The Event ~ Smokey Mountains - March 2019

 Smokey Mountains tour with Moostash Joe tours, leaving March 22 , 2019, from Lincoln, NE.  This is the same tour company we went to Washington DC with in 2018.  A 10-day bus road trip with 40 other people.  This time, we had friends from Scottsbluff  go with us, Jim and Bonnie Stolen, friends from church.  It was great to travel with close friends! 

Day 1 we drove to St Louis, Missouri, and just had a restful evening with complimentary food and drinks, something the Drury Inn does.  On day 2 we Made our way to Paducah, Kentucky where we visited the National Quilt Museum and toured the quaint little town right on the banks of the Mississippi River.  

Crossing into Tennessee,  we enjoyed a wine tasting at Beachaven Winery, one of the largest in Tennessee.    Day 3 took us to Lorretta Lynn's childhood home, followed by another Old GLory Distillery tour and a cocktail contest.  Our group was divided into 6 teams, each team to create an original cocktail with any of the many liquors and trimmings made available to us.  After the judging by 3 distillery staff, our team took 2nd place, with our "Flood Waters" cocktail.  Later we enjoyed dinner following our own "Great Biscuit Bakeoff" contest and ending the evening with an old fashioned Civil War ball.

 

Day 4 and 5 we traveled deep into the Smokey Mountains, and enjoyed dinner and a show at Dolly Parton's Stampede.  The next day we continued in the Smokey Mountains in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge.  We spent a day at Dollywood theme park, and an evening show at the Hatfield and McCoy Dinner Feud at the Smokey Mountain Opera Theatre. 

 Day 6 took us into Nashville.  We enjoyed the Johnny Cash museum and the Patsy Cline Museum, the Goo Goo Cluster candy shop, and dinner and show at the Ray Stevens CabaRay showroom.   We toured the famous Country Music Hall of Fame, another distillery,  RCA studio B, and ending the evening at the Grand Old Opry.

 

The last two days as we journeyed home, we stopped at the Belle Meade Plantation, enjoyed another wine tasting, and made it back home after 10 fun days on the road.

The Event ~ The Wedding of Jakob and Ellie 6/27/2020

 Our first grandson, Jakob Timothy Andreasen, married his high school sweetheart, Ellie on June 27, 2020.  We were happy and excited to claim Ellie as another granddaughter!  The wedding was of course beautiful in every way.  However, due to the ongoing  pandemic of covid, which everyone thought would be over with by summer, the wedding event went through several planning changes as covid shut down venues, restaurants, large gatherings, churches, and threatened to cancel events such as this wedding.  However, there was a two-week period of time when the city of Lincoln relaxed its covid restrictions, and this wedding was back on the calendar and took place as originally scheduled.  And we are glad it did!  A great celebration of God's love within these two young people.  Our wish is for God's blessing upon your marriage and your home built on the foundation of God's Word and His abundant love.  May you always be faithful and strong in your desire to live a life pleasing to Him. 

 

                               

                        

        

The Event ~ Death is Certain, Loss is Difficult

December 5, 2019 we grieved in the loss of Tim's father, Leo Stricker.  He was a resident of the Heritage Estates nursing home for about 15 months.  He moved into this facility just to be close to his beloved wife, Wilma, who had moved into the care center three months earlier with early signs of dementia.  Sharing with them  through this aging process we experienced mixed emotions from sadness to frustration to anger to thankfulness that we were near them and could help them.   Leo was 95 when he died, leaving Wilma to be one of two remaining family members of that generation.  Aunt Rosie Stricker being the other; but she died later in the spring of 2020, leaving Wilma to be the sole survivor of our parents generation in the Stricker family.  

 

On February 10, 2020, we  grieved in the loss of Tim's brother, Thomas Dale, who lived a life of mentally challenged.  His funeral service was held on his 65th birthday, so we celebrated his life with a birthday cake at the dinner following his service.  Tom was a joy and blessing to all of us, and we believe his parents were given a long healthy life here on earth to be the best caretakers for Tom.   Tom lived the majority of his life in a group home, sharing common goals and common needs and communication with other handicapped friends, and with caregivers who had the special gift of caring for those who cannot care for themselves.  Tom loved football and was an avid Husker fan.  Tom also loved John Wayne and his movies and any western movie on tv. 

Dad and Tom, you are missed but we know you are both laughing and dancing with Jesus!

THE EVENT ~ Covid 19 - The World Pandemic

Just so I NEVER forget..... April 2,2020
The corona virus started in China in December 2019.  It became a world pandemic by March 2020.
I wonder if it was really the pandemic the media made it out to be.  The whole media world has been putting out so much fake news for the last several years, that a person doesn't know what to believe.  Perhaps it's an evil force working to break America and gain control.  Very possible, as the Democrats have already divided America so severely they will stop at nothing to destroy the democracy and the Constitution  that this country was founded on.  Below is a list of things happening in our nation today.

