How to end a great trip!

Sigh. Fly home day. What a terrific weekend! Great friends and family, Delicious meals and lovely wines. Yup, this is going to be a repeat. As fast as it went, I think it was the perfect amount of time. Nothing ever was tedious, or edgy or boring — to say the least.

Misty came to spend some time with me the last morning.

A light breakfast of strawberries and cheese was perfect. Even the family cat, Misty came to say goodbye. Such a lovely animal! She is the same age as my Softey. I was so happy to see Misty. I always miss my “kids” when I travel!

With the top down on her white Jaguar, Kim drove me to the airport. I had plenty of time before departure. There was a bar not too far from my gate so I treated myself to a Bloody Mary.

For those of you hesitant to fly, mostly because of physical limitations, let me talk for a minute about wheelchair service. It is about the last thing left where the airlines/airports do a great job. They do not offer pick up service at curbside — at least I have never seen it. You do need to ask at the counter and they do look up if you have requested the service when you made your reservations.

After that bit of inconvenience, it is clear sailing. One of the best parts of wheelchair service is not having to wait in line at TSA security. You are wheeled right up front in a special line and within a few minutes, you are done.

From there you might want to talk to your driver about what will happen at the gate. Sometimes they will let you stay in the chair if you want to be wheeled down the jetway to the plane. Sometimes you will need to vacate the chair and wait in the seating at the gate. They will do pretty much whatever you want them to do.

If you are left without the wheelchair, airlines allow early boarding for those with handicaps so you are not rushed. It does make a difference.

Arriving at your destination, most often the wheelchairs are right at the plane’s door on the jetway. They will take you to get your luggage and very often will take you out to your transportation.

There is no charge for this service, but tips are how they make their money. I usually tip $5 or more if there is baggage handling or they do a special service for me.

OK, That is your travel tip for today.

Back in Minneapolis, I took the shuttle to the parking area I booked through AmericInn. Believe me, they were the most reasonable. They were very prompt and within 30 minutes of landing, I was in my car heading home.

It only took 4 1/2 hours to get home. Sunday evening traffic was very light. Once again I came home thoroughly exhausted from a great time. This was my second trip to Phoenix and I am glad I got to revisit. This time the temperatures were very mild, spring had greened things up a lot. I like it much more this time!

So we move on to spring chores. This is Memorial weekend and there are plants that need to be purchased and planted! Hope you have a great holiday weekend!

A magnificent Day Two! May 10, 2019

I will get back into the swing of this, soon, I hope! Back to where we left off ...

Janie, Kim, me, and Jan

On Friday morning the three of us went out for brunch. Janie asked me to find a place while she was in the shower. Did I luck out! Down the road from our place was a restaurant named First Watch. It has incredibly fresh food and an imaginative menu. Service was a bit off but we were in no hurry as Kim wasn’t expecting us until 1:00 p.m.

Post-brunch we headed to Trader Joe’s to pick up a few supplies for the afternoon — and yes, wine! We noticed we were running a tad late. I told Jan not to worry. Tell Kim we were late because we were buying presents! Kim LOVES presents and was totally happy with our excuse. LOL!

Kim’s house — where do I start? I had viewed dozens of pictures when it was listed on Zillow, but there were more art pieces now and a few more personal touches that had been added.

I will never hear the words “high end finishes” ever again without thinking about her home. Every item in the home was obviously carefully considered and perfectly placed.

My absolute favorite was the floor to ceiling sliding doors that brought living room into the outdoors. I have seen this on TV in lush, tropical homes. This was the first time I saw them in person. Awesome!

I have not mentioned the ideal weather we were blessed with. Temperatures were in the low 80s with a constant, delightful breeze. We sat on Kim’s patio, drank wine, snacked on cheese and just luxuriated.

Oh, I had two more favorites. (1) I had my own little patio off the guest room and (2) a killer shower! It was a huge tile shower and it had a control for the water temperature. (So I thought.) Well, as I sat to shave, the shower started filling with steam! WOW! The temperature control was for the steam shower. Glad I turned it down a few degrees!

Of course, there is a pool, an infinity pool with a hot tub. Jan and I sat on the edge of the pool while Janie read Kim’s tarot cards. Jan was next and mine is TBD. Janie does a very thorough job!

A beautiful view and a beautiful sister

That evening we went to a lovely place across from Kim’s house called the Vu. The pictures do a great job telling why this place has that name. The food was excellent and quite reasonable. The owner is a long time friend of Kim’s. I know Jan and Kim plan on meeting there again, soon.

