European Adventures- Budapest, Hungary Day 1

It's been about three weeks since I last posted as we have been busy trying to get ready for our great European adventure which will take us to three countries in the next three weeks!  Our first stop is Budapest, Hungary. It seems that we had been waiting for a long time.  But the day had finally arrived for us to take the great adventure!  We were packed and ready to head to the airport....:-)

there is actually one more suitcase and a laptop case that has both of our computers in it.  They were in the backseat of the car. And this time around, we had purchased new luggage that had four wheels on each suitcase instead of just two.

Ready, set, GO!

Our airport is just about a ten minute ride from the house.  So, it took us no time at all to get there and get our bags checked in.....:-)

This trip was serving three purposes.  It is a belated anniversary gift to each other and a birthday gift from me to Scootard....:-).  I wanted to go to Budapest for our anniversary and he mentioned the Czech Republic for our anniversary.  Slovakia just happen to be in the "neighborhood" so to speak.  After some prayer and counsel from others, we also believe that there is another purpose for us being in Europe at this time...:-).  It will be interesting to see how things unfold!

Our first flight was going to be about 55 minutes and would take us from Oklahoma to TX for our international flight to England.

After about an hour wait, we were able to board our plane and settle in for a bit......

When I looked down the aisle, I could not believe both of us actually fit through there!  What on earth were they thinking when they shrunk the aisles!?

I usually take an aisle seat as I get nausea when I look down from heights.  This time it didn't help.  I even had a couple bites of ginger to settle my stomach before we left, but was still a bit queezy when we landed.

You gotta love Dallas with the big, winding freeways.  Almost looks like a bow.....:-).

after landing, we started our "trek" to the tram.  The airport is so big, you have to take a train to get to another gate sometimes.  I have been here many times over the years and never get used to the long trip it takes around the airport just to start a trip! ha

My baby looking as suave as ever......:-)

Now, that we had made it to our tram thingee, we had to be sure to get off at the right place.  If not, it is a long process to get turned around in the right direction.....Scootard led the way!

by this time, I needed some coffee.  So, off he went to get it for me.  I, in the meantime was struggling with my phone trying to get an internet connection.

We have about 5 hours to just chill before the big, long leg of our trip to Europe actually starts.  It will be an 8 1/2 hour flight from Dallas to London, England.  But we were ready!

Since we had so much time around the airport, we decided to get a couple of pictures of what was happening there.  This was a huge mosaic that is in the floor of one of the terminals.  You actually have to go up some stairs and get the picture that way to get the whole thing.  It's massive!

And then there was this castle like thingee that reminded me of Scootard's "grand construction" that he he made in the corner of our backyard.

After moseying around a bit, we decided that we should eat something to hold us over until dinner.  We found this restaurant called Reata.

I had a caesar salad and some southwest egg rolls.  the menue was pretty good.  The really interesting part was the silver ware.  Can you tell which one isn't real?  We couldn't either until we picked them up! ha the knife was actually plastic.....

hummmm...ok, then!

This is a backshot of the resturant. We had it to our selves in just a few minutes.....:-)

Here is a pic of my light lunch.....:-). Minus the salad which I ate first.  I figured since I was going to be sitting for a while on the plane, might as well keep myself "in good shape" ......if you know what I mean;-)

I don't remember what this man ordered, but he was having a good time getting it down! haha

See what happens to him when he eats egg rolls........haha

I was finished eating and decided to skip any desert.  Now, Scootard on the other hand proudly presented his desert to an empty restaurant.

We lounged around and watched some news before boarding our plane for England.  I was happy to see that we each had our own television screen instead of having to look between heads to enjoy a movie.  Yay!

8 1/2 hours later, we finally arrived at Heathrow airport in London.  God save the queen!  I think that's how they say it here.  Anyway, I made a mad dash to the bathroom.  I'm glad the rooms were clearly marked.

We had a LONG way to go before getting to our next gate and a two hour lay over.  Which was fine as we needed to check e-mails and let the folks at home know that we were still in one piece.  It was cool to be in England even if only for two hours.  No time to see anything.  No pictures of Big Ben or Buckingham Palace....:-(.  But at least the walls were welcoming us there....:-).  by the way, the "ER" that you see on their uniforms stand for "Elizabeth-Regina"  ..... meaning " Elizabeth-Queen".
 

On the way to our gate we passed this piano that was literally playing itself.......:-).  Scootard decided to go over and see the wonder...ha.  I had to remind him that those ropes where there for a reason!

Then we passed this one a little closer to our gate......And no, I didn't.  I wish I could play though.....:-)

there was this coffee machine thingee that refused to take our VISA.  Well, we tried everything we had and it still wouldn't.  Oh well......

And the vending machines only took change it seemed.  I was convinced at this point that you should never pass up a restaurant along the way to at least get a bottle of water.  We ended up taking our long walk back upstairs to another vendor and getting a bottle of iced tea.  IT WAS HORRIBLE! haha  AND expensive!

We made it back to our gate and had a delay.  But at least we were at the right place and had "something" to drink.

during the delay, I decided to see what was happening in the news.  After flipping through the paper, I was
convinced that I had picked up what was the American equivalent of a tabloid magazine.  SHOCKING!!
hahaha.....I guess it wasn't all bad, though.  Looks like Debenhams is having a 205 off sale! ha

we boarded our plane and settled in for a long haul........

taking off was ok.  I didn't get sick this time, thank God.

and the thingee in front of us showed us where we were and where we were headed.

