We just got back from a 12-day trip to the south of Crete, and find ourselves to come home to what seems a different world.
First of all, we didn't even know if we were gonna get home at all due to a general strike in all the public transportation systems (amongst other companies and organisations). We also didn't have tickets to come back, even though I did get a confirmation and everything was paid for. Yep, I had the tickets to go there, but not the ones to come back. We knew this was gonna be trouble at the airport in Crete, but we got there early enough to beat the crowds so they had time to sort it all out.
The financial crisis is taking on proportions beyond belief. While we were gone, our number one bank got into so much trouble that only a government intervention and selling most of it to another bank could save it. Pheww! Maybe I should go and clear my account there? I really don't know what to do, coz there is no telling what the other banks will face. Moving it to another bank sounds just as dangerous as leaving it where it is now.
We try to follow the presidential debates from the US, especially when they're talking about the economic & financial situation of the country and international positioning. Like it or not, the US has a big influence on most other countries worldwide and their economic situation. Import and export are big issues for us europeans, so it's important to know where the candidates stand.
Being in the south of Crete is like being on another planet. Some of the news trinkles through, but mostly, you can be oblivious to what's happening in other parts of the world if you really want to. That's what vacation is all about for us. Forget all the worries, the trouble, etc. and just enjoy the good life down there. :-))
We had some friends from the US join us this time and she's a beader and mixed media artist too so we went looking for interesting items to use. Good grief, she could spot beads a mile away! Too bad we didn't find any really interesting ones. I've been looking for years for the "lucky eye" beads to ward off evil, but so far have found nothing but plastic ones. Wish someone would make really nice glass ones in different sizes for a reasonable price....
We went on little trips to some remote beaches (we drove there, the men walked to some), had a whale of a time swimming (yes, pun intended...LOL), had a great greek lunch at a local primitive beach bar and went hunting for some nice beach stones. I came home with a bunch of them to get me through winter. It'll be fun working on some more Cretan Beach Stone Pendants and remembering the good time we had there when the weather turns dark and cold here. :-))
Yesterday we went to get our kitties from the cat hotel. We've been going there for 11 years now and they too miss the kitty we lost in April. But for the new kitten, it was a new experience. Well, for the owners it was a new experience too. No cat ever broke out of the cages, but our kitten managed to do just that. Of course. The lady owner nearly had a heart attack when she discovered that! The kitten disappeared for 4 days, the owners tore up the whole place to find her, but she was hidden pretty well. They found her hiding under the roof tiles, but she still didn't want to come out. They were ready to have a company come over to get her out of there, when she finally felt hungry enough to sneak back into the cage behind their back. Our other kitty sat in the cage waiting patiently to see how this all would end. Guess she knew she didn't have to worry about the little one getting out and lost. She must have known where she was and that she'd come back. I'm sure this ordeal has cost the owners 10 years of their lives!! LOL
Believe it or not, the kitten is purring on my lap right now, and looking very innocent. How can we be mad at a little one that looks so cute??? Aaaahhh, at least she's back, and all is well again. Pheww!!
I'm sure next time we call the cat hotel they'll say "we're full, so sorry"..... I wouldn't blame them.... LOL
Hugs,
Wezz
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Sunday, May 28, 2006
Get your kicks...
Driving from Chicago to Galesburg gives you the opportunity to follow a part of the legendary Route 66, which starts at Jackson Boulevard. We found a turn by turn description of the whole Route 66 on the internet. This is awesome because it tells you exactly where to drive in order to follow the Route 66. It even specifies all the different alignments where applicable. Jan printed out both the sections that were applicable to our trip; from Chicago to Bloomington, where we would have to leave the Route 66 to head for Peoria and added the whole she-bang to his famous road book. :-))
So, there we were, ready to hit the Route 66, with some nice belgian rock music in the CD player. This was going to be great fun, if it wasn't for the pouring rain that has followed us all the way from Chicago. :-(((
And the temperatures were like the winters in Belgium!!
Why??? Why us??? I've never seen the Route 66 in the rain in any movie!! It's always blazing hot when we get to see it on the screen!! Oh well...
I guess we must be just about the only people on the globe that have been sailing the Route 66 instead of driving. Get your kicks... yeah, right. I'd put a LOL here, but it wasn't that funny at the time really. Now I guess we'll just have to go back so we can see the Route 66 in sunlight one day, right??? Heheh.
Most of the directions were really accurate, except at one point where we couldn't find the right turn. But we caught the Route 66 back again only a few miles further.
Our little side excursion to find the right route drove us through a neighborhood with really really really big big big houses. Almost like the ones Manda showed us in Dubois! Wonder who can afford them in areas where there is just nothing???
I was sitting next to Jan and reading aloud the directions from the road book to him. At one point it said to look for old telephone poles... as if we know what old telephone poles look like! There wasn't a description or picture of them and they probably won't look like european ones, will they?? So, these old poles, how do we recognize them?? Do they have grey hair, or what? When we finally saw the old telephone poles, we kinda knew what it meant!! :-)
They were all crooked and none of them stood straight. And yes, they looked OLD too. They were very short as well. No wonder the indians could cut the "singing wires of the pale faces" in earlier times. (ggg)
Maybe that is why the new telphone poles are a lot higher now. Haha!!
Because of the terrible weather, the many turns, some really small and narrow streets to be followed, and the inevitable road works at various spots, we didn't progress as fast as we thought we would be. We abandoned the Route 66 a little earlier then foreseen to hit the I-55 to Bloomington, and then another interstate route to Peoria and Galesburg. Where the rain followed us the whole time.
Get some rain on Route 66.... LOLOL
Hugs,
Wezz
So, there we were, ready to hit the Route 66, with some nice belgian rock music in the CD player. This was going to be great fun, if it wasn't for the pouring rain that has followed us all the way from Chicago. :-(((
And the temperatures were like the winters in Belgium!!
Why??? Why us??? I've never seen the Route 66 in the rain in any movie!! It's always blazing hot when we get to see it on the screen!! Oh well...
I guess we must be just about the only people on the globe that have been sailing the Route 66 instead of driving. Get your kicks... yeah, right. I'd put a LOL here, but it wasn't that funny at the time really. Now I guess we'll just have to go back so we can see the Route 66 in sunlight one day, right??? Heheh.
Most of the directions were really accurate, except at one point where we couldn't find the right turn. But we caught the Route 66 back again only a few miles further.
Our little side excursion to find the right route drove us through a neighborhood with really really really big big big houses. Almost like the ones Manda showed us in Dubois! Wonder who can afford them in areas where there is just nothing???
I was sitting next to Jan and reading aloud the directions from the road book to him. At one point it said to look for old telephone poles... as if we know what old telephone poles look like! There wasn't a description or picture of them and they probably won't look like european ones, will they?? So, these old poles, how do we recognize them?? Do they have grey hair, or what? When we finally saw the old telephone poles, we kinda knew what it meant!! :-)
They were all crooked and none of them stood straight. And yes, they looked OLD too. They were very short as well. No wonder the indians could cut the "singing wires of the pale faces" in earlier times. (ggg)
Maybe that is why the new telphone poles are a lot higher now. Haha!!
Because of the terrible weather, the many turns, some really small and narrow streets to be followed, and the inevitable road works at various spots, we didn't progress as fast as we thought we would be. We abandoned the Route 66 a little earlier then foreseen to hit the I-55 to Bloomington, and then another interstate route to Peoria and Galesburg. Where the rain followed us the whole time.
Get some rain on Route 66.... LOLOL
Hugs,
Wezz
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
The rainy city
On our way from Shipshewana to Chicago we caught the I-80/I-90 tollway again in order to regain some of the extra time spent in Shipshewana. Jan's time schedule gets screwed up easily when we stay longer than he planned. It's just that he never tells me his time schedule... LOL
When entering the tollway there was only one (yes, one!) toll booth open to take a toll ticket. To our surprise the ticket was distributed manually (usually you have to push a button to get the ticket) by a very funny red haired and moustashed guy. The conversation went something like this:
"Hi there,thank you so much for choosing my toll booth. Where are you folks heading?"
"We're going to Chicago"
"Ooh, have a nice trip. Will I see you again tomorrow?"
"We seriously doubt that! We're only for 2 nights in Chicago and will then be heading for Galesburg after that."
"Oh what a pitty ! But have a nice trip anyway. And thanks again for using my tollway!"
Or how you can turn a dull boring job in the pouring rain into something funny!
