tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44142047732995376692024-03-05T04:52:20.754-08:00Life is a HighwayMarie @ Life is a Highwayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05090485405915969155noreply@blogger.comBlogger73125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4414204773299537669.post-71607017892742866902020-05-30T11:31:00.000-07:002020-05-30T11:32:32.779-07:00My Past Birthdays<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Note</i>: I wrote this piece in August 2019 and didn't finish it because . . . I don't remember! How crazy is that? I got so busy with other things and forgot all about this project. Well, I'm back! Fast forward to COVID-19 in the year 2020, and it has totally changed the world. Choosing to stay home as the world slowly re-opens, I am blogging again. So here is my first post in the age of the corona pandemic.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My birthday was a few days ago </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(August 12) </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">and the day didn't unfold the way I had hoped. After the recent mass shootings throughout the country, I decided to donate blood - something I hadn't done since I was 29 years old but was committed to doing since I was 18 years old. Through the Red Cross website, August appointments were very few and I wanted a morning appointment. I found an opening which happened to be on my birthday. Since there was no mention of anything being planned for my special day (but my family did celebrate me over the weekend) I went ahead and booked it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The above photo was taken a year ago on my birthday. The group visited a farm and stopped by the piggery to visit the baby pigs born that day. My husband suggested that we should name one of the babies <i>Marie </i>and everyone thought that was such a great idea. The founder of the nursery, who also was our guide today, told me to pick out a baby to officially name, and I picked the smallest piglet in the litter. She squealed and wriggled in my arms so much, I thought I might drop her. Adorable little thing!</span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Back to my story. This morning I felt great that I would be doing something meaningful and important but it wasn't meant to be. After my vitals were taken, a finger pricked for blood, and a short interview, it was determined that I wasn't a good candidate. Why? Because I was in Africa a year ago, in Uganda. I was told that Uganda has one of the highest rates of malaria and even though I had the necessary vaccinations to enter the country, the Red Cross still couldn't take me as a blood donor. Damn. I wasn't happy about it but I understood.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I've spent past birthdays in pretty cool locations like Tonga, Maui, Santa Fe, Oahu, and New York City. But last year I was in Africa! </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Entebbe, to be exact. I never blogged about it but it seems appropriate now to share thoughts of my time there. I went to Entebbe with Project Compassion and a team of doctors, nurses and other volunteers called Helping Hands. I was one of the helpers. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I did a lot of reading about Entebbe as soon as I signed up for this gig. All I knew about Entebbe was it once had a dictator named Idi Amin, nicknamed the Butcher of Uganda, one of the most feared leaders in world history. Also, Uganda was, and still is, a third world country in terms of human development. In the early 1900s, though, Winston Churchill penned the book <i>The Pearl of Africa </i>in which he states, </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #192126;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“For magnificence, for variety of form and color, for profusion of brilliant life — bird, insect, reptile, beast — for vast scale — Uganda is truly “the Pearl of Africa.” Churchill got that right!</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Our plane arrived at the Entebbe International Airport late at night. Going through Customs was a little chaotic, and became very concerning when we later learned that the agents withheld large suitcases of antibiotics and vitamins. We left with a truckload of our personal luggage and the remaining suitcases of medicine. We did not drive into Entebbe but stayed near the airport at the Sisters of Mary Retreat Center as it was too dangerous to drive to the Asili Medical Center in Luwero late at night. It was past midnight when we arrived at the retreat center. Sister Ernestine, a Kenyan nun, was there to welcome us. The next morning we departed for the two-hour drive to Entebbe. Days later I would learn from Sister Ernestine that she went to the airport to confront the Customs agents about the two suitcases being held. She told them that they were wrong for withholding medicines that were meant for the needy. Customs said she could have the medicines if she gave them money. Crooks, she called them. Sister was not happy. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">My first impression of the Ugandan landscape during the drive was unlike anything I could have imagined. I was expecting vast areas of dry land. Instead, the landscape was so lush and exotic and the birdlife plentiful. Something also stood out that I didn't expect. The dirt is a rich red. It was everywhere!</span></span><br />
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Marie @ Life is a Highwayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05090485405915969155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4414204773299537669.post-22877599814565430822019-04-10T20:13:00.000-07:002019-04-10T20:13:08.415-07:00Things To Know When Using AirBNB For The First Time<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrkeLflB-9LX8RDaIFyE4npUGPviU-27sewaIKJ9fn_1QdeUtUGWOF4XkLmCI8zq7c2x_wbxo6_-lYdBKsP_wyKt7X3xTPM8tnSsmKp27NYNiGD-OL4HSDQPlpOTThDjn6wN8yM5Y/s1600/Bella%2527s+Cabin.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrkeLflB-9LX8RDaIFyE4npUGPviU-27sewaIKJ9fn_1QdeUtUGWOF4XkLmCI8zq7c2x_wbxo6_-lYdBKsP_wyKt7X3xTPM8tnSsmKp27NYNiGD-OL4HSDQPlpOTThDjn6wN8yM5Y/s640/Bella%2527s+Cabin.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: justify;">Last summer Gerry asked me where we could go for a long weekend trip? My ideas included the ancient Mesa Verde Indian ruins in New Mexico, a drive up the picturesque </span><span style="text-align: justify;">U.S. Route 101 to anywhere, or to Palm Springs. To my surprise, he says "how about that trip to Forks you've always wanted to do since Twilight came out?". <i>Insert the surprised-face emoji right here. </i>Is he for real? Why don't you plan it, he says, and I took off like a rocket.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">As I searched the web for places to stay, an Airbnb ad popped up showing a photo of <i>Bella's Cabin </i>in Forks. It looked like an amazing cabin in the woods, and after reading all of the reviews, I booked it. On the day of our arrival in Forks, our host met us on the side of the lonely Highway 101 in upper Washington as was the plan. She said there was no way we'd find it on our own. The cabin was surrounded by a few houses, but being surrounded by woodland trees and shrubs, it would've been difficult to find on our own after sunset.</span><br />
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<span style="text-align: justify;">The cabin was definitely cozy and charming but cluttered with so much stuff, mainly Twilight memorabilia. I gently gathered the items and placed them to the side. Other than that, the cabin had all the amenities. It was lovely . . . . until Gerry found the bats. Little brown bats, the Latin name: Myotis lucifugus. The cabin description made no mention of flying mammals as part of the booking, although the host did tell us that tons of bats live in the tree right outside the cabin and will zoom right in through an open door or window. Personally, I feel that bats are harmless but I am also aware that bat guano is dangerous to your health. </span><span style="text-align: justify;">The story of the bats will have to be found in a future post because this post is all about what you need to know about booking through Airbnb.</span></span><br />
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<span style="text-align: justify;">So for all of you first-time Airbnb users, the following is what you need to know.</span></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU WANT</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What kind of home are you looking for to give you and your group the best time possible? Where in the town or city do you plan to spend the most time in? Do you prefer renting a room in an apartment or an entire house? Whichever you choose, select one that's large enough to provide ease of movement inside and outside. Another basic question is what is your budget? Knowing exactly what you want is the first step.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDCcvx0bgi6VM7g09cgyghAmicoyRav-TUo37ZDPcMHAyOja8TPEx46W-TZTeVo35ppZrX0cLYjqgMnxtmvSvaBXYcK4gf9i2yJO750LPaMNz_NgDg2jYV-hHOyKcnZCaI1RfD2J4/s1600/Blank+2000+x+2000.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDCcvx0bgi6VM7g09cgyghAmicoyRav-TUo37ZDPcMHAyOja8TPEx46W-TZTeVo35ppZrX0cLYjqgMnxtmvSvaBXYcK4gf9i2yJO750LPaMNz_NgDg2jYV-hHOyKcnZCaI1RfD2J4/s640/Blank+2000+x+2000.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When you know exactly what you want in the location and type of lodging, fine-tune the details of your search. There are many options in Airbnb and has over<a href="https://press.airbnb.com/airbnb-2019-business-update/" target="_blank"> 5 million listings worldwide</a>. Besides knowing if you want an entire house, shared or private room, you also need to ask yourself: is a washer and dryer included, is there a parking spot for your car rental, are pets welcome, or are baby cribs included? Seek all of your essentials. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>LOOK OVER THE PHOTOS</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Check out the photos of the property you're interested in. Photos will verify the size of the rooms, aesthetic and design. If there aren't enough photos to view, or are of poor quality, beware. You want to see what you'll be walking into when you arrive at your destination. Photos should give you an idea of what's included in each room, from different viewpoints. Does the page give you views to the outside and landscapes? If so, then you can be sure the host is sharing every aspect of a well-outfitted vacation space and proud of it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>READ THE REVIEWS</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijGkjBwdI3NX9GeOoE6hFuCaQWt23dabJB-0vzcQgalfz6e7TadJcT_k7SMnO6XZeaRisv9lHcF6Yd3-BLl0_GG5nmugKxVwRhFzetushqUOXZokeHkenMnxBw0KxBaZL5KIZYAc4/s1600/Piazza+della+Republika.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1208" data-original-width="1600" height="482" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijGkjBwdI3NX9GeOoE6hFuCaQWt23dabJB-0vzcQgalfz6e7TadJcT_k7SMnO6XZeaRisv9lHcF6Yd3-BLl0_GG5nmugKxVwRhFzetushqUOXZokeHkenMnxBw0KxBaZL5KIZYAc4/s640/Piazza+della+Republika.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">User reviews are crucial and a useful tool in selecting a property. While the host will always give a favorable description of their property, past users provide more reliable insight into their experience and more.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thoroughly read the reviews, taking note of recurring themes. If a problem is mentioned over and over again, it doesn't necessarily mean you should skip that listing. For example, many reviews will mention that the property has no air conditioning but if you're traveling in the cooler season, it won't be as much of a concern for you. However, if the reviewers consistently complain about poor communication with the host, or uncleanliness of the property, you may want to move on. Don't let one negative review squelch your interest if there are tons of positive ones. Everyone's experience will be different, so look for overall trends rather than particular negatives.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lastly, the number of reviews posted carries weight. If you're okay with taking a chance on a brand new property with little or no reviews, that's your choice. Properties with plentiful reviews mean the host is competent and knows how to give the Airbnb user a memorable experience. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Everything you need to know about your Airbnb rental is right there on the page. Click on every link and tab to gather all the information. What amenities are included, what is the cancellation policy, what type of lodging is it, and what are the host's rules of the house? It will be different for all properties. Don't assume that what you have in your own home will be included in the Airbnb of your choice. Familiarizing yourself with the fine print will assure you will have a lovely and stress-free stay. Should you arrive and certain amenities that were described on the Airbnb page are not available, you are within your rights to ask for a refund.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once you've decided on your perfect location in one of the 191-plus available countries Airbnb operates in, get to know the neighborhood. Use the map provided in the listing you chose, or pull up the information on Google Maps. You'll have peace of mind knowing where to buy basic food staples or where to pick up cold medicine once you're there, and not look like a lost tourist.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You are encouraged to reach out to your host if you have any questions about the listing, sites to see, anything. You can reach them directly if the host has not already contacted you first. Introduce yourself, explain why you're visiting the area and your plans for when you're there. A good host will do their absolute best to accommodate your needs. Open communication with your host builds confidence for both parties and gives the host an opportunity to make you feel even more welcome.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Being a good guest means following the house rules and paying attention to the policies set forth in the Airbnb listing. Treat your vacation home the same way you want your home to be treated. Be clean and tidy always and write a gracious review so your host knows how well she/he did their job. Did you know that hosts can leave reviews about you? If you have a bad mark against your name, chances are you may not be accepted as a guest elsewhere in the future.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Happy travels,</span><br />
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Marie @ Life is a Highwayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05090485405915969155noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4414204773299537669.post-1826135091269769612019-03-29T17:44:00.000-07:002019-03-29T17:44:41.322-07:00My Red Cross Story: Heaven Receives Another Angel<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There are so many stories shared by Red Cross staff and volunteers. From my nine years in this organization, I've not had a story to tell as sad as this one. Two evenings ago, I received a phone call from a friend who also volunteers with the American Red Cross (ARC). It's not the kind of call I was expecting. I thought Cheri was calling to confirm our meet-up at headquarters next Tuesday. Instead, she gave me the horrible news that the last client to leave the Otay Recreation Center shelter in Chula Vista two weeks ago had passed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">On the morning of March 18, I was called by the ARC to head down to the rec center to do a walk-through inspection of the facility and to set up a shelter for people displaced from two separate fires, unbelievably occurring at the same time, a block away from each other. I saw the trailer park fire on the news as I dressed for the day. That was the fire I believed I was responding to. When I got to the shelter was when I learned of the other fire. Most of the clients - we at the ARC do not refer to the displaced residents as "victims" - were able to find places to stay instead of coming to the shelter. Those who couldn't find a place arrived at the shelter sleepy and bewildered. The fires occurred very early in the morning. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It was relayed to me, as the shelter was being readied, that the Fire Department took one client to the emergency room for smoke inhalation and that she could be released from the hospital early evening. The client's name is Sherry. She was found on the floor of her smoke-filled apartment, where the fire evidently started in her bedroom and had to be pulled out.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sherry told me that the day before the fire, she was packing her belongings for a move out of her apartment to another place. It was a marathon packing session. In the super-early morning hours the day of the fire, she put her tea kettle on the stove fire and returned to her bedroom to continue packing but fell asleep instead. It was the whistle of the tea kettle that woke her up, and not wanting the loud noise to wake up her neighbors, she hastily rose from the bed, knocking over her table lamp which also took a lit candle with it. What you need to know is that Sherry suffered from multiple ailments before the fire and uses a walker to get around. She was also still grieving the loss of her adult son and loved to share that she was proud of his military service in Afghanistan. She also was grieving the loss of her granddaughter, circumstances unknown to us.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My shift ended at 7pm on the opening day of the shelter. I returned the next day at 6:45am. The first time I met Sherry, she was wearing a hospital gown over the clothes she'd been wearing since the day before. The hospital staff turned the hospital gown around so that the opening was now in the front to make it look like a jacket. She also had hospital socks on her feet, no shoes. She was asleep in the dormitory when I arrived. Sherry would wake up a couple of hours later when she asked me to show her the restroom. She sauntered from the back of the gym to the front, and into the next section of the building where the toilets were. During that slow walk, Sherry told me that the hospital staff put her in a taxi upon her release from the hospital after it was apparent her daughter-in-law was not going to pick her up and take her home with her after many attempts to reach her by phone. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I noticed when checking out the dorm area that Sherry had only 3 tote bags to her name plus the clothes on her back. These were the items she had placed at the door of her apartment before the fire. It came to mind that she was going to need clothing and shoes. When John (ARC Spiritual Care Associate) and I talked about it, he said he'd do the shopping, that is until I said he'd have to buy undergarments, too. So I wrote down a complete list of what she'd need, and it was passed to a team of two ARC Feeding associates who went shopping. One of them was Lisa, so there was no hesitation in the buying panties and bra. Sherry looked so happy and refreshed in her new garments. She beamed like a ray of sunshine! I couldn't let this moment go by without a picture to celebrate it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">By noon, Sherry said she called her daughter-in-law again to pick her up from the shelter. This lady told Sherry that she was working a 10-hour shift and didn't feel she could manage to come and get her after work. It saddened me that this family member obviously didn't care for Sherry's well-being. Through all that Sherry had been through, she still smiled mixed with bouts of crying. This lonely woman carried so much physical pain, a heavy heart for the loss of her beloved son and granddaughter, and no place to call home.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My very last memory of Sherry is bringing her a plate of a big slice of pepperoni pizza, a bowl of garden salad, her favorite cookie, a bag of chips and bottled water. She was so hungry. It's what she wanted to eat for dinner. Before I left, I put my hands on her shoulders, looked into her eyes and told her that everything will turn out well and that I wished all good things for her. The Red Cross is going to take very good care you, I told her. I was experiencing pain in my lower back since Monday morning and knew if I didn't start self-care, I was going to be in big trouble. The cause for pain was wrestling with metal chairs that wouldn't come off the carts as they should, carrying them from the classroom to the gym, then sitting in them. They were the worst chairs ever to sit in. Before I left for home, I took a photo of Sherry's shelter registration form which had her cell phone number. I planned to phone her, and maybe even take lunch and sit with her for an hour or so. However, when I woke up Wednesday morning, I could barely sit, stand or anything else without pain. That's fine, I thought, I'll contact Sherry the following week.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The ARC caseworkers worked hard to find Sherry a new home. With no identification card (because it was burnt in the fire), no apartment management would accept her. It took eight calls before the caseworkers found the Rambler Motel. It sounds frightful but it's rated high in Tripadvisor, believe it or not. Caseworkers drove Sherry to her new home last Wednesday evening, and every single day, the ARC would phone her to see how she's doing, if she needs anything, and so on. Caseworkers said Sherry would express endless gratitude and that she was so happy. Calls to her this past Monday and Tuesday went unanswered, however, and so when my friend Mary, a caseworker, phoned her on Wednesday and got no answer, she asked the motel management to do a wellness check on her. Mary would then receive a call from the motel saying they had to call the Chula Vista Police Department because when they entered Sherry's room, they found her deceased. I was informed of her death shortly thereafter. I was stunned, heartbroken, unbelieving. How can this be?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The ARC Mental Health Department did a kind thing for those of us who had the pleasure of spending time caring for Sherry on site and behind the scenes. Last night, they invited us to come into headquarters for a coffee chat. Stories about Sherry were shared, tears were shed and now we're trying to fill in the missing pieces of her death. Why did she die? Where was her body taken to? Where will she be buried? It's sad Sherry didn't have loved ones to keep an eye on her. It's sad that she died alone. How does anyone end up alone? I don't know these kinds of things because I'm surrounded by an extremely huge family unit. A mental health specialist asked each of us how we intend to deal with our grief. The answers were so varied. A nurse said that she will go see the super blooms, another staffer said he was going to get in his truck and drive, and another said she was going to spend a day this weekend walking in the park. I shared that I began my grieving process by starting this blog post as soon as I learned of Sherry's death.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">This story is not over. We want to give our sweet Sherry a proper memorial service when our questions have been answered. </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">I grieve at Sherry's passing, but I am so thankful that she received the love and compassion while she was in our care.</span><br />
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Marie @ Life is a Highwayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05090485405915969155noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4414204773299537669.post-12290095021648350682019-02-13T23:53:00.000-08:002019-02-13T23:53:06.456-08:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My husband and I don't normally celebrate Valentine's Day like everyone else, because we don't need this one particular day to celebrate our love</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">for each other. So with that said, I do not have a Valentine gift for Gerry. But I would love to share with you the perfect last-minute gift that you can give your honey-bug if you are lagging in the gift-giving department.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For Christmas, I gifted my husband part ownership of a lovely old castle in France. <i>What</i>, you say?? That's right. There is a wonderful movement happening in France that is devoted to bringing back to life structures that are centuries old through crowdfunding. As a professional travel planner, I do a lot of research and happened, one day, to come across an article of a castle that was fully restored through donated funds from around the world. What a genius idea to reach out to the online community for help in preserving French heritage! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>We love to travel. We love history. We love France. We love taking care of things that are important. </b></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I wanted to participate in the restoration of this collective's second castle, the Chateau Fort de l'Ebaupinay. This old gem is in a region that sits between Paris and Bordeaux. I bestowed to Gerry the title of shareholder of l'Ebaupinay. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gerry's Christmas gift was presented in a gift bag, which had inside of it several photos of the castle, and on linen paper a description of the purchase and the key.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> He received his key to the castle a few days after Christmas. This key will allow Gerry to participate in future restoration projects to bring this castle to life, and gives him free entry for life. He can also, as projects arise, donate more money to the effort, and that elevates his rank in the hierarchy of the castle. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> How fun is that! </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Dartagnan, which is the organization behind this effort to preserve, has other projects lined up. Visit their website <a href="https://dartagnans.fr/en/home/index" target="_blank">here</a> to see how you can help.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've always called Gerry my knight in shining armor. But now he is my Lord, and I am his Lady.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Happy Valentine's Day!</span></div>
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Marie @ Life is a Highwayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05090485405915969155noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4414204773299537669.post-38711429368591025872019-01-31T21:54:00.000-08:002019-01-31T21:54:19.343-08:00GOING GRAY<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With a new year comes new beginnings. For me, it's a new look for my blog, new goals, and a new hair color, and it's all natural! </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So let's talk about my hair, because I've received so many compliments and questions on how I achieved going gray. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdNZ2g-D1-HNmDXjQaVH0M5qL6RYoGzs1rd0UgmMvPcGvZb0kppq7HIvjWU58k6rkJEXkNVxh-F4teWq3n2hB1ayyLVfuw9s_eOgRF7QbZrMqoqO_XyqaHckqlDbmdWW_XSjhyMF0/s1600/IMG_6926+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1234" data-original-width="967" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdNZ2g-D1-HNmDXjQaVH0M5qL6RYoGzs1rd0UgmMvPcGvZb0kppq7HIvjWU58k6rkJEXkNVxh-F4teWq3n2hB1ayyLVfuw9s_eOgRF7QbZrMqoqO_XyqaHckqlDbmdWW_XSjhyMF0/s640/IMG_6926+%25282%2529.JPG" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">April 2017</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For about five years, I'd thought of going gray. In the beginning, my family said that my face looked too young to go gray. "Why don't you just get more highlights in your hair," they said. But to me, that was simply more time and money spent sitting in the salon. Touching up the gray roots myself became a burden because I was constantly going to the drug store to purchase root powder, pens, brush-ons and boxed color. I also had a particular section of hair that couldn't hold on to color and it was frustrating. One day I complained again that I had to go home to color my roots, and that I wished I could go gray. My daughter said "you've been saying this for two years, mom. Why don't you just do it?". </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wow, I had experienced an epiphany!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8aFv6PjjeqmuBB7Lz5bBIvMfDferd8CwsIT286PKzRc4N4BRjxt2hR34e0489gAimu7TPHIFmHtBMTDX_wdGnMgVKuCNHAoCZknG2CBon-IQ9W36shGml0ChB7x22WLjgYCMx9cs/s1600/RootCover_FamilyShot_custom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="336" data-original-width="460" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8aFv6PjjeqmuBB7Lz5bBIvMfDferd8CwsIT286PKzRc4N4BRjxt2hR34e0489gAimu7TPHIFmHtBMTDX_wdGnMgVKuCNHAoCZknG2CBon-IQ9W36shGml0ChB7x22WLjgYCMx9cs/s400/RootCover_FamilyShot_custom.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That was in 2017. I decided I would begin the graying process in 2018. In January of that year, I went to see my hairstylist, Randy, for some advice. Instead of achieving my grays through creative coloring, he said the best way to go was to naturally grow out the gray and that I needed to be patient. <i>Very patient</i>. It was better than throwing a lot of chemicals on my hair for a long period of time and damaging the integrity of it. So for three months, I used the L'Oreal root cover-up and lightly sprayed over the gray roots. It took a lot of practice to get it right. The thing with dark hair is the strong contrast of the gray coming in. When I first sprayed, the color blasted out of the can. Not only that, it made my hair tacky. I didn't like the feel of it, and I couldn't even brush through it. It was horrible! Over time, I learned to spritz versus spray. But still, my brush didn't glide through my hair easily. What I love about the spray, however, was that it lasted way longer than the powders and roll-ons. It also washed out easily. I used this product religiously for four months, then got sick of the routine. It was time to move on!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">June 2018</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After our trip to France in April, it was time to ditch the root spray. I was going <i>au naturel. </i>It was so freeing. I was no longer a slave to hair color products! Gawd, it feel so good! As I continued to grow out the gray, I also trimmed the length of my hair little by little. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">July 2018</td></tr>
