Christmas Day

After a nice Christmas Eve with Rita's family (Rita got a lot of nice presents but we didn't get any, of course no one ate Ginette so that was a good thing) and a nice quiet Christmas morning, we had a loooooong afternoon and evening!

Our flight was supposed to leave at 7:21 pm, then it was delayed because a computer had to be rebooted,

then the plane had to be de-iced, then another mechanical problem,

then the flight crew was running out of time and had to be changed,

then another crew was canceled, then the flight was canceled,

then we were sent to the next flight that had a stop over in Lansing,

then Rita changed to another flight that was non-stop (everyone else was later sent to that flight also),

then finally we got into Madison, WI at 11:20 pm (12:20pm Detroit time) and our luggage arrived at 12:15 am,

then, of course, the car rental offices closed at 9pm on Christmas Day,

so then we had to get a taxi (the shuttles had stopped running at 10pm) to a hotel (Comfort Inn) and

then it was 12:45am!

We got to bed by 1:30am and up at 6:30am to take the shuttle back to the airport to pick up the rental car. Finally got to the Super 8 in Columbus, WI a few minutes to 9am

Lot's of snow here in Wisconsin.

More later.

Merry Christmas Everyone

We're having a white Christmas here in Michigan. Tomorrow we leave for Columbus, WI (near Madison).

Remember, do not eat gingerbread cookies this holiday season.

Stay warm.

Raff & Ginette

Greetings from Kearney

This is our new friend, GM Bryan Johnson, of the Super 8. This picture was taken in the lobby of the hotel.

Most of the freezing rain missed us here. Tomorrow we go back to Michigan, or at least we will try, another winter storm might delay us.

Snow in Kearney

We had snow 2 days ago, about 4 inches. Today we're waiting for freezing rain and ice. Hope we can get home Saturday without too much trouble - hope it's between the storms.

Here are some pictures of Kearney. The hotel is very nice, big comfy bed, lots of cable channels, Waffles, biscuits & sausage gravy, oatmeal, danish, toast , juice, coffee, etc for breakfast. The staff is very friendly.

Colder in Kearney, MO

We've been in Kearney, MO now for a couple days. Rita went to eat at a BBQ place Friday night but didn't take us! Yesterday the weather was in the 50's but this afternoon the temperature dropped about 40 degrees - it's about 18 right now.

Kearney is about 30 miles from Kansas City. There's the older downtown and then the newer places closer to the highway. Very nice Super 8 with coffee and cookies (no gingerbread, thank you).

Speaking of gingerbread, this is always a tough time of year for Ginette, as she was the only one of her family to survive the last holiday season. So please be sensitive if you leave comments.

Rita hasn't taken any pictures yet. The last two days have been very busy. It's supposed to snow so maybe she can get some Christmasy pictures.

More later.

Hot in Brownsville

It was sunny and hot today. We need some sunglasses. Rita says hi to all of you in the frozen north.

Rita had a little time the other day and took us for a ride. We saw downtown and stopped at a little park by the water. More pictures soon.

Brownsville, TX

Well, we've been here in South Texas for a couple of days now and haven't seen any of the sights, maybe tomorrow? It's much warmer down here than Michigan and the sun is shining brightly today with a high of about 72.

Before we left Michigan, Rita had four days off. She sent out her Christmas cards, decorated the tree, got a root canal and did some online shopping. We are trying to figure out what she bought us for Christmas. Raff is nice and thinks she bought us our own DVD player but I think she probably bought us a new travel bag (cheapy).

The hotel is being renovated by the new owners. There is a lovely pool area in the inner courtyard. The free breakfast is very nice - you get eggs, bacon, toast, beans and coffee or juice at the attached Mexican restaurant - very good.

More later maybe even some pictures

Arlington, TX

So, we’ve been here in Arlington, TX for about a week now and all we’ve seen is the hotel, the very good Mexican restaurant in the hotel, Scholtszky’s, Popeye’s Chicken and the CVS. Rita has an abscessed tooth and had to get antibiotics and will have to get a root canal when we get back. We took a picture of the new stadium they are building here in Arlington and will post it when we get home. The hotel is near train tracks and lots of trains go through here. The train sounds are nice, not annoying like we thought they’d be. The hotel has lot’s of HBO channels. We watched Alvin and the Chipmunks and The Incredibles this week. We think we'd be great in a movie about us. Rita said get an agent.

Flint, MI

We're in Flint, MI so Rita can take a JAVA class at Mott Community College taught by Sun Systems.

It was cold and windy today. Tomorrow's high is supposed to be 45!

Odessa, Texas

So now we're in Odessa and it's windy and dusty again. We've learned to keep out mouths shut, not only because Rita might stuff us in a suitcase but because we get all dusty and gritty.

Odessa is a sprawling city. The people are nice and there are a lot of good places to eat.

The Days Inn has a great staff and we have a nice large room.

Pictures soon.

