The Cold North Sea, Day 2

One of the goals for this trip was to relax and rest. That is what this day turned into.

I felt fine when I woke up. Within half an hour my intestines made their presence known, and I will spare you the details. I finally felt well enough by midday to go for a walk, then took a nap when Norbert walked out to the beach later on.

His latest hobby is restoring old radios, and he brought one with him, so he was happy to stay in and work on that.

We took another walk in the afternoon, despite the cold, the wind and the drizzle.

Wanted to eat at The Grill this evening, but like so much else here, it was closed today. So we ended up at Pizza & Pasta. Norbert had lasagne which he said was bland and I had spaghetti bolognese which was fine.

Watching Germany playing GB in football (soccer) this evening.

Have felt better all afternoon, so tomorrow will hopefully be good again.

The Cold North Sea, Day One

Monday, 18 November

We both got up early enough to see Lucas before he left for school at 7 a.m. Later Norbert made a last-minute grocery store run.

We left the house at about 11:15. The Netherlands has done a lot of work on their highways and the trip was very smooth and easy.

The weather is nothing to praise, except to say it was dry. Gray all day, with the car lights turning themselves on. Only about 6°C.

Along the way and near the coast we saw hundreds if not thousands of water birds, both in the water and flying in swarms. Fascinating! There were also many, many swans. I love them so much and it is so wonderful to see them in the wild.

We stopped at the outlook tower so Norbert could eat a sandwich, then continued on to the park, arriving shortly after 2. Checked in with our e-ticket in about 2 minutes flat. Parked and walked into the park. Arranged for WIFI for the week. Had a coffee.

We then got the car again and drove to our bungalow. It is a bit hard to find, quite near the Market Place, but on the other hand also very secluded, which is nice. Unpacked and rested a bit. Also stopped in the park's grocery store to get the necessities: fireplace logs, beer and chips!

Then we walked to the beach, about one km each way. COLD! And windy! 

My nose and sinuses have been a bit iffy all day, so I bundled up like an Eskimo. 

Still ran through half a package of tissues, though. 

Wonderful fresh, crisp salt air. 

 Back to the bungalow about 5 p.m. Another rest and then dinner.

Tonight they are having the “Welcome Night” with a '70s and '80s musical theme. We haven't yet decided if we will go or not but the music would be good... I think it is also a clue as to the age range of the people here now … the only children here are pre-school age, the rest of us are getting on the years....

Time flies....

.... when you're having fun! That's the old saying, and it sure holds true for me.

Having a blast with my "retirement" and staying as busy as I want. Getting lots of baking done, and re-acquainting myself with sewing. (I am appalled at how much I have forgotten!)

Two weeks from today Norbert and I take off for five days at the North Sea.  If the weather is good, there will be lots of long walks and bike rides. If not, there will be lots of days curled up in our bungalow reading and relaxing! Sounds like win-win to me.

After that Advent starts, and involves lots of Christmas markets and bazaars. So lovely to have the time to go to them, and not have to work on weekends, so I can get to those bazaars. As to the big German Christmas markets, Aachen and Cologne are are "must-do"s this year.

Apart from that, it is time to start rooting through everything in the house and decide whether it still deserves a place in our life or not. How on earth does one accummulate so much stuff, and why is it so easy to just hang on to it?  Time to get merciless!

The last of the fudge brownie muffins has just disappeared, so it is time for something more. Got some bananas on sale last week, so it looks like banana muffins are on the menu. Personally I hate bananas but my two guys eat them.

Also slowly gathering Christmas presents to send to the US -- really need to get a move on with that. Won't be as many this year :-(

No real news here, sorry about that.

Keeping busy

Three and a half weeks into retirement -- and loving it!

I have to admit my greatest fear was that I would have nothing to do and sit around bored all day. I am so grateful that that has (so far) not happened. Sometimes I even feel like those who say, "I don't know how I ever had time to work!"

One fun thing has been one big outing every week, either with a sister-in-law or friend. Fun to see new things, do new things, and just spend some one-on-one time.

