Last Batch of JASHSians
Friday, August 31
As planned, Donna and I woke up early this morning, dressed up and had a quick breakfast. We waited outside the gate to wait for Mark. It was still a little bit dark out but the sun was starting to come up by the time he came by.
We dropped off his daughter Marlisa at her school and we went straight to the base terminal. The lady at the counter recognized us right away and started preparing the paperwork for the van rental. We got the van ok, gassed it up and Mark went and picked up a base pass for it from the main gate then Mark went to work while Donna and I went to Expeditions. A couple of hours later, here comes noon and Mark was on his way to accompany us to the gate. He went home to have a quick lunch while Donna and I drove on towards the airport to pick up Elaine, Gene and Amanda.
When we arrived, there were a couple of flights that had just landed from Madrid. Since we didn’t know their flight number, we just had to assume that they were still inside trying to pick up their luggage. True enough, a few minutes later, here they come. We sort of hid behind a pillar and at the last minute stepped out and took their picture! I didn’t get the SURPRISE reaction that I expected (probably because they're too tired from all the traveling) but they still got surprised a little! We paid a whopping .25 euro for parking and we’re on our way home a few minutes afterwards.
When we got home, there was the customary picture taking by the beautiful European JASHS Class ’70 Reunion banner prepared by Mary on base. They rested up a while then we had lunch of chicken adobo and ribs.
After lunch, I took them to Super Sol for some stuff to cook for dinner. When Mark and Flor came (to help pick up Alice and Jane from the airport) I accompanied everyone on a walk on the beach towards Puerto Sherry. The tide was high so we can’t walk on the sand. We had to take the paved bike route along the shore. The prehistoric looking fort got cleaned out a lot since the last time I saw it. Most of the brush has been cut out and the trash that collected in it left by beach goers has been collected. When we came back it was time to leave for the airport.
We saw Alice and daughter Jane walking out of the Jerez terminal just as we were pulling in. I introduced Mark and Flor to them and we were back on the freeway immediately afterwards.
It was time for dinner when we got home because “we were all starving”! During dinner we explained to Flor and Mark our car rental dilemma and they committed to help out. It’s going to be with either Hertz through Alice’s flight with Ryanair or we’ll try our luck with Rota’s car rental outfits. Mary called and was wondering if everyone’s flown in. She told us Cesar has his ups and downs.
We prayed our nightly rosary looking forward to tomorrow when Ed and Odette arrive.
Saturday, September 1 – Trip to Arcos de la Frontera
We woke up early so Alice can go on line at the Super Sol Internet Café to book the discounted car rental. But she gave us some bad news when she came out of her room saying she received a text message from Ed. They missed their New York flight to Madrid. They only had an hour and half layover at JFK and their plane was flying around in circle for a while due to runway traffic. They got their name on a space available status on either the 6 pm or 9:30 pm flight THE NEXT DAY!
We went to Super Sol anyway so Alice can go on line. Once she had the rental booked (for really cheap!) she reviewed the contract and realized she can only take advantage of the discount within an hour of her arrival. Otherwise the rate is more than double! After Mark and Flor came, I left the van at the Super Sol parking lot and we went to Rota to look for a rental over there. We found a Volkswagen Polo through Crown rental. Alice tried to talk the manager into giving us a discount, even claiming she’s a cousin of his since his name is Diego Vazquez. It turned out, the name Vazquez is like Smith in the US. But he supposedly upgraded the size from a really small car to a semi-small car, which is the Polo. It actually came cheaper than the Hertz rental through Ryanair. So she booked it for a Monday pickup since we’ll need it when we’ll go to Fatima Tuesday. She tried to get one with an automatic transmission but it costs about 100 Euros more per day!
We told Flor and Mark we’ll take them along with us on our trip to Arcos de la Frontera since we have room for them in the van. They said they’ll come to the house after lunch. Ed’s daughter Ethel called while we were gone and she said her Mom was getting discouraged and wanted to go back home to LA. When Alice and I got home we had lunch and we called Ed. He said their status hasn’t changed but we told him to either call or send us text messages to keep us updated. I talked with Odette a bit and told her how much fun they’ll have once they get here.
After Flor and Mark came we drove on out to Arcos with Mark navigating. We got off at Guadalcacin which is one exit too early so he had to call his friend Rey to ask for directions. Rey just told us we had to go back to the freeway and take the next exit.
We finally arrived into Arcos but missed a turn and we parked by a small park instead and we had to climb up a few flights of stairs to get to the main road going up to the Cathedral. By the time we got up to the top everyone’s out of breath especially Flor. We tried to encourage everybody that there’s going to be some ice cream on our way down! That seems to have energized us to finish the trek. That's Mark and Flor on the left of the bottom pic, by the way.
