Saturday,the big day,has finally arrived!! Here’s the plan: Leave the hotel by 10am to arrive at our assigned parking/tail-gating spot by 11am,have bloody marys and snacks for an hour or so,and then walk to the Georgia tent for BBQ and an appearance by the REDCOAT Band. And finally go to the stadium around 2:30 for the BIG Game.

 We arrived at our tailgating spot at 11:02 thanks to some brilliant driving by Lee through some mighty heavy traffic. Lee and Linda were very well prepared with a table complete with a Bulldog tablecloth and all the fixins for snacks and bloody marys.

Experienced Bloody maker,notice the stir stick

Go Dawgs

Now off to the Bulldog BBQ

REDCOAT Band

Mascot Hairy

The Georgia tent is along the St. Johns River where boaters have their own version of tailgating.

A floatation device for each person??!!

Off to the game! Until we walked to our seats we didn’t have any idea where our seats were. Imagine our surprise when we sat down  8 rows from the front at the 40 yard line,right behind the Bulldog bench!!!

Half the stadium red,half blue

 

Redcoat Band at Halftime

 

Uga VII

What a great day, even though the Dawgs were humiliated 41 to 17. When the game clock showed 00:00, we walked back to the car for a post game glass of wine while the traffic thinned out.  We were too hot and sweaty to go to a restaurant, so we went straight to the hotel for wonderful hot showers and pizza delivery. Thanks again to Linda & Lee for sharing this wonderful experience with us.

Tomorrow we say a temporary goodbye to Linda & Lee(we’ll see them in Athens for Homecoming next weekend)  and move on to St. Augustine!

We left Ormond Beach Friday morning for our trip to Jacksonville. Before leaving Ormond Beach, we drove through Elinor Village where Marti and her family vacationed in the late 50’s/early 60’s. This was a charming little village of vacation cottages during those years and Marti had fond memories of staying there. Unfortunately time has not been kind to Elinor Village and it is now a run-down neighborhood with many vacant, dilapidated buildings. Very sad.

 On our way to lunch we drove through St. Augustine and stopped at the lighthouse–which looks a lot like Cape Hatteras, by the way. Once again, Doug climbed to the top while Marti waited at the bottom–seems to be a pattern here!

Doug from the top/Marti waving from the bottom!

View of St. Augustine

Driving up A1A to Ponte Vedra, we stopped for lunch at a quaint waterfront restaurant named Lulu’s. We sat overlooking the IntraCoastal Waterway and had some great seafood. From there we cruised on into our Jacksonville hotel and met up with our friends Lee & Linda who had invited  us to the GA/FL game. This longtime rivalry between the UGA Bulldogs and Florida Gators is always played in Jacksonville, a supposedly neutral site (is playing in a place called the “Gator Bowl” really neutral???)

Another couple, longtime friends of Lee & Linda, completed our football group. Mike & Sharon are a delightful couple and Mike is a UGA graduate. Friday night we attended a GA/FL party at the Jacksonville Yacht Club (member of the Florida Council of Yacht Clubs). We had a wonderful dinner in the dining room, then went upstairs for the band and dancing. It was a fun mixture of GA and FL fans, everyone dressed in their school’s colors.

Lee & Linda

Mike & Sharon

You Know Who

Stay tuned for our next post about the BIG GAME!!!   Later, (not gator!)

Where has the time gone? Here it is November 2 and it’s been a week since we’ve last blogged! The activities of the past week have been nonstop with friends and fun.

After a quick overnight on the beach at Singer Island last Sunday night, we proceeded up Highway 1 to Jupiter, FL where we met friends Dani & Larry for lunch. They introduced us to the Food Shack restaurant which was fabulous. We had some of the best fish chowder we have ever tasted.

 

After lunch we drove along the beach on Hwy. A1A to Indialantic which is on the island off of Melbourne, FL. We stayed with Sandy & Royce for three nights. Sandy and Marti have known each other since the mid seventies when they both flew for Hughes Airwest. Royce is a former test pilot for the Air Force and later Northrop Grumman. Today he is flying tanker missions for the Navy & Air Force. Tuesday we all drove to Disney’s Epcot for the Food and Wine Festival. Had a great day there sampling food & wine from many different countries.