Salons in our area closed until May 11th.
Gas price a mile from home was $1.72, down from $2.50
School cancelled - yes cancelled, for the rest of the year, starting in mid-March
Self-distancing measures - one must stay 6' apart from the nearest person.
Tape on the floors at grocery stores and other stores to help distance shoppers (6ft) from each other.
Limited number of people inside stores, therefore, lineups outside the store doors.
Non-essential stores and businesses mandated closed.  This included nearly all businesses.
Parks, trails, entire cities locked up.
Entire sports seasons cancelled.
Concerts, tours, festivals, entertainment events - cancelled.
Weddings, family celebrations, holiday gatherings, graduations - cancelled.
No masses, churches are closed.
No gatherings of 50 or more, then 20 or more, now 10 or more.
Don't socialize with anyone outside of your home.
Children's outdoor play parks are closed.
We are to distance from each other.
Shortage of masks, gowns, gloves for our front-line workers.
Shortage of ventilators for the critically ill.
Panic buying sets in and we have no toilet paper, no disinfecting supplies, no paper towel no laundry
    soap,  no hand sanitizer.
Shelves are bare.
Manufacturers, distilleries and other businesses switch their lines to help make visors, masks, hand sanitizer.
Government closes the border to all non-essential travel.
Fines are established for breaking the rules.
Stadiums and recreation facilities open up for the overflow of Covid-19 patients.
Press conferences daily from the President.
Daily updates on new cases, recoveries, and deaths.
Government incentives to stay home.
Barely anyone on the roads.
People wearing masks and gloves outside.
Essential service workers are terrified to go to work.
Medical field workers are afraid to go home to their families.
This is the Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) Pandemic, declared March 11th, 2020.
Why do I write this status?   It will be a yearly reminder that life is precious and not to take the things we dearly love for granted.  We have so much!  Be thankful. Be grateful.  Be kind.  Show love to all.

When we came home from our Australia/New Zealand trip, we had to isolate ourselves in our home for two full weeks before we could go out of our house.  We used sanitizer, and lysol wipes every day.  We couldn't touch anything without washing our hands with soap and water or using sanitizer.   It's  a war out there.  But we live with faith, not with fear.  God is still in control.  AMEN. 

The Event ~ Down Under, Australia & New Zealand - March 2020

Scratch this trip off our bucket list.  We did it March 4-20, 2020, smack in the middle of the Corona virus - Covid19.,  That is a whole story in itself.    We flew Denver to San Francisco and spent the afternoon, night, and next morning with Alexis.  Then flew SF to Los Angeles to catch our 9 pm 14 hr  overnite flight to Brisbane, Australia.  This was an ag oriented tour, and all our tour travelers were farmers/ranchers.   We all had so much in common.

The maps below show the places we traveled too.  We crossed the International date line during the overnite flight, and while we were waiting for our morning flight to Cairns (pronounced Cans), we were feeling hungry for evening supper.  Though we were fed well on the long flight.  We lost a day - leaving on Wednesday and arriving on Friday.  But we gained the day back when we left New Zealand at 8:30 pm on Friday, and arrived in Los Angeles at noon on Friday!

Australia

New Zealand

Upon arrival in Brisbane, we immediately changed planes and flew to Cairns where we stayed in a lovely hotel for three nites.  While in Cairns, we spent one day on the waters in a luxury catamaran to the Great Barrier Reefs.  I snorkeled in the Coral Reefs.  We enjoyed viewing the coral reefs from a glass sided boat, which was amazing, had lunch on the catamaran and enjoyed a relaxing day on the waters of Michaelmas Cay.

Day 5:  We rode the Sky rail over and through the World Heritage Rain forest north of Cairns in gondolas, spent time in the quaint village of Kuranda, took boomerang lessons from the Aborigines, visited the koala bears and kangaroos and other animals of the land, rode the Kuranda Rail back, and ended the evening with a gourmet dinner along the waterfront.

In the Sky Rail gondola above the Rain Forest north of Cairns

The Kuranda Rail

Deep in the Rain Forest after the gondola Sky Rail

Aboriginals trying to teach us how to throw the boomerang.

Day 6: We fly from Cairns to Ayers Rock deep in the Australian Outback.  We visit the mysterious sandstone monolith bursting from the desert floor, named Uluru, better known as Ayers Rock.  This evening we dine at an elegant table in a rustic desert setting with champagne, wine and beer and canapes. The flies were bad in the Outback, but at dusk, the flies all disappeared.  Don't know where they went.

Flying over the Outback of Australia

Uluru, better known as Ayers Rock

Sunset at Ayers Rock

Dining at its finest in the Outback of Australia

We were gifted with a bottle of wine in our room at Ayers Rock in celebration of our 50th anniversary this year. 

Was gifted a second bottle of wine from the Grace Hotel in Sydney also

Happy 50th dear.

Day 7:  Sleep in this morning, great Outback breakfast, and back into the airplane to fly to Sydney.  A great dinner on the Sydney Harbor Pier.

