2014 Week 28: The Big Day--9 de julio

July 9th became even more significant.
41 years ago we brought home a five-month old baby girl to join our family.
Argentina declared its independence on that day in 1816.
And this year beat Netherlands in the World Cup semi finals.
On the same day Mike had major surgery. Dr. Sundaram, with the assistance of da Vinci's robotic arms, was able to remove the cancerous gland. We are grateful for the kidney stones back in February and the many tests that ensued which led to the discovery of the cancer and to the surgical treatment option.

This was the big week. Mike tried to accomplish a lot before the operation, like mowing, some needed repairs, and a long bike ride to hold him over for six to eight weeks.
Both Monday and Tuesday he worked on the floor at Stephan and Karen's new place, Dove's Crossing.

Floor repairs and more!                                                             Dolores and Red resting after a day's work

Our consuegros (co in-laws), Karen's parents, were visiting and helping with various projects as well.

We celebrated Leah's adopted birthday at the Monday Night Meal.

The Birthday Girl--soon to be a grandmother--and the Monday Night crowd celebrating

I've been trying to weed an overgrown flower garden. Can you see the little friend that came out to keep me company?

Wednesday, we were up very early and off to IU Health University Hospital. I appreciated having son Sam come and sit with me from 9:00 a.m. until we could join Mike in his room, around 3:30 p.m. Stephan and Karen arrived shortly thereafter.

Before he was put under, Mike had asked the doctor whether he'd be awake in time to watch the World Cup soccer game. Doc assured him.
We had a comical memorable time, eyes and ears straining to follow the famous 2014 soccer ball. The TVs were small and the reception was horrible.

So, in spite of his grogginess, Mike was on the computer trying to find a better way! No luck.

Needless to say I did a happy dance when Argentina won, and our kids, even the one born in Germany, joined us in cheering for my other country.

Karen, Sam, Stephan

Leah helped out on the home front and visited when we got home Thursday evening.

And Kristie prepared a delicious meal for us Friday. We are so blessed to have all our family nearby.

As the anesthesia wore off, the pain and soreness increased. Pain management continues to be a challenge.

First walk                                               Next day                                               At home

He still spends most of his time in the recliner and only takes short walks.

Friday, visiting friends ordered from Ivanhoe's and ate lunch here. It was so good to see a couple of girls from our travels in the Basque Country. Can you see Mike in the background taking it all in?

Saturday afternoon we watched the match to determine who would take third place in this World Cup.  It was not to be Brazil, though Netherlands did not defeat them as badly as Germany had (7 to 1).
We truly felt sorry for Brazil. However, today, when Germany beat Argentina 1 to 0 in overtime after a well-fought game, Brazil celebrated the defeat of their South American rival. No matter, I am proud of the Argentine team's performance.

Here, a few screen shots from today's viewing. Notice the ad for Garoto in the background. Stephan and Leah remember touring that chocolate factory with the ship school children when we were in Brazil.

Messi "mejor jugador del mundial"

2014 Week 27: Family Fun at DC

Have I shared Stephan and Karen's good news yet?
They finally found the perfect property that meets all their needs, wants and more.
The Monday-Night-Meal crowd enjoyed it for the first time this week for hot dogs and brats.
There is a verb in Spanish that we do not have in English: estrenar, to use/wear/ experience for the first time.
El estreno, this first-time event, proved the truth of its new name: Dove's Crossing (dove, symbol of peace; crossing, signifying the intersection of many paths). Stephan and Karen's desire is to show hospitality!

DC, for short, came with LOTS of work as well. The house sat empty for several years and has problems.
Michael put in many hours on the plumbing.

Malachi helping grandpa

The evening ended with sparklers for the young'uns.

Tuesday we were invited to attend the Marion Rotary Club meeting where Stephan was the guest speaker.
It was a very interesting and inspirational talk.

Later that afternoon, three grandboys were dropped off to spend the night so Sam and Kristie could get away to celebrate their 15th wedding anniversary.
The bedtime story Zion insists on reading is the only Curious George book we have. This is the third or fourth time. I think I will look into getting more Curious George stories.

Wednesday

Breakfast entertainment

11:00 a.m., Daddy came, it's time to go home.

I had a ladies lunch to attend. Afterwards some of us stopped by one of the homes to enjoy the many flowers and garden.

Thursday

No photos, so an update and an anecdote instead.
Remember the car Mike worked on so long before our trip? Here's the rest of the story:
The day after our return, he went back to work on the beast and found a note from Matt (grandson-in-law), explaining what was wrong and what to do, according to his research. Sure enough it worked!