 

Royce tackling a turkey drumstick

 

The next day Doug and Royce played golf, while Marti and Sandy lunched & shopped. One of the day’s highlights was seeing the Ares One rocket after it had launched from Kennedy Space Center. Sandy spotted it as we were driving down the road and pulled over so Marti could snap some pictures.

 

 

Thursday we said goodbye to Sandy & Royce and proceeded up the road to the Kennedy Space Center, about one hour North. We spent a fun day touring the facility, especially enjoying the Apollo Exhibits. One of the highlighted missions was Apollo 8 (Christmas 1968) when our son-in-law Eric’s dad was one of the astronauts (Bill Anders).

 

 

Shuttle Lauch Pad in the Distance

 

Shuttle Assembly Building

Tomorrow Jacksonville and a rendevous with the DAWGS!

Well, after over a month’s respite, the Olson blog is back up and running! I don’t know why we aborted in the middle of our Minnesota visit–maybe because we were living out of our suitcases and moving from house to house in order to visit our family and friends. Next summer we have rented a house in Minneapolis for six weeks so we can feel “grounded” while we visit our loved ones.

We returned home to Burnt Store @ Sept. 13 after having a wonderful two weeks in Minneapolis. Enjoyed the time at home, even though the temperature had not settled into its normal gorgeous fall weather. It remained beastly hot and made running/walking outside very difficult especially due to the high humidity. However we enjoyed our six weeks at home reconnecting with friends and enjoying our condo.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN!!!   Literally! We left today on a two week road trip entitled “Bulldog Mania”!!!  Our first week’s destination is the Georgia/Florida game in Jacksonville, FL. At the end of the second week we will end up in Athens, GA for UGA’s Homecoming (where Marti will make her second appearance in the Redcoat Alumni Band). Can we mention how often our home has been permeated with strains of “Glory, Glory to Old Georgia” and “Bulldawg Medley” in the past few weeks? Along the way, we are excited to visit with friends and enjoy some of Florida’s attractions as we make our way up the East Coast.

We left this morning at 9am and crossed the state of Florida on our way to Palm Beach. No kidding, we were amazed at how fast our drive went before we were already on the other side. We had hoped to see Lake Okeechobee and take some pictures since we probably won’t have the opportunity to traverse it as long as we have a sailboat. When we arrived at Clewiston, we tried to get close to the lake, but found that we really couldn’t see anything. So we just drove on without ever having seen the water. I told Doug that maybe there really isn’t a lake there and it’s all just a big hoax.

The reason we started here in Palm Beach was we really wanted to see the home that Flagler built around 1900 for his 3rd wife. She was 34 and he was 71.  It is now a fabulous museum that is mind blowing to say the least. At least 15 bedrooms for guests,all with fireplaces and private bath; unbelievable ceilings and imported marble sculptures from all over the world, and they were only there 8 weeks a year!!!! Talk about your ultimate Snowbirds!!!

Just a couple of pictures which cannot do justice to the opulence and elegance of one of the homes that Flagler built.

Marti on a marble bench in the yard

 

A ceiling not found in normal homes

Music Room

Master Bath

Whitehall

Needless to say I think he spoiled his wife with this Florida cottage which was only used 8 weeks per year. And as immense as a project as this was it was constructed in less than 18 months in 1902.

That’s all for now.

We arrived in MSP on Monday, five days ago. We got on our first attempted standby flight out of Seattle. Didn’t get First Class, but had two seats together in the exit row with lots of leg room. Nice flight–only @ 3 hours. We picked up a rental car to get us to Patty’s since she was working until 5:30. Had a wonderful reunion with her and a delicious dinner at her home. Patty had to work on Tuesday, so we ran errands and had a great walk around Lake Nokomis. We fixed dinner for Patty that evening. On Wednesday Patty spent the morning getting packed for her trip to Finland with friends Duane and Sharon. We did a airport car exchange and said goodbye to Patty and friends as they began their journey to Finland. We then went to Bobbi and Paul’s home in Burnsville for a night of good food and lively conversation.

