Thursday, May 30, 2024

2024 Week 15 - School Days

 I have previous blog posts about my school days.

·      Kindergarten

·      1st Grade

·      2nd & 3rd Grade

·      4th Grade

·      5th & 6th Grade

·      Junior High (7th & 8th Grade)

·      9th Grade (Freshman)

·      Sophomore & Junior

·      Senior Year

·      My First Dance

·      First Crush

·      Getting my Driver’s License

Oh my, the memories those brought back. Extracurricular activities included Girl Scouts, 4-H, and Search & Rescue.

My Dad attended Galvin School, Washington School (8th Grade only), and Centralia High School.  Dad was involved with band and FFA.

My Mom attended various schools in Centralia (including the old Washington School) as well as Rochester High school.

Of my grandparents, only my grandmothers graduated from High School.  My maternal grandmother graduated from Chehalis High School and my paternal grandmother graduated from LaGrande High School in Oregon.  Both grandfathers only went through 11th Grade according to the 1940 Federal Census.

The 1940 Census also indicated that my Paternal Great Grandparents, William Kludt went through the 5th Grade and Susan Reisner, his wife, went through the 8th Grade. Maternal Great Grandpa George Keesee went through the 6th Grade.  Maternal 2nd Great Grandmother, Clara Young Reynoldson made it through the 8th Grade. Maternal Great Grandparents, Raymond Reynoldson and his wife, Bernice Stead, went through 11th Grade.

Tuesday, May 28, 2024

2024 Week 14 - Favorite Recipes

         Oh my!  My all-time favorite was Papa’s Rice Pudding.  He never wrote it down so it has been lost.  But I remember it having rice and raisins.  It was thick.  Although, when I was going through my aunt’s stuff after she passed away, I think I found it.  Haven’t tried it to see if it looks and tastes like I remember.

Other favorites include Rhubarb Brown Betty.  Mom would make this a lot in the summer when the rhubarb was ripe for pickin’.  While it was still warm, we would have a scoop of vanilla ice cream put on it.  I’ve made this a few times myself but it doesn’t seem to be the same.

Another favorite dessert recipe was Mom’s Tapioca Pudding.  She made this a lot as well, especially when we had lots of milk on hand.  We had a single dairy cow that provided us with all the raw milk we could drink, as well as cream to make our own butter.  We made that butter using an old-fashioned butter churn.  It would be placed in a brown paper bag and set next to our chair in the living room.  We would “pound” the cream while watching TV in the evenings.  It was similar to this picture – but the base was brown and the lid was made of wood.



Monday, May 27, 2024

2024 Week 13 - Worship

         The Kludt family were of the Lutheran Faith.  Dorothea Ahrendt Kludt, according to her obituary notice in October 1919, was baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran church.  She was living at the Lutheran Old Peoples’ Home in Muscatine, Iowa at the time of her death.

   I also have copies of church records from Mecklenburg (Germany) of birth, baptism, deaths, and marriages that occurred in the Parchim or Frauenmark Parishes of the Lutheran church.

   The Ahrendt family were also of the Lutheran faith in Mecklenburg as well per copies of church records.

   I believe the Reissner family were also members of the Lutheran church.  I have a copy of the church record in Iowa of the marriage of Susannah Catherina Reissner to Wilhelm Edvard Kludt in 1889.  I also have copies of the church records reflecting deaths in 1907 of Margaretha Reisner and in 1912 of Maria Margaret Reisner.  The Reisner family immigrated from Bavaria.  I haven’t done research in that region, yet.

My maternal line were of the Baptist faith.  I have copies of the Sardis Association of Regular Baptists (Pike County, Kentucky) annual minutes reflecting obituary announcements of various family members – including John W Bevins, Cynthia Hurt Bevins, Elbert Bevins, and George W Keesee.  This would include the Maynard and Lowe families as well.

