On Our Way-The Sweden Adventure Begins 5/22/13

Dulles DC at the ticket counter for Iceland Air

Doing what we did most of the day, Waiting

When we got to Stockholm, Grandma Peg, Aunt Doods and Lily had to decide how to get to the hotel!

and then Mommy and Sharon asked for directions

Today Sharon picked me up and we drove to Springfield where we stopped to get Peg, Ed and Peg's sister Doody before we headed on to the Dayton Airport.  We were flying United to Dulles in Washington DC where we would then meet up with Trish and the rest of the gang.  This was the beginning of a very long trip to Stockholm.  We boarded in Dayton pretty much on time, after we heard them cancel the Chicago flight that was going out of a neighboring gate.  We taxied out onto the runway and then the waiting game began.  We were told that there were storms in the east near Dulles so we were going to wait for a while before they gave us the all clear. We sat on the plane out on the runway for nearly 1 hour before finally taking off.  Thankfully, we did not have to fly out of DC until 840 so we still had time.  We were hoping that we would get there about the same time as Trish but they were sitting also, sitting in DC traffic.  We finally met up a little after 7 pm, had a burger at Fuddrucker's before boarding our Icelandic Airliner.  We left DC before 9 but once again sat on the runway for nearly 40 minutes or so before we were allowed to take off.  The flight was uneventful.  They had personal entertainment screens at every seat and I chose to watch Argo.  I tried to sleep but probably only got and hour or so in 30 minute increments.  We changed planes in Iceland which appeared to be a very barren landscape with temperatures in the low 30's at 7 a.m.  Once again we had to wait for nearly an hour before we could get airborne.  We figure that we spent well over 3 hours grounded all total.  When we began our descent into Stockholm the weather looked sunny and very nice.  The temperatures were probably in the low 60's with a little drizzle towards late afternoon.  Sweden is about 6 hours ahead of our time.  I am struggling to get this written as I can hardly keep my eyes open.  We took a bus and two different trains before we arrived at our Welcome Hotel.  For supper, we had pizza and it wasn't half bad!  Hoping to head into downtown Stockholm tomorrow while Trish and Chad are at the Race Track.

Riding the Metro Bus

Luke's first train ride

Switching trains, by the end of our trip we will, hopefully, be a little better!

The most welcome sight in 24 hours, our Welcome Hotel in Jarfalla, Sweden

We were all just a little "tuckered"!

Rooms a little small in US standards but very comfortable.

I hope to check out this little convenience store tomorrow.

This is where we had our first Swedish meal, pizza!!

Lily loved her spaghetti and won the clean platter award!

Sharon ordered a pepperoni pizza but we got a cheese pizza with jalapeno  peppers instead.

Monday, May 20

The baby of the family is growing up so fast!



We had a wonderful weekend.  The weather was better than expected and Sara, Matt and Evelyn came up and stayed Saturday and Sunday.  Evie is at that really cute stage where she is so curious and into everything, climbing and even starting to talk.  She is just the cats meow!!  We really miss them when they leave.
I am all packed and ready to leave on my adventure to Sweden.  Be sure to check the blog often over the next two weeks and as long as we have internet, I will attempt to post as often as I can.  I am so excited about what we have planned for the 13 days that we will be gone.  We will be in Stockholm for the first 4 days.  That is when the Elitloppet Race will be going on. (This is the business part of the trip for Trish and Chad) The rest of us will be exploring the sights in and around Stockholm.  Monday afternoon we fly to Ireland and do a whirl-wind tour visiting Cahir, Galway, Cong and Dublin.  On Thursday afternoon we fly to Oslo, Norway and we will be boarding a train early Friday for a tour called Norway in a Nutshell.  It includes a train ride, a cruise in the fjords, a bus and then another train taking us across the country from Oslo to Bergen.  We will be spending the night in Flam at a hostel and doing a 4 hour kayaking trip while we are there.  Brown goat cheese seems to be the major attraction at this stop.  I have always dreamed of seeing the fjords of Norway, so I am especially excited to not only cruise but also kayak through them.

This is Nanuk our travel bug.  Luke and I plan to place him in a cache in Flam, Norway.  Norway is one of 5 countries that have polar bears.  In Norway they are called Isbjorn or the Sea Bear.

Here is Nanuk at the Columbus Zoo.  His mission or goal is to visit as many zoos as possible on his journey from Norway back to his home zoo in Ohio.  We will be able to follow his travels on the Geocaching website.