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It was at this time that I began receiving so many compliments on my hair color and style. Randy, my hair guy, said it was so edgy with that reverse-ombre look. My youngest sister loved it so much and can't wait to go gray after she retires. She tried to do it last year, but because of her job as head of her department and all the meetings she attends, she said it was difficult for her to keep a professional look. I think I understand how she feels. Strangers from many different places would approach me to say they loved what I was doing to my hair - the lady at the airport, the young male flight attendant as he's pushing the beverage cart down the aisle, the cashier at Williams-Sonoma, the speaker at an American Red Cross disaster feedback session (in front of everyone), the lady at a restaurant who wanted to take my picture so she could show her friend what she might look like growing out her grays, and so on. It was incredible! I never received as many compliments with my longer, dark hair. I wish I had gone through this process years earlier, before it became the latest trend for ladies of all ages to go gray.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">August 2018</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My hair got even shorter before I had my hand surgery in late September. I pondered how I would blow out my hair after every wash with only one hand. It made sense to cut it shorter and let the hair air dry. Cutting my hair short also relieved me of the dark tresses. It was a whole new look.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">September 2018<br /></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So to those who asked how hard was it to go gray, well, it wasn't all that difficult. It might be a teeny bit scary when you begin the process, but it does get easier with each passing month. How quickly you go gray depends on how short of a length you're willing to go to. There are so many tricks out there to gracefully go gray. My advice is to first speak with a hair professional who specializes in coloring techniques, then you make the decision to go gray the salon way, or go the au naturel way. Just remember that in the salon, to go gray is not immediate depending on the present color of your hair. It can happen in a day, or it can take a few months.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Are you inspired to follow this hair trend?</span><br />
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Marie @ Life is a Highwayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05090485405915969155noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4414204773299537669.post-90895207122954373842018-06-19T04:22:00.000-07:002019-02-27T09:54:51.217-08:0020 Things to Know When You Visit Rome<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">It's your first time traveling to Italy, and you're a bit apprehensive because you're not sure what to expect when you get there. I've learned a few things from my days in this country. Most tourists like to begin their vacation in Rome, so here are some things you should know when you visit the City of Eternal Light.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">1. Dress fashionably. The last thing you want is to stand out looking like the </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">"foreign tourist", then becoming a target for pickpockets or gypsies. The Italians refer to them as the Roma people. You'll find them in large cities, like Venice, Florence, and Milan. Rome is right up there on the list. They work singly and in groups, mostly in crowded places. When you see them, it is suggested you ignore them. If you're approached by them, don't make eye contact and keep on walking. They are not dangerous people, just annoying as they try to make a living by begging for money.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWwIn0pMr79_mQhJZISvwOovjC-SCsIBquYyqIB6NuBgiPo6bZtwYkZ6I14SqPugqv_3FT1zk6VyRE441JX7kD66PonEFWY8OlFmXtVhDFz9LV7RS5mpW7SCzIYUPYMem5Xohl-mA/s1600/062+-+Copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWwIn0pMr79_mQhJZISvwOovjC-SCsIBquYyqIB6NuBgiPo6bZtwYkZ6I14SqPugqv_3FT1zk6VyRE441JX7kD66PonEFWY8OlFmXtVhDFz9LV7RS5mpW7SCzIYUPYMem5Xohl-mA/s640/062+-+Copy.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><br /></span> <span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">2. Speaking of fashion, Rome is home to so many fashion houses. This is why everyone, men and women, looks so nice. Their street fashion is casual and chic with a lot of women wearing dresses and great accessories. The men tend to wear slacks of different colors more than the basic jeans. Italian men also save their shorts for the beach towns rather than the city. It's not a terrible thing if anyone wears shorts, but as a tourist, it sure breaks the spontaneity of walking into a church on the fly or looking like a pickpocket target. The new color in sneakers this season? White. Worn with everything. When I was in Rome two years ago, the color was black.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">3. Still, on the subject of fashion and the tourist, you will undoubtedly be visiting a lot of cathedrals and places of religious significance. It is important to remember that you are visiting a country that is Christian with 88% of the population belonging to the Catholic Church. Avoid getting stares from the locals by dressing appropriately for church. In the summer months, skirts and dresses to the knee and longer are a great choice. Capris are acceptable, too. Cleavages and shoulders should be covered, so bring a nice sarong or pashmina to wrap around your hips to cover your knees, your shoulders or in some churches, to cover your hair. Jeans are acceptable but in the hot summer months, wearing natural fibers would be a better idea. Please do not wear ripped jeans. It's considered disrespectful. There is no air-conditioning in the churches, and when it's packed with people, it gets very hot and stuffy. Consider packing leggings if you're going to wear shorts or short dress for the day, and just slip them on in a restroom before you enter the church. If you're a man and not fashion-conscious, consider wearing convertible pants. In a visit to a cathedral many years ago, I and others were startled when we heard a church security guard yell at a teenage girl because she was dressed in shorts and a tank top. She was led out of the church so fast and separated from her group. You don't want to have a moment like that, believe me. Some churches might provide paper clothing so you can cover up, but that just makes you look, and I'm sure, feel ridiculous.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">4. Flip-flops are footwear you just don't wear in the city. Not only are they unsafe when walking on cobblestone and hilly dirt paths, but Italians just don't do that. Flip-flops are for the beaches or pool areas. Also, you will not be able to enter the Vatican wearing flip-flops. The guards will escort you right out. They don't care if you stood in a line for two hours under the hot, hot sun waiting to get in. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">5. Rome is a very big city with so much to see. Make the most of your time by knowing exactly what sites you want to visit. Mark it on your map. Then spend one day wandering in that district and surrounding areas. The next day, see tourist attractions in another district. You can save yourself some cab fare by just walking a route that connects the sites. The city is very walkable. It's a lot of walking, but you can do it!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">6. If taking a cab is your choice of transportation, know exactly where you need to go. Cab drivers know all the tourist spots, but if you want to get to a specific hotel, restaurant or shop, they will need an address. Keep a list of your hotels and other places on your notepad or cell phone, including addresses and phone numbers. Uber is also available in Rome. Yay!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">7. Tipping is not required in Italy. I kept telling myself that on my last visit there, but I still continued to tip because it's what we do in the U.S. I felt bad if I didn't give a little something. Keep in mind that waiters get paid way more than our waiters in the states. Waiters and cab drivers are getting spoiled with foreigners leaving tips and are now expecting them. But really, you don't need to leave a tip. When dining, do look over your bill. If you see the words <i>servizio</i> or <i>coperta</i>, you're probably already paying a service or cover charge, or both.</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">If it bothers you to not leave a tip for your meal, then leave small change. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;">8. A few shops in Rome will close anywhere between 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. to observe <i>riposo, or</i> rest. They typically close at 8 p.m. The Italians work to live, not live to work.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">9. Observe meal times in Rome. The restaurants </span><span style="background-color: white;">tend to start serving dinner at around</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">7:30 p.m<b>.</b></span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">to accommodate visitors' dining habits. Romans usually won't sit down at the table at</span><span style="background-color: white;"> until </span><span style="background-color: white;">9 p.m.</span><span style="background-color: white;"> o</span><span style="background-color: white;">r later. Lunchtime is served after 1 p.m.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">10. Before sitting down at a table, check the menu and decide if it fits within your budget. When you are finished with your meal, review your bill to make sure everything adds up correctly before you pay. A few unscrupulous restaurants include extra fees on the bill. If you want to dine on a budget, look for restaurants outside the tourist hotspots. You'll likely get faster service, and the owner might want to chat with you! Having that conversation with the locals helps to bridge that universal gap in cultural knowledge and understanding.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;">11. The major attractions in Rome draw thousands of tourists every day. In the summer months, expect long lines to tourist sites and, and if you can afford it, book a private guide for skip-the-line access. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">12. Cappuccino is a beverage to enjoy before noon. Italians like to make this their breakfast. Afternoon, you can have expresso or macchiato. </span><span style="background-color: white;">After dinner, ask your waiter for a Caffe corretto which is an espresso with a little alcohol, usually grappa, Cointreau, Grand Marnier, or sambucca.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">13. When greeting a stranger, do not greet them with a <i>Ciao. </i>This cute word is reserved for family, friends, and little children. Always greet with a <i>B</i><i>uon giorno (good morning), Buon pommerigio (good afternoon), Buona sera (good evening, and Buona notte (good night). </i>These words can also be used as a formal goodbye. <i>Salve </i>is another formal way of saying hello or goodbye.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">14. The first time I met an Italian stranger (it was in Rome), I was immediately kissed twice, once on each cheek. It was more of an air-kiss. I was shocked because it's not the American way, but I loved it! So don't be inclined to push someone away from you when all they want to do is warmly greet you. They might even kiss you three times! Do as the Romans do, I say.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">15. If you're lucky enough to drive in and out of Rome (let's say you're doing some day trips), do stop off at an Autogrill. This uber-combination supermarket / drug store / souvenir shop / delicatessen / coffee bar can be found throughout Italy. I love the Autogrills. It's like a glamorous 7-11 store on steroids.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">16. When ordering a beverage or food at an Autogrill or food joint, you need to pay attention to. If you're just buying packaged items from the shelves, pay at the register and your purchase is complete. However, if you're looking to buy a handcrafted sandwich, follow these steps. </span></div>
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<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Look over the different sandwiches and other goodies in the refrigerated case.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Go to the register and let the cashier know what you want. Pay for it, plus other items you pulled from the shelves.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">You will be given a ticket.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Take the ticket to the sandwich counter. It may be crowded so you're going to have to establish if there's a formed line, or if you'll have to elbow your way to the counter. </span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Hand your ticket to the person behind the counter, and wait for your sandwich. </span></li>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">But then, there are other cafes where you must select your food item first, then pay last. It's okay to ask the staff how you should proceed, or if they're too busy, just watch the crowd for a few minutes to see how they're getting their food.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">17. Do drink your coffee standing at the bar. Sitting down with your coffee will cost you extra.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">18. Don't expect tap water or ice cubes at the restaurant. Bottled water is available for purchase, usually 2 to 3 euros each. You can pick either acqua naturale (still) or acqua frizzante (sparkling). <span style="background-color: white;">While the tap water is perfectly potable, its just not the norm at restaurants and one of those things you don't do in Rome. You can insist on a glass of tap water, if you really want it, but your waiter may be a little put off by the request. Also, the restaurants do not provide ice cubes for your water and soda because Italians don't drink their beverages cold.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">19. Bring your favorite water bottle. You will find great-tasting water from the <i>fontanelle </i>spigots found throughout Rome. Water falls into plain tin basins or come from elaborate fountains. You can wet your whistle or fill your water bottle. Surprisingly, you will find the water to be very cool, and it's free.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">20. No traipsing in, climbing on, and eating and drinking near fountains and historic landmarks. A ban was in place last year to ensure adequate protection of the historical, artistic and archaeological capital of Rome. Break the rule and you will be fined.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Follow these guidelines, and you will have a stress-free and wonderful time in Rome because you knew what to expect. And be kind to your host country and its people.</span></div>
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Marie @ Life is a Highwayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05090485405915969155noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4414204773299537669.post-43626454109829407562018-04-21T01:47:00.000-07:002018-04-21T01:47:36.676-07:00Time for a Travel Tune-Up<br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I'm in Paris at the moment, and the weather here is lovely - sunny with floral-scented breezes. In January, when I was getting ready to book our river cruise, I realized that my passport had already expired. Panicked, I had to renew my passport before Viking Cruises sold the last couple of cabins. It made me realize that a frequent traveler needs to stay on top of these things. So before you make plans for your summer travel, here are five things you must check for hassle-free planning:</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">1. Check your passport. Note the expiration date. It must be valid for at least six months beyond your trip. Have four blank pages for exit/entry stamps and visas. If not, you need a new passport.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">2. Check your luggage. Are the handles and wheels stable? If they wobble even the slightest, get them repaired. Or better yet, buy new luggage.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">3. Assess the credit cards you use for travel. If you frequently fly, be certain your cards earn you frequent flier points and include perks such as free checked bags, early boarding, or airline club passes.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">4. Use airline miles/points. Most have expiration dates. If you don't have enough miles/points for a ticket before they expire, try to use them for small purchases, such as gift cards or magazine subscriptions. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">5. Or purchase those additional miles to help you get that free flight. It will be well worth it.</span><br />
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Marie @ Life is a Highwayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05090485405915969155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4414204773299537669.post-55057451690288937252018-01-01T09:57:00.000-08:002018-01-09T09:16:06.570-08:00My 12 Most Memorable Moments in 2017<br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Happy New Year to my family and friends near and far. What a year 2017 has been. Gerry and I found new places to explore here in San Diego, lost friends and family members, but celebrated the births of new ones, most especially our granddaughter. When I bump into someone, I'm always asked where we traveled to in 2017, or where we're going to in 2018. With Gerry accepting a contract position with AT&T, we didn't go anywhere internationally, but we're definitely bound for France and, hopefully, Uganda this year.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Time spent with loved ones is always significant, but my selection for most memorable moments are chosen for its wow factor and what moved me to become a better person.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Here are my 12 most memorable moments for 2017.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>#1</b> </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">A mini-twister tore through my town in January and took down the beautiful California pepper tree that I loved so much. The giant tree on the backyard slope splintered under the forceful winds and caused it to crash to the ground. The tree destroyed patio furniture and a hot tub. Miraculously, it missed the house. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4FOcgMuC-HLig5zXLSZxbOmn_Q4jYIJoviyHVe9Fb5gNetjnLPLliLMA3v690ghveMDnefD6tK0kQC4TJ12mP8l67GtdGGxGvjcSppdsVEc7l_jbNSUxk6x8mJZ1jl8FyiEuDINY/s1600/IMG_6480.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4FOcgMuC-HLig5zXLSZxbOmn_Q4jYIJoviyHVe9Fb5gNetjnLPLliLMA3v690ghveMDnefD6tK0kQC4TJ12mP8l67GtdGGxGvjcSppdsVEc7l_jbNSUxk6x8mJZ1jl8FyiEuDINY/s640/IMG_6480.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I've lived in San Diego, off and on, since 1964. I've also, over the years, visited a few Spanish missions throughout California except for this one, just 19 minutes from my home. In February, Gerry and I finally toured San Diego de Alcala, the "Mother of the Missions", a National Historic Landmark. The first of 21 Spanish missions established, in part, by Father Junipero Serra, it was founded in 1769. It is a very beautiful and serene place to visit.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>#3</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Here's another place we finally visited after all these years of reading about the gorgeous spring wildflowers in the Anza Borrego Desert. What took us so long to see this beauty in our own backyard? I wrote about it back in March. You can find that article <a href="http://www.lifeisahighwaytheblog.com/2017/03/amazing-wildflowers-in-anza-borrego.html" target="_blank">here</a>. It was such a delight to see so much nature.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Another San Diego historic place I kept seeing mentioned in newspapers and magazines over the years, the Santa Margarita Ranch at Camp Pendleton. It has a very long, colorful and vibrant history, and has seen many U.S. presidents and dignitaries come through its many rooms. Tours of the Santa Margarita complex (Ranch House, Chapel and Bunkhouse Museum) are conducted on the first Tuesday, second Wednesday and third Thursday of the month, from October through May. These tours are available by appointment only. You're confirmed for the tour when you receive a letter from the United States Marine Corps at Camp Pendleton. It's worth the time and effort to get on the property. For more information, click <a href="https://camppendletonhistoricalsociety.org/ranch-house-tour" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7kqavPYoP9h9SMo2368l9xLl8adcAGBMfyf6VxMIgPzWOpQD8wlX1CujXHqXO0-cs9jSoWD122zYDktoezZ55zIH6t0H0XOYF2rjYMx5vHB_Cg_uK8ZL50nlR4lof2EclPphhaf4/s1600/IMG_8345a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7kqavPYoP9h9SMo2368l9xLl8adcAGBMfyf6VxMIgPzWOpQD8wlX1CujXHqXO0-cs9jSoWD122zYDktoezZ55zIH6t0H0XOYF2rjYMx5vHB_Cg_uK8ZL50nlR4lof2EclPphhaf4/s640/IMG_8345a.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The day I earned my disaster responder vest. This photo was taken at Cinco de Mayo in Old Town, but I actually received my vest two months earlier after months of classroom and online training. I am so proud of myself!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>#6 </b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvUwufBWIFJyq7DpvRkX5Dav6R-BA4KGK56i679Pq5cO0Y58ZiIZ1jQyfROQZJD21vk5dE8z4UM8TbyfXYC8JAAcTMYw4Ef0u0klRCmQq29h6MDuKx9dTSj3JDYc5z4p28U1Ea48s/s1600/IMG_1685.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvUwufBWIFJyq7DpvRkX5Dav6R-BA4KGK56i679Pq5cO0Y58ZiIZ1jQyfROQZJD21vk5dE8z4UM8TbyfXYC8JAAcTMYw4Ef0u0klRCmQq29h6MDuKx9dTSj3JDYc5z4p28U1Ea48s/s640/IMG_1685.jpg" width="640" /></a></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">We traveled to Nashville to do more sightseeing in the city, but especially to visit our little princess-adventuress, Presley. We hadn't seen her since last December, so we were so excited to see her. Isn't she a beauty? It was great to see her mommy and daddy, too! </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>#7 </b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Great American Eclipse on August 21st! I spent my morning at the Fleet Science Center in Balboa Park to witness the total solar eclipse. It was an awesome experience to be with families sharing their solar glasses with strangers who didn't own one. I shared mine with an older French woman who hadn't seen an eclipse in years, and with a little girl who was seeing her very first eclipse. Afterward, I purchased postal stamps that showed a dark planet, but when exposed to the sun, reveals the earth. Very cool!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>#8 </b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Kaylee Marie McMillen was born on August 6. She is our third grandchild, and second granddaughter. What a blessing. I was fortunate to be present at her birth. I was working a Red Cross shelter in El Centro when Summer texted Gerry and I that she just lost her mucous plug. It was a race against time as Summer had a fast delivery when Kyle was born. We didn't want to miss Kaylee's birth! She arrived</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">past 12:30 midnight, 7lbs. 8oz., 19.5" long, and a dimple in her right cheek. She's a real beauty!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>#9 </b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">We went to Catalina Island for the first time ever in June with my sister, Cindy and her husband, Arnold. Their first time, too. The island has a very relaxed vibe, so relaxed that our lunch lasted over two and a half hours. I didn't care much for the long ferry ride going to and from the island, though. We'll need to take a speed boat next time.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>#10 </b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEE6eSCQXsMaQkWw7wI5vS91BiKjG0jsB3YPqsHO2a8d2aGXc9h5YxcI8QqZZSEaVNFuShv42sZGKr7hikmRAfr90wjOm3eOoOVqlYM4NrdRzNKJkf2yOCuI6ZBhKAGbLH_R0kCLA/s1600/IMG_7644.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEE6eSCQXsMaQkWw7wI5vS91BiKjG0jsB3YPqsHO2a8d2aGXc9h5YxcI8QqZZSEaVNFuShv42sZGKr7hikmRAfr90wjOm3eOoOVqlYM4NrdRzNKJkf2yOCuI6ZBhKAGbLH_R0kCLA/s640/IMG_7644.JPG" width="480" /></a></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Any time Kyle spends the weekend with us is a highlight. He's pure joy because his face lights up when he discovers something new in the house or garage, he laughs easily, and he's as witty as his Grandpa G. One of his favorite things is "his bathtub". Kyle also likes to call this tub his boat!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>#11 </b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBUfVSC-fD77XUiFg8AolN2of55KGoM1oUT7x4CFBKLGb-DqKcXCTt-Dt68eef0j2cM_oQTCH6zr-Q3IICzERVtzWz-hVQ33Wu3X0doaNW4UbQtDR5FBWRYYw0x_ScX4Phn0CfuSU/s1600/IMG_9473.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBUfVSC-fD77XUiFg8AolN2of55KGoM1oUT7x4CFBKLGb-DqKcXCTt-Dt68eef0j2cM_oQTCH6zr-Q3IICzERVtzWz-hVQ33Wu3X0doaNW4UbQtDR5FBWRYYw0x_ScX4Phn0CfuSU/s640/IMG_9473.JPG" width="640" /></a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">On August 27, I deployed to Texas to assist in disaster relief in Hurricane Harvey. I ended up in the country town of Sour Lake with this great group of Red Cross volunteers. We offered our support and resources to Bruce, the town's mayor, and his family who ran the shelter. I served as shelter supervisor, then manager when our manager had to depart, then public information officer. It's very satisfying to provide support and comfort to those in need following a disaster. You become family with those you serve with in times of need. I hope to return to Sour Lake in the future and see how everyone's doing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNst6MB3v2GZTGhiTggzXNmXqj9bbnwq712jPLh-0VbTH9K7vSCSqC1WmVSLCaKuff-0HtaZ0bPQsspjO2QFal6JbXhMIW7HUs9vqn6f67THDCuBaXxkJ2UhrNYC2GH95FBDi0cl0/s1600/IMG_0177.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNst6MB3v2GZTGhiTggzXNmXqj9bbnwq712jPLh-0VbTH9K7vSCSqC1WmVSLCaKuff-0HtaZ0bPQsspjO2QFal6JbXhMIW7HUs9vqn6f67THDCuBaXxkJ2UhrNYC2GH95FBDi0cl0/s640/IMG_0177.JPG" width="480" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">No longer pass holders, we'll go to Disneyland every few years and make a mini-vacation of it during the holidays. We enjoyed the park before schools went on winter break. It felt more relaxed, meaning it wasn't extremely crowded. We booked a king suite on the Concierge Level to check out the newly renovated Lounge which is stocked with savory and sweet treats, including fruits and vegetables, wine, beer, champagne, milk, coffee, soda and juices all day long. It was worth it to pay the extra money. We also celebrated Kat's birthday, my son Gary's girlfriend, at the elegant Cathay Circle Restaurant in California Adventures. The place is very elegant and the food a foodie's delight. This was a great holiday getaway!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">With the start of the new year, I wish everyone good health and happiness, I wish to see more sunsets, read more books, stay consistent with my blog, and connect with more people on my travels. Memories can be fleeting, so try to stay in the moment as much as you can. This is something I need to practice. How about you?</span></div>
