Monday – annual 4th celebration barbecue at Jerri’s / PCMSC. As usual starts with a choice of hikes / bike rides. Select the 2nd from easiest. What a mistake turns out to be led by a marathon runner. Not a stop to check pace or for water, despite being the first really hot day and no shade. In the end Mike, Hawain man and I stop for water, bugger the rest of the group. I think Hawaii man is about to peg out any time from heat exhaustion. It’s just a death march. A few of us bail out as soon as we hit a road. Barbecues enjoyable and credit to Jerri and Rob for a great do.
To help save the economy the Government will announce next month that the immigration Department will start deporting seniors (instead of illegals) in order to lower Social Security and Medicare costs.
Older people are easier to catch and will not remember how to get back home. Be sure to send this notice to your relatives and friends so they’ll know what happened to you.
4th July parade at Oakley – beats PC. They still have sweets and even tee shirts.
4th July BBQ at Mike’s
Sat up at Glenwild on the deck watching fireworks.
Awesome fireworks up at Glenwild. PC settled for a drone display.
Joe folds up his Origami kayak.
Chicago Suburb Pays Reparations to Black Residents in a ‘Test Run for the Whole Country’
Evanston, Ill., has committed to spending $10 million over 10 years for discrimination.
Evanston is the only city that is delivering on its promise. By the end of this year, it expects to have distributed $25,000 each to 140 mostly elderly residents like Weathers who were at least 18 and lived in the city between 1919 and 1969, when the city passed a fair-housing ordinance. The payments can come in either vouchers or cash and are funded by marijuana and real-estate transfer taxes.
Friday – 4 old guys go bowling. Then in the evening 7 of us were going to TGIF but it was outdoors and bring your own chairs, sounds like hassle, so we had a TGIF at ours.
Saturday – L&M, B&M, D&B and Wendy and I troop off toe Wyoming Downs to watch the horse racing. Wow, such short races with cutting horses. We have two tables, complete with waitress service. Junk foods pretty good.Wendy and I win $49, we betted $40, so won the gran sum of $9. My boring philosophy is to just bet on the favourites, what the hell do I know about form, jockeys etc. Seems the best bet to me.
Waitress service at the races.
Climate change nonsense – only one molecule of every 85,000 in the atmosphere is CO2 of human origin, and yet we are asked to believe that this one molecule drives hugely complex climate change systems. We are also asked to believe that the 22 molecules of CO2 of natural origin in every 85,000 molecules play no part in driving climate change.
Sunday – Mike and I do our coffee shop bike ride. A lazy afternoon and then in the evening we’re off to B&M with D&B and M&L. Have to turn down two other dinner invites. What is it with Sundays we always seem to get multiple invites to dinner.
Monday – the usual easy bike ride then Mike, Wendy and I go out to the Boneyard for dinner with Dot and Barry.
Tuesday – usual easy hike then in the evening we all troop off to Joanne’s and Dan’s for an awesome barbecue with the rest of Mike’s family. Hmmm steaks.
Wednesday – go down to Costco for an hearing aid test. Wow, were they thorough! Took 75 minutes, not just tone test but speech comprehension and words tests. English test takes about 20 minutes. All free, then hearing aids are $1,600, unlike the UK where they £3,200. These come with a 3 year warranty, plus if I loose one within 2 years they replace it for free and hearing aid lifetime after care, including cleaning. All available in US and UK. Everyone of my geriatric friends swears by them. On top of that there’s 180 days trial period with full refund if I’m not happy with them. In the evening we head off for a Newcomers wine tasting with B&M.
Thursday – it’s our annual Coalville ride for old geezers. 22 miles all downhill with some flat sections, hence ideal for us geriatrics.
More climate change nonsense – https://www.prageru.com/video/is-there-really-a-climate-emergency.
Friday – bowling as usual in the morning then we go to TGIF with Mike in the evening. One of the best TGIF, plenty of meat and good company.
Golden Spike
Saturday – at last we’re off to the Golden Spike with B&M. Another first here at the Golden Spike, as we step back in time to May 10th 1869, with a re-enactment to commemorate the joining of the two railroads, Union Pacific and Central Pacific, joint the East coast to the West Coast. 
