Book Entry 175: 1986 Our Big Adventure Across the Sea (Part Four)

       While in Germany we visited the largest inside train station in the world.  It was massive.  We ended our day at a huge local pub wanting to try some authentic German food.  The servers were all dressed in German clothing.  The beer steins had to hold a half gallon each.  They were huge.  Those servers would come away from the bar holding two or three steins in each hand and literally run to the tables to set them down.  I watched in disbelief.  

As happened several times, we ordered not knowing exactly what we were asking for, ate it not knowing how it was prepared, and having finished not knowing what we’d eaten.  If I remember correctly the food was pretty good.  Larry and Bob and Bob’s friend each ordered one of the beers.  Bob and his friend drank theirs.  Larry tasted his a couple times so he could say he did but he didn’t like it much.  

        While we sat eating we could hear a disturbance at the far end of the restaurant.  Over the next few minutes the noise grew louder as it moved our way and an occasional flash from a camera could be seen.  In a few minutes this little man dressed as a leprechaun made his way to the table next to us.  He very rudely would scold anyone taking his photo.  He would point his finger and tilt his head and rattle of curse words in German.  He’d jump up on the tops of tables and do a little dance which caused me to think he wanted his photo taken…then would come the rant when someone took it.  I took his picture and took my verbal beating with a smile.  It was a good act and certainly entertaining to tourists like us.  I think the tourists were entertaining to the German men and women who sat and laughed at him.           

        I’m glad the “leprechaun” was there.  He made that meal one of my favorite memories of he trip.

Book Entry 174: 1986 Our Big Adventure Across the Sea (Part Three)

      Everywhere we went was beautiful.  It was incredibly clean.  No litter or graffiti anywhere!  We visited Switzerland, Austria, Germany, and Italy.  

We even  passed through Liechtenstein, the smallest country in the world.  I think it is about nine miles wide and twenty miles long so we weren’t in it very long!    

         While driving through the mountains of Switzerland we realized the small size of the country made workable land a premium when we saw the efforts made to utilize every inch of dirt space.  I mean every inch!  Vineyards were built by forming man-made plateaus no wider than 2 feet in some spots.

         One of the rooms we had overlooked a train track.  During our one night at that place six very long trains passed by pulling dozens of cars full of coal. 

On the far side of the tracks was a community garden.  Again it showed the scarcity of dirt available.  In the fenced garden were twenty to thirty small raised beds growing vegetables.  From our window we could see the individual beds had labels on them.  We assumed the labels showed ownership.  During the evening and early morning we saw many people come in to the garden.  They would pick a handful of vegetables, throw a weed or two in the waste can, and carefully let themselves out the gate being sure not to drop their prizes.

          It was early in the morning we watched a fellow walk up to the gate.  He slowly looked around before seeming to creep inside.  This fellow, unlike the others, picked items from several of the beds while he constantly checked to see if others were coming.  As he picked the vegetables he would slip them into his coat pockets.  Once out the gate he left the area in a hurry.  We think he was helping himself to vegetables that didn’t belong to him.

        This photo is Larry and me somewhere in the Alps.  Notice the statue on the rocks behind us.  Statues and little prayer centers were at the entry to most of the little towns and most of the driveways to homes. 

          While we were traveling through Italy all of the roofs were red tile.  At the boarder it changed to shingle roofs.  We could actually tell what country we were in by the roof tops. 

         The streets were incredibly narrow, barely enough for the small car we had rented, and yet they were two way streets.

         I’m not sure where we were when we drove on the Autobahn but it was a freeway that seems did not have a speed limit.  I know there had to be a limit but at one point, for a minute, we were going in excess of 90 mph and cars were shooting past us like we were standing still.  The very next evening we saw an article in a newspaper about a wreck on the Autobahn involving more than 200 cars and a handful of deaths. 

       While driving one afternoon we entered a short valley.  It was much like our Yosemite with tall mountains on either side.  In the side of the mountains we could see bunkers.  Jet planes were going in and coming out of the bunkers.  On one side of the road was a short landing strip.  Jet planes were taking off and flying up and down the valley.  They flew directly over us several times.  Within seconds of when we stopped to take this photo two uniformed airmen pulled up beside our car.  They scolded us and told us, not asked us, to put our cameras away and keep moving down the road.