Scootard took the plunge and drank soda.  I decided to stick with water........

and the next thing you know, we were flying into Budapest!

 I like looking at the tops of houses if I can do it without getting nauseated.........

the touch down was pretty smooth........

We headed for baggage claim praying that all of our bags made it on the flight with us......

I know, corny.  But I couldn't resist!  They must have saw my excitement and had this put up especially for me....ha.

Yeah, he was there too.....:-).....

so far, so good......:-)

YES!!  All of the luggage made it without a problem......:-)

Now, it was time to get a little something to eat.  Apparently "somebody" eat on the plane while I was knocked out sleeping.....

So, he decided to do some internet stuff on his phone.......

We had a long trek to the hotel.  Or what seemed to be a long trek at 9:00pm with four pieces of luggage in tow.......not a bus in sight that went to where we were going......ugh!  By the time we got there, we were exhausted.  Got our stuff sorted out.........

and went to bed!

Stay tuned!  We will be here for five days before headed to Bratislava, Slovakia......:-).

Scootin In The Boonies...

We were thrilled to wake up to 72 degree weather outside.  Poor Ms Vicky had been sitting for close to two weeks as it is just to hot to ride when it is over 100 degrees in the shade!  So, today was the day to go in a different direction than what we had been.

Scootard and "Maj" were getting reacquainted.....

Our first leg of the trip only took about 30 minutes.  I had not been to Elgin, Ok in many years.  I wasn't even sure of what was there or no longer there.  But one thing was for sure, we started out at 9:00am and we were both hungry and needed coffee....

I took a shot of the street in both directions so that you can get an idea of what "nearly ghost town" would look like...And this is on a Saturday!

The bank was right across from the restaurant.  I guess for folks who say they don't have any money after they have already eaten...ha

This is the direction that we came in from....

When we went inside the restaurant, this was the first thing that I saw.......So, I'm thinking this is going to be interesting.

Even the restaraunt looked like a ghost town!

It was a "country" kind of environment.  They had their own jams and breads sitting around for you to purchase if you wanted to.

The menu was uneventful.  I ordered a typical breakfast and some coffee......

Scootard was already taking pictures before I had sat down good......:-)

   The building almost reminded me of what could have been a large home at one point that had the walls opened up to accommodate the growing business.  And it was full of all kinds of stuff that had been given to them through the years from their patrons.  Now, the place was full of "trivits"....

They even had stuff from the local school and a gas station hanging on the wall.......

Meanwhile, Maj and Ms Vicky were patiently waiting for us to come out and twist the throttle......

This was another "room" that was just off the bathrooms...

More "trivits".....

I had to chuckle when I saw this thing that appeared to be a computer cord or router cord hanging from the ceiling, but going nowhere.  It was attached to ......well, nothing.   

The coffee finally arrived in two of their customer provided cups.......

And I gotta tell ya; DON'T DO IT!! That had to be one of the worst cups of coffee I have ever had.  It looked like coffee, and it almost smelled like coffee, but WOW...... just don't.  Trust me.

I almost lost my sense of patriotism!

 I mean this is Scootard's face after his first sip.........hahahahaha

We ate our food (in somewhat of a hurry) and decided it was time to GO!  We were told that the restaurant had been there since the late 70's.  I think the coffee had been there that long too.......sheesh...

Scootard was ready to get out of there as fast as he could....haha.  Still needing coffee!

We made it to our next destination which was Fletcher, Ok.  We have some dear friends who live there, but are always on the move, traveling the world like Scootard and I.  So, it was a long shot that we would find them there.  Besides, we didn't even have an exact address!  But hey, this is Fletcher....How hard can it be??
In our search, we came across this adobe brick church.  I had never seen this before.  Thought is was interesting.....:-).

And of course, Scootard was busy snapping pics as well.......:-).

If this gives you any idea of how small this town is, here is the Town Hall.......

I was impressed at how when a building is burned away or destroyed for whatever reason, they try to fill in the vacancy with something nice rather than letting it look like a ghetto area......

 
Here is the police station!  WHAT!!??  Who's watching the town???  hahaha
Not a single, solitary car in sight.......

Here is a picture of Ms Vickey.  She wanted me to take it from her "good side".....:-)

Fletcher seems to be yet another dying town in Oklahoma.  You know things are getting rough when nobody is manning the police department and you have to fight to keep your post office open.

And then, low and behold.  Right after taking the picture of the sign, I sat down on the bench while Scootard went across the street to inquire about our friends.  And just as quickly as he disappeared into the tag agency, they pulled up in their car and spotted me sitting on a bench on the corner.  Here is my dear and long time friend and fellow laborer in the Gospel...."Becca"....:-)

We went to their home which happened to be just a few steps from where we stopped and had some COFFEE! ha.  It was a heck of a lot better than what we had just had in Elgin.  But ANY change at all from that last cup had to be an improvement....  Here is Becca with her husband Tony and Scootard.  We spent some time talking about our missionary experiences, upcoming trips, etc.

You would never know that someone is living here in this building....:-).  It still looks like a business from the outside, but they have made it their home on the inside.

The last photo was part of this larger photo below.  This business is no longer as the owners were offered quite a bit of money from Ford to close it.

Well, it was time to say goodbye to our dear friends and head back home.  We wished them well on their next adventure, prayed for them and them for us in regard to our upcoming European adventure next month.

And so, it was that after a wonderful visit and a nice ride on a not so scorching hot day, Maj and Ms Vickey have returned to their temporary resting places....

  

See you on the road!