I’m nominated for a key role in the re-enactment as a Mormon Bishop – managed to resist the temptation to mention the Meadows Massacre. It’s nearly a 2 hour drive to get there, in the middle of nowhere, but worth it to visit this awesome historic site.
Although only a National Historic Park, not a National Park, it is another masterpiece from the National Parks Service. Thankfully have the forage cap and tee shirt to prove it.
How lucky can we be.
In the evening it’s dinner on the patio with Zinfandel.
The golden spike (also known as The Last Spike) is the ceremonial 17.6-karat gold final spike driven by Leland Stanford to join the rails of the first transcontinental railroad across the United States connecting the Central Pacific Railroad from Sacramento and the Union Pacific Railroad from Omaha on May 10, 1869, at Promontory Summit, Utah Territory. The term last spike has been used to refer to one driven at the usually ceremonial completion of any new railroad construction projects, particularly those in which construction is undertaken from two disparate origins towards a common meeting point. The spike is now displayed in the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University. 
Chinamens cave.
Wasatch golf course trail. Hotter than hell and half of Georgia.
Monday – Wendy goes to the Chiropractor then in the pantry at the Christian Centre. For me it’s some great Pickleball with a bike ride down the Rail Trail in the afternoon. Then in the evening Mike takes us all (Marianne, Carmel, Joanne, Dan, Wendy and I) to Giodottis. What is it with American restaurants? The place is virtually empty, the tables are set but “please wait to be seated” – about 10 minutes of the usual power play. No concept of customer service.
Thursday – Wendy, Marianne, Mike and I go to the Bee’s baseball game. A tad cool but great junk food. Finally get the proper Chicago Hot Dog, along with salted peanuts and soft Pretzal.
Friday – bowling again. In the evening it’s Dogs and Suds with PCMSC in the City Park. So far the weather’s been pretty mixed with afternoon monsoons and crap weather forecasts that make it difficult to plan. But my week seems to be settling down into a routine. Mondays lead an easy bike ride while Wendy volunteers at the CC; Tuesday lead an easy hike, sometimes Wendy comes; Wednesday hike with the Newcomers and sometimes NAC archery volunteer in the afternoon, pistol shooting in the evening; Thursday kayaking coming back on the calendar; Friday bowling then TGIF in the evening; Saturday clay pigeon shooting; Sunday relax with a stroll and free cinema or a meal in the evening.
Friday – a gang of us go down to Feldmans for dinner and then to the Bees game.
Saturday – Wendy’s been invited to a pig roast so we troop off along with D&B.
Sunday – free cinema tickets with D&B and B&M. Film was so boring I tried to escape to the High West.
Friday – bowling with the usual crew and D&B. Followed by TGIF in the evening. Invited to a retirement due at Marions, haven’t a clue who she is, but finally manage to identify her. Going shooting that night. 
Saturday – Clay pigeon shooting, then bike ride with Bob and Mike, then B&M come round for dinner.
In the afternoon we host a traditional English afternoon tea party to celebrate the coronation with our colonial friends. Don’t you just love the trouble they went to with those hats. And not forgetting Wendy’s stylish fluffy slippers – fit for a trip to Walmart. 
It’s snowing for the drive up to Park City (PC, aka paradise) but as we turn off the interstate for PC the sun comes out, Is this an omen. Wow they sure have plenty of snow – see pictures – never known it as good. Why Bob’s even complaining that they have too much snow on the ski slopes.
Joy of joys it’s a major shop at Walmart and Smiths.
Yeah, back to Kamas gun club for some clay pigeon shooting with Mike. It’s a gorgeous sunny day with snow all around – good to be alive weather. Those clays didn’t need to be frightened of me, an abysmal score of 11 and 13.
Well it’s time for a review of our first week here in Paradise.
Monday, it’s pickleball drop in at last 09:00 to 12:00. Must be 2 years since I played, but never mind such a great game. Wendy’s off to the Christian centre volunteering for the day. I manage a route march up there to meet her, 17 minutes 30.
Tuesday, it’s snowing yet again but we risk a Costco run. I80 a mess to drive down, a tad better coming back.