Later Kayla shared a little story her mother-in-law had told her. When Matt was only three years old he took a bunk bed apart and then told her how to put it back together!

Friday, Independence Day
We decided to have a family camp-out at DC. So we packed up and left mid afternoon (after Mike had already cycled 103 miles!).

Fun moments with Aunt Karen

The sunset bursts through the woods

The night ended with Jimmy's special fireworks display, or 'rocket show' as the little ones called it.

Saturday

The sun woke us up and we enjoyed just 'hanging out' together all morning.

The dogs make Jude laugh.

 Of course, the work was also ongoing, but more enjoyable when tackled together.

Drain issues

Zion's genius was revealed when he attached the wagon to the tricycle to pull his little brother around.

Meanwhile, Elijah spent most of the time racing around the acreage on his motocross (?).

Thoughtful grandpa Mike provided the makings for strawberry shortcakes before everyone left.

Around noon we went to Stephan's Yorktown home to watch the Argentina vs Belgium soccer game. I/we were excited about the outcome! Now, let's see what happens Wednesday against Netherlands. Michael hopes he is alert enough by 4:00 p.m. (after his 9:00 a.m. surgery) in order to watch the game.

2014 Week 26: On the road again

Monday we arrived home after a very looooooong day.

Mike and the young folk only got a couple hours sleep because they stayed up the night before to watch the US play in the World Cup.

The remnant in Indianapolis airport

In Europe I enjoyed reading the newspapers when available. I bought one with a special insert all about the World Cup. We referred often to the schedule of games. For entertainment on the flights back I purchased a historic issue of ¡Hola! covering the proclamation of the new king of Spain. 

I remember as a child how fascinated I was with the National Geographic issue of Queen Elizabeth's coronation.

A couple days later Mike went out for a long ride again. Look what jersey he chose! The gift that Amaia brought on her first visit in 2009. The Euskaltel, Basque professional cycling team, no longer exists, but our adventures in Basque Country, inspired back then, are ongoing.

Thursday the Greenlees (old friends from our years in Europe and on the ship Doulos) came through and spent a few hours visiting. Can my faithful readers guess where we took them for lunch?

The very next day we were on the road again on our way to Little Rock, Arkansas, for a wedding.

On the way there and back I read out loud from two very special memoirs, both about friends of ours from years ago.

 We were very honored to be invited to the wedding of two Taylor grads, our young harpist friend and a young man in our community. We were also very privileged to stay with blog-friends Sara and husband Steve. They've been to our place several times because their youngest is a student at Anderson U.

They taught us to play Hand and Foot a couple years ago, and still delight to beat us whenever possible!

Saturday morning Sara showed us how she makes green smoothies with her Ninja.

She also helped me find the perfect outfit for the evening wedding.
No photos of that beautiful event.

Sunday morning we said goodbye to our good friends. We don't know when or where we will see them again as they may be moving soon.

2014 Week 23: Catching up

My last weekly post was dated June 1st. Now the entire month is gone. Half the year 2014 is over.
Most of June we lived out of a suitcase. Some of you may have followed our adventures.
This post will fill in the blanks leading up to Circle Tour 2014.

Week 23 was taken up preparing to leave our home and vehicles in readiness for the family members who stayed here. Mike spent hours and days working on the Grand Prix. He had to replace the head gaskets.

Tuesday

Wednesday

 Alas, after all that, the car would not run right. He worked on it almost till the last minute. No luck.

Meanwhile, I was steadily putting together blog posts for each day of our Circle Tour that were scheduled to publish at midnight so readers could have an idea of where we'd be and what we might be doing that day.
This review of our previous trips to the Basque Country served to prepare me and also led me to contact several friends and try to arrange meeting them while in their area.

Thursday afternoon I picked up my brother Aldo who flew in from Denver and drove him from Indianapolis to Mother's place in Winona Lake.
We had a wonderful time catching up on our now numerous offspring and sharing memories from childhood or the many years we've lived far from one another. I cannot remember a time when I had such a one-on-one conversation with number three of the five Hoyt siblings.

Mother & Aldo

 The last day was packed full. Yes, some of that was actual packing. I had been setting aside items for some time, but never feel very confident about my choices. What will the weather be like? Will I have enough of this or that? Have I forgotten anything?

Saturday, 9:00 a.m., no more time to ponder.

Selfie to announce on Facebook that we're on our way 

Flying into New York

Waiting to cross the ocean

 Sunday

In the Madrid airport

"...AND EVERYWHERE I HAVE SEEN PEOPLE THAT DANCE OR PLAY"

What awaits us in the days ahead? [If you followed my blog, you already know.]

