Planning ahead

Written 31 March 2025

For a couple of years now, we've been planning a grand expedition to western Canada. Our good friend Rachel Sinnett, familiar to my regular readers, has never been to a rodeo. It's on her bucket list, and she figured she might as well start at the top—the Calgary Stampede, the world's largest. Personally, I'd sooner go to New Orleans during Mardi Gras, tailgate at the Superbowl, or camp out at Burning Man.—talk about a zoo!

But the stampede opens on 4 July 2025, and we would have to be back in Tallahassee anyway for sister-in-law Martha's birthday on 2 July, and sister-in-law Janet's concommitent visit, so the plan was for us to fly to Vancouver a a couple of days ahead of the others (Rachel and Ev and two other couples from Maryland) to do our own thing, then to meet them at the train station, where we would all embark together on the overnight train to Jasper. Things got a little complicated when, literally the night before Rachel's appointment with her travel agent to choose a hotel in Jasper, all three candidate hotels burned down, along with most of the rest of the town. But Rachel, her travel agent, and our travel agent managed to find a solution, and the trip was on. From Jasper, we would continue by rental car(s) to Banff, Lake Louise, and eventually Calgary about 1 July. At that point, David and I would peel off and fly home. (I've been to several rodeos, thanks, and although I enjoy them, I'd prefer to stick with something a little smaller.)

Then, during our Disney junket in February, Rachel's knee, which had been grumbling off and on for some time, made itself heard loud and clear—no more grand tours until you do something about me!

The doctors agree—knee replacement late this spring and no travel before August. So maybe we'll aim for the 2026 Calgary Stampede.

Meanwhile, David and I hauled out our cruise/tour/excursion catalogs and settled on Tauck's "England, Scotland, and Wales" for later this year. Details forthcoming!

Written 23 October 2025

Rachel's knee was replaced and healed up by the end of July, so the whole Maryland Sinnett/Greenspon contingent packed up and headed for Maine, a few weeks later than usual. They were joined there by #1 son Henry (who lives in New Hampshire) and his girlfriend and by Rachel's sister Amelia (New York City) and Amelia's daughter and son-in-law (Chicago). We piled on, going up for the first full week of August and staying as usual at the nearby Driftwood Inn. Amelia and crew rented a house a few minutes' drive away. By merest coincidence, young Jason Budman (our housesitter from 2005; see that travel diary for details) and his reggae band were booked to play Portland, ME (first stop on an East Coast tour), while we were there! He and a couple other band members stayed in the house with Amelia's family (and their two dogs; #2 son Daniel also brought his dog).

Unfortunately, while loading the car the night before their departure for Maine, Carolyn (CJ of several previous travel diaries) missed a step on the basement stairs and sustained an avulsion fracture of the talus (i.e., a tendon pulled away from her heel bone, taking a bone chip with it). By the time we arrived, she was clumping around in a surgical boot but had laid aside her crutches in favor of a cane. Good thing, too, since on our first morning there, David took the granddaughters down the cliff trail to the rocky intertidal below the house, where he stopped on a rock that rolled under his foot. He sent the girls back up to call for help, since he couldn't put any weight on it. Henry—Eagle Scout and a big man—brought him partway back up in a fireman's carry, and he hopped the rest of the way between two other guys. Carolyn passed the crutches on to David.

Despite the high percentage of walking wounded, we managed to attend both the reggae concert and an outstanding performance of West Side Story by Maine State Music Theater, eat a lot of lobster, and laugh a lot. We were even introduced to blueberry-rhubarb pie, which I liked better than plain blueberry.

By the time we left, Carolyn was using the boot alone, and David was using the cane, which she sent home with us. They'll pick it up when they visit Tallahassee in November. David's orthopedist has diagnosed his problem as a pretty badly torn Achilles tendon, but he's walking and even driving without too much difficulty, only occasionally using his own surgical boot and Carolyn's cane. Today, he acquired a versatile and multifunctional trekking pole at REI for the European trip, and he'll bring the boot along as well. The orthopedist's PA highly recommended compression socks for the flights and the walking portions of the tour (I think I'll get some for myself, too). Reevaluation and possible surgical repair in mid-October.

So the run-up to this trip hasn't been entirely smooth, but one bright spot is that our travel agent surprised us with the offer to a complimentary limo ride to and from the airport! That should be fun.