That "fire" in the distance is Kim's home reflected in the setting sun!

Ahi Tuna - Wasabi and Soy Vu style

Sadly, it was time to hug the Jans goodbye. Time had raced by as it does when you are with those you love. Janie had a flight to catch back to Illinois the next morning. What a wonderful visit!

Kim took me to my room — a great view as from all the rooms — and that wonderful little patio that had furniture similar to the kind on my deck. Sleep time!

I woke very early and took my coverlet out to the patio and slept soundly for three more hours. Poor Kim had been starving waiting for me to come down. Oh yes. there was an elevator, too. Kim had been planning for Mom and Dad living with her at some point. Sadly for them. it never was meant to be.

Larry, Kim’s husband, whom I have severely neglected in this story, had left for work at the golf course, to be followed by a game. He was the Chef d’Jour and was grilling Salmon for dinner.

It was another spectacular day. We decided that it was time to open the sliding doors and again populate the patio. Ahhhh — sun, wine, cheese and hours of sister chat. How could it get any better?

Larry joined us after work and we had a bottle of their favorite wine. I discovered that my brother-in-law is quite the wine expert. I had a blast talking and learning about my favorite libation.

Dinner called and as Larry grilled the salmon, I elevated plain broccoli into a tastier version. It was a great dinner!

From there Larry took me into his “movie room” and we picked out “The Big Easy” to watch. Of course, I crashed about halfway through watching the film. ( Doug and I watched it when I got home).

It was time to hail the elevator (hehehehe) and head for bed. I took my tablet outside to enjoy the view and the night air on the patio. I loved that place! After a while, I heard some scratching behind my chair and decided to head inside. I really didn’t care what critter was making that noise and I really didn’t want to find out!

More tomorrow!

Friends forever reunite

Sorry for the long absence but what a crazy couple of weeks. That time period allowed me to amass some great material and I am so anxious to get this down in print.

First, let me transgress. I got home from my Adventure April 25 and let me tell you. I was exhausted to the core. Then there was the unpacking and putting away on top of the horrid mess the house was in.

It was still pretty winterish up here, though bare spots were poking through the snow, there was still feet every where. Not surprising when we got 114” of snow this season with the bulk of it coming in February.

I took my time putting things away, my body was in control now and that was just fine with me.

Then before I knew it, two weeks had passed and it was time for me to once again pack my bags. This time I was hopping a plane to Phoenix to have a mini reunion with Jan Haugen Cederlund, Jan Tuttle Hagstrom and my sister Kim.

Jan and Janie ( Jan-ee - for the sake of identification) Kim and I all went to Dundee Community High School. Janie was my best friend and we have been in fairly consistently over the decades.

Jan Hagstrom was a good friend back then and now resides in Sun City West. Sadly, she lost her husband a year ago and of course, was wanting the companionship of friends. She has done an amazing job of handling her grief, but the low spots are a natural part of the grieving process.

As it turned out, Janie had to be in Sedona earlier this month. In addition to speaking at this conference, she was also going to be receiving her second Doctorate of Metaphysics. Pretty cool!

Meet Doc Doc!

She asked if I would fly out and could stay with her while we visited with Jan. In the meantime, Kim, who lives in Fountain Hills, asked to join in and we were delighted! This was going to be an awesome get together!

I flew out to Phoenix May 9 and Jan picked me up at the airport early that evening. We went to her home and Janie pulled in the driveway about five minutes after us. Kim had been invited for the evening but she has some business commitments.

Pizza, wine and laughter — what a perfect evening. How could it have been 50 years? The London Room, old boy friends, marriages, children, retirement. Memories flew through the air in bursts of recollections.

Both women had discovered an inexpensive but highly fashionable line of jewelry call “Paparazzi”. Jan hauled out an overwhelming case with drawers of the earrings, rings , necklaces and bracelet of the sparkly goods.

Her ex-daughter-in-law sells the line on Facebook, so naturally, I am going to be perusing that web page very soon! Jan gifted me a couple pairs of earrings, a bracelet and a snazzy pendant necklace. How generous!

The hours raced by and Janie and I were headed to our home for the evening, a beautiful time share called Scarsdale Links. It was a very well-furnished apartment and after a couple hours chatting, it was lights out for us.

More tomorrow!