Tag Archives: Family

60 Years Ago Today

Posted on by

Monday, 1 September 1952

Morning came and was it was time for goodbyes. At 6 a.m. it was grey outside. I folded up the satin comforter and sheets with lace insert and dressed. My Aunt Carolina had already gone and Uncle Albin left soon after I got up. This was goodbye, maybe forever, maybe not. He was dressed for work and headed off for the day.

I said goodbye to Stig. Then Aunt Carolina came back about 7 a.m. or a little before and fixed breakfast for me, egg, hot chocolate, and the whole works. I thanked her for their wonderful hospitality. Majbritt and Aunt Anna came a little later. I finished packing but couldn’t find my Lund Guidebook. Shucks, I guess I left it in Bertil’s car.

I gave a pair of hose to Aunt Anna as we reached the bottom of the stairs. Almost made a mistake and gave them to Majbritt without looking. Aunt Carolina came down a few minutes later and I took a picture without benefit of sunshine. The dark figure of Majbritt’s boyfriend came running down the street waving. We waited for him to come say goodbye. He was dressed in fireman’s uniform.

With Majbritt’s bike and my suitcase between us, Aunt Anna and Aunt Carolina following, we made a brief tour of Lund. There was a big red Lutheran Church with clock in tower. I took pictures. We passed a nurses home and saw some nurses going into a dormitory. We saw men on ladders fixing roof edges. Majbritt explained that Uncle Albin does that kind of work. Uncle Nils works with fabric.

On the way to the Library we passed the University where I had taken pictures the day before. Arrived at Library with 15 minutes to spare, so we went across campus to Big Dome to get more pictures. Inside my Aunts were a little teary about my going in, but Majbritt took me inside. She showed me where she was confirmed. There was a beautiful altar piece of wood carving. It was a simple but magnificent church. Majbritt and Aunt Anna gave me 10 krome to buy something. It was time for Majbritt to go. So I bid farewell to my favorite cousin.

Finally I walked with my Aunts to the station. I tried to get in the bookstore to get another Lund book, but they told me I could get it at the station. We arrived with just barely 2 minutes to spare. I found the Lund book at a magazine stand. I accidentally dumped my many coins out trying to find the right change. Aunt Carolina had to help me with a little supplement to buy the book. Then I made a mad dash for the train. Had to say goodbye to my Aunts from door of train as it pulled off. That is the kind of goodbyes I like. The train was pretty filled. A minister pulled the seat down next to him for me in the passageway.

At the Hotel Tunneln, I left the kids raving about the wonderful meeting the night before. I put my bags in Betty’s room and we had until 10:30 a.m. to spend our money. Headed for the shops and spent my newly acquired 20 krome.

I caught a striking view of a church spire down side street so I had to take picture from middle of the road. I guess it was pretty dangerous but I got the picture during a break in traffic.

We found a handicraft shop that proved very interesting. I finally decided upon 2 beautiful pillow tops or doilies, whatever you want to call them. The clerk couldn’t speak English so I used my pocket dictionary. I didn’t have enough krome and they wouldn’t take my dollars so I had to find a bank. I ran into L.O. as she came out of the Milk Bar to let me know we had only till 10 a.m. instead of 10:30. The bank gave me 5.14 krome for my dollars. Clerks were overcome with amusement when I returned now wearing a long dress and sandals. I still didn’t have exactly the right change, so they took pity on me and gave it to me for 25 kr. instead of 26. Time was growing short, I found a men’s shop and some beautiful ties made in Sweden. I picked out the prettiest one and a tie clasp. Had just 10 kr. left so I got the 2 for 10. Finally I took my last look at the streets of Malmo as I headed back to the hotel.

Taxis and American Express transported us the long distance to the boat. It was all of two blocks. They are really efficient all the time. Especially when we could get along without them. Next was customs. The missionaries bid us goodbye. I got a picture of them just before the gang plank went up. We sang farewell songs as they stood on the shore and we on the boat with tears showing or almost so.