On the way home, we dropped by the old monastery La Cartuja and found some of the nuns in the church performing some kind of service singing and reading the scriptures in Latin and Spanish.
The nests at the old sugar mill didn’t have any storks. We figured they might have gone on their migration routine or are out foraging for food for their young. I'll just attach pictures here from a previous trip showing the birds to let you see. Azucarera Jerezana was an old sugar mill that's ready to be demolished but since a bunch of birds decided to build their nests on the roof, the demolition was abandoned.
We had dinner when we got home and we showed Mark and Flor Ed and Odette’s pictures so they’d be able to pick them up tomorrow if/when they get their flight from New York. Ethel called however, saying there’s still nothing definite on their flight. After dinner we walked on the beach and had some ice cream from the Chiringuito on the way back.
When we got home, they opened the plum wine and started talking. Of course the subject of me getting drunk on a really small shot of plum wine when we were in Japan came up – something I don’t think I’ll ever live down!
In the middle of the conversation I got a call from Ethel. She told me Ed and Odette got on the 6 pm flight from New York. When I got off the phone, everyone’s anxiously waiting for the news. With my poker face I told them Attorney General Gonzales has resigned! I guess they weren’t interested in politics so I told them of the good news. Ed also sent a text message to Alice and told us not to wait for them and go to Ronda as planned so our Sunday won’t go to waste.
Sunday, September 2 – Trip to Ronda (which became Sevilla!)
We woke up early to go to Ronda as scheduled. Before we left Ed called and told me they’re in Madrid and that they got on a flight to Jerez. We told them Mark and Flor will be picking them up since we’ll be in Ronda. We immediately called Mark and confirmed that they’ll be the ones to pick up Ed in the afternoon. Mary called as well and we gave her an update. At around 9:30 we finally left for Ronda with Donna navigating based on directions that Robert prepared for me before he left for the US.
I’m not sure what was being discussed but I briefly joined in the conversation. After a while I noticed cars were slowing down to pay a toll. Then it hit me, I’m not supposed to pay a toll on the way to Ronda. That’s when I realized we missed the exit and we’re now about half way to Sevilla. Freeways here are not like the ones in California. If one missed an off ramp, it’s difficult to make a U turn because exits are way too far in between. To make matters worse, Robert did not prepare directions for us because we were not scheduled to go to Sevilla! Panic was about to set in but I figured; 1) there are signs on the freeway, 2) we’ve been here before although Robert was driving at the time, and 3) we can stop and ask for directions since Donna can get by with her limited knowledge of Spanish. I was a bit nervous but we decided to go on ahead and proceed to Sevilla anyway since it was too late turn back for Ronda.
We got off on the downtown (centro ciudad) exit. Donna then asked a group of old ladies where we can find the bull ring. Once I found the main road, Paseo de Palmeras, I let out a sigh of relief. Then Donna and I played regular tour guides after that! I squeezed the van into the same underground parking lot Robert parked the first time we were here. All we did was walk from then on; to the old bull ring, the main cathedral where we heard mass in one of its chapels, Plaza de Espana, and Torre los Oros by the river board walk. We had a nice lunch by a restaurant across the cathedral and we had some refreshing mango shake at the nearby Starbucks. They did some souvenir shopping as well. Amanda bought me this cool cowboy hat. I found one in a souvenir shop in Arcos but it was way more expensive.
A lot of pictures were taken of course and it was mostly Elaine’s husband Gene and Jane taking them. This is where Jane coined the word JASHSians. From then on, when we needed to take a group picture of us, we just say “JASHSians, JASHSians”!
Lita sent a text message to Alicia asking where we are and how we’re doing. I think she’s jealous of all the fun we’re having!
Going home was not as stressful, although I had a heck of a time driving out of the exit of the parking lot. The narrow turn after I inserted my ticket was not made for a big van like ours! The opposite direction of Paseo de Palmeras led directly to the freeway going back home. Everyone except Donna was asleep so when I missed the last exit to Jerez, no one noticed. I turned around and eventually found my way back to El Puerto. We got delayed about 20 minutes, so it wasn’t too bad.
Alicia received another text message from Lita before we pulled in to the house. They started cooking when we got home. I was about to call Flor when she called saying Ed and Odette are with them and are ready to be picked up. Gene and I went to Super Sol and met Mark. We followed him home where we found Ed and Odette waiting. Mark and Flor took Odette home while Gene and I loaded their luggage into the van and we took Ed with us where we gassed up the van.
When we got home, we took pictures by the welcome banner and had dinner afterwards.