My personal faith has been mixed.  When I was growing up (in grade school), I attended the Free Methodist Church in Centralia.  Then in high school, I attended Calvary Assembly of God Church (also in Centralia). I became dissatisfied with them and started attending a different church known as Open Bible Community Church.  When I moved to Olympia in the early 1980’s, I started looking for a new church to attend.  That was when I found Westwood Baptist Church.  I became a member of the church in the mid-to-late 1980’s.  I am still a member of that church even though I have moved back to the Centralia area and am now attending Mountain View Baptist Church.  

Sunday, May 26, 2024

2023 Vacation - New England/Canada Cruise & New York City


Pre-planning – Using our last of prepaid deposit/future cruise credit, we will be cruising out of New York City doing New England & Canada.  Cruise starts on September 3rd and ends on Sept 10th.  Because it starts and ends in New York, we will be spending a few extra days in New York.  Plans include touring Ellis Island, Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, 9/11 Memorial, and One World Observatory (instead of The Top of the Rock).  Have scheduled airporter to take us to and from the airport in SeaTac.  Flight is non-stop from Sea-Tac to JFK (and return) on Alaska Airlines.  Hotel and a Hop On Hop Off tour have also been scheduled.

This cruise was originally scheduled for 2021 out of Boston but due to Covid, it was cancelled in February 2021.  We rescheduled it to Sept 2023 as we already had a cruise scheduled for 2022.

This has been fun planning – determining shore excursions and tours in NYC.  So, here is our itinerary:

·       9/2 – Fly out of Sea-Tac to JFK

·       9/3 – Board NCL Escape

·       9/4 – Port of Call:  Newport, RI

·       9/5 – Port of Call:  Portland, ME

·       9/6 – Port of Call:  Bar Harbor, ME

·       9/7 – Port of Call:  St John, Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick

·       9/8 – Port of Call:  Halifax, Nova Scotia

·       9/9 – Day at Sea

·       9/10 – Disembark NYC; check in hotel (Yotel Times Square); Hop on Hop Off tours; Harbor Lights Cruise with Nathan

·       9/11 – VIP Ferry Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island; 9/11 Memorial & One World Observatory

·       9/12 – Empire State Building

·       9/13 – Fly home

I’m only including a small sampling of the many photos taken.  You will need to checkout Facebook for all the others.

Saturday, Sept 2, 2023

We spent the day finalizing our packing, getting the house ready (programming lights to come on and off), asking the neighbors to take care of our garbage, asking a friend to swing by occasionally, and giving the fresh vegetables to our neighbor as they won’t last while we are gone.

Airport shuttle picked us up at 6:55 pm (originally scheduled for 7:20).  #FlatMike is packed in our luggage – he had his photo taken with the luggage.  We arrived at Sea-Tac at 8:30.  Used the kiosks to check-in, get our boarding passes, and check our big suitcase through.  Then we went through TSA security – some reason my carry-on had to be examined as well as me!  David went through just fine (he usually has the issues).

Had to take the “train” to the C gates area then transfer to another “train” to get to the N Gates.  Arrived at the gate at 9:35.   Our flight isn’t until 11:35p.  So, just sitting and waiting, doing some puzzles and reading.  Finally, able to board and flight left on-time!

We flew first class (love that!).  Sort of disappointed, no curtain separating us from the rest of the flight.  No hot towel to wipe our face.  No pillow.  We did receive a meal after leaving Sea-Tac, our choice was a fruit, cheese & meat board.  We also got a warm cookie for dessert.  Our beverages were seltzer water & Sprite.  We then dozed most of the flight. 

Sunday, Sept 3, 2023

       Plane landed at 7:27a ET at JFK.  They fed us a snack right before landing.  I had popcorn and David had a turkey pepperoni stick.  Not a very satisfying breakfast.  Arrived in the terminal at 7:46.   Now, it’s sit and wait for the transfer bus to the pier, which starts at 10am.  What’s interesting about JFK is that there is a separate terminal for various airlines.  We are at terminal 7.  We boarded our bus just before 10 am.  It got

us to the pier at 11am.  Checked in and waiting to board (we’re in Group 41).  Had our embarkation photo taken.