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Marie @ Life is a Highwayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05090485405915969155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4414204773299537669.post-44884781208580603122017-10-19T09:20:00.000-07:002017-10-30T13:52:00.116-07:00Hurricane Harvey - My Red Cross Deployment Diary<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoxTSsNIPuPodH1hK01A0kMEiGG6ecDlXYzNkw9poQDwAUIIO9wekIp0Z7P0QB4dhFDerud9A4bmrSMFxjgxzgL9DlMEY8urYKDixLJk5tLOwLK_FxiTD-yMUfz1tyPA9kJFV8ISk/s1600/IMG_9782.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoxTSsNIPuPodH1hK01A0kMEiGG6ecDlXYzNkw9poQDwAUIIO9wekIp0Z7P0QB4dhFDerud9A4bmrSMFxjgxzgL9DlMEY8urYKDixLJk5tLOwLK_FxiTD-yMUfz1tyPA9kJFV8ISk/s640/IMG_9782.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo Credit: Red Cross Team</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I've been home for two months now after volunteering in disaster relief from Hurricane Harvey. So many friends and family have asked about the things I saw there in Texas, what kind of work I did, was I in a lot of pain with rheumatoid arthritis, was I able to get a lot of rest, was I able to eat well, and the questions don't stop there.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The best way for me to answer these questions is to just share everything in the form of a diary. Any photos I share here belong to me and my Red Cross team. There was so much photo-sharing going on that I lost track of which photo belonged to whom, so I'll just give photo credit as "Red Cross Team".</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Friday</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>August 25, 2017</u></b></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I'd been watching the news about Hurricane Harvey the last few days. When it made landfall in south Texas, I thought will Cathy call me to deploy? Well, she did call me in the late morning. She said something along the lines that she felt bad she couldn't deploy me to Yosemite a few weeks earlier because the San Diego American Red Cross (SDARC) wanted to keep their new shelter supervisors in town in the event we had our own fires. She asked if I could deploy to Houston this evening. I admit that my heart skipped a few beats because deploying is a huge deal. It means being away from my family, seeing disaster in the aftermath, the uncertainty of shelter conditions, where will I be sleeping, so much going through my head in milliseconds! </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I told Cathy I'd get back to her. I wanted Gerry to know the deal before I gave her my answer. While Gerry understands my need to do this type of volunteer work, he does worry a great deal about my safety. I'm so very thankful that he supports me 100%. Of course, Gerry said okay. I phoned Cathy back and said I needed 48 hours to take care of things at home, and to pack. I needed to let my siblings know that I'd be gone for two weeks, and that I wouldn't be able to do my share of tasks where my 89-year old mom's care is concerned. </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Packing my bags was easy. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Saturday</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>August 26, 2017</u></b></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Gerry and I awoke early, and we went to CVS and the ATM. I purchased basic personal care items in travel sizes, and got pocket money for things that my Mission Card would not take care of. A Mission Card is a debit card loaded with $450. This is donated money for my food, lodging, land transportation and for necessities like medication. This had to last me two weeks. When it came to packing, I used a medium-size suitcase. For Hurricane Matthew last fall, I brought a large suitcase. Big mistake. This time, I brought one convertible pant and a boyfriend-cut pair of shorts, sandals, shower slippers, magazines and a book, glasses, personal care items, two pairs of undergarments, a pair of socks. That's it. Oh, and my executive notebook in case I ended up being a shelter supervisor. I had a difficult time getting a good night's sleep.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Sunday</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>August 27, 2017</u></b></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I'm at the airport early in the morning for a 10:43am departure on American but when I show up at the ticket counter, I'm told that I had been re-ticketed to an earlier flight, which I already missed. That flight left at 6:30am. Apparently, the Red Cross travel agent was trying to get me into Houston as early as possible, so when a seat opened up on the 6:30am flight, she put me on that plane, except I did not get the message. The travel agent now re-routes me to a Delta flight that has me going to SAN-LAX-MSP-IAH. That's departing San Diego at 7:51pm, and arriving Houston Bush International at 10:18am tomorrow. When I hand over my ticket to the gate agent for the flight to LAX, she tells me I've been diverted to a later flight, and makes a comment that "it looks like the Red Cross is trying to get you into Houston as early as possible". So now I'm on an evening flight to Atlanta that has me arriving at 5:39am the next day. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Monday</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>August 28, 2017</u></b></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">My flight arrives in Atlanta on time. I immediately make my way to the hotel shuttle pick-up area. Gerry earlier made arrangements for my early check-in at the Fairfield Inn by the Airport so I wouldn't have to sit around at the airport for my regular check-in time at the hotel. I'm in my room by 6:30am. But before I do anything else, I head back to the lobby dining area and have the complimentary breakfast. It's tastes all right, and I am grateful to have food because I know having a full tummy will help me to sleep better. After a real nice sleep, I debate what to do for dinner. There are no restaurants nearby. I decide to take the shuttle back to the airport to pick up some good eats. I spend the rest of the evening reading and watching CNN. Rain is now pounding Houston. It looks real bad.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Tuesday</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>August 29, 2017</u></b></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">After breakfast, I'm back in my room watching the news and gathering my stuff because I'm flying out today. Then I'm notified that my flight to Houston is cancelled. Both major airports are now closed due to flooding. I call Red Cross Staffing and tell them I do not care to sit in my room another day. I ask if I can just rent a car and drive into Texas as close as I can get to Houston. They said it's not safe to drive. Staffing tells me to call the travel agent and they book me on a flight to Dallas. I'm to stay in Dallas until further notice. My Dallas flight is full. I notice a lot of people in uniform, maybe Army or National Guard. </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Towards the end of the flight, the flight attendant gets on the PA and asks if there is a doctor on board, and suddenly hands are raised, and a couple of people rush to the forward cabin. My seatmate was one of those who raised his hand. I thought there's no way this kid's a doctor. He looked so young. Turns out he's an EMT and is a member of a New Jersey group that volunteers their time to disaster relief. They were on the plane, too. Meet Pierre!</span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyLi1N9_qofifK1SJEmg2ZiyvWwlqmGUof6QadmQ2WAPM9G3EMKgNhR32umcdz-ZwXtQUPXiel29briFIjtcIujo8H0nLh73hG7AEqZ3QAhTUL8U_ectBOak5fS5ZTZni-wxAz5LY/s1600/IMG_9152.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyLi1N9_qofifK1SJEmg2ZiyvWwlqmGUof6QadmQ2WAPM9G3EMKgNhR32umcdz-ZwXtQUPXiel29briFIjtcIujo8H0nLh73hG7AEqZ3QAhTUL8U_ectBOak5fS5ZTZni-wxAz5LY/s640/IMG_9152.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">This flight was full of disaster responders. As we deplaned, nearly everyone wished each other to stay safe and well. I'm often asked how I know what to do when I deploy? Well, we receive lots of training which happens over the course of many classes, workshops and hands-on exercises. It took me several months to complete the required courses. When we deploy, on a daily basis and a few times a day, a volunteer will receive e-mails and phone calls from an Emergency Mass Notification System on what we are to do, step by step. The phone calls always follows the e-mails. It's important that we respond accordingly, that we received the message. After I exited the airport terminal, my directions said to take a taxi to the Holiday Inn, just a little walk from the Dallas Red Cross headquarters. I got in the cab at the front of the line of cabs waiting for customers. This driver seemed nice and was talkative. I had no idea that while he was talking, he was jacking up my cab fare. What should've been about a $40 fare, turned out to be exactly $93. I should've remembered what I said in a <a href="http://www.lifeisahighwaytheblog.com/2014/08/did-my-cab-driver-just-rip-me-off.html" target="_blank">blog post dated August 28, 2014</a>. I'm not in the habit of taking taxis so I am not aware of what taxis would normally cost. Do your research next time, I tell myself. </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I checked in to my room and met my roommate. Yes, we have to room with other volunteers. Men and women always room separately. No one gets their own room. Joni is not a responder like me. Her skill set lies in finance. </span><br />
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<b><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Wednesday</span> </b><br />
<b><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><u>8-30-17</u></span></b><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I report to Dallas headquarters to attend a mandatory Orientation class. After orientation, we process-in and wait to be assigned to a shelter in Dallas. I'm bummed because I want to be in Houston, but there's no way in. On CNN, I see people wading in waist-high water. Their homes are ruined, and I want to be there to help. As I stare at the Staffing board, I'm totally dumbfounded. What the hell am I looking at? One of the guys from the orientation made a comment about Post-It notes. Yes, where are the Post-It notes? When I worked Hurricane Matthew in the Carolinas, that's how it was done. Each Post-It represented a shelter. Written on it would be the staffing positions (shelter manager, shelter supervisor, shelter associate, and feeding) Names and cell phone numbers of volunteers were then filled in. The Post-Its remain on the huge board, the teams write down the information on their little notebooks, and off we go to our shelters. When a shelter closes, the Post-It is taken off the board and tucked away. A digital copy of the shelter teams are also kept for headquarters. I decided I was not going to work in Dallas. I was determined to get to Houston. The guy who stood with me at the board? He decided to remain in Dallas to volunteer his IT talents to create and maintain Excel sign-up sheets for Staffing.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirLO-dgyoa7Vs5TkulYC1vT45tJs8O9gur42IetYGlOEJ5-4O_qI_rBtIRIYgH6YP5zFe4Owra6qNs8sh4nAhdjQ1Ll5J0Tt27z_7FWCn8vo-WZuIT3Yhc9gcg1ts129m0MOsMY0s/s1600/8-30-17e.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirLO-dgyoa7Vs5TkulYC1vT45tJs8O9gur42IetYGlOEJ5-4O_qI_rBtIRIYgH6YP5zFe4Owra6qNs8sh4nAhdjQ1Ll5J0Tt27z_7FWCn8vo-WZuIT3Yhc9gcg1ts129m0MOsMY0s/s640/8-30-17e.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">By late morning, a lot more volunteers showed up. There was a group from Mexico, the Cruz Roja Mexicana. They function 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Like the American and Canadian Red Cross, it assists at disasters, but additionally acts as an Emergency Medical Service. By Mexican law, it is the only organization, outside of big cities, authorized to render first aid to anyone injured in an auto accident or in the commission of a crime.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM70OTfrzp2kA0QDJ2GRNBBVtEKUW28P6Yv9TE5GoChocxoU5yriVQnJiTzuzt4941RNmq5PrMrMkNeJzPgAIDCjTfi80zTqIrKiV9K2T7sLi0-pNemh4cQjyrLMlAaOC4AQm4rvE/s1600/8-30-17j+Marie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM70OTfrzp2kA0QDJ2GRNBBVtEKUW28P6Yv9TE5GoChocxoU5yriVQnJiTzuzt4941RNmq5PrMrMkNeJzPgAIDCjTfi80zTqIrKiV9K2T7sLi0-pNemh4cQjyrLMlAaOC4AQm4rvE/s640/8-30-17j+Marie.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "lucida sans" , "lucida grande" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Members of this team came from Tijuana, Tampico and Chihuahua. All of the volunteers waited hours for shelter assignments. While I waited for mine, I was invited to join a group at their table. For the next couple of hours, we bonded and found a job to do, and that was to sort through bags and boxes of donated shoes and clothing for the Salvation Army. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "lucida sans" , "lucida grande" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It was during this time that we decided we would stay together as a group and be a team of eight. There was Ray, the Shelter Manager, then Roger who was Shelter Supervisor, and the rest of us as associates.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXCbmRtHewJ44lVpvCnp3N7JqRozcI-EyKP9lJ6ek8hAMhXNfLCSbxIaoNTYKblfwL5STS6U7ilNO7_xoi7FUhytwba1RH0H3E1BPP2nhz2_oSd_ObVpYEdgamdyBq_Zjiiao-atg/s1600/IMG_9192.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXCbmRtHewJ44lVpvCnp3N7JqRozcI-EyKP9lJ6ek8hAMhXNfLCSbxIaoNTYKblfwL5STS6U7ilNO7_xoi7FUhytwba1RH0H3E1BPP2nhz2_oSd_ObVpYEdgamdyBq_Zjiiao-atg/s640/IMG_9192.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "lucida sans" , "lucida grande" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It wasn't long before we heard an announcement to gather</span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">in the next room. We are told to pick a day - tomorrow or the following day - to take a bus into Houston. I told Roger to move in through the crowd to the table where the sign-up sheets were. He had no choice, we had to be first on the list. It's what I used to tell my kids when they were young. Be the first to answer a question. Act quickly. Just do it! I kept whispering we have to be first on the list, but shoot, someone was already signing up on tomorrow's list. I motioned for the others to get in close behind me. Take the pen, I told Roger, but he didn't move fast enough and before I knew it, I was writing my name down to be #2 on the list. Number 1 on the list turned out to be one of our team members. Good job, Randy! I didn't recognize him from where I stood because his baseball cap covered his face. Good for him! I handed the pen over to Roger, and the other team members signed up right behind him. I returned to the other room to continue sorting through clothes, smiling and feeling pleased with myself. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #666666;"></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><span style="color: #666666;"></span>Thursday</span></b><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><u><b>8-31-17</b></u></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I'm so excited to be getting on a bus going to Houston. No more sitting around. I am finally going to a shelter!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLCSyMFJhnUL_Sd1IZ3vGK0WFJwD2oen3gQKufaDT004T5Koz_1Oa9nDtNRzhKXips29-GdoZ_HPWdphqm3LbtP0EFiwzL84WkHxqN2gIEFFyVMtRmoqo1q4VxYOiUxY1Ju3ZSwv8/s1600/IMG_9197.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLCSyMFJhnUL_Sd1IZ3vGK0WFJwD2oen3gQKufaDT004T5Koz_1Oa9nDtNRzhKXips29-GdoZ_HPWdphqm3LbtP0EFiwzL84WkHxqN2gIEFFyVMtRmoqo1q4VxYOiUxY1Ju3ZSwv8/s640/IMG_9197.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Our bus of Red Cross volunteers made a stop at Walmart in Ennis, 25 minutes south of Dallas and home of the "Official Blue Bonnet Trail in Texas", so we could purchase for ourselves what we need in our shelter. An employee approached me and thanked me for my service, and gave me the biggest hug. She said I was "so wonderful and God bless you." It's very heartwarming to hear those words. I bought a bag of throat lozenges because my throat was feeling kind of scratchy. Probably due to weather and stale air in hotel rooms. The temperature was 90 degrees.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Afterwards, I and two others ran across the street to a Starbucks. We had 15 minutes to get back on the bus. I had a big goal to </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">purchase a Texas mug. I collect those state mugs. Four down, 46 more to go! I should've started this hobby as soon as the You Are Here Collection came out. Now I'll have to resort to Amazon to collect mugs to states I've already visited. The cashier gave me her partner discount and thanked me for going to Houston to help out. Her discount saved me $3.29. What a nice lady. A truck hauling a boat pulled up next to our bus in the Walmart parking lot. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi52_AvaMFpny4dZx9en2vxZj7wq6FThuvtaybcEwsNnBhHGla2cpeBdJtjCKVSFzvwMEYlFY-ND4KYCTBkTxNl46jAHT_SrZcyD4oOpCNHZBjtZ_3I6sxrJRE04VxVPEGo9cRfciw/s1600/IMG_9205.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi52_AvaMFpny4dZx9en2vxZj7wq6FThuvtaybcEwsNnBhHGla2cpeBdJtjCKVSFzvwMEYlFY-ND4KYCTBkTxNl46jAHT_SrZcyD4oOpCNHZBjtZ_3I6sxrJRE04VxVPEGo9cRfciw/s640/IMG_9205.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Definitely a volunteer water rescuer. All the way from . . . </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWiDyhuZ8JQM5RMWJkGe50hqVvxwqQcfd-wPCoHAmWNcJ3bS73cfLgtzm2Qa6cQNmobXib5oMcd_2vZ6H7SJN9sBNoJiZ0Dw0yZCL7QgIkVOIKHCl1M3Xc1d9Kg41b1_X1DWns2XY/s1600/IMG_9206.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWiDyhuZ8JQM5RMWJkGe50hqVvxwqQcfd-wPCoHAmWNcJ3bS73cfLgtzm2Qa6cQNmobXib5oMcd_2vZ6H7SJN9sBNoJiZ0Dw0yZCL7QgIkVOIKHCl1M3Xc1d9Kg41b1_X1DWns2XY/s640/IMG_9206.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJj1B2rgYo33L4w-k4iIQG-bKFoWpqLy7zgoS8jneZOttH5NvNpo9i4WmIOgWBqKyTJSmXmnr8U0-3-0gNxYmnExKtNgwVg32Aa_tRElNIO1FX1CAeSKz3wg-PKYEtvRvtKqkFeE8/s1600/IMG_9781.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJj1B2rgYo33L4w-k4iIQG-bKFoWpqLy7zgoS8jneZOttH5NvNpo9i4WmIOgWBqKyTJSmXmnr8U0-3-0gNxYmnExKtNgwVg32Aa_tRElNIO1FX1CAeSKz3wg-PKYEtvRvtKqkFeE8/s640/IMG_9781.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo Credit: Red Cross Team</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Later on we will stop in Madisonville to have lunch at Buc-ee's, and to pick up last-minute items like pillows and mattress pads for the cots we sleep on. I already have an awesome flannel inflatable standard-size pillow, and decide that I'm going to be a tough gal and don't need to have a cushy bed to sleep on. I'd done tons of camping trips in my life and didn't always have a cot mattress. If you've never been inside a Buc-ee's, it's like a 7-Eleven store on steroids. They sell awesome food to take out, artsy-craftsy items, very nice souvenirs, lots of snacks and candy, and drinks of all kinds. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihyMiRZjr7EdsX_JrJZIz7b6sNVkNJpnQG45mwFSa_jEzplXj9lxzt7TCt0BgamT99FdJGL6hKI7DUS3xKUquJpYpxFoIj40Fk_K1deBOKEU4YkpuybfEeVhV-WTuwf9PC_8X14l0/s1600/IMG_9207.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihyMiRZjr7EdsX_JrJZIz7b6sNVkNJpnQG45mwFSa_jEzplXj9lxzt7TCt0BgamT99FdJGL6hKI7DUS3xKUquJpYpxFoIj40Fk_K1deBOKEU4YkpuybfEeVhV-WTuwf9PC_8X14l0/s640/IMG_9207.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">With full bellies, we board the bus and we're off to Houston Airport Marriott at George Bush International Airport, where we will overnight, but once we get there, we learn there's no room for us. Who knows what happened. We are then sent to downtown Dallas to overnight at another Marriott. Lodging isn't always this nice, but this Marriott sure makes up for some of the places I've had to sleep in! Here's a photo of downtown Dallas from the freeway.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFcNha2wmiNK6zW5QLd2AQZmj0omfRMN6l-Th3pmjdV9H8tiSf5YI2lm96OAOeyW9hTFBdr60BIDb7U7S8OLRWdTXZhyphenhyphenakonIXoMVRC_tut-4Wx_OiOYbnzxMhb7tR5Np__e2suSY/s1600/IMG_9225.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFcNha2wmiNK6zW5QLd2AQZmj0omfRMN6l-Th3pmjdV9H8tiSf5YI2lm96OAOeyW9hTFBdr60BIDb7U7S8OLRWdTXZhyphenhyphenakonIXoMVRC_tut-4Wx_OiOYbnzxMhb7tR5Np__e2suSY/s640/IMG_9225.JPG" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Now click on the link to see what this freeway looked like two days earlier. <a href="https://qz.com/1066033/hurricane-harvey-highways-closed-by-record-rainfall-are-trapping-texans-in-flooded-communities/" target="_blank">Unbelievable!</a> The downtown photo is below the map. The blue dots on the map are road closures in and around Houston. Where did the floodwaters go? It continues to flow, and as it moves on and slowly dries up, the shelter locations close or move, too.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Friday</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><u>9-1-17</u></b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;">Harvey pummeled southwest Texas with rain from August 26-30. It moved slowly resulting in catastrophic flooding. </span></span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Numerous flash flood emergencies were issued for the Houston and Beaumont, Texas, metropolitan areas. We're shocked at what we're seeing on CNN as we sit in the lounge area of our hotel. </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtwqkq_pwjjTlt-GPJB28Pb32IGajSXzaHxafxdypcIh9LhrXq1gt18K-Ig9zTSHTUO9SfhnzUD3Bcgcw0SQBXEvPkNH-ASSHC6SUQcfprBOOgDbp57T3oQNEVmh6LHEiwU5iXahI/s1600/IMG_9232.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtwqkq_pwjjTlt-GPJB28Pb32IGajSXzaHxafxdypcIh9LhrXq1gt18K-Ig9zTSHTUO9SfhnzUD3Bcgcw0SQBXEvPkNH-ASSHC6SUQcfprBOOgDbp57T3oQNEVmh6LHEiwU5iXahI/s640/IMG_9232.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Beaumont is now completely under water, and the Texas National Guard is descending on the city to perform water rescue, but I also heard on the news that the National Guard was there to prevent looting. Ray, my team's supervisor, talks to someone at the Beaumont Red Cross headquarters. He tells them we want to go into Beaumont. Word is we're going in. The National Guard is going to airlift us into Beaumont! It's an extreme hardship situation, says headquarters. I am blown out of my mind. This is turning into an adventure, and I post about it on Facebook. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhuyWfQ-QIP-BIBpYZ3NeQl7XgSOCGw1ScZH6whN4S2CISNv-5UZ9PGohmF4oDo9EH2wYR-qNlNKKpPZihuO45Ouzt5KXd9YrqUIo_-t9JNZI2zDIsYTdLxohFgcNlAiT3t08YIZI/s1600/IMG_9628.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1008" data-original-width="756" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhuyWfQ-QIP-BIBpYZ3NeQl7XgSOCGw1ScZH6whN4S2CISNv-5UZ9PGohmF4oDo9EH2wYR-qNlNKKpPZihuO45Ouzt5KXd9YrqUIo_-t9JNZI2zDIsYTdLxohFgcNlAiT3t08YIZI/s640/IMG_9628.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo Credit: Red Cross Team</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Earlier in the day, Dallas headquarters asked that three members of our team go to Avis at the airport to each rent a car. Headquarters always needs a supply of cars for incoming volunteers. The cars are not donations from Avis. The Red Cross pays for them through charitable donations. There was a long line of people at Avis. A lady and her father are at the counter looking to rent a car. When they're told the price of the rental, the lady asks for a large discount because they had just lost their home, and everything in it. She also lost her car, and she needed a car to get to work. Avis couldn't help and the lady pleaded for some kindness and charity. She left in tears. I couldn't get her words out of my head, and my heart was hurting for her. I remember saying to Joe, my teammate, if I had a million dollars, I'd buy her a car. Minutes later, Joe quietly said to me that he'd watch my paperwork if I needed to step outside. I stepped outside, turned the corner of the building and cried a little bit. What felt like hours later, we each had a car and it's already nightfall. Damn, we're going to be driving in the dark, all the way back into Dallas. I lived in Dallas for two years, a very long time ago. I didn't like the way the freeway exits and entrances were set up back then, and I could see that nothing's changed. I walk to the back of the lot to collect my car rental. It has a push button ignition. I'm not familiar with that kind of car. Starting it was no problem, but releasing the brakes was really giving me a sh***y time. I couldn't see anyone around who could help me, and all the while I'm touching every contraption trying to figure out how to release the brakes. Finally, by accident, I did it! I drive to the front of the lot, and the guys ask what took me so long. If they only knew. And if that weren't enough, I lost them on the freeway, in the dark, and I pull off the freeway to get my bearings. Of course, I hit a divider because it's too low to be a divider, by California standards. When I finally get to the Marriott, there's a lot of activity and I see volunteers piling into vehicles. I park the car in what seems to be the last parking space, which is all the way towards the back of the hotel. I approach the others and I'm being told we're leaving, to get in the car, but I want to know where my suitcase and bags are. Ray is very upset and wants to know where the car is. I had no idea we were going anywhere in the first place which is why I parked the car. I'm very concerned about my belongings. Were they moved from one car to another? Are they all together. I've been very careful with my laptop? Where is it? </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">A woman, whom I never met, comes to me and asks what my bags look like, and she starts looking for them. Roger remembers what they look like so he tells me to get the car and he'll see which vehicle my bags ended up in. When I brought the car to the front of the hotel, I said it was imperative my bags be in the vehicle I end up in, because I know sometime in the near future, our vehicles and the people in them will separate and go in different directions. Before the caravan of van and cars drive off, Ray leans into the car I'm sitting in and apologizes to me. He said he was out of line, and was reacting to something that had happened to him earlier in the evening. I accepted his apology, and later when the caravan stopped at a gas station, he offers to buy me a cup of coffee, which I accept. Four hours later, and it is already midnight, we arrive at a church in Lufkin where we will spend the night. It's been an awfully long day, and I barely sleep. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHgqLUGm375TVyb80A3UexTYaq3om_0clGvNswjxpN9N6pnvFTvCDe5GF-EHr5SR1r-zzpWwUUvcZESRuNv3F3RIZhLi_zUtdEvwe3SKrp0prGBs2GzC-TUsZIalVOKJN809M2CRo/s1600/IMG_9245.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHgqLUGm375TVyb80A3UexTYaq3om_0clGvNswjxpN9N6pnvFTvCDe5GF-EHr5SR1r-zzpWwUUvcZESRuNv3F3RIZhLi_zUtdEvwe3SKrp0prGBs2GzC-TUsZIalVOKJN809M2CRo/s640/IMG_9245.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<b style="color: #666666; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Saturday</b><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>9-2-17</u></b></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Not able to sleep, I quietly grabbed my clothes and toothbrush and tiptoed to the restroom. When a shower is not available, baby or body wipes is the way to get as clean as you can. Deodorant is a must and talcum powder helps. I'm dressed and having my cup of coffee at 4:30 am and on my laptop at 5 am. I have to reply to an e-mail from the Red Cross asking why I need more money deposited on my Mission card. It's because of my forced hotel stays in Atlanta due to flooding at the Houston airports, and airport food that I had to buy because I'm stranded, and the fare that the rogue cabdriver charged me in Dallas. The lady on the other end of the phone pitied me and gave me money that I might need for the next week. In the end, I barely used the funds. What's left on the Mission card goes back to the Red Cross. My bags are packed and ready to go. We are ready to head out but we're told to stand by for a nurse who will join us. What seems like hours, the nurse Kelly shows up but there's another nurse with her. We only have room for one more person in the car. This other nurse wants to go with us so badly. Like us, she thinks there's still horrific flooding in Beaumont, and we all still think we're going to be airlifted there. Sadly, the other nurse drives away. By this time into our Red Cross journey, Janet and I had already shared how much we love Starbuck's Flat White coffee. We tried to get one at the Starbucks close by the Dallas Marriott Hotel where we stayed, but the coffee shop was closed due to the flood. So many businesses were closed. We tell each other that the next Starbucks we see off the freeway, we're going to get a Flat White because we are craving it! And we see one on our way to breakfast at the Cracker Barrel, but we didn't stop. On the way out, says Roger, we'll stop at Starbucks. He's the driver this morning.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3QXSVoeoSsgTzmIQsYdMIb8ZrcyuD-DmngAX4qKs32laFy286ZyyVNQkcvW0PWLUmlxJ9yg1KOIKpla-pgliRtmKqfD99ZeGxIR4zmE6Jh_cp0_YCIgC7ZDnnVoo_tU8OU0eOA4Q/s1600/IMG_9258.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3QXSVoeoSsgTzmIQsYdMIb8ZrcyuD-DmngAX4qKs32laFy286ZyyVNQkcvW0PWLUmlxJ9yg1KOIKpla-pgliRtmKqfD99ZeGxIR4zmE6Jh_cp0_YCIgC7ZDnnVoo_tU8OU0eOA4Q/s640/IMG_9258.JPG" width="480" /></a></span></div>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">While we're waiting for our breakfasts, a woman behind me thanked us for our service. She had to evacuate her home and was staying at a Marriott nearby. She said many residents were in hotels. On the road now, we saw a Starbucks, missed the exit, saw Starbucks again, and missed that, too. When we get to Beaumont, we'll surely get our Flat White coffee then. But the only Starbucks we saw was also flooded out. As we drive through Hardin and Jefferson Counties, our vehicles are pelted with millions of bugs. Is it the heat that draws these bugs out, or the huge areas of standing floodwater? The bugs dirtied our car with their blood and guts. Disgusting. Besides Flat White coffee, Janice and I have something else in common, we love history. Every time we saw a historical marker on the side of the freeway, we'd point and say "I want to check it out", only to be ignored. And still later on, we learn that we both love to read - a lot. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ4QgBAcd0GUKHTSc1B8PGE6obsLyImaLsiEmnsSJjJTa8iYquIQVVAciweutCSOedaYTRcsbGzJiuy9mkGcl9g5P33HVvnHhTHrEBCie9nVCFL3WHPzAtWb2Qf0vTxUkKJTyx0cs/s1600/IMG_9325+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ4QgBAcd0GUKHTSc1B8PGE6obsLyImaLsiEmnsSJjJTa8iYquIQVVAciweutCSOedaYTRcsbGzJiuy9mkGcl9g5P33HVvnHhTHrEBCie9nVCFL3WHPzAtWb2Qf0vTxUkKJTyx0cs/s640/IMG_9325+%25281%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The morning drive from Houston to Jefferson County is uneventful. No floodwaters in sight, people are going about their business, but it's clear that pockets of businesses were affected by the hurricane because parking lots are empty. We see homes with lots of furniture, mattresses, drywall and other things piled up along the side of the road. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">We report to the Red Cross headquarters in Beaumont to get our shelter assignment. Where's the huge flood we saw on TV the other day? And there's no helicopter. Bummer. We discuss how perhaps the media is misleading the people. Much of the floodwater is gone, but the damage, we will see later, is enormous. How will these people deal with life after the hurricane? I feel so sorry for them. Anyway, we are told to go to Port Arthur to assist in a huge shelter held in a large middle school. A Red Cross Mass Care team is already in place. The shelter community is spread throughout the campus, which is highly irregular. Normally, we keep clients together in one space like the gymnasium. It's easier to keep track of residents and their pets. It's a safety and liability thing. It's a hard community. Law enforcement is in place, as is the National Guard. What does that tell you? I overheard someone mention that illegal drugs were a problem there. After touring the facility, our team leader decided that we will not be a part of this shelter because he deemed it not safe. Besides, that shelter had all the support it needed. He asked for us to be assigned somewhere else. Meanwhile, we will hunker down for the night in Port Arthur, at a place called the The Shephard's Inn. Interesting place. The inn is a part of the Christian Life Crisis Intervention. Their website says the inn is "able to offer respite, relaxation and meals to families caught up in the criminal justice system, and to victims of personal and public disasters." We showed up and signed up for a room. The team was signing up for shared rooms. I asked for a single room, and got the last one of three. It was </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">different, but I made myself at home pretty quick. Did I mention that there are no locks on the doors? And the showers are shared with others in your wing. Now those doors have locks! Another requirement is you must empty the trash can and clean the toilet and sink before you check out. The kitchen was loaded with bread, peanut butter and jam, Top Ramen noodles, cereal, milk and coffee. No charge. I slept so well. It was mostly Red Cross volunteers staying at the inn. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Today is our laundry day. Kelly, Gladis and I need to find a laundromat, but Roger wants to be dropped off at headquarters first so he can check on when we are in getting into a shelter. We found a laundromat, and all machines were being used. It was a half hour before we would began our laundering. Roger calls me and says he's ready to be picked up, so Gladis and I leave while Kelly keeps an eye on our laundry. When we got to Roger, he says he's not ready to leave so Gladis and I go back to the laundromat, but it's not the right one. We're lost and we don't remember the name of our laundromat. While I check Google Maps, Gladis see a Mexican restaurant next door and they're open for business. Being hungry, we went to get a quick bite and sodas. Meanwhile, Kelly calls and says the laundry's done so I decided to save my leftover lunch for Kelly. She is grateful for the food. Gladis ate everything on her plate. Roger calls and says again to pick him up. Shoot, we have no food for him so we can't let him know we ate. That would be rude, but the car smells like tacos which we found hilarious for some reason. We began spraying the car with scented body spray, used hand sanitizer on our hands, and chewed gum. Then I pulled up to a residential garbage bin in a leafy neighborhood, and Kelly tossed her paper plate. Now we were ready to pick up Roger. Why didn't we just buy Kelly her own plate, and Roger, too? Because the owner of La Salsita was giving away free tacos. They had nothing else to serve because they had no water to cook. There was a severe shortage of good water. La Salsita had the leftover fixings for tacos and just wanted to give them away. They gave Gladis and I four tacos each. I didn't want to be greedy asking for more plates of food when there are people there who really have no food.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">On the way to headquarters, we saw this happen. A Red Cross ERV (emergency response vehicle) team drove into a gas station, opened its doors, and stood around and waited. Slowly people appeared and quietly lined up to get their cases of water. Scenes like this were playing out all over Texas.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">We get great news. We're to hurry up and pack our bags because we are being assigned to a shelter in Sour Lake. This is exciting! We wait for a van that will help transport the rest of us and our bags to this country community. We encounter many roadblocks due to flooded roads and highways but we figure it out.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I totally missed this scene because I was squished in the back seat behind the driver, but those who saw it said they knew they were going to love being in Sour Lake when they saw two teen boys chasing after a little pooch running across the street. It was like s scene from</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> a Norman Rockwell painting. It happens that the dog belonged to one of the clients in the shelter, which is in the community center pictured below.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8qICFs_EBDTdonKU_cRwIXYENpZXr-mU98kcMQ0rwUBf0RdfwIdmvrmBlk87w9kuou0Wk-uaySPk9EquWjPVOz5Iq1bVFhRw9oBEXxtnIMLpelrgfzTFkmUAoxQ8Q8cQppuc-DhQ/s1600/Sour+Lake+Community+Center.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8qICFs_EBDTdonKU_cRwIXYENpZXr-mU98kcMQ0rwUBf0RdfwIdmvrmBlk87w9kuou0Wk-uaySPk9EquWjPVOz5Iq1bVFhRw9oBEXxtnIMLpelrgfzTFkmUAoxQ8Q8cQppuc-DhQ/s640/Sour+Lake+Community+Center.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">We park and enter the facility and meet the mayor, Bruce. He immediately lets us know that he runs the shelter, asks what took us so long to get there, and we are there to assist only, which is a common occurrence. Many local governments have their own emergency management and shelter operations teams. In some cases, they run into hardships and allow the Red Cross teams to take over. Everyone seems pretty nice but others in the team felt they weren't welcome. Anyway, I introduce myself to Sour Lake's elected mayor. He's been the mayor for years. He runs the shelter with the help of his wife, Renee, and his children and the shelter looks well-organized. He asks me what my nationality is and when I tell him I was born in the Philippines, he tells me he's half Filipino. Well, slap my head and call me silly, but that was so unexpected! How does a man born in Manila end up in a country town and has a southern accent? If I remember his story correctly, because I had to ask him a couple times to explain it to me, he was</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">abducted by an angry family member and brough</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: left;">t to the</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: left;"> U.S. when he was a baby. He grew up in Beaumont, and that's where he met his lovely and vivacious wife. From that first conversation on, Bruce will refer to me as his Filipino buddy. </span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">He also has a commanding voice. When he calls your name, you almost want to salute him and follow orders! After we got settled in our staff shelter, which is the children's wing of the First Baptist Church, Roger tells us that tomorrow we're to ditch our red disaster vests. Don't wear the vests, but do wear the Red Cross photo ID lanyards. </span></div>
