But silly me, the Lord always takes care of me and I know that, I just forget to trust Him sometimes.

I interviewed with the Chief Nursing Officer ~ the best, most relaxed interview I have ever had.  We seemed to be kindred spirits, and when she talked about her dream to make BCH a Magnet Hospital, I was hooked. I wanted in on the ground floor of that exciting time! I had references from friends who were employed in several departments over the hospital.   I was offered the job as her assistant, providing support to the Nursing Department if needed.

My first day was March 4, 2008.  That very day, when greeted by a long-time employee known for a bitter attitude, I expressed my delight at being part of the BCH 'team'.  I was informed in short order and no uncertain terms that "there isn't a team here.  It's a lot of little teams looking out for their own interests. You can forget being part of any team, ha ha".  Well, I considered the source and didn't believe this, so went about settling in to my office, the first (and ultimately, the only!) real office I ever had in a job.  I have had cubbies, front desks to work from, a closet turned into transcription room once, a shared office with another secretary, but never a real office all to myself, with a WINDOW, OMG!!!  One small glitch...there wasn't a computer yet.  Hmmmm.  How does a typist/secretary provided support when she has nothing to type on, nothing to research information on the internet with?  THREE WEEKS LATER, after multiple notes and phone messages to the IT department literally begging for a computer, I was rewarded with one that had belonged to someone else, with many programs wiped from it.  I kept having to re-invent the wheel the whole time I worked there, from not having access to documents to work from without completely retyping, but I plugged along -  happily, I might add, the majority of the time.

It was my dream job.  It didn't pay what I had asked for, but it was full time, and steady, and I LOVED WHAT I WAS DOING!  The 'boss' had projects everywhere to work on, never a dull moment, a different task and challenge nearly every day, and my hours just flew by.  I often stayed late just to hang out and be a part of what was happening.  I felt needed, appreciated, competent and content.