Jill's Journey Journals

The Jumanji Hike

We often think of adventure as something that happens when we travel far from home. But adventure can happen right in our back yard. We live a few miles from the Shawnee National Forest, so we have access to many hiking trails, parks, and even a zipline. There are many beautiful areas and views, including forests, bluffs, and wetlands. Wildlife includes bald eagles, red tailed hawks, and bobcats. The River to River Trail is a 160 mile trail that runs through Shawnee National Forest, from the Ohio River to the Mississippi River.

I have been working on hiking the entire trail. I am hiking it in sections, since I don’t have the availability to take off weeks to do the entire trail at once.

On one of our hikes last summer, my daughter, Sarah, and I went for a day hike on the River to River Trail. We had my dog and my daughter, Ally’s, dog with us. I wanted to start where I had left off the last time I hiked on the trail. We arrived at the trailhead at Iron Furnace. There was a gate across the entrance to the trail with a Do Not Enter sign on it. But this is where I wanted to start! I convinced Sarah that the sign was meant for cars, not for hikers. She was not totally convinced, but being the good sport that she is, she reluctantly agreed to hike the trail with me.

That may have been a mistake.

For the record, this sign means you can hike on the trail. This is NOT the sign that was on the gate at the beginning of the this trail.

If there is a sign that looks something like this, you should probably stay off the trail.

We started out on the trail, and everything seemed fine. It was a beautiful day. This was the year that two broods of cicadas emerged at the same time, so the sound of their buzzing/clicking was very loud. We saw flowers blooming, butterflies flying, and turtles crawling.

What we did not see were other people on the trail. That should have been a clue, but….

After a little while on the trail, we started questioning our decision about being on this trail. It was rather overgrown, and it didn’t seem like it had been hiked in a while. It was a warm day. We stopped to rest near some bushes, so that the dogs could get a drink and sit in the shade for a few minutes. When I looked down at my dog, I noticed a tick on her nose. I bent down to remove the tick and noticed several more on her. She is very furry, so it was difficult to find all of the ticks. When I looked at Sarah, there were ticks crawling all over her-on her arms, legs and back! She started frantically brushing them off of me too. There was a lot of jumping around and screaming at that point. I am not exaggerating when I say we brushed off over a hundred ticks from ourselves and the dogs. They were everywhere. When you think about how these ticks were trying to get on us to suck our blood, it becomes a horror movie.

We quickly got back on the trail and left that tick infested area. Maybe we should have turned around, but we (by “we” I mean “I”) were determined to finish the hike.

Continuing with the horror movie theme, as we continued, we heard a sound that we could not identify. It was kind of a screeching sound. We all stopped and alerted-me, Sarah, and both of the dogs. We heard the sound again. We all took off at a run, with the dogs in the lead. We quickly came upon a stream that was across the trail. It was not that deep, so we waded through it without too much thought. We were very motivated to get further down the trail and away from whatever was making the unidentifiable sound. A little further on was a much larger body of water that was across the trail. This one was much deeper and actually had a small current. We found an area with some rocks we could step on, but we ended up getting water in our boots and soaking the bottoms of our pants. The dogs were wet too. We weren’t as upset about this as you would think. We were hoping the water would take care of some of the ticks. Turns out, ticks don’t drown. We reached the other side, and we stood there looking for the trail. Sarah looked at me and said, “You have a huge cicada chilling on your shirt.” Now, normally, I would calmly look down and remove the cicada from my shirt. But that day, my skin was still crawling from the ticks and I was pumped full of adrenaline from the screeching sound. I did not stay calm. I began screaming and flailing to get the cicada off of me.

We finally found where the trail continued. It was downstream, meaning we would have to wade through pretty deep water to reach it. We decided that we would improvise. We found some exposed tree roots. I climbed up the roots, Sarah handed each dog up to me, and then she climbed the roots. We wandered around until we found the trail and we continued on. We reached our destination, which was Basset Road, where my husband was waiting to pick us up. We were about an hour later than expected, but with all of the obstacles, I think we made good time.

As soon as we arrived home, we bathed both of the dogs and then took showers. But we continued to pick off ticks off the dogs for a few days. My daughter, Ally, was traumatized. Every time she found a tick on her dog, she came running in for me to pick it off. I told her it was a good thing she was not able to join us on the hike. She replied, “If I had been with you, we would not have been on that trail.” I think the implication there is that she has more common sense. Whether or not that is true, I did get in about another six miles in on the River to River Trail. I guess it depends on priorities.

Tips:

If there is a Do Not Enter sign on a gate across a trail, you should probably pick another trail.
The River to River trail is a beautiful trail to hike. You can download a trail guide at https://rivertorivertrail.net/home/trail-information/river-to-river-trail-guide-2018/. This guide gives information on all of the trail, points of interest along the way, places to camp, maps, and much more.
You do not need a permit to hike the trail.
Primitive camping is free and is allowed any time of the year. You need to set up primitive camp a quarter mile outside campgrounds and picnic areas.
The trail also runs near some campgrounds, so you can choose to camp in a campground rather than primitive camping in some areas.
I have read that ticks do not have nests. Rather, they lay their eggs in clumps, which is sometimes referred to as a nest. We must have come upon a bunch of ticks having an egg laying party.
Another resource for information about Shawnee National Forest is shawn@hikingwithshawn.com. This is a very useful newsletter that gives information about the River to River Trail, as well as information about other places to hike in the area.