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<u><b><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">9-4-17</span></b></u></div>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I woke up early and walked .3 miles to the Sour Lake Community Center. That's a two minute walk. It's still dark out but I feel completely safe. I hear something snort and it's a white horse. It walked up to me at the fence and we practically stood nose-to-nose, then it put its check next to my check. So gentle. So magical! </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The kids at the shelter named it Rain. I don't know why, but every day I will visit Rain. One day, Rain breaks out of his small corral and the guys chase after him like they did the dog the day we arrived to Sour Lake. Next to the community center is the enormous garage-turned-animal shelter. I go there every morning to see how the animals are doing. Their owners live in the shelter, and volunteers help to care for the animals.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCr-7nEIEDalm363MbrZ1dGRczLsQ9o70hrHmEV2N8_XwoX2vxjUkSA7k_s0_PdEkrCG6_ycMqNVly5LqaZz-bB2EMMie6cwUB0OhoA3BoXkltgAy8aO_yTH9OHq9ZpToangeiC_I/s1600/IMG_9367.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCr-7nEIEDalm363MbrZ1dGRczLsQ9o70hrHmEV2N8_XwoX2vxjUkSA7k_s0_PdEkrCG6_ycMqNVly5LqaZz-bB2EMMie6cwUB0OhoA3BoXkltgAy8aO_yTH9OHq9ZpToangeiC_I/s640/IMG_9367.JPG" width="640" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKjpMRlXtxfZicLfS9iBvirmMUnWtqO8aJhEKvGwtt3M3AgLbBS7BOVDUOOZfsS1yVor0eEw9REXygWHtQkJWVmomZK2czCO6v1owO0dVLXHLRx-5q9uqzELc38lFIesh_TCXSelQ/s1600/IMG_9370.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKjpMRlXtxfZicLfS9iBvirmMUnWtqO8aJhEKvGwtt3M3AgLbBS7BOVDUOOZfsS1yVor0eEw9REXygWHtQkJWVmomZK2czCO6v1owO0dVLXHLRx-5q9uqzELc38lFIesh_TCXSelQ/s640/IMG_9370.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Er7AwUTikIN7HyhTKRNzBKvWXhMKjbGimeWfARHZtqcqptPIHrMuUVgg0B_eW0-eKaB7Glfi7RzBXSx2GRPEtw8NbhjZ8ujOVOekyKnDlNnQUuTfS252R65dvqOfapqqXJlMDWI/s1600/IMG_9368.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Er7AwUTikIN7HyhTKRNzBKvWXhMKjbGimeWfARHZtqcqptPIHrMuUVgg0B_eW0-eKaB7Glfi7RzBXSx2GRPEtw8NbhjZ8ujOVOekyKnDlNnQUuTfS252R65dvqOfapqqXJlMDWI/s640/IMG_9368.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Shelter resident Tina Coudraird volunteered to run the animal shelter.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRbcsV-tEcy_Y769lP_JhdEOOW1kqhUNxjS5cHY5etbjLuDL3K1OW5zojGZRAlYH-F_2AfDVDmo8LWIEIJyBhxNApts_VvMI5olsGygH1F3OpJTkeGrJTwLlLH3uLMHnZDorIoiKM/s1600/IMG_9369.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRbcsV-tEcy_Y769lP_JhdEOOW1kqhUNxjS5cHY5etbjLuDL3K1OW5zojGZRAlYH-F_2AfDVDmo8LWIEIJyBhxNApts_VvMI5olsGygH1F3OpJTkeGrJTwLlLH3uLMHnZDorIoiKM/s640/IMG_9369.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">This is Brittany with Midnight. Later in the week she turned Sweet 16 and we surprised her with a birthday party! Below, </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">J.P. Harris and his dog Max.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLTtBjHWLP_ByqkWJZNW1XgyzTUNoGzkYwz7TSBZzNRuBhv0cTkeQQ_eOkLl2_aPo-HXqv9Zmd0G9crctsAUiJdTBhoK09iddPPvgZXfD0j-BaCDSOSHlT_azew5XbkwdzK3Lxc3w/s1600/J.P.+Farris+%2526+his+dog+Max.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLTtBjHWLP_ByqkWJZNW1XgyzTUNoGzkYwz7TSBZzNRuBhv0cTkeQQ_eOkLl2_aPo-HXqv9Zmd0G9crctsAUiJdTBhoK09iddPPvgZXfD0j-BaCDSOSHlT_azew5XbkwdzK3Lxc3w/s640/J.P.+Farris+%2526+his+dog+Max.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: left;">Roger tells me that today is my day off. If you're on duty for seven days, you get one day off. Cool! I ask if I can have the car for the day and he said I earned it. All right now! I discovered yesterday that I left my Croc sandals and shower slippers at the Shepherd Inn and I need to purchase replacements. The nearest town would be Beaumont, 30 minutes out of town. Bruce the mayor said to be careful because it's not a safe town. Really? Well, it didn't stop me and I used my GPS to find the highway. I pass homes that are being cleaned out and see some flooded areas.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I see the sign to the freeway and the police had barricaded the road. Sections of the 105 are flooded, they say. How do I get around the flooded areas, I asked, I need to get to Beaumont. They gave me directions but I was getting nowhere. I wasted two hours literally driving around in circles hitting a roadblock here and a roadblock there. I drove back into Sour Lake and hit up every little shop that was open to look for sandals. These shops were lucky if they had socks to sell. Then I saw a dollar store. If all I end up with are flipflops, so be it. I chose a red, white and blue pair to be patriotic. People helping people in America.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Tuesday</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>9-5-17</u></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: left;">As usual, I leave the staff shelter at 6:30 am and head on over to the community center. Roger tells me that he's taking the car to Beaumont and will be at headquarters all day long to take care of business. He tells me I'm in charge now and gives me names and phone numbers I might need. Not a problem. He told me to make sure the team stays busy and mentioned particular tasks that need to be completed. I relay that message to three of the staff members I find sitting at a table, one of them on her cell phone. She loves taking selfies and thinks calling people an a**hole is cute. She's a good person, though, and the youngest one on the team. Two of the ladies looked awfully tired, and should be, because they had come out of the graveyard shift. Anyway, I relayed Roger's request, and told them to get some rest, and they became snippy. Later, I asked the young one if there was a problem that I should be aware of. Her response is she and the other two ladies felt I was being bossy. Really, ladies? I was only concerned for their well-being. I had no time for this crap and my responsibilities took precedence over silly behavior. I decide to chat with some of the clients. It's important to connect with them, show them we care. This is Alex, a very important client and disabled veteran. Bruce, the mayor, wants all shelter residents to help with chores in keeping the shelter clean and organized. Working registration is the best Alex can help with.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAnNA9bKhddtJwZdnfa4hrZPbJ9-l0Zw8Fo9Xo9f9fpCyEO3wKz8qsq8yZXxE64q5EckVQE8df-Ld4iJox_MF9K-zMWc8qsbL9TCOICgYH_hh7pmnubwjroJH8MxS4Jx0rHwdzOiQ/s1600/IMG_9405.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAnNA9bKhddtJwZdnfa4hrZPbJ9-l0Zw8Fo9Xo9f9fpCyEO3wKz8qsq8yZXxE64q5EckVQE8df-Ld4iJox_MF9K-zMWc8qsbL9TCOICgYH_hh7pmnubwjroJH8MxS4Jx0rHwdzOiQ/s640/IMG_9405.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">He likes to sit at the registration table. His job is to make sure everyone in the shelter signs in and signs out. Even Red Cross staffers. He loves working graveyard shifts. Alex had only minutes to evacuate his home. He thought he'd be safe in his home during the storm, but the sudden rush of floodwater alerted him that it was time to move. It took just minutes for the water to reach his elevated porch. He says he pretty much lost everything.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Later in the evening when Roger asked how everything went, I told him of the "minor situation" with a few of the ladies. "We need to get more guys on the team," says Roger. Kelly and I chuckle. Tonight is the night Janet and I will work graveyard. We sit at the registration table in the lobby. We straighten out the clothing distribution table, and she keeps handing me books that she thinks I'd love to read. Janet inspires me. She's 83 years old, and has the soul of a 25 year old. She's funny, a SoCal girl (lives in Riverside), and loves to flirt with men of all ages and they all love her because she's so darn cute and hilarious. She's also a hard worker and carries the true spirit of the American Red Cross, which is why I want to be like Janet when I grow up.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>9-6-17</u></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Graveyard shift ended at 7am. I went back to the church to wash up and sleep. I think I slept till 3:30 pm or so. I decided to take photos of my surroundings on my walk back to the community center. But first, this is a picture of my sleeping quarters. Having a lit candle makes me feel at home. I always pack a candle and book in my suitcase.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Janet showed me a puppy that belongs to one of the shelter clients. I just had to have cuddle time with this furry baby.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Remember the day Roger was gone the entire day, and Kelly the nurse was with him, too? They were at headquarters making phone calls, reaching out to community partners seeking donations of all kinds - personal care items, clothing, cots, blankets, pillows, MREs (meal, ready to eat), bleach, shovels, rakes, garbage bags, you name it. This supplemented what the Red Cross was able to provide the clients with donated funds. This was one of two trucks that came to deliver goods. Way to go, Roger and Kelly!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Inside the community center, we watch CNN a lot on the television to see where Hurricane Irma is headed. Three of our team members are very concerned. Their homes are likely to be in its path. Two are from Wilmington, North Carolina and the other from Georgia. They decide they will process-out and go home. Roger tells me that when he leaves, I will be the shelter manager. He calls Staffing to send replacement shelter workers, and they should be men because of all the heavy items needing to be moved. I'm doing my share of lifting, but some of those boxes are almost as tall as I am.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Thursday</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>9-7-17</u></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Roger, Joe and Jeannie are leaving today. It's sad to see them go, but they must get back to their families and possibly prepare for the worst of the hurricane weather. I check my e-mails and find an e-mail from Emily, Communications Director from the San Diego headquarters of the Red Cross. She wants to know if I can do a live interview from the shelter with San Diego Fox5 News. But that was for yesterday. I said if there was a chance to do a live interview in the future, I'd do it. Joe and I go over some paperwork and Kelly announces she's going to process-out. She wants to volunteer abroad on one of the islands hit by the hurricane. She has her passport and she's gone. The last I heard, she was still in Miami unable to get out due to Hurricane Irma. Joe is ready to leave. We take a photo and he tells me to stop by the fire station some time today for some great photo ops because the Mennonites are there serving breakfast. They came all the way from Tennessee, I soon found out.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Before I go back to the community center, I take a stroll through Sour Lake's historic center. It's the cutest four street corners I've ever seen. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Joe, Jeannie and Roger are ready to begin their journey home. We, Bruce and his family gather for one "family photo". I am fully in charge today and everyone comes together as a team. No complaints and everyone's using their muscles to move huge boxes of donated stuff from storage to the main floor of the community center for distribution. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Friday</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>9-8-17</u></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I'm up before sunrise. Before I grab a cup of coffee, I stop by the animal shelter to count the numbers of dogs and cats. I also include Rain, the horse, in the count. Then I go to the registration table to check the report for the number of clients that slept in the shelter overnight. That gives me a clue as to the number of meals I will order today, and I jack up the number a little bit for additional people who might need food and water. The meals will arrive by ERV.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I take a break later on to check out the small public library, where the librarian was so nice to let me make photocopies of forms, for as long as I needed to. Next door to the library was the jail, from long ago days.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And next to the jail is a Texas Historical Commission marker commemorating the beginning of Sour Lake's oil industry. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Our animal shelter is in the the large building behind the oil rig. Later in the morning, I came to the realization that my two week deployment was up today. It was time for me to prepare to process-out. I informed Janet, the next person who would be in line to supervise. Then I got a call from the Red Cross in San Diego. Fox5 News wants to interview me this morning. Can I go live in an hour? I've never been interviewed by a news station, so I am understandably nervous. But I drop everything and prepare myself for the interview. Emily, the communications director for the San Diego Red Cross is there to guide me. I practice how I might answer some questions. But my heart is racing, and I tell myself to just be myself, breathe and whatever I say, to stay on point and be brief. Minutes before we go live on the news, I feel like I want to vomit, then decide I'm just thirsty and choose water over Coca Cola, of which I had both right in front of me. The phone call comes and Emily patches me on with Fox5, then someone from the news station tells me to stand by and how many seconds I and the news anchors will be live on TV. Nerve-wracking! The interview went well but I did get a little emotional in the end and couldn't complete my sentence. Embarassing. Emily, my family and friends were so impressed, though, and said I did a great job. Now I hand over my papers to Janice, head back to the church to pack my bags, then return to the community center to say goodbye. Everyone wants to take pictures. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-j7CsAnGgEKegvFJamK8xyspyqIEDgAbNfdB6YzhObIok7MQ8QMdDQxf-MrP5Ij64VGFcUSJNcMy1qfo7QtysNcvVfRtEb0WC3HL-hKzOytkEIOcT49TWXEGb9AJVkmrm5irXjAw/s1600/IMG_9645.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1008" data-original-width="756" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-j7CsAnGgEKegvFJamK8xyspyqIEDgAbNfdB6YzhObIok7MQ8QMdDQxf-MrP5Ij64VGFcUSJNcMy1qfo7QtysNcvVfRtEb0WC3HL-hKzOytkEIOcT49TWXEGb9AJVkmrm5irXjAw/s640/IMG_9645.JPG" width="480" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Renee, the mayor's wife, has her sister drive me to Beaumont. There I will process-out and go home tomorrow morning. I cannot wait to see my family and to sleep in my own bed. When Gerry picks me up at the airport tomorrow, he will treat me to a Mexican dinner which is what I was craving, and my son, his girlfriend, and my daughter and her family will come over to welcome me home. I dozed off in my chair during the family get-together. I was so exhausted. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Here are more photos that the Red Cross Team and I took:</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Staff shelter at the Beaumont Civic Center</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of many critters destroyed by Hurricane Harvey.</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I hope you enjoyed reading about my two-week adventure as a Red Cross disaster responder.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>In what ways would you like to help your community?</i></span></div>
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Marie @ Life is a Highwayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05090485405915969155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4414204773299537669.post-45957248283719206722017-08-27T20:19:00.000-07:002017-08-28T04:44:06.110-07:00I Think I'm a Junkie - of Eclipses<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">For months Americans prepared for and awaited one of our country's most wondrous spectacles in years, the Great American Eclipse. I, on the other hand, caught the eclipse fever in the nick of time, or so I thought. I ordered through amazon.com/smile a set of solar glasses for me and my family. I noticed that larger batches of glasses were already sold out, and I ended up with glasses in neon colors costing a little more than $50. Amazon said my order would arrive a few days before the solar eclipse. Days later, I received an e-mail notifying me that the glasses may not get to me on time. Of course, I panicked and went back online to order another set of glasses and by this time, I'm seeing the words Sold Out printed across the pages. I finally found another set of 10 glasses and paid $160.00 for it. Talk about price gouging! As luck would have it, my original order did come in on time, and Amazon refunded me my $160.00. I love Amazon!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhspz4IsUacqjHVI4zLxleDKjTZCRpAyDyr56BxCF48prt-zXaCeOEJZRm624D1Iw4uR41F2L9hD9h7dVVoNEapoKCCLlGFT7zQUsDkJZZUZc7lT0xkALoVaDoZUwP33GhdPb5tlk/s1600/FullSizeRender+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1159" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhspz4IsUacqjHVI4zLxleDKjTZCRpAyDyr56BxCF48prt-zXaCeOEJZRm624D1Iw4uR41F2L9hD9h7dVVoNEapoKCCLlGFT7zQUsDkJZZUZc7lT0xkALoVaDoZUwP33GhdPb5tlk/s640/FullSizeRender+%25282%2529.jpg" width="462" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">When the package arrived at my door, I tried out the CE-certified glasses with the proper ISO number, and wow, the sun was a full glorious orange ball. I couldn't wait to deliver the rest of the glasses to my family and friends.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZKpBhdkIOcE3o_XYtQzLdDp9JOm3ZDisaFtSreMxLEPU5mUnbLTMCieDY59LVqrr3YdD3B7euOSi3YbRNfUU3mqUyo0i7tkhQAZnCqZFTQ2M5WzkoWkfk8lRbnRAK-ad_JSAU3mo/s1600/IMG_9027.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZKpBhdkIOcE3o_XYtQzLdDp9JOm3ZDisaFtSreMxLEPU5mUnbLTMCieDY59LVqrr3YdD3B7euOSi3YbRNfUU3mqUyo0i7tkhQAZnCqZFTQ2M5WzkoWkfk8lRbnRAK-ad_JSAU3mo/s640/IMG_9027.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I decided to spend eclipse day at the Fleet Science Center in Balboa Park. With the festivities scheduled to begin at 9am, I thought it best to get there by 7:30am. The parking lots were wide open, and the local news crews were already camped out at the center. There was lots of cloud cover, but that sun was working hard to make an appearance. By 8 am, the sun appeared and the air warmed up quite a bit. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8l22B3h9Y0OvXshZ91tg497W66fFr1jioAqYzKUCzjZhDRotiab5b2kNUo7po6_D-6wExGnEqmWSekWFHtWJophxozjfIizxuR6EA4fP98jDmT2tYNnSLx5eSNd4l2QyzeHWAGSM/s1600/IMG_9054.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8l22B3h9Y0OvXshZ91tg497W66fFr1jioAqYzKUCzjZhDRotiab5b2kNUo7po6_D-6wExGnEqmWSekWFHtWJophxozjfIizxuR6EA4fP98jDmT2tYNnSLx5eSNd4l2QyzeHWAGSM/s640/IMG_9054.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">To get a ticket into the Dome Theater, I had to get in line for the Admissions Desk which snaked down the side of the building and spilled into the parking lot in the back. With ticket in hand, I got in line to enter the Dome Theater but it was already filled to capacity by the time I got in that line. People were allowed to go in and out of the dome. As one person leaves, another gets to enter. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl36_AYAkLG8iEXRfnzBswyIam7rWs48r8to-0eRf1h7kLnYiRC0kniEOA-QuvnHpIBDhEcfvq0IWeoR03u0KqsI6Ce7qkRETKfVPNiPg3nFZoMt5XOUNhgN12xb-LCs3bK72kfAs/s1600/IMG_9060.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl36_AYAkLG8iEXRfnzBswyIam7rWs48r8to-0eRf1h7kLnYiRC0kniEOA-QuvnHpIBDhEcfvq0IWeoR03u0KqsI6Ce7qkRETKfVPNiPg3nFZoMt5XOUNhgN12xb-LCs3bK72kfAs/s640/IMG_9060.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I went back outside, and the plaza around the fountain was filled with people, news media, Fleet Center employees and astronomy club members. Families with kids, students of all ages, people of all ages, colors, and cultures were together in this giant circular space learning different ways to experience the eclipse without using the solar glasses. It was so cool to see people talking to each other, helping each other, laughing, sharing a table in the outdoor cafe. I sat with an elderly couple, each of us enjoying coffee and a pastry. I shared my glasses with them, and when their young granddaughter returned to the table, I let her enjoy the glasses. I asked her to see if she could take a photo of the eclipse through the glasses. This is what she took. Not bad!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfA9wfeaUq3Dhd1Qjo86883N2HloJUrVMe85tsfzYB_PJPI58xjc4YNbreyYi2mD-lPKLDSFz6gLt1gUxFFfzT-LcZhITbAOX68eb10YlwDepUewO0bMJApJgBlQ2D02F-EAhBSX4/s1600/IMG_9051.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfA9wfeaUq3Dhd1Qjo86883N2HloJUrVMe85tsfzYB_PJPI58xjc4YNbreyYi2mD-lPKLDSFz6gLt1gUxFFfzT-LcZhITbAOX68eb10YlwDepUewO0bMJApJgBlQ2D02F-EAhBSX4/s640/IMG_9051.JPG" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I remained outside for a while. When my tablemates left, a French woman sat down and asked if she could borrow my glasses. She said she was so excited to be there to experience her second solar eclipse. Her last one was nine years ago. When the sun became too much for me, I made my way to the Dome Theater and waited for my turn to enter.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIlgVcQNwcHrPEtLY5mKcGj0zlgVIq8VOFyIE2uGRA82U4maxKwrIAghBMkMX_Jwuhme_P_OjbTpFlBzczhPH7a_GYwXCHqiEURkn352ps2YpxstUrVUh1zxy5t_sq8lMV4NLnBGI/s1600/IMG_9061.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIlgVcQNwcHrPEtLY5mKcGj0zlgVIq8VOFyIE2uGRA82U4maxKwrIAghBMkMX_Jwuhme_P_OjbTpFlBzczhPH7a_GYwXCHqiEURkn352ps2YpxstUrVUh1zxy5t_sq8lMV4NLnBGI/s640/IMG_9061.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjazFluO1G4tUg52HRG09TlvM-RXsu74oJZUI5JZVNyBagKE7MmDAaN6u7fRahtna0V0CBXtaV2BY7c_EMkfFVvoSAPA4jD7aA_4lXwIL0zDodfkaSBSIvim7BgYq_9EQePHNY2yX4/s1600/IMG_9062.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjazFluO1G4tUg52HRG09TlvM-RXsu74oJZUI5JZVNyBagKE7MmDAaN6u7fRahtna0V0CBXtaV2BY7c_EMkfFVvoSAPA4jD7aA_4lXwIL0zDodfkaSBSIvim7BgYq_9EQePHNY2yX4/s1600/IMG_9062.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjazFluO1G4tUg52HRG09TlvM-RXsu74oJZUI5JZVNyBagKE7MmDAaN6u7fRahtna0V0CBXtaV2BY7c_EMkfFVvoSAPA4jD7aA_4lXwIL0zDodfkaSBSIvim7BgYq_9EQePHNY2yX4/s640/IMG_9062.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Many people watched live coverage of the solar eclipse on their cell phones. This woman invited me to watch with her. Amazing stuff!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUh3iZpzDp1239SakfHlMyDxtYaOVqLVCNhWKTiwaHH1pN2xZR4CBr6AVXu3Qxzpu5sp6J6Csqqvmj6rsiGbmdTISZ_MgjYBmAZ5H4DlylsvGxxIjg0yDaRKI9iWYndjd6umgpuLU/s1600/IMG_9063.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUh3iZpzDp1239SakfHlMyDxtYaOVqLVCNhWKTiwaHH1pN2xZR4CBr6AVXu3Qxzpu5sp6J6Csqqvmj6rsiGbmdTISZ_MgjYBmAZ5H4DlylsvGxxIjg0yDaRKI9iWYndjd6umgpuLU/s640/IMG_9063.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Here are my fuzzy photos taken of the live broadcast inside the dome.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhekU4Ig0VaqNoh9uboCHIVXqnzeVjqu-OehCdgPtOGxyaCN3IhUgPjhodttgqqMAmmJDXfpf0ClOtb3mMKJavzEB3KcfCr0z5elo6PhHUG7sU97fS4hQY1Dy0Mv0y8JYbjz4Pk8Ec/s1600/IMG_9064.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhekU4Ig0VaqNoh9uboCHIVXqnzeVjqu-OehCdgPtOGxyaCN3IhUgPjhodttgqqMAmmJDXfpf0ClOtb3mMKJavzEB3KcfCr0z5elo6PhHUG7sU97fS4hQY1Dy0Mv0y8JYbjz4Pk8Ec/s640/IMG_9064.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Wow, wow, wow! All of this scientific stuff is so interesting. It was interesting to hear the astronomers outside at the plaza explaining this spectacular phenomenon to new eclipse junkies, which I know I am becoming one, too. I'm already thinking of 2019, and where do I want to see the next solar eclipse.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now is the time to book your solar eclipse tour for 2019. The event will occur on July 2. If you need help with planning, I and Discovery Tours would love to hook you up with a great itinerary, or create a custom tour for you. Just my little sales pitch (smile). </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">My daughter and her family live in Pegram, Tennessee, and they went under almost total darkness for a few minutes. I'm so happy for them, because I wish we had that experience here in San Diego.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The United States Postal Service issued the Total Eclipse of the Sun Forever stamp on June 20, 2017. The stamp shows a total solar eclipse.</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> It's to commemorate our August 21, 2017 solar eclipse which was visible all across the continental United States from coast to coast.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It's the first time the postal service used thermochromic ink in their stamps. The Total Eclipse of the Sun Forever stamps reveal a second image. By rubbing the eclipse image, the heat from your finger will cause an underlying image of the full moon to be revealed. Afterward, the image reverts back to the eclipse as it cools.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I hope you had a wonderful Great American Eclipse Day, too!</span><br />
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Marie @ Life is a Highwayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05090485405915969155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4414204773299537669.post-6003800494147396682017-08-11T13:24:00.000-07:002019-02-26T14:34:31.144-08:00Peaceful Eramo le Celle<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">I had read about this heavenly place in Tripadvisor and knew I had to see it one day. On our trip to Italy last fall, we left Cortona after having a wonderful lunch, and decided to look for the famed and hard-to-find Bramasole, home of Frances Mayes, author of the international bestselling book, "Under the Tuscan Sun". If you missed that story, you can read about it <a href="https://www.blogger.com/"><span id="goog_1251868599"></span>here<span id="goog_1251868600"></span></a>.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">The wooden sign translates to "Ancient road to the shrine. Grand Duke Bridge (1782)". </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Driving on a narrow, two-lane road, we had already taken a wrong turn, as many tourists before us. After the first wrong turn, we barely missed the entrance to Le Celle. I cannot even begin to express how excited I felt. I read so much about and Google-Imaged photos of this place before leaving San Diego. How I forgot to add this site to our travel itinerary astounds me to no end. Thank God for wooden signs along the road!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">The road to the parking lot was short, and at the end of the lot was a shrine devoted to the Virgin Mary. It began to rain lightly, but that was fine with me. It felt refreshing, and so perfect for this place as if the rain was rinsing away my sins and renewing my soul. This ground is truly sacred and a must-see place for fans of St. Francis and for others on a holy pilgrimage.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-align: left;">Gerry and I were on this trip with high school friends, married couple Ed and Daisy. As I developed our itinerary weeks before our planned departure from San Diego, they were happy to see whatever I wanted to see in Italy. They just wanted to follow along and were confident I would give them the adventure to remember. I think I did that, except for the fact that I awoke seriously ill with the stomach flu on Day 4 of the trip. For three days, I slept, puked or was in the bathroom. The photo above was taken on our 8th day in Italy. We will have just one more full day in Tuscany, then it's back on the plane to San Diego. While I lay sick in bed all day long into the evening, Gerry, Ed, and Daisy toured Florence and Assisi. I'd toured these cities on a previous trip, so I didn't feel bad about staying in the hotel room. I was too ill to care.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #666666; font-size: small;">Anyway, back to the Hermitage, or Eremo de Celle. A very prominent sign reminded us, in Italian, that this is </span><span style="color: #666666; font-size: small;">a sacred place </span></span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">founded by Francis of Assisi and a few of his followers. It is a place for solitude, contemplation, and communion with His heavenly father. The sign continues to say "open up your soul, to see and feel as St. Francis did," or something like that.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This Franciscan hermitage is hidden in dense woodland almost 2 miles north of Cortona. Its buildings sit next to a picturesque stream with an 18th-century stone bridge, and the only sounds to disturb the tranquil atmosphere are the bells that call the resident friars to vespers and mass in the cave-like </span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Chiesa Cella di San Francesco or Church of San Francis</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">The terrace garden was absolutely beautiful, and the woodland birdsong was definitely music to my ears. I'm going to let you in on a little secret. This morning I found an 11-hour recording of tranquil birdsong on YouTube. It is playing as I type. The sounds keep me calm and so focused! A little aromatherapy helps, too. I'm using Nature's Truth called - are you ready? - <i>Focus. </i>Whatever it takes!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: start;">The rustic stone buildings nestle in terraces on a mountain-side with a </span>Holly Oak<span style="background-color: white; text-align: start;"> and cypress grove. The main convent is accessed through a stone pedestrian bridge spanning a small spring stream. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">This chapel replaced an ancient one built in 1634 by the Capuchins. It reflects the simple, unpretentious architectural and decorative style of the Capuchins. Unadorned by works of art, the chapel still has wooden altars. The Capuchins are an order of friars within the Catholic Church, an offshoot of the Franciscans. You can't miss a Capuchin. They wear the long brown robes tied with rope around their waist. Some sport the round bald spots on the top of their heads. Most wear sandals. I found interesting information on the Capuchins. You can find it <a href="http://www.capuchin.org/vocations/BeginningtheDiscernment_process/faq" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">From the stone bridge, you can see the creek and outlying buildings of Le Celle. We heard beautiful voices singing from the woods above Le Celle. The singing continued during our visit. Was there another convent up there? Or was it a day's retreat for reflection and singing hymns?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">This place reminded me of Rivendell, where the gorgeous Silvan Elves lived in the film "Fellowship of the Ring". Does anyone see what I mean? I think if the water were flowing over those rocks, you'd get it. Oh, and don't forget the chirping birds!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">We didn't stay very long here. We still had to find Bramasole, then drive to Castiglione Fiorentino where we would spend a couple of days at a villa. As we walked back to our car, I looked back and decided that I will come back for another visit. I want to walk further into the woods, walk further up into the hills and explore Le Celle and everything it has to offer.</span></div>