         We were able to get on board around noon (which was our check-in time) but the rooms weren’t ready for us (won’t be until about 3pm).  They had an area near the casino that we could check our bags until then.  This was great – then we didn’t have to have them with us as we wandered around the ship.  We went to Deck 16 to the Garden Café to eat lunch (like everybody else did!).  This was about 1pm.  This was our first meal of the day.

         After eating lunch, we went to Deck 6 and sat in the Atrium until our rooms were ready (which was almost 3p).  We collected our carry-ons then went to our room (on Deck 10) to unpack and wait for our big suitcase.  We did some more wandering around on Decks 7 & 8. Took photos of the NYC skyline while we left port at 5:30.   Decided to eat dinner at The Savor (on Deck 6) at 6p. After dinner, stopped at the Internet Café and got the app squared away on my phone so I can use it.  We also purchased our shore excursions and our photo package.

         Advantages of having Gold Latitude status – discounts on shore excursions & purchases at the Duty-Free store and photo gallery.  There will also be a special cocktail party later in the week.

         Crashed at 9p as we were totally wiped out due to lack of sleep the night before.  #FlatMike had photos taken again today.  My Fitbit registered over 7,000 steps.





 


Monday, Sept 4, 2023


         
We are “docked” in Newport, RI at 6a.  Tenders are required in order to go ashore – not fun.  We woke up at 8a.  Took showers & went to breakfast at the Garden Café.  We wandered around the ship some more then went to catch our “tender” at noon.

         The shore excursion we did was a scenic drive.  Had a brief stop at Fort Adams.  This shore excursion lasted


about an hour and a half.  We saw the historic district with examples of Colonial, Federal, and Victorian homes.  We also saw Trinity Church, Redwood Library, and the Gothic Church of Saint Mary’s (where Jacqueline & JFK were married).

         We got one of the last tenders back to the ship at 3:30, arriving back at the ship at 4:15 and went to our room to cool off.  Since we never had lunch, we headed out for dinner at 5p.  We ate dinner at O’Sheehans, an Irish bar & grill (located on Deck 7).  Very disappointed in the menu.

         Afterwards, we went to the Atrium to listen to some music, watch crowd trivia, then Deal/No Deal Game Show.  Went back to the room at 9pm to go to bed.  Forgot to note the number of steps for the day.

         Never found the photo spot of the day for the port of call.  All the Freestyle Newsletter said was 7a around the ship.  No idea as to which deck. 

  


 

 

  Tuesday, Sept 5, 2023



         Woke up at 8:40.  Showered & dressed and went to breakfast at the Garden Café.  Then we wandered around the ship trying to find the photo spot of the day.  It was from 10a to 11:30.  Never found it.  We docked in Portland, ME at 11am.

         We also had lunch at the Garden Café before going ashore.

         Our shore excursion for this port of call is the Lighthouses of


Maine – lasting 3 ½ hours.  We had to be ashore at 2:30.  Stops include the Portland Head Lighthouse & it’s museum, Bug Light house & the Liberty Ship Memorial, then we did Spring Point Ledge
Lighthouse.  My camera battery died so I had to take pictures with my cell phone.  Besides the lighthouses, I got a picture of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s childhood home.  We got back to the ship at 6:18.

         Our Latitudes cocktail party was at 6:30.  Kind of disappointed in that – they never served us the appetizers.  We were lucky to even get our drinks – it took forever!  So, we went to the Garden Café for dinner at 7p.  After dinner, I went to the Supper Club for Bingo at 8:30.

         Over 10,000 steps on the FitBit.

  


 
Wednesday, Sept 6, 2023


        
We “docked” in Bar Harbor, ME at 8a.  We didn’t schedule any shore excursions (it was sold out or were too expensive).  Notice the fact that I used quotations around the word docked – it is because we had to use tenders again.  David was up early and already had breakfast by the time I got up at 8.

