January 29, 2016: Miami Bound

It was nice to casually get up in the morning and have my cup of coffee and pay some bills before heading to Grand Rapids for our flight to Charlotte, North Carolina and on to Miami, Florida.     I wanted to get a battery in my watch but the battery store could not get the back off so I guess it will be 10 o'clock the whole trip.   

The sun is out and the roads were clear to Grand Rapids.   Mom got padded down through security.   I guess she is suspicious looking.     

We are staying with the rest of the family at a cheaper hotel in Miami called the Quality Inn.   The whole Gonyo family except for Uncle George is going on this cruise.   We are cruising on the Norwegian Escape which is only a few months old.  It is their largest ship in its fleet with almost 4300 passengers and 28 restaurants.  It has a Carlo's Bakery on it.  The singer Pitbull gave a concert on its christening voyage in the fall 2015.

We got to Miami around 6 pm and had to wait quite a while for the shuttle.  We stayed with the rest of our group at the Quality Inn which wasn't that great of a hotel.  It cost us $161 for the night which is cheap for Miami.    We had dinner at a Colombian restaurant down the street which was pretty good.  I got empanadas  which were good.    Had fried plantains and rice which had this sweet taste to it.  I'm going to try and de-plug from texting and email for the week and will send journal updates next Saturday.   

December 11, 2015: Barnes & Noble Gang Christmas Party

I had my 2nd annual Barnes & Noble gang Christmas party at my house.  Rhonda was the first to show up followed by Dale Christensen, Thelma & Ron Prather, Kay Tobey, Karen Scraver, Nancy, Barb, Diann & Michael, Olivia Buxton, and her brother Josh Buxton.

I had to laugh at Josh's ugly sweater he got at a Goodwill along with a scarf and orange earmuffs he found in a parking lot.    

The presents of the night was the Fifty Shades of Chicken cookbook which Josh got on Amazon and the mug I got which he got that had Chevy Chase on it that said "Not the Brightest Bulb".  

Everyone seemed to enjoy good conversation and fellowship with one another which is the greatest Christmas present of all.

October 27, 2015: In Memory of Maggie Victoria Gonyo

Maggie Gonyo was the child I never had.  She was born November 30, 2003 under a computer desk at my friend Betsy Floyd's house.     Betsy gave her to me in January 2004 and my life changed forever.    I remember looking up names for my new dog and the name Maggie stood out.     

The first day I got Maggie, she was only 3 pounds.      I remember the neighbor kids on Lawnel Avenue, Cody and Conner, came over to see her.  She would run and hide under the lazy boy or behind the refrigerator.  Patty and Matthew also came over that day to meet her.    She was always a bundle of joy.     The first day, I remember calling Betsy as Maggie was hiding behind the refrigerator and I was so afraid she would get hurt.  I had never had a dog before so this was all new to me.     The first night, I put Maggie in the crate, which she hated.   She threw up two times that night in the crate.   Ever since then, she never would go in a crate, no matter how hard I tried to get her to go in there to rest.      I would even try to put peanut butter in balls and put it in the crate, but she was sneaky and would walk around the crate to try and get it, without going inside.  Sometimes, she would make sure to keep one paw out of the crate so she could escape.

I used to dress up Maggie in cute outfits, such as swim suits, sailor outfits, jean skirts, sweaters, etc.  She always looked cute in them, but never liked wearing clothes.    I wonder why?    

I had birthday parties for her when she was 1, 2, and 3 years old.    I had my friends come over with their dogs and we played dog themed games such as the Best Kisser, fastest dresser, fastest runner, etc.    I had doggie ice cream and cake for humans.   I also gave each dog a treat bag to bring home, just like you would for a child's birthday party.       We all had a good time at those parties.

She loved to play ball especially with men. She would go crazy when she would see a man in the house.  She gave you endless kisses and licks over the years and had the softest fur of any dog I have ever seen.  She truly was a princess in my eyes.    

I took Maggie on several trips, including Chicago, Mackinaw City, Indiana, Jamestown, NY, Grand Rapids, and Ann Arbor.      She always went with us up to Baldwin on Memorial Day weekend to see Peggy and get some Jone's Ice Cream.   She would lick her chops when she would see the vanilla ice cream.

She had some tough times during her life, too.  She fell out of my bed one time and hit her eye, which made it partially pop out, which needed surgery.  She was attacked by a dog at our first apartment, Hamptons Court, which she overcame.   She had a toe amputated due to cancer.  She had pancreatitis in June 2012, which was the same week we moved into the condo. She had to go to Grand Rapids to the vet to get treated.   Not sure what happened recently, but she was sick for about 3 weeks and could barely jump onto my bed, and spent most of her days laying under the bed.     It was not an easy decision to end her life, but I did not want her to suffer anymore.     I was surprised how fast the procedure went and how quickly she left us.  I do believe she is up in heaven with my dad, grandparents, neighbors, etc, and that one day I will be back holding her in my arms.

