The Trips Begin...

The reality of retirement...we would begin a month of travel. Well, Claude would begin a month of travel which I would participate in during the middle portion and the end portion. 

Trip 1: Claude left Wednesday, May 15th for the DC Fly-in with Kentucky League of Cities. He would return Thursday, May 17th in the afternoon.

Trip 2: Claude and I left Friday, May 18th at Noon for our annual big vacation. We would return Wednesday, May 30th. More about that in another set of Blog entries.

Trip 3: Claude would fly out Friday, June 1 to go to Idaho and Utah. He would return Tuesday, June 5th. More about that in another Blog entry.

Trip 4: Monday, June 11th Claude and I left for Chelsea, Michigan and will return Wednesday, Jun 13th.

Whew!! That is a lot of travel.

This Blog entry will focus on a few interesting facts about the DC Fly-in. This is done by the Kentucky League of Cities every year. They take a delegation to Washington DC each year to speak with each of the Legislators from Kentucky. It is a grueling three days of walking and meeting and walking to the next destination and meeting. But it serves a good purpose and Claude feels it well worth the time and effort invested.

I enjoy the time at home to accomplish a few things. 

Here are a few interesting things that happened on this adventure. 

Claude drove himself to the Cincinnati airport so I would have more time to do my thing. Claude's flight was supposed to leave at 11:30am. The operative word in that sentence is 'supposed'. I received a text from Claude at 10:26am stating the flight was on a 45 minute delay. Okay.... At 10:56am I receive another text that they added a hour to that delay. Not good. This trip is timed to maximize meeting time with Legislators. At 11:27am I received the third text stating another delay and they would now miss their first scheduled meeting. At 12:22pm I received the fourth text stating the time to depart was now 2:00pm. Finally, at 1:52pm I received a text stating he had boarded the plane. They did miss the first meeting but made it to the second meeting. 

Later I received this picture to let me know dinner was a thumbs up experience. Crab cakes in Maryland are so very, very, very good. Claude let me know this main course was preceded by a cup of shell fish bisque that he pronounced excellent. He also explained that there was a mechanical problem in St. Louis that delayed the crew needed to fly the plane he was on. Such is the nature of flying.

Wednesday, May 16th the KLC delegation ate breakfast and Claude found these signs on the wall which he found interesting and texted them to me. 

At 9:30am I received a call from the Ward Executive Secretary asking me to meet with our Bishop that evening at 6:30pm. I sent Claude a text telling him what was going on. He responded that there was some talk about a change of callings for me. I have been teaching Institute for several years. Sure enough, they wanted me to play the organ for Sacrament meeting again. I would be released at some point in the near future from teaching Institute. I was happy about this opportunity. I love playing the organ. Not the best at it but I do really enjoy it. I would begin this new calling on June 10th. I popped Claude a text to tell him what the interview was about. 

Claude told me they had dinner that night at Charlie Palmer Steakhouse. Someone had a pedometer that day and they walked over five miles or 14,000 steps. I do believe they all met their goal and dinner at a steak house would not be a weight problem issue. They probably needed the nourishment for one more day of walking.

Thursday, May 17th, I awoke to fog on our hill. Sent these picture to Claude so he would know what he was missing.

Then I went to Georgetown to visit with Papa. It was a nice day so I put him in my car and we headed to Sonic. Our Sonic has an indoor place to eat with an enclosed patio in front of that. It would offer a place in the shade to sit on a hot day. I got Papa to a place to sit and went in and got us something to drink while we sat outside for a bit. This little bird hopped right up on the ledge and talked to Papa. Papa would talk back and the bird would chirp back at him. So cute.  

Claude got home Thursday afternoon. The race was on to get ready for the next trip the next day. I took the laundry and started getting his clothes ready to go. Claude took to the hill and started to cut the grass. Whew! The things we must do to relax and have fun. 

We made it through this first leg of our traveling adventures just fine. A few interesting things but a good trip for Claude and time for me to get lots of stuff ready for our big trip.