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Marie @ Life is a Highwayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05090485405915969155noreply@blogger.com052044 Cortona, Province of Arezzo, Italy43.275063400000008 11.98512000000005243.263502400000007 11.964950000000051 43.286624400000008 12.005290000000052tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4414204773299537669.post-41131941696391477542017-03-12T01:02:00.001-08:002017-08-11T13:51:38.650-07:00Amazing Wildflowers in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park<br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">When you mix a good amount of rain with lots of sunshine and the right level of humidity, you end up with blankets of colorful wildflowers spread across the Anza Borrego Desert, which sits northeast of the California Historical landmark and mountain town of Julian. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">For years I have wanted to see these spring wildflowers but could never interest anyone to see them with me. Until two days ago. I nonchalantly mentioned to Gerry that "the desert flowers are peaking and now is the time to see them." Someone had posted on social media a couple of photos of the wildflowers and I thought, "wow, I have to see them now." I was surprised Gerry was agreeable! He thought maybe we should pack for an overnight stay since we didn't know how long we'd be out in the desert. And he thought maybe we could spend some time in Julian, too. Should we stay the night in Borrego Springs, or perhaps Julian? We really didn't have a plan other than to see the wildflowers. We would just see how the day played out, then decide what to do.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo credit: Don Bartletti</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Anyway, we had a late start yesterday morning and decided to take the picturesque drive through the Cuyamaca mountains, bypass Julian and go around the other side of the mountain straight into Borrego Springs, a quaint village with a population of approximately 3,500. The drive for us was a little over two hours due to a section of the mountain road being blocked by fallen rocks and branches that were being cleared. Other than a little bit of a delay, the drive was as scenic as the weather was gorgeous. Such a perfect way to start the day. Once we reached the desert, the temperature was in the high 80's at around 1pm. The Anza-Borrego Visitor Center parking lot was full, but visitors were leaving as quickly as they arrived. Once they secured their map and other information, they took off for their favorite hiking trail or desert spot.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">There were so many options for hiking and flower-gazing. We chose to skip the hikes this time around and opted to explore the wildflowers along Henderson Canyon Road, which is a very long road. My goal was to find the glorious lupines but they were not to be found. It turns out we didn't </span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">drive to the far, far end of the road. Next time I'll find the lupines. They're one of my favorite flowers, as are the sunflowers.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">We did find beautiful specimens like the desert lilies the dune sunflowers, and many others including a variety of succulents and cacti.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">When we had our fill of fragrant wildflowers, we headed back out to the main road that takes you back to Borrego Springs. Before turning onto Borrego Springs Road, we saw a giant metal turtle. Then we saw other turtles, and as we drove around, there were other creatures and things to be found! These are the works of artist Ricardo Breceda. There are over one hundred life-size metal sculptures of animals that roamed this desert over a million years ago. Historical figures and humorous and fanciful pieces are also featured. People from all over the world come to the desert to see these sculptures. If you'd like to learn more about Ricardo Breceda, click <a href="http://ricardoabreceda.com/" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">You will not find all of the structures in one area. These photos are just a few spread along Borrego Springs Road. The remaining structures are spread throughout this desert area. If you plan to visit as many of these structures as you can, after viewing the wildflowers, be prepared with sunscreen, head protection, your most comfortable shoes and lots of water and snacks. Wearing layered clothing is best as the temperatures are extreme. Very hot during the day and very cool in the morning and going into the evening. There's a full moon right now. If you're able to hang around the desert area, you will be treated a special show of moonlight shimmers upon the desert landscape.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">The wildflowers are plentiful right now, and so perky and bright. But with so many people descending upon the desert, the smallest flowers are being stepped on unintentionally. Here are some tips to consider before making your trip to the Anza-Borrego State Park:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">*</span> <span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">Desert annuals show best in mid-March.</span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">* Most visitors approach the state park from the east via Highways S22, S2 or 78. Visitors from San Diego approaching via Highways 79 or 78 have the added pleasure of driving through the mountainous Cuyamaca Rancho State Park. When the highway breaks away from high-country vegetation and you crest over the hill, you are treated to a spectacular view of the great bowl of Anza-Borrego desert.</span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">* If you are allergic to pollen, be sure to take antihistimine. Pollen is everywhere. We came home with yellow pollen all over our shoes.</span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">* Plan your visit for a weekday morning as parking areas on the weekends are full by mid-morning.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">* There are lots of restaurants and affordable lodging nearby.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">* Bring binoculars for spotting wildlife.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">* Call the State Park Wildflower Hotline to get updates on the wildflowers at (760) 767-4684.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">* For more information about the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, click <a href="http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=638" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
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<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrlXRj4LpoLT7Oa9RJald8Ewu6__zEJNI-dH2zFpB2yyUQnP6_rwZ6Qt56vjE-39e7-SfQGL84KSEZ2Nvp1VeWKr_PXRRpso9iQOxo9qmH-p-5EXrs3PhHEDDSc2F9ATWiSYwP0_o/s1600/mariesig.png" style="text-align: center;" />Marie @ Life is a Highwayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05090485405915969155noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4414204773299537669.post-89861049240504440592017-02-12T17:30:00.001-08:002017-08-04T07:16:12.460-07:00The Girlfriend Getaway<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">Yesterday was an awesome day with great friends. We did the Girlfriend Getaway with Day Tripper Tours in San Diego, and it was fantastic. It was a day full of chatter and laughter, afternoon tea in Long Beach and a few hours at the Vintage Fashion Expo in Los Angeles. This expo is a huge event that takes place fives times yearly in both Los Angeles and San Francisco.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">If you've never done a Day Trippers Tour, it's a great way to get out of town for the day to explore museums, tourist attractions and special events throughout southern California. The cost of the day trip might seem high to you, but it includes your round-trip transportation from a pick-up point in San Diego, admission fee, meals depending on the tour, snacks and a very entertaining tour guide. What I love about these day trips is you don't have to drive. Just show up at your pick-up point and let the bus driver take you there. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">We had a very comfortable bus ride in the rain. It was a perfect day to anticipate our visit to have delicious hot tea in an elegant Victorian setting. It brought back memories of Gerry and I walking through the heavy rain at Edinburgh Castle to have tea in The Queen Anne Tea Room. It was one of the highlights of our perfect day in Edinburgh. Upon arriving to the tea room, I was delighted to see how pretty the tea room looked from the street, so English-ly quaint! I was more impressed with the wait staff who welcomed us as we made our way to the Grand Tea Room. I felt like I was back on a cruise ship.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">Elise, owner of <a href="http://www.elisestearoom.com/" target="_blank">Elise's Team Room</a>, has a business that has been thriving since 1996. Whatever she did, she did it right as tea rooms don't generally do well as a private business. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">Contrary to what you see in the food photos, I left feeling absolutely stuffed. I forced myself to eat everything, and that's something I never, ever do, but I couldn't help myself. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">The lemon scone was one of the best scones I've ever tasted, and that's coming from my own experience enjoying scones in tea rooms throughout England and Scotland. First came the lemon scones with clotted cream, lemon custard and blackberry jam. Next came the tea sandwiches (cucumber and cream cheese, butter and raspberry jam, chicken salad and egg salad), then finally the <i>piece de resistance. . . </i>the chocolate biscuit cake that takes two days to make! This was Princess Diana's favorite chocolate dessert (she was a chocoholic), and hence the name of our event at the tea house was called the Princess Diana Tea. The teas were great, too.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">On to Los Angeles, the Vintage Fashion Expo was very interesting. I've always admired retro fashions, and have even worn pieces that resemble styles from the 1950s and 1960s. This expo at The Reef, a creative urban habitat in South Los Angeles, was eye-candy for me. There were so many cool people walking around wearing retro styles, even children were participating! </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">Walking through the booths brought back lots of memories - clothes I wore as a child, as a teenager and especially, the lovely clothes my mom wore as a typical housewife caring for her children. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">I always admired my mom's clothes, shoes and her jewelry from the 1950s and 1960s. As a teenager, I used to sneak a peak in my mom's closet to look at her evening dresses and shoes and hope that she'd one day give them to me "when I was all grown up". Alas, I grew to have a completely different body type from my mom, body measurements and all. The good news is that my mom did give one of her cocktail dresses to my daughter, Lindsay, and it's a stunner. It's an espresso-colored, body-hugging number with spaghetti straps. The fabric shimmers in the light and you can't take your eyes off of it. I just texted her to tell her not to give that dress away as dresses of that type were selling at the expo for $450 on up. I didn't bring a lot of money with me to the expo because I thought I'd be bargain hunting. Well to shop vintage means you better come with lots of bucks, and maybe bring your credit card, too. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">I came upon a non-designer alligator (gasp) handbag that I loved and it was priced at $450. Ugh. First of all, I know what you're thinking. A poor alligator was killed for its skin but that was decades ago and way before PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) was founded in 1980. However, it is legal to have alligator skin in the state of California. Secondly, I would never, ever buy animal skin or fur these days. Times are different. We're now very concerned with protecting our wildlife from becoming extinct. I dismissed purchasing this bag because of its price, but found a similar 1940's handbag for $60, and it's in good condition. I was able to haggle the price down to $50.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">Going through the vendor areas, I found three dresses that I adored. I couldn't stop looking at them, and I knew that I'd look great in them. In fact,Trini told me that this one particular shoulder-baring trapeze dress was totally me. It was my style but at $650? I couldn't do it. I can start saving for it, though, and maybe at next year's expo, that dress will still be there to become mine.</span><br />
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Marie @ Life is a Highwayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05090485405915969155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4414204773299537669.post-48538201846993047102016-12-31T00:10:00.001-08:002017-08-04T07:16:12.966-07:00Fantastic Fact About the Confetti Over Times Square on New Year's Eve<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">It's a half hour to midnight before this day turns into New Year's Eve, and it's raining. That's awesome because rain is as close to saying that it's winter here in San Diego. It's doesn't rain much here, and when it does, most of us celebrate it!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">So to type this post as quickly as possible, I read a short and interesting article the other day about the secret of the confetti that's showered on the millions of revelers in Time Square on New Year's Eve at the strike of midnight. Have you ever thought about those gazillions of confetti? <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixfrC6PeMI6VNU96s2VbUHTQWPo2lpSa-63ISttN05_mp0KwRUL5iXKhni4IsfbVrSU7sFU-geLDIGyp1J1W-Loq9RtsEt_xW-ziCC8TgFgiBmyJyjKfPpomLFf0gvZ1LbO0gAJ4g/s1600/%2540www.china.org.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="444" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixfrC6PeMI6VNU96s2VbUHTQWPo2lpSa-63ISttN05_mp0KwRUL5iXKhni4IsfbVrSU7sFU-geLDIGyp1J1W-Loq9RtsEt_xW-ziCC8TgFgiBmyJyjKfPpomLFf0gvZ1LbO0gAJ4g/s640/%2540www.china.org.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo credit: www.china.org</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">Well, the Times Square Visitor Center sponsors a Wishing Wall, where people will write their heartfelt wishes or whatever they wish to express on small sticky notes, then they place them on the wall. As the wall fills up throughout the year, the notes are taken down by Visitor Center staff, placed in containers and tucked away to make room for more dreams and wishes on the wall. This continues to New Year's Eve. The colorful wishes are then peppered with plain white squares of paper. If you haven't guessed it yet, all of these dreams and wishes make up the beautiful confetti that is showered upon the kissers and huggers who are freezing under the fireworks that are coloring the sky above them. </span>What a lovely, lovely thing to see! <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo credit: NYC</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">It's three minutes past midnight. Have a wonderful celebration tonight and party safely!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE_qxmdTGM9xwdzEbzBps_6wI_QSmQ_5q7UG9jDNogxbbTeCYxu73XB-xk_XpiApYuBnvzl83ILbIE1lHXgCeNRawSa-RAvtKTtNiE9Qdx_KQ5RBcWA7VvsxXFSHPdKx9U2FRQtL0/s1600/Times-Square-New-Years-by-Kohei-Kanno.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE_qxmdTGM9xwdzEbzBps_6wI_QSmQ_5q7UG9jDNogxbbTeCYxu73XB-xk_XpiApYuBnvzl83ILbIE1lHXgCeNRawSa-RAvtKTtNiE9Qdx_KQ5RBcWA7VvsxXFSHPdKx9U2FRQtL0/s640/Times-Square-New-Years-by-Kohei-Kanno.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo credit: Kohei Kanno<br /><br /><br /><span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;"><i>Happy New Year 2017!</i></span></td></tr>
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Marie @ Life is a Highwayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05090485405915969155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4414204773299537669.post-70363321406422736622016-11-01T06:00:00.001-07:002017-08-04T07:16:13.440-07:00The Faces of Italy - a Collection of Casual Photos<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">I took these photos during my trip to Italy last month. They are of people I saw during my walks around Rome, and of old and new friends in Castiglion Fiorentino in Arezzo, Italy. Most of them were not aware I was taking their picture. Some of them are expats, others are immigrants, but most are native Italians just going about their daily business. A few of the photos are out of focus because I snapped as I walked, a very bad habit of mine. The photo of the model, though, she was twirling around her gold lame gown while I was walking by, and so that is totally out of focus, but it was too cool not to share. Also, the photos were taken with my iPhone 6, and I zoomed in some of the time. Long gone are the days when I used to bring along my camera bag containing camera, lenses and filters. Too cumbersome and painful for someone suffering from rheumatoid arthritis.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">I walked past this pizza joint, turned around to photograph the people down this stone path and right before I snapped this photo, the guy on the left turned his head to the right, straight in my direction. The timing was perfect. He was the most interesting to look at, so with some editing, I made Pizza Guy the center of attention.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">I was taking a break at a public water fountain and watched this couple walk straight to the silver car. For some reason, they didn't enter the car. Perhaps they were deciding where to grab lunch? Her al-amira (head scarf) and teal shirt caught my attention. I wondered which country she emigrated from, or maybe she didn't. Maybe she's Italian and then I wondered what her cultural identity or religion was. But it was just a thought, then away I went to sightsee some more.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">As I was leaving the Piazza della Rotonda, where the Pantheon and the Fontana del Pantheon sit, I looked up and around for pretty flowery windows to photograph. No flowers but I found this guy looking intently at his cell phone. He was so oblivious to all of the beautiful music and activity in the piazza. His window looked out to the Pantheon. How wonderful it must be to wake up to such a majestic sight every day, and to the sound of a constantly flowing fountain.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">The cellist played music that was so ethereal, I almost changed my mind about roaming the Eternal City. My ears and heart were telling me to have a seat at the fountain and to listen to the musician for a couple of hours. We happened to come upon this guy when we exited our hotel, the Hotel Pantheon, turned the corner and there he was.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">This is three generations of the Buccelletti family in Castiglione Fiorentino in Tuscany. We are at their winery in the valley. Renee, an American whom I met at Pappalecco's in San Diego, married the son of the co-proprietor, Lidia, of the Buccelletti Family Estate. The baby boy, Gianni, is a cutie! We enjoyed a wonderful stay at one of their villas. We also helped harvest grapes in the vinyard, and tasted a variety of their wines, and the food was so delicious. They spoiled us. We drank and ate so much at lunch, our stomachs were still full at dinner time! If you plan to visit Italy, please check out their website, <a href="http://buccellettifamilyestate.it/" target="_blank">Casali in Val di Chio</a>, before you go and book a villa-stay.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">Two nuns arriving at St. Peter's Square, Vatican City, to receive blessings from Pope Francis. The Pope receives audiences every Wednesday, weather permitting. My group and I were fortunate to have seats along one of the corridors to see Pope Francis up close. It was very exciting to be in the presence of the Pope and Cardinals.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">This is Orestes, proprietor of the Sagrestia Ristorante in the Piazza della Rotonda. The restaurant has been there for 15 years, but the building itself was erected in the 1800's. It housed many businesses and was home to many people, but it was for quite some time a monastery. Orestes was very friendly, his English not so good but neither was our Italian. We understood that his parents named him after the son of Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, of Greek mythology.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">Every Wednesday morning, the pope greets his audience in St. Peter's Square, weather permitting and unless he has an engagement with world leaders and the like. We arrived at the Vatican very early in the morning to get to our reserved seats. We had a great spot, right along the barricade and where the popemobile would be passing by. All through the morning, and before Pope Francis would make his appearance, wedding couples were coming in past the Vatican guards. I wasn't counting, but maybe 12 to 15 couples were allowed to go to the front of the audience. Curiosity got the best of me, and this is what I learned. You can have a private audience with Pope Francis, in front of the extremely large crowd, if you were married within two months of your scheduled Papal Audience visit, you have a marriage certificate signed by a priest to show the Vatican guards before entering the restricted area, and you must arrive in your wedding attire. Pope Francis spends a few precious moments with each couple for selfies, autograph-signing, gift-giving, and in return, the pope gives the couple a very special wedding rosary. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">We reached this quaint wooden toy shop, Pinocchietto, after spending time at the Fontana di Trevi. It was fascinating to watch this toymaker at work. He carves lots of toys, but his specialty is the wooden Pinocchios of all shapes, sizes and colors. Quanto costa, Signor?</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">Like the wedding couples, others were vying for a seat at the front of the audience such as members of various religious orders and those with crippling medical conditions. I was thoroughly entertained by the numbers of nuns, monks, brothers and sisters coming through. It was like watching a parade. The soldier to the right wearing the Gala red, yellow and blue striped uniform is a Swiss Guard. The soldier to the left is the Vatican police known as the Gendarmerie Corps of Vatican City State. The corps help augment the Pontifical Swiss Guard during the Pope's appearances, among other duties.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">This is our tour guide cooling off at one of many fountains found throughout Rome. She took us on a three-hour tour, and it was a very, very hot day. While the fountain doesn't look clean, the water is cool, tasty, and very safe to drink. I always tell my travelers to bring a water bottle to refill their drinking water. Why pay for something when you can get it for free? In Rome you can find around 2,500 public drinking fountains which are called <i>nasoni </i>(big noses). The first nasone was created in 1874.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">Oh, here's the cell phone guy again. Looking at this photo brings to mind the damaged plaster walls, peeled paint, and all those wires and cables draped across the old buildings throughout the Eternal City. I can honestly say that I didn't take notice of the wires and cables until I saw this photo. There's just so much beauty in the architecture of the surrounding churches, statues and ruins. People-watching sometimes tops even that!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">These ladies caught my attention right away. They were so animated, and their speech was expressive, which I guess is what the Italian language is - fast and passionate. Also, this photo reminds me that European women love to wear dresses and are very trendy. They do not wear jeans on a daily basis as we Americans generally do. I love the black sneakers. I need to get me a pair. White ones, too!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">These guys might look pretty in their striped uniforms, but truth be told, they are members of a deadly army of elite warriors selected to protect the Pope, the Cardinals and Vatican City. Here, they are walking to their posts in preparation for the arrival of Pope Francis. The Swiss Guard is the smallest army in the world with about 125 soldiers and officers serving at any given time. There are many requirements to becoming a Swiss Guard, one of which is you must be a Swiss citizen. Also, the sword or halberd (a two-handed pole weapon with an axe topped with a long, sharp blade, and a spike opposite the sharp end of the axe) is not for show. The Swiss Guard are trained in the use of medieval and modern weaponry.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">When we left the Piazza Navona after a lovely dinner one evening, we came upon a photo shoot happening nearby. The model was a pretty, skinny thing and she swished her gold lame gown this way and that. With the sun beginning to set, the light bouncing off the gown was sort of mesmerizing. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">Viva il Papa! Everything Pope Francis says and does resonates with most people of all faiths, even atheists. He leads by example. Humble. Peacemaker. A servant of the servants of God. Pope Francis is a rock star! We must've waited a little over two hours under the hot, hot morning sun to see him in person - up close and personal. It was such an amazing experience! I would like to say everyone was orderly, but when it comes to people trying to push me out of my position at the barricade, you better watch out. I will push you back, and I did. Not a shove, but a very firm push. Notice the gentlemen in the dark suits. They are also soldiers of the Swiss Guard. Their other uniform, the striped red, blue and yellow, is referred to as the Gala Uniform.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">During our last three days in Italy, we stayed in a rustic villa in the heart of Tuscany. Owned by the Buccelletti family, the villa is one of four in the countryside. We arrived in the late afternoon and soon after, Giuseppina (I think that's how she pronounced her name) came by to cook us dinner. Oh my word, it was fantastico! For starters, she made Eggplant Parmesan followed by a first course of stuffed ravioli with a light butter, sage and Parmesan sauce. The second course consisted of peposo (spicy forequarter meat, beef cooked in a wine gravy). The beef comes from the Chianina breed of cattle, the oldest and most prized. It is noted for its porcelain-white coats, and for being the biggest and heaviest breed. Giuseppina is a very good friend of the Buccelletti family. She was a restaurant chef, then retired to raise her family. She now cooks for the villa guests. I loved her smile and cheerfulness. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">Believe it or not, we paid to participate in a wine harvest. Just those words "wine harvest" sounds so lovely and inviting, doesn't it? It is until you get a kink in your neck, or your back aches. It is hard work. I heard the laborers were astonished to learn we paid to work alongside them for a couple of hours. I don't regret one minute of it, though. How many Americans can say they actually harvested grapes in a Tuscan vinyard? It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">This is Carla, an employee at the Casali in Val di Chio. After the grape harvest, she graciously took us around the widespread farm which includes the wine tasting room, production rooms where the grapes and olives are made into fine wine and olive oil, the family chapel, the large garden of fruits and vegetables, formal gardens, wedding venue and the villas. There are future plans to add a museum.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">I'd already posted this photo on Instagram and Facebook. This cracks me up. This character is a fake. Beneath the long coat and long head scarf is probably a robust young lady. maybe 25 years old. The beggars and con artists come in all shapes and sizes. This beggar was wearing expensive athletic shoes. This reminds me of a prior trip to Venice, where I observed a crouched beggar in a deserted alley stand up straight to stretch her back. No matter where you travel in the world, always beware of your surroundings.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">Thanks for having a look!</span><br />