         After breakfast, we took a tender to shore to do some shopping.  Hurray!  The photo spot was on shore!  We got pictures!  David found a long-sleeved shirt to wear to protect his arms (found out afterwards, it’s not a style he likes).  We returned to the ship at 11:33.

         Had lunch at Garden Café then went to the Atrium and played 3 different trivia games and watched Bean Bag Toss Game.  David has tried several times to attend the Veterans Informal Social but either the lounge is closed or nobody is showing up.

         We had our first “fancy” dinner – it was at Teppanyaki (Japanese – where they do a show for you while they cook your food).  It was


fantastic and very filling!  Oh, and our photos were taken.

         I went back to the Atrium and caught the end of the “Battle of the Sexes” Game.  Not as funny or good as the first time we saw this.  Then listened to some music (not impressed with the groups they had performing through the ship this time around).  Then watched “Deal or No Deal”.  Then headed to bed (10p).

         Clocks move forward one hour (Atlantic time zone).  Did just over 5,000 steps on the Fitbit.

 




Thursday, Sept 7, 2023


         
Docked in St. John, Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick at 8am.  We woke up at 8:15a.  Decided to have breakfast at one of the main dining rooms (The Taste) instead of the Garden Café.  It was nice to not have to run around the 
buffet or try to find a table.  After breakfast, went back to our room and took some photos from the balcony.

         We went ashore about 11:30 for our shore excursion – Highlights of St John.  One of the stops on the tour was the Reversing Rapids, where the mighty Bay of Fundy causes the St John River to reverse direction and flow upstream (based on tides).  Took several photos. 
Returned to our ship at 3pm and had lunch at the Garden Café.

         The rest of the afternoon was spent in the Atrium to see about European Cruises.  Then went to the Photo Gallery to check out our photos and get ideas about the missed port of call photos (because they never tell us where and when!!!!).  Then browsed through the t-shirts (didn’t like any of them).

         We had dinner at The Manhattan.  Took longer than planned so I ended up leaving David and rushing to The Supper Club to get my Bingo cards (that’s an addiction of mine – although I limit the amount I spend on cards).  Came close to Black out – only needed 5 more numbers.

         Had over 6,000 steps on the FitBit.

  



 

  

 



Friday, Sept 8, 2023

         Woke up at 8:25.  Our last port of call – Halifax, Nova Scotia. 
Arrived at 10a.  An interesting fact about Halifax – it boasts the second largest ice-free natural harbor in the world after Sydney, Australia.

         Ate breakfast at the Garden Café then went back to our room to get our bags and head to shore for our Hop on Hop off Double Decker
tour.  We got our photo taken!!!!!  Did you know it was Fleet Week?  Oh, and at the Halifax Citadel, we heard the cannon go off!  We found a couple of T-Shirts and Band-Aids (needed to cover an open blister on one of David’s toes).

         We got back on board the ship at 1:45; had lunch at the Garden Café.  Played trivia and watched a few things.  Got another “make-up” photo for a missed port of call.  Picked out our luggage tags for disembarkation.  Had dinner at the Garden Café, played Budget Bingo then returned to our room a little after 9p.

   









  

 



Saturday, Sept 9, 2023

         This is a Sea Day as we are heading back to NYC.  I was up early.  Had breakfast at our usual location.  Caught the “Battle of the Cake Masters”.  It was hilarious.  Cruise Director Jack and I think it was Assistant Cruise Director Jeff along with the Bakery Chef.   The Chef took them through the steps of making a cake.  Wish I had taken photos.  Then it was off to Bingo in the Supper Club.  Then lunch at our usual place.

         The afternoon was spent shopping in the Duty-Free store for souvenir t-shirts.  Checked our photos out at the gallery – some are missing.  So asked about that.  Also, asked about the discounted shore excursion prices (they were not reflected on the account as well as the $50 credit for a couple of our shore excursions).  Then went to the final Bingo game in the theater.