Kilimanjaro-Summit

It was the last day of our ascent. We would hike to the summit this night, which was the highlight of the trip. We hiked to Barafu Camp. There were hundreds of hikers camping at Barafu Camp. This was base camp for the summit.

However, we had a permit to camp at High Camp. This was a good thing, because although it meant we had a little bit longer to hike that day, we would be scrambling up some pretty steep rocks in the daylight rather than in the dark that night. High Camp was at 3950 meters in elevation, which is 12,959 feet. The summit, Uhuru Peak, is 5895 meters in elevation, which is 19,340 feet.

It was very windy and cold at High Camp. We rested that afternoon, and we tried to get some sleep before we had to wake up at 11:00 pm to be ready to hike at 12:00 midnight. Because of the wind and the cold temperatures, we were all wearing multiple layers of clothing. I personally had on four layers, including a heated coat. We started out on our hike at midnight. I wish I could say that I hiked to the summit as the sun was rising over the mountain. That was the experience for many of the women in our group. But that is not my story.

I was keeping up just fine for the first part of the hike. However, after a while, the altitude started to really affect me and I was starting to feel weak. I tried to choke down some snacks and drink some water, hoping it would help. We resumed the hike. I started hiking slower than many of the others in the group, but I was still going. However, as we continued, I remember having trouble making my legs move. I was literally telling my legs to move, but they were not cooperating. When I would have to take a step up, it took several tries to actually get my foot to raise up to the next level. I have never had to tell my legs to move! I worried that the high winds were going to blow me off the side of the mountain.

We were all wearing our headlamps. Now, my family will tell you, I don’t do well with headlamps. I can’t seem to figure out how to use them appropriately. I regularly blind others with my headlamp. I can’t quite seem to position the lamp so that I can look at other people without causing them pain. As we were hiking, someone patted me on my back. I turned around to see who it was and the person put her hand up in front of her face. Now, anyone else would have immediately realized that they were blinding her with their headlamp. I gave her a high five. It seemed to be the right thing to do at the time. But remember, I was kind of out of my head.

I began to lose awareness/memory of periods of time. My daughter, Ally, was with me, so she filled me in on what exactly happened that night. At one point, she said she asked me how I was doing. I replied, “I’m so cold, I can’t feel my arms or legs, and I’m having trouble breathing.” Then I turned around and continued the hike. Ally repeatedly tried to convince me to stop and go back to camp, but I was determined to make it to the top. By this time, we were behind the rest of the group, and a couple of the guides had joined us. One of the guides kept giving me hot water to drink, which would not be appealing at other times, but it really hit the spot that night. Ally told me later that one of the guides asked if I was all right. Ally said, “No, she needs to go back to camp, but she’s being really stubborn.” The guide said, “I would use the word determined.” Ally disagreed.

I didn’t know it, but the guide went ahead to get one of our WHOA leaders, Isabel. I remember seeing her standing above us. I thought she came down to me, but Ally later told me that I walked up to her. Ally said it took me about 15 minutes to go a very short distance. Ugh. I can just imagine what I looked like-shuffling along, feet barely moving, looking like I was going to collapse any minute. I had tried so hard to be a badass this whole trip, and now I was walking like I was about 100 years old. So much for my badass image. I was told that when I reached Isabel, she had to call my name several times before I responded. When she finally got my attention, she said, “Jill, this is your summit.” That I remember. I knew then that I was done. She gave me a hug, and she told me to give Ally a hug. Apparently, according to Ally, I hugged her and gave her my eulogy. I have no recollection of this. But, when the time comes, she will already have my eulogy prepared, so you’re welcome, Ally. Then two ladies, a guide and a porter, each took one of my arms and one of my hiking poles. I couldn’t really stand on my own, but that’s ok. My feet weren’t touching the ground anyway. Ally told me that Isabel said, “She’ll be fine. They will take good care of her,” and I disappeared down the side of the mountain. Then my badass daughter and badass Isabel ran up the mountain to catch up with the rest of the group, while I, the meerkat, was whisked down the mountain. That was a wild ride. At first, I was not really aware of much, but as we went down in altitude, I started to become more aware of my surroundings. It may have been better if I had stayed unaware. We were going very fast, and several times I was sure we were headed right off the side of the mountain. I have no idea how long it took us to get back to base camp. But when we got there, the ladies helped me take off my boots and my outer layer of clothing, and then told me to go to bed.

I slept for a couple of hours, and then got up to welcome all of the ladies coming down from the summit.

Everyone rested a while, then we started our descent. The descent took two days. When we arrived at the end point the second day, we were given a choice of either a beer or a soda. A bottle of soda has never tasted so good! We celebrated with pizza and souvenir shopping and then headed to the hotel, where we took our first showers in a week!

To say I was a little disappointed that I did not summit would be a huge understatement. I went on this trip determined to reach the summit, and that did not happen. But what I have realized is that I didn’t have to summit for this trip to be one of the most meaningful experiences of my life. I left my little Midwest town and flew to Africa to hike the highest mountain I have attempted to hike so far in my life. I didn’t know what to expect, and I almost made it to the summit. I was able to have this awesome experience with my daughters.