Thank you Maggie for the 11 years of life you gave me.  You helped me through some tough times, but also brought me much happiness which was such a blessing.  I will miss you, dear Maggie, but look forward to holding you once again.

October 9, 2015: National Cathedral and Flight 93 Memorial

Today, was our last day in Washington D.C.     We went to the National Cathedral which was simply magnificent. We had a nice tour of the cathedral with is Episcopal.  We drove by Sidwell school which is where the Obama girls attend school.   It is a Quaker school and costs around $37,000 a year.    

Stopped at the Flight 93 memorial in Pennsylvania which was interesting.   The terrorists chose a flight that was less crowded and was staight through as it would be full of gas which would cause the most damage.   If it weren't for these passengers being so brave and trying the stop the terrorists,  there may have been an even greater tragedy.   The new visitors center just opened in September 2015.

We stayed at a hotel in Pittsburgh for the night.  

October 8, 2015: Arlington Cemetery and Mount Vernon

Today, I thought would be less walking than the day before, but I was wrong.   I walked over 13,000 steps today.

Our first stop was to Arlington National Cemetery where over 400,000 people are buried.  They have around 20-30 funeral ceremonies each day.   The military person, his/her spouse and child can be buried here.   If you get just the white stone, it is free.   We went to the Changing of the Guard.  I remember having to dress up for this ceremony back in 8th grade in 1989.   Now, the kids wear any ole thing.  I overheard this guy telling the kids in the ceremony they had to wear closed toed shoes.  One girl was wearing flip flops and a short skirt while a guy was wearing sneakers.  Sneakers are not allowed either.

Saw where the Kennedys are buried.   

Next, we went to the Jefferson Memorial, Franklin Roosevelt Memorial, and the Mrtin Luther King Memorial.

Our last stop of the day was to Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington.     We toured his home and saw where they are buried on the property.    We had a turkey dinner at the restaurant on-site.    

October 7, 2015: Washington D.C. City Tour

The bus drove us in from Woodbridge, VA to get our step on guide.   I was shocked by all of the traffic coming into the city.   I would use public transportation as it would take you 1 1/2 hours to get to work.  

We had an excellent guide, Helen.    Our first stop was going to see the White House but as our group walked to the square where you can see the home, the Secret Service said we couldn't as they were closing it off so we had to see this later.      

We went to the World War II memorial which was gorgeous.   16 million served in World War II but about 400,000 were killed.   All 50 states were represented in this memorial.    

We also saw the Korean memorial.     

The Vietnam memorial was very nice. All the names of the deceased or still missing were engraved on this memorial.  We found my mom's classmate, Dennis Lanore, who died in 1966.    They had a book with the names that told you where on the memorial it could be found.   

The Lincoln Memorial was massive and was built like the Parthenon in Greece.   

We had lunch at Au Bon Pain inside Union Station.   

Then, we took a tour of Capitol Hill.   We went inside the rotunda which was being restored.   They have underground tunnels and public transportation.     Saw the Supreme Court and Library of Congress.   

Went back to see the White House as well as the Blair house which is the Presidential guest house.  George Washington was the only President who did not live in the White House as it hadn't been constructed.   The Oval Office is in the East Wing and Michelle Obama's office is in the East Wing.   The Obama's live in the upper floors.  

We had dinner at Smoky Bones back in Woodbridge which was next to our hotel.  We had to wait for our food for over an hour, then the server lost our order and they got our order wrong.   Other people had to wait forever.   I complained to the manager and we got our meal for free.

October 6, 2016: Washington D.C.

We took about 3 hours from our hotel in Somerset, PA to Washington D.C.   The GW Parkway is very scenic and crosses the Potomoc River.  Drove by the White House,  Washington Monument, and the Smithsonian museums.    Mom and I decided to go first to the Holocaust Museum.   It was very interesting.  I didn't realize the Jews were put in ghetto groups and forced to do slave work and many died within 2 weeks.  Others were gassed or shot just because they were referred to as an inferior race.  About 2/3 of the Jews were killed.   I thought the whole thing was very sad.  You could easily spend 3 hours in this museum.

Our 2nd museum was the American History Museum.  We saw the original United States flag and saw the First Ladies exhibit.   Mom wasn't too impressed with Michelle Obama's inaugural dress.  It had Swarovski crystals on it.    

The third museum we saw was the Museum of Natural History where we saw the Hope Diamond.   Neither one of us had been to Washington D.C. Since we were in 8th grade.  For me, it was about 27 years ago.

We had a delicious dinner at Carmine's Italian restaurant.  We had salad, garlic bread, penne pasta, chicken Marsala, egg plant parmigiana, and cannolis for dessert.   I would highly recommend this restaurant.  

We did a quick twilight tour and then headed for our hotel in Woodbridge, Virginia.