Friday, well it’s pickleball yet again, then in the afternoon Wendy and I go a stroll down the Rail Trail, hard going with snow under foot. Pick my bike up from Ruths and have a pleasant ride home.
What a great job the Christian Centre do with all these Easter baskets for the kids. Sadly no chocolate in them though.
Lazy start to a cloudy, breezy yet warm day.
Another lazy start to a warm sunny day.
Another warm and sunny day. Up early to swap the Hertz Mobile.
Drive to the Blue Grotto but apparently, the only way to see it is via a boat trip. Not for Wendy so we pass. Settle for a coffee.
Another warm, sunny but windy day.
Another lazy start to a warm sunny day. 
Wendy was kept awake until about 02:00 with the monotonous thumping of teenage tribal music from the local bars and discos.
Then it’s a 40 minute drive to our Airbnb in Mill???. No motorways and amazed how many backstreets Apple Car Play knows.
Lazy start to a warm sunny day.
Well first impression of Malta are good – in Wendy’s case it could have something to do with an M&S and a Lidl. Yes, it’s a fairly typical Mediterranean resort but not as chaotic or dirty as most. People seem very friendly and a pleasant blend of old and new. Roads are fairly basic which is not surprising given the size of the island.
One of the first mainframes I wrote programs for was the height of sophistication, as well as tape drives we had 2 Megabyte Exchangeable hard Drives. Can you believe that I ran all the companies accounting etc on an ICL 1903 with just two 2 Meg drives. The computer had a dedicated air conditioned room.
Lazy start to another warm sunny day.
Lazy start to another warm sunny day.
It’s a lovely walled city. Yet more churches and even a cathedral, daylight robbery it’s $18 to get in. What about if my immortal soul is wanting to repent and see the light. Tough shit if you don’t have $18, to line the already overloaded koffers of the Catholic Church, you can just go rot in hell. So much for “In my house there are many mansions”, none of them FOC. Needless to say we pass on the spiritual experience.
Have a spot of lunch at a cafe with great views, try the strawberry meringue with walnuts and lemon curd, very tasty. Really getting into Cappucinos.
So here I am a 73 year old body enjoying the delights of Malta. Meanwhile my 16 year old mind wonders what the hell it’s doing here. 
Lazy start to another warm sunny day.
Wendy starts off bitching why is it that women always have to queue for the toilets. It’s oh so simple, they’re badly designed.
Tonight’s tea at Il Barri restaurant started with a free starter of Sally the snail, about 20 of them in a tomato sauce, Wendy passed, followed by a mixed grill of Peter rabbit, Quincy the quail and Red Rum the race horse. Delicious. 
Back home for some beer and wine. sadly Wendy does not fancy driving over here.
I’m not eating one of them.
Another lazy start to yet another warm sunny day.
Arrive at the capital Victoria. The roads are a nightmare and there’s only one public car near the Citadel. It’s chock a block along with underground car park. Get fed up of driving around trying to park so quit and head back. Apart from the Citadel, and god knows how many churches, there doesn’t seem much worth seeing. We’re so pissed off with the parking we even pass on a couple of the bays and cut our losses. 
Back home for lunch followed by a stroll up to M&S, Wendy’s treat, and then the supermarket. 
Usual lazy start to the day and then we take our life in our hands and go out for a drive amongst the crazies. Decide to follow the hop on off bus route.
Then head to a fountain but thanks to a village map not having the all important “you are here” we give up on it. 
Let’s head into town and visit the municipal gardens on the route. Apart from parking on zebra crossings, which seems to be a Crete favourite along with double parking and anything to stop the flow of traffic, there’s just no parking to be had. The pay car park is blocked with a Brocken down heap of rust. There’s not many car’s around here without dint’s or scrapes. Pass on the municipal gardens.
Head home and stop off at a bakery and coffee shop for some coffee and cakes sat in the sun.
Lazy start to my 73rd birthday, then we’re off out with Brett, Karina has to work, for a trip up to Heraklion. A major busy city with the usual death wish drivers and car parking. One silly bitch decides to step off the pavement as we’re going past, alas we missed her so the gene pool remains polluted.
Had lunch in a nice restaurant overlooking the sea.
Then it’s back home for afternoon tea and birthday cake.
