I was able to visit the Malibu today.....
CPR was successful and her heart started to beat again within hours of her drowning. She has a few bumps and bruises that can be fixed, but now we are waiting for the medical team to find the right donors to get her out of her electrical coma. The doctors are very optimistic --- she was in excellent shape for her age and they expect a full recovery.
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Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale,
A tale of a fateful trip
That started from Lake Cumberland
Aboard an 80-foot ship.
The Mate was a mighty sailin' man,
The Skipper brave and sure,
Sixteen passengers set sail that day
For a week long family cruise, a week long family cruise.
The weather started getting rough,
The houseboat began to toss,
If not for the courage of the fearless crew
The Malibu would be lost, the Malibu would be lost.
The waves were big and the winds were high,
The storm caught us by surprise.
The Malibu bow dunked on each wave
And quickly began to drown.
Amidst fireworks of thunder and lightening
We watched in shock and dismay
As parts of the boat floated away
And the Malibu sunk lower and lower.
But we were safe and the storm let up
As we drifted up on shore.
We took a deep breath and looked around
Happy to see our family, happy to see our family.
The Malibu set ground upon some shore
Near the mouth of Otter Creek,
A spot deemed treacherous by many a man
Who knows those waters well, who knows those waters well.
With Grampa David
And Gramma Jane too,
Four husbands and their wives
A 16-month old
And 5 more kids
We survived another Grandstaff Tale!!!
So this is the tale of the Grandstaff Gang.
They've been together for a long, long time.
They always make the best of things,
But it can be an uphill climb.
So join us somewhere next year my friends.
You're sure to get a smile
From our family of castaways,
Known as the Grandstaff Gang.
In other words, we were towing my Malibu behind our 80-foot houseboat while we were headed back to the main dock when we were unexpectedly hit by a huge storm. Within minutes, the Malibu was dunking it's bow under water while thunder, lightening, wind, waves, and driving rain paralyzed us on the water. We drifted ashore, left the Malibu behind, and headed for the dock as the skies turned back to blue. (Reader's Digest version)
Earlier in the week, we also killed two jet skis.
The good news: The jet skis might actually be resuscitated.
The better news: The Malibu was saved (except for some seat cushions) and the motor should be fine.
The BEST news: It was an EPIC team-building exercise --- and I still have my family.
.
.
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For the record, the Captain always goes down with the ship . . . so you will have to hang me before I let my boat sink.
(My husband will hang me if I ever mention houseboating again!!!)
About a month ago, God presented me with another exciting opportunity: a five week medical mission trip to Paraguay. With a team of five other students, I will be completely immersed in Paraguay's culture by living with a local family and working in a mobile medical clinic. I will be working through Serving In Mission (SIM) with a specific ministry called Training in Medical Evangelism (TIME) from May 30th through July 5th."
We said good-bye on Sunday evening and finally heard that she arrived safely over 36 hours (and a few butterflies) later. Sarah's first flight out of Fort Wayne was cancelled due to storms, so Steve drove her to Chicago and thankfully helped her through all the red tape to get her on her way. She arrived in Sao Paulo, Brazil 12 hours later (and that was a direct flight) but then had an 11 hour lay-over before another flight to Asuncion, Paraguay. She connected with the rest of her team in the Sao Paulo airport: "Meeting up with the team went smoothly and I was sooo happy to finally see them. We all connected right away. It was like meeting up with old friends." After almost 48 hours of travel, she finally got to sleep in a real bed again at 2 am today.
We'll worry about the lost luggage tomorrow......
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What's all the fuss about? I'm SURE all the hubbub is over something MUCH more important ~ . . . . . . . like Clara's First Birthday!!! Now THAT is a reason to celebrate!
(Wish we were there!)
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There is so much of this big blue marble I still hope to see, but there are a few places that keep luring me back . . .
Click HERE to catch a glimpse of why.
Still want to see more? Click HERE.
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. . . . . but wish it didn't have to end so soon!
With a little help from my friends i.e. "pier pressure," the lake season ended today.
The hate to see these skeletons.
Now where do I go?
Only 140 days 'til spring!!!
Keep looking up. The climb may not be easy, but there's still a lot to look forward to.
Celebrate today and every day. Happy Birthday.
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As you know, one of my quests on vacation was to savor a latte overlooking a scenic vista each day.
Others had their own quests.
Walter's quest was "The Church of the Day."
(One) of Peter's quests was the opera.
Unfortunately, The Opera in Vienna was closed while we were visiting. On our last evening before returning home, however, Peter and Virginia tried to share one last glimpse of authentic Austria and the opera and took us into the heart of Vienna for a festival. Every weekend during the summer, taped opera performances are shown outdoors on a huge screen in the center of downtown Vienna. Uhhhhh......except there was NO opera THAT night --- much to Peter's chagrin. We watched Grace Jones (of James Bond Goldfinger fame) perform instead. "Interesting" . . . . it was like watching Lady Gaga, Madonna and Michael Jackson all at the same time.
The closest we came to the opera was when we stumbled across the opera that is staged on The Lake of Constance on our drive from the Alps to Bavaria.
Using the GPS and my mastery :) of the German language, I chose a restaurant by the name and hoped it would at least have a view of the lake.
Perfekt!
Just outside our restaurant was the stage for Aida.
(I don't know how Aida was, but I LOVE the feet!!!)
Alexandra's quest was to be a princess --- and to learn how to Hula-Hoop!
AND to spend every possible minute with "The Big Girls!"
Steve's quest was to find the perfect potato dumpling --- or at least one that would rival the ones he grew up on.
(I think he ate dumplings almost every day.)
Sarah and Rachel's quest was for ice cream.
They ate a lot of scrumptious ice cream but found the most exotic ice cream parlor in a small village at the base of "Cinderella's Castle." (Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria) Each serving was a masterpiece that was as pleasing to the eye as it was to the palate.
This is the Spaghetti and Meatballs. (You should have seen the Filet Mignon!)
In the end, we all really had the same quest: to seek, to share and to love.
(In the end, I also have to admit that the "Cup of the Day" from Home Sweet Home tastes pretty good too.)
For our Princess Sarah (for whom this European adventure was spawned) the pinnacle of the trip aside from seeing Jakob and Joel, was going to the Neuschwanstein Castle. This is THE castle of castles. It is the the inspiration behind Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle.
Unfortunately, this was the only day of our entire trip that we encountered a drenching rain.
The queue to catch a ride up to the castle:
Saint Mary's Bridge overlooking Neuschwanstein Castle.
Only Rachel was brave enough to venture out onto the swaying bridge for the spectacular view.
Despite the cold rain, we still had fun "storming the castle."
. . . but had to stop and warm up with some hot cocoa
. . . and to warm up our feet!!!
We actually visited the Hohenschwangau Castle first, which was the boyhood home of King Ludwig II.
It sits in the foothills below the Neuschwanstein Castle.
The Neuschwanstein Castle was commissioned by King Ludwig II as a retreat and as an homage to Richard Wagner. The interior of the castle depicts the operas of Wagner although only 15 of 200 rooms were completed. (No interior photos allowed, but it was amazing.)
As we drove away, I was surprised to see the castles sitting so pristinely in the distance.
Although the weather was not perfect, it was still a fairy-tale day.
Way too serious!
The drive from the Alps to Bavaria. YIKES!!!
I will return for the view from above some day.