2002: Orlando/Dad&Curt, The Big Island, England/Carolyn, Tim&Faith 1st house, Oregon-Yellowstone-Billings/Dad, Oregon/New Bronica, xmas eve snowout

2002

My travels began right from the start of the new year.  First trip was to Orlando for the Lifetouch Winter Meetings.  As a part time employee of Prestige, I didn't know I was eligible to go to their winter meetings.  But when I found out this year it was going to be in Orlando, I decided to ask if I could go.  To my surprise, they said yes, and paid for it!  When I told Dad I was going, he said he'd like to go, too.  So I booked a $99 RCI vacation at Orange Lake Resort and made that our base.

 While I was at one of the meetings, Dad ended up going to the timeshare presentation and bought the 5th week of every year in a Golf Villa unit.  No complaints from me.  We had many more great Father/Daughter vacations there!

More of that trip here:  2002 Orlando

Since we've been to Oahu twice and have an EOY week on Kauai, this year we decided to head to The Big Island.   We were very happy with the snorkeling there. 

 Even took a kayak to a remote snorkel spot. 

Even though we loved the snorkeling there, it just did appeal to us like Kauai does, so we never made it back.  But we did have a great time, as shown on my blog post:
2002 The Big Island 

We left Hawaii and came back to this in St. Louis!

In March I had the oppurtunity to go to England with Carolyn to visit Tom's Aunt and Uncle (the Arnolds) who lived outside of London.  They certainly made us feel welcome.

For more of that trip:   2002 England  

Soon it was time for our annual Oregon trip.  This one was different, though.  Dad and David entered a bowling tournie in Billings, Montana, so we rode out with Dad.  Even stopped at Yellowstone on the way back to Oregon.

 We even celebrated our 27th wedding anniversary in Yellowstone.

 more of our Oregon/Yellowstone/Oregon trip here:  2002 Oregon/Yellowstone  

Back in St. Louis, Tim bought his first house and he and fiancee Faith moved in together.  

  Shortly after that, they adopted our first Grand dog---Barley

In Sept. Dad came out for a visit.  It was fun being a tourist in and around St. Louis!

Such as Garden of the Gods in Southern Illinois.

 I've only been here a couple times.

 bet it's gorgeous in the Fall!

 pretty nice in the summer, too.

 Dad petting a camel.

 While we were in Southern Illinois, we drove by Grandma and Grandpa's old house.  Someone has fixed it up.  It doesn't look like their house anymore.  But then, it's at least 70 years old so it needed some fixing up.  Hard to believe Grandma raised 3 kids here!

 Back on the north Illinois side of the Mississippi River we found a new memorial.  It was where Lewis and Clark camped.

 We also checked out the Piasa Bird painting on the Great River Road. 
The original Piasa illustration no longer exists; a newer 20th-century version, based partly on 19th-century sketches and lithographs, has been placed on a bluff in Alton, Illinois, several hundred yards upstream from its origin.

 Caves by the Piasa painting were quarried in the early 1900s by the Mississippi Lime Company.

We also took Dad to the Soldiers Memorial in downtown St. Louis.  I had never been there before.  

Dad's buddy Curt Carter and his wife, Mary, even came out to visit with Dad and go to the annual Japanese Festival at the Botanical Gardens.  Curt was stationed at Scott Air force base on Dad's 2nd time there and actually took him down to West Frankfort one weekend to introduce him to Anne Otey (one of Mom's friends).  Mom decided she was more interested in Dad then Curt and that was it!

 Angie even made it back from college for a weekend and we took Dad to the Anhewser brewery.

 pretty impressive place.

 Ken and I made it to the Cardinal's game when the locked in a Playoff spot. 

 Ken was even given a couple tickets to a play off game.  Those were the days when the Cardinals were always in the play offs.  But it was still special.

 Carolyn even made it out for a visit.  Sean even came by.  This was shortly after Tom had died of cancer. 

I forget when the actual date was, but Ken celebrated his 30th anniversary with UE/Ameren this year.

 Celebrated another Thanksgiving here at our house. 

 

 angie, MaryAnn and Leroy all made it over for dinner.

 Some time near the end of the year Faith popped in to show us her wedding dress---and make it official that they were engaged. 

 When Christmas Eve rolled around, there was a blizzard.  So our Christmas Eve party with all the LaBeaumes was cancelled.  But the kids still made it over. 

 I even made Christmas cookies while they were there.

 the kids and I had a good time---Ken was somewhere in the other room watching TV, I think.

 Cards were in order.

 It was a pretty great year! 

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.