There is also vacation planning, of course. We have now booked: five days on teh North Sea in November; two weeks in Florida in January; a week or so at the Outer Banks in February; another week there in AUgust (wth another week tacked on before or after to be spent somewhere....). Also toying with the idea of flying over again for Lucas' fall holidays, with a week at either Myrtle Beach State Park in South Carolina or North Bend State Park in West Virginia.  (Beach or mountains, what a choice!), and then a week or so in DC area.

I have, of course, not entirely stopped working. I put in time for Cyclingnews on two different occasions, and did one of my usual triathlon translations. Plus I translated the wedding invitation and enclosures for a colleague of Lucas', which was fun. (No payment expected for that one, of course!)

Have bid on a few possibilites for the next cycling season, no idea whether any of them will happen. No sense in worrying about them, either.

Today will be an exciting day.... NOT!  Laundry, ironing, clean the bathroom, grocery shopping, etc etc. Oh well, all things that need to be done, at any rate.

Relaxing, enjoying and taking it easy

I have now been "retired" for some 10 days, and so far have found it to be great. Haven't been bored once yet, which, I must admit, was my greatest fear.  I have had several periods of goofing off, but that is because I wanted to rather than because I couldn't think of anything to do.

In fact, the time has flown by, and I've not given any time at all to my hobbies, which was one of my priorities.  Funny how that works out.... There has just been enough to do otherwise!

Of course I still follow cycling closely, although not as closely as before. In fact, I totally forgot to turn the tv on and watch the last stage of the last race of the year!

It has been odd reading Cyclingnews. They have already brought in a new person to do much of what I did before. It was a strange feeling, almost some jealousy on my part.  I hadn't expected to feel that!

Meanwhile, plans are afoot for more activities in the coming weeks -- going out with my sisters-in-law and friends, and such things. Looking forward to it.

The first thing, though, is this weekend. Norbert and I are flying to London early Friday (VERY early Friday, ugh) and will meet my brother Bill there.  Flying home Sunday evening. I love London, and Norbert has never been there, so it will be fun to show him around.

Plus, Sunday would have been Mom's 85th birthday, so it will be nice to be with my brother on that day.

The only downside is that it is supposed to rain all weekend in London.....

Facebook finally allowed me to change by work situation from Cyclingnews to Tick Ink. I have had several people tell me, "of course we will have some work for you in the future!!!" but I am not going to hold my breath on it.... For a lot of them, my connection with Cyclingnews was the most important thing, and of course I no longer have that.

It will be interesting to see how I adapt to my new life.  After this weekend I feel like I will have more time and focus on what is to come and what do do. It will be an interesting challenge!

Susan

Black HIlls Day 7: Needles HIghway and Iron Mountain Road

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

A huge storm passed over us at about 9:30 last night, heavy rain, with thunder and lightning.  It was so threatening that we hauled out our flashlights just in case....

Lay in bed trying to decide whether to get up or not when I saw a deer walk by our bedroom window!

The storm had the lovely effect of changing the weather, down from the mid-90s to the upper 70s.

Left the house sometime after eight am and took the Needles Highway south, a Scenic Bypass.  Started out as a lovely but typical mountain road, but eventually we did some impressive climbing.  First stop at Legion Lake, where we started seeing the first rock outcroppings – the Needles.

 Lovely forest and views, incredibly large boulders and cliffs, sharp switchbacks and steep climbs.  Just as glad Norbert was driving!

At the very top of the road (climb) is a longish one-lane tunnel, plus of course an impressive outlook.  Also the Eye of the Needle, a small slit in a rock.  Well, maybe not so small.

Stopped at the entrance of the tunnel and took photos all around.  Watch a large pick-up truck go through, they had to fold their rear-view mirrors in, it was so tight!






Finally, Norbert walked through the tunnel to photograph me driving through it.  Driving there was really cool – a wonderful experience!

Stopped again on the other side for more photos.

From there it was down the mountain with more stops at incredible views.  And incredible switchbacks!

We were back in the Custer State Park at this point, and stopped at the general store near the Lodge we had stayed at for a pit stop and coffee break.  Drove around the next bend and saw buffalo!  Literally hundreds of them, on both sides of the road, by the cabins, on the lawn of the visitor center, practically up to the Lodge parking lot and of course on the road too!

Stopped as soon as we could and took some photos, then I drove so Norbert could take pictures.  There were really hundreds of them, of all sizes.  So incredibly impressive and such an incredible experience to see them up close.