I met some amazing people, and everyday was absolutely a wonderful experience. I now know that I did not have to summit to be a badass. Congratulations to all of the women who summited, but, in fact, every woman on this trip is a badass. Even if they did not make it to base camp because of medical reasons. Even if they chose not to start out on the hike on summit night, or if they started and quickly realized that this was not for them and they turned around and went back to base camp. Even if I had to be whisked down the mountain because I was out of my head and could no longer move my legs. We are all brave, strong, adventurous badass women.

By the way, I have been doing a little research on meerkats. They are more badass than one would think. They can run at 30 mph. They are fiercely protective of their families. They eat scorpions and are immune to venom. While I think I will pass on the scorpions, maybe having a meerkat as my soul animal is not as wimpy as I thought.

Top Tips for Kilimanjaro, Summit

It is REALLY cold at the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro. Bring lots of layers.
If you have to talk to your legs, telling them to move, you might be having a bad reaction to the altitude. If you lose chunks of time, you might be having a bad reaction to the altitude. If you give your eulogy when you are told to give your daughter a hug, you may be having a bad reaction to the altitude.
Giving your eulogy to your daughter before you are taken down the mountain may be traumatizing to her at the moment, but it will save her some time later in life.
Wearing a headlamp without blinding others appears to be an acquired skill that not everyone has mastered.
If you are blinding someone with your headlamp and you give them a high five, your daughters will make fun of you for years to come.
Hiking Mount Kilimanjaro makes you a badass, even if you don’t summit.
Turns out, meerkats are actually sort of badass.
I mentioned them in my first Kilimanjaro story, but for an amazing adventure, check out www.whoatravel.com. They offer adventures all over the world, including some in the US.

Hike on Mount Kilimanjaro, continued

On our second day of hiking, we hiked from Machame Camp to Shira Camp. We hiked out of the rainforest and into a drier, cooler climate. The hike on this day was shorter, but very steep. The views were beautiful, and they just continued to get better as we hiked throughout the week. There was a gap in some rocks that we had to cross. There was no way my short legs were going to reach across that gap. No problem. The guide grabbed my backpack and tossed me right over the gap. I was pretty surprised to find myself on the other side of that gap!

As mentioned in my previous story, WHOA partners with a guide company, Tanzania Journeys. We had several guides who hiked with us. They made sure everyone stayed safe throughout the hike. They were awesome. If they saw anyone struggling even a little bit, they were right there to help however they could, such as carrying a pack, lending an arm to hold to keep from falling, making sure we were drinking enough water and eating enough snacks. The porters were amazing as well. They carried all of our duffels. We only had to carry a daypack while hiking. They carried all of the tents and all of the water and food for the meals. They cooked the food, set up all of the tents, and filled our water bladders and water bottles each day. These porters would pass us on the trail, carrying about 50 pounds on their shoulders or heads, saying “pole pole” which means “slowly,” reminding us to go slowly so that we could acclimate to the elevation without tiring too quickly, while they sprinted up the mountain. When we arrived at the camp each evening, the tents were set up, with a sleeping pad and our duffels in each of our tents.

By this time, I was not reacting very well to the increasing altitude. I was not getting headaches or having any difficulty breathing, but the nausea was getting pretty intense. I was constantly nauseous and could barely stand the thought of eating food. Even drinking water was hard. Everyone said the food was really good. I just took their word for it, because I was able to eat very little of it. They always had ginger tea, which I heard was supposed to help with nausea, so I tried to choke some of that down at every meal. I don’t even like ginger, so I was really trying. I had lots of snacks, most of which I couldn’t eat, but the rest of the ladies seemed to enjoy them. Just in case you are thinking that I am just trying to get sympathy, this information about the altitude sickness is important for next week’s story.

It was always good to see all of those yellow tents because we knew that the hike was done for the day and we would get to rest. The porters also set up toilet tents. These were little portable toilets in little tents. The toilets actually flushed. As I was preparing for the trip, I was trying to be OK with always having to find a big rock or a bush when I needed to go to the bathroom. If you want to see my best impersonation of a meerkat, just approach while I am squatting behind a rock. My head will pop up and I will quickly be on full alert.

We did usually have to find a rock or a bush while we were hiking, but I was really glad when I realized we had toilet tents at the camp. The only problem with the toilet tents was that, on most days, it was really windy. Not trying to give too much information, but it was a little unsettling to be sitting on the toilet and have a side of the tent blow down on my head. There was also the concern that I would be sitting on the toilet when the tent stakes failed and the tent blew away. But still, the toilet tents were much better than squatting behind a rock.

The next day we hiked from Shira camp to Barranco Camp. It was getting colder. We stopped at Lava Tower and the porters had lunch set out for us.

We stopped to hug an unusual looking tree. I don’t really make a habit of hugging trees, but I didn’t want to be the only non-tree hugger in the group. After the hugging session, we were told by one of the guides that hugging the tree actually harms the tree. The one time I participate in a tree hugging activity, and I find out I hurt the tree. Great.

The next day turned out to be one of my favorite days. We climbed the rocks on Barranco Wall. I thought it was so much fun! Several of the other ladies in our group did not agree. The guides made sure we didn’t fall off the side of the mountain, which was much appreciated.

On all of the other days, when the porters were behind us, we were expected to step aside and let them pass. But on this day, there was no room to let them pass. I guess one of the porters became impatient because he was crawling UP THE SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN! Like Spiderman! I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. If I could pick whatever Superhero I wanted to be, it wouldn’t be someone like Superman or Wonder Woman. It would be a Mount Kilimanjaro porter!