Some people warned us about heavy and difficult traffic to get to downtown Chicago. What was that supposed to mean???? Even the massive roadworks don't make the rush hour stop. Traffic was slow, but still we advanced. You should see this in Brussels!!! This is regular traffic there, so you can imagine the rush hour!!
So finding the hotel downtown Chicago was just a piece of cake, thanks to Jan's very good roadbook of course :-)
Once settled in in the hotel we had a short nap and then went for a drink at the hotel bar, then we went out for dinner to the Hard Rock Cafe (Jan's favorite, you know, and he's even got a membership card now!! LOL). The Hard Rock Café was right across the hotel so Jan was a happy camper!
Right across on the other side of the HRC there was that all american FOOD chain McDonalds. The biggest one we ever saw. It sure was funny to see several limousines pull up there.... LOL
After dinner we went to the "Blue Chicago", a blues bar just around the corner of the hotel. The live music was fabulous, if you like blues, but we didn't stay till late because we were kind of tired. An extra hour in the day will do that to you I guess. It was kinda neat though to cross the time zone near South Bend and gain an hour that day, so that meant that the time spent in Shipshewana wasn't too much after all (all according to Jan's schedule of course). But I know that even if it had meant we would only have arrived at the hotel at midnight or so, we still wouldn't wanna have missed any of the laughter while meeting Sallyann and her friend!! He told me so. Oh and I wouldn't wanna have missed the local stamp store where I could shop and shop without him complaining!!!! LOLOLOL
The next morning I called Judy to see if she was gonna come and meet us for lunch or dinner somewhere as we had been making undefined plans in that direction way before. We had been looking forward to meeting each other for a long time now! But unfortunately she had a family emergency that day, so she couldn't make it, but at least we talked on the phone!! She sounded like a NICE lady!!
In fact, all those that I've talked to on the phone or met in real life are really NICE people!! :-))
Our plans to visit Chicago that day literally fell into the water. First it was just raining but that turned soon in real showering. :-(((
And strong wind!! We experienced in real life why they call Chicago the "Windy City"!! Another one of my weird pictures: a broken umbrella in a trash can. LOL :-)
After all this picture kinda sums up our big day out in Chicago. hahaha!!!
We walked along the Magnificent Mile for a while, before sheltering in a large mall somewhere near the John Hancock building.
Then we went to see the lobby of the Drake hotel. Wooow! Jan had stayed here for a
whole week for his job some years ago. Wooooow again! By then we needed some warming up and went for a cup of hot coffee at... you guessed it.... a Starbuck's of course!!
Then we walked some more along the Magnificent Mile. Hey, we weren't gonna let the bad weather beat us!!! We were there to visit the city, and by golly, that's what we were gonna do!! We got soaked to the bone, but there was no stopping us!! Oh no!! LOL
We wanted to see the city, not the insides of a museum, or the Shedd Aquarium. Besides, Jan had already been to the Shedd so I wanted to do something that was new to him too, and not bore him with old stuff. Although I bet he would have liked to show me all the things he had seen back then. :-))
Finally we did get tired of walking in the rain and we were freezing (it was only 35 degrees, I don't know what that converts to in Celsius, but it's COLD; let me tell you that!!) so we took a taxi to the city hall, and from there went to have lunch at the famous Giordano's, near Sears Tower. Apparently THE pizza place in Chicago. But it doesn't even come close to Luis' pizza at the Il Fornello pizzeria in our home town. Janet knows how good THAT pizza is from several occasions already. She even invited Luis to come to Texas!
Because you couldn't see even half of Sears Tower, the clouds covered the top completely, and we wouldn't get a nice view of the city in the rain anyway, we decided NOT to go to the top. Instead we took a ride with the "EL" train which we know from films and TV series like ER. Told you we were gonna do something that most tourists wouldn't do, and by the looks of some of the people that used the "EL" I can see why too.... We still had fun though!! (grin)
After that we took the bus to see some sightseeing while staying dry. Boy, that
was a phenomenal mistake! First we waited like FOREVER at three different bus stops as it wasn't very clear to us which bus would stop where. Some were passing by the numbers, others (the one we think we needed) we didn't get to see even once. Finally we did catch a bus that would take us at least close to the hotel. But sightseeing on the bus???? Noooooooo.... We couldn't see anything through the windows because of the humidity, so we returned to the hotel.
Oh yes, btw, I took a picture of a USPS truck as a tribute for all the swaps these guys carry around for us! Guess that's another one of my "weird" pictures!! Jan saw me run out in the rain to take a picture and wondered what I was doing. But he got it fast when I explained it to him. He said "of course you need that picture!" LOL
That evening we went for dinner in a nearby mexican restaurant. Very nearby, coz it was still pouring. When we entered two staff members were chatting and just before us a family of 5 had entered. Neither of them got up to show them or us to our tables. Up til now we've always been treated in a really nice way in any place we went to eat. Not this time.
When we finally were seated and got the menu, we got our waitress for that evening. We jokingly said to each other they must have forgotten to give her laugh muscles in her face at birth. Even the littlest of smiles seemed too much. For someone living of tips, that seemed very strange to us. Usually waiters/waitresses are very conscious of "their" tables and will make sure everything is okay. This time we had to ask for just about everything, usually calling another waiter, coz our waitress seemed to have disappeared. Then I went to the restrooms and passed the last table in the row. There she was!! Chatting with her colleagues and not paying attention to any of her customers anymore. I very well know that when you start chatting time seems to fly, heck, I'll be the first to admit that. But I expect them to do that in their own free time, not on the job, not while customers are waiting on the check to come, which we had to ask for by calling yet another one of the waiters. Well, her non-service attitude showed in the tip of course. We aren't even used to the tipping system, so this was even more strange. We don't have the tipping system in Belgium, the prices on the menu are tax AND service included. Doesn't mean you can't leave a tip, but it's not common practice.
Ohhhh and then something else that got us puzzled in most of the eating places we had gone to already on our trip. When you see the menu you first get the list of the appetizers or starters, right? And then they mention a list of "entrees"??????
Bwahahahaha!!!! "Entree" is the french word for starter, and that is what you'll find on most menus in Belgium for the starters!!! I thought they would call the bigger plates the main course or something like that. Imagine us flipping through the menu several times trying to find these. It sure gives us a giggle each time we see this!! LOLOL
Hugs,
Wezz
When entering the tollway there was only one (yes, one!) toll booth open to take a toll ticket. To our surprise the ticket was distributed manually (usually you have to push a button to get the ticket) by a very funny red haired and moustashed guy. The conversation went something like this:
"Hi there,thank you so much for choosing my toll booth. Where are you folks heading?"
"We're going to Chicago"
"Ooh, have a nice trip. Will I see you again tomorrow?"
"We seriously doubt that! We're only for 2 nights in Chicago and will then be heading for Galesburg after that."
"Oh what a pitty ! But have a nice trip anyway. And thanks again for using my tollway!"
Or how you can turn a dull boring job in the pouring rain into something funny!
Some people warned us about heavy and difficult traffic to get to downtown Chicago. What was that supposed to mean???? Even the massive roadworks don't make the rush hour stop. Traffic was slow, but still we advanced. You should see this in Brussels!!! This is regular traffic there, so you can imagine the rush hour!!
So finding the hotel downtown Chicago was just a piece of cake, thanks to Jan's very good roadbook of course :-)
Once settled in in the hotel we had a short nap and then went for a drink at the hotel bar, then we went out for dinner to the Hard Rock Cafe (Jan's favorite, you know, and he's even got a membership card now!! LOL). The Hard Rock Café was right across the hotel so Jan was a happy camper!
Right across on the other side of the HRC there was that all american FOOD chain McDonalds. The biggest one we ever saw. It sure was funny to see several limousines pull up there.... LOL
After dinner we went to the "Blue Chicago", a blues bar just around the corner of the hotel. The live music was fabulous, if you like blues, but we didn't stay till late because we were kind of tired. An extra hour in the day will do that to you I guess. It was kinda neat though to cross the time zone near South Bend and gain an hour that day, so that meant that the time spent in Shipshewana wasn't too much after all (all according to Jan's schedule of course). But I know that even if it had meant we would only have arrived at the hotel at midnight or so, we still wouldn't wanna have missed any of the laughter while meeting Sallyann and her friend!! He told me so. Oh and I wouldn't wanna have missed the local stamp store where I could shop and shop without him complaining!!!! LOLOLOL
The next morning I called Judy to see if she was gonna come and meet us for lunch or dinner somewhere as we had been making undefined plans in that direction way before. We had been looking forward to meeting each other for a long time now! But unfortunately she had a family emergency that day, so she couldn't make it, but at least we talked on the phone!! She sounded like a NICE lady!!
