Bucket List Part 4

So, how many items were on my bucket list which I wrote down between 2000-2007?  There were 191 items and how many have I accomplished?  139.

Not all were trips, but there were several trips that didn't make it in my scrapbook:  Highlands of Scotland, Ireland, Baltic Cruise (with Russia and Tivoli Gardens), Hawaii, Panama Canal and Mediterranean Cruise.  Some, I've blogged and some are still to be blogged.

Some were experiences (not destinations) like a Trans-Atlantic cruise, taking our children and grandchildren on cruises:  Disney Fantasy, Disney Wonder, Disney Magic.

Some were fairly cheap:  attend a book signing, attend a focus group, sit in the free seats at the Muny, teach Sunday School.

Some were learning experiences:  take a class in Old Testament, flower arranging, tole painting, reupholstery.

Some have become habits (but I had to have a first time):  go to a thrift store, get a manicure, get a facial, sell on E-bay

So what are some of the things I haven't done yet?

• Go to Egypt
• Go to Australia
• Write 15 stories about each of our parents
• Learn French
• Visit all 50 states
• Celebrate our 50th Anniversary
• Trace these family lines to native land:  Wicker, Long, Maupin, Williams, Watson, Reiter, Reed, Sollis (my great-grandparents' names)
• Ride in a hot air balloon
• Go to Powder Valley
• Visit all Mo. State Parks
• Participate in an archaelogical dig
• Travel on Route 66
• Go on a sleigh ride
• Go Parasailing
• Take a riverboat cruise down the Mississippi River
• Be an extra in a TV show/movie

Guess, I'd better get cracking!

Bucket List Part 3

41. Go on a Rhine River Cruise

Unlike today's river cruises, this one required us to take a train to Koblenz and then get on a boat to "cruise" the river---so many castles and the Lorelei Rock

 #42 Ski in Colorado
This is Keystone 1988.

#43 Visit Disney World

We had visited Disneyland several times but went to Disney World in 1987 with Tom, Donna, Dale, Meredith and Glen.  Yes, Rebecca, it is exhausting!

 #44. Visit San Francisco and Monterrey Bay

We first visited in 1971 when we took Dave's parents car out there.  We re-visited in 1985 when I won 2 tickets on TWA.  We visited the wine country most of the time.

 #46 Visit Bath, England
June 1985.  We have also visited Baden-Baden Germany an equally beautiful "Roman bath" city.

 #45 Fly in an airplane
My first flight was going to Germany in 1966.  The photos below had our son-in-law Kyle as the pilot out of Spirit of St. Louis.  The only passengers were Rachel, Dave and I. We were able to fly over Lake Sherwood where my parents lived. Dec. 2000.

 #47 Get a mink coat/jacket
Daughter Rebecca helped her dad pick it out.  Think she enjoyed that?

 #48 Go on the Brussel's Ferry and eat at the hotel on the Mississippi River
Our first anniversary June 12, 1972

 #49 Go to the summit of a mountain
This was Nebelhorn in 1967.  We went up in a cable car.  My friends skied down, I took the cable car back down.  There was a restaurant and a bar made of snow---see slides for this.

 #50 Go to Niagara Falls
We took the girls in 1956.  We have a better photos somewhere with all of us in slickers going under the Falls.

 #51 Marry Prince Charming

 #52 Be selected for National Honor Society
#53 Be selected for Delta Delta Delta
#54 Be selected for Who's Who

 #55 Learn Cross-country skiing
We actually learned living in Pittsburgh but didn't get our own skis until St. Louis.  I used to ski in our back yard and at Queeny Park (alone) until I almost wound up in a pond there.

#56 Witness an Olympic event

1984 Passing of the torch on Clayton Rd. less than a mile from our house

 #57 Quit smoking
My last pack of cigarettes!

 #61 See the Berlin Wall
New Years 1966-67

 #58 Read all Mark Twain Nominees for a year
#59 Read 20 of Oprah's Book Club
#60 Read 20 Newbery Medal winners

 #62 Visit Venice
I visited with a group of students as part of their class trip in 1967

 #63 Travel Highway 94 from the beginning to the end

That's all I have in my scrapbook

Bucket List Part 2

 #21 Visit Hadrian's Wall 1985

It was so cold in June that we had to buy gloves at a local store.

#20 Take the Kids to Europe

Top left photo is Port Isaac in England, bottom right is Linderhof in Germany

#22 Take kids on a train
Britannia Express 1985 took us from Netherlands to Munich, Germany.  We had a sleeper with triple bunks.  I never slept a wink thinking we would be stopped at the border for passports.  But, apparently we were in a sealed car and just sailed through.
 

#23 Live overseas

Photo with students in Memmingen Germany 1967.  To be fair, they were just 1-2 years younger than I was since Gymnasium in Germany goes to the 14th grade.  And, I should have been a Junior or Senior in college.

#24 Go to City Museum

We went with Tom, Donna, Meredith and Glen in 1998.  They couldn't believe the creativity but also worried about the quality of the work and their safety (see bus upper right)

 #25 Visit Savannah, Georgia

We went with Rachel, Kyle and Brett in 2003.  It is as beautiful as I'd heard but the cobblestones. . . .

 #26 Visit Ancestral Home

Park Hall, Healaugh, Yorkshire, England---Alderson Family Home. (Dave's grandmother's family)  Home after 286 years.  We located villages where my family lived but could never pinpoint exactly where they lived.  But still, loved walking the streets of these villages.

 #27. Weigh below 140 lbs.

#28. Stay with Weight Watchers for 6 months.