         We had dinner reservations for 8:45 – I got them changed to 7:45 at the Moderno, a Brazilian Churrascaria.  This was the last of our specialty dinners.  OH my, was it fantastic!  Lots of meat – chicken, beef, lamb, and seafood.  Your meal starts with a buffet salad bar and bread.  Then they come by your table with the various meats and slice it for you to grab with your tongs to put on your plate.  Then it is finished off with a dessert.

         We picked out our photos to be delivered to our room after 11p.  Went back to our room and finished packing – putting the big suitcase out in the hallway.  Turned our clocks back an hour.

 


Sunday, Sept 10, 2023

         Disembarkation day – up at 6:30, went to breakfast in the Garden Café then back to our room to do final packing.  We had lime-colored tags for 9:15 debark time.  Although, we got to leave a lot earlier.  We cleared customs with no issues. 

Caught a taxi at the pier to take us to our hotel (Yotel Times Square located at 570 10th Ave (near 42nd) – arrived just before 9a.  Checked our luggage in with the concierge then took off for our Hop on Hop off tour of NYC.

Lots of walking, we had to walk about 6 blocks past the hotel on10th Ave then another 3 or so blocks away from the harbor to get to
M&M World (7
th & 48th) where the first stop is for the tour.  Found out that only the red line was running, which covered the “downtown” area.  Rode the full route (12 stops) as it was pouring down rain.  Not conducive for wandering around the sights.  When we returned to the starting point, we got off and went to Applebee’s for lunch.

We then went back to M&M World to get on the bus again, this time planning to get off at some of the stops.  Stop 2 was Times Square East (this is where you can get the Uptown Tour or Blue Line if it was running).  Stop 3 was Empire State Building/Koreatown – we have ESB scheduled for another day.  Stop 4 is known as the Flatiron District – Harry Potter New York. Stop 5 is SOHO – it would have been nice to have seen the Museum of Ice Cream but it was already a cold day.  Stop 6 is Chinatown/Little Italy – not interested in shopping or dining at this time.  Stop 7 is the Brooklyn Bridge – a lot of people get off here to walk the bridge.  Not us.  Stop 8 is Wall Street/Charging Bull.  We did get off here as we wanted to go to the National Museum of Native Americans.  So many people getting their picture taken at the charging bull.  The museum was real interesting although my feet were starting to hurt from all the walking we’ve done.  You had to go through security similar to the airport (bag & body screening).  After the museum, we got back on the bus (these are double-decker buses and you have to be careful where you sat as the rain leaked into the lower areas).  Stop 9 is Statue of Liberty/Battery Park – also scheduled for another day.  Stop 10 is World Trade Center – again scheduled for another day.  Stop 11 is Hudson Yards – an interesting shopping area.  Stop 12 is Circle Line Sightseeing – we should have gotten off here as it was close to our hotel but I spaced out.   We got off back at stop 1.  Then walked back to our hotel so we can check in.

Hard to believe we spent the entire day riding the buses.  Checked in and retrieved our luggage and got to our room shortly after 5 pm.  We are supposed to have met Nathan at the restaurant for dinner at 5.   We walked down 42nd Street two blocks to meet Nathan.  We had a quick meal (Nathan picked up the tab as he owed us for the harbor tour) then walked another couple of blocks to get to the Circle Line Sightseeing to catch our Harbor Lights Tour.  Got there just in time (6:15p).

Harbor Lights Tour lasted about two hours and it was fantastic.  Got to see the NYC skyline, New Jersey skyline, and the Statue of Liberty all lit up (my pictures of that didn’t turn out – will have to check with Nathan).  After the tour, we all walked back to our hotel then Nathan headed to the Amtrak Station to go back to Philly.

You know I said my feet were hurting – well I had the start of a couple of blisters on the bottom of my feet.  So, for the rest of the vacation, I had band aids on them to prevent them from breaking open.  I had over 15,000 steps on my Fitbit (no wonder I had blisters!).

 



  

 Monday, Sept 11, 2023 – Patriots Day

         Woke up about 7a – took showers then went down to the 4th floor (our room is on the 16th floor) to the restaurant to eat breakfast (not included in our hotel cost).  Returned to our room to get ready for another busy day of sightseeing.