Next time…The Conclusion of the Mount Kilimanjaro hike!

Top Tips for Mount Kilimanjaro, Part 2:

Don’t worry if you can’t make it over a gap in the trail. The guides will just toss you across.
Hang on to the sides of the toilet tents when it’s really windy. It will help prevent them from falling in on you, and you will have a grip on the tent in case the stakes fail.
Don’t hug the trees on Mount Kilimanjaro. Even if everyone else is doing it. You might not be able to live with the guilt that you hurt the trees.
The name of the unusual trees is Senecio (Dendrosenecio kilimanjari).
Kilimanjaro porters have super powers.
Climbing the rocks on Barranco Wall makes you feel like a badass, even if you are a meerkat.

Hike on Mount Kilimanjaro

I really want to be a badass. But I am not what you think of when you hear the word “badass.” I am a petite woman who tends to worry a lot and startle easily. I took a test once to find out what my soul animal would be. I was hoping for an eagle or a lion. Nope. A meerkat. And all of my adult children said, “I can see that.” A meerkat? There is NOTHING badass about a meerkat!

I saw a post about a group called WHOA. WHOA is a women owned group that leads adventure travel for women. The post was about a trip to hike Mount Kilimanjaro. What could be more badass than that? I was retiring from my job of 35 years, so it seemed like a great time to go. I asked my two adult daughters, Ally and Sarah, if they wanted to go with me, and they both said yes!

I have to admit. I was definitely in meerkat mode preparing for this trip. I hike a lot, but I had never hiked anything like Mount Kilimanjaro before. WHOA provides very thorough instructions about things you need to do to prepare for the trip, including a very detailed packing list. I STRESSED over this list-I was determined to get it right. I read every word multiple times, researched, and did a lot of shopping. I spent at least a couple of weeks talking about and worrying about gloves. I started yet another conversation about the gloves, and the look on Ally’s face made it clear that I had reached her limit and I would be wise to not say another word about the gloves.

We left for the trip on July 13, 2024. I don’t know about the girls, but I was very excited about spending this time with them.

After a long flight from Chicago to Ethiopia, we had a few hours layover and then a short flight to Kilimanjaro airport. I was feeling nauseous as we boarded the plane in Ethiopia, and by the time we were on the plane, I was getting light headed and knew I was about to pass out. What was happening? I’m not a fainter! Maybe it was all of the stress about the gloves. I had a daughter on either side of me, fanning me with the life vest/oxygen mask instructions. Not exactly badass. This was not starting out well.

We arrived at the Kilimanjaro airport and we were met by one of the WHOA leaders. She was so friendly and welcoming. We went to our hotel, where we would meet the rest of the group, acclimate, and then leave for the hike in a couple of days. We started meeting the rest of the women in the group. So many strong, confident women. I was very intimidated.

First day of the hike: We arrived at Kilimanjaro National Park. We had lunch before we started out on the hike. There were monkeys that kept trying to steal everyone’s food. When a monkey jumped down close to me and stole Sarah’s apple off the table, I screamed. Not quite the badass image I wanted to present to this group of women. The women who cleaned the park were more badass than me. Part of their jobs appeared to be to chase away the monkeys. They didn’t scream or act scared of the monkeys. Of course, they were armed with brooms. Maybe I would not have screamed if I had been carrying a broom.

We started the hike. After a while, I noticed that Sarah had dropped behind the group. I was worried that she would not enjoy this trip, and I was worried that she was behind the rest of the group. She had already asked me what would happen if she decided she did not want to finish the hike.

I was concerned that she was by herself. I was reassured by the WHOA leader that a guide was with her, but I was not able to turn off the mom thing. We continued to hike. At the next stop the WHOA leader asked me how I was doing. I began to cry. Ugh. I was so embarrassed. I turned away and pulled myself together after a few minutes.

We arrived at our camp for the night. Rather than going to our tent to rest, I stayed at the end point and waited for Sarah to arrive. She arrived about an hour later, after dark, singing and laughing with some guides and a WHOA leader. She continued to hike at her own pace, in her own time, for the rest of the trip. Some of the other women in the group who either couldn’t, or didn’t want to, keep up the faster pace joined her after that first day. They formed their own little group and had a great time. I think I’m beginning to see who the real badass is.

Stay tuned next time for more on Kilimanjaro.

Below is a picture of our fearless, amazing, badass WHOA leaders.

Top Tips for Mt. Kilimanjaro, part 1

WHOA is an amazing organization. If you want to check out their adventures, you can find them at http://www.whoatravel.com
WHOA partners with a guide service called Tanzania Journeys. They were awesome, and more will be said about them in future blogs.
If your soul animal is a meerkat, you may not be considered a badass.
There is a limit to how many times you can ask your daughters about gloves.
The life vest/oxygen mask instructions make pretty good fans when you’re about to pass out on the plane.
You might consider arming yourself with a broom if you want to eat at the trailhead in Kilimanjaro National Park. And hang onto your food.

Paris/London-Conclusion

Our trip to Paris was almost over. We were going to go back to London to spend a couple of days before heading back to the US.

