2001: 1st trip to Kauai; New Jersey/Dad; UMKC; Chicago work meetings; Grand Cayman: Oregon

   

 

 

 January----Kauai and Oahu (1st trip to Kauai)  A couple years ago we went to a timeshare presentation in St. Louis and bought an every other year 1 bedroom unit.  It was for a timeshare on Kauai---Pahio Kauai Beach Villas.  We bought it with the thought that we'd bank it to RCI all the time, but when this year was rolling around, we decided it would be nice to go and see what we bought.  That was the start of our love affair with Kauai!  Since then we just kept buying more weeks---all resale---until we had 2 weeks every year---one year 1 bedrooms, and the other year 2 bedrooms.

 

Ken's cool hat at Gaylords Plantation restaurant

my leftovers from Gaylords

view of the EAst coast from the helicopter

view of the Napali from the helicopter

view of our resort from the heli

Kilauea lighthouse

start of the NaPali

the South side

Our 1 bedroom unit

 We didn't know if we were going to like Kauai, so we also booked 4 nights on Oahu since we had been there and loved it---we thought. 

 

on our flight to Oahu

Had to get back to Hanauma Bay

Hanauma Bay from the parking area

near Hanauma Bay

On the North Shore

 

Waikiki Beach

 Turned out we loved Kauai so much that Ken never wanted to go back to Oahu.

 

 

New Jersey---Feb.

Now that Dad was able to travel, he didn't hesitate to get going.  The first place he wanted to go to was New Jersey to see his Gadziala relatives and see his parents' gravesites. 

 

Arlington S. cemetery were Mike and Anna Lucascik are buried

 

Dad's house on Bungalow Terrace was still looking good.

his grade school in Millington

The flat he lived in

 

hoboken train station where Dad used to catch the train

to the beach with Trish

the closed down pier on the beach

 

bowman's Hill  is primarily known for the Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve, a 100-acre area within Washington Crossing Historic Park that serves as a living memorial to the patriots of George Washington's army, and the Bowman's Hill Tower, offering expansive views of the Delaware River area

Bowman's Hill Tower

We also went to the old village at Washington Crossing Historic Park

 

 We also went and checked out Duke's Gardens.  Duke Gardens in Somerset County, New Jersey, were among the most significant glass house collections in America. Created by Doris Duke, they were larger than the New York Botanical Garden's Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, and were open to the public from 1964. They were closed by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation on or before May 25, 2008, and the plant material was donated to public gardens throughout the United States.

 

 

 Soon it was time to head out to visit Dad at his house.  

 

 

Oregon-March---

 

 We took a walk through the DAllas Park. 

I was even there for David's birthday, so we celebrated at Carolyn's house.
 

 Dad and I also made it to the coast.  Had a nice linner at the Rave in Depoe Bay overlooking the ocean.

At the Rave

Dad and I also checked out the aquarium in Newport. 

It was a short visit, but it was nice to see Dad doing pretty well. 

 

 

 

 

Oregon---June

Even though Mom died last year, Ken and I still made our annual trip to Oregon.  This time, Dad was able to explore with us.

View of Mt. Hood from the airplane.

This was the year Joe and Kati got married.  They asked me to take their wedding photos and I gladly accepted.  Unfortunately, that was still in the days of 35 mm cameras and I didn't notice that my flash somehow got off of automatic and was set on a weird setting.  They never complained, but I felt badly. 

Back at Dad's house, we went on walks with Dad.  He had gotten into the healthy habit of taking a 3 or 4 miles a day walk.  With the scenery near his house, that was a beautiful walk!

wild flowers and farmlands along his walk

more views

It even went by Peters' farm.  Being friends of theirs, they told us to help ourselves to their produce.   So we often snacked along our way.  Loved their Queen Anne cherries!

Dad even went to the coast with us for a couple nights.

the guys posing on some drift wood.

the beach near our condo rental

more of the beach by our rental

We loved checking out the tide pools along the beach

some of the anemones and a star fish in a tide pool.

there was always lots of driftwood on the Oregon coast.

With Lincoln City only being about 40 minutes from Dallas, the family use to come out and join us for a day and go to Mo's for dinner.  Loved those family gatherings.

the condo we liked to rent the last 3 or 4 years.  I even left my camera and bag here when we left and they had it in the office when we called to see if it was turned in.

It wasn't luxurious, but clean and had great views.  The prices weren't bad either.  Often we could get rent 2 nights, get 1 free.

We started another tradition with Dad, too----nightly cribbage games.  Loved those times!

the small but adequate kitchen

so many wild flowers along the coast in the summer

I always had to take this picture of the Newport Bridge.  I think my all time favorite is still the first one I took a few years ago.

We even toured the little Yaquina Lighthouse

And we took Dad to one of our favorite free places---the Hatfield Marine Center.

I think Dad enjoyed seeing the Oregon coast again. 

We even headed North.  We usually don't go both north and south from Lincoln City, but we had a lot to share with Dad.  Like Tillamook Cheese!  We use to always pack some up in our luggage and bring it back to St. Louis.  Now a days, it's sold nationwide.

But back then, it was still done by hand and rather fun to watch.  Now everything is done by machine, but it's still a fun place to visit.

flipping the curds and whey

Also in the town of Tillamook is the Air Museum.  The museum is housed in a former  US Navy Blimp Hangar, called "Hangar B", which is the largest clear-span wooden structure in the world.