Coming into Copenhagen seemed like coming home again. I took pictures of a pretty white sail boat in the harbor. Our old friends from American Express met us with taxis and we scooted off to Hotel Cosmopolite. We were in the same rooms as before with different roommates, L.O., Margaret and V.A.. First off I headed for the opera across the Square. Everything was sold out for Monday. Upon inquiring at the window in a pleading voice for one ticket, I was directed to the Inspectioner who we found in a dark little office around a corner and down a corridor. First he said to come back again at a little before 8 for standing room. Then he asked to see my ticket. Showed me where it was and asked if I would sit below it on the next level with L.O. So he took my ticket and gave us a slip of paper on which he wrote the location of 2 seats and stamped it and signed it for which he asked no money. We couldn’t quite figure out the deal but decided if all turned out well and we got to see the Opera we would consider ourselves lucky.

The remainder of the afternoon was spent wandering through the main shopping district. I spent some time in the Magasin du Nord. The clerk I had met before tried to tell me it was the largest of its kind in the world. Couldn’t quite swallow it. We had gone in a different entrance but it turned out to be the same store as the one across from the Opera house. When we ended up in the same book shop with the same clerk, I knew we must be in the same store. Surely tempted by all the interesting books, but I remembered my suitcase and resisted. I bought a map of Skone. The clerk gave me his card so we could send for them.

I gave in and purchased a reversible amazon belt but managed to get out of the store without some gorgeous quilted ribbon which would have made a beautiful belt. L.O. resisted some copper lamps cause she couldn’t decided what to do with them if she got them and besides they wouldn’t give her American dollars in change.

After we broke away from the Magasin du Nord, we visited every silver shop along the street plus some that weren’t so silver. At the Town Hall Square we found the cafeteria and had long red wieners. We thought we asked for fish and that is what we got, along with soup and a big bowl of a kind of fruit pudding with milk. We split it. Took me 5 minutes to count all my Danish coins out but I finally got rid of them and only had to borrow 50 ore from L.O.

After lunch I had a last look at the town hall, then we wandered across the square through the pigeons and stands. Saw another typical tourist with camera and chuckled. Gee, we wondered why people stared at us. We were so obvious. We tried another street off the Square on our way back to Konig’s Platz. It turned out to be not so shoppy, however we found one likely looking store. We sure got the eye from three ladies as we went in, and when we came out they were still standing there. Perhaps we were conceited in thinking that they had waited for a second look, but that was just exactly what we thought. I had felt that we dressed and looked more like the Scandinavian people than any other but apparently we were still just as conspicuous here as elsewhere. Perhaps my broken sandal had something to do with it.

When we got back on the street, we came upon the silver shop where L.O. spotted the earring set which we hadn’t been able to surpass elsewhere in one afternoon’s wanderings. There was a delicatessen next door, and we purchased cheese for the next day’s journey. I also found a baking shop near the Hotel, and bought a loaf of bread. Because the shops were closing, I got apples and pears for a 25 ore in the slot machine.

Then we retired to the Hotel. The shops in Copenhagen certainly don’t stay open for the tourist’s benefit. They believe in having some time to enjoy life themselves. In typical European style, a separate shop for everything; fruit in one, bread in another, meat in another. It was hard to shop as efficiently as at our big super markets.

We admired our purchases until opera time. Went over a little early, as we were quite curious to see what would happen with the ticket situation. Besides Betty had lost her ticket so we had a problem there also. Surprisingly enough, however, everything worked out quite smoothly. Betty got in without a hitch. In fact, she just walked in without a ticket and our little scrap of paper worked like a charm. Our seats were next to some very English fellows who said something about our being friends of the manager. They informed us that the King and Queen were to be there in the Royal Box just across from us. The Opera House was very beautiful and varied somewhat from others we had visited. The balconies were continuous instead of being separated into boxes as they were in Paris. There was a goodly amount of gold in the decorations and a significant chandelier suspended from the ceiling. The Royal box extended almost the full height of the theatre with only one box directly above it. The King and Queen came in just before the curtain. They opened the door for themselves and bowed simply as everyone rose in respect.