In the evening we head out to Raki ba Raki for yet another splendid meal. Nice end to a birthday. Birthdays, such a damn pain as a reminder you’re getting older.
In the evening we all set off to Zorba’s taverna, as you can guess with a name like that it’s a typical Greek restaurant with some great food. Like sitting in someone’s lounge with Grandma doing the cooking.
Then meet B&K at a typical Greek restaurant for yet another typical Greek meal, finally get a stifado and some great starters.
Then it’s a quiet night in watching TV.
The Acropolis of Athens is an ancient citadel located on a rocky outcrop above the city of Athens and contains the remains of several ancient buildings of great architectural and historical significance, the most famous being the Parthenon. The word acropolis is from the Greek words ἄκρον (akron, “highest point, extremity”) and πόλις (polis, “city”). The term acropolis is generic and there are many other acropoleis in Greece. During ancient times the Acropolis of Athens was known also more properly as Cecropia, after the legendary serpent-man, Cecrops, the supposed first Athenian king.
Lazy breakfast again then around lunchtime we set off for a hop on / off bus tour around Athens. Typical our starting bus stop has no indication of where the bus stops – only in Greece.
Tours pretty good and weathers sunny. Get off at the Olympic stadium and have a stroll through the gardens followed by lunch. The we notice the guards (Evzones – see trivia below) outside the parliament are off on one of their marches, a performance not to be missed – this must have been where John Clees got the idea for the “ministry of silly walks”, bizarre see the video.
Back to the hotel for some wine – find a good wine shine shop for a merlot – and some more TV. Wendy’s convinced the moans, groans and slaps from the next door may indicate we’re in a brothel. Actually the hotel is a very swish 4 star with excellent service. Great big executive suite with settee, comfy chair, dining table and big balcony, with great views of the Acropolis. Just a pity that it’s in one of the more salubrious areas of Athens.
Awake to wind and rain. Spend most of the day hunkered down, but it all clears up mid afternoon.
Joy, up at 03:00 to catch a flight to Athens and then onto Crete.
Lazy start to the day then we’re off down to Rethymno – hereafter referred to as rhythm – for a stroll along the front. Espresso by the harbour and then of course a merchandising opportunity down the shops. I have come to the conclusion the Crete economy is run on slippers. More shops selling slippers than Muslims at a stoning – unbelievable. There’s an excess of shoe shops and plenty of shops hawking provocative dresses and lingerie.
Then Wendy gets her daily fix with a trip to the supermarket, oh joy.In the evening we’re off down to Raki ba Raki for dinner, well tea. I get to try Oxtail, love it in soup, but never got to try the meat until now, tasty. Have a great meal, good service, good food and wine, all very reasonably priced and followed by two free desserts and some Raki (Greek fire water).
It seems like there’s a Santa marathon on complete with a band so the place is swarming with Santas, and of course, women have to get into the act, so there are even female ones.
Then it’s an hour’s drive back home to some Greek merlot and Netflix. Sadly Greek wine is nothing to get excited about.
New Year’s Eve, lets go down to Rhythm, “I bet it’ll be heaving with it being new years eve” says Brett. 
It’s almost a ghost town. Have a meal at a very popular Greek restaurant – but even it’s nearly empty. But at least I get to have rabbit, a tad tough.
Off out to Bali bay for Karine to have a swim. Lovely bay but a tad too cold for Karine, nesh. Then have a drive down to the cave but as expected it’s closed. Back home for lunch. A spot of rain.
In the evening we venture out to a Greek taverna, very family orientated, and good food.
Lazy start to the day then we drive down to Rethym for a wander around. Have a coffee and everyone else has a pancake.
The evening meal is bread cheese and wine, just like in France, and finish off watching Treason.
Lazy morning sorting out passwords. Meanwhile, we wait for the lazy car hire company to get back to us to put me on the car hire. Typical Mediterranean attitude to customer service not a clue what it means.
Warm and sunny. Back into shorts and tee shirt as we drive down to Orlando. 4 hours past so many familiar places. 
Breakfast not bad.
Help Kim and Phil set up their outside Christmas decorations.
Drive down to the Carnton House to have a tour and discover some more about the battle of Franklin. Very interesting house tour. Kim and Phil stay home to fix the damage to their outside Christmas decorations that were wrought by the overnight winds.