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Marie @ Life is a Highwayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05090485405915969155noreply@blogger.com0Italy41.87194 12.56737999999995729.6780195 -8.0869170000000423 54.0658605 33.221676999999957tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4414204773299537669.post-72299201935196398872016-10-29T10:56:00.001-07:002017-08-04T07:16:14.017-07:00Why I Love National Cat Day <br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">It's National Cat Day on October 29! I've never paid attention to this cat holiday in the past, but after seeing my friends post photos of their pets all over social media every single day, why not share the cuteness of my adorable furry babies, all of whom have since passed over the Rainbow Bridge, except for Nala. Most importantly, though, I want to celebrate their lives and to encourage pet adoption. It's not just the right thing to do; adoption is a reward.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><b><i>BIG PAW - Leader of the Pack</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">Big Paw was not the cutest cat on display at the San Diego Humane Society, but he was definitely the most unique. He was a <a href="http://www.mnn.com/family/pets/stories/11-thing-didnt-know-polydactyl-cats" target="_blank">polydactyl</a>, meaning he was born with extra digits on all four paws, although not all polydactyls are affected the same way. Some polydactyls will have extra toes on one paw or two, but Big Paw had all four paws with extra toes. He was the first cat to enter our home of two adults and three kids, and what a joy he was to us all! Besides being crazy playful, he loved to scare the crap out of us by walking the upstairs balcony rail. Staring up at him with bated breath, Big Paw would stare back at us and walk the rail with ease. Such a daredevil. He </span><span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">was a smart cat, too. He knew how to open doors. Sometimes we'd resort to locking the doors if we didn't want him to gain entrance. You were lucky if he let you hold him. Big Paw decided when he was ready to be held, and when we did, he showed the love by purring so loudly. </span><span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">We had him for 15 wonderful years. I was with him when he breathed his last breath, and it tore my heart apart. I cried for days. We all did. Knowing the joy he brought us, he would not be our last cat. Big Paw lived his life for us, and he left this world knowing he did his job. Such a beautiful gift.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">Born: August 1991</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">Adopted: January 1992</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">Rainbow Bridge: March 2007 </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: x-large;"><b><i>HERO - the Great Communicator</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Hero was the second cat to enter our home. He was one of maybe three or four cats at the Humane Society the night the kids and I decided it was time to adopt another cat. We felt Big Paw needed a playmate. The adoption would be quick, I thought. Select the cat, pay the fee and get home before Gerry did. I had no idea that all family members had to be present to adopt a cat. Shockeroo! I knew Gerry would be resistant to wanting another cat, but maybe he'd change his mind when he saw how cute the new cat was. The trainer would not let us have Hero unless Gerry agreed to the adoption. He wanted to phone Gerry at work. <i>You're kidding me. </i>Of course, Gerry was shocked to get such a call, and yes, he wanted to speak to me on the phone. <i>Yikes. </i>After exchanging a few pleasant words, Gerry said okay, we could adopt Hero. The kids were ecstatic! When we got home, Hero went into hiding for three days. Poor kitty. Entering a new home with Big Paw in it was a bit much, I guess. Hero lived up to his name, and he came to us at the right time. We were grieving the death of someone very close to our daughter, Lindsay. Matt was a joy to have around. Sensing that Lindsay was the most grief-stricken, Hero stuck close to her for a long, long time. He became Lindsay's buddy. He also began to sit a certain way that was kind of freaky. Hero would prop himself up against a wall as if he were human, sitting upright on his rear-end! That's how Matt would sit on Lindsay's futon. Hero was channeling Matt!! Scary at first, but we came to love seeing Matt's spirit come through. Hero was wise, smart and loved to have long conversations with us. He also thought he was a dog. Too funny. Almost daily, he would try to force his way outdoors to get a taste of the green grass. Yes, Hero was special. </span><span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">He passed not too long ago, and of all the cats I cried for, I couldn't cry for him. I don't understand it yet. But it doesn't mean I didn't love him. I probably loved him the most. Somewhere in my future, I know I will cry for him. Hero lived to be 19 years old. </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><i>I miss your love bites, Pretty Boy.</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Born: January 1997</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Adopted: December 2000</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Rainbow Bridge: May 2016 </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><i>YANKEE - the Snuggle Bug</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">My son, Gary, first spotted Yankee down the street. The cat was distressed, meowing so loudly. He ran home to tell me all about this cat, but I couldn't be bothered. I was bolted in my chair in front of the TV watching the tragic chaos taking place in New York City. The twin towers at the World Trade Center had fallen that morning. I told Gary to just leave the cat alone. <i>Did I really say that, because normally I'm quick to rescue a cat. </i>Gary continued to keep an eye on that cat for the next couple of days, and of course, it would follow him home. Lindsay built a cardboard house for it, decorated with pink crepe streamers because - tada - we thought it was a she! This cat had badly sagging skin, as if she might have delivered a litter. Then one day, we heard our cats loudly meowing at the livingroom window. I looked out and there was <i>the</i> cat. I'd not seen the cat until then. Gary described her to me, but I wasn't prepared for what I saw. She looked odd, skinny, dirty and had big ears. But I got excited because I'd seen that kind of cat before in a picture. I ran to the computer and did some research, then became so excited because sitting outside our window was a <a href="http://cfa.org/breeds/breedscj/cornishrex.aspx" target="_blank">Cornish Rex</a>, or a mix of one, not the kind of cat you see every day. Even our vet had not seen one in person. It's an expensive breed, costing about $800. It turns out the she was a he. This cat had been very unheathily overfed, had became lost or abandoned, starved, and thus resulting in the sagging belly. Poor thing. No one seemed to be searching for this special cat, so we decided to care for him. The name America, when we thought it was a girl, would now become Yankee. <i>And no, I didn't want to check the sex of the cat because it was so grossly dirty and stinky. The less I touched it until a visit to the vet, the better. </i>Yankee was special because he behaved like a toddler. He loved to stand and reach up to be picked up and be held like a baby. He loved to rest his head on our shoulders, and be coddled inside a baby blanket. The vet couldn't estimate Yankee's age because his teeth and gums were in bad shape. We gave Yankee extra care because we knew his life was hard up to the day he decided to adopt us as his new family. When he became sick, the veterinary bills became so high that we could no longer take care of him. I called our vet to see if they knew of a non-profit no-kill cat sanctuary that would be willing to care for a cornish rex. They didn't, and apologized. A few days later, the vet called me and said they would be willing to care for him, but we had to relinquish all rights to Yankee. Also, my family and I could visit him whenever we wanted, no need to make an appointment. I was elated, to say the least. I began to sleep better. Yankee would eventually become the mascot of the Rolling Hills Pet Hospital. He had free reign of the clinic, and could roam wherever he wished. On the weekends, Dr. Keith would take him home to his place in Coronado. Lucky cat! We didn't have Yankee as long as our other cats, but he would always be our Little Snuggle Bug.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Born: Unknown</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Adopted Us: September 2001</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Rainbow Bridge: January 2006 </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: inherit;"><b><i><span style="font-size: x-large;">QUINCY -</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-large;">the Bashful One</span></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">Just when we thought we had enough cats in the house already, Lindsay calls me up one day and says that I need to go to PetSmart right away. What for, I ask. "There's a real cute cat that needs to be adopted, and he keeps meowing. He wants a home", was her reply. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">Oh, geez. But that's what Gerry and I did. We went to PetSmart to check out this cat and adopted him. His name was Quincy, and he was cute as a button. He was pretty shy, too. He had this raspy meow sound, and didn't want to be held or petted unless he came to you for attention. But if he came to you, he'd plop part of his body on you and stay there for as long as he could. He liked to be left alone a lot of the time. Quincy had this weird habit of taking food out of his bowl, dropping it on the floor and eating it. He was a very messy eater. Gary Mike thinks he was earlier raised with other cats and was used to eating his food off the floor. His favorite toy was feathers hanging on a string. He'd get wild about them for a little while, then get over it fast. He didn't remain playful for very long. Not much else was known of his past, but we made sure he had a good life in our home. Quincy was diagnosed with cancer in 2014. It was so hard to decide that it was time to let him go. With Lindsay in Nashville, and Summer at her job in Del Mar, via FaceTime they joined me, Gerry, Gary Mike and Kat at the clinic where we held Quincy for the last time. It was a very difficult good-bye. Our hearts hurt for the longest time.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">Born: January 2007</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">Adopted: January 2009</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">Rainbow Bridge: September 2014</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: x-large;"><b><i>NALA - the Princess</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">Nala is pretty, and she knows it. I refer to her as the princess because she's so girly. She's a big tease, too. She came to be a part of our family when I took her in from the cold. She was a member of a growing feral colony, just a baby, really. She was with her daddy cat when I first spotted her on a very cold morning. Every day she'd come around with a member of her feline family or all of them. There was the daddy, mama, Reeses (we named it because she reminded us of the candy) and Nala. So one early morning, I decided to snatch her up and bring her in out of the cold, to her daddy's dismay. I would cuddle her under my warm blanket, and stare at her beautiful face until I heard Gerry waking up, then I'd put her back outside. Not very nice, I know, but Gerry would not be keen on yet having another cat in the house. Soon Nala would come around on her own and insist we take her in.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">So persistent, this cat. Nala is as feminine as a girl can be, is a picky eater, is very playful and a such a big tease. She doesn't meow; instead, she voices these tiny mews and makes these chirping noises. She loves people but loves Gary Mike the most. She loves to be petted, and has this crazy thing about licking lotion off my hands, arm and feet. Gross! So annoying when she does that. Also annoying is when we get up in the morning to find she's been stuck in the office closet all night long. Why she continues to run into a closet surprises me. Nala loves to sneak upstairs when Gerry's not around, but when she hears his voice, she quickly dashes down the stairs. Too funny to witness! To this day, Nala shows affection for the remaining members of her once feral colony that grew to number 23 total. There are two strays remaining who make our backyard their home. It amazes me that three generations later, the strays recognize Nala as one of their own.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">Born: Fall 2009</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">Adopted: December 2009</span></div>
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Marie @ Life is a Highwayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05090485405915969155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4414204773299537669.post-21776096940300547192016-10-23T09:40:00.001-07:002017-08-04T07:16:14.473-07:00Hurricane Matthew - My Red Cross Response Experience<br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">It wasn't too long ago when I received an e-mail from the San Diego chapter of the American Red Cross. The e-mail was sent </span><i style="color: #666666;">en masse</i><i style="color: #666666; font-size: x-large;"> </i><span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">to every Red Cross volunteer in our region. It was all over the news that Hurricane Matthew was brewing, and it didn't register in my head that I could be called to action. Gerry and I had just returned from Italy where we vacationed with friends, and my suitcase wasn't fully unpacked. I quickly packed my suitcase with the appropriate clothes and shoes, went to headquarters to pick up my Mission card and disaster folder, and before I knew it, I was on a Delta flight to Columbia, South Carolina. It happened so fast. When I arrived at the airport, there was an AVIS rental car waiting for me, and a motel room to hunker down in for the night since it was nearly midnight when I arrived.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">I had waited six years for the opportunity to help in a major national disaster, but the time wasn't right due to my job and/or familial responsibilities. All of the courses I'd taken and workshops I attended over the years qualified me to be deployed to the Carolina states to assist in this flood disaster. I was in South and North Carolina for a total of ten days, but I had earlier committed to a minimum of 2 weeks of service. Before I explain my early return home, I must tell you that I met and worked with a group of wonderful and giving individuals that formed our strong team of six, which later became seven. We each had our own strengths in character, and where one of us lacked in physical strength, the others picked up and carried the rest of us forward. Our team was a well-oiled machine, and we vowed that no matter where Staffing sent us, we would stay together. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My awesone team, fom left to right: Bobby, Margot, Linda C., Glendeleen, Julie, Linda H. (our supervisor) and me.</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">After closing the Calvin Heights Elementary School shelter in Wilmington, North Carolina, we learned, to our dismay, that we would be separated. We knew, really, from the beginning that it would be hard to keep us all together to the end of the disaster recovery, but it was worth wishing for. Three would go on to work the ERV (emergency response vehicle which is used to transport food to various shelters), two others went to support a shelter on a college campus, and our fearless leader is in her new assignment as a shelter manager. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">While everyone on the team was compassionate, Bobby and Linda C., to me, showed the most compassion. Bobby loved talking to the clients (shelter residents) and getting to know them, and Linda C. was really taken with the children. One very young child endeared herself to Linda and looked to her for hugs. I thought of Julie as the mama bear. She constantly checked on things, greeted arriving guests, helped to keep the distribution area tidy, and reminded our supervisor to eat her meals. The muscles of the team were Bobby and Margot. They could put together and tear down those cots so fast, it made me exhausted to watch them. I could not help with those cots because of arthritis. I also could not help with lifting heavy items, and there was a lot of that going on in the kitchen and cafeteria. Bobby and Margot also kept the restrooms clean and trash bins empty. Glendeleen, Glen for short, was assigned to our team two days before we were separated. She immediately made herself at home, picked up our vibe and joined right in as if she was with us from the very beginning. Our supervisor, Linda H. was loaded with information, constantly had her finger on the pulse of the operation, and worked diligently with headquarters. In the evening, when all of the clients were tucked in their cots for the evening, because there is a curfew in the shelters, Linda H. would reward us with a small plastic glass of wine, if we wanted it, to thank us for our hard work and to simply relax and talk about the day's events. It was a great bonding time, in that dim hallway of the 4th grade wing of the school.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">Working the shelter is constant and tiring work. It's physical, mental and emotional. I found myself holding back tears on one occasion, and I felt like I was starving on another occasion. I kept saying to myself that I would find time to take a little nap when the time was right, and I never did. I was always the last to go to the bed, and the first to rise. I would make myself available to work in the cafeteria, as not everyone was awake in the gymnasium yet, and that's how I got to know the Salvation Army crew and the school cafeteria manager. The Salvation Army truck was my go-to place for my morning coffee. It was my secret for a short while. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">This is Sherlene, the school's cafeteria manager. This amazing woman volunteered her vacation time to assist us in the shelter. She also set up a cot in the kitchen where she would sleep because she worked long hours. Until one day, sleeping on a cot became unbearable, so she then went home to sleep in her own oomfy bed. She is the first person I would see in the morning. She is also a wonderful singer.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">After days and days of caring for the clients and tending to their needs, I one day found myself feeling so worn down, and my eyes were stinging from sun sensitivity. I couldn't find my sunglasses the day before, and the sun shining in my eyes was becoming unbearable that I knew it would be unsafe to drive a vehicle, which I was doing a lot of the time. The day we learned we would be going our separate ways, my body was telling me that this would be the perfect time to stop and go home to rest. </span><span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">Being in constant physical motion for hours and days got the best of me. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">To not listen to my body would surely mean a lupus flare-up, and I didn't want to risk that. I hadn't been so sick in a long time, and I don't want to go there again. I have the autoimmune disease called <a href="http://www.medicinenet.com/systemic_lupus/article.htm" target="_blank">lupus</a>. Thinking back, I remember someone asking me on Facebook if I was handling my pain well. I appreciated that question, and I think I might have forgotten to reply to her. Well, I have been home for four days now. I am in constant touch with my team, and they are out there continuing to serve those affected by the floor. They are heroes forever, in my eyes.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">The day after I returned home, I received a call from Cathy, Workforce Engagement Manager, with the Red Cross. She said that I would be a perfect candidate for the Shelter Supervisors Workshop. Linda H., throughout my deployment, frequently told me that, too. </span><span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">The San Diego chapter is gearing up for fire season, and there's that big earthquake that the world is talking about.</span><span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">I've always liked being in charge, and I feel this will be a perfect fit for me. I just have to look like a disaster action team member. I didn't have the proper T-shirts, polo shirts or vest to wear. There wasn't enough time for me to acquire them. Ugh, I looked very much like a newbie, I will be ready for the next call to action.</span><br />
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Marie @ Life is a Highwayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05090485405915969155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4414204773299537669.post-70039058589482283012016-10-04T10:35:00.001-07:002019-02-27T06:28:47.265-08:00Under the Tuscan Sun: Looking for Bramasole<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Like it or not, I am a total book and motion picture nerd. Mix that with travel, and I become obsessed with having to see where that film was made or to find out what was that <i>one thing</i> that drove someone to write a novel that would become a classic or a cult favorite.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Before we left for Italy, I shared on Facebook that I couldn't wait to see the villa that inspired author Frances Mayes to write the book "Under the Tuscan Sun". I had not yet read the book but I saw the movie numerous times. Now that I'm home, I am finally reading the book. It is simply delicious! I just couldn't get enough of all that was Italian in the film. And Diane Lane, . . . who wouldn't wish they could be her for a day? I'd already been to a few major cities in Italy and made jaunts into country towns, but I hadn't yet made it to the idyllic hill town of Cortona, which was tops on my list of places to visit for our end-of-summer holiday. I had to get to Cortona this year because the book "Under the Tuscan Sun" was celebrating 20 years since its publication in September 1996. The time was right to go back to Italy!</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I was just getting over the three-day stomach flu when we left Assisi by car. With my husband Gerry at the wheel and friend Ed at his side as navigator, we made our way to Cortona. Daisie and I sat in the back seat enjoying the views along the way. Total eye-candy, those views!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Cortona sits on top of a hill about 1,968 feet above sea level. It is the highest town we visited on this trip. This dominant position over the valley offers a spectacular view from all over the town of the surrounding valley and even Lake Trasimeno.<span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #666666;">Before beginning our search of Bramasole (pronounced brah - mah - <i>so - </i>lay)</span></span><span style="background-color: white;">, we decided to take a look around the town for a place to have a very nice lunch. We settled on the Ristorante al Cacciatore where I had a lovely pasta e Fagioli soup, perfect for my settling tummy. With full stomachs, we did our last-minute souvenir shopping, then we were off to find Bramasole, which means "yearning for the sun". On the way back to the car, I passed an art gallery which featured a movie poster of the film on its glass door. Cortona is known for many things ancient, Etruscan and modern, but its citizens love the attention the book and film have brought to their town, and they're basking in all its glory. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Before leaving town, we went to the tourist information office of the Piazza Della Republika. I asked the concierge if given a choice, would she look for the house that was used in the "Under the Tuscan Sun" film, or look for the house that inspired the book. She said to skip the house used in the film. It's ugly and there's nothing to see there. Go to the real villa, she says. Before leaving San Diego, I searched the internet. Many "Under the Tuscan Sun" geeks said forget the real villa, go to the house from the movie. Others said otherwise. Well, just tell me how to get to both, and I'll decide when I'm in Cortona. I choose to listen to the concierge, and she gives us a map of the town and driving directions to the Bramasole. She also said it's within walking distance but a portion of the trek is uphill. I think, "no, thank you". I just got my energy back from being sick. I want my search to be easy. Driving there sounds better, and the map makes it easy, but it turned out not to be. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Looking at the map, we follow the concierge's blue ink line from the parking lot, exiting the walled town, driving the road that hugs the ancient walls, and taking that road all the way around and further up into the mountain. At one point, Ed says to Gerry that he's driving into a one-way street so Gerry maneuvers a Y turn and gets back on the right road. The concierge said if you pass the Eremo Le Celle, the sanctuary, you're going the right way. Follow the road up the hill and follow the signs to Hotel Cory's. Pass it and stay left of the fork. There is a small bar (cafe) at the apex of this fork. The road will take you downhill. Bramasole should be on our right. You can't miss it, said the concierge. It's a big pink house. Seekers say it's peachy pink. I'll decide on the color when I get there.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">We end up at the stop sign and nowhere to go but right. Ahead of us is the most gorgeous landscape you ever saw. Vineyards, rolling hills, orchards, farmhouses, cypresses, villas. It was so dreamy. <i> Okay, snap out of it.</i> We turned right and pulled into a parking lot in Torreon. I approached an old man and asked, "Dove il Bramasole?". He shrugs and raises both hands that say "What are you saying?". So I repeat it in English. Gerry approaches and does his best to communicate with hand gestures. Daisie and I see a jogger approaching our direction and I wonder if it would be cool to stop him and ask for directions. We decided it would not be okay to interrupt his rhythm because he was so focused on his running. Then we see a couple walking the wide promenade toward us. It is lined with trees on both sides, and their walk is very leisurely. As they get closer, we approach them. I say to the woman, "Scusi, parla Inglese?". <i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Please say yes. Please say yes</span></i><i>. </i>And the woman says, "Well, yes, I do." "Yes! Thank you!", I say. She laughed at us and said, "I know how you feel. I've been there!<i>". </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Meet Al and Kathy. They're from Tampa, Florida and spend a few months in Cortona each year. They had just flown in earlier that day and were out for an afternoon walk. They own an apartment in the city center of Cortona which they rent out to tourists when they're not using it. They set us straight on how to find the Bramasole, and that it's not far from where we're standing. In fact, we can walk there from the parking lot. Al says we would be interested to know that he shot the cover for Mayes' third book of the Tuscany series, "Every Day in Tuscany". <i>Get outta here! I can't believe what I'm hearing! </i>He says he was taking digital photographs in the piazza years ago. A stranger approached him and asked to see his photos. Apparently, this stranger had ties to Mayes and the publishing world. Before long, Al got a call from Mayes asking if he'd photograph the cover to her third book. Wow, what are the chances of me meeting someone connected to one of my favorite authors?! This is wildly crazy, I'm thinking, and I am one starstruck, besotted woman.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In our conversation, Al continues with a story where Mayes had purchased a second home higher up in the mountains outside of Cortona in Monte Sant'Egidio. <span style="background-color: white;">Known as </span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: inherit;">Fonte Delle Foglie</span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: inherit;">,</span><span style="background-color: white;"> the Font of Leaves, the secluded stone pile was first built in the 13th century by "hermits who followed Saint Francis of Assisi." Mayes added a second structure to the 3.7-acre compound, which now has four bedrooms, a writing room, and ample entertaining space. This home was the subject of the book mentioned above, "Every Day in Tuscany". Mayes no longer owns the home due to the fact that thieves had ransacked the home while she was away from the country. She was heartbroken and had felt watching over two homes was too much work. I found a photo of the stone villa on Pinterest. What a beauty!</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Do you want to know what Al says next? He says that he and Kathy are frequent visitors to Villa Bramasole when Frances <i>(uh-oh, we're on first-name basis now)</i> is in town. Unfortunately, Frances won't be in Cortona for another couple of weeks. <i>Darn! </i>Our conversation lasted perhaps 20 minutes, but it's time I won't soon forget. Before going our separate ways, Al said to look for the terraces. He was around when laborers and artisans were cleaning up the terraces of the Bramasole. Kathy said you can't miss it because of its pink color. So off we went in our car, backtracked and as we turned the corner, there it was to our left - the most magnificent rustic house and terraced garden I have ever seen. It's easy to see how we missed the house at first. It's partly hidden by stone walls and trees, and I wasn't expecting the house to be so high up on the hill. It truly is a special place, and it gives me goosebumps to know that it stands near a Roman road and that there's a portion of an Etruscan wall in her enormous, terraced back yard.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">We exited the car and began taking photos like crazy. I took note of all the little details of Frances' property that eventually made its mark in the film, like the shrine in the stone wall and the shuttered windows. The color of the house was not pink or peach, or peachy-pink. The color seemed to change depending on the direction from which I was looking. It was like the stucco had a faux finish. It went from pink to peach to gold to orange. Seeing a large amount of olive and fruit trees, and other plantings, I felt this villa was more of a farmhouse. The Bramasole is famous for its olive oil which has won numerous international competitions. It was surreal being at the Bramasole. I thank God I got well enough in time to have this experience. Being there was most definitely the high point of my vacation. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">The celestial stars were aligned that day and the gods that be said this was meant to happen. Thank you, Frances, for taking me on this journey. </span></div>