Clouds and cloud shadows over the Australian Outback

Dinner on the Sydney Pier

Lamb kabobs for Tim

 Day 8:  In and around Sydney, Australia.  We toured the Sydney Opera House, the greatest architectural
piece in the world.  We took a luxury catamaran around the Sydney Harbor and a cruise luncheon on board.  We sailed beneath the Sydney Harbor Bridge, enjoyed city views from the catamaran, enjoyed a bus tour around the city and to the beach, visited the famous Mrs Macquarie's Chair - a bench carved in rock.  That evening we had another very fancy dinner in the Queen Victoria Building, and three nites in the beautiful Grace Hotel.

In front of the Sydney Harbor Bridge

Sydney Opera House

Roof is made of 5" square ceramic tiles

Mrs. Macquarie's Chair carved in sandstone rock

Days 9- 11: These three days were spent touring ag land  and enjoying the lush green landscape, cows and horses in the fieldss.  We visited a winery and had a good lunch in the winery estate, along with a wine tasting of some very good Australian wine.  Australia has some beautiful country, although we were told that this was the lushest, greenest it has been ever.  It went from a dry drought to beautiful grass after days of rain in just a five week period of time.  The bus broke down right next to the feedlot full of cattle so the guys had ample time to visit with the farmer. We stopped in a little town called Cessnock after the bus got back on the road so the guys could all go into a local tavern for a beer.    We traveled through the Blue Mountains on day 11, but that day was overcast, and we didn't get a good view of the mountains or the famous Three Sisters rock formation.  We did start off the day 11 with a "kangaroo hunt" on the outskirts of town.Somewhere along the way we stopped for lunch in Luera, a quaint little town, and the bus actually parks right beside a quilt shop.  Several of us ladies were ecstatic and browsed at length in the store, buying some Australian and Aboriginal fabrics.  It was day 9 that our tour of the thoroughbred race horse farm was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.  So the blue horse below was the only unique horse we saw!!   We did make an unscheduled stop at some crazy art and junk farm.  Don't think they need to do that again.

Dinner at the winery with a wine tasting.

Bus breaks down beside cattle feedlot

Guys have ample time to visit with farmer about Australian cattle

 

Local tavern for a refreshing beer stop

  

On the lookout for kangaroos during the early morning kangaroo hunt

The only horse we got up close to.  This horse is made out of baling twine.

Day 12-14:  We rise very early on day 12 to fly to Christchurch New Zealand, South Island's largest city.  We journey through fertile croplands and tour a New Zealand dairy farm, and other ag related areas. We enjoyed a box lunch picnic in the park with alot of fun playground equipment which many of us tried out. We view beautiful lakes, pastures of dairy cows, lots of grazing sheep on hillsides.  The terrain quickly changes from wide open plains to mountains, southern Alps,  glacial lakes and deep river gorges.   We also made an extra unscheduled stop at race track with a a go-cart race track, and several of our group went go-cart racing.

Milking carousal at a New Zealand Dairy farm

At the dairy farm in New Zealand

Box lunch in the park

Enjoying playground equipment with Paula, Brenda and  Elaine

 

New Zealand Aviation Museum

New Zealand is a land of pristine aqua glacier mineral water lakes

Lots of deer farms

Lots of sheep farms in New Zealand

 

Old church by the lake in New Zealand

Lunch in New Zealand

Day 15:  We travel to Milford Sound, stopping by the beautiful Mirror Lakes where we take magnificent pictures of Mirror Lake images.  We cruise Milford Sound in a beautiful vessel that offers beautiful views of deep blue sky, emerald green water, dense green bush and amazing waterfalls.  We enjoy a buffet lunch on the cruise around Milford Sound.

Mirror Lake

Mirror Lake

Milford Sound

 

Cruising around Milford Sound in New Zealand

 

Tim and I with Jim and Jackie

Spectacular waterfalls

 

Day 16:  Back in Queenstown, we head to Steamers Wharf to board one of the world's few operating coal fired vintage steam ships, and get ready to enjoy "the Lady" as she sails across beautiful Lake Wakatipu.  We stop at the other end and get off at a sheep farm where we watch a sheep shearing demonstration, and have a fabulous lunch inside a gorgeous restaurant on the edge of the lake.  

My new friend Liz De Hoog from California

The Lady steamboat

Restaurant on the Lake for a fabulous buffet lunch

 

Before

After

The location of our farewell dinner the evening of day 16

Riding to the top of the mountain for farewell dinner

The view from the top

 

The Kiwi bird - New Zealand's logo

It was a fabulous vacation.  We gained the day back when we crossed back over the International Date Line.  Leaving New Zealand at 8:30 pm on Friday and arriving in LA at noon on Friday.

Some pretty flowers in these countries

We were in and out of airports 10 times:  Denver to SF; SF to LA; LA to Brisbane;  Brisbane to Cairnes; Cairns to Ayers Rock; Ayers Rock to Sydney; Sydney to Christchurch; Queenstown to Auckland; Auckland to SF; SF to Denver.   That is alot of airports to mingle in in the midst of the world pandemic Covid-19.  We arrived back to the states in the midst of the terrible pandemic Covid-19, that became a world wide pandemic and closed the entire nation's economy down.  That is a whole different post yet to come.  Stay tuned.  At the writing of this blog, we are still praying that we do not get this virus from traveling.  It is killing people all around the world. 

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