In fact, all those that I've talked to on the phone or met in real life are really NICE people!! :-))
Our plans to visit Chicago that day literally fell into the water. First it was just raining but that turned soon in real showering. :-(((
And strong wind!! We experienced in real life why they call Chicago the "Windy City"!! Another one of my weird pictures: a broken umbrella in a trash can. LOL :-)
After all this picture kinda sums up our big day out in Chicago. hahaha!!!
We walked along the Magnificent Mile for a while, before sheltering in a large mall somewhere near the John Hancock building.
Then we went to see the lobby of the Drake hotel. Wooow! Jan had stayed here for a
whole week for his job some years ago. Wooooow again! By then we needed some warming up and went for a cup of hot coffee at... you guessed it.... a Starbuck's of course!!
Then we walked some more along the Magnificent Mile. Hey, we weren't gonna let the bad weather beat us!!! We were there to visit the city, and by golly, that's what we were gonna do!! We got soaked to the bone, but there was no stopping us!! Oh no!! LOL
We wanted to see the city, not the insides of a museum, or the Shedd Aquarium. Besides, Jan had already been to the Shedd so I wanted to do something that was new to him too, and not bore him with old stuff. Although I bet he would have liked to show me all the things he had seen back then. :-))
Finally we did get tired of walking in the rain and we were freezing (it was only 35 degrees, I don't know what that converts to in Celsius, but it's COLD; let me tell you that!!) so we took a taxi to the city hall, and from there went to have lunch at the famous Giordano's, near Sears Tower. Apparently THE pizza place in Chicago. But it doesn't even come close to Luis' pizza at the Il Fornello pizzeria in our home town. Janet knows how good THAT pizza is from several occasions already. She even invited Luis to come to Texas!
Because you couldn't see even half of Sears Tower, the clouds covered the top completely, and we wouldn't get a nice view of the city in the rain anyway, we decided NOT to go to the top. Instead we took a ride with the "EL" train which we know from films and TV series like ER. Told you we were gonna do something that most tourists wouldn't do, and by the looks of some of the people that used the "EL" I can see why too.... We still had fun though!! (grin)
After that we took the bus to see some sightseeing while staying dry. Boy, that
was a phenomenal mistake! First we waited like FOREVER at three different bus stops as it wasn't very clear to us which bus would stop where. Some were passing by the numbers, others (the one we think we needed) we didn't get to see even once. Finally we did catch a bus that would take us at least close to the hotel. But sightseeing on the bus???? Noooooooo.... We couldn't see anything through the windows because of the humidity, so we returned to the hotel.
Oh yes, btw, I took a picture of a USPS truck as a tribute for all the swaps these guys carry around for us! Guess that's another one of my "weird" pictures!! Jan saw me run out in the rain to take a picture and wondered what I was doing. But he got it fast when I explained it to him. He said "of course you need that picture!" LOL
That evening we went for dinner in a nearby mexican restaurant. Very nearby, coz it was still pouring. When we entered two staff members were chatting and just before us a family of 5 had entered. Neither of them got up to show them or us to our tables. Up til now we've always been treated in a really nice way in any place we went to eat. Not this time.
When we finally were seated and got the menu, we got our waitress for that evening. We jokingly said to each other they must have forgotten to give her laugh muscles in her face at birth. Even the littlest of smiles seemed too much. For someone living of tips, that seemed very strange to us. Usually waiters/waitresses are very conscious of "their" tables and will make sure everything is okay. This time we had to ask for just about everything, usually calling another waiter, coz our waitress seemed to have disappeared. Then I went to the restrooms and passed the last table in the row. There she was!! Chatting with her colleagues and not paying attention to any of her customers anymore. I very well know that when you start chatting time seems to fly, heck, I'll be the first to admit that. But I expect them to do that in their own free time, not on the job, not while customers are waiting on the check to come, which we had to ask for by calling yet another one of the waiters. Well, her non-service attitude showed in the tip of course. We aren't even used to the tipping system, so this was even more strange. We don't have the tipping system in Belgium, the prices on the menu are tax AND service included. Doesn't mean you can't leave a tip, but it's not common practice.
Ohhhh and then something else that got us puzzled in most of the eating places we had gone to already on our trip. When you see the menu you first get the list of the appetizers or starters, right? And then they mention a list of "entrees"??????
Bwahahahaha!!!! "Entree" is the french word for starter, and that is what you'll find on most menus in Belgium for the starters!!! I thought they would call the bigger plates the main course or something like that. Imagine us flipping through the menu several times trying to find these. It sure gives us a giggle each time we see this!! LOLOL
Hugs,
Wezz
Thursday, May 18, 2006
The most recommended place
Hi all,
After staying at Fremont for the night we drove to Shipshewana. This was the place that was most recommended by my online friends, AND I got a chance at meeting one of them there too!!
We took the toll way on the I80 and in Jamestown, Indiana, we left the interstate to go a bit to the south to catch the US20 until we reached Shipshewana. It struck us as very odd to see so many big trucks on this road while the Interstate is almost next to it. We would think that heavy traffic like that would take the bigger road.
Before we had left home, we had made arrangements to meet Sallyann and a friend (called Jan btw, so to avoid any confusion I won't mention her name again... LOL... If I remember correctly it was short for Janice) at Yoder's in Shipshewana. At Yoder's we waited for half an hour wondering who could be Sallyann. Neither of us knew what the other looked like. I only knew she was coming with a friend. I had gone up to one of the store owners to ask if there was a way to page her, but no such luck. Paging in Shipshewana amongst the Amish?? I should have known better of course. They were extremely helpful though and within the mall they walked us from one place to another to say that we were "the belgian couple" just in case someone would mention something like that to them. Then they'd know who we were and could point us out. Finally a light bulb went off in my head!! I got out a marker and piece of paper and wrote my name on it and pinned it on my shirt in hopes that Sallyann would see it. I started walking around through all the stores and making sure everyone saw the sign. In the mean time Jan was getting very bored of the waiting and started studying the city map of Shipshewana. And guess what??? He found that right across the street, there was another mall called Yoder's!!!! So we went to check that out. Oh yeah, of course we had been waiting at the wrong Yoder's!! We had a kind of déja vu feeling with this incident. Many many years ago we had a rendez-vous with some dutch friends in a small belgian village at the church entrance. We couldn't possibly miss each other that way. But guess what?? There were TWO churches in that small village!! It looks like are born for this kind of funny situations, doesn't it?? LOL
When we came in to the other Yoder's we immediately saw a sign saying "hi Wezz" so we knew we were in the right place this time. :-))
Me standing there with a large sign with my name on it, and Sallyann and her friend sitting on a bench with a big sign too immediately broke the ice. We laughed from minute one and didn't stop anymore, right up until the end of our visit there!! They told us they had been so worried we might have been caught in a very bad traffic accident on the I80 which resulted in both directions being closed. So, THAT explained all the big trucks and heavy traffic on the US20!!! Guess we were lucky to get off the I80 when we did!!!
We had lunch with Sallyann and her friend at a local restaurant where we exchanged goodies. Of course, what else, right??? LOL
She gave me the nicest small scrapbook for putting in some of my best pictures of this trip and also a folder with a bunch of pre-stamped images for me to color in. Plus a magazine or two, and a stamp or two....
After lunch we almost ran to the local stamp store run by Amish. Yet another big mistake according to Jan. Our bellies were already aching from all the laughter and it only got worse, but we just had soooo much fun!! The stamp store didn't look like I would have expected a stamp store to look like on the outside. But since there are no stamp stores in Belgium, of course, I wouldn't even know what a stamp store should look like anyway. hahaha!!
Inside, the store was very well organized with the bargains right in front... (ggg)
The amish guy jokingly told us we could get bigger baskets if needed, and I was the good girl saying "no thanks, I can't, my husband is here with me"... ROTFLOL!!
I found some Ancient Page inks on the bargain table. Regular price was already less than half the price in Belgium and they were 50% off!!! Wow!!