We took the Chunnel back to London. Because of our previous experience on the train, we were understandably a little nervous, but the trip went smoothly this time. We arrived in London, went to our hotel, and settled in. We had tickets for the theatre that night. We were going to see Les Miserables at the Queen’s Theater. If you say that with a British accent, it sounds more impressive. We got ready early and went to the Piccadilly Circus area to get something to eat before the show. We ate at McDonalds. We’re in a new country and we eat at McDonalds? My kids like to try the McDonalds in every country we visit, but I don’t see the appeal. We ate our McDonalds. I was not impressed. We went to the show and it was wonderful!

The next day, our flight was in the late afternoon, so we decided to get in some sight seeing before we left. We got up early and went down to the hotel dining room to have the complimentary breakfast provided by the hotel. Now, I will readily admit that I am not a foodie. I rarely investigate the food when I am planning a vacation. The food is not my focus. However, perhaps I should have done a bit of research for this trip. I was not expecting the food that was on the breakfast buffet. A traditional English breakfast typically includes eggs, bacon, sausage, fried mushrooms, fried bread or buttered toast, and grilled tomatoes. Even though I don’t eat several of those things, they all seemed fairly innocuous. But baked beans is also a part of a typical English breakfast. Baked beans? For breakfast?! There was something called “black pudding.” This is a sausage made of blood and a filler like oatmeal. THAT was not going on my plate. Kippers were also available on the buffet. Kippers are fish. You could smell them and know they were there. This was not something I was willing to try. I hope I’m not offending anyone from England that may be reading this story, but that is a weird breakfast. I’ll stick with the pastries in Paris. And ice cream. Ice cream is always good.

We decided to do the hop on/hop off red bus tour. It was a great idea, if we had all day, which we did not. We saw Big Ben and the Tower of London. We got to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, which was really impressive. When it was over, we realized that we were running later than we had planned. We got back on the bus to get to the metro so we could get back to the hotel. By the time we arrived at our hotel, we were running way behind schedule. We ran into the hotel to get our luggage, frantically asking the people at the front desk to call to request two taxis to get us to the airport. The taxis arrived, we loaded up, and we were on the road to the airport. I was nervous, but it looked like we were going to make it. Then, the taxi in front of us, which was carrying my mom and my aunt, pulled off the road and up to an ATM machine. My mom and my aunt got out of the taxi and went to the ATM machine. What was happening?! We barely had time to get to the airport! Did they not notice the frantic rushing and nail biting that had just occurred? We were leaving the country! Why did they need cash?! We were running late!

GET. BACK. IN. THE. TAXI.

They finally finished their transactions and got back in the taxi. We arrived at the airport, jumped out of the taxis and went into the airport. We got through security, which is no easy task at Heathrow airport. We arrived at the gate as they were boarding the plane. But we had made it. Several hours later, we arrived back in the USA. Another great vacation for all!

Final tips:

I don’t recommend eating at McDonalds in London. Go find some fish and chips.
You need more than two days in London to see everything.
Going to the theater in London makes you feel very cultured.
I could not find the Queen’s Theatre online. It was a small theatre and looked older, so it may not be operating anymore. But if you are interested in booking theatre tickets in London, you can go to www.londontheatre.co.uk You can find a current list of shows and theatres, and you can book your tickets. I highly recommend seeing a show in London. It is a great experience.
It might be a good idea to research the food when you are visiting a new country.
Hop on/hop off bus tours in London are a great way to see the city. You can book your tickets on www.bigbustours.com
You need more than a couple of hours to get the most from your hop on/hop off bus tour.
Multi-generational travel has its challenges, but it is an amazing experience for everyone!

I would like to introduce the characters in my story.

First, there is my husband, Greg. He may not share my love for travel and sense of adventure, but he is tolerant, patient, and supportive, and he joins me on many of the trips.

These are my three beautiful children, Ally, Sarah, and Ryan, who have grown into confident, adventurous adults. They have learned to survive the craziness, and they continue to join me on many of my journeys!

Thank you to my daughter’s friend, Heather, who sometimes looked at us a little strangely, but she never complained and she was a pleasure to have on this trip.

And finally, my mom (Diane) and my Aunt Carol. They come from a long line of spunky women, and they are amazing. At the time this trip was taken, they were 66 and 71 years old. They are now 83 and 88 years old, and still going strong.

Paris-Part 2

This is a continuation of Paris-Part 1, my story from last week, so if you have not read that one, you may want to stop reading this one, scroll down, read the first part, and then continue reading this one.

We were excited to begin our tourist activities in Paris. There was a little patisserie down the street from our apartment. We went there to get breakfast pastries every morning. In addition, we would each get a baguette. We would gnaw on this baguette all day rather than stop for lunch. We thought this was a really good plan until about the third day of eating baguettes all day. We also found out that the birds at Notre-Dame like baguettes. They’re a little aggressive about it.

We decided that we would use the metro to get around in Paris. Now, using the metro is pretty much the same in all cities around the world. If you know how to use a metro system in the US, you should not have any problems using the metro in a foreign country. The problem we had was that no one in our group had ever used a metro system. Anywhere. The best place to learn how to use a metro system for the first time is NOT in a foreign country. But after a few times of ending up on the wrong train, we finally figured it out. Or I should say the kids and I figured it out. Mom and Aunt Carol just trusted us. We could have taken them anywhere.