Then we exited the park and turned north on the Iron Mountain Road, me still driving.  At first it seemed like nothing more than another pretty mountain road.  But then we started climbing – lots of very slow driving today!

At one point we pulled over and there was Mt. Rushmore! So we got some photos.

This road too has tunnels, one or two of which nicely frame Mt. Rushmore. 

It also has the famous “pigtail bridges”, which are circular or semicircular structures for when the incline is too steep for a ramp or switchback. Think of the spiral ramp in a parking garage......

We drove home through Keystone, and decided to skip Mt. Rushmore.  We had seen it well from the road several times, and frankly, it had never interested us all that much anyway.

Keystone is a horror:  total tourist trap. Water slides, zipline, chainsaw art, you name it! We scooted on through but stopped at a totally rundown gift shop/cafe for lunch, where we had the best hotdogs of our whole trip. Go figure!

I picked up a city map and discovered a glass blower.  So we went in search of it, and of course by the time I figured we had taken the wrong road, we found it.  Such beautiful things!  Very delicate and lovely colors. Norbert bought me a beautiful pink bowl, which will go in my hand baggage.

Home and a rest.

Later we drove back towards Rapid City, to Reptile Gardens.

 Overall it was a disappointment. The grounds and gardens were beautiful, but I thought they just didn't have that many animals, and that the cages/enclosures were on the small side. There was a prairie dog village which was nice (I have quite lost my heart to the little darlings).

 There were two Galapagos Tortoises whose necks you could pet. (And yes, they are huge!)

There is also a large dome with free-roaming critters, including one lizard who obligingly posed on the walkway for us.

We finished it off by watching the alligator/crocodile show, which was good.

Stopped at the grocery store for some ham steaks to throw on the grill.

Badlands and Black HIlls: Days 5 & 6: Lead and Spearfish Canyon

Sunday, 14 August, we took as more or less a day off. Met some friends, goofed off. The most notable event of the day was some fresh corn we bought, which is probably the best corn on the cob I have ever eaten in my life.

Monday, 15 August

Left home shortly after eight and headed north. We drove up to Lead, passing by Roubaix (are we in France?).

The road takes you right through downtown Lead, which is pronounced “Leed” and not “Led”, which I had not known. It was the home of the Homestake Gold Mine, the largest gold mine in the US, which closed in 2001 after 120 years of operation.

It reminded Norbert very much of his hometown, which was based around the Sophia-Jacoba coal mine.  The mine basically was the town.  It provided housing, schools, social life and amenities, hospital, stores and everything.  Even much of the mining procedure was familiar to him.

We stopped at the visitors center and signed up for the tour. We first saw the Open Cut, where they mined like a quarry.  It was huge!

Then we boarded a trolley which took us around the city.

 It is exactly one mile high, like Denver, which they say “stole” that title, so they are “the Mile-High city with a heart of gold”. It is a mountain city, that is for sure! Lots of up and downs.

We ended up at the gold mine, which closed 10 years ago. It is now being transformed into a science center, with a neutrino lab way down underground. Don't ask me to explain the details!

From there we headed to the Spearfish Canyon and the scenic drive. It is a narrow canyon with a stream running along the bottom. It is quite lovely surrounded by beautiful cliffs and stone mountains.

We stopped at Roughlock Falls and drove up a gravel road to the end. We then followed the stream down to the falls, stopping along the way for lots of photos! Lovely! The water was cold, but not icy, and we saw fish in it.

 
From there we continued north to Savoy where we stopped for lunch. Norbert had a cup of chili and pulled pork BBQ sandwich, and I had a cheeseburger sandwich.

The canyon finally came to an end in Spearfish and the interstate, but we continued north to Belle Fourche, where with a bit of difficulty we found the marker for the geographical center of the US. (The actual geographic center is really off in some corn field, so they picked a nice place by the visitor center for the marker.)

 From there we drove home – it was a long day, since we got home about 3:30. A hot day too, up in the mid-90s.

I darted out a bit later and visited a quilt store and Christmas store.  The latter had so much --- well let's just say things that weren't my taste! But I did find a nice leather buffalo ornament allegedly handmade by Sioux Indians.

Leftovers for dinner tonight, bratwurst for N and chicken for me.