Book Entry 173: 1986 Our Big Adventure Across the Sea (part two)

After spending a night in a the Montrose Palace, the rest of our trip we spent our nights in little rooms over bars or little hotel rooms…what an adventure.  It might have been the very first night “after the Palace”  we spent in a tiny room over an eatery.  The room was so small and narrow there was only room for single beds end to end on one wall.   

 The room was said to come with a Continental breakfast.  A cute little table was set in the corner of the restaurant for us.  On the table were two slices of rye bread and a boiled egg for each of us.   We never knew where we were going to end up.  We saw a little of Germany and Italy but Switzerland was by far my favorite.

Everything we saw was new and different than what we were used to.  Labels were in a foreign language, statues were of things I knew nothing about, and vendors in the streets selling flowers and chocolates were just a few of the new and wonderful sights.

At the boarder of Italy the guards were young and forceful.  Larry laughed at how close they got to his face when they questioned him.  It made them mad and they made us sit in a room for over two hours before letting us continue on our way.

We toured the home of the Von Trapps, the Sound of Music family. The hills were so beautiful.  At one point we stopped just to look at the scenery.  We could hear a bell ringing in the distance.  It was the bell tied around a goat’s neck with his flock.  It was so beautiful…just like in the movie.

 

  

We visited Rotterdam, the walled city.  It was beautiful!  We spent a whole day there looking in shops.  Rotterdam is where we bought a clock and shipped it home.  We paid with a Wells Fargo card and the clerk asked if we really did ride in stagecoaches like on the card.

 

 

We saw herds of sheep wandering the hills.  Their tails were not docked.  We saw herds of pigs running and playing on mountain sides.  The animals were so clean, not in pig pens, but on grassy hills.  They seemed peculiar until we figured out what was different with them.

          We toured a real castle.  When we arrived in our tour bus the opening of the wall was so narrow the bus needed to be backed up several times in order to make it through.  We saw the dungeons, the small hallways, and ornate carvings on the walls.  I thought it was interesting that the hallways were so small.  The guide said they were like that so when an intruder came in his amour fittings he could not fit in the hallway.  

(You can see the gentlemen coming from the hallway – these were not tall men – imagine a person in full body armour trying to fit!)

         

         In the same castle we were shown the upper story restroom where the people who lived and worked at the castle used the potty.  The potty contents went directly to the lower story where it was funneled into buckets.  The lower room was where local prisoners were kept.  The liquid waste had a ditch going out under the castle wall.  There were shovels in the lower room and high open windows where the “occupants” were required to pitch out the solid waste.

Book Entry 172: 1986 Our Big Adventure Across the Sea...(part 1)

         Larry and I took a trip to Switzerland.  It was a whirlwind trip.  It lasted about ten days but every minute of every day was packed with new adventures, new tastes, and new sights.  We officially attended a short almond convention and unofficially had a ten day blast of a trip.  Some of the highlights I remember are:

       I remember when we boarded the plane with an 18 hour travel period ahead of us people began talking of how we would all have jet-lag and waste our first day in Geneva Switzerland.  We were so excited we barely napped on the plane.   

I don’t recall where we landed but we needed to board another, much smaller plane, for the final leg of our journey.  When we were all seated and buckled in we noticed outside by our plane a long row of suitcases.  I thought I recognized ours and wondered why it was sitting out in the rain.  Just then an announcement came over the loudspeaker.  All gentlemen were asked to leave the plan, identify their luggage, and re- board the plane.  Ladies were to remain seated.  I watched out the window as the suitcases were identified and loaded onto the plane.  Larry returned to his seat.  We continued watching.  When all luggage had been claimed, one suitcase remained.  It was still sitting there on the pavement when our plane rolled away for take off.  No explanation was given.  It was a bit unsettling.