I read in my handy travel book that there was one day that offered free admission each month at the Louvre, and that day happened to be one of the days we were in Paris, so we decided to take advantage of the free admission. So did everyone else in Paris. It was exceptionally crowded-you could barely move. I was able to see the Mona Lisa, though, which was the primary reason I wanted to go to the Louvre. The painting was a lot smaller than I expected. And it’s roped off so you can’t get very close to it. Since I am under five foot in height, I kind of jumped around, trying to see it until there was an opening in the crowd. I scurried up to the rope, looked at the painting for a few minutes, and then pushed my way back out of the sea of people behind me. We stayed a couple of hours and then left.

Of course, we went to the Eiffel Tower. How can you go to Paris and not go to the Eiffel Tower? We waited in line forever, gnawing on our baguettes. The Eiffel Tower was impressive, and I was enjoying it very much. Then I noticed that my son, Ryan, was no longer with me. I looked around and could not see him anywhere. Part of my panic was the thought that he could have been taken by someone, but the other part of the panic was the thought that he may be crawling up the outside of the building like Spiderman. Now before you think that statement is a gross over-exaggeration, let me tell you a little about my son. Throughout his childhood, he has had four sets of stitches, a broken wrist that required surgery and a broken foot. We had to call poison control twice in one day. He fell out of a tree. My neighbor would call me to tell me that Ryan was up on our roof. He and his friends would chase and shoot each other with pellet guns. Until about the age of four/five years, he wanted to have a tail and he wanted to be able to fly, so he routinely jumped off high surfaces in hopes that he would soar through the air. He did not. So the Spiderman concern was not completely irrational. After about twenty minutes of panic looking for him, I found him, gave him a proper reprimand, and we finished our tour of the Eiffel Tower.

One day we went to Versailles. We took the train from Paris to Versailles. What a beautiful day! We saw gorgeous gardens and enjoyed touring the palace. We sat outside at a café and had lunch. We had ice cream. The kids rented bikes and rode around the grounds. It was a favorite day for everyone. The only hiccup was Aunt Carol throwing up in my souvenir bag on the way back. Well, it’s not a vacation until someone throws up. So we got that out of the way.

One night, my husband wanted a steak. We found a restaurant near our apartment. Our apartment was at the foot of Sacre Coeur. There is a plaza area with restaurants nearby. Our waiter was very helpful and friendly. In fact, he was a little too friendly. At one point, he came up and kissed me on the cheek. THAT has never happened to me in a restaurant before. I don’t know why he did it. He was saying something, but it was in French, so I have no idea what he was saying. But now, when I am in a group situation and the group leader says we have to say something that no one knows about us (I hate it when they do that), I can say I was kissed by a French waiter.

Later that night, my daughters, ages 18 and 16, and my daughter’s friend, age 18, wanted to go the festivities that were taking place in the plaza. They wanted to go by themselves, without adult supervision. Yikes. They finally convinced us to let them go for a little while. It stays light until pretty late in Paris in the summer. It started to get dark and I started to get worried. Now, Liam Neeson may have a particular set of skills, but so do I. My particular set of skills is called “mother’s intuition.” And my bells were ringing. My mom (the queen of “mother’s intuition”) and I set out to find the girls. We found them. They were walking away from the crowd with three boys who had invited the girls to go somewhere with them. The girls, and the boys, were not happy when I insisted that the girls come with us. I think that following my intuition allowed us to avoid a possibly very bad situation. And I didn’t have to call Liam Neeson. I’m sure he’s a very busy man.

Coming up next time: The conclusion of our Paris/London trip

More tips:

In 2008, there was a free day at the Louvre once a month. Currently, the free admission is on the first Friday of every month after 6:00 pm, except during July and August. Going during free admission will save you some money, but it might be worth paying admission to avoid the huge crowds.
If you have never used a metro system before, the best time to learn is probably not in a foreign country.
Souvenir bags from Versailles make pretty decent puke bags.
I highly recommend visiting Versailles and Loire Valley. They are well worth the trips to get there. Interesting fact about Loire Valley: The grave of Leonardo da Vinci can be found in the Amboise castle, in the Chapel of Saint Hubert.
The RER C line (yellow) will take you from Paris to Versailles for just €3.65 ($4) per person each way. Metro tickets are interchangeable with RER tickets, so you can use the same ticket from a Metro station to get on board an RER C train. It takes about an hour to an hour and a half to get to Versailles from Paris.
To get to Loire Valley by train, you will need to take the Trains de Grande Vitesse (TGV) trains. You can book train tickets on www.thetrainline.com or www.raileurope.com.
I believe moms have a God-given ability to protect their children. Follow your intuition every time.
Following your mom’s intuition will give Liam Neeson a break from fighting bad guys.
Hold on to your baguettes when visiting Notre-Dame. It is scheduled to reopen on December 8, 2024.
Watch out. French waiters will kiss you.

Paris-Part 1

It was 2008. We decided to go to Paris. How hard could that be? I could plan this. I had planned plenty of other vacations. In the US…. Where everyone speaks English….and everyone uses US currency… But all I needed was my travel books and the internet, right?

Our little travel group included me, my husband, my three children-ages 18, 16, and 14, my mom, and my aunt. Since my oldest daughter would be graduating high school, and this was sort of her idea, we let her invite a friend as well. What could go wrong?

