On Our Way
We got up fairly early this morning so we could take our dog, Mimi, to her sister’s for their visit. It’s so nice that neither of them has ever seen a kennel! When we got to Penny’s, we found out that she had taken in another foster dog, a German Shepherd/Australian Shepherd mix who was very shy and quiet. He won’t be much longer after the 2 rambunctious sisters spend some time with him!
Our taxi came and I noticed that it was a hybrid. I innocently asked the driver how he liked it – and he spend most of the time telling us how much was wrong with it. Then he branched off into how bad American drivers are (he’s from Russia), how he’s teaching his daughter to drive using mirrors only – all while we nearly sideswiped a car carrier truck. He also thought it was fine to drive in the fast lane until a few seconds before taking a right exit. Fortunately, we made it to the airport in plenty of time.
Our first flight to Chicago/Midway went smoothly enough except I couldn’t sleep due to a screaming child behind me.
I took these photos of all the other Southwest tails from the plane window.
One of the pins had fallen out of Tom’s watch while we were still at Dulles and I was *sure* that there would be a watch kiosk in Midway where he could get another pin. WRONG! We walked all over and went into every store. I also looked, unsuccessfully, for noise-canceling headphones. I have some at home which I didn’t think to bring. Fortunately, I didn’t need them on the next flight.
We finally gave up on our shopping and went to Manny’s Express – I had a craving for potato pancakes (latkes)
I hadn’t had those for at least 3 years and they were so good. I also got a salad which I saved for the plane.
Manny’s Potato Pancake Recipe
2 c. finely grated raw baking potatoes
¼ c. grated onion
2 eggs, beaten
1 t. salt
1/8 t. ground black pepper
1 T. Flour
1 T. Butter
2 T. vegetable oilCombine potatoes and onions.
Squeeze out excess liquid.
Add all other ingredients except butter and vegetable oil.
Let rest for 5 minutesHeat butter and vegetable oil on a griddle over medium heat
Drop batter onto griddle by tablespoonful, flatten with back of spoon.Fry on both sides until a dark golden brown
Serve immediately.Serves 4
Our next plane was about 20 minutes late – no problem – there was no deadline for us!
I took these pictures of the Rocky Mountains out of the plane window – not the best!
Wikipedia says:
“The Rocky Mountains, commonly known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than 3,000 miles (4,830 km) from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States. Within the North American Cordillera, the Rockies are somewhat distinct from the Pacific Coast Ranges and the Cascade Range and Sierra Nevada which all lie farther to the west.
The Rocky Mountains were formed from 80 million to 55 million years ago…”
Our pilot told us later that the area below us that we couldn’t see, and didn’t exist, was Area 51.
More from Wikipedia:
According to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the correct names for the Area 51 facility are the Nevada Test and Training Range and Groom Lake, though the name Area 51 has been used in official CIA documentation. Other names used for the facility include Dreamland, Paradise Ranch, Home Base, Watertown Strip, and most recently Homey Airport. The area around the field is referred to as (R-4808N),
It is located in the southern portion of Nevada in the western United States, 83 miles (133 km) north-northwest of Las Vegas. Situated at its center, on the southern shore of Groom Lake, is a large military airfield. The base’s current primary purpose is officially undetermined; however, based on historical evidence, it most likely supports development and testing of experimental aircraft and weapons systems. The intense secrecy surrounding the base has made it the frequent subject of conspiracy theories and a central component to unidentified flying object (UFO) folklore. Everything that happens at Area 51 is classified Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI).
After that, the pilot said we flew over the Sierra Nevada mountains. I couldn’t get a very good picture, though 🙁
We landed and got a shuttle to our hotel, the Inn at the Opera. We got checked in – very nice – and went out to find something to eat. I was surprised how cold it was. When I’d looked at the weather reports before coming, it always said 61-65. I guess I should have known that those were the highs. I’ll be shopping for a hoodie or jacket or something while we’re here!
We walked the couple blocks to Caffe Delle Stelle. Very nice Italian food!
Back to the Inn where we put down a deposit on two days of hop on/hop off bus then up for bed. It was about 1:00am home time or 11 here. I fell asleep almost immediately.
In a dream, I heard a loud noise, then Tom waking me up telling me that we had to get outside. It was the fire alarm and I would have slept right through it.
Quickly dressed, down 5 flights of stairs, false alarm – thank goodness!
Back to sleep – finally!
Medical Tourism
Our catamaran pickup was for 8:15 so we got up early. The driver was actually here before 8:15 so we hustled to get to the (huge) bus. Another family fro The Crane was already on board. We waited a bit for someone else who never showed up.
At the first stop we picked up a bunch of guys who turned out to be part of a hockey team. They were either still, or already, drunk and acting moronic. Wonderful.
This bus held at least 40 people and we were nearly full when we got to the Hilton to pick up the last few people. We waited. And waited. And waited some more. Some of our folks got off to see what was going on. No answers. Tom got off and talked to the driver about why we were holding up the busload of people for so long. The driver said it was his orders, to talk to “the boat”.
Finally, after about 45 minutes, 4 people got on the bus. No apologies from them or the driver. We just continued to the catamaran. Everyone except us got on the catamaran. Tom wanted to see the manager, who was not there on Sunday (of course !). The folks in the office said to let it go, we’d be “happy” once on board, probably referring to the open bar.
We said no, that we weren’t going. They called us a taxi (at our expense, naturally). Tom got the name of the manager to speak with him later.
Our taxi arrived and we left. We told the driver exactly what had happened and he drove us to the competition! The first boat, Cool Runnings, had already left for the day but a very kind man from the Jolly Roger called them for us us. The didn’t have any openings until Tuesday so the Jolly Roger man (Tom thought his name was Richard) booked us a trip for Monday on Jammin’ Cats. I was really amazed at how kind and helpful the taxi driver and Richard(?) were to us.
If you need a taxi in Barbados, Call Big Apple at 246-239-0637. A great guy.
Meanwhile, on the trip back to The Crane, Tom mentioned that we had a bat in our apartment overnight. He had heard it about 2 am, then again at dawn the bat was at the glass doors trying to get out. Tom had pinned him (or her) between the slatted door and the glass door, then tried to open the glass door to let the bat out. S/he flew away and Tom noticed that his arm was bleeding.
I saw the puncture wound and we were trying to decide what to do. When we got back, Tom called the front desk to ask about doctors. Naturally, it was Sunday… He got the name of an emergency clinic that was open until midnight. I looked up bats online and found that there had been no rabies here for at least a decade. All the people said that there was no rabies here, too, but we wanted to be sure.
I wasn’t even sure that it was a bat bite since it was just one puncture wound, not 2 (or 4) but we headed off to find the emergency clinic. There were about 10 people ahead of us and only 1 doctor so it took a while to get in. The nurse reiterated that there was no rabies here, took Tom’s medical history. Turns out his last tetanus shot had been just over 10 years ago.
Back to the waiting room. Just after 5, we got to go into the small doctor’s office. I was amazed at the old-style exam table.
After a bit, the doctor came in and told us what we already knew – it was probably not a bat bite. They dont have rabies here on Barbados but had it been Trinidad… Tom did have an infection that was creeping up his arm so he got the tetanus shot, got the wound cleaned and dressed, prescriptions for antibiotic ointment and meds.
We took the prescriptions to the pharmacy next door, then back to the clinic for paperwork that we can try to submit to our insurance when we get home.
Crisis averted!