On Thursday we enjoyed another wonderful walk, this time around Lake Harriet. Doug is doing some research on homes we could possibly rent next summer. So far he has found two really interesting possibilities, both near Lake Harriett/Lake Calhoun area. Lynette flew in from Amsterdam at 3pm and we picked her up and whisked her back to Patty’s. She graciously opted to delay her commute home to Denver in order to spend the evening with us. So we had a lovely evening at Amore Victoria (Italian restaurant near Lake Calhoun). Afterwards we enjoyed coming back to Patty’s and talking to Lynette’s husband Mike on Skype. Friday we had a fun lunch at Cafe Ena before taking Lynette to the airport.

We tidied Patty’s house, packed our suitcases once more, and headed to Minnetonka to visit Jim and Barb. They have a lovely townhouse with a beautiful guest suite. Barb had a delightful dinner of burgers, brats, and salads. We were also happy to get to see another “Florida” friend Bill at their home for dinner.  Saturday morning Jim and Barb took us to the Uptown Grill for breakfast and then a nice tour around the city–especially to see the new Gopher Stadium & Twins’ Stadium. We look forward to next summer getting to enjoy attending some Twins’ games in their new stadium!

So today we look forward to our God-daughter Angi’s engagement party! We will meet her fiance and celebrate their engagement. They plan to marry in the fall of 2010. We’ll take pictures at their party this afternoon and post them when we can. I have to say, these past few days have been so busy that we have not been able to keep up our blog. Suffice it to say, we are doing the best we can. We’re enjoying our time here, but the pace of activity has kept us hopping!

Patty is packed for Finland

 

The Finland Contingent

 

Bobbi & Paul's

 

Lynette at Amore Victoria

 

Evening at Jim & Barb's

Doug took this gorgeous shot

 

Well the past few days have passed in a blur–flurry of activities and fun!

Friday morning we once again availed ourselves of the wonderful workout facility across from the hotel. This was in hopes of somewhat negating the crab and corn chowder we had planned to eat for lunch at Ray’s Boathouse at Shilshole Bay. When we first arrived into Seattle, I had called Ray’s to find out what day they served the crab/corn chowder. Friday was the magic day, so we planned to eat lunch there then. It was as wonderful as we remembered–although sometimes we have to feel guilty about eating bowls of cream!

Friday night at the opera–”Siegfried”–opera # 3. It was magnificent and we always love Act 2 when Siegfried fights and kills a very cool dragon! The opera was over after 11pm and we met the Ring conductor Robert Spano for dinner. Robert is the conductor of the Atlanta Symyphony and is a family friend, so we are especially enjoying this production of Wagner’s Ring Cycle under his leadership. Also joining us for dinner was Dennis Hanthorn, the director of the Atlanta Opera Company, also a friend. It was so fun to see the interaction of the two musical directors from Atlanta. We had a wonderful dinner again at “Ten Mercer”, then finally got into bed around 2 am.

Saturday was a DAY OFF and we took advantage of the free time to enjoy Pike Place Market and then some “down time”. Doug, Tommy, and I enjoyed the market for a few hours, then walked back to the hotel . I did another load of laundry, but mostly just caught up on emails, etc. We all rendevous’ed in our room for a dinner from room service, which was surprisingly delicious. Early bed for a change!

Sunday we actually set our alarm clock, so we could get another workout in before leaving for lunch. We were meeting four other friends at Cutter’s. Linda is a new friend that Mama and Tommy met this past May in New York. She is from Vancouver, so drove to Seattle to enjoy the Ring there. Ivan, Diane, & Clara are longtime friends of my family. Diane used to be the music critic for the Atlanta Journal. Ivan, her husband was a singer, and Clara is their charming daughter. Now they live in New Jersey, so it was a nice treat to see them.

Opera # 4  ” Gotterdammerung”     Sounds like a curse word, doesn’t it?  I leave the critiques to brother Tommy! Click here to read his comments about the operas.
We loved the performance, as usual. We were especially happy to have the “flying” Rhine Maidens make another appearance. Tommy got some good shots of them at the curtain calls.

Monday we leave Seattle for the next leg of our journey. I’ll catch up on that portion later!

Bye for now!

 

Ray's Boathouse

 

Robert Spano (L) & Dennis Hanthorne (R)

 

Lunch at Cutter's

Night #4 !