We flew to New York, where we would catch our flight to London. I had booked tickets for the Chunnel to get to Paris. We boarded our flight and took off. So far, so good. Then the pilot made an announcement. They were dumping fuel into the Atlantic, turning around, and making an emergency landing back at JFK airport. Apparently, a bird had hit the windshield of the plane and the windshield had cracked. Okey dokey. We were on track for another interesting family vacation. We landed back at JFK, got off the plane, waited hours for repair or for a new plane, and headed to London once again. When we landed in London, we discovered that, due to the delay, we had missed our train to Paris. We asked them to honor our tickets for the next train, since the delay was not our fault. They would not. We also discovered that my aunt’s luggage had not made it to London. We filled out the paperwork for the lost luggage and moved on. (That last statement may make it seem that there were no emotional reactions to the lost luggage issue. That could not be further from the truth).

$800 dollars later….We had new tickets and boarded the train. I have to say. I was not all that impressed with the Chunnel. It was basically a train ride. Maybe I expected more because, by this time, we had paid $200 for each ticket, which felt like a lot. Sure, you go under water, but you can’t really tell you are under water. You’re in a tunnel. It’s not like you can see marine life floating past your window as you drive through. And since the train is moving at 100-186 mph, if it were not in a tunnel, all you would see would be a massacre of sea animals, so thank goodness for the tunnel.

Anyway, we made it to Paris. It had been a long trip. I desperately needed to brush my teeth. We finally made our way out of the train station to find a taxi. Fun fact. If you walk up to the taxi guy at the airport in Paris and say, “excuse me, I need a taxi,” that is considered rude. You are supposed to say “bon jour” first. Maybe they should consider posting a sign saying that, because I was ready to rip that guy’s head off before I figured it out.

We made it to our rented apartment. The lady that owned the apartment was very nice, even though we had arrived hours later than she was expecting. We settled into our apartment, took showers, and tried to recover from the trip. My aunt was determined to find her luggage. Somehow, she had acquired a phone number that she thought was the number for lost luggage. She called the number and reached the Paris fire department. I may be wrong, but I really don’t think the Paris fire department is who you want to talk to about missing luggage. Whoever answered the phone did not speak English. Aunt Carol kept repeating the same thing, each time a little louder, in English. She called this same number multiple times over the next couple of days. The fireman’s English did not improve, even when Aunt Carol repeated it several times, very loudly. Needless to say, she did not get any help locating her luggage.

Luckily, Aunt Carol had an overnight bag with her that had an extra outfit, medications, etc. We had a washer and dryer in the apartment, so we could make do. She did want some extra underwear, though, and there were no washcloths in the apartment, so our first outing was to find washcloths and underwear. No luck on the washcloths. The only underwear we could find were thongs. Aunt Carol said, and I quote, “I am a 71 year old woman. I do not wear thongs.” I don’t disagree. I’ve never understood the thong. Well, we could do laundry every day for the rest of the trip so that Aunt Carol could have clean underwear. We bought some food, went back to the apartment and went to bed so we could start fresh in the morning. I had a notebook with plenty of plans to keep us busy for the rest of the trip.

The next morning I woke up and heard my mom and my aunt on the front balcony. They had claimed the two complimentary robes in the apartment and were sitting on the balcony with their coffee and their matching robes. They were waving and saying good morning to people walking by. I don’t know if that is a thing in Paris, but it was that week. Yes. It happened every morning. They started recognizing the same people, and the people started waving back. My mom and aunt had brought US Midwest and Southern hospitality to Paris.

Coming up next time- Part 2 of the Paris trip.

My Top Tips for Paris So Far:

Birds can crack a plane windshield. I was not aware of that. And now you are aware of that too. Sorry if that adds stress and anxiety to your plane trip. There are a lot of birds in the sky.
It takes a long time to repair a windshield on a plane, or for another plane to become available.
To book tickets on the Chunnel, go to www.eurostarails.com. It’s probably a pretty fun trip, if you haven’t had to pay double for your tickets.
Apparently, the train station in London does not honor your tickets if you miss your train. Even if a bird cracked the windshield of your plane.
Regular underwear and washcloths are difficult to find in Paris.
Speaking louder in English does not make a non-English speaker understand you better, no matter how many times you call back and do the same thing.
The Paris fire department does not help you find your lost luggage.
Be sure to say “bon jour” before asking for a taxi. It will save you some frustration, and it may save the taxi guy’s head.

First hike to Mt. Leconte OR- The Time I Almost Killed My Husband

I gave him a year. A YEAR. I warned him. I told him to do some walking and get in shape before the hike. Did he take me seriously? No. No, he did not.

I wanted to hike Mt. Leconte in the Smoky Mountains, and I wanted to stay in the lodge on top of the mountain that can only be reached by hiking the mountain. It took me two years to get a reservation at the lodge. The reservation was for the following year, and now my husband had one year to get in shape for the hike. The hike is 2763 feet in elevation in about five miles, so you can’t really expect to go from your recliner to the top of the mountain without some significant suffering.

The image I had in my mind was of my family standing on the top of Mt. Leconte, celebrating making it to the top- fists pumping, big smiles, sun shining, with the beautiful view of the mountains in the background. That was NOT my experience.

It was a beautiful day, and we started out on the trail. We made it to Alum Cave without incident. My husband was getting tired, but he was still with us. We rested a while at Alum Cave, which is about halfway to the lodge, then we set out to finish the hike.