         Caught a taxi to take us to the Native American Museum to meet up with our Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island Tour.  Our tour guide was very informative.  We had a group of about 12 people – although it dwindled


down to 6 due to illness on board the ferry crossing to the Statue.  We walked through Battery Park to get to the ferry dock.  When we got to the Statue of Liberty, we walked all the way around the base (didn’t have tickets to go inside) and then we had some free time to explore the museum.  David went inside to see the original torch. 

         We then boarded another ferry to take us over to Ellis Island.  We had a quick snack (I had a pretzel so that the salt can replace what I lost through perspiration).  Our tour guide provided some information about Ellis Island then left us to our own devices.  We didn’t do much but rested our feet a little bit then caught the ferry back to Battery Park.

         When we got back to Battery Park, we walked to One World Observatory.  Oh my, the area was packed, and the 9/11 Memorial was “closed” for the ceremonies.  We caught the tail end (bagpipes playing Amazing Grace).  We showed our tickets for the Observatory – it took us up (over 200 floors – our ears popped!) and we were able to walk around and view the NYC skyline.  Took lots of pictures, had our free drink then headed back down.  We got lost in the Oculus (subway and shops).  Made it outside and we were at the 9/11 Memorial.  It was still closed because of the special ceremonies, so we caught a taxi to take us back to the hotel. 

We were very tired, so we ordered a pizza to be delivered.  Unwinding and watching the thunderstorm happening outside (from 5 – 6p).  Did some catching up on emails and text messaging with Mary about the house.  Had over 10,000 steps on the Fitbit.

An interesting tidbit about WTC – it is actually made up of several towers (at least 7) and only two were lost from the plane crashes.

   


   

 

Tuesday, Sept 12, 2023

         Our last full day in NYC.  We were up about 8a.  This morning is
our Empire State Building tour at 10:30.  We ate breakfast then caught another taxi.  We arrived at about 10am.  Able to get in.  WOW!  View was fantastic!  The elevator ride to the top was interesting.  It had a video showing the history of the site.  But it went by really fast.  The first stop was where you wandered around and looked at the mechanics of the construction (like a museum).  This was the 80th Floor.  Then a different elevator took you to the 82 (or was it 84th) Floor to the observatory.  You can walk around and take pictures of the skyline.  If you had special tickets (which we didn’t), you can go up to the 102nd floor.

         Afterwards, we had lunch at the Chopt (a salad place that operated like Subway but it was just salads) at 11:45.  Very delicious!  Then caught a taxi back to the hotel (arrived at 1:30).  Reorganized our suitcases, checked into our flight and arranged transportation to JFK (have to be in the lobby at 4:45a). 

We ate dinner at the restaurant in our hotel.  Originally, we were eating outside, but the wind picked up and it was getting a little chilly and I was getting bitten by bugs.  So, we ate inside.  It was an alright meal.  Meals are very expensive in NYC – almost double what it is here.  Then we went to bed early (hard to get to sleep).

  


 


  Wednesday, Sept 13, 2023

         We were up just before 4a.  Finished packing and headed to the lobby to check out.  Caught our “taxi” earlier than scheduled to head to the airport.  Checked in through security – no issues this time.  Ate a light breakfast (a sandwich) then went on to Gate 2 (we were in terminal 7) for boarding.  Plane is on time (7:30a).  They served us breakfast on the plane -good food.  I had the frittata and David had strawberry French toast.  Flight time is anticipated to be 5 hours and 8 minutes.  David is napping and I’m doing puzzles and reading.  It appears to be nice weather as we fly West – it was raining when we left NYC.  I think we arrived a little bit early in SeaTac.  Got our luggage and went to catch our airporter.

 

         HOME SWEET HOME at 12:45p. 

 

Had to do a final walk-through on our new home then give the okay to process the closing papers.  Determined that we need to have the painters come and give us an estimate for exterior soffits and interior touch up.  Oh, and David ended up sick with Covid.  Not a fun way to end our vacation.