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Marie @ Life is a Highwayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05090485405915969155noreply@blogger.com252044 Cortona, Province of Arezzo, Italy43.275063400000008 11.98512000000005243.263502400000007 11.964950000000051 43.286624400000008 12.005290000000052tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4414204773299537669.post-82945365110281428412016-10-01T20:49:00.002-07:002017-08-04T07:16:15.304-07:00Terra Cotta Warriors & Tang Dynasty Show in Xian<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1MggEevvXKpUBkKhdYnezavo2ixnj0tCalZRcsIxqUWt6-8IeQFNhgBkExM-iqfEHIAmewmtjDjUwqMccYIvcnecl-sq57KlSHnsvGBrZiS_Q5fxcsR1xvkkszOTenDAOfk3A2as/s1600/Blog+cover+photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="492" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1MggEevvXKpUBkKhdYnezavo2ixnj0tCalZRcsIxqUWt6-8IeQFNhgBkExM-iqfEHIAmewmtjDjUwqMccYIvcnecl-sq57KlSHnsvGBrZiS_Q5fxcsR1xvkkszOTenDAOfk3A2as/s640/Blog+cover+photo.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Another destination checked off my wanderlust list! Thanks to local farmers digging a well, millions of people are able to view these wonderful full-size figures of clay warriors. As always, I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to see our world's treasures. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Think you know everything there is to know about this UNESCO World Heritage Site?</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Here are 5 amazing facts about the Terra Cotta Army and its auxiliaries that I didn't know at the time of my visit last fall:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW752llj_BKPivDNnJANpnxdHnpAQ5TT5Er5H8mw24gPFnNsvjrc1Que_8-Basapdb410VfQprlWFQfD2ssSM1NReQFcLF8lMLtGrxEljIkfx8j0lESMxIRkFcenpV0dXxUuWgYDo/s1600/IMG_9047.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW752llj_BKPivDNnJANpnxdHnpAQ5TT5Er5H8mw24gPFnNsvjrc1Que_8-Basapdb410VfQprlWFQfD2ssSM1NReQFcLF8lMLtGrxEljIkfx8j0lESMxIRkFcenpV0dXxUuWgYDo/s640/IMG_9047.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">1. China's first emperor, Qin Shi Huang, spent most of his life searching for immortality and built himself a burial complex. The complex was the biggest in the world - <i>and it was probably never completed.</i></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhys_LUwqF3LFgqgHuCEvok7LKO7XccPnH9-g7UPNZ1BQ57d40j2YG5tcZ1J8itRcJqDFf7qHl4Eauiz11478aH1wvQEA2Rsxe1-yPPgMcS2Xblq8AqXkdwYNA5xooYM9cETlhyphenhyphenzdY/s1600/IMG_9057.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhys_LUwqF3LFgqgHuCEvok7LKO7XccPnH9-g7UPNZ1BQ57d40j2YG5tcZ1J8itRcJqDFf7qHl4Eauiz11478aH1wvQEA2Rsxe1-yPPgMcS2Xblq8AqXkdwYNA5xooYM9cETlhyphenhyphenzdY/s640/IMG_9057.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">2. </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The clay soldiers remained untouched for more than 2000 years until 1974 when they were unearthed by Chinese farmers digging a well. <i>It is now believed that some 700,000 workers worked for nearly three decades on the mausoleum.</i> So far, archaeologists have uncovered a 20-square mile compound, including 8,000 terra cotta soldiers, along with numerous horses and chariots, a pyramid mound marking the emperor's tomb, remains of a palace, offices, store houses and stables. This is all located in Pit #1. <i>Yes, there are more pits.</i></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi50Zx3HHJFV4tjCzMvGK5u7K9FeBPtEjk_7d0T5UxsgTYE5gqaiGmcUgozHh9CgR-NH7no0o9GC318kLs8KS8WYGSj44wArr5LXerdPRu8e7rO2vZFPn8F2HnByRSJDpdMQ01c9m8/s1600/IMG_9060.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi50Zx3HHJFV4tjCzMvGK5u7K9FeBPtEjk_7d0T5UxsgTYE5gqaiGmcUgozHh9CgR-NH7no0o9GC318kLs8KS8WYGSj44wArr5LXerdPRu8e7rO2vZFPn8F2HnByRSJDpdMQ01c9m8/s640/IMG_9060.JPG" width="480" /></span></a></div>
<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">3. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "open sans" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 28.8px;"><span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">Qin was known for his brutishness: He ordered the killings of scholars whose ideas he opposed, and showed little regard for the life of the conscripts who built public works projects, including his burial complex. Numerous laborers and artisans lost their lives during its construction, <i>while others were reportedly killed in order to preserve the secrecy of the tomb’s location and the treasures buried within.</i></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmr2GHiRnh9eMmmmM8eFPumDmTVkbHBvX8nAP-i6rhBFiWMJCS9l_299iKlA3J6JleUWXxTf2VSyo2dkG9snzwDFLy1SHjb4tWIGVDK7avUMn7RWo4hmnNFKpW_1BzPWWoz7LqftQ/s1600/IMG_9070.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmr2GHiRnh9eMmmmM8eFPumDmTVkbHBvX8nAP-i6rhBFiWMJCS9l_299iKlA3J6JleUWXxTf2VSyo2dkG9snzwDFLy1SHjb4tWIGVDK7avUMn7RWo4hmnNFKpW_1BzPWWoz7LqftQ/s640/IMG_9070.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">4. The emperor's tomb itself still hasn't been excavated. According to first century accounts, <i>mercury streams were inlaid in the floor of Qin's burial chamber to simulate local rivers running through his tomb.</i> In 2005, hundreds of samples from the earthen burial chamber mound were tested and came back highly positive. Debate continues over whether to evacuate the tomb at all and what methods should be used to protect the contents as well as the people working at the site.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqlSC0JOVDlTn5VOmtmAAChjkcjkfHHN5PKxLGQvsBCaPJba8Duoia8tdk2y6SgC9ycWb0trlbZONir3jFO5rPw59j1EEuky_HUXJAiUox2W3Bn759FgxH2oReBSdwr0ww_4lQx0U/s1600/IMG_9071.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqlSC0JOVDlTn5VOmtmAAChjkcjkfHHN5PKxLGQvsBCaPJba8Duoia8tdk2y6SgC9ycWb0trlbZONir3jFO5rPw59j1EEuky_HUXJAiUox2W3Bn759FgxH2oReBSdwr0ww_4lQx0U/s640/IMG_9071.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">5. Construction of the tomb began when the Future Emperor of China took power at the age of 13.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The following photos are from Pit #1 where many workers guarded the area and excavated and tagged the statues.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj70wP1Mb2mtmtgBb1EGyEDHB1EgKP9WeK8Y00qPRbNInUi1SCOb1tBY6n10_zn2e7xpck7Cx0_kArmPWuVLarmDSWHxx1X3eDWGZYQhcE6e84zbmmI7rzfFDgZqUWZY636OweH3w4/s1600/IMG_9072.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj70wP1Mb2mtmtgBb1EGyEDHB1EgKP9WeK8Y00qPRbNInUi1SCOb1tBY6n10_zn2e7xpck7Cx0_kArmPWuVLarmDSWHxx1X3eDWGZYQhcE6e84zbmmI7rzfFDgZqUWZY636OweH3w4/s640/IMG_9072.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXuqolDK7kTetGpkQr-sjOkQMPyK-dtrQsb_2YlBqWTPckoPTrn0r2uYqIKXn6LJ9ZcvpDWkVIRQK5LUZ1f54A4nW5uVdr-HQz8orO6ps0d4djGVFg6jEKD-oGjWxQyRz21YDc0xo/s1600/IMG_9090.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXuqolDK7kTetGpkQr-sjOkQMPyK-dtrQsb_2YlBqWTPckoPTrn0r2uYqIKXn6LJ9ZcvpDWkVIRQK5LUZ1f54A4nW5uVdr-HQz8orO6ps0d4djGVFg6jEKD-oGjWxQyRz21YDc0xo/s640/IMG_9090.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">Pit #2 is located 22 yards to the northeast of Terra Cotta Pit #1. It is the most spectacular of the three pits. Compared to Pit #1, the combat formations are more complex and the units of armed forces more complete.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">Pit #3 lies 25 yards to the north of Pit #2. This forms the headquarters of the garrison, exercising military control over men contained in the other two pits. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">After spending a few hours viewing the Terra Cotta Army, we drove through the city of Xian to see some more impressive statues.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">In the evening, Gerry and I enjoyed a Tang Dynasty cultural performance with dinner. Obviously, it was all so wonderful. Such a great way to end a long day.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">Um, no, we are not actually in the pit with these terra cotta marvels. We couldn't resist paying for one of those faux photos, but it does look awesome, doesn't it?</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;"><span id="goog_1517392822"></span>Safe travels,</span></div>
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Marie @ Life is a Highwayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05090485405915969155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4414204773299537669.post-75865331700439675522016-01-18T20:39:00.001-08:002017-08-04T07:16:15.747-07:00Hutong Hangout in Beijing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It's Day 5 on this wonderful tour of Beijing, and after breakfast, I remember telling my new friend, Mary, how I wasn't feeling too good about all of the delicious food I'd been eating lately. She felt the same way. It's hard to control myself when all of this wonderful Chinese food (and there was American fare, as well), colorful fruits and vegetables, and delectable desserts are staring right at me. I don't stuff myself with food. Normally I'm mindful to chew my food, eat slowly, and stop when I begin to feel full. Also, my meals normally fit in a bowl, and not piled up high on a plate. Ugh, I felt this trip was not going to end well for me. I was going to go home looking like a blimp! Oh well, Mary and I figured that once we got on the Viking ship, we'd do a lot of daily walking around the perimeter of the top deck, only to find out later there would be no track on the upper deck! In fact, the ship was designed in a way that you couldn't walk the perimeter no matter what level you were on. If I was going to be a happy lady on this vacation, I needed to control my food intake. Seriously. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;">This day was another check off of my bucket list because we would be visiting a hutong, which is a centuries-old, tree-lined alleyway that is the true heartbeat of Beijing. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">There are several remaining hutongs left in Beijing, following the rapid growth spurt of roadways and buildings beginning in 1949, and more so after the announcement that Beijing was going to be the site of the 2008 Olympic Games. However, many of Beijing's ancient hutongs still stand, and a number of them have been designated protected areas. The older neighborhoods survive today, offering a glimpse of life in the capital city as it has been for generations.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Hutongs are the winding narrow streets that traverse the traditional neighborhoods of Beijing. These alleys surround traditional courtyard residences, and the term hutong has come to refer to a neighborhood. In the past, and to a certain degree still true today, the closer you lived to the Forbidden City, the higher your status was. The elite lived to the east and west of the imperial palace in high-end hutongs with gardens and ornamental houses. Today many famous people live in these hutongs. In other areas, however, the hutongs are smaller, less decorative, and poorer. <span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;">Hutong is a Mongolian word meaning "water well". In the Yuan Dynasty, Mongolians attached great importance to water, so almost every community in the city was designed around a well, which provided the daily water for the locals. To this day, no one will find a dry well in some of the old alleys.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_lokpfDPat9SComUCv-G3PnFIG2wwJAVysZuPzt-C_x3-xRzPq12aIY2VQ-x6u62zpH9DjVrARcp2sTlSZ_mKK-_JBAyhyphenhyphenxxC3q3rJmyceU27BTHJ5d0T_xG0eXdWCw3_gAWy-vI/s1600/IMG_8622.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It was a smooth ride in our rickety rickshaw. We passed residents coming out of their courtyards and I'd take quick photos as we passed their open doors. Mainly there wasn't much to see. But I wondered what the courtyards would look like if I were standing in it. Would it be pretty? Would it be nice? </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">There were times when cars approached from the opposite direction and it was a traffic jam in the hutong. It would take a few minutes for all vehicles to be free and clear.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">There came a point where we exited our rickshaws to walk to a residence belonging to a gentleman named Mr. Wang and his extended family. We passed people going about their usual business of daily living. We even got a close-up view of people's living areas. I thanked God for the life that I have. I also was conscious of the fact that these people might be grateful for what they have, so I didn't want to show that I felt sorry for them in any way. I noticed how our group would greet them with a cheery "ni hao!". Hello!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">We walked through a narrow alley, turn left and entered a door into a place that was colorful and inviting.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Birds were chirping, and lots of plants and flowers were on display. Red lanterns and other ornamental pieces dotted the courtyard, and it exuded a welcoming of peace, good luck and wealth to all who entered this place.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Mr. Wang welcomed us with tea and told us about his life in the hutong. Before the 2008 Summer Olympics, his family was given permission by the government to host tourists and dignitaries. Having a relative who served the last emperor proved beneficial. To earn money, Mr. Wang's family also serve sit-down meals to visiting groups and sell folk art created by his daughter. I loved being there, in that small, sweet-smelling place. I highly recommend a visit to a hutong to better understand the old Chinese culture. If you can visit both high-end and lower class hutongs, you'll better appreciate the disparity in the social and economic status of these hard-working people.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Before our afternoon flight to Xi'an, Angie introduced us to a Jianzi champion currently listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for keeping the jianzi in the air the longest. A traditional and very popular national sport in China, the goal is to keep the heavily weighted shuttlecock in the air by using any part of the body, apart from the hands. Jianzi is better known as hacky sack in the United States.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Then we went to a tea house to learn about the different kinds of tea and the ritual of drinking tea. Tea is life here with social, medicinal and cultural roles to play. It's in every thermos pulled out on park benches and everywhere. China is a country with many nationalities, and each nationality enjoys their tea differently. The history, culture and geographical environment of all nationalities vary and their customs of drinking tea are also very colorful and have their own strong points. What is common amongst the nationalities is when guests show up at their door, they are always entertained with tea.</span> <span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Chinese people love to drink tea all day long. The tea ceremony that most of us think of as Japanese actually originated in China.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">We arrived in Xi-an in the late afternoon and, as always, it was a pleasure to view the heavily wooded areas </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">surrounding the city, and to be thoroughly entertained by the chaos of the evening commuter traffic!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I hope you're enjoying my diary of my days in China! This trip is becoming so unforgettable!</span></div>
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Marie @ Life is a Highwayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05090485405915969155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4414204773299537669.post-6610666591343781092015-12-23T17:00:00.003-08:002017-08-04T07:16:16.279-07:00My Days in Beijing - Day Four<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I had dreamed about this day forever. A visit to China hit my Wanderlust list in the early 1990s when the Chinese government announced it was going to build the Three Gorges Dam. That meant villages would disappear or be relocated, and ancient sites drowned in the famed Yangtze River. I had to go to there to see as much of the old China (before the dam project) and other amazing sites like the Great Wall. I've wondered what it would be like to walk and stand on that wondrous wall.</span></div>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span> <span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>"Bu dao Changcheng fei haohan."</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;"><b><i><u><sub><sup><strike><br /></strike></sup></sub></u></i></b></span> <span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;">An original line from a Mao Zedong poem, it is often translated as "He who has never been to the Great Wall is not a true man", or "He who doesn't reach the Great Wall is no hero."</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;">Well, let me just say, first of all, that I didn't really get to walk the wall, in normal fashion. I tried, but I was pushed now and then because it was so crowded, but I, too, pushed <i>forward</i> so I could make my way to the highest point of the wall. If I didn't do that, I most certainly would've fallen backward and knocked everyone behind me down like a stack of dominoes! When I reached the highest point of the Badaling wall, I did feel like a hero - a very hot and exhausted hero. It was a very difficult trek, and I'm in good physical shape! This marvel is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which once stretched for more than 6,200 miles and symbolized the country's isolation from the rest of the world.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But wait, let me back-track and show you how we got here. Our tour group had an early start. By now, we all know the daily routine. Early breakfast, on the bus by 8am-ish, but that's a good thing. We knew we'd be in the middle of the early commuter traffic but our bus had to be one of the first to reach the cable car parking lot. We traveled 60 miles out of Beijing. In an hour, we arrived. Many buses were there already, but more buses would come, so we were thankful to be there early. Tourists can hike up to the Great Wall, but we took the cable cars as our time was limited with other activities planned for the day. </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXiplS3PAI9IFpDtdGHPo1i9mf6FAHCgte06BBxwkY0aa3xEyqQYhTQnpTpFgW8oMERj1o4XNZOX7qz8O3-X7k4dEnFPtN6-0ug2bur93KewIOgx7xuBk9pVORRAk5B-_k2PZtLH8/s1600/P9150173.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXiplS3PAI9IFpDtdGHPo1i9mf6FAHCgte06BBxwkY0aa3xEyqQYhTQnpTpFgW8oMERj1o4XNZOX7qz8O3-X7k4dEnFPtN6-0ug2bur93KewIOgx7xuBk9pVORRAk5B-_k2PZtLH8/s640/P9150173.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYMpQJJrYymFZKbpW1OKlnMSnhloG02yeZBvW2DAlUIf5CZHPAJmI-a8OzfDpmwpCNQlcoBjMY43IriUAGfMPMPmAhReQ5xttnxQWIMC4RzG8PUgWQkuhsGJqU3buOzDDWQv1Ogak/s1600/P9150175.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a> Angie, our tour director, led us inside the cable car building where we passed everyone standing in line. We had a fast pass! I think being a part of a Viking group was the key to being in the express lane. That, or Angie was the cutest little thing, no one could say no to her.</div>
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<span style="clear: right; color: #666666; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;">It took a few minutes to reach the Great Wall. Once we got off the cable car, we could choose to walk north or south. Going north would take you down the mountain to the towers, but we chose to go south, which would take us to the highest point of the Badaling wall. The views were outstanding, and exceeded all of my expectations of what the Great Wall would be.</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: start;"><span style="color: #666666;">I could not leave Padre, the Globetrotting Gnome behind at the hotel today. He had to be here.</span></span></div>
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There are many sections of the Great Wall around Beijing city, but the wall in Badaling is the most visited since its restoration in 1957. It is a well-developed area with a bear zoo, slow roller coaster that takes tourists up and down certain sections of the mountain to the valley floor, and the Great Wall Museum in the vicinity. Hotels and the Safari World are nearby.</div>
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My navigating the steps of the wall, for the most part, was precarious. Besides the thick crowds of people, the most difficult part of walking the wall were the stairs. The steps were of different depths, so if you weren't watchful, you'd stumble. Also, the climb up was very steep so all of this combined, I was out of breath a lot. When I had to stop, I needed to hold on to a piece of the wall so I wouldn't fall back. Sometimes, when I had to stop, there would be no wall for support as families would be sitting there to rest. That's when I'd have to slightly hold on to someone else for support, and I could feel people doing the same with me.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Utik0WCDyOfOSD3rUnsBjQ87BCLTr6jkptmvZrNyvE3vuXfqgK7170ZcCjWsdnJDmHKdggf5TrtcH24BLZhcNBgAJ-0CLVWjjFwfsqV2ja25HWvM0HUgA0xNlYA0BP4r5PctfcE/s1600/IMG_8573.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Utik0WCDyOfOSD3rUnsBjQ87BCLTr6jkptmvZrNyvE3vuXfqgK7170ZcCjWsdnJDmHKdggf5TrtcH24BLZhcNBgAJ-0CLVWjjFwfsqV2ja25HWvM0HUgA0xNlYA0BP4r5PctfcE/s640/IMG_8573.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipFaHVixJ5PdlghrXIzWbx6V1TnHbvRntwwW-0DPiL7zUrH-B_jPpjTbkdIs5wB1I4Q6-yDiS6secc4muNC3klQIAICk-UqSIMloZSgEPMqG1bVVzRz0FLJQwWhXvh28O0jSLSQBs/s1600/P9150217.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>If I ever have the opportunity to come back, I'd definitely want to visit the museum and this time head south on the wall to go through the towers and make a day of it. Any season is a great time to visit the Great Wall. In the spring, the landscape is so green. In the summer, the rains come late in the day which leaves the air cool and fresh. We were there in the autumn and the leaves were on the verge of changing colors, and the sky was blue with a bit of haze. Or was that smog? We were always questioning that! I hear winter on the Great Walls is enchanting with the snow on the ground, and no visitors. Oh, I think I can brave that cold temperature.</div>
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Next stop was the Ming Tombs (or the Thirteen Tombs of the Ming Dynasty), located 30 miles outside of Beijing. The Ming Tombs are a collection of mausoleums built by the emperors. In a carefully selected site, according to Chinese feng-shui traditions, the tombs are surrounded by mountains on three sides and a river flows near them. The tomb area is a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site. It offers insight into imperial Ming Dynasty life, including stone thrones, huge human and animal sculptures, and other evidence of Chinese culture and traditions.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">We entered the Thirteen Tombs through a stone arched gateway, and onto this avenue called The Sacred Way, which means "a walk to heaven". According to Chinese history, an emperor descends from heaven upon death and returns through the walkway. The emperor was referred to as a Son of the Heaven. The Sacred Way ends at the Dragon-Headed Turtle Tablet Pavilion.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">If it wasn't for the beauty of the emperor and animal statues, I would've laid my hot, tired body under a shade tree and taken a nap. Hiking the Great Wall was a challenge already, and now I have to look down this long, long avenue. And it wasn't just that, but this place was so ethereally quiet and serene, and so green. And birds were chirping! See what I mean? <i>(yawn)</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 1.1;">The details of each imposing human and animal statue differed. No two were alike. Also, the sculptures were transported purely by human labor. Water was first poured on the road during the winter causing it to become icy. They were then hauled forward by sliding on the slippery ice. Wells were dug every 500 yards or so in order to get water for this purpose. </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.1;">Only two tombs of the thirteen are open to the public. The others are in ruins or entombed in one of the three forested mountain ranges.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">We exited the area through the Dragon-Headed Turtle Tablet Pavilion. Inside was a large stone carving of a turtle with a dragon head and a Chinese tablet containing more than 1,000 Chinese characters.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">We saw and learned plenty on this day. In addition to the Great Wall and the Ming Tombs, we made a stop at a big place that sold jade - lots and lots of it. Different sizes and different colors. Jewelry, statues, wall art, souvenir type of items -- all made with real and varients of jade. Gerry and I came away with some nice jewelry and souvenirs. </span></div>
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We had a fabulous Peking duck dinner at Hua's Fine Dining Restaurant at Wangfujing. It's a famous duck dish from Beijing that has been prepared since the imperial era. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Upon entering the restaurant, we saw ducks being roasted in a hung, or open oven. The ducks were carved in front of us at our tables. With other delicious dishes, the Peking duck was served on a Lazy Susan table with all the sides: scallion, cucumber, sweet bean sauce and other tasty items. Pancakes (spring roll wraps really) held it all together. Oh my goodness, I couldn't eat enough of the Peking duck. Gosh, I want some right now. I wonder where they serve it up good in San Diego?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In 2011, <i>The Huffington Post</i> ranked Peking duck first in a list of "10 Foods Around the World To Try Before You Die". </span></div>
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Marie @ Life is a Highwayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05090485405915969155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4414204773299537669.post-17284872647623165882015-11-23T22:04:00.001-08:002017-08-04T07:16:17.900-07:00My Days in Beijing - Day Three<br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">This day was a very long day. Lots of walking, lots of people and lots of sunshine, which doesn't serve someone dealing with the autoimmune disease, lupus, very well. Too much sun, even in all its glory, can be vicious to a lupus warrior.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Same routine. Gerry and I enjoyed an early morning breakfast at the Seasonal Tastes restaurant. I'm really missing the tuna sushi that I enjoyed two days ago. The restaurant didn't put out the same dishes as the day before in some of the food stations. That tuna sushi was the yummiest. I'm sure there's a proper name for that sushi. I don't know it, I just eat it.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">We finally met the rest of our tour director's group. I was sure they'd like Angie as much as I did. Our group filled a bus. There are other Viking groups that filled buses, and I'm thinking, "Wow, Viking truly has a hold in the tourism market in China." </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">We drove around Beijing the previous evening for some night views of the sites. Seeing Tiananmen Square in the daylight was very impressive, more so than at night. Angie said we had to be at the square early in the morning to avoid the crowds, but crowds were already there. The square looked very festive with giant floral and plant arrangements everywhere. The square was the center of a huge celebration in the city just days before, on September 3rd. To reduce air pollution, the government ordered factories and many businesses to close beginning in August. The Chinese Victory Day Parade was held to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Victory of Japan Day stemming from World War II. The commemoration was the first high-profile military parade held to celebrate an occasion other than the National Day of the People's Republic of China. Over 12,000 troops of the People's Liberation Army participated in the parade, in addition to over 1,000 troops from 17 different countries. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Padre at the Tiananmen Tower, Gate of Heavenly Peace.</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The square was swarming with tourists and photographers hoping to make money taking group shots. Angie gathered us together, our picture was taken, then we received our photo packaged in a very nice book later that evening. That's when we paid for the photo.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I brought my little travel buddy with me on this trip. He's Padre, the Globetrotting Gnome. Sometimes, he comes with us on our travels, other times, it's so hectic at home that I forget to pack him. OR when I do bring him on a trip, he sometimes has to stay at the hotel or the bus because, honestly, it's a lot of work to bring him to every single tourist site. When he comes out to sightsee, I have to be careful how I pack him in my day bag. He's broken his arm numerous times and it takes a while to glue his arm back on. It's also difficult to hold him straight up while I attempt a one-handed camera shot of him and his awesome background. I was approached three times that morning about Padre. One lady asked if I was in the Amazing Race, one of my favorite reality TV shows. The other two wanted to know the story about the Padre. They all thought it was a cute idea and that I should send the photos to the San Diego Padres. I have plans to do that once I watermark all of the photos. I've also thought about setting up an Instagram account for him. In due time.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Before I share photos of other important buildings and structures in Tiananmen Square, We all know that it's rare for a large population of the Chinese people, more specifically those who come from the countryside and are touring the big cities, to see someone quite different from them in appearance. They become excited to see a tall, white person, and if they have blonde hair and are very pretty, as Angie said, the Chinese are all over that western person taking photos, or sneakily sidling up to the westerner and posing for photos, whether the westerner knows it or not. The country folk will take quick photo shots, or politely ask to have a photo taken. It was fascinating to watch the interactions. Two worlds coming together. Beautiful, if you ask me!</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Quianmen Gate, once an entrance into the ancient Forbidden City, is now a museum. Climb to the top and get a fantastic view over the archery tower and Tiananmen Square. Walk through the tunnel and enter the pedestrian area where there are a plethora of souvenir shops and restaurants. We weren't sure if the building was shrouded in morning haze or smog. My asthma wasn't acting up so I assumed haze.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Monument to People's Heroes commemorates the people's heroes in modern Chinese history. In the background is the National Museum of China. It was built on the basis of the former Museum of Chinese History and the former Museum of Chinese Revolution, being the most inclusive museum of time-honored Chinese culture and history in the country.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption">The Great Hall of the People is where the National People's Congress is held and also where state leaders hold diplomatic meetings and the masses stage political activities.