         When we arrived in Switzerland the next morning we put our belonging in our room and left to see the town.  I guess we just didn’t have time to have jet-lag.

       
       Our first night was spent in a tiny motel behind a restaurant.  It was nothing fancy.  I remember the tiny elevators with barely room for two and suitcases.  The four of us had to divide into couples to get upstairs on the elevator.  It had a little expandable gate that closed and then the door.  It creaked and groaned and shook as it traveled up the shaft. 

      
        Our second and third night we stayed at Le Montrose Palace overlooking the Alps.  It cost about $300 a night!  When the fellow opened the door for us I went straight to look out the window.  He pointed out Lake Lemon in our view and on the far side of Lake Lemon was France.  I remember seeing Matterhorn Mountain and actually recognizing it from the ride at Disneyland!  The view alone was worth the cost of the stay.  

        When I say palace…it really was.  Some of the rooms had armed guards standing in the halls.  We had a buffet type extravagant dinner.  I’d never seen anything like it, nor have I since.  Everyone was dressed very professionally.  Very uppity for us.  Larry and I both felt out of place but Larry went from person to person joining in conversations as if he were comfortable.

        The next night was a dream.  We had dinner a beautiful building.  It was seven courses.  Each course was served with a different type of wine.  By the end of the night it looked as if someone had taken a giant bubble gun and blown it at the tables as they were absolutely covered with wine glasses.   

 
        During the dinner there was a program.  A lady in Swiss dress came out leading a cow in the program.  I couldn’t help think any minute that poor cow was going to do something on the floor but she never did.   

 
       Three gentlemen in Swiss clothing came out with those huge horns, about 20 feet long and blew them.  They had to blow four or five times before any sound started.  Next there were dancers in Swiss attire.  The whole program was wonderful.  
       We shared the table with the Ambassador to France.  He invited the four of us to come see him in France the next day at his home. He wanted his wife to meet us and to show us where he lived.  We were all excited!  Later we were uninvited when the Ambassador learned the couple traveling with us was not married but only traveling together.   

Book Entry 171: 1986 Adam Boogie Boarding in our Pool

We would empty our pool every spring and fill it with fresh water.  This year we happened to do it on April 1^st.  It took two days to fill the pool using two garden hoses. 

The sun was shining and it looked a lot warmer than it actually was.  When the pool had only a couple of feet of water in it Adam got out his Boogie Board and began using it in the pool.  We had the hoses running into the pool at the shallow end so the pool was wet and slippery. 

Boy did he have fun!  Soon Heidi and Robin joined in on the fun.  They would play until their lips were blue and their teeth chattered so hard I could hear them.  When their toes hurt from the cold they would lay on the warm cement sandwiched in between two towels until they warmed up again.  

It was a fun day of an unexpected activity producing several bloody knees and fingers but lots of laughter.  After that year the kids Boogied every time we filled the pool.

Book Entry 170: 1986 A Trip to the Fresno Zoo

          One of our first big trips with all five kids was to the Fresno Zoo.  The kids ran from one exhibit to the next.  Each animal seemed more amazing and spell binding than the one before.  The elephants were a hit.  The tigers were loud and scary.  The bears were holding their feet and rolling on their backsides so they were funny.  The birds were screeching and scared Charlie a little.  The snakes and other reptiles brought screams from the girls and giggles from Adam. 

We wandered around the zoo all morning.  When noon rolled around we had hot dogs and chips for lunch.  Heidi bought a bag of peanuts and took Adam to the monkey cage to sneak a few to the spider monkeys.

After a few minutes passed Adam came running back to us, grabbing at our hands, and telling us we just had to come with him.  He had found the neatest animal at the zoo.  He seemed sure we’d want to finish our meal where we could watch the orangatang.

Adam showed us why he thought this animal was worth moving our position to watch.  He started waving his arms in the air then put them under us arms and started making shrieking noises taunting the animal.  That old orangatang had played this game before.  After a moment a quiet rumble became audible.  It grew in volume reaching a grand crescendo of screams.  The louder he screamed the more agitated his actions were.  He started hitting his tire swing with the back of his hands then he grabbed it by the ropes and swung it as hard as he could.  When his show was just about over he scooped up a pile of his poop off the ground and while running at his growing audience threw it as far into the crowd as he could.