The scale of the Confederate charge at Franklin rivaled that of Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg. The action resulted in a disastrous defeat for the South and failed to prevent the Union army from advancing to Nashville.
After a missed opportunity at the Battle of Spring Hill on November 29, Hood pursued Schofield to the town of Franklin, where the Confederate general led an assault on November 30 that cost him 20 percent of his men and allowed Schofield to progress toward Nashville.
Say farewell to Kim and Phil. Great company. Great excursions. Great hosts. Awesome Thanksgiving and even get to experience putting up Christmas decorations first hand and America getting ready for the next main event, Christmas. Never stayed with anyone where we felt so at home. In fact it’s wonder we ever left.
It’s a short 90 minute drive then up to the Mammoth Caves National Park. After watching the almost obligatory video I’m booked on the two hour history tour which takes you underground into the longest cave system in the World – all 426 miles of it and still being explored to add more. It’s a great two mile underground exploration. Most of it’s fairly easy going but a lot of steps, over 500, and some low roofs. Then there’s Fat Man’s Misery a 50 yard stretch where you have to walk sideways, bent double through a very narrow passage – see photo – hence the title. Buy yet another NP hat for the collection.
Wendy stays on the surface and catches up on some Netflix she fell asleep through, she can’t do enclosed spaces.
Mammoth Cave National Park is an American national park in west-central Kentucky, encompassing portions of Mammoth Cave, the longest cave system known in the world.
Up early for a pretty good breakfast, rare in most of the hotels we’ve stayed in.
Do the Fayetteville audio driving tour down to the bottom of the gorge . Then take a leisurely drive back to the hotel over country back roads.
The New River Gorge National Park and Preserve is a unit of the United States National Park Service (NPS) designed to protect and maintain the New River Gorge in southern West Virginia in the Appalachian Mountains. Established in 1978 as a national river and redesignated in 2020, the park and preserve stretches for 53 miles (85 km) from just downstream of Hinton to Hawks Nest State Park near Ansted.
The park is rich in cultural and natural history, and offers an abundance of scenic and recreational opportunities. New River Gorge is home to some of the country’s best whitewater rafting, mainly from the Cunard put-in to the Fayette Station take-out, and is also one of the most popular climbing areas on the East Coast. The New River itself originates in North Carolina, flowing north through Virginia into the West Virginia mountains to the Kanawha River which continues to the Ohio River.
A five hour drive down to Columbia for our next National Park encounter.
Some lady of the royal household asks a black woman at a reception ‘Where are you from? Where are your people from?’, at least that’s the limited version of the questions in the press release I saw. Although the Times has a detailed list of the complete conversation – this I find bizarre. And now there’s an uproar of righteous indignation and a resignation. Bear in mind the women is in traditional African dress, has a record of accusing Charles and Camila of Domestic violence, has a anti-establishment Marxist agenda and amazingly has either recalled perfectly (yet she claims the rest of the evening was a blur) or she must have recorded the conversation (was this a setup).
Breakfast has to be one of the best so far this trip.
Yes, the visitors centre is open, even if they don’t have any hats for sale. Take a 2 mile walk around the board walk with interpretative notes. The swamps are fascinating, with Bald Cypress knees sprouting out of the swamp surrounding the trees. Not exactly the most exhilarating NP but an important protection of the largest remnant of old-growth flood plain forests in the US. Over 35 million acres, 99%, of old-growth flood plain forests have been lost in the US. Most of this parks 27,000 acres is actually designated as wilderness.
Tea tonight consists of a Stromboli and baked beans, all home cooked in our kitchenette, followed of course by some Carmenera.
National Park is a 26,692.6-acre (41.7 sq mi; 108.0 km2) American national park in central South Carolina, 18 miles southeast of the state capital, Columbia. The park preserves the largest tract of old growth bottomland hardwood forest left in the United States. The lush trees growing in its floodplain forest are some of the tallest in the eastern United States, forming one of the highest temperate deciduous forest canopies remaining in the world. The Congaree River flows through the park. About 15,000 acres (23.4 sq mi; 60.7 km2) are designated as a wilderness area.