Photos were 1998 an 2000 Founder's Day Banquets

#30 Take a Cruise

This was our first---a Caribbean cruise in 1996 for our 25th anniversary

 #29 Snorkel in the Caribbean

Actually Dave and I had snorkeled on the 1996 cruise, but we snorkeled with the girls in Cancun also.

 #31 Ride a Double-decker Bus
Actually we usually do that on our first day in London (when we are sleep deprived) but this photos is from Rachel and Kyle's wedding transportation.

#32 Stay in a B & B in the USA

We made a habit of staying in them in Europe with the kids and thought it would be fun to do it in USA.  What were we thinking?  We took 6 kids (ours and Tom and Donna's) to this sleepy little inn in New Hampshire)

 #33 Visit Taliesin in Arizona

Having read Fountainhead, I became interested in Frank Lloyd Wright.  Living near Fallingwater increased my interest.  We visited Taliesin (not really pictured here) in 1997.  We have video tapes for more information.

 #34 Visit Charleston, South Carolina

This was part of a family reunion excursion out to Ft. Sumter.  White haired man is  Uncle Hale, with Michelle, Don, Don, Dave, Rebecca, Leah, Rachel 1983

 #35 Visit Washington D.C.

White House, July 1982

 #36 Go White Water Rafting

1997 Pigeon Forge

Dave, Meredith Me

Rachel, Rebecca, Leah

#37 Take the kids to California

We usually went at Christmas to visit with Dave's parents 1985 and 1986 

 #38 Take the kids to NYC

1986 Statue of Liberty

 #39 Go to Switzerland

Being a fan of Heidi, I took German just so I could go to Switzerland.  Visited Bern in 1966 and Luzern in 1967.  Had my first fondue here.  Have since discovered Dave and I both have ancestors from Switzerland!

 #40 See the pyramids of Mexico

While the girls learned to scuba, Dave and I took an excursion to Chichen Itza.  We climbed to the top---coming down was the challenge!

Bucket List Part 1

A few weeks ago I was talking to a friend about Bucket Lists.  She said, "So, you actually made one?"  I replied, "I made one and I documented it in a scrapbook."  Yes, I'm that kind of nerd.

It began on a drive to Jacksonville, IL Jan. 1, 2000---I started writing things down.  I included things I'd already done because I figure I'd already lived most of my life.  Later, I decided to make a mini scrap book.  I lost steam in 2007 about when I started blogging.

1. Ride the KATY Trail.  

Although we started riding in 1995, a flood washed out the trail and postponed progress until the next year.  We rode on weekends, parking our car at a trail head, riding about 10 miles and then riding back.  The following weekend, we'd go to the next trail head.    225 miles X 2= 450 miles.  We earned a patch and a T-shirt for filling out our "passport"---a millennium  project sponsored by the state of Missouri.

2.  See the Grand Canyon.  

March 2003, Jane and Richard took us to the Grand Canyon---brrr!  We had a blizzard heading out.  I'm reading a book for a reading promotion at our school.

3.  Get a VW Bug

4. Have a car with a sunroof

5. Buy a new car

Actually my first car was a Camaro S.S. 1968 (in photo for #15).  My first sunroof was on my Rabbit (VW 1980) But this was my first bug, was new and had a sunroof!

6.  See a whale in the wild.

This is one of many humpback whales we saw on our Alaskan Cruise June. 2002.

7. Go through the Chunnel

July 1, 2000 Paris to London (downtown to downtown).  I loved the Eurostar---a fast train, a foot rest, table with a clip, reclining seats.  A window would have been nice, but as you can tell, there wasn't much to see in the Chunnel (goes under the English Channel)

8. Eat salmon in Scotland

Port Appian July 2000

9. Eat in an outdoor cafe in Paris.  

Bonus points for Latin Quarter June 2000

10. See Stonehenge (June 6, 1985)

11. Visit a Mormon Temple

Before the Temple was ordained, we were able to get tickets for the tour.  Mom, Dad, Vera Nelson and we all went.  It was beautiful.  This was 1998 I think.

12. Ski the Alps

1967---Helga Kreitmeier and I took ski lesson every weekend---not wussy American lessons---we had to pack our own slopes.  Usually we had to side step up, but this photo was one of our rare rides with a lift.

13. Eat Baked Alaska

Bonus points for eating it in Alaska 2002

14. Buy a house in Kirkwood

15. Buy an old house and fix it up.

We replaced the roof, put in central air conditioning and rehabbed every room of the house in 2 years.  It had 4 bedrooms, 1.5 baths, 2 car garage, all masonry, copper gutters, wooden floors, marble window sills and aluminum windows.  After a lot of work, we had a lovely home.  In the living room, we replaced the carpet, tore off walnut wood panels, painted and replaced the curtains.  You can see the improvement at bottom.  It was a great house when we got done---just in time for us to move to Pittsburgh.

16. Live in one place for over 4 years.

After our move to Pittsburgh, we moved again 3 years later.  I just wanted to live in a house long enough to pick an apple off my apple trees.  We bought this house in August 1978.  We will soon mark our 40th anniversary here!

17. Get a Bachelor's Degree

18. Get a Master's Degree plus 40 hours

Bachelor of Science at S. E. Mo. State 1968 with double major:  English and German
Master's Degree at UMSL 1996 in Elementary Reading.  Both of those degrees and the 40 hours certified me K-12 in English, German, Reading, English as Second Language  and 6-9 in Social Studies.

19. Visit King Arthur sites.

Since Kathy Suessdorf Blevins introduced me to Once and Future King, I have been obsessed with King Arthur legends.  So in 1985, we visited most of the sites associated with King Arthur.  Rachel (in pink) at Tintagel and Rebecca (in blue) at Gastonbury.  As you can see the girls shared my excitement!