The stamps were very neatly organized, with the mounted ones categorized and the unmounted ones right next to their mounted counterpart, so you could immediately see the image. No fooling around with a mirror or guessing what it might look like. Also very easy to see if they were out of some unmounted images. I got just a few... LOL
One of them was a squirrel, I was so happy to find that one!! :-))
Jan didn't even complain about my shopping there, and when I later asked him about that, he said "well, I could see things were cheaper there, so it didn't really bother me". HUH????? Is this MY Jan???? I couldn't believe my ears!!
I then proceeded to explain that most craft things are cheaper here than at home, if I can even get them at all. He said I shouldn't push my luck.... hmmm... LOL
The Amish people at the store were really interested to know what life is like in Belgium, how come we speak so many languages, and how come I could understand his "Amish talk" too. I believe he said it was Pennsylvania Dutch, but I could be mistaken. It sounded like german to me. But because he said "dutch" I thought he might understand me too as that is my mothertongue. But alas, he didn't, though his wife kinda did. Probably the Pennsylvania Dutch is actually "deutsch" which is german and would explain why he spoke some form of german to me.
When we were done shopping, Sallyann drove us back with her real american Cadillac car to where our real american Suzuki was parked and it was time to say our goodbyes. With lots of pictures, more laughs and hugs of course!! Sallyann tried real hard to convince Jan to come back again to visit soon!!
Well, I wouldn't mind at all!! (ggg)
When we left Shipshewana it had just started to rain. Blèch, feels too much like belgian weather!! I like a lot of things belgian, like chocolates for instance, but I'm not that fond of the rain!! LOL
We had spent a lot more time in Shipshewana than planned (more Jan's plans than mine, I never mind staying longer... LOL), but had so much fun that we didn't really mind. Especially since driving to Chicago that day we crossed a time zone and gained an extra hour that way!! Ain't that nice??? LOL
hugs,
Wezz
After staying at Fremont for the night we drove to Shipshewana. This was the place that was most recommended by my online friends, AND I got a chance at meeting one of them there too!!
We took the toll way on the I80 and in Jamestown, Indiana, we left the interstate to go a bit to the south to catch the US20 until we reached Shipshewana. It struck us as very odd to see so many big trucks on this road while the Interstate is almost next to it. We would think that heavy traffic like that would take the bigger road.
Before we had left home, we had made arrangements to meet Sallyann and a friend (called Jan btw, so to avoid any confusion I won't mention her name again... LOL... If I remember correctly it was short for Janice) at Yoder's in Shipshewana. At Yoder's we waited for half an hour wondering who could be Sallyann. Neither of us knew what the other looked like. I only knew she was coming with a friend. I had gone up to one of the store owners to ask if there was a way to page her, but no such luck. Paging in Shipshewana amongst the Amish?? I should have known better of course. They were extremely helpful though and within the mall they walked us from one place to another to say that we were "the belgian couple" just in case someone would mention something like that to them. Then they'd know who we were and could point us out. Finally a light bulb went off in my head!! I got out a marker and piece of paper and wrote my name on it and pinned it on my shirt in hopes that Sallyann would see it. I started walking around through all the stores and making sure everyone saw the sign. In the mean time Jan was getting very bored of the waiting and started studying the city map of Shipshewana. And guess what??? He found that right across the street, there was another mall called Yoder's!!!! So we went to check that out. Oh yeah, of course we had been waiting at the wrong Yoder's!! We had a kind of déja vu feeling with this incident. Many many years ago we had a rendez-vous with some dutch friends in a small belgian village at the church entrance. We couldn't possibly miss each other that way. But guess what?? There were TWO churches in that small village!! It looks like are born for this kind of funny situations, doesn't it?? LOL
When we came in to the other Yoder's we immediately saw a sign saying "hi Wezz" so we knew we were in the right place this time. :-))
Me standing there with a large sign with my name on it, and Sallyann and her friend sitting on a bench with a big sign too immediately broke the ice. We laughed from minute one and didn't stop anymore, right up until the end of our visit there!! They told us they had been so worried we might have been caught in a very bad traffic accident on the I80 which resulted in both directions being closed. So, THAT explained all the big trucks and heavy traffic on the US20!!! Guess we were lucky to get off the I80 when we did!!!
We had lunch with Sallyann and her friend at a local restaurant where we exchanged goodies. Of course, what else, right??? LOL
She gave me the nicest small scrapbook for putting in some of my best pictures of this trip and also a folder with a bunch of pre-stamped images for me to color in. Plus a magazine or two, and a stamp or two....
After lunch we almost ran to the local stamp store run by Amish. Yet another big mistake according to Jan. Our bellies were already aching from all the laughter and it only got worse, but we just had soooo much fun!! The stamp store didn't look like I would have expected a stamp store to look like on the outside. But since there are no stamp stores in Belgium, of course, I wouldn't even know what a stamp store should look like anyway. hahaha!!
Inside, the store was very well organized with the bargains right in front... (ggg)
The amish guy jokingly told us we could get bigger baskets if needed, and I was the good girl saying "no thanks, I can't, my husband is here with me"... ROTFLOL!!
I found some Ancient Page inks on the bargain table. Regular price was already less than half the price in Belgium and they were 50% off!!! Wow!!
The stamps were very neatly organized, with the mounted ones categorized and the unmounted ones right next to their mounted counterpart, so you could immediately see the image. No fooling around with a mirror or guessing what it might look like. Also very easy to see if they were out of some unmounted images. I got just a few... LOL
One of them was a squirrel, I was so happy to find that one!! :-))
Jan didn't even complain about my shopping there, and when I later asked him about that, he said "well, I could see things were cheaper there, so it didn't really bother me". HUH????? Is this MY Jan???? I couldn't believe my ears!!
I then proceeded to explain that most craft things are cheaper here than at home, if I can even get them at all. He said I shouldn't push my luck.... hmmm... LOL
The Amish people at the store were really interested to know what life is like in Belgium, how come we speak so many languages, and how come I could understand his "Amish talk" too. I believe he said it was Pennsylvania Dutch, but I could be mistaken. It sounded like german to me. But because he said "dutch" I thought he might understand me too as that is my mothertongue. But alas, he didn't, though his wife kinda did. Probably the Pennsylvania Dutch is actually "deutsch" which is german and would explain why he spoke some form of german to me.
When we were done shopping, Sallyann drove us back with her real american Cadillac car to where our real american Suzuki was parked and it was time to say our goodbyes. With lots of pictures, more laughs and hugs of course!! Sallyann tried real hard to convince Jan to come back again to visit soon!!
Well, I wouldn't mind at all!! (ggg)
When we left Shipshewana it had just started to rain. Blèch, feels too much like belgian weather!! I like a lot of things belgian, like chocolates for instance, but I'm not that fond of the rain!! LOL
We had spent a lot more time in Shipshewana than planned (more Jan's plans than mine, I never mind staying longer... LOL), but had so much fun that we didn't really mind. Especially since driving to Chicago that day we crossed a time zone and gained an extra hour that way!! Ain't that nice??? LOL
hugs,
Wezz
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Crafts 'n' Rock
We're still very amazed at the amount of road kill we see along our route. And not just the amount but the SIZE of these things!!!! If you'd hit these head on your car would be total loss!! Or at least in Belgium it would be...
In Belgium we'd have the occasional cat or small dog run over, but nothing
like what we see here. Of course, there's a lot more wildlife here
than in the denser populated Belgium. You'd have to go to the Ardennes
to find some more wildlife, not where we live.
And then the signs that say "FOOD - McDonalds"!! They still crack us up!!
You know, people in Belgium just think good things of you guys??? Everybody there believes americans alllll stick to the speed limits, whether that's on the interstates or on the secundary roads. But not so!!!! Another desillusion... Darn!!
After a good drive we arrived in Akron and I called Debi-Ellen and Stephanie (you know, I gotta use that US phone now!!) to meet them at Hollo's Papercraft in Brunswick, Ohio. Stephanie was already there with her little boy when we arrived
and we started exchanging goodies on a bench outside, so Debi-Ellen could see us when she'd arrive. Of course she drove right past us and had to turn back... LOL
Hugs all around, coz we've known each other for years without ever meeting before!
The fun of exchanging goodies is just indescribable. I know some have mentioned this about me, but it really goes for everyone!! People's faces light up when you give them something nice that may be hard to get for them and even more so when you present them with something handmade. That excitement alone makes this trip worthwhile. Sending goodies is just not the same, coz you can't see their face when they open the package.
