I had a great deal of fun over the next couple of weeks with my mother. I would hold her head in my hands and whisper in her ear every time I got ready to leave her,"Mimi, Mike is coming to see you and Papa. You must not tell Papa. It is a secret." Sometimes she would say, "Yes". She really can't tell Papa a thing with her Alzheimers. But it was great fun to have a secret she and I shared to surprise her hubby.
Mike was to arrive Friday evening at Cincinnati's Airport. Claude and I decided to take Papa to dinner on the way up. I told Papa to come to our home Friday evening ready to go for a nice ride and dinner at Smokey Bones in Florence, Kentucky. He was just happy to have a change in his routine.
Friday evening arrived, we loaded in my car and headed to Florence. Dinner was nice and we watched the storm clouds rolling into Cincinnati as we ate. What is it with us and the Cincinnati airport and rain??? I mean REALLY!!!
We finished eating, loaded back in my car and Claude headed us to the airport. I checked the Delta flights on my Blackberry only to find Mike's plane arrived early. Yike!!! He was already at the airport and heading through those underground tunnels to the place I told him to meet us.
Sure enough, as we approached the terminals and parking the heavens opened and the rain poured down in buckets. Instead of parking the car and walking in together, we determined Claude would drop Papa and I off at the door to baggage claim and then circle around to pick us up.
With Papa in tow, we entered what we thought was baggage claim for Terminal 3. It did not look right. I mentioned this to Papa. Papa is wondering why we are going to an airport. He knows what an airport looks like. He has been to them before. His 83 year old body shuffled along behind me as I walked around the escalator to determine what to do next.
I had us go up the escalator to determine what was wrong. My cell phone rang, "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" by Hayden Marx was echoing through this rain drenched airport. It was Mike. He was at Baggage Claim 3 by the information desk. Hmmmm...where were Papa and I?
I had Papa follow me back down the escalator and I asked some of the staff which baggage claim we were in. They told me Baggage Claim 2. I could go back up the escalator and walk way down an passageway or I could call Claude, tell him our error, have him come back and get us and drive us down to Baggage Claim 3. We chose the second option. I called Mike and told him to stay where he was and watch out the window for us. All the time I was being careful not to use his name or that he was a guy so maybe Papa would pick up on the surprise. No need to worry there...Papa was still trying to convince me he had been in an airport before.
Claude circled and came back and got us. The rain was even harder. We drove to the next terminal and Mike was out by the door. He saw us, ran and plopped his luggage in the trunk and hopped in the back seat with me. Papa turned in the front seat and was not sure who he was seeing. He thought it my Jon, Mike's twin brother.
My camera was ready for that great picture when Papa sees Mike arrive on the escalator at the airport. That shot did not happen. But I did get a nice one after we got back to the house.
At lunch time we all headed into Georgetown to visit and feed Mimi. Claude went to run errand and Mike, Papa and I headed into the nursing home. Mimi was unusually eager to eat. She was finished in record time. Papa and I were stunned. We were also able to capture a few family photos.
We had Saturday afternoon to show Mike a bit of Kentucky. Claude drove us through the Burger King first for a bit to eat and something to drink as we drove. Then we were off to drive back roads and look at horse farms between Georgetown and Versailles and then to Frankfort.
In Frankfort our first stop was Daniel Boone's grave. The view from that cliff of the Kentucky State Capital is just gorgeous.
Papa was so happy. He had not been to Daniel Boone's grave. He read about that view in his Daniel Fox, Jr. books. They speak of the original capital building ,which is across the Kentucky River, and the white cliff behind it. From Daniel Boone's grave he could see the white cliff and he was transported back to those books he loved to read as a boy.
Now time for a pit stop. Papa ran in Dairy Queen and the rest of us stayed in the car. Papa surprised us with small Blizzards when he returned. They were delicious.
Our next stop was Kentucky's Viet Nam Memorial. I believe this is an amazing tribute. It is a sundial with the names of the Kentucky soldiers who died in Viet Nam. The date of their death is in the concrete. The sun dial is set up so that, on the day they died, the point of the shadow of the dial touches the engraving of their death date in the concrete. One of my pictures has the guys checking out the carvings in the concrete. The other is just the memorial dial with the capital building in the background.
Claude would then make a pass by Buffalo Trace Distillery before heading back to Sadieville via the back roads. It was a gorgeous afternoon, nice breeze blowing which made for an enjoyable ride with tourist stops.
Back home it was time to finish up that smoked brisket dinner Claude was working on and have our feast. We dined on the deck. Mike helped me clean up that deck furniture that had been out all winter. The shade came over the deck and it just got a little cooler and nicer with every passing minute.
We were treated to a show by some bright yellow birds with black on their wings. I have a Kentucky Bird Guide book and I retrieved it. We were all of the concensus that these were American Goldfinchs. I don't ever recall seeing this type of bird in the yard before. They were so cute.
Sunday we attended Church in the morning.
Papa had been telling us about his transmission slipping. Sunday morning he was sure there was transmission fluid on his garage floor. After Church Claude, Mike and Papa opened the hood for a check before Papa left building. It was determined Papa's ox was definitely in the mire and he should go and purchase transmission fluid before coming out to Sadieville. Papa did this and brought it with him to Sadieville.
While I cooked a fried chicken dinner, the boys headed to the driveway to do some repair work. They worked with the transmission fluid and cleaned the cables to Papa's battery.
With Papa's car ready to take to the road safely again, they all came in and we had our dinner. Then we had a little time to visit before dessert. Then Papa headed back to Georgetown to feed Mimi dinner. Mike gathered his stuff for his trip home and we eventually headed back to Cincinnati...no rain!!!
Thank you Mike for taking the time and the means to make this trip. It was pure delight to have you here and to share a bit of time with you. We truly appreciate it.
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