All during the first act of Carmen, the King followed the score. If he looked at the stage at all it must have been very briefly. The orchestra was excellent as was the staging and singing. However can’t say that I enjoyed it more than other performances we have seen in the past three months. One very good reason may have been that I had difficulty staying awake. I can’t blame that on the opera but rather on my consistent lack of sleep for quite a lengthy time now. As we were getting ready for bed, Nola, Margaret’s friend came with her broken figurine. There were more tearful good byes.

60 Years Ago Today

Posted on by

Sunday, 31 August 1952:

I came to quite early and realized that I had fallen asleep without putting my hair up and today is Sunday and I get to meet all my relatives. I hurriedly put it up. My Uncle and Aunt were stirring. In fact they were having coffee and cakes. I jumped in the tub and just got dressed when my Aunt brought a big breakfast to me on a beautiful silver tray with hot chocolate, open-faced sandwiches and cakes of various kinds.

I showed them some more of my pictures and we tried to exchange a few ideas. I was never quite sure they understood and I guess they felt the same way. They would go jabbering along in Swedish until my puzzled expression stopped them. It was really quite hilarious. One would say something to me in Swedish and when they saw I did not understand, another would say it over again until all three had told me in Swedish. I could usually catch one or two more words each time by this method, but my cousin would finally end up by using my dictionary. I noticed that neither Uncle Albin or Aunt Carolina would resort to it but always left Stig to this method.

I had just gone into the kitchen to see if I could help with the breakfast dishes when there came a knock on the door. My cousin Bertil had arrived. From what I had gathered it seemed he was going to take us out to where my father had lived before he came to America. They took me to the window to show me the car which apparently he owned and they were all very proud of. It was the small European car. Everyone in Sweden like other European countries ride bicycles and the number of cars is considerably less than in America.

Very soon after Bertil arrived we were ushered into the dining room. Gee, I thought we had had breakfast. It was easier to eat than argue in Swedish so we had a smorgasbord – sardines, another kind of little fish served in cans, cheese, ham sliced and cold meats plus milk and coffee. I had milk. There was also about three different kinds of bread and several kinds of cakes. After this slight repeat it seems we were ready to go. When we got downstairs and went to climb in the car, Uncle Albin and Stig had disappeared. But being so well equipped to understand the answers I got when I asked questions, I held my peace.

We circled around Lund and saw some of its most interesting spots. I took a picture of the University and we went by the Cathedral and then a park and then through an apartment section. We stopped in front of large apartment and went up a couple of flights and arrived at Bertil’s door. Inside in the kitchen sat Agda with little Bertil. The baby was having its dinner. Bertil showed me some pictures of the baby and its Momie and Daddy and gave me some to take home. Agda bundled the baby and put him in a little wooden box with handles on the ends.

Agda and Aunt Caroline held the box on the back seat and Bertil and I rode in front. On the way to Kungsbult, he had shown a map to me of where we were going. We stopped at a big castle and I took Bertil’s picture in front of it. Then through more beautiful Swedish countryside.

Finally we pulled into a lane. There were the remains of a house where my father had lived and a white barn-like building behind. I took pictures of the remains. A new home had been built to the left of it farther down the street. There were a whole crowd of people on the lawn. Guess who? Well, I spotted Uncle Bertil and Stig. I couldn’t figure out how they beat us there. But there they were. I proceeded to meet all the others.

My Uncle John looks very much like my Daddy. I haven’t seen Aunt Anna yet. We went inside and then I realized that almost everyone I had met outside were men. All the women were inside and you can’t guess what they were doing? Fixing more food! Aunt Anna seemed quite different from Aunt Carolina. After several repetitions I got everyone sorted out according to families. Olle’s wife Elsa turned out to be quite an extrovert and she proceeded to dramatize things for me when I didn’t understand. Aunt Anna’s daughter whom I had heard spoke English was very reluctant to use much of it. So conversation that I could understand was rather slow.

