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Sunday, June 17, 2007
12:47:00 PM EDT
Feeling Chillin'
This seems to be the year of changed plans.
First there was our annual reunion, sometime around July 4, with Cliff's siblings, their kids and grandkids, and our two children and their families. Our son has come up from Georgia each July for the past few years, and we've planned the festivities around his visit. This year my daughter had a professional photographer coming to take pictures of family groups.
But Cliff's brother's wife sabotaged the reunion by scheduling other things on the weekend we had specifically arranged to conform with her original plans, so that particular brother couldn't come. (In case you wondered, they don't have Internet; if they did, I wouldn't blog about this.)
Then a couple of weeks ago, our son had a motorcycle incident that left him with assorted bolts and pins in his left leg. Of course he won't be doing much of anything in July.
The daughter's two girls are scheduled to be at camp with their Grammy during July 4th week.
Cliff's sister is still coming to the area from Wisconsin, but there'll be no big shindig here. I will admit it got me out of quite a bit of hassle, worry and work.
Another change-in-plans occurred this weekend, being culminated this morning after Cliff and I discussed things reasonably.
We've planned since winter to go to Colorado with the motorcycles, with Cliff's sister Charlene and her husband. Originally, we were going to take the bikes on a trailer so we wouldn't have that long, long ride across Kansas; but turns out our car doesn't do well ,even with the trailer empty. It surely wouldn't like to pull 1,500 pounds of motorcycles.
So we decided to ride the bikes all the way to the Rockies.
Yesterday Cliff and I rode some three hours, all told, in scorching temperatures, to the tractor show and back. We've noticed before, three or four hours is really all we like to lump into one ride. We're in our sixties, folks! Yesterday was no exception. It wears us out.
Bear with me here.
Last week our old relic of a lawn mower started gasping for breath. We'll have to have a riding mower. We had already decided some time ago to get a used John Deere of some sort for our next rider, because a twenty-year-old John Deere will outlast any of those brand new Walmart cheapies that cost $1,000. We found exactly the right John Deere, pretty close to home.
Our son has made himself an expert on John Deere lawn tractors, and Cliff has called him several times for advice and counsel.
The mower we'll be getting costs a lot more than $1,000. In fact, as luck would have it, it costs exactly the amount we have saved up for our trip.
And truth be told, we don't want to go across Kansas on a motorcycle with the never-ending wind and bearing-down sun and temperatures nearing 100 degrees; Cliff did it once when he was in his twenties, and it wasn't enjoyable even then. The trip is off.
So he will now take his remaining seven vacation days one-at-a-time, mostly on Fridays.
We'll go, perhaps, on a shorter motorcycle jaunt with Charlene and Pat over some extended weekend. Maybe to Arkansas. We have yet to talk to them about this change, but their finances were becoming stretched too. They had to get new tires for the Harley, and the transmission in their car gave it up to the tune of $1,600. They might even be relieved.
I feel as though a load has been lifted from my shoulders. So we must be doing the right thing.
By the way, our decision to cancel the Colorado trip truly had nothing to do with the fact our son was injured on his motorcycle.
We just don't want Cliff in a situation where he'd perhaps like to stop for the day, but wouldn't , for fear of being a party-pooper because others are involved.
I'll continue to have mini-vacations on many early summer mornings, riding my horse. Or back at the cabin stoking a campfire and listening to Indian music and woodsy sounds.
There's another big change we're working on, but that will be another entry. It'll be two years before it takes place anyhow.
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12:47:00 PM EDT
Feeling Chillin'
Changes in plans
First there was our annual reunion, sometime around July 4, with Cliff's siblings, their kids and grandkids, and our two children and their families. Our son has come up from Georgia each July for the past few years, and we've planned the festivities around his visit. This year my daughter had a professional photographer coming to take pictures of family groups.
But Cliff's brother's wife sabotaged the reunion by scheduling other things on the weekend we had specifically arranged to conform with her original plans, so that particular brother couldn't come. (In case you wondered, they don't have Internet; if they did, I wouldn't blog about this.)
Then a couple of weeks ago, our son had a motorcycle incident that left him with assorted bolts and pins in his left leg. Of course he won't be doing much of anything in July.
The daughter's two girls are scheduled to be at camp with their Grammy during July 4th week.
Cliff's sister is still coming to the area from Wisconsin, but there'll be no big shindig here. I will admit it got me out of quite a bit of hassle, worry and work.
Another change-in-plans occurred this weekend, being culminated this morning after Cliff and I discussed things reasonably.
We've planned since winter to go to Colorado with the motorcycles, with Cliff's sister Charlene and her husband. Originally, we were going to take the bikes on a trailer so we wouldn't have that long, long ride across Kansas; but turns out our car doesn't do well ,even with the trailer empty. It surely wouldn't like to pull 1,500 pounds of motorcycles.
So we decided to ride the bikes all the way to the Rockies.
Yesterday Cliff and I rode some three hours, all told, in scorching temperatures, to the tractor show and back. We've noticed before, three or four hours is really all we like to lump into one ride. We're in our sixties, folks! Yesterday was no exception. It wears us out.
Bear with me here.
Last week our old relic of a lawn mower started gasping for breath. We'll have to have a riding mower. We had already decided some time ago to get a used John Deere of some sort for our next rider, because a twenty-year-old John Deere will outlast any of those brand new Walmart cheapies that cost $1,000. We found exactly the right John Deere, pretty close to home.
Our son has made himself an expert on John Deere lawn tractors, and Cliff has called him several times for advice and counsel.
The mower we'll be getting costs a lot more than $1,000. In fact, as luck would have it, it costs exactly the amount we have saved up for our trip.
And truth be told, we don't want to go across Kansas on a motorcycle with the never-ending wind and bearing-down sun and temperatures nearing 100 degrees; Cliff did it once when he was in his twenties, and it wasn't enjoyable even then. The trip is off.
So he will now take his remaining seven vacation days one-at-a-time, mostly on Fridays.
We'll go, perhaps, on a shorter motorcycle jaunt with Charlene and Pat over some extended weekend. Maybe to Arkansas. We have yet to talk to them about this change, but their finances were becoming stretched too. They had to get new tires for the Harley, and the transmission in their car gave it up to the tune of $1,600. They might even be relieved.
I feel as though a load has been lifted from my shoulders. So we must be doing the right thing.
By the way, our decision to cancel the Colorado trip truly had nothing to do with the fact our son was injured on his motorcycle.
We just don't want Cliff in a situation where he'd perhaps like to stop for the day, but wouldn't , for fear of being a party-pooper because others are involved.
I'll continue to have mini-vacations on many early summer mornings, riding my horse. Or back at the cabin stoking a campfire and listening to Indian music and woodsy sounds.
There's another big change we're working on, but that will be another entry. It'll be two years before it takes place anyhow.
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This entry has 17 comments: (Add your own)
-
Sometimes planning those long weekends instead of one long trip work out better and are more enjoyable anyway.
Lori
http://journals.aol.com/helmswondermom/DustyPages/ -
3-4 hours is allwe like too.
-
I am in awe of your stamina and your insanity, lol!
Traveling around on motorbikes is quite exciting but, I couldn't imagine going all the way across a square state on one! -
That's alot of changes!!! I hope it all works out for the best. Linda
7/2/07 4:18 PM