Author Archives: tbavendam

I forgot to set alarm for 415 AM but fortunately woke up at 427 so we were out of the house at 5 AM and to airport before 530 AM. One bag checked, and went to the Allegiant desk to see if they would call Nashville and check about my bag. They did and bagContinue reading “The saga continues….. Karen to the rescue”

Upon awakening after a fitful night of sleep, I checked my AirTag and my last luggage location was 2 hours earlier at Nashville airport. I called James to see if that could me it was in the FedEx plane. He thought it might and I felt a bit optimistic. 2 hours later the bag wasContinue reading “Cautiously optimistic about luggage; Another wonderful birthday dinner”

Aunt Carol is 13 years older than I am and has been like a big sister to me. Last summer when I was visiting Iowa, I asked her what was on her bucket list and she said she wanted to cruise from the West Coast to Hawaii, stop on all of the Hawaiian Islands andContinue reading “Aunt Carol’s Bucket List Birthday Cruise Adventure Begins – A Bumpy Start”

As much as I hate the Tennessee summer, I have to say that the weather in the fall is amazing. Unfortunately I was recovering from the trip for several PERFECT cycling days. I did Habitat builds on Friday and today. No need to sweat or excessively hydrate like in August before I went to Poland.Continue reading “Habitat grounds me”

I got back to Kay’s in Spartanburg about 730 PM Sunday evening – about 21 hours after I had gotten up to go to the Krakow airport. I napped on the plane a bit but tried to stay awake. I forgot to use my No Jet Lag pills at the beginning but started in theContinue reading “The last leg of this journey”

When I decided to be a part of this small effort to help Ukrainian Refugees in Poland (and support the Polish people providing the support), I really had no idea what this experience would be. I had never tried to raise money before. While Teresa had told us US dollars go a long way inContinue reading “Another early morning of reflections”

This is day 11 of this trip. 4 days until we return home. I am the first one up today and I started reflecting forward. What it is going to be like to be back home for me. It will be challenging to go back to a quiet life after this camaraderie and shared purpose.Continue reading “The Crash to Come”

While we were layered up in gray, windy Krakow yesterday with temps in the low 60’s our homes were in the mid to high 80’s. We read headline news and are glad QE is buried so that can stop dominating the new. None of us are Anglophiles. Since kitchen renovation started in April, Carli hasContinue reading “Carli is learning to be a dog”

The Auschwitz museum aspect of the tour Auschwitz-Birkenau was intriguing for several reasons. The tour wound through several of the existing “barrack” structures that existed prior to WW2. There were photos of the prisoners at the beginning but as the volume of Jews increased they could not keep up with photos so they turned toContinue reading “Bearing witness”

After shopping for the pet supplies yesterday at the Galleria, which looks like any indoor shopping mall in the US – except perhaps more beautiful desserts we were walking to Airbnb on a different street and I found this piece of litter. It was day 6 of our trip and walking around in Krakow andContinue reading “I found a piece of litter on sidewalk”