I showed them all my books which they took turns studying and sometimes I acted like I understood something just to keep the conversation from being stymied entirely. I fouled up when I tried to use Swedish words and mispronounced them and they tried to use English words and mispronounced them. However, there wasn’t much time to worry about things I wanted to say and couldn’t before we started eating again. The table was all set when we came in. I don’t recall looking at my watch but I guess it must have been around noon. Cause we ate.

My pictures of the family got going around the table somehow and I had to figure out how old everyone is and tell them. Which I tried to do in Swedish. All this happened after the first course which consisted of a kind of salad or something of onions and fish cut up in some kind of oil. There were various cold meats and cheeses. One kind Hertha had made. Also we had several kinds of bread, sardines and some other kinds of fish and coffee and punch and milk (for me) which Stig and Elsa joined me in. They sat on either side of me and I think they did it just so I wouldn’t feel like a non-conformist among coffee drinkers because everyone else had coffee.

Everything was delicious except the conversation which was confused. When we finished this I thought we were all through except for the dessert but this was only the beginning. Then came the main course. Fried chicken, carrots, cauliflower, potatoes, salad, plus cakes and more. I was already so stuffed I could hardly eat another bite and then after really reaching the maximum they brought in a great huge cake that Hertha made covered with an inch thick with whipped cream, prunes and apricots on top of that. The cream was so thick it was dripping over the sides. This was placed before me with a big server. First piece to Elsa, then Stig. Then deciding it would be easier to pass it around, I served myself.

After dinner we looked at pictures. Most of the men played some kind of Swedish poker for a while. I saw a picture of myself when I was really little and at successive stages in the family album. Plus pictures of all my relatives and their friends. Then for a walk down the lane. They said some friends my father had probably played with when little lived next door. I took pictures of Majbritt and her boyfriend who I thought was her husband and Elsa and Aunt Anna and Carolina who all went for the walk with us.

When we returned to the house guess what? Time to eat again. This time we had more to drink and cakes. Took group pictures in the rain. Then another session of cards and pretty soon part of the group left with Bertil. I asked Hertha to show me around upstairs. I saw a spinning wheel and Rolfe’s room.

Then we had some more to eat. I had punch and more cakes. Rolfe got out his accordion and played for us. The 3rd or 4th number was On Top of Old Smokey. It was about this time I didn’t have quite so good control of myself. Cause tears started coming to my eyes for some dumb reason. I still don’t know why! I guess it could have been caused by several things. Maybe seeing my uncle who looked so much like my Daddy. Or maybe feeling so frustrated at not being able to say all the things I wanted to and ask all the questions I wanted to ask. Because there were so many things to say and so little could be said or maybe because they had all been so good to me. At any rate it got worse instead of better and by the time we left, my cousin Hertha gave me a bouquet of flowers just as we went to the car. I was quite thankful for something to hide my face in.

We returned by a different route than we had come, through Eslov, back to Aunt Carolina’s. I said goodbye to Bertil and Agda. Majbritt and her boyfriend were waiting in front of Aunt Carolina’s. I gave my bouquet to Aunt Carolina and Stig came down and we were off to Aunt Anna’s. We walked across a big dry dock and then down some stairs. We made a couple of turns one way or another and we arrived at Aunt Anna’s.

We went upstairs and through a cloak hallway and into a medium sized dining room. It was very similar to Aunt Carolina’s. We just barely sat down and Aunt Anna brought a big basket of fruit of all kinds. And then delicious punch of fruit juices and something like ginger ale. I started counting up. This would be the 6th time I had eaten in this one day. Between Majbritt and her boyfriend and our dictionaries we were able to exchange ideas quite freely much more so than at any previous time during my visit with my relatives. Aunt Anna had a family album and Majbritt had one, too. So we had a gay time looking at pictures. They got out a big atlas to see where all the places were where they had gone on vacation. Little brother came home from movie. It was some wild west deal from what I gathered. Aunt Anna kept urging me to eat more so I tied to explain that in America we only eat three times a day but this day I had eaten 6 times.

