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!

Alaska 2002 Part IV

 Still sunny on June 16 as we entered College Fjord.  Here we saw otters and whales in addition to the beautiful Glaciers.

 Our dinner table on this cruise was the most interesting one we have ever had----we all were from Missouri or had Missouri connections:  two couples (minister, wife, church secretary, her husband) were from Lamar, Mo (Gages and Littles) and the other couple were the parents of Larry Rice.  All of us being from Missouri were familiar with his ministries---Dave had even volunteered there.

 We disembarked in Seward and took a bus to Anchorage.  We saw a lot of dead wood which is from the 1964 Alaskan Earthquake, a 9.2 on the Richter scale.  Because the area dropped 5 feet, salt water rushed in killing all of the spruces.   Click here for more information.

 We also stopped at a Wildlife park where we were able to see moose, elk, caribou (there are more caribou than people in this area). 

 We took a bus tour telling us more about the Alaskan earthquake---damage was still very visible almost 40 years later.  Ships no longer come to Anchorage after the earthquake but with tides of 35 feet, I can't imagine the large cruise ships managing it.

 We also had some time to walk around Anchorage.  The cruise lines had a large terminal in Anchorage where we could check our luggage or just sit waiting for our flights.  We had been told that Mt. Ranier is rarely seen from the ground----thousands are disappointed.  But, as we were leaving Alaska, there it was reaching out past the clouds.

It was a great vacation---we look forward to going again sometime. 

Alaska 2002 Part III

 After lunch on June 14, we went on my favorite excursion---a helicopter ride to a glacier in Skagway, Alaska.

 I was a little nervous about taking Dave out on ice, but we had no problems.  We were all given special boots and spiked canes.  And, yes, the people in the background have on shorts.  The temperature at the ship was in the 80's.

 The glaciers weren't really slippery---they were more like chunks of popcorn sized ice with rocks embedded.

 We were able to fly over the glaciers, but also saw the Chilkoot Trail.

 Having just read a book on the Alaskan Gold Rush, I could appreciate how difficult that pass must have been.

 June 15 was one of our days at sea---we cruised Glacier Bay.  The onboard naturalist told us periodically where the glaciers had been with the various explorers.  The retreat of the glaciers was astonishing.

 We saw glaciers "calving" into the water and otters floating on chunks of ice.

 It was a bit cooler with the temperature in the 60's, but a cold wind made it feel cooler.

The next day, we cruised the College Fjord.

Alaska 2002 Part II

 June 13, 2002 found us in sunny Juneau, Alaska where we visited a Rainforest Glacier Park with dead trees planted upside down with beautiful flowers.

 Other trees were carved out.  We returned to the ship for lunch and then went on a whale watching excursion--- a 3 hour cruise.

 Although we saw bald eagles, harbor seals, seal lions, Dall's porpoise and at least 3 whales, they were all difficult to photograph with my 2002 camera.  Next time, I'll do better.

Skagway on June 14 was sunny and in the 80's.  We went on a train on the White Pass Railroad

 Beverages and snacks were provided.  When we reached the summit, we all turned around, crossed the aisle so everyone had a window view either coming or going.

This train trip was wonderful, but that afternoon, we did something even more wonderful.

Alaska 2002

 I might not have had a blog in 2002, but I still took photos and journalled. So, let's re-wind this blog to June 10, 2002.

 We flew to Minneapolis and then to Vancouver.  The airport was beautiful and reminds me of Munich with all of the glass but has totem poles, beautiful art and evergreen trees.  Behind the art above is water cascading down.  After a brief tour of Vancouver, we arrived on the ship around 3 PM in room A 502.  It was 60 degrees and sunny.

 June 11 was one of our days "at sea".  We saw a slide show on whales and watched where we were on the map on the TV in our room.

 We walked around the deck and sat in our room watching the scenery off our balcony.

 On June 12 (our 31st anniversary), we arrived in Ketchikan.

 We were apparently there on one of their rare sunny days---see the rain gauge above.

 We went to the Saxman Village, saw totem poles and Native American dancers. 

 It was OK, but I would have been happy getting a trolley ride and riding around.

At dinner we were about to have dessert when people started standing up and rushing to the windows.  I saw just the hump of an Orca.  We could tell he was close because birds were following to get the left-overs.  I was too far away to get a photo, but above is another view from our balcony.