 

Curtain Call with Flying RhineMaidens

Yesterday,Thursday, we drove 90 miles north to Bellingham. Beautiful day, sunny and 80 degrees. After a wonderful lunch at Anthony’s we went up to the local airport to visit the Heritage Air Museum,founded by our son-in-laws father Bill Anders,one of the Apollo 8 astronauts.

WOW! What a wonderful experience that was. The museum is operated by 2 of Bill’s sons,Greg and Alan and they were both there welcoming us.  Alan was about to fly their A-1 Skyraider down to Portland for airshows this weekend. All of the World War Two Aircraft in this museum are in perfect flying condition and are meticulously maintained by thier own mechanics and are kept spotlessly clean by volunteers. Greg and Alan fly the aircraft in airshows across the country,mostly the P51 Mustang and the A1 Skyraider.

 Being a former Navy Fighter Pilot myself it was an emotional experience to actually sit in the cockpit of these WWII warplanes. Very,Very tight, small cockpits not unlike the A4 Skyhawk that I flew in Vietnam.

Around 2PM Alan strapped into their Skyraider and  it’s 3300 horsepower engine sprang to life in a thunderous roar. After warming up the engine on the end of the runway he took off and came circling back  for a low pass for our very own private airshow!!! What a THRILL! Click on this link to visit the museum on line: www.heritageflight.org.

 My hat goes off to Bill Anders and his sons Greg and Alan for their hard work and dedication in keeping those flying machines flying and keeping alive the memories of those aircraft and men that helped us to victory in World War II. I  can’t wait for my next trip to Bellingham!

Greg,Doug &Marti in front of the P51

 

Ready to launch(don't I wish!)

 

Alan and I(Skyraider in background)

 

3300 HP springing to life

 

Ready to go in the Stearman

 

Alan urging me not to touch any buttons!

Well, we just have been so busy these past few days, that we have neglected this blog. I’ll try to play catch-up since Saturday!

We had a great birthday party for the two little three year olds on Saturday. Before the party, we were able to take Lisa out to lunch at the Cheesecake Factory ( a favorite). It was nice to have some private time with her, since we hadn’t had the opportunity to visit with her by herself. We spent the afternoon playing in the yard with the kids and celebrating Evy and Eyana’s birthdays. Mark left this morning to go back to Denver. He got on the first flight to SLC and even got a First Class seat from SLC to DEN!  Way to go, Mark!

Sunday we packed up and went to SFO for the flight to SEA. It was sad saying goodbye to our family, but we look forward to our next rendevous. Our flight on Alaska Airlines was fine (not first class!) and short–only about 2 hours. We arrived SEA and picked up our rental car. We reserved a luxury car in hope that we could fit all our luggage in the trunk. However we realized that we still were going to need to run some bags down to our hotel in the city before we picked up Mama and Tommy the next day. We checked into our hotel across from Sea-Tac, but quickly decided we didn’t want to stay there. Actually I (Marti) decided I didn’t like the room or the location. It is an old hotel and really needs renovating. Also after we checked in, we were approached by a “scammer” in the hotel parking lot. This seems to be a new scam that is going around–a guy in a suit approaches you and tells some story about his family is in the car across the street and he left his wallet on the plane, and the kids are crying because they are hungry–on and on and on in hopes that you will give him some money. He offers to pay you back if you give him your address. Blah Blah Blah. I was annoyed and disconcerted that we were approached in broad daylight in a “secure” parking lot. Where was Security? Anyway, after that experience and the not-so-wonderful room, we decided to call the Marriott  downtown and see if we could check in a day early. They were happy to accomodate us, so we left the DoubleTree and happily ensconced ourselves in our hotel for the week. It worked out great anyway, since we really needed to get rid of our luggage before picking up Mama & Tommy.

Doug and I had a nice dinner at our favorite Seattle restaurant, Cutter’s Bayplace at Pike Market. It was a nice quiet evening in between our week with the kids and our upcoming opera week.

The next day (Monday) we did a few errands and then picked up my mother and brother at the airport. After they checked in and got settled in their room, we took a complimentary shuttle back to Cutter’s for another wonderful meal. Our hotel has a relationship with a wonderful health club across the street, so Doug and I have been enjoying the opportunity to work out there. At least we feel like we are doing something worthwhile, since we are eating out so much!