The time passed so swiftly and it was soon very late. Majbritt and Aunt Anna promised to come in the morning so that maybe we could get some good pictures. Then Majbritt and her fiance walked home with Stig and me. But we took a little jaunt across Lund before going in. We saw the big church with the clock tower and the nurses home and part of the university dormitories and the fire station where Majbritt’s boyfriend works. And the big park across from the apartment house. It was such a beautiful night after being such a miserable rainy day. It almost made up for it. By the end of the day I had collected many snapshots so in case pictures are no good I’ll have something.

50 for 50 – #28 Martin’s Cove

Posted on by

 

Mark, Daedre, Eric, Noreen, Raelyn & Bill

This week I got to do something I’ve wanted to for a long time, go to Martin’s Cove. It seemed the perfect way to celebrate my 50th year by honoring my great-great grandmother. There was just a small group of my family there with me, my sister and one cousin plus our spouses from my generation. My nephew was the only participant from the next generation. We had the best participation from my mom’s generation with her and one sister and one brother, plus their spouses. It seemed especially important to get my mom there to see the Cove. At 89 it is hard to think that she has many years left to do outing like this. I was very proud of my mom for coming even though she didn’t know how she would be able to take part.

My Mom in a hat from one of her ancestors

At first we were planning to get one of the rickshaws to take her to the Cove, but they were all out. But there was an even better solution. They have a couple of rovers that they can take people out to the Cove and either drop them off or bring them back. So my parents and my Uncle Sid and his wife Katherine took the rover to the cove overlook.

Treking to Martin’s Cove

My Aunt Lucy and her husband Jack were the only ones of the older generation to brave camping out and walking with the handcart. Lucy even helped push it from behind. It was rather hot and by the time we got to handcart parking, the heat was taking its toll on Lucy. But soon after we got there the rover came up with the rest of the older folks. So they unloaded and Lucy and Jack to the rover up to the Cove Overlook.

Sid, Katherine, Ray and Iris in the rover

Another cool thing that happened was the missionary who ended up driving the rover for our family was also from Rexburg, Idaho and my parents and Aunt Lucy knew him. Jacob, my nephew was also done with treking so we left him at handcart parking with my parents, while those of my generation started the walk up into Martin’s Cove. No handcarts are allowed in the Cove and we learned that the man who owned the land for many, many years never farmed or developed the land in the cove in any way.

In Martin’s Cove

The Cove has a peaceful, reverent feeling and as we walked we reflected on Mary Taylor and her family and the hardships they experienced here. It wasn’t hard to imagine the pioneers camped out along the Cove. It is shaped like a horseshoe with a high area in the middle. The 500 or so people would have been spread out along the Cove. We saw many antelope in the general area of Martin’s Cove but only one deer. That was well up into the Cove. Daedre got the impression that that was where Mary Taylor was camped. I was struck by a spot a little further up the Cove where several patches of purple wild flowers made the spot especially beautiful and peaceful. I’m so glad I got to go to Martin’s Cove and to experience this historical place with some of my family.

 

 

 

 

Clifford and Yakira

Posted on by

Yakira and Clifford

On Sunday, before Pierre’s family picked him up we had another lab join us for a few days. Clifford was here with us until Wednesday night. Then my parents picked him up and took him back to my sister’s house. They got home from Disneyland late Thursday night. Yakira had so much fun and Clifford was even easier than Pierre, mostly because he is older and has a more laid back temperament. I didn’t have to spend as much time preventing too much playtime between Clifford and Yakira.

On Monday we took Clifford with us to puppy class because we were going outside. Plus Clifford’s raiser, Karen was there, so she got to hang out with Clifford for a little while.

On Tuesday I took both pups for a walk. I don’t usually take two dogs at a time but these two did great together. The only challenge was that Clifford’s pace was slower than Yakira’s. So several times I ended up with Yakira out in front with her retractable fully extended while Clifford,s taking his time smelling, was behind me with his retractable at its max. After the walk they shared a bowl of ice cubes to cool them off. The weather had been perfect for several days.

Wednesday Clifford had to stay home while Yakira and I went to the local elementary to read with some kids. Then my parents came and my Mom, Yakira and I went to the last NAMI “Family to Family” class. My Dad said that Clifford didn’t seem to know what to do with himself while we were gone. Yakira was tired so she didn’t mind Clifford being gone on Wednesday night.

Thursday morning was quiet but we took a walk before lunch. By 3:00 p.m. Yakira got restless. She had almost two weeks with a playmate and I just didn’t cut it. She drove me a little crazy but we made it through the day and I took her with me to Round Table for Cub Scouting last night.

Today she is off at work with Bill and the house is extra quiet as it always is when Yakira isn’t around. It has been a good week and Yakira will be 8 months old on Monday! We don’t have any big plans for tomorrow so it will be a quiet weekend getting things done around the house. We probably better get out and do some errands so Yakira doesn’t get to bored.

Do you prefer to have one dog in your household or do you like it better when there are more?

Christmas Day

Posted on by
Sinclair wearing a Christmas collar stretched out between Bill’s legs

With Christmas being on Sunday, church was the first thing on the schedule today. We were singing in the choir so Bill and I both had puppies with us. They both did just fine. After church we had some food to prepare for Christmas dinner. Christmas eve was with my family and Christmas day was time will Bill’s family. So we packed up the car with Yakira and Sinclair along with food and some Christmas gifts and made the hour drive to Tooele. No puppies to play with at Bill’s mom’s house but the pups were good. We took along the fold-up kennel and the two of them did good hanging out in there together for quite a while.
After dinner we use the carol books to sing Christmas songs again. This time we had Deon to accompany us on his guitar. I didn’t realize that he could play the guitar that well. It was really fun to have the added dimensions of his guitar. The carol books have been a good success. There are some words on a few of the songs that are different that what we normally sing so I’d like to fix those before next year.
We have never had two family days back to back quite like that before and I thought it might be a bit much but it turned out to be a nice way to spend the holiday. But we were all tired by the time we got home tonight. It is Sinclair’s last night with us. Lindsey is picking him up tomorrow so he can spend some time with her before his family gets back into town. I think Yakira will miss him, but we have plans for her to do a puppy swap with Osaka on Tuesday so she has a busy week ahead.

Christmas Eve

Posted on by
Danny, Clifford and Jacob on Christmas Eve

We took Yakira and Sinclair with us to my sister’s house for Christmas eve. She had Clifford (a career change black lab) so the three pups had a great time playing together. The humans and a good time eating dinner and chatting with family members. Then we gathered in the living room to read the Christmas story using their nativity to illustrate. Last of all we sang Christmas carols. This year I put together a booklet with words from all the familiar Christmas songs. It was fun to get to sing songs that we know but can’t remember all the words without a little help and other songs that have verses that we had never sung before. Sinclair is much more adjusted to being with us but he is a high maintenance puppy.

Yakira

Sinclair and Jacob

Bringing Home the Tree

Posted on by
Yakira in the parking lot

My family has the tradition of going into the mountains to cut down our own Christmas tree. We like to go the Saturday after Thanksgiving. There wasn’t much snow down in the parking lot but it got deeper as we climbed the hill to our favorite area to find a tree. Yakira had a great time. She got a little cold when we got off the beaten path and the snow was deeper than her legs. I sat down on a log and picked her up, cuddling her inside my coat until she warmed up. Meanwhile Bill got our tree cut down and headed off to help Eric and Danny get their tree down the hill. Our tree is rather little because we put it up on a trunk. This keeps the tree from being too tempting to the puppies. But my sister’s house had 16′ ceilings in their living room so their tree is much bigger and is hard to get down the hill. I was really impressed by Yakira on our trek back down the hill with the tree. She just plugged her way along, keeping a steady pace until we got back to the car.

After the trees were all back to the cars we ate baked potatoes with chili, hot chocolate and other yummy treats. Yakira was very tired after her tromp through the snow and slept on the way home. She loves to put her chin in the notch in the folded up seat in the back of our station wagon.