But then!!! We went inside the Papercraft Store!! Man, I thought I had died and gone to heaven!!! What an amazing array of cardstock, paper, envelopes, precut cards, and more!! Jan thought this was just yet another one of my biiiiig mistakes. I'm pretty sure this will end up in his top 10 of the big mistakes of this trips... LOL
Back to the paperstore now. I got me some 12x12 cardstock for a scrapbook. I needed black background cardstock for that "crazy" picture of the black truck that I took in the rear side car mirror!!
See, I do plan ahead and know what I'm doing... ahemmmm....
Got just a little bit of sheet sized cardstock, patterned, structured, and whatever I KNOW I won't be able to find back home. Stephanie had to leave early, and her boy didn't think the cardstock was all that exciting, even if we did think so.
I also got some stickers, well, actually they were some kind of photo corners, sooo
pretty!!! And won't they come in handy when I finally get down to actually start scrapping?? LOL
Got some patterned vellum too, just the "had to have" kind. Not my fault!!! LOL
Debi-Ellen just exaggerated on my shopping spree! ;-)
Meanwhile, Jan had gone to a bar next door. No way he was gonna come in with
us for looking at paper. Where's the fun in that, huh?? LOL
He was already waiting for us when we came out the store... Seemed to last like enternity to him, or at least that's what he says. Hmmm....
The plan was to have lunch with Debi-Ellen but we were kinda running short of time (though we agree that we did NOT stay too long in that store, regardless what Jan says!! LOL), so we had to say our goodbyes and head for Cleveland where we visited the Rock 'n' Roll Museum. That was fun!! They also had a section where you could see the development of the equipment used over the years. How the first radio started up until the development of the I-Pod!!Very interesting!! Then of course we hit the museum's store. LOL
Jan was not gonna leave Cleveland without having gone to the Hard Rock Café of course so that's where we went for dinner. Happy me from meeting Debi-Ellen and Stephanie and going to the paper store, happy Jan from visiting the Rock Museum and eating at the Hard Rock Café (and of course buying another t-shirt. See, I'm not the only one with shopping on my mind!!! haha!!). Perfect day for everyone!! :-))
We hit the road again, and around 9:15pm we stopped at Fremont, Ohio, to find some place to sleep. Most places do seem to have wireless internet, so that's nice coz I like to check some e-mails before going to bed. :-)
Addicted?? Who, me???? Naah....
Hugs to all,
Wezz
In Belgium we'd have the occasional cat or small dog run over, but nothing
like what we see here. Of course, there's a lot more wildlife here
than in the denser populated Belgium. You'd have to go to the Ardennes
to find some more wildlife, not where we live.
And then the signs that say "FOOD - McDonalds"!! They still crack us up!!
You know, people in Belgium just think good things of you guys??? Everybody there believes americans alllll stick to the speed limits, whether that's on the interstates or on the secundary roads. But not so!!!! Another desillusion... Darn!!
After a good drive we arrived in Akron and I called Debi-Ellen and Stephanie (you know, I gotta use that US phone now!!) to meet them at Hollo's Papercraft in Brunswick, Ohio. Stephanie was already there with her little boy when we arrived
and we started exchanging goodies on a bench outside, so Debi-Ellen could see us when she'd arrive. Of course she drove right past us and had to turn back... LOL
Hugs all around, coz we've known each other for years without ever meeting before!
The fun of exchanging goodies is just indescribable. I know some have mentioned this about me, but it really goes for everyone!! People's faces light up when you give them something nice that may be hard to get for them and even more so when you present them with something handmade. That excitement alone makes this trip worthwhile. Sending goodies is just not the same, coz you can't see their face when they open the package.
But then!!! We went inside the Papercraft Store!! Man, I thought I had died and gone to heaven!!! What an amazing array of cardstock, paper, envelopes, precut cards, and more!! Jan thought this was just yet another one of my biiiiig mistakes. I'm pretty sure this will end up in his top 10 of the big mistakes of this trips... LOL
Back to the paperstore now. I got me some 12x12 cardstock for a scrapbook. I needed black background cardstock for that "crazy" picture of the black truck that I took in the rear side car mirror!!
See, I do plan ahead and know what I'm doing... ahemmmm....
Got just a little bit of sheet sized cardstock, patterned, structured, and whatever I KNOW I won't be able to find back home. Stephanie had to leave early, and her boy didn't think the cardstock was all that exciting, even if we did think so.
I also got some stickers, well, actually they were some kind of photo corners, sooo
pretty!!! And won't they come in handy when I finally get down to actually start scrapping?? LOL
Got some patterned vellum too, just the "had to have" kind. Not my fault!!! LOL
Debi-Ellen just exaggerated on my shopping spree! ;-)
Meanwhile, Jan had gone to a bar next door. No way he was gonna come in with
us for looking at paper. Where's the fun in that, huh?? LOL
He was already waiting for us when we came out the store... Seemed to last like enternity to him, or at least that's what he says. Hmmm....
The plan was to have lunch with Debi-Ellen but we were kinda running short of time (though we agree that we did NOT stay too long in that store, regardless what Jan says!! LOL), so we had to say our goodbyes and head for Cleveland where we visited the Rock 'n' Roll Museum. That was fun!! They also had a section where you could see the development of the equipment used over the years. How the first radio started up until the development of the I-Pod!!Very interesting!! Then of course we hit the museum's store. LOL
Jan was not gonna leave Cleveland without having gone to the Hard Rock Café of course so that's where we went for dinner. Happy me from meeting Debi-Ellen and Stephanie and going to the paper store, happy Jan from visiting the Rock Museum and eating at the Hard Rock Café (and of course buying another t-shirt. See, I'm not the only one with shopping on my mind!!! haha!!). Perfect day for everyone!! :-))
We hit the road again, and around 9:15pm we stopped at Fremont, Ohio, to find some place to sleep. Most places do seem to have wireless internet, so that's nice coz I like to check some e-mails before going to bed. :-)
Addicted?? Who, me???? Naah....
Hugs to all,
Wezz
Monday, May 15, 2006
Hit the road Jack... err, Jan...
When we left Jennifer's place we drove through the nice scenery of Connecticut, stopping once in a while to take some pictures. Not as often as I wanted though (and this goes for the whole trip), as I can't expect Jan to stop every time I see a good photo opportunity. Kodak moments just happen way too often. LOL
I should have taken a picture of a sign that said "Adopt a Highway Program" while driving through Connecticut. But hopefully I'll get a chance to do that in another state where they have this program too. It's definitely something we don't see in Belgium!! Maybe this has got something to do with the condition of the roads here.
It's just such a smooth drive, nothing like in Belgium. There's got to be a reason for the good condition of the roads here!! In Belgium I could never type on the laptop while on the road, here that's no problem at all. I could never do any crafty stuff of any kind in the car in belgium, here that's no problem at all.
As we were continuing our trip along the Interstate 80 we really enjoyed the views. We can't believe how GREEN this country is!!! Someone had said this might be a boring piece on our road trip but nothing could be further from the thruth. Jan just loves to drive and is now really getting used to driving an automatic. I jokingly
said that once we get home after three weeks he'll need lessons again to learn how to use the manual gear box again of our own car. LOL
We both enjoy looking outside as the world passes us by. The sun is out and everything just looks so much nicer then!! I can imagine this could be a boring part when the weather is not playing nice though. But lucky for us it is!!
Even the ton of roadworks we pass along just about every route we take don't bother us as the traffic is still moving nicely. I took a wonderful picture (okay some may think this is just weird) of a truck that was behind us in the next lane. I took the picture from the truck using the rear side mirror of the car. It was black and all shiny in the sunshine. Very american. :-)
We had booked a room in a bed&breakfast type of place in DuBois, Pennsylvania.
I actually got the address from Manda, one of my many cyberfriends, and I can't thank her enough for pointing us in the direction of that place. If you ever want to go on a short break or little getaway, this is definitely THE place to go to!! Wonderful people run the Narrows Creek Inn, the rooms are absolutely gorgeous, the garden is amazing, and the breakfast... well, what can I say. It was of course home cooked and absolutely de-li-cious!!! Owner Linda brought it to our room even.
And it's only about a mile away from the Interstate 80 too, very easy to find!!!
Check it out here: http://www.narrowscreek.com/
We're just sorry that we didn't get to meet Linda's husband Henry. We were told that he's quite a character!!