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gate of Heavenly Peace (Tiananmen Tower). Above the archway hangs a large portrait of Maozedong. On the east and west sides of the portrait are giant placards. The left one reads "Long Live the People's Republic of China" while the right one reads "Long Live the Great Unity of the World's Peoples." </td></tr>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Before arriving in China, I had no idea Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City were physically connected. Also, all I knew about Tiananmen Square before my visit was the tragic events that unfolded in 1989. The "June Fourth Incident", as the Chinese government called it, was truly a culmination of other protests against the government that had been building and spreading across the country. On June 3 - 4, the heavily armed troops marched towards Tiananmen Square opening fire and crushing all who tried to block their tanks and troops. It is estimated that some 7,000 were wounded and 241 killed (including soldiers). Since the incident, the government has attempted to suppress references to it. I've included a great pictorial, published by The Atlantic in 2012, of the events that unfolded in the days prior to and during the 6-week demonstration. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2012/06/tiananmen-square-then-and-now/100311/" target="_blank">Tiananmen Square, Then and Now</a></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">DID YOU KNOW:</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The architect of the Forbidden City, was a Vietnamese architect named Nguyen An, or Juan An, in Chinese. He was a professional architect in Vietnam when the Ming Dynasty invaded Vietnam in 1407. Juan An was brought back to China and made a eunuch, which is a man who has been castrated then employed to guard the women's living areas in the imperial palace.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Next stop was the Forbidden City, a palace so grand and so perfect in every sense of the word. Massive red doors with gilded door nails (9 rows across, 9 rows down because 9 is a lucky number for the Chinese) open up to the Imperial palace complex. In the heart of Beijing, the palace adheres rigidly to the traditional Chinese geomantic practice of feng shui. If walls could talk, I'd hear tales of opulence beyond my wildest dream, one hundred course meals, and a harem of 9,000 concubines.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">As I looked through the Gate of Supreme Harmony (just beyond the red doors), to the Hall of Supreme Harmony, I imagined the lives of those emperors and their royal families who ruled from their thrones, soldiers and warriors who stood steadfast at their posts ready for battle, civil servants rushing from building to building to get their chores done, the robes of eunuchs gently moved by the breezes, and the concubines who dressed to perfection on a daily basis, hoping to catch the emperor's wandering eye. Most concubines, you know, never got to fulfill the duties they were recruited for, and they grew old never having spent time with the emperor or seeing life outside the palace walls. If their ruler died, they were then buried alive with him! Hence, the name Forbidden Palace, where ordinary citizens weren't allowed to approach the complex during the 500 years of its use, and most palace residents were forbidden to leave. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Each hall housed ancient art and antiquities. To see them was a bit of a challenge. You had to be mindful of all the stairs that took you from here to there. The crowds were so thick you had to literally push your way to the building, then to the windows to peer in. I don't say this lightly. For every five steps I took forward, I was pushed back three steps. Sick and tired of being shoved around, I decided to push back and hard. But not to hurt anyone and not to take personally. In a crowded China, that's just what you do. You <i>push. </i>There are no bad intentions.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLR9CG-xmSbaCVy8UsKcAu3cmPVSwCZ4s3lpyF3UQw5u47YYo-Ay2-0icDrzYXTfW8X8jHtSw2j4W-E-bsH4-maotOQ4GLXQO5w-SY7H3dXOmYbTVX_8NgVIbeMUBcwI_bwB7ARyPOAw/s1600/P9140163.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLR9CG-xmSbaCVy8UsKcAu3cmPVSwCZ4s3lpyF3UQw5u47YYo-Ay2-0icDrzYXTfW8X8jHtSw2j4W-E-bsH4-maotOQ4GLXQO5w-SY7H3dXOmYbTVX_8NgVIbeMUBcwI_bwB7ARyPOAw/s640/P9140163.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Hall of the Center Harmony is behind me. This is where the emperors came to rest between ceremonies held at the Hall of Supreme Harmony. There are a multitude of stairs through the complex. My stumbling journey began here in the Forbidden City. I will continue to trip and stumble for the remainder of the trip. </td></tr>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I was fascinated with these massive cauldrons. There are 308 total, small and large, on the imperial grounds. Spread throughout the complex, the cauldrons were used to hold water in the event of fires, and some of the gilded handles were used to hold burning incense. The Forbidden City is so amazingly beautiful. So much to see, but you'll just need to go to my Facebook Albums to see the rest of the photos at:</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Imperial Gardens was the last major area to visit, and it was so lovely, I wished it were my own. Even with the crowds, the gardens maintained its sense of serenity throughout.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjQ_IGNhjlxcfAbMnvIVA7UNsJFJiHKlySEJMdOXRgkc7Zrj5T5SVzefyDnwG2gSDXlEEMQ0V1O6lVHuJHqNH19v8PTRK05dob_FadITQRnUKajGwN5dK7B4KFQx9NODrokaaBQCoO6A/s1600/IMG_8455.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjQ_IGNhjlxcfAbMnvIVA7UNsJFJiHKlySEJMdOXRgkc7Zrj5T5SVzefyDnwG2gSDXlEEMQ0V1O6lVHuJHqNH19v8PTRK05dob_FadITQRnUKajGwN5dK7B4KFQx9NODrokaaBQCoO6A/s640/IMG_8455.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Peking Opera at the Lijuan Theater was a perfect way to end the day. It is a form of traditional Chinese theater which combines music, vocal performance, mime, dance and acrobatics. Known for its complex storytelling, it is regarded as one of China's cultural treasures. I've never seen theater like this. The performances were spectacular, the characters in their beautiful costumes were mesmerizing, and the sets were brilliantly gorgeous. Breathtaking! We enjoyed a delicious dinner before and during the show.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The bus ride back to the hotel was ridiculous. Traffic congestion was terrible! It felt like it took us an hour to get back to the hotel, which really was suppose to be about a 20 minute ride. As we sat idle, I'd look out the bus window at all the cyclists and pedestrians navigating the road. It was a show in itself. How they manage to cross the big and busy intersections astounds me.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Well, tomorrow is a very big day. A day I've waited years for.</span></div>
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Marie @ Life is a Highwayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05090485405915969155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4414204773299537669.post-48470526152990610992015-11-05T22:22:00.001-08:002017-08-04T07:16:18.479-07:00My Days in Beijing - Day Two<br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Gerry and I came a day earlier than most of the people in our group. For booking our air directly with Viking River Cruises, they gave us a complimentary one-night stay at the Westin Beijing Chaoyang Hotel.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">After a fabulous complimentary buffet breakfast at the Seasonal Tastes Restaurant, we headed down to the lobby to meet some members of our group for the very first time. At Day 2, I'm still feeling dizzy walking through the hotel. See what I mean about everything being reflected off those dark floors? I feel like I'm sinking or something. We will meet the rest of the travelers the following day. The entire group, we find out later, will come from Canada, England and across the United States. No one knew anybody. We boarded our comfy tour bus and greeted everyone as we headed to our seats. It's open-seating.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">This day was basically a free day to do whatever we wanted, but the cruise company gave us options to see a couple of places, complimentary, if we wanted. We didn't fly thousands of miles to be holed up in a building. If the tour bus wanted to take us somewhere, we were happy to go.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Our first stop this morning was the Temple of Heaven, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in Beijing in the Chongwen District. UNESCO is the acronym for United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, in case you didn't know. This was the place where emperors of the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644) and the Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911) held the Heaven Worship Ceremony, but first . . . . </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Upon entering this beautiful complex that sits on 660 acres, we heard music and laughter, and found women performing folk dances with complete abandon. They were totally rocking' it! I took photos and these were the best ones. I was snapping as I was hurrying to catch up with my group, hence the blurred photos. I'm always lagging behind. I get so distracted with everything going on around me. When the tour director says it's time to move forward, I don't always hear that, and then I'm searching for familiar faces or that red Viking sign with the #9 on the back of it. Thank goodness I'm a fast walker.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvU5B45l3WlVDrZ05zM9ulMgK-ND4ZWqsC1pHb_ug65SZRw4fsLveHW6KOXmMmzTPwC7DZknKINx-wRsj_1FppNsP1ovy-cR7RIoBYBYl-dXDuZmUothRzkx44dyG2GOc_o-qeoFeqhg/s1600/P9130018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvU5B45l3WlVDrZ05zM9ulMgK-ND4ZWqsC1pHb_ug65SZRw4fsLveHW6KOXmMmzTPwC7DZknKINx-wRsj_1FppNsP1ovy-cR7RIoBYBYl-dXDuZmUothRzkx44dyG2GOc_o-qeoFeqhg/s640/P9130018.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSuEzY5vA7FUnFOsiNzj3eTnqnoscf1hY-dDweEcqERVr54VL5h7bO3jLrg3gIRLprZJDrcIkpr7JGRG2wPVl5-oFZP7ya3cfRp7EX7K-tsymkQtr4kkYCJVMh7mp5LSlv8aGgu9Hh1g/s1600/P9130019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSuEzY5vA7FUnFOsiNzj3eTnqnoscf1hY-dDweEcqERVr54VL5h7bO3jLrg3gIRLprZJDrcIkpr7JGRG2wPVl5-oFZP7ya3cfRp7EX7K-tsymkQtr4kkYCJVMh7mp5LSlv8aGgu9Hh1g/s640/P9130019.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Temple of Heaven complex is larger than the Forbidden City, but smaller than the Summer Palace. However, the difference is the temple's grounds are surrounded by trees that have existed for centuries. Interesting fact: In Beijing, you will see trees with red and green tags. Those trees with the red tags are aged 300 and above, while those with green tags are aged 100 but below 300 years. Our tour director pointed out a group of trees opposite the dancers. Here's a photo of one of those ancient trees.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgx0hGJFhEsyvc47nw_2bIoYUNVAGLBLjozvAQ9O6ljn2iOj3_73JQcJieuM6bwaeukc2vOH-EG68drQ_HtUsJEeddQfcAdystNK4dDJCTr466hZ41tCQd-CmktNWATOWiN_JeRMvcKg/s1600/P9130020.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgx0hGJFhEsyvc47nw_2bIoYUNVAGLBLjozvAQ9O6ljn2iOj3_73JQcJieuM6bwaeukc2vOH-EG68drQ_HtUsJEeddQfcAdystNK4dDJCTr466hZ41tCQd-CmktNWATOWiN_JeRMvcKg/s640/P9130020.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Seriously, this place is huge - bigger than the Forbidden Palace, remember? What's so cool about the Temple of Heaven complex is that, in all of its solemnity (except for those dancing women near the entrance where I think is the only acceptable place to celebrate life that way), the local people gather to visit, gossip, play mahjong, and other social activities that make them happy. They gather in this place as soon as it opens in the morning. This is their hangout where they chill.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv6WPqQZ5Z8AdEkOBoxrTy3lXE2aDKnXvLK4Xrv50I4YFkzxV4gGL_21y28kdo-jOGutevuMIZVH5sbKw3A9rt7j1UQ6lpbsLsKIqZAyYB2pG-8KPx6Te8yYAuHD2zWy2XrVEIFBan9A/s1600/P9130024.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv6WPqQZ5Z8AdEkOBoxrTy3lXE2aDKnXvLK4Xrv50I4YFkzxV4gGL_21y28kdo-jOGutevuMIZVH5sbKw3A9rt7j1UQ6lpbsLsKIqZAyYB2pG-8KPx6Te8yYAuHD2zWy2XrVEIFBan9A/s640/P9130024.JPG" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It was a lovely walk, weaving in and out of the beautiful porticos. The painted designs overhead were bright and exotic. Within these porticos sat families eating breakfast, children quietly playing, and friends sharing and storytelling.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUBwzU1C2k6BW-eJJTawQih7vagli-NgABONGMUgHtwlq92oBu40-1RgZUwqa9s-59tnd3NrYXxRH3nu0hOc06wjqNeXGAyEaaVlwE1XC0-xIAskbT9Y4EtCxN-WmSrvtF0DoArG5tsQ/s1600/P9130023.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUBwzU1C2k6BW-eJJTawQih7vagli-NgABONGMUgHtwlq92oBu40-1RgZUwqa9s-59tnd3NrYXxRH3nu0hOc06wjqNeXGAyEaaVlwE1XC0-xIAskbT9Y4EtCxN-WmSrvtF0DoArG5tsQ/s640/P9130023.JPG" width="480" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">We came upon a short tunnel and within view was the ancient Temple of Heaven, the most exotic thing I've ever seen, and a sign of wondrous things to see later on.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQvUG9-slY8_iK7oq2-RZcd_4HkN8mJWlzHQOsJFyjq4JskBBFpnhPRAg3N2TjZLVIZZNvK2fgfHcfc2YdQNsal5PdBGhb2jo6EL7-UIzkQBmlm_ZO3EoEJZcJty33ZBj0x9ECycIRLQ/s1600/P9130027.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQvUG9-slY8_iK7oq2-RZcd_4HkN8mJWlzHQOsJFyjq4JskBBFpnhPRAg3N2TjZLVIZZNvK2fgfHcfc2YdQNsal5PdBGhb2jo6EL7-UIzkQBmlm_ZO3EoEJZcJty33ZBj0x9ECycIRLQ/s640/P9130027.JPG" width="640" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The temple complex was constructed from 1406 to 1420 during the reign of the Yongie Emperor, who was also responsible for the construction of the Forbidden Palace. In the 16th century, the temple was extended and renamed the Temple of Heaven.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Animal sacrifices and prayers were offered at the Temple of Heaven, literally the Altar of Heaven, for good harvest. </span></span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gerry in front of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE036Gj_X9xWSMsdUxw_Efog6AtjeOsHGKgJvL0s6bwaH3aLcNrBoSLVM0gC3fhzxNcGpTKzzy-GpemScXOLYds6B0qFo7jI4T0SoRpLXzJsnm2zn8GfVgm-SBcr6XHyDIObuSFrNBeA/s1600/IMG_7176.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE036Gj_X9xWSMsdUxw_Efog6AtjeOsHGKgJvL0s6bwaH3aLcNrBoSLVM0gC3fhzxNcGpTKzzy-GpemScXOLYds6B0qFo7jI4T0SoRpLXzJsnm2zn8GfVgm-SBcr6XHyDIObuSFrNBeA/s640/IMG_7176.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It bugs me that I can't remember the name of this temple, and can't find the answer online. If you know the name of this temple, please share!</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyF1_zrcWdbK9SZfBn6ii4KAhamqW17BYUEaG2GHB3cJlReWSaFjZf5GApV_Jn10eAwd7yzoGF2eRwCs-S92MuUQNVL9NjvXyRkej94FVdD6771Qzb4N5quDQIO2lPEy41er9-b0kxjg/s1600/Temple+of+Heaven.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyF1_zrcWdbK9SZfBn6ii4KAhamqW17BYUEaG2GHB3cJlReWSaFjZf5GApV_Jn10eAwd7yzoGF2eRwCs-S92MuUQNVL9NjvXyRkej94FVdD6771Qzb4N5quDQIO2lPEy41er9-b0kxjg/s640/Temple+of+Heaven.jpg" width="628" /></a><br />
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Awesome recycling vessels!<br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Temple of Heaven is a very popular place for engaged couples to have their photos taken. The couples were everywhere, the ladies wearing various bright colors, but mostly red (means good luck) and white (to be western-like). Some brides will wear both white and red on their wedding day. It was a beautiful day for engagement photos!</span></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjywmFM7ipBP3vptJSOrP73-7xSZAm4Gp36d-ApUGGQyHLc81QyxbLzKhKPALdy8vYCv4gq1V8W7KmGRoH9ASZsqvKbSKnOrYqU9-Ilc02WNJVcAisKNlAKy-qG0rUL52B825pQngqs-A/s1600/P9130029.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjywmFM7ipBP3vptJSOrP73-7xSZAm4Gp36d-ApUGGQyHLc81QyxbLzKhKPALdy8vYCv4gq1V8W7KmGRoH9ASZsqvKbSKnOrYqU9-Ilc02WNJVcAisKNlAKy-qG0rUL52B825pQngqs-A/s640/P9130029.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;">After a relaxing morning at the temples, we were taken to Kunming Lake, just minutes outside Beijing, where the Summer Palace has been since 1750, throw in a fire and reconstruction since then. The lake is the central lake on the grounds of the Summer Palace. Together with Longevity Hill, the lake forms the key landscape features of the Summer Palace Gardens. Kunming Lake covers approximately three quarters of the Summer Palace grounds. It is quite shallow, with an average depth of only 5 feet.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nanhu Island<br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">When visiting ancient and historical places, you'll most likely enter through an arch or portal. They were always a part of Chinese architecture, and there was a place for everything. This is the art of feng shui, or qi, the practice of harmonizing using the "invisible forces" that bind the universe, earth, and humanity together. </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">There are many astounding features to this masterpiece Chinese landscape design including the bridges, temples, pavilions, palaces and halls.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipSQTq-Mrlgj0_nPtlhV8zJ4XSKZtTE-yEYvZJOWEHrh1oEqGBrBD7PmgxwrBkPA3CTQAPOYIUVjPGiCW2ERJw3GqCsXJhr2RbyoX1tyAiE6SIAmN8x2UmC4DKi1StFlN2Vh8JKbZn1Q/s1600/P9130054.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipSQTq-Mrlgj0_nPtlhV8zJ4XSKZtTE-yEYvZJOWEHrh1oEqGBrBD7PmgxwrBkPA3CTQAPOYIUVjPGiCW2ERJw3GqCsXJhr2RbyoX1tyAiE6SIAmN8x2UmC4DKi1StFlN2Vh8JKbZn1Q/s640/P9130054.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">As we entered through the portal, the lake came into view with boats of different sizes and styles. The dragon boat was my favorite, and it took us to the Summer Palace where we were awed by the beauty of it all.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Longevity Hill, where the Summer Palace stands.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Baoyun Pavilion</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Marble Boat is made of wood, to look like marble. It is not navigable, and is used as a decoration to add to the classic style of the old Chinese gardens.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seventeen-Arch Bridge in the distance, the largest of thirty bridges in the Summer Palace, of which the lake is part of.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pedestrians on the Seventeen-Arch Bridge</td></tr>
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The dragon signifies power, strength and good luck in Chinese culture.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Long Gallery is the longest corridor in classic Chinese gardens. It links the attractions along Longevity Hill, and is used as a platform to view the lake and hills.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjKTwqZeVCKGeSeTtzZG2nSM5sjSROTnaJ-jkjdkhEmpfHHBNQsBjUL8YzhKbt6yCtiNAR7YdCYZ61YELDTEMSuH4-lkeEMBMukBnYVx3Lf4T6fWzNYn_-UlcA0srXksbW6O0gRXfBoQ/s1600/P9130025.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjKTwqZeVCKGeSeTtzZG2nSM5sjSROTnaJ-jkjdkhEmpfHHBNQsBjUL8YzhKbt6yCtiNAR7YdCYZ61YELDTEMSuH4-lkeEMBMukBnYVx3Lf4T6fWzNYn_-UlcA0srXksbW6O0gRXfBoQ/s640/P9130025.JPG" width="480" /></a><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Pavilion of Expanse is the largest octagonal pavilion in China. It sits at the east side of the Seventeen-Arch Bridge.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dragons adorn every rooftop.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yunhui Yuyu Archway</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our tour guide, Angie, with that familiar Viking sign.</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It would take an entire day to see everything at the Summer Palace - the temples, gardens, antiques and artifacts, ancient art, furniture and so much more! But alas, our tour guide has other plans for us. We head back to the hotel for an early buffet dinner and some downtime. Have I mentioned the terrible Beijing traffic? It doesn't matter what time of the day, it is congested all the time. Cars, motorcycles, scooters, bicycles, anything on wheels and pedestrians - all converging at each intersection at the green light. What should easily be a 15-minute ride can turn into one hour!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It was a great day, and now it's time to download my photos and then curse that I can't access gmail, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. I couldn't even open up my blog webpage to write (type). There are sixteen more days to go without gmail or social media. It kind of stresses me out.</span></div>
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Marie @ Life is a Highwayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05090485405915969155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4414204773299537669.post-44250315969322136762015-10-26T22:55:00.001-07:002017-08-04T07:16:19.052-07:00My Days in Beijing - Day 1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Over a decade ago, I thought of taking a trip to China when I read about the big dam project that was taking place in the Three Gorges in Hubei and Chongqing. It really troubled me that thousands of villagers would be displaced, and all of the travel guides were advising people to see China before it changed. Not one person I knew was interested in visiting China, and I wasn't interested in visiting this country by myself.</span><br />
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After years of vocally wishing that I could go to China, Gerry and I booked two tickets on the "Imperial Jewels of China" Viking River Cruise. Being on this trip of a lifetime (I seem to say this a lot on all the trips I go on, I know) really opened up my eyes to many things. I'll cover this trip over several blog posts. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It was such a relief to be off the plane and on a bus to our hotel.</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It was a difficult flight for me going from Los Angeles to Vancouver to Beijing. I don't remember being so uncomfortable and in pain on a flight in the past. The rheumatoid arthritis wanted to get the best of me. Instead of getting some necessary sleep time, I was constantly trying to find a comfortable position where my joints didn't hurt so much. Prior to the trip, my rheumatologist asked if taking plaquenil and ibuprofen would be enough for me. I was confident I would be okay on this 11.5 hour flight. I just didn't want to go back on prednisone or the chemo drug methotrexate. I also brought two boxes of those pain-relieving patches to help get me through the flights. Getting up to stretch and to walk up and down the aisle helped a bunch, too.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">On approach to Beijing International Airport, I saw many, many tall buildings sitting on large empty land. No cars, no people, no activity. I heard about these vacant condos on televised news. They're referred to as ghost cities. Read more about it <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/chinas-ghost-cities-in-2014-2014-6" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
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Approaching the airport was a bit exhilarating for me. I had a window seat, and I noticed that we were flying very low over the water, and I'm thinking if the plane doesn't hit concrete soon, we are going to be ditching in the bay! I'm waiting and I'm waiting to hear the plane thump on the runway. Eventually, I feel the plane tap the runway, easy-peasy. My concern was that the runway begins close to the water's edge - no kidding. I don't know what's scarier, approaching Beijing International, or standing on the top level of the Laurel Airport Parking building as planes approach San Diego International Airport. These are the kinds of scares that make you want to scream.</span><br />
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It always take a long while for everyone to deplane. Fortunately for us, we are near the front of the plane so we didn't have to wait long to deplane. I always hit the Ladies Room before we head for baggage claim. So this is what I see when I open the door to my stall.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It's a squat toilet. I was warned about these toilets and was not looking forward to using it, but I had no choice. Happily, I had no trouble fumbling with clothing or squatting. There was nothing to it. As a frequent traveler, I know to always carry seat covers, toilet paper, and hand sanitizer in my bag. Some public restrooms are not equipped with these hygienic items. Always have them readily in your bag, and it's a good idea to share with your fellow travelers who fall short. They'll remember you for the rest of the tour.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">After retrieving our bags from baggage claim, our Viking River Cruise agent greeted us in the terminal and drove us to our hotel. On the way, I couldn't help but admire the beauty of the city. There were trees everywhere, and gigantic floral displays roadside. The avenues were shaded and there were so many green spaces where the people could relax or farm. It was just amazing! You've heard all that talk about the heavy smog in the large cities, especially Beijing. Well not this day! Apparently, there was a very important parade in the city a day or two before our arrival there. Before such occasions, the government will order all factories to shut down for a few days to help clear the air. The sky was so blue, and I could see the Beijing landscape for miles from our hotel suite!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #666666;">We arrived at the <a href="http://www.starwoodhotels.com/westin/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=1967&PS=LGEN_AA_DAPI_CGGL_TPRP&SWAQ=8CPE" target="_blank">Westin Beijing Chaoyang</a>. The hotel is beautiful, to say the least, but the decor had me feeling a little dizzy with all that glitz, gleaming glass, weirdly placed mirrors and shining dark floors. I even felt nauseous at times. At night all those lights would reflect off the black marble floors and I felt like I would fall through the floor onto the lobby below. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #666666;">Not to take away from this glitzy hotel, I will say that the hotel's restaurant <i>Seasonal Tastes </i>is a super-star in my book. The restaurant's SuperFoodsRx menu includes nourishing, wellness-enhancing foods - rich in nutrients and antioxidants, and low in</span> <span style="color: #666666;">calories.</span></span> </span><span style="color: #6b6b6b; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">As I look back on the foods I ate on this trip, I think all of it was so healthy because I came home minus seven pounds. All the walking and hiking we did on the trip helped with the weight loss, too. And no, I was not trying to lose weight, but I like that my clothes fit me better.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #6b6b6b; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">It was an exhausting day, and I was beyond excited to begin touring the city in the morning. </span></span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Huge room, awesome bathroom!<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #6b6b6b; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!</span></div>
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Marie @ Life is a Highwayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05090485405915969155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4414204773299537669.post-84809353912083346982015-09-10T16:25:00.002-07:002017-08-04T07:16:19.538-07:00Checking In: Marriott London County Hall<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">A few months back, Gerry and I had the opportunity to spend a few days in London after two weeks of vacationing in the British Isles. Our days traversing the bustling city was eventful and non-stop. Finding a decent London hotel to stay in took a long three days prior to departing for Cork, Ireland. We didn't want to spend a ton of money on lodging, Gerry wasn't keen on trying AirBNB, and we had to be in central London just steps away from underground stations. We were looking for quality and didn't want to spend a ton for it. Yes, we can be cheap sometimes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Oh, my word! By the end of the third day of searching the internet and reading Yelp and Tripadvisor reviews, we settled on the one hotel we should've known, from the very beginning, would be the perfect choice for us - the Marriott Hotel County Hall in central London. Situated on the </span><span style="font-size: large;">South Bank of the river Thames, the hotel sits across the Westminster Bridge from the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">It's a teeny bit of a walk from the street to the hotel entrance, where there's a roundabout that goes around a little hill with turf-covered steps. It's an odd thing, but a huge conversation piece, I suppose.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">We requested a King suite with a view of the river. A view of the London Eye costs less than a view of Big Ben . We chose the view of the Ferris wheel and Jubilee Garden. The noise level was pleasant and the view just splendid!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">One thing to know about choosing your room: If you want a Big Ben view, your walk from hotel lobby to room will be short. If you book a London Eye room, you will walk a distance. Walking the corridor reminded me of walking those long hotel corridors in Las Vegas after gambling the night away. The room always seemed so far away! </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I loved our suite. It was so spacious and accommodating. I swear you could fit three king-size beds in there. What I love most about the Marriott properties is its luxury bedding from the pillows and sheets all the way down to the mattress. I sleep so well at night! Free WiFi, too, for its loyalty members. The hotel staff was very friendly, and the doorman and the guys behind the Concierge desk were very dapper, chatty, and extremely helpful!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Here's the whole view of the Marriott London County Hall from the Westminster Bridge. We had the end room in front of the London Eye. You can see how far we had to walk from the lobby to our suite. What a view, though, right? It's such a lovely property.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The Marriott London County Hall is close to many historical landmarks, shopping and great places to dine, and is worth your consideration when you plan to visit this vibrant city. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I only share with my readers places I love to stay when traveling. The Marriott didn't ask me to write this review. It was simply my pleasure to do so.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Happy Travels,</span></div>
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<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrlXRj4LpoLT7Oa9RJald8Ewu6__zEJNI-dH2zFpB2yyUQnP6_rwZ6Qt56vjE-39e7-SfQGL84KSEZ2Nvp1VeWKr_PXRRpso9iQOxo9qmH-p-5EXrs3PhHEDDSc2F9ATWiSYwP0_o/s1600/mariesig.png" /></div>
Marie @ Life is a Highwayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05090485405915969155noreply@blogger.com0