As planned, Donna and I woke up early this morning, dressed up and had a quick breakfast. We waited outside the gate to wait for Mark. It was still a little bit dark out but the sun was starting to come up by the time he came by.
We dropped off his daughter Marlisa at her school and we went straight to the base terminal. The lady at the counter recognized us right away and started preparing the paperwork for the van rental. We got the van ok, gassed it up and Mark went and picked up a base pass for it from the main gate then Mark went to work while Donna and I went to Expeditions. A couple of hours later, here comes noon and Mark was on his way to accompany us to the gate. He went home to have a quick lunch while Donna and I drove on towards the airport to pick up Elaine, Gene and Amanda.
When we arrived, there were a couple of flights that had just landed from Madrid. Since we didn’t know their flight number, we just had to assume that they were still inside trying to pick up their luggage. True enough, a few minutes later, here they come. We sort of hid behind a pillar and at the last minute stepped out and took their picture! I didn’t get the SURPRISE reaction that I expected (probably because they're too tired from all the traveling) but they still got surprised a little! We paid a whopping .25 euro for parking and we’re on our way home a few minutes afterwards.
When we got home, there was the customary picture taking by the beautiful European JASHS Class ’70 Reunion banner prepared by Mary on base. They rested up a while then we had lunch of chicken adobo and ribs.
After lunch, I took them to Super Sol for some stuff to cook for dinner. When Mark and Flor came (to help pick up Alice and Jane from the airport) I accompanied everyone on a walk on the beach towards Puerto Sherry. The tide was high so we can’t walk on the sand. We had to take the paved bike route along the shore. The prehistoric looking fort got cleaned out a lot since the last time I saw it. Most of the brush has been cut out and the trash that collected in it left by beach goers has been collected. When we came back it was time to leave for the airport.
We saw Alice and daughter Jane walking out of the Jerez terminal just as we were pulling in. I introduced Mark and Flor to them and we were back on the freeway immediately afterwards.
It was time for dinner when we got home because “we were all starving”! During dinner we explained to Flor and Mark our car rental dilemma and they committed to help out. It’s going to be with either Hertz through Alice’s flight with Ryanair or we’ll try our luck with Rota’s car rental outfits. Mary called and was wondering if everyone’s flown in. She told us Cesar has his ups and downs.
We prayed our nightly rosary looking forward to tomorrow when Ed and Odette arrive.
Saturday, September 1 – Trip to Arcos de la Frontera
We woke up early so Alice can go on line at the Super Sol Internet Café to book the discounted car rental. But she gave us some bad news when she came out of her room saying she received a text message from Ed. They missed their New York flight to Madrid. They only had an hour and half layover at JFK and their plane was flying around in circle for a while due to runway traffic. They got their name on a space available status on either the 6 pm or 9:30 pm flight THE NEXT DAY!
We went to Super Sol anyway so Alice can go on line. Once she had the rental booked (for really cheap!) she reviewed the contract and realized she can only take advantage of the discount within an hour of her arrival. Otherwise the rate is more than double! After Mark and Flor came, I left the van at the Super Sol parking lot and we went to Rota to look for a rental over there. We found a Volkswagen Polo through Crown rental. Alice tried to talk the manager into giving us a discount, even claiming she’s a cousin of his since his name is Diego Vazquez. It turned out, the name Vazquez is like Smith in the US. But he supposedly upgraded the size from a really small car to a semi-small car, which is the Polo. It actually came cheaper than the Hertz rental through Ryanair. So she booked it for a Monday pickup since we’ll need it when we’ll go to Fatima Tuesday. She tried to get one with an automatic transmission but it costs about 100 Euros more per day!
We told Flor and Mark we’ll take them along with us on our trip to Arcos de la Frontera since we have room for them in the van. They said they’ll come to the house after lunch. Ed’s daughter Ethel called while we were gone and she said her Mom was getting discouraged and wanted to go back home to LA. When Alice and I got home we had lunch and we called Ed. He said their status hasn’t changed but we told him to either call or send us text messages to keep us updated. I talked with Odette a bit and told her how much fun they’ll have once they get here.
After Flor and Mark came we drove on out to Arcos with Mark navigating. We got off at Guadalcacin which is one exit too early so he had to call his friend Rey to ask for directions. Rey just told us we had to go back to the freeway and take the next exit.
We finally arrived into Arcos but missed a turn and we parked by a small park instead and we had to climb up a few flights of stairs to get to the main road going up to the Cathedral. By the time we got up to the top everyone’s out of breath especially Flor. We tried to encourage everybody that there’s going to be some ice cream on our way down! That seems to have energized us to finish the trek. That's Mark and Flor on the left of the bottom pic, by the way.