Circle Tour 2014--Day 10

Day 10, June 20—To San Sebastián

This is the day we cross over into Spain and for some of us when we come to that border area we become very nostalgic. On the Spanish side of the Bidasoa river which separates the two nations is Hondarribia, the quaint town we love for its own unique charm but mostly because our friends live there—Amaia's family and a growing number of acquaintances.

Onyarbi—this post from 2010 will make you laugh as you read about the adventures Laurie and I had on our first visit. This next one—Finding Waldo-- gives a few more glimpses and you can also see what comes next on the route to our weekend headquarters in San Sebastian. On the way out some routes take you by this chapel—La ermita.

Hopefully we will be able to pause, reminisce, and perhaps even see a few known faces.

Actually last year, we did go up to the medieval center, and stopped to delight in the surroundings, the views, and the people. One of our friends, Gonzalo the radiologist, surprised our cyclists by meeting up with them and leading them to one of his favorite places, a ridge on the way out called Jaizkibel. Some of that day is pictured here--on to San Sebastian. And the next day here-- in San Sebastian.

If you are up to it, you could also go to The Hospital and see where Alberto and Gonzalo work.

As I re-read the post I question whether you caught that they do not need more advanced heart health facilities and procedures due to a healthier life-style—Mediterranean diet and exercise, a lot of walking!

Edurne, Amaia's mother, is also a doctor, a general practitioner—Zorionak, Edurne!

What will the final weekend be like? Who will we meet? Any last minute shopping (if you need to or enjoy that sort of thing)? Will it look anything like The last day in Donosti last year?

One difference is that we will already have met with our friends in Hondarribia the weekend before. I am grateful because I remember how spent I was by that time and even sick.

Thank you for following along. See you soon! ¡Hasta pronto!

P.S.: The above post, meant to give you an idea what we might be seeing and experiencing, has more live links than usual. Now I will try to tell you what our Friday, the last biking day, was like.

The cyclists were concerned about the amount of traffic they would encounter on that coastal route, but they found a two-lane bicycle path through the city. Even after a stop at yet another old church, where the organist happened to be practicing beautiful music, they arrived before us in Hondarribia.

Those of us in the van took a longer route stopping in Senpere by a beautiful lake. It is where every May tens of thousands come from all over the Basque Country to a festival called Herri Hurrats

to celebrate, promote the Basque language, and help out the schools where it is taught.


To walk/jog around the lake it took me 30 minutes.

We wound our way through a very Basque region on a narrow road, surrounded by forests, negotiating unending hair pin curves, and finally arrived in Hondarribia. Laurie and I hurried to find Edurne's clinic because we knew she'd be leaving work at 3:00 pm. We got there maybe a minute after. She had left. When we called her she was home already, but turned right around and came to meet us. We walked up to the old fort and met up with the rest of our team! The riders took off right away so they could meet up with Gonzalo who again led them to Jaizkibel. This time, however, they all made it up to the hightest point, quite a climb from la Ermita.

The van beat the cyclists to our weekend home base, Olarain. I had to smile when I opened the curtain in our new room.

When the cyclists finally arrived there was still a lot to do to prepare the rental bikes for shipping.

The beautiful weather 'accompanied us' (the Spanish expression) both weeks. The rain finally let loose last evening while we were having dinner nearby. I finally got to use my new umbrella, considered essential equipment every time you go out in the Basque Country.

Circle Tour 2014--Day 9

Day 9, June 19—To Bayonne, France

Baiona is another of the large cities in the historical Basque Country.

We left Mauleon and rode on to Bayonne, the brave by bicycle and the rest by van.

I don't have much to add to what you can read and see in the blog post, if you click on the highlighted link. (I hope you have realized by now that the bulk or meat of these posts is in those links.)

P.S.: 
Another beautiful sunny day!

Three stops on the way:

St. Palais where we went into a church with a variety of exquisite art. The cyclists arrived shortly after. And then a pilgrim on the Camino walked in. Meanwhile, outside someone nearly rode off with one of the bikes!

In Hasparren we at lunch in the same restaurant as last year and the owner remembered us! 
I remembered sharing a child menu with Barb. This time she was not there to help me out.

Espelette is famous for a type of pepper. See some hanging all over the building?

We arrived at the hotel in Bayonne (a different one from 2013) only a little before the cyclists.

Later we all headed for the beach in Biarritz, enjoyed the weather, the sunset and one another. 

Oh, and ate at the same place as last year, thanks to Sara who remembers everything and was craving Mexican.

Taco Salad

 

One more riding day. What will the morrow hold?