After we settled in and I had shopped at their wonderful store (okay I'm running out of more different words to describe this place!!) for some gifts for the family back home, we met up with Manda, a british lady living in Dubois. She took us out for a meal at the local Ruby Tuesdays, we talked and talked like we had known each other for years and years!! Then she took us for a ride and showed us where the rich people live in that area ("Treasure something" - sorry, can't remember the full name of the place). Man, such nice houses!!!!! But not so nice prices.... LOL
Wow, and the deer just walk out on the street and in the front lawns. They're not afraid of people walking by or cars passing on the roads. They just wanted their dinner I guess, they ate all the flowers from the rich folk's gardens. I tried taking a few pictures but by then it was already too dark for that. Of course I had some belgian chocolates for Manda and a british stamping magazine. I don't know if you guys can get these over here or not (I haven't seen them yet), but I hope she likes it anyway. It even comes with a small stamp too!!
After we said our goodbyes we took a long relaxing bath and had a really good night's sleep. First time really since I got here. Guess the first three nights the jetlag and excitement still got the best of me. LOL
Btw, the sleeping is getting better and better with each day now. :-)
In the morning before we left I took loads of pictures of the garden, I already had taken some picture of the room we stayed in, and the amazing shop too!! Heheh, yep, photography happens to be another hobby of mine. (ggg)
I'm sure gonna try to keep in touch with everyone I meet on this trip!! They're just the nicest people!! Or is that just coz they're stampers?? I'm really such a lucky gal to be able to meet them!! :-))
Many hugs,
Wezz
I should have taken a picture of a sign that said "Adopt a Highway Program" while driving through Connecticut. But hopefully I'll get a chance to do that in another state where they have this program too. It's definitely something we don't see in Belgium!! Maybe this has got something to do with the condition of the roads here.
It's just such a smooth drive, nothing like in Belgium. There's got to be a reason for the good condition of the roads here!! In Belgium I could never type on the laptop while on the road, here that's no problem at all. I could never do any crafty stuff of any kind in the car in belgium, here that's no problem at all.
As we were continuing our trip along the Interstate 80 we really enjoyed the views. We can't believe how GREEN this country is!!! Someone had said this might be a boring piece on our road trip but nothing could be further from the thruth. Jan just loves to drive and is now really getting used to driving an automatic. I jokingly
said that once we get home after three weeks he'll need lessons again to learn how to use the manual gear box again of our own car. LOL
We both enjoy looking outside as the world passes us by. The sun is out and everything just looks so much nicer then!! I can imagine this could be a boring part when the weather is not playing nice though. But lucky for us it is!!
Even the ton of roadworks we pass along just about every route we take don't bother us as the traffic is still moving nicely. I took a wonderful picture (okay some may think this is just weird) of a truck that was behind us in the next lane. I took the picture from the truck using the rear side mirror of the car. It was black and all shiny in the sunshine. Very american. :-)
We had booked a room in a bed&breakfast type of place in DuBois, Pennsylvania.
I actually got the address from Manda, one of my many cyberfriends, and I can't thank her enough for pointing us in the direction of that place. If you ever want to go on a short break or little getaway, this is definitely THE place to go to!! Wonderful people run the Narrows Creek Inn, the rooms are absolutely gorgeous, the garden is amazing, and the breakfast... well, what can I say. It was of course home cooked and absolutely de-li-cious!!! Owner Linda brought it to our room even.
And it's only about a mile away from the Interstate 80 too, very easy to find!!!
Check it out here: http://www.narrowscreek.com/
We're just sorry that we didn't get to meet Linda's husband Henry. We were told that he's quite a character!!
After we settled in and I had shopped at their wonderful store (okay I'm running out of more different words to describe this place!!) for some gifts for the family back home, we met up with Manda, a british lady living in Dubois. She took us out for a meal at the local Ruby Tuesdays, we talked and talked like we had known each other for years and years!! Then she took us for a ride and showed us where the rich people live in that area ("Treasure something" - sorry, can't remember the full name of the place). Man, such nice houses!!!!! But not so nice prices.... LOL
Wow, and the deer just walk out on the street and in the front lawns. They're not afraid of people walking by or cars passing on the roads. They just wanted their dinner I guess, they ate all the flowers from the rich folk's gardens. I tried taking a few pictures but by then it was already too dark for that. Of course I had some belgian chocolates for Manda and a british stamping magazine. I don't know if you guys can get these over here or not (I haven't seen them yet), but I hope she likes it anyway. It even comes with a small stamp too!!
After we said our goodbyes we took a long relaxing bath and had a really good night's sleep. First time really since I got here. Guess the first three nights the jetlag and excitement still got the best of me. LOL
Btw, the sleeping is getting better and better with each day now. :-)
In the morning before we left I took loads of pictures of the garden, I already had taken some picture of the room we stayed in, and the amazing shop too!! Heheh, yep, photography happens to be another hobby of mine. (ggg)
I'm sure gonna try to keep in touch with everyone I meet on this trip!! They're just the nicest people!! Or is that just coz they're stampers?? I'm really such a lucky gal to be able to meet them!! :-))
Many hugs,
Wezz
Friday, May 12, 2006
Our first US weekend
Hi all,
well we got settled in, with alllll of our bags, and it was a lot. Jennifer can testify to that. I'm not exactly known as a "light" traveler. LOL
Besides, one of my suitcases looked like I had robbed the chocolate store and the local craft store. No, it didn't look like a stamp store. We don't have dedicated stamp stores over there.... But I did bring loads of belgian chocolate, dutch and UK craft magazines and local craft stuff to swap or as gifts for the people I'd get to meet along the way.
We freshened up, I found out that they have a polish type of shower, you know, where the C stands for Hot and the H stands for Cold... LOL... and then it was time for dinner. The fish Jennifer had prepared was just slightly overseasoned, guess that was a polish thing too, but if husband Bruce hadn't made a comment, we would never have known it wasn't supposed to be like that!! Who are we to know what life is like in an american household?? On this trip we were specifically looking for totally submerging in the american life style if possible, and if that's what they are used to, well, we'll go along with that!! So we didn't even blink and ate that fish. But I think Bruce gave her a restraining order for any further cooking that weekend since he did the cooking for the next two days. LOLOLOL
Bruce's cooking was very good, btw. More on that later. First things first.
While sitting at the dinner table we talked the night away so to speak. There were no awkward silences at all. We were all very interested in each other's life styles and compared how things worked in both countries. It was like we'd known each other for years. Which is true for Jennifer and me, but through e-mail only and that's still something entirely different than spending hours on end together in real life!!
Trust me, the real life experience is waaayyyy better than e-mailing each other!!!
Jan and Bruce got on well too, so that's a bonus for when Jennifer and I started swapping goodies and talking stamps. Heheh.
Am I going to much into detail?? I'm just trying to remember as much details as possible from this trip, and I'll probably read these stories for years to come! Hope it's not too boring for you guys though!!
Anyway, we had been up for quite some time and finally went to bed. Usually I am soooo not a morning person and I even warned the family about that, just in case, but of course I was wide awake by 6am. I blame it on the jetlag. LOL
Though maybe the excitement of going on this trip and the prospect of meeting so many of my online friends might have played a slight role in that too of course... hmmm....
But Bruce was already up too, and we just chatted and chatted and chatted over a cup of coffee... It's amazing that almost perfect strangers would find so much to talk about!!! And it wasn't even about stamping or crafting either!! LOLOLOL
For a three week car trip I wanted to get me a nice large sleeping pillow so I could rest/sleep during the longer parts of the driving, or whenever I'd get real tired. We also needed a cooler box if we wanted the chocolate to survive this trip at least until we'd reach the place where Jan's niece is staying. We have some belgian chocolates for her and her guest family of course. So on Saturday morning Jennifer took us out shopping (another big mistake according to Jan!) for the pillow and the cooler box. I was totally blown away by the cost of some things here!! I had just bought me a large bottle of contacts fluid for this trip and lo and behold, they had the exact same brand and bottle size here!! For less than one third of the price in Belgium. Duh. Of course I'd never leave on a trip without this and I didn't buy one here coz I just got one back home. But I might get one before we head back home though!! Oh, and remind me again why we spent over 50 euros on a battery recharger back home?? Oh yeah, because we needed one to recharge the batteries for the digital camera and the MP3 player, and coz we didn't know we could get that recharger here at Walmart for 7 dollars!!!!!! More duh!!!
There are some plans on getting started on a scrapbook, but I needed something to put the pages and cardstock in so I could get it home without it all getting wrinkly. So Jennifer took us to an AC Moore's. Third big mistake according to Jan. I really felt like a kid in a candy store and was again really amazed at the prices!
