Chronicles Part XI - the new Millennium (6)

We're now well in to the new millennium. There's just 3 of us in Arbor Court and Ross would be leaving his teenage years behind come September, 2003. Aberdeen College hadn't proved much of an attraction to him - nor had it done to Gary - but employment at Wm. Wilson and subsequently WeatherNews in Aberdeen would at least bring some income in for him, plus some human interaction. Logistically, however, those years were always a bit of a challenge as these employers were based in Altens - fortunately not too far away from one of my work locations in Craigshaw Drive. It was a bit more difficult when I had to be in Fraserburgh or Bridge of Don - or travelling on business.

Jo, of course, was still teaching at St. Joseph's in Queens Road but her working day was already starting to get longer. She would try to be out of the house by about 7 am, avoiding the worst of the commuting traffic to get in to her class by 8 am and start the day's preparations. She would dash home after school, prepare dinner for us then head upstairs to mark the kids' exercises and prepare for the following day, collapsing in to bed for some much-needed sleep before the whole cycle started again the following morning. The weekends weren't much better. The most spoken phrase - and least popular - was Forward Plans - probably preceded by a mild curse. How much longer she could keep this up we didn't know. Jo loved teaching, but hated the ever-increasing admin.

Probably the one time of year when Jo could really relax was on our increasingly longer summer holidays in USA. In 2003, I was fortunate to be able to go there twice - the first time in March, when I managed to persuade some of our golfing group that our winter/early spring trip should be to the west coast of America for a change. Palm Springs and Las Vegas would make for a nice two centre holiday and would be good pre-cursor to the golf season in Scotland. Our timing wasn't particularly brilliant, however, as it coincided with a bit of a cold snap, but it never stopped us from playing.

Of course, this golfing trip also gave me the opportunity to meet up with Lucy, Scott & Cade in San Francisco over the last weekend of our trip. Cade wasn't yet three years old and, of course, barely knew me. We were all sharing a hotel room - 2 double beds, Scott and Lucy in one, with me - and, surprisingly, Cade - in the other one. His choice - we were all a little surprised, but the night passed without incident. When Cade awoke in the morning, he opened his eyes and all he could see was me - help, Mummy, Daddy! Look at his eyes in this photograph - he definitely doesn't trust me!:

Lucy had driven down to SFO in her then brand new car:

We did the tourist thing of course, including the famous cable cars:

I was back across the pond again in July - this time with Jo and Kelly. Our destination then was exotic Hawaii. We flew to LA and stayed overnight at the Sheraton at the airport - a smart decision. I had originally toyed with doing the whole journey in one, but when we found out that Kauai was a further 6 hours flying with 3 hours more time difference on from LA, it was a no-brainer to stop over for one night.

We'd heard that some of the roads on Kauai - the most westerly of the main Hawaiian islands - were little more than dirt tracks, so we decided to hire an open-topped Jeep:

It was fun to drive with the warm wind whipping away at us as we drove along. The sun is very high in the sky there - I was a bit skimpy with putting sunscreen on on the first day and after less than half an hour outdoors, I was left with red marks on my shoulders, punctuated by 4 very distinct white stripes where my fingers had smeared on the lotion.

We stayed at Marriott's Waiohai Beach Club, where the weather was dry, sunny, warm - and yes, windy - but we weren't too far away from one of the wettest places on earth - Waimea Canyon National Park, where they average an incredible 460 inches (1,170 cm) of rain every year. No wonder it's known as the Garden Island.

We even managed to visit the "World's Westernmost Brewpub" at Waimea:

Of course, when in Rome .........:

It was the most subdued Hawaiian shirt we could find! The girls had a great time trying out every cocktail on the island:

Our week in Hawaii over, it was time to visit Lucