Winter 2015-Starting out

Thu. Jan. 22—Sat. Jan.: We left a day later than we had planned and prepared. We both had lingering colds, Mom H. was sicker than we were, and we got about two inches of snow on Tuesday and three on Wednesday which meant driving in salty slushy conditions, so we waited for Thursday. In the stress of the packing Marv inadvertently shaved half his beard! He shaved his neck like he always does and headed up his right cheek without changing the head on the trimmer. He trimmed the rest of it closer than usual, leaving him a bit unbalanced but happy in the knowledge that his beard grows so quickly he would soon look okay. I got to see more of his face than I’ve seen in over 40 years. Unfortunately, we awoke to more snow so we might as well have left as planned. Nonetheless we got up early, closed up the house, took some flavored sparkling seltzer water to Mom and got on the road about 8:30. The snow had stopped and there were only wet roads until we got to the freeway and then it was pretty smooth sailing so we made it to Auburn around 10:30, where we met Ken at Jeremiah’s Brewed Awakenings for a short visit. In Fort Wayne we stopped to play with Josh and visit with Jen, who made us grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup for lunch. We made it to Carmel around 3:30 and played with the kids and talked until dinner time, when Craig met us at a Mexican Restaurant where we celebrated Analyn’s fourth birthday. Sarah left before the rest of us to go to bell practice. When we were all back at the house Analyn opened our bag full of presents: a sweatshirt outfit, a Cinderella music box, a Hello Kitty make-up bag, an Olaf the Snowman pillow and blanket set, and a game of Pixie Sticks we found in Nanny’s stuff.

Boppa meets Tiny the Bear

Josh REALLY loves Tiny and Boppa

Ana holds up her new sweatsuit

Analyn, Elijah and Jordan check out her presents

Friday was Ana’s “real” birthday so, after getting the boys off to school, Craig, Marv and I went to a nearby doughnut shop for breakfast. Ana picked out the item I knew she would—it was an unfilled long john covered with icing and pink and white sprinkles—and a bottle of strawberry milk. She amazed us all by eating every bit of the big pastry! When Craig and Ana left to get her to school, Marv and I left to begin our journey to Texas, getting on the road before 9:30. The roads were clear and dry, and it was cloudy and about 30°. After a quick stop to wash the salt off the truck and camper we drove around Indianapolis and then headed southwest, through Illinois, a bit of Missouri and into Arkansas. The temperature slowly rose and, though it was mostly cloudy, it was a pleasant enough drive with no drama or excitement along the way. We had thought we’d get to Memphis and stay overnight and visit the Civil Rights Museum there. But it was only around 5:00 so we continued. There was a surprisingly good sunset and then we got off the road to try and find someplace for dinner. It was dark as we exited and drove past a small business district, and then we found ourselves on an unlighted road with no place to turn around. The seven miles seemed like much farther before we came upon a farm with room enough for us to pull in and turn around.  We were shaky from tension as we pulled into a busy Mexican place for dinner and to gather our wits. Afterwards we made it all the way to Little Rock and stayed at a Budget Hotel that turned out to be exactly what we needed for a good night’s sleep.

Ana is four!

Daddy/Daughter Doughnut Date

Friday's sunset

After cereal and bagels/English Muffins on Saturday, we were underway before 8:30 and continued our journey. After we bought gas the truck computer said we had plenty of miles to get to Texarkana. Unfortunately, once we got below about 55 miles left in the tank and 30 miles let to Texarkana, the computer started dropping faster than the miles were being covered. Panic was setting in as there were no gas stations in sight. Our GPS said there was Flying J truck stop five miles away and the truck said we had 15 miles left. As we pulled up to the gas pump the computer said we had 4 miles left! Ugh! Too much drama! But the gas was $1.75, about as low as we had seen it so far. So all was well.

Once we got around Texarkana we had no phone or internet signals driving state highways and country roads southwest across northeast Texas. At one point we had a brief signal and found out from a text from Ann and an email from Barb that Denny had taken Mom to the ER because her cough was so bad and she felt so crummy that it was feared she had pneumonia. We felt quite helpless as we continued driving until we were back into communication about an hour from College Station. We learned then that the hospital had released her with three new prescriptions after determining that she did not have pneumonia. We also managed to call Aggieland RV Park to tell them we’d be there a day earlier but they said it was no problem.

The GPS took us right to the RV Park, which was giving us a good deal since we were there to volunteer at a P.E.T. workshop. It’s close to the highway so it’s noisy but we had internet and cable TV and there were very few people staying there this time of year. It was sunny and 62°, which felt pretty wonderful to us Northerners. After getting set-up we found a nearby Kroger and bought groceries, and then gas for $1.63 after subtracting a dime per gallon for our Kroger points. Back at the camper, we made salad and rice to go with a roasted chicken. We cleaned up and walked around the campground for some exercise, then talked to Mom for a bit before we settled in for an evening of blogging and watching “Pirates of the Caribbean”. We’re looking forward to having a day to explore the twin cities of Bryan and College Station (home of Texas A&M) before we start our work at the P.E.T. workshop on Monday.

Sunny and 60 degrees in southern Arkansas

A Special Trip to the Cotton Bowl

Thu. Jan 1, 2015: This was the Big Day and the whole point of the trip. The shuttle bus left at 7:30 to take us to the Tailgate, which was held in a large hall a short walk from the stadium parking lot. At the door, some people still needed to get a wrist band. And the person putting them on was none other than President Lou Anna Simons herself! First we found four seats at a table right inside the door, so it would be easy for Rick and Lynette to find us. Then we got right in line for the buffet breakfast as they were opening up so we had hardly any wait at all. As we returned to our seats the lines quickly became quite long. It was a full Texas breakfast with wonderful cinnamon rolls (which they quickly ran out of L) and there was an open bar with beer, wine and frozen margaritas but it was a little hard to get too excited about booze that early in the morning! The band from the President’s Reception the night before was again playing and the same Alumni people welcomed us and started getting us pumped up. Our table was shared with two brothers-in-law from Muskegon, one with his daughter and the other with his son. We chatted with them until Rick and Lynette got there and immediately found us. From that point on, we picked up as if we had just seen them the night before. It was so wonderful to see them!

After eating we went back into the icy rain to walk to the stadium. Lynette was forced to take her “too big” purse back to their car so Rick, Marv & I made our way in without her. Our tickets suggested entering at Gate K which brought us to an escalator up one level and nearly to our seats. AT&T stadium (the Dallas Cowboys’ stadium) is a two year old, state of the art, no expense spared, billion dollar venue. The hallway we walked to our entrance was carpeted, there were large picture-posters on the walls and it was as quiet as an office building. Glass doors opened to our section and then the noise hit us and we saw the famous   50 yard long video screen hovering over the field. It is unbelievably huge and has great resolution. The roof is retractable but it wasn’t open because of the weather. Because this was the “Goodyear Cotton Bowl” they had a remote controlled small scale Goodyear Blimp floating around with cameras mounted on it. The teams were practicing on the field and we could watch them and look around and get our bearings. Most of the MSU fans and band were together in one corner of the stadium and we were probably outnumbered about 7 or 8-to 1 by the Baylor fans. Since Waco is only about 90 minutes away, this was like a home game for them and they had shown up in droves. Baylor also had a real bone to pick because they felt they should have been in the top four for the championship playoff. And for three quarters of the game, I thought so, too. Their quarterback, Petty, had a quick-fire delivery and managed to connect on pass after pass, and our defense just couldn’t seem to contain the receivers. Our defense was doing better on their running game, though, so they looked very one dimensional but effective. Connor Cook, on the other hand, was having trouble controlling his passes and we were doing better with the rush than with the passing game. Early in the fourth quarter we were down 40-21, and had not scored after the first quarter until late in the 3^rd.  Ken was texting me that we should go to a bar somewhere to watch the other bowl games, and I was cringing as I thought about how much money we had spent on the trip. Marv will explain what happened then:

I think most of the MSU fans were at the point of just wanting MSU to make it respectable.  If things continued as they had, it looked like we might end up losing by 30 points.  But in the last 12 minutes the MSU defense kept Baylor out of the end zone and even blocked a field goal, which led to a drive for the winning touchdown. The first of MSU’s three 4^th quarter touchdowns came with about 12 minutes left.  That was followed by a successful onside kick. Cook then threw a horrible interception, but the defense held. This was followed by a second touchdown drive.  Baylor’s next possession ended with the blocked field goal attempt, which popped into the waiting arms of Williamson who ran it back past midfield. The final MSU drive following the blocked field goal was not pretty.  There were too many missed passes by Cook.  But he threw a perfect pass to Lippet on a 4^th and 10 that kept the drive alive, and then three plays later threw the touchdown pass that tied the game. The extra point put MSU ahead for good.  Baylor got the ball on the 25 with 17 seconds left, a daunting task, but not impossible for Petty.  The MSU defense really showed up, with two sacks followed by an interception by Riley Bullough.  GAME WON!  There are lots of good stories that come out of a game like this but the one I like best was that it was Marcus Rush’s last game.  He had started 53 in a row, a new Spartan record. He has always been a good solid defensive end but never got the notoriety with Shilique Calhoun on the other end of the defensive line. Well, at the end of this game Rush was the one that blocked the field goal and he made one of the sacks of Petty to seal the victory.  What a great way to end a career!

We stuck around for the very low-key trophy presentation and then walked back to the buses, where we bid farewell to Rick and Lynette, after getting their assurance that they’ll come visit us in EL where we can show them around campus to see all the changes. It took a very long time to get out of the stadium traffic and onto the freeway but since we were in the warm bus with a load of euphoric fans we didn’t really mind. We got back to the hotel around 5:30, where a buffet dinner was ready for us right inside the doors. We joined a table of very enjoyable strangers and spent a long time just rehashing the game with them as the crowd dwindled and the dinner was put away. We finally got back to our room about 7:30. Marv was semi-interested in going back downstairs to watch OSU vs Alabama at a bar, but I was too, too exhausted. We needed to pack and had to get up at 5:45 to finish packing, eat breakfast and get on the shuttle back to the airport at 7:00. As it was, we didn’t even make it to the end of the OSU game before we collapsed in bed.

Fri. Jan. 2: We made it downstairs to have breakfast at 6:30 only to find out they had changed the bus departure to 7:45. UGH! We really could have used the sleep. But we lingered over breakfast and talked to new friends, finding out that OSU had beaten Alabama to qualify for the Finals against Oregon playing for the first National Football Championship. That meant that MSU’s only two loses for the year were against the two teams that will play for the Championship! It will be interesting to find out what our ranking is after that game Jan. 12. Everything from then on was just as slick as going to Dallas had been. We had an even better box lunch, which we ended up taking home and eating. A tailwind meant we didn’t need to stop to refuel and we were back in Lansing in just under two hours. Because of the small jet there was no wait for our baggage and we hopped in the car and drove home, euphoric over the wonderful trip to the Cotton Bowl!

Trumpeter playing "The Star Spangled Banner"

Marv and Peggy at the game

The Team warming up 

Rick and Lynette's selfie at the game

This says it all!

MSU praying at the end of the game

Can you find the trophy?

Dallas Skyline Jan. 1, 2015

A Special Trip to the Cotton Bowl

Wed. Dec. 30: We could sleep in a little bit this morning before we went down to the big buffet breakfast in the Coronado room. As we looked around for a table we realized we were being hailed by Lee & Joy Jacobs so we sat and caught up with them and a colleague of Lee’s while we ate. Today’s MSU food treat was MSU Gummie Bears. Wednesday had been left pretty open for people to do several optional tours, none of which we had bought. There was a shuttle bus for $15 a person to take us downtown to the battle of the bands in the afternoon. Instead we decided to try the DART bus system on our own. We caught the bus across the street from the hotel and their cash machine from which we planned to each get a $5 all-day pass was broken so the driver said to just pay on the next bus. He took us right downtown where we got off near the Aquarium and walked to the Historic West End District. At Tourist information we got a map of the area and found out that there are free buses and trolleys to get around the downtown area. In looking for a bus we realized we were right at the famous “Grassy Knoll” and Book Repository building from which Lee Harvey Oswald allegedly shot JFK. The day was cloudy and temperatures in the forties, but it wasn’t bad for just wandering so we looked around a bit more before getting a quick lunch at Gator’s in Old Town. That was the only for which we paid the whole time we were in Dallas. With a bit more walking we caught a bus to the park in the Arts District where the Battle of the Bands was going to be held. Since we were an hour early we went into the Dallas Art Museum across the street and wandered their exhibits. Then we gathered with other fans to enjoy MSU and Baylor marching bands as they took turns playing their greatest hits. After about an hour we walked several blocks downhill to catch the #49 bus back to the hotel. The excursion had cost us a grand total of $5 instead of $30.

Back at the hotel we cleaned up a bit and then went to the President’s New Year’s Eve reception. Again, there were several open bars and copious hors d’oeuvres, but after the excesses of the night before we imbibed lightly. There was a good but very loud Texas band playing, which made visiting harder as we sat at a table with a small group which included Trustee Joel Ferguson (who later spoke to the group), before we again joined Lee & Joy standing at a table. There was another presentation by Alumni Association and the President, and finally Mark Dantonio. The party broke up after that and we returned to our room to rest a little bit and change into our New Year’s Eve duds. From several choices we had picked a party hosted by the Dallas Alumni Associating and held at the Blues House, back downtown in the historic district. It promised a cash bar, “heavy” hors d’oeuvres, a live band, a midnight Champagne toast, and visits from the MSU cheerleaders and Sparty. It was very loud and very crowded with people having more fun than we were. The main room with the bar and the band had a few tables, all of which were taken, and lots of people standing. We went to a sort of covered porch area behind the bar where it was quieter and where Candy and Wayne welcomed us to share their table. Candy graduated from MSU in 1971 and met Wayne in Colorado years later. They now live in Arlington so she convinced him to go to the game with her since it is so near their home. It was a bit cool back there but the waiters were good about bringing their trays right to us so we spent a pleasant evening chatting with Candy and Wayne, doing a little dancing, and people-watching. As soon as midnight passed and we had our Champagne we rushed outside to see the spectacular fireworks display nearby. The temperature had dropped and an icy rain was falling so we were happy to walk only a few blocks back to the warm shuttle bus to go back to the hotel where we again tumbled, exhausted, into bed.

Dr. Pepper display outside a ballroom at Hilton Anatole

"Old Red Castle" with Travel Information

The "Grassy Knoll"

West End District

Battle of the Bands

Natural Science Museum 

Dallas New Year's Eve Fireworks

A Special Trip to the Cotton Bowl

Tue. Dec. 30, 2015: We had to be up early to drive to the Lansing Airport by 8:00 to catch our plane. We had considered making our own arrangements but when we realized all that was included in the Alumni Association trip, we decided to spring the extra money for the convenience, and from the very beginning we were glad we had. We bought our tickets for the game ahead of time through MSU ticketing office so we could get 4 together to sit with Rick and Lynette, my college roommate who lives in Dallas. We flew in a 50 passenger charter jet that left from the small building next to the main Terminal. On arrival they took our bags and offered us a hot beverage while we waited for everyone to check in. We showed our ID to get our Boarding pass and then walked a few yards to the jet. On our seat there was a nice box lunch and a bottle of water. We got underway and they served beverages to go with the lunch. We had a quick stop in Columbia, MO to refuel because of a stiff headwind. Back in the air they again offered beverages and by 11:30 Central Time we landed at Dallas Love Field. Our shuttle buses pulled up a few yards from the plane so we climbed aboard while our luggage got loaded for us. The Anatole Hilton was about a fifteen minute drive. We were given our packet at the Cotton Bowl Hospitality desk and told we could go ahead and get in our rooms and our luggage would join us soon. There were cookies and fruit and cold beverages at the desk and our packets included MSU popcorn. We were clearly not going to go hungry this week!

In our room, 1961, we unpacked and finished our lunches before getting information and the link to take a one mile “Art Walk” highlighting 100 of the 1000 pieces of (mostly) Asian art at the motel. This also gave us a good chance to explore the layout of the large multi-building hotel complex including the outdoor Sculpture Park.  Afterwards we went to one of the bars downstairs where the Dallas Alumni Association was hosting a basketball game watch for MSU’s Big 10 season opener against Maryland. While we watched, the football team came in through the lobby so everyone stood and gave them a rousing “Go Green! Go White!” as they passed us. We had to leave before the game was over to dress for the President’s Dinner, one of two activities to which we were invited at no cost because of our Scholarship for the College of Education. The dinner was held at the highly exclusive Petroleum Club in downtown Dallas. There was an hour long reception with waitpeople walking around with trays of hors d’oeuvres and several open bars in a wood paneled room on the 27^th floor with an expansive view of the lights stretching across Dallas. We didn’t know anyone else there but fell into easy conversation with other folks. Many people were keeping track of the game, which MSU lost in double overtime. Then we went upstairs to a very modern room with several floors of interior windows looking down on us for a delicious dinner of salmon and filet mignon (and plenty of wine), again chatting with complete strangers with whom we shared a love for MSU. That became the pattern for the week. There was a short presentation by Alumni personnel and then President Lou Anna Simons before we were shuttled back to the hotel, where we climbed into bed feeling quite feted!

