In Detroit and Back to the AirPort

I think this bracelet is made with a stone called Carmellia and a special heated topaz crystal....Mystic Topaz.

Some Pictures at the Hilton Gardens

Sorry the pictures are so dark..I have to figure out how to edit them on this small computer.

The food was curtisy of Delta and it was tasty!

No one wanted to be in the pool picture, but it was wonderful.

Got To the Airport Early

We got to the airport nice and early. We got to go right through the check points very quickly. They had changed our seats but still not quite what we wanted. The other group got there quite a bit later than we did and about 10 people did not get assigned seats at all. Finally the Delta agent announced that the flight was overbooked by 30 passengers. Four of these passengers were some of our tour teenagers. They were offering $400 for each person that would give up their seats and fly later. This went on for about a half hour and then Jewel, my daughter said she would like to get $400 each for her and Tiffany. I said Mike and I would like it too. Then the agent said the passenger who gives up their seat would get the $400 and first class seats on their next flight. We couldn't stand it....we went up and said we would give up our seats to the 4 teenagers in the tour if they could get us to Madrid the next day. They said they thought they could...they would give us a room at the Hilton Gardens, get us there and back to the airport, give us dinner, breakfast, & lunch vouchers and first class tickets. We said "First class all the way to Madrid, Spain. They said they would probably get fired but they would. So now we are spending the night in a nice hotel in Detroit, eating free, swimming, sitting in the hot tub, and even able to wash our dirty clothes. Jewel' s boyfriend Jeff, came back up and we are all having a good time. Tomorrow they will get us to the airport, and we will fly to Amsterdam, and then on to Madrid. The tour group will send a taxi for us and we will be able to meet up with the others. They have assured us that our luggage will be at Madrid when we get there. We packed our carry ons so we had swimsuits, our medications, cosmetics, etc. and two changes of clothes, so we were lucky there. We like all the perks we will get, but we do kind of hate to miss the first day of the tour. We are hoping we can get bumped again on the way home from Rome.$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Getting Ready To Leave Blissfield For The Airport

When we woke up Friday, we got dressed and closed up our suitcases and packed the refrigerated items in our carry ons. Mike and I decided to wear long black pants, short sleeve tee-shirts and carry our jackets in case the long trip on the airplane was cool. I choose a black onyx bracelet to wear on the first day of our trip. Kelly made several matching ones that could go with this one, but I just picked this one...I'll wear several in the black sets another day. We were supposed to maybe have breakfast with Bethany, our granddaughter, and be ready to pack up with Jewel, Tiffany, and Jeff (Jewel's boyfriend) shortly after 8:30am. Our plane is supposed to leave the Detroit Airport at 1:25pm for New York...JFK. So we were supposed to meet one of the other Blissfield drivers at MacDonald at 9:00am and be ready to head off for Detroit and meet the rest of the group at the Airport.

We woke up a little late, so we just got to talk a little and hug and kiss goodbye because she had to be to work by 7:00 am and it was 6:30am. For breakfast we fixed Grands Biscuits and put eggs, cheese, and ham on them. We had big glasses of Orange Juice with lots of pulp too. Yum, Yum, Good. Finally Jeff and the Wells got there and we packed up to leave. Jeff was kind enough to take us to the Airport. He has a big Expedition and we fill it right up. We tried very hard to not take much luggage but somehow it still seems too much.

Last night Kelly, my oldest daughter, came over to our house to make gemstone bracelets for my trip. I don't want to take my good jewelry, so I decided to just take a few of my special jewelry pieces and wear handmade gemstones instead. I decided that I would wear mostly bracelets to match my outfits. Kelly said she would like to make them for me. We used to always make jewelry together but now I seem to like to sculpt better and she specialized in the jewelry making. A while ago she made a set of 5 garnet stones, magenta freshwater pearls and silver bracelets. She made quite a few bracelets to match my colors for the trip...I'll tell more about them later, but here are some pictures. Do you see the two little bottles? She put those in so I could bottle beach sand and shells from the Mediterranean Sea Beaches in Spain and Italy. We have more bottles too, if I need them. Show pictures later.

Spain and Italy

This will be our first trip to Europe. We have been packing for about two weeks...rather packing, unpacking, repacking, unpacking, repacking...you get the picture don't you? Anyway here it is the day before we leave and as you can see everything is neat and ready to go. We have special safety carriers for our money and passports and drivers licenses and other necessities. See it in the picture? Also there are our first Euros...Mike and I devided them up between us. The exchange was $400 USD for $297 ED. We lost money before we even left home. And I'm not sure I really got half...doesn't look like it to me. The next thing we have to do is close the suitcases and weigh the big one......

Trip to Virginia

We went to Virginia to visit my sister, Donna and her family. They have a new house there.

Our Motorcycle Trip

Mike got his new toy...a Honda Motorcycle.

Our Trips to Deleware

My sister Lynne has a beach house in Deleware. For a few years the families have been meeting there in August each year.

Trips to Hawaii

Our first trip to Hawaii was in 2000.

Trips in Michigan

We have enjoyed the seasons traveling in Michigan and at our cottage on Silver Lake.

Mike and I go To Los Vagas

We went to Los Vaga with my brother Steve and his wife Cathy.

Many Trips to Florida with Mike

Mike and I went first to Coco Beach with the girls and my brother and his family.