The 12" Fiskars cutter was on sale for $9.99; this little baby costs about 35 euros in Belgium. I have one, but was still tempted. I was good though, coz I saw that the stamps were 40% off, so I wanted to spend my money on those!!! LOLOLOL
Also saw a three pack of 3M double sided tape for the price of just one back home.
The price differences are truly mind boggling. Jennifer asked us if we would like to go to a flea market on Sunday morning. Would I LIKE to go??? What a question!! OF COURSE, I'd LOVE to go to one!!! And we invited them for lunch afterwards, as a way of thank you for taking us in for three days. Of course since we didn't know anything there we relied on her to pick a nice place. Suddenly she got all excited and started jumping up and down with twinkles in her eyes saying she knew the perfect spot. A restaurant with a stamp store inside!!! It doesn't get any better than that, does it?? Jan just rolled his eyes... LOL
Bruce's roasted chicken for dinner was like we were out in a restaurant, soooo good!!! And coz Jennifer and me were still busy exchanging more stuff and explaining it to each other, he was on his own for the veggies too that evening. Hahaha!!
The next morning I was up again very early, around 7am this time. Still waaayyy early for me, but hey, it's getting better!! :-)
We went to the flea market with Jennifer and Bruce, and browsed around. It was held at the grounds of a drive-in movie theater, and I hoped I would get to see one. Well at least I got to see it during the day, with the big screen up and the speakers in the parking lot next to the cars. At the flea market I found a leather baseball glove and a baseball as a real american souvenir. Also found the bat, but Jan insisted on "no!".... hmm.....
Jennifer and I found some interesting old books from the forties with nice ads. Some local old business directory book or so from Waterbury. Then we stumbled across some very old handwritten letters from the thirties. When I took my nap in the afternoon they all spent some time reading them, even Jan. Never thought he'd be interested in anything like that, as they turned out to be love letters from a gal named Fran to a certain guy Raymond. Fun to read and what a nice handwriting!!! At one point I was browsing through some stuff at one of the booths when I suddenly saw Jen waving with a stamp in her hand!! Wow!! I almost tripped over in my haste to get to her! Actually husband Bruce had found them, and there were several large boxes to rummage through! I got a few and asked the lady if she would make a deal on those. She took them out of my hands, held them lovingly and kept fondling them while saying to me "oh I so hate to let them go"... Duh, you're selling them!! If you don't want to let go of them, don't put them up for sale, and if you are selling them for whatever reason at a flea market, you gotta be prepared to make some kind of deal on them. Didn't get much off the price, but I still got the stamps... Hahaha!!
I know that one of the stamps I got there would cost around 22euros in Belgium, so I actually never had bought one of that company before. Sad, isn't it??? LOL
Then to top it all off Jennifer showed us the place where we would have lunch, a local restaurant that also has a stamp store inside! There's no words to describe how I felt going in there. It's so different from anything I've every seen before! I was completely overwhelmed! Jan and Bruce got bored and went outside, chatting while they were waiting on Jennifer and me to finish up the shopping. (ggg)
That evening we got a treat: Bruce's famous ribs!! Man, they were sooo good!! I should have asked him to make us some for take away lunch the next day when we would leave. Jennifer and I kept busy swapping treasures with each other until after dinner and FINALLY, we got down to stamping. It's funny how you think you have all the time in the world, after all we were gonna be there the whole weekend, but then time seems to start running away from you and suddenly you realize there's so much more you wanted to have done or said!!
Well, anyway, our first weekend in the US was a complete success and I wouldn't have minded staying longer if we hadn't had all these other plans!!
Thank you so much Jennifer and family, it was a great time together!! :-))
Hugs to all,
Wezz
well we got settled in, with alllll of our bags, and it was a lot. Jennifer can testify to that. I'm not exactly known as a "light" traveler. LOL
Besides, one of my suitcases looked like I had robbed the chocolate store and the local craft store. No, it didn't look like a stamp store. We don't have dedicated stamp stores over there.... But I did bring loads of belgian chocolate, dutch and UK craft magazines and local craft stuff to swap or as gifts for the people I'd get to meet along the way.
We freshened up, I found out that they have a polish type of shower, you know, where the C stands for Hot and the H stands for Cold... LOL... and then it was time for dinner. The fish Jennifer had prepared was just slightly overseasoned, guess that was a polish thing too, but if husband Bruce hadn't made a comment, we would never have known it wasn't supposed to be like that!! Who are we to know what life is like in an american household?? On this trip we were specifically looking for totally submerging in the american life style if possible, and if that's what they are used to, well, we'll go along with that!! So we didn't even blink and ate that fish. But I think Bruce gave her a restraining order for any further cooking that weekend since he did the cooking for the next two days. LOLOLOL
Bruce's cooking was very good, btw. More on that later. First things first.
While sitting at the dinner table we talked the night away so to speak. There were no awkward silences at all. We were all very interested in each other's life styles and compared how things worked in both countries. It was like we'd known each other for years. Which is true for Jennifer and me, but through e-mail only and that's still something entirely different than spending hours on end together in real life!!
Trust me, the real life experience is waaayyyy better than e-mailing each other!!!
Jan and Bruce got on well too, so that's a bonus for when Jennifer and I started swapping goodies and talking stamps. Heheh.
Am I going to much into detail?? I'm just trying to remember as much details as possible from this trip, and I'll probably read these stories for years to come! Hope it's not too boring for you guys though!!
Anyway, we had been up for quite some time and finally went to bed. Usually I am soooo not a morning person and I even warned the family about that, just in case, but of course I was wide awake by 6am. I blame it on the jetlag. LOL
Though maybe the excitement of going on this trip and the prospect of meeting so many of my online friends might have played a slight role in that too of course... hmmm....
But Bruce was already up too, and we just chatted and chatted and chatted over a cup of coffee... It's amazing that almost perfect strangers would find so much to talk about!!! And it wasn't even about stamping or crafting either!! LOLOLOL
For a three week car trip I wanted to get me a nice large sleeping pillow so I could rest/sleep during the longer parts of the driving, or whenever I'd get real tired. We also needed a cooler box if we wanted the chocolate to survive this trip at least until we'd reach the place where Jan's niece is staying. We have some belgian chocolates for her and her guest family of course. So on Saturday morning Jennifer took us out shopping (another big mistake according to Jan!) for the pillow and the cooler box. I was totally blown away by the cost of some things here!! I had just bought me a large bottle of contacts fluid for this trip and lo and behold, they had the exact same brand and bottle size here!! For less than one third of the price in Belgium. Duh. Of course I'd never leave on a trip without this and I didn't buy one here coz I just got one back home. But I might get one before we head back home though!! Oh, and remind me again why we spent over 50 euros on a battery recharger back home?? Oh yeah, because we needed one to recharge the batteries for the digital camera and the MP3 player, and coz we didn't know we could get that recharger here at Walmart for 7 dollars!!!!!! More duh!!!
There are some plans on getting started on a scrapbook, but I needed something to put the pages and cardstock in so I could get it home without it all getting wrinkly. So Jennifer took us to an AC Moore's. Third big mistake according to Jan. I really felt like a kid in a candy store and was again really amazed at the prices!
The 12" Fiskars cutter was on sale for $9.99; this little baby costs about 35 euros in Belgium. I have one, but was still tempted. I was good though, coz I saw that the stamps were 40% off, so I wanted to spend my money on those!!! LOLOLOL
Also saw a three pack of 3M double sided tape for the price of just one back home.
The price differences are truly mind boggling. Jennifer asked us if we would like to go to a flea market on Sunday morning. Would I LIKE to go??? What a question!! OF COURSE, I'd LOVE to go to one!!! And we invited them for lunch afterwards, as a way of thank you for taking us in for three days. Of course since we didn't know anything there we relied on her to pick a nice place. Suddenly she got all excited and started jumping up and down with twinkles in her eyes saying she knew the perfect spot. A restaurant with a stamp store inside!!! It doesn't get any better than that, does it?? Jan just rolled his eyes... LOL
Bruce's roasted chicken for dinner was like we were out in a restaurant, soooo good!!! And coz Jennifer and me were still busy exchanging more stuff and explaining it to each other, he was on his own for the veggies too that evening. Hahaha!!