Childress, Texas

We were in Childress last week. Lot's of old, large brick buildings downtown, mostly empty. The city still has lots of brick streets. They are building two new hotels along the highway which runs through the town. Lots of truck traffic.

It was very windy there a couple of days and Rita kept us in our travel bag, saying she didn't want us to get all dusty. We think it another excuse to keep us quiet. So we whined louder and she let us out and then we got all dusty and sneezy. Rita was right again.

Kempton, IL

About two weeks ago we went to visit Rita's brother John in the small town of Kempton, IL (pop 250).

Why does everyone say they thought we were taller? Rita says it's what everyone says to celebrities when they meet them in person. We think she just told us that to keep us from whining.

"Camping in the Thumb"

Rita took us to a great county park right on Lake Huron. Wagener County Park is a beautiful RV park with lake access and great hiking paths. We spent for days there in September. Our spot had a great view of the lake.

Pheasants in Huron, SD

Pheasant hunting is very popular in the Huron area but we were a little worried that we'd make a tasty little snack for this big bird. Have you ever seen such a huge pheasant!!

Greenhouse at O'Hare (ORD)

Recently we spent several hours waiting in terminal “C” at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago. It has a greenhouse look to it with very high ceilings and lots of glass. But not only does it resemble a greenhouse it makes you feel like you’re in one: very hot and humid. The aisles are narrow and crowded with wilted people and the restaurants were overcrowded and dirty. It probably looked like a good idea on paper but it would make a better conservatory for tropical plants than an airport terminal.

Our New Look

Hi everyone. What do you think of our new look? Rita even let us pick out the color of the post headlines.

Murals in Huron, SD

Huron has about 20 murals mostly in the downtown area. Some are painted by local artists and many depict Huron's history. Check out more of the murals at Huron's website: http://www.huronsd.com/portal/tabid__3513/Default.aspxronsd.com/portal/tabid__3513/Default.aspx

Huron, SD

This is Rita’s first trip to the state of South Dakota. She flew into Sioux City and then drove to Huron about 2 hours away.

Rita even let us sit on the dashboard next to the GPS for a little while but we asked too many questions so she put us on the passenger seat and then all we saw was the roof liner.

On the right we stopped at a very nice rest stop.

More about Huron later.

Mitchell, SD

On our way to Huron, SD we stopped in Mitchell. That's us in front of the Corn Palace.

We also saw this restaurant with the great name of "Rita's Place".

Motorcycle Trip to Concert in Port Huon, MI

Wow, we got to ride on a motorcycle on a beautiful afternoon. We rode about 25 miles, sometimes right along the St Clair River. We stopped and had an early dinner at Powers Diner and then went to a concert right on the river at Vantage Landing. While listening to first a country band and then a blue grass band you could sit and watch the boats on the river and see Sarnia, Ontario across the very blue water.

Try the Coffee Harbor, right at Vantage Point. Coffees, pastries and a great view of the river: http://wizz.to/michigan/port-huron/

Atlantic City, NJ

Well, we finally thought we were going to get to party but no Rita was all work, work, work. Okay she did drive by the casinos but it was like see there they are now back to work. Okay, okay we did go to the beach one morning and got to take a walk on the boardwalk but then work again.

Rita actually let us meet the owners, Christina and Kenny, of the Lucky 13 Cafe. They even wanted to have their picture taken with us!!!

They have very good, reasonable priced food, so stop by and say that Raff & Ginette sent you.

Trip to Lakeport, MI

Rita took us "camping" again. We went to Lakeport State Park in Michigan right on Lake Huron. We had a very large site with a nice view of the woods. There was a short walk down to the beach. The week before July 4th was quiet and few people on the beach.

We also drove up to Lexington a great little town on the Lake. There were ice cream shops, a great harbor and lots of shops to browse. We visited with some friends of Rita's at Wagner County Park just south of Harbor Beach. We then had dinner at Al's in Harbor Beach.

The next day we drove to Croswell and visited a park with a swinging bridge in a beautiful park along the river. The is a park with camping (tents only) just outside of town also along the river.

Rita had a nice relaxing vacation and she didn't even threaten us once.

Maramec Springs Park St James MO

Sorry for this late entry of our trip last month to Missouri.

We spent a lovely afternoon at this park. If you get the chance it's a great place for a walk or a picnic in the park that contains 1,860 acres of forest and fields and where the spring gushes about 100 million gallons of water a day. There is a trout hatchery and the ones that escape can be caught along the river. Some of the old Maramec Iron Works furnaces etc have been preserved.

Saint Robert, MO

We arrived here at the Days Inn in Saint Robert, MO on Wednesday, the 18th, after flying into St Louis and then driving west along 44.

Friday, Rita finished early and took us to The Point about 6 miles from St Robert. It's a steakhouse at Portuquese Point. Rita had a good dinner and we enjoyed the lovely view.

Then we went for a walk in Roubidoux Park in Waynesville. They have trout fishing and walks along the river in a beautiful park.