..but it doesn't look like Honolulu - Part One

If you read my last post you might wonder why I have on a jacket when I am supposed to be in Hawaii. Well, we didn't make it. We fly standby and when we first started looking at the loads a week ago there were seats available...but. I had said I would not turn around and fly back to Tucson and as it turned out we knew before we left Monday morning that we would not make it to Hawaii so we decided to go to London, England. We have never been to Europe so we just packed a little differently. We planned to fly to Atlanta, spend the night and leave for London Tuesday morning. Before we went to sleep Monday night or I should say around midnight we checked the loads to London and surprise - it had changed. Tom was getting a little irritated but I was going with the flow. We thought about Edinburgh - it is one of Delta's new routes and so it looked pretty good. The problem was the hotels there seemed very expensive -- and it was going to be cold, at least colder than London. Neither Tom and I had been north of New York City so we decided on Boston. Now remember we are making all these plans while at the hotel in Atlanta on Mon night - late. We found a hotel - a La Quinta in Andover, Massachusettes, made reservations and made car rental reservations - all over the internet. Yes we both have our laptops with us.


We got up early this morning and drove to Portland, Maine. We got lost trying to find the tour office but we found AAA and stopped there and got maps. It was raining - kind of misty rain - most of the morning. We could have been in Portland, Oregon. Tom took the first picture while we were on the tour. We were at Cape Elizabeth and this is the Portland Head Light, the second oldest lighthouse in the US.



We ate lunch after the tour. I really wanted Maine lobster but instead we ate at Becky's Diner which our tour guide said was a local favorite. We both ordered the special which was Macaroni and cheese with a hot dog - which turned out to be just the weiner.It really was very good and I only ate half of the mac and cheese and then had some pecan pie. For dinner tonight we are having our leftovers from lunch and last nights leftover chicken parmasan.

As we drove back we went on Highway 1 through the small towns. I got excited when I saw the turn for Kennebunkport.



I thought if we just turned east we would find the ocean. We did eventually - I'm not sure what the name of the beach is but here is a picture.




How would you like to live here? This was on our way back from the nameless beach.

More tomorrow.

On The Road Again

We are going to try to get to Honolulu again. We are leaving in the morning for Salt Lake City. We are listed on the standby list and everyday the seats available to Hawaii are fewer. So we are making alternate plans. We can fly to San Francisco from SLC, spend the night then leave for Honolulu Tuesday evening. We already have our reservations in Honolulu and we will lose one nights fee if we don't show up Monday night, but it is still worth it. Actually it would be fun to spend some time in San Francisco. I love that city -and it's cool. Today it is supposed to be close to 100. Have a good Lord's Day.

Ladies Who Lunch

The Washington High School Girl's Class of Winter 60 (Los Angeles, CA) met at the Long Beach Marriot at 11:30 AM last Saturday. What a blast! It was so much fun visiting with women, most of whom I haven't seen in 17 years and some whom I haven't seen since we graduated. I would have to say we looked pretty darn good for our ages, since we have either turned 65 this year or will on our next birthday. I think I was one of the youngest since my birthdy isn't until October - I skipped the B-2. When I went to school in Los Angeles every semester was like a new year. You could actually begin school in February. Thus the B-2, A-2 etc. You changed classrooms and teachers in Sept and Feb. So instead of 6 elementary teachers or 7 with K you had 12 (or 14). We did that all through high school that is why we graduated in Jan.

Probably the biggest topic of conversation was how we are handling turning 65. That and how many husbands! Actually we had a pretty good percentage who are still married to their original spouses, including me. One of the ladies is raising her two grandchildren, one of who is 13- ouch. BTW she is one of the youngest looking ones, maybe there is something to having a young one around. Most of us were retired but some were still working. One of my friends is a secretary at Saddleback Community Church - where Rick Warren preaches. Her husband and I went to Sunday School together when we were in elementay school. He also graduated with our class. Another classmate who couldn't make it sent a letter to pass around - with pictures (then and now). She lives in Reno, NV and couldn't attend because she and her husband had two horses who were racing that day. Another woman retired from Los Angeles City Hall but still goes in (from her home in Palm Springs) 3 days a week - as a consultant. She was secretary (later title change to Administrative assistant) to the mayor(s) of Los Angeles. She started right out of high school. I think I was the only retired teacher, but we had three social workers (one retired, two still working). It was so intersting learning about each other.

I had originally planned to fly home on Sunday but had decided to fly home Saturday. There were seats available on a 5:20 flight out of Orange County and I was sure that would give me enough time. Well, by 3:20 we were still talking. I think we had about 30 women and we were each telling about the last 47 years. We had finished lunch started going around the room reliving our lives, taken a potty break and I had to leave. I think I missed about 4 ladies' stories. Next year I plan to go back and I will definitely stay over until Sunday. Our 50th High School reunion will be held in 2009 with the '59 graduating classes. Several of the women who were there are on that planning committee.