The next morning I was up again very early, around 7am this time. Still waaayyy early for me, but hey, it's getting better!! :-)
We went to the flea market with Jennifer and Bruce, and browsed around. It was held at the grounds of a drive-in movie theater, and I hoped I would get to see one. Well at least I got to see it during the day, with the big screen up and the speakers in the parking lot next to the cars. At the flea market I found a leather baseball glove and a baseball as a real american souvenir. Also found the bat, but Jan insisted on "no!".... hmm.....
Jennifer and I found some interesting old books from the forties with nice ads. Some local old business directory book or so from Waterbury. Then we stumbled across some very old handwritten letters from the thirties. When I took my nap in the afternoon they all spent some time reading them, even Jan. Never thought he'd be interested in anything like that, as they turned out to be love letters from a gal named Fran to a certain guy Raymond. Fun to read and what a nice handwriting!!! At one point I was browsing through some stuff at one of the booths when I suddenly saw Jen waving with a stamp in her hand!! Wow!! I almost tripped over in my haste to get to her! Actually husband Bruce had found them, and there were several large boxes to rummage through! I got a few and asked the lady if she would make a deal on those. She took them out of my hands, held them lovingly and kept fondling them while saying to me "oh I so hate to let them go"... Duh, you're selling them!! If you don't want to let go of them, don't put them up for sale, and if you are selling them for whatever reason at a flea market, you gotta be prepared to make some kind of deal on them. Didn't get much off the price, but I still got the stamps... Hahaha!!
I know that one of the stamps I got there would cost around 22euros in Belgium, so I actually never had bought one of that company before. Sad, isn't it??? LOL
Then to top it all off Jennifer showed us the place where we would have lunch, a local restaurant that also has a stamp store inside! There's no words to describe how I felt going in there. It's so different from anything I've every seen before! I was completely overwhelmed! Jan and Bruce got bored and went outside, chatting while they were waiting on Jennifer and me to finish up the shopping. (ggg)
That evening we got a treat: Bruce's famous ribs!! Man, they were sooo good!! I should have asked him to make us some for take away lunch the next day when we would leave. Jennifer and I kept busy swapping treasures with each other until after dinner and FINALLY, we got down to stamping. It's funny how you think you have all the time in the world, after all we were gonna be there the whole weekend, but then time seems to start running away from you and suddenly you realize there's so much more you wanted to have done or said!!
Well, anyway, our first weekend in the US was a complete success and I wouldn't have minded staying longer if we hadn't had all these other plans!!
Thank you so much Jennifer and family, it was a great time together!! :-))
Hugs to all,
Wezz
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Close encounter of the US kind
Hi all,
bet you are all getting really anxious to read about the rest of the trip!! Well, let me tell you, it has been a hectic few days!! And would you believe it, we're already 7 (seven!!!! that's a whole week!!) days into our holiday???? Wow, this is just going waaaayyy too fast!! Instead of 3 weeks I wish we could be here for 3 months!! LOL!!
When we got our car (yes, the suzuki...) we went straight ahead to tackle the NYC Friday afternoon traffic. Ya know, when they all head up north to "upstate NY"... Just the direction we were heading of course. But Jan had really done his homework and printed out a whole road book with maps and everything, and wrote down all the numbers/names of streets and highways and expressways we needed. Traffic was heavy, but not worse than rush hour in Brussels. Once we had New York behind us we were quickly on our way to head to Connecticut. The first stop we made along the way was to get us a cell phone so we would be able to call everyone we were gonna meet and maybe for hotel reservations along the way and stuff like that. My cell phone actually works in the US, but for some strange stupid reason I couldn't get the card alone. Noooo, of course not, I needed to buy a phone too, even though the card works in my phone. Duh!! Isn't that stupid?? The shop owner of the Radio Shack tried it in my phone. And he and his co-workers kept checking out my european phone. "oh, look, they did this another way than we're used to".... Well, to us at least it was funny, since we both work for telephone operators. LOL
We went to the Starbucks next door. I had heard so much about these already that I REALLY couldn't pass up the chance to go to one and so soon too!! LOL
But then, I made a mistake, probably the first of many. Since we had almost nothing in the car to drink, I ordered two large coffees. Oh man!! I shouldn't have done that!! I should have remembered that US portions are a LOT bigger than european ones!! This was at least the size of two regular cups for us, so we had to take them with us in the car coz they were just too big to drink right away. Lucky they do have good cups that really keep it warm for a long long time! While we were there I had to try out the cell phone and called Jennifer, the first one we were gonna meet on our trip. Hey, I had to try the phone right then and there, what if something didn't work? I'd have to be able to take it back to the store I bought it to get it sorted! But no worries, it worked perfectly, talked to Jennifer, tried calling Christi and we arrived at Jennifer's house that evening. The dog came running out to greet us. She showed us the room that would be our home for the next 3 nights and had dinner just about ready to serve. We met her wonderful husband Bruce and son Zach (sp?) plus dog Petey and a few cats. They all made us feel right at home!! :-))
Driving up there we really enjoyed the landscape and were totally amazed at the amount of roadkill alongside the interstate roads. We just about cracked up when we saw a sign that said "FOOD - McDONALDS"... We looked at each other and laughed "since when is McDonalds a synonym for food????? LOLOLOL
And funny enough, we passed that same sign at almost every exit on our way. (ggg)
More later guys!! Hopefully soon!
Hugs,
Wezz
bet you are all getting really anxious to read about the rest of the trip!! Well, let me tell you, it has been a hectic few days!! And would you believe it, we're already 7 (seven!!!! that's a whole week!!) days into our holiday???? Wow, this is just going waaaayyy too fast!! Instead of 3 weeks I wish we could be here for 3 months!! LOL!!
When we got our car (yes, the suzuki...) we went straight ahead to tackle the NYC Friday afternoon traffic. Ya know, when they all head up north to "upstate NY"... Just the direction we were heading of course. But Jan had really done his homework and printed out a whole road book with maps and everything, and wrote down all the numbers/names of streets and highways and expressways we needed. Traffic was heavy, but not worse than rush hour in Brussels. Once we had New York behind us we were quickly on our way to head to Connecticut. The first stop we made along the way was to get us a cell phone so we would be able to call everyone we were gonna meet and maybe for hotel reservations along the way and stuff like that. My cell phone actually works in the US, but for some strange stupid reason I couldn't get the card alone. Noooo, of course not, I needed to buy a phone too, even though the card works in my phone. Duh!! Isn't that stupid?? The shop owner of the Radio Shack tried it in my phone. And he and his co-workers kept checking out my european phone. "oh, look, they did this another way than we're used to".... Well, to us at least it was funny, since we both work for telephone operators. LOL
We went to the Starbucks next door. I had heard so much about these already that I REALLY couldn't pass up the chance to go to one and so soon too!! LOL
But then, I made a mistake, probably the first of many. Since we had almost nothing in the car to drink, I ordered two large coffees. Oh man!! I shouldn't have done that!! I should have remembered that US portions are a LOT bigger than european ones!! This was at least the size of two regular cups for us, so we had to take them with us in the car coz they were just too big to drink right away. Lucky they do have good cups that really keep it warm for a long long time! While we were there I had to try out the cell phone and called Jennifer, the first one we were gonna meet on our trip. Hey, I had to try the phone right then and there, what if something didn't work? I'd have to be able to take it back to the store I bought it to get it sorted! But no worries, it worked perfectly, talked to Jennifer, tried calling Christi and we arrived at Jennifer's house that evening. The dog came running out to greet us. She showed us the room that would be our home for the next 3 nights and had dinner just about ready to serve. We met her wonderful husband Bruce and son Zach (sp?) plus dog Petey and a few cats. They all made us feel right at home!! :-))
Driving up there we really enjoyed the landscape and were totally amazed at the amount of roadkill alongside the interstate roads. We just about cracked up when we saw a sign that said "FOOD - McDONALDS"... We looked at each other and laughed "since when is McDonalds a synonym for food????? LOLOLOL
And funny enough, we passed that same sign at almost every exit on our way. (ggg)
More later guys!! Hopefully soon!
Hugs,
Wezz
Friday, March 24, 2006
Starting a blog?
Okay, so now I've created my own blog. Wow. This is daunting, a totally new experience for me!! But I'm sure I'll learn the ropes pretty quickly and hope I can keep up with journaling. I type faster than I write, so I know I won't do it the old fashioned way, except for making a few notes that will be worked in my blog somehow. Hopefully. I don't know how long I can make this happen, but for sure I will share our experiences as a couple of Euros on a road trip through the States. The good, the bad and the ugly.
See ya!
See ya!
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