Room 1961 in the Anatole Hilton

Room with a View....overlooking Dallas

Front Entrance to the Anatole Hilton

View from the reception on the 27th floor of the Petroleum Club

Marv's dinner at the Petroleum Club

Nicaragua: Touring Managua and going home

Monday, June 30: This was our only chance to be tourists. A woman from a cultural arts school came to the hotel to talk about the school that strives to continue the indigenous crafts and history. She had attended the school as a child and is now an instructor. She had tables full of her jewelry and paintings and we spent a while buying gifts to take home. Unfortunately, during this time Carolyn laid her purse down and it disappeared, leaving her without money or credit cards for the rest of the trip. Luckily, CEPAD had collected our passports and hadn’t returned them yet so she didn’t lose it.  

Learning about the crafts school

We spent the rest of the morning at the nearby Masaya Volcano National Park. We stopped at the Visitor’s Center and learned the history and geology of this very active volcano. We were happy to learn that the winds were such that we could not only drive up to the rim but wouldn’t need gas masks for the visit. A few members of our group chose not to go up the mountain because of fears of the gaseous fumes overflowing the caldron but no one who went had any problems. The basin was so full of those fumes that we couldn’t really see much over the rim but we could look across the city of Managua, and down into the valleys and the lake formed by the last major eruption. 

Relief map showing Jinotega, the reservoir north of it, and up into the mountains where we stayed.

Hannah and Grant looking at the map of Masaya Volcano National Park

Close up of the three calderas of Masaya Volcano National Park

Barb, Hannah & Nancy at the rim of the volcano

Panorama of the rim of the volcano

Looking into the caldera

Looking over Managua from the volcano's rim

For lunch we went to a very good, but slow, restaurant overlooking a volcanic lake called Laguna del Apoyo in the town of Catarina. We had lots of time to wander the market there after lunch. 

Lunch with a view!

Active volcano looking right from the restaurant 

From there it was a short drive to the shore of Lake Nicaragua where we got into two long, low launches for an hour’s cruise through and among the mangroves along the shoreline. Our guide had limited English but when he realized I was interested in the birds he pointed out many along the way. 

Leaving the dock area

Water fowl on the rocks

The edge of one of the hundreds of islands in the lake

Our other launch

Active volcano near the lake

The lights of Managua

On the way back to the hotel we stopped for a quick visit to the Massaya Market, which is very old. By the end of the day we had seen a lot of the greater Managua area and learned much about how the numerous volcanoes have shaped and formed the landscape. Over the two days we also had several opportunities to see the ornate light features around Managua added by the president’s wife for a visit by Chavez. Our “Farewell Dinner” was held at a favorite restaurant of CEPAD’s people, Cocina de Dona Haydee, where we had most of the back room to ourselves. There was confusion over the bill when Carolina paid so we ended up putting in more money (as we were able) to cover it. Back at the hotel we readied ourselves for a quick get-away in the morning.

Other than having to be up well before dawn, it was an uneventful trip back to the good ol’ USofA. It had been a very good experience that really pushed the boundaries of our comfort levels. We were both very satisfied with what we had done and accomplished and were grateful for the opportunity. It should be a long time before either of us turns on a tap to potable hot and cold running water without giving thanks for the blessings in our lives.

Nicaragua: Part 6

Sunday, June 29: After breakfast in the morning we packed up the bus and made it to a nearby church for their 9:30 service. It was a bright and airy cement block building with tall open windows, very light gray tiles on the floor, and a blaring sound system for a keyboard and drums and microphone on the podium. As promised, it was a very loud, enthusiastic, Evangelical service with lots of talk and lots of singing, all in Spanish, which went on and on and on.  We were introduced to the congregation and Bonnie said a few works on our behalf. Carolina mentioned several times that we had to leave at noon and right on time we all stood up and left, with the pastor mid-sermon and everyone else staying on indefinitely. After lunch we headed all the way back to Managua with only a rest stop in Jinotega. Part of our hurry was because Jeffrey had had word that his brother was very ill with complications of diabetes and in the hospital. We went to the Nehemiah Center where a number of groups were staying and they fed us a nice meal of chicken, salad, and, of course, rice and beans. We sat in a group and had a discussion about CEPAD with one of the directors. As we talked we got the sad news that Jeffrey’s brother had died. We returned to the Casa San Juan in different rooms but similar groupings and settled in to what felt like very luxurious beds after our time on the floor of the school.

Pastor Bonnie gives greetings on the group's behalf.

I forgot how few people were there until I saw this picture again.

Carol and Grant leave the church.

William atop his carefully loaded bus.

Don Pedro's nieces enjoy the hammock on the front porch.