Several people had joined Adam while this show was taking place.  Most of them got out of the way but there were a few girls in the crowd, not ours, who had ducked down instead of running.  They had monkey poop in their hair for the rest of the day.

The show repeated itself about every fifteen minutes until the orangatang finally got tired and went inside to rest.  Luckily none of our family ever got hit with his “gifts.”  I’m not sure but it seemed the orangatang was enjoying putting on a show for us.  I was never quite sure why Adam thought we’d want to watch while eating but we did all finish our hot dogs.  As little as Charlie was at the time he knew when the sound got loud the crowd was going to scream and laugh and run! 

          It was kind of gross but that old monkey gave us a great family memory!  He is sitting in the tree below just out of site...Heidi is already getting ready to run!
     

Book Entry 169: 1986 Justin and the Air Freshener

One morning after one of the girls had been in the bathroom, Justin came to me with a very curious look on his face and a heart felt question.  “Mom”, he said, “why is it when the girls come out of the bathroom it smells good and when I come out it smells so bad?”

We were in hallway just outside the bathroom and I could smell the air freshener but the temptation to play with him was just too great.  I didn’t tell him it was because the girls used cologne and air fresheners.  I told him it was because they were little girls and he was a little boy.  I nearly double over when he burst out saying, “Oh, that’s what I thought!’  I never did tell him different. 

Book Entry 169: 1986 Adams' Blue Ribbon Pig

            One of our sows had a litter of piglets with a very special piggy.  This particular little pig grew wider and fatter than any of his brothers and sisters.  Adam was sure the piglet could win a blue ribbon at the county fair.  When the piggys were about six weeks old our vet, Gary Daley, was at our place taking care of some calves.  When Adam mentioned how fat the little pig was Gary gave him a  checkup.

           In near disbelief Gary told us the reason the piggy was so huge compared to the others was that he was missing an exit for waste.  Let me put this as delicately as I can, the little pig didn’t have a butt hole.  Please excuse me but I don’t know how else to say it.  Gary fixed the piggy and made him what he was missing.  That little piggy pooped for the entire afternoon.  He was still pooping when we had to leave the corral that evening.

Adam couldn’t wait for morning to come.  He wanted to check on the pig.  At first he said he couldn’t find the little guy.  When he did the poor little pig had turned from the fattest of the litter to the runt.

Adam’s dream of winning a blue ribbon with a pig that summer disappeared.  

Book Entry 167: 1986 Trick or Treating in Yosemite

         Mom and dad were camping in Yosemite during October.  We drove the kids up for a one night visit.  I had packed all their costumes. 

About mid-afternoon we went from campsite to campsite trick or treating.  There weren’t any other trick or treaters but the camps were full of hopeful grandparents.  It took about ten minutes for the kids to fill their bags with candy.  We actually emptied the goodies and went for more.  Besides all the candy they got dollar bills, apples, peanuts, sling shots, marshmallows, and pinecones!  I’ve got to say it was the best trick or treating we ever did!

Book Entry 166: 1985 Robbery at our Church

       

 We came outside after the church service at First Baptist in Turlock to find a couple fellows rummaging through some of the vehicles.  Several of the men started chasing them up the street.  Larry cornered one of the men behind the doughnut shop a block away.  The police were called and the men were arrested.

Several months later Larry was called to testify in court.  I suppose the lawyer was trying to make it seem Larry was prejudiced against one of the robbers over the other.  The lawyer asked Larry, “Why did you choose to chase the gentleman you chased and not the other?”  Larry answered without hesitation, “Because this one was fat and I knew I could catch him.” 

The judge sitting at the bench that day was Jeremy Cook’s dad, someone Larry had known all his life.  Larry’s answer caught him by surprise.  The judge laughed and snorted at Larry’s response.  Everyone in the courtroom chucked.  He gave Larry a parting smirk as he stepped down from the witness stand.  Oh…the memories!