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!