On the way home, we dropped by the old monastery La Cartuja and found some of the nuns in the church performing some kind of service singing and reading the scriptures in Latin and Spanish.
The nests at the old sugar mill didn’t have any storks. We figured they might have gone on their migration routine or are out foraging for food for their young. I'll just attach pictures here from a previous trip showing the birds to let you see. Azucarera Jerezana was an old sugar mill that's ready to be demolished but since a bunch of birds decided to build their nests on the roof, the demolition was abandoned.
We had dinner when we got home and we showed Mark and Flor Ed and Odette’s pictures so they’d be able to pick them up tomorrow if/when they get their flight from New York. Ethel called however, saying there’s still nothing definite on their flight. After dinner we walked on the beach and had some ice cream from the Chiringuito on the way back.
When we got home, they opened the plum wine and started talking. Of course the subject of me getting drunk on a really small shot of plum wine when we were in Japan came up – something I don’t think I’ll ever live down!
In the middle of the conversation I got a call from Ethel. She told me Ed and Odette got on the 6 pm flight from New York. When I got off the phone, everyone’s anxiously waiting for the news. With my poker face I told them Attorney General Gonzales has resigned! I guess they weren’t interested in politics so I told them of the good news. Ed also sent a text message to Alice and told us not to wait for them and go to Ronda as planned so our Sunday won’t go to waste.
Sunday, September 2 – Trip to Ronda (which became Sevilla!)
We woke up early to go to Ronda as scheduled. Before we left Ed called and told me they’re in Madrid and that they got on a flight to Jerez. We told them Mark and Flor will be picking them up since we’ll be in Ronda. We immediately called Mark and confirmed that they’ll be the ones to pick up Ed in the afternoon. Mary called as well and we gave her an update. At around 9:30 we finally left for Ronda with Donna navigating based on directions that Robert prepared for me before he left for the US.
I’m not sure what was being discussed but I briefly joined in the conversation. After a while I noticed cars were slowing down to pay a toll. Then it hit me, I’m not supposed to pay a toll on the way to Ronda. That’s when I realized we missed the exit and we’re now about half way to Sevilla. Freeways here are not like the ones in California. If one missed an off ramp, it’s difficult to make a U turn because exits are way too far in between. To make matters worse, Robert did not prepare directions for us because we were not scheduled to go to Sevilla! Panic was about to set in but I figured; 1) there are signs on the freeway, 2) we’ve been here before although Robert was driving at the time, and 3) we can stop and ask for directions since Donna can get by with her limited knowledge of Spanish. I was a bit nervous but we decided to go on ahead and proceed to Sevilla anyway since it was too late turn back for Ronda.
We got off on the downtown (centro ciudad) exit. Donna then asked a group of old ladies where we can find the bull ring. Once I found the main road, Paseo de Palmeras, I let out a sigh of relief. Then Donna and I played regular tour guides after that! I squeezed the van into the same underground parking lot Robert parked the first time we were here. All we did was walk from then on; to the old bull ring, the main cathedral where we heard mass in one of its chapels, Plaza de Espana, and Torre los Oros by the river board walk. We had a nice lunch by a restaurant across the cathedral and we had some refreshing mango shake at the nearby Starbucks. They did some souvenir shopping as well. Amanda bought me this cool cowboy hat. I found one in a souvenir shop in Arcos but it was way more expensive.
A lot of pictures were taken of course and it was mostly Elaine’s husband Gene and Jane taking them. This is where Jane coined the word JASHSians. From then on, when we needed to take a group picture of us, we just say “JASHSians, JASHSians”!
Lita sent a text message to Alicia asking where we are and how we’re doing. I think she’s jealous of all the fun we’re having!
Going home was not as stressful, although I had a heck of a time driving out of the exit of the parking lot. The narrow turn after I inserted my ticket was not made for a big van like ours! The opposite direction of Paseo de Palmeras led directly to the freeway going back home. Everyone except Donna was asleep so when I missed the last exit to Jerez, no one noticed. I turned around and eventually found my way back to El Puerto. We got delayed about 20 minutes, so it wasn’t too bad.
Alicia received another text message from Lita before we pulled in to the house. They started cooking when we got home. I was about to call Flor when she called saying Ed and Odette are with them and are ready to be picked up. Gene and I went to Super Sol and met Mark. We followed him home where we found Ed and Odette waiting. Mark and Flor took Odette home while Gene and I loaded their luggage into the van and we took Ed with us where we gassed up the van.
When we got home, we took pictures by the welcome banner and had dinner afterwards.
posted by reyjay @ 5:31 PM
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