Tuesday was our first opera performance. The curtain was at 7pm. We had a nice lunch at Elliott’s Oyster House. Our waiter knew nothing about oysters, which was a little strange since the restaurant had many varieties of oysters and he could tell us nothing about them! We opted to have other items and the food was great. Mama did order the fried oysters, but really didn’t like them. Back to the hotel for rest before the opera. Wonderful performance of Das Rheingold. We went backstage to see our friend the conductor, Robert Spano (conductor of the Atlanta Symphony). We had a great late night dinner at “Ten Mercer”. Tomorrow night is the second opera, “Die Walkure”. Can’t wait.

Lisa and Us

 

Birthday Girls

 

Anders Family

 

Lisa and Family

 

Blowing the Candles

 

Last Day Together

 

Seattle Waterfront

 

Ready for Night One

Today is Evy’s third birthday! We are having a party later this afternoon to celebrate both Evy’s and Eyana’s birthdays. Eyana turned three on July27, so this was a good time to celebrate two special days.

Yesterday the entire clan came over to the hotel and enjoyed the huge pool complex. There was a kiddie wading pool (where we spent most of the afternoon). The boy grandkids enjoyed the larger swimming pools, while the little girls frolicked in the wading pool with very attentive grandparents!

Last night Grandpa Doug and Grandma Marti had an evening to ourselves and enjoyed a night out in Walnut Creek. We ate at a great restaurant called “Va Da Vi”, where we were able to eat outside on their back garden area. The food was ordered in small plates, so you could order several items and share them. We do have to confess that we shared two small desserts as well!

Looking forward to having lunch with Lisa, since we haven’t had any private time with her. Then later we’ll have the birthday party. This is our last day here with the family. It’s been a blast and we’re sorry it’s almost over. But, we’re already planning a return trip to Walnut Creek in March for Grandparents’ Day at Finn’s school. This has been a special week for us–being able to enjoy all our kids and grandkids at the same time!

The Fam

Adventuresome Eyana

Evy being Evy

Precious Granddaughter

Mark smothered by nephews & nieces

Doug and Grandsons

Lori and the Girls

This would be Thursday and alot has happened since our last post.

Lisa, Keegan, Eyana, and Elisea are here!  We had a fun reunion and enjoyed watching the kids play outside. Finn was so excited to see his cousin Keegan and asked us probably 50 times “how much longer ’til they get here?”. We were hoping Keegan (12 years old) would still enjoy playing with his 7 year old cousin, but we didn’t need to worry. Keegan jumped right into the fun and he and Finn had a ball. The little girls are darling. Eyana (3) is still a “pistol” and the baby Elisea (1) is the sweetest little girl with a great disposition.

Doug and I have enjoyed getting up in the morning before everyone else (we’re still on EDT!) and having a cup of coffee on the front porch. Then we ususally check email and wait for the rest of the family to wake up. Sometimes Mark joins us for coffee on the porch, since he is sleeping on the living room couch and we probably wake him up when we’re getting our coffee!  Yesterday Lori, Doug and I took a great power walk around the city resevoir, while Uncle Mark watched the kids. Mark is in high demand, being the charming, playful uncle that he is!. I know he must get tired of all the attention, but he is so kind and patient with his little neices and nephews.

So, another afternoon playing in the yard with the grandkids. They hooked up a “slip n slide” and while the older ones slipped and slid, the little girls played in the little blowup kiddie pool. With the addition of some neighbor kids, it was quite the fun and busy afternoon.

Last night Doug grilled some salmon, and I have to say it was some of the best salmon I have ever tasted. I don’t even think we will find better prepared salmon next week in Seattle! Doug is truly the salmon-meister. Way to go, chef!

We ended the evening outside by Lori and Eric’s fire pit. Finn toasted some graham crackers for us all and Mark and Eric serenaded us–Mark played the guitar and sang along with Eric. It was truly magical as darkness fell and the fire was blazing. Finn and Evy played in the yard, but Finn would stop by once in a while to toast another graham cracker for us.

Til Tomorrow!

Lisa and Elisea

 

Eyana ready to slide

 

Happiness is Grandchildren!!!

 

Grandsons

 

Granddaughters

 

Entertainment around the bonfire

 

Around the Bonfire