My husband started getting very tired. He was falling behind, going slower and slower. It was getting very late. He was having trouble just putting one foot in front of the other. If I’m honest, I was feeling a little aggravated. I TOLD him to prepare. The image I had of this hike was not going to happen!

Finally, I sent my daughter, my son, and my son’s fiancée ahead to let the staff know at Mt. Leconte Lodge that we were coming, while I stayed with my husband. He started complaining about his shoulder hurting. Great. Isn’t that a symptom of a heart attack? I was thinking helicopter rescue, hospitals, oxygen masks, hospital emergency room….. I really did not think we were going to make it to the lodge. Also, since we had no cell service, how was I going to call anyone to get a helicopter?

We kept plugging along, honestly having no choice but to keep moving. My husband had little color in his face, and he seemed like he was having some trouble breathing. We rounded a curve and I suddenly had cell service. I called my kids, who were now at the lodge, and told them to ask an employee at the lodge if they had someone who could help a struggling hiker. They were told there was not anyone who could help, but they would save his dinner for him. ???? Well, that was helpful.

My son quickly put his hiking boots back on and started back down the mountain to help us. He looked a little wild eyed when he arrived. Due to the pain in my husband’s shoulder, I was carrying both of our overnight packs. I had put both backpacks against a log so that I could get some water for my husband who had stopped a little further down the trail. When my already slightly frantic son approached the log in the dark, he thought the packs were a bear. At least he now had some extra adrenaline on board!

It had taken my son 12 minutes to get to where we were and it took us over an hour to get my husband to the lodge. It was now totally dark and cold, so there would be no beautiful views, no sitting on the porch and relaxing in the big rockers, no exploring the grounds at the lodge. Not exactly like the image I had in my mind. But my husband had made it up the mountain. The next morning, we hiked back down the mountain without incident. Phew! Heart attack avoided! And maybe next time he would listen to me about being prepared for the hike.

On the ride home, my husband slept in the back seat for the entire eight hour drive. I considered checking his breathing to make sure he was still alive. The next day, he could not smell or taste anything. He got tested and was positive for COVID. OK, so maybe he had another excuse for struggling on the mountain. But I was still right.

My Top Tips for Mt. Leconte:

The Alum Cave Trail to Mt. Leconte is a great hike. The views are beautiful, and the trail is very well maintained. I highly recommend it. You can hike up and back down in one day, so staying at the lodge is not a requirement. We have made it an annual event. My adult children and I hike. My husband stays at the campground.
If your husband does not prepare for a hike, even if he has been given a year, don’t take him on the hike.
There are six trails that lead to the top of Mt. Leconte. We have only hiked the Alum Cave Trail every year, but we plan to start hiking the other trails next year. Alum Cave Trail is the shortest, but it is the steepest. The other trails are Rainbow Falls Trail, Boulevard Trail, Trillium Gap Trail, Bullhead Trail, Brushy Mountain Trail.
Sometimes when your husband says he is not feeling well, he is really not feeling well, even if you were right.
If you want to score a night at Mt. Leconte Lodge, visit their webpage, lecontelodge.com, and follow the directions. Be sure to submit your email request during the submission period. The reservation requests are for the following year.
Rescue for a struggling hiker is not a service provided by Mt. Leconte Lodge. But they will save your dinner for you.
Sometimes, in the dark, a shape is a bear. Sometimes, it’s a couple of backpacks. Either way, it’s an adrenaline rush.

Welcome to Jill’s Journey Journals

I LOVE everything about travel. I love reading about travel, I love planning travel, and I love traveling. Hearing the experiences of others gives me great ideas. When I’m reading about others’ experiences, the trips seem so well planned, the pictures are beautiful, everyone is having a great time, and things seem to have gone so smoothly. These trips sound wonderful….but trips like these are not my travel experience.

Even as a little girl, taking vacations with my family was always…let’s just say….interesting. We tried tent camping. It stormed every time. Not occasionally, not sometimes, EVERY TIME. Wind, rain, thunder, lightning, scared kids and wet sleeping bags. That was my childhood camping experience. So my parents decided to try cabins. Our first, and only, cabin experience involved my mom frantically cleaning the very buggy, dirty cabin for several hours and then my dad deciding that we were getting a hotel. Also included in our family travels was the puking in the back seat-both my dog and I were prone to car sickness. But mixed in with those not so pleasant experiences were good memories, such as canoeing with my dad, the smell of the camp breakfast Mom was cooking, the sound of cicadas at night, a trip to Disneyworld, taking walks in the woods.

I believe my early experiences are why I still love to travel. I learned to adjust when the trips didn’t go quite as planned and I learned to have fun in spite of some difficulties along the way. I believe that the difficulties, unexpected events, and surprises are what make a trip become an adventure. Now, when I travel, when things go south, my statement is “We’re having an adventure!” My kids (now adults) will also say this, although not so enthusiastically.

I am going to share my stories about the trips we have taken. I will share stories and information about the amazing times, but also about those situations that have gone awry, turning our trips into adventures. There is usually some stress, often laughing, and sometimes crying that goes along with the adventure. I will share some special moments, some funny stories, and even some stressful situations that we have experienced through the years. I might even be able to give some tips along the way, because let’s face it, no matter how good the trips look on Facebook and on others’ blogs, most trips never go quite as planned. At least not my trips.