THIRTY YEARS OF MARRIAGE

From getting up at 3:00 AM; driving to Bismarck in the dark with Robert; going through security; eating a light breakfast in the airport cafe (with a grumpy waitress); and waiting to board our plane, yesterday morning was about as exciting as it can get. I kept thinking, "This just doesn't seem real," as we moved groggily along towards our destination. Here us a picture of Robert in the Bismarck terminal shortly after we got through security.

Our flight to Minneapolis was about as perfect as a flight can get. Things were really looking great for us and we arrived right on time. The trouble is that we didn't LEAVE exactly on time. As we waited for the boarding time, we dipped into Cora's big binder and I have to admit that I squealed with delight when I saw all of the delights that she had planned for us.

Then, after we were all boarded, the waiting game began. The captain came on the microphone and said, "I'm sorry ladies and gentlemen, but there is a problem with our left jet and there will be a 10 to 15 minute delay while we get it repaired." We visited with the man sitting next to us, who just happened to be a native of San Francisco, so those 10 minutes were spent pleasantly.

The trouble is that this happened repeatedly. Finally the captain announced that the plane was not fly-worthy and that we all had to un board the plane and wait until they could get another plane over for us to re board. Our seat partner said, "We're lucky that they have another plane available and he proceeded to tell us of a time that he had waited 12 hours in a situation like this.

A great, big groan went up from everyone on the plane but there was nothing to do but go back into the terminal. The Delta people were great. They gave everyone a $6 coupon for lunch so Robert went and got us some of those very expensive airport sandwiches--it was great to get some food inside.

This is the terminal in Minneapolis. It was filled to overflowing when all of the passengers bound for San Francisco piled back into it with their fallen countenances.

Finally after a 2 hour delay and a 4 hour flight, we arrived here in California. This is my sweetie after he picked up our bag from the luggage carousel. It sure felt good to stretch our legs as the older plane was pretty tight on leg space. Still, we were thankful that it got us safely to our destination.

The children had picked DOLLAR rent-a-car service. It was so wonderful that Robert was with me so that I could quietly sit by the luggage as he did the paperwork involved in getting the car keys in his hands. As you can see here, we have a white Ford Focus for the week to drive around out here. She really goes pretty good for a little thing.

Robert and I would prefer not to talk about how we missed the turnoff for San Bruno and drove all the way up to San Francisco before we realized that we had. On the way back towards home, we realized that we had missed the turnoff because it was straight across from the place that we came out of the airport at. Andrew figured out later that the map was drown from the airport and the car rental center is quite a ways North of it already.

Anyway, we did manage to find the hotel. We got checked in and headed out to stock our refrigerator for the week. Of course we HAD to have a small cheesecake to celebrate our 30 years of marriage. Also, neither one of us could resist these gorgeous flowers to brighten up our room with.

I was so tired last night that I just couldn't blog--not even a, "We're here." We talked to the children via Andrew's new technological wonder and fell into bed exhausted. I wish that I had time now to tell you about today's awesome adventures right now. However, Cora has given us a new DVD about a couple who falls in love................. She thought that it would be a great way for us to celebrate our love which began over 32 years ago.

May God bless all of our children for giving us this wonderful break from work. Thanks, Cora, Andrew, and Jacob for carrying on the work there on the farm so that we can truly enjoy a much-needed vacation. I've heard it called a self-inflicted vacation, but this is a children-inflicted vacation. I think that it's truly the most wonderful kind because us 2 recovering workaholics needed a nudge to take some R & R. OH IT FEELS SOOOO GOOD!!