 

Andy did not want to go on this trip, he is waiting for the one to Australia and New Zealand so he and Molly will be holding down the fort.  That means cutting the grass and feeding the fish and filling my bird feeders.  He has lined up several lunch dates just to keep from getting too bored. 

Sunday, May 12 "Mother's Day"

Lily's family birthday party at Chuck E Cheese. May 7

Luke's new cast!

Since my last post, several events of note have occurred.  During Lily's birthday party, Luke fell off the back of Lily's car and broke his elbow so you will notice he had a splint on during the Chuck E Cheese party.  They went to a pediatric orthopedic doctor to have that confirmed and to get a more permanent cast.  Hopefully, it may come off before we leave for Sweden.  Matt's grandfather, who just turned 93, passed away Sunday evening. Condolences to his family.

Andy and I have been frantically trying to get our yard under control.  I can't believe how tall the grass  got in the 6 days that we were gone. We did get the grass mowed, finally and the fish pond got cleaned Friday morning.  Yesterday I got one of my flower beds mulched and today Andy sprayed the grass in the sidewalk.  We are getting there.

Although it was rather cold for a Mother's Day, the sun did make an appearance and I have some lovely birds showing up at my feeders this year.  I have several Baltimore Orioles that have been busily eating the oranges that I offer and they have been seen sipping from my humming bird feeders as well.  The hummers are back as well as a few of our barn swallows.  Not as many as usual so I am hoping they will be getting here soon and something hasn't happened to them.  I also have a pair of young rose-breasted grosbeaks visiting my feeder.  It would be nice if they would stay to nest here.  I visited my mom today and we walked over to see Dad who is in the memory unit next door.  Mom seemed pretty good but her short term memory is almost non-existent. 

Male Baltimore Oriole

Male Rose-breasted grosbeak

Male Red-winged blackbird

The male and female (right) orioles

Male grosbeak (left), female on the right

Mother's Day is a day of reflection for those of us whose children are grown.  I couldn't help but notice how quiet the house was today, especially since we just spent several days with Trish and her house is only quiet after both kids have fallen asleep.  Some may reflect on mothers and grandmothers that have passed on leaving pleasant memories in their place.  I was thinking today about how Dad and I would always walk back to the woods on Mother's Day and would pick wild flowers to take up to Mom.  But the real treat would be if we found some morels (mushrooms) to place in the center of the bouquet.  Now that was a tasty treat to be sure! HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Andy with his mom, last week

My mom, 4 generations

Sunday, May 5 "Lily's Birthday Party"

Sunday morning fishing at Killen's Pond.

This was our bass.  I think small mouth but Luke says large mouth.

May have to consult my fish guide.  Crappy? Not sure.

We fished from a paddle boat which was a little scary but lots of fun.

Luke and I ducked out for a while this morning to do a little fishing and Luke also wanted to look for a geocache but we ran out of time.  Fishing was pretty good but we didn't have much time and had to get back for Lily's 1 o'clock birthday party.  The party was great and all the kids had a great time.  The weather was a little cooler than yesterday but not too bad.  Luke took a spill while playing in the back yard and he may have to go for x-rays tomorrow since he is having a lot of pain in his left wrist.  We will see how it feels tomorrow morning.

Our little birthday Princess

Grandma and Pop Pop Bichler bought Lily a car for her birthday!

Saturday, May 4 "Dover Days!"

Happy Birthday to Andy.  Today Luke and Lily rode in the Dover Days Parade on a float from their pre-school.  At 1 o'clock Luke had to dance around the May Pole.  This year was a better year and he seemed to relish being George Washington.  His class looked so cute and their performance was really quite good.  We went to the street carnival afterwards and in the evening we grilled out for Andy's birthday.  Lily's birthday party is tomorrow.

Thursday, May 1 "New Jersey"

Andy with his mom

Wednesday morning Andy and I dropped my sister at the Columbus Airport to return home to Atlanta.  We then kept heading east and caught the Pennsylvania Turnpike to New Jersey to visit with Andy's mom and brothers.  His mom recently had to move to an assisted living facility and they are in the process of selling her house.  Andy was very glad to see both his brothers and to have time to visit with his mother.  She is very alert, and was thrilled to have us out.  I was amazed at how good she seemed considering that she has to go for dialysis 3 times a week because of kidney failure.  After a 90 minute visit on Friday morning we drove two hours south to Delaware.