Yakira sleeping in the back of the car

Chuckwagon Breakfast and ATV Rodeo

Posted on by
Clifford and Waffle at the ATV Rodeo

This morning we went to the park for the annual Chuckwagon breakfast put on the city. The lines weren’t too long and we sat across from some policemen who were taking a break from working security for the festivities. Then we met my sister and her family on the other side of the park for the ATV Rodeo. Waffle drove me a bit nuts on the way over there because she kept messing with her head collar trying to rub it off on me or the ground. Silly girl! Clifford came with my sister too so it was fun to get to see him again. Jacob just loves Waffle. Of course he loves Clifford too. My nephews enjoyed seeing how the ATV Rodeo worked as their family recently purchased a couple of ATV’s and they boys are learning how do drive them.

Kennedy Space Center

Posted on by

Today we drove out to Kennedy Space Center. Sue’s parents drove because we could all fit in their van. It was good to get out of the city and see some of the Florida countryside. The space shuttle wasn’t out today. They had moved it inside to fix some problems with the fuel tank. The KSC doesn’t use any tax money in the operation of the visitor center. It runs off the ticket prices which aren’t cheap but I like the idea that it pays for itself.

Apex guiding Sue at Kennedy Space Center

Sue and Apex with an Astronaut

We saw two 3-D movies on the IMAX screens. One on the Hubble Telescope and the other on the Space Station. On the first one we got to go in first (guide dog privileges). Sue didn’t go to the second one because the first one effected her limited vision and was threaten to give her a migraine.

Alligator at Kennedy Space Center

I got to see my first alligator in the “wild” by the lake behind the movie theater. They have an retire shuttle there that you can get into part of it. I imagined the cargo bay to be much bigger. Bill and I and Amanda stood in line for awhile to go on the shuttle simulator. It was really cool and not at all scary like roller coasters.

Raelyn and Bill with Apex under the Space Shuttle

After the Space Center we drove to Dixie Crossroads, a seafood restaurant that is her families favorite. I think that was one of the main reasons her parents wanted to come today. They are famous for their rock shrimp so I ordered that and Bill ordered crab legs and then we split them so we got to eat both. It was very, very good. The also serve little cornbread doughnut holes with powdered sugar on them that were so tasty. I had to restrain myself so I’d have room for the rest of my dinner.

Sue and her family at Dixie Crossroads

Another wonderful day in Florida. I hated to see it end because who knows when we will get to see Apex again. We stopped Sue’s house before we went back to the hotel so we could see Apex in his spiffy red sunglasses. It was hard to leave but we know that Apex is in good hands, that he loves is life and that he is well loved in return. We couldn’t be happier about his partnership with Sue and she seems to be very satisfied with his work as a guide dog.

Apex in his red sunglasses

An Evening with Apex

Posted on by

This morning we went to a couple of presentations at the Top Dog Workshop. One was on dog first aid and the other was on the GPS Trakker system. Both were very interesting. Not sure if we will make it to any more of the presentations. They are in conflict with what Sue has planned and I’ll pick spending time with Apex over classes that are more geared to guide dog users than puppy raisers.

Today we did a little shopping until it was time to meet Apex after Sue finished work for the day. When we got to her work she was outside waiting for us with Apex our of his harness and off leash. We he saw us and realized who we were he got so excited and ran around and jump like the “tigger” that he is. It was so good to see him all grown-up and strong. We brought him a huge nylabone and he loved it.

After all of the running around we walk a few blocks away to an Italian restaurant that is one of Sue’s favorites. Apex was all business again when she put the harness on. He is very relaxed when he guides and watches the world around him but he seems to know just what to do. We had a super yummy meal with Sue’s daughter and her parents. It was obvious that they all love Apex just as much as we do plus they are so grateful for the freedom and safety that he has brought to Sue’s life.

Finally we ended up back at Sue’s house where we relaxed on the couch with Apex. It is different to see him on the couch but it is good to know that the rules can be more relaxed in many ways when these puppies get partnered up. It was the perfect end to a wonderful evening with our first puppy. While we were on the couch I remembered to bring our my camera a snap a few pictures.

Snuggling on the couch with Apex