Back in 2001,  the Tillamook Air Museum was "one of the country's top private World War II aircraft collections".  Unfortunately, many of the planes have been moved elsewhere in the years to follow, but it still remains open.

In 1942, the U.S. Navy began construction of 17 wooden hangars to house K-class airships that would be used for  anti-submarine patrol and convoy escort.  With the surrender of Japan on September 2, 1945 and the Japanese submarine threat eliminated, Naval Air Station Tillamook was reduced to functional status.

After our coastal vacation, we did some ventures into the mountains.  Here the guys are going fishing in a slough

Dad sporting the hat of one of his grandson's ships.

Dad sporting one of the catfish he caught at the slough.  I always thought it was funny that they would fish for catfish when they could be fishing for trout.

Danny often went with them.

Another day we ventured up to Clear Lake---stopping at Detroit lake along the way.  It was extremely low this time.

the guys looking out over where Detroit should be.

the dam at the lake.  They lower the levels in anticipation of rains.  I guess they didn't get as much rain as they expected.

The boat docks on the ground

on to Clear Lake.  We loved going here and renting a row boat and rowing around the lake.

We'd even do a little fishing.  They regularly stocked the lake, so if we got here shortly after tht, fishing was very profitable.

an example of how clear the lake is---this row boat was 20-30 feet down.

coming back into the dock

Heading down the road a few miles to check out the McKensey River.  I remember Dad bringing us up here a couple times when I was a kid to watch the kayakers.

I also loved going to Silver Falls State Park.  Lots of waterfalls along a paved walkway.

Dad by one of the falls.

along one of the paths.

beautiful surroundings!

loved all the wild flowers, as well as the waterfalls.

thistle is even pretty in bloom

the Queen Anne's Lace in Oregon gets HUGE

We'd even find wild irises

so many kinds of wildflowers.

and the beautiful falls.

love that you can walk behind some of the falls, too

all the was to the bottom of the falls.

walkway near the Lodge

Grand Cayman

I also took a week long trip to Grand Cayman.  When we first got the KBV timeshare, we had banked our first year since we already had tickets to Oahu.  My banked week was about to expire.  So I had my first experience with RCI.  It actually wasn't too bad.  I basically called and said I wanted something in the Caribbean the first week of June and they had 2 choices---Morritt's Tortuga on Grand Cayman or something on Tortola.  Not knowing anything about either (and before widespread internet searching), I took their recommendation of Grand Cayman.  I was not disappointed!!!

The view from our room!  Actually they originally assigned us a room in the back of the resort, but when I asked if they had any ocean view units available, they gave me one!  So glad I asked!

 the had nightly activities when the girls and I enjoyed.

 One night Angie and I went to the bar on property and let Tim and Faith hve some time for themselves.  (Ken didn't go---he was happy to stay home and work)

 Angie even won a rum cake by winning the trivia contest.

 We rented a car and explored the little island.  It was really beautiful and didn't show the poverty like most of the Caribbean islands. 

 Just one of the many places Angie and I snorkeled.

 Angie enjoying the cool Caribbean breeze.

 7 mile beach---we stayed on the other side of the island, but spent one day checking out this side of the island.

 The happily engaged couple. 

 There's even a town called Hell, on the island.  So we had to go check it out! 

 There's even a gift shop in Hell!

 The devil runs the gift shop.

 There's also a turtle farm on that side of the island.

 the kids had a ball checking out the turtles.

 some of them were quite large.  I understand they raise them for food, as well as release.

 And the girls worked on becoming "tanned models"

 I think they did a pretty good job!

 Angie and I went on a sting ray excursion, too.   Tim and Faith didn't want to do that.  They later went on a sunset cruise.

 They're use to being fed, so were plentiful and gentle---this was before The Crocodile Hunter (Steve Irwin) was killed by one!

 It was an interesting experience

 albeit rather freaky

 Angie and I also went on a snorkel excursion from the resort. 

The week went fast.  Soon it was time to go home.  But it was a great trip!

Chicago for work

Another trip I took was to Chicago with Prestige Portraits for work.  I had been working a lot those days---as a sports photographer.  A group of us went to Chicago for sports packs training.

 We had such a fun group of photographers back then! 

 Some really tallented ones, too. 

 Our group!  I was with Prestige for 19 years and watched them all go---one by one.  Shortly after I moved, Prestige was no more.  I'm sure it wasn't because of me, but with the new cell phone phones, I'm sure they were loosing a lot of business.  Prestige was the senior division of Lifetouch.  Lifetouch ended up absorbing them.  But it was sure fun while it lasted!!!!  I loved taking sports candids for high schools.  Not so much the sports packs, but ... .

non-vacation time

This isn't actually in St. Louis, but it wasn't actually a vacation, either.  I visited Angie for a weekend and went on a photo excursion with just her and me.  I always enjoyed comparing our photos from the same places.  I had always tried taking more or less "postcard" like photos.  She was teaching me to see the world in a different way. 

 Back to post card---but ....  .

 Angie style.  She took photography in college along with her architecture classes.  So our excursions were usually to architectural places.

 Back in St. Louis, I do have one picture!  This one from a Japanese restaurant when Dad reconnected with an Air Force buddy who came out to St. Louis to visit when Dad was here visiting.  I had never had sushi.  It's not too bad, actually.  It was a fun meeting.

 Dad eating sushi.  Not sure he ever had sushi before, either.  Curt had married a Japanese gal, so I'm sure he's had lots of great sushi.

It was a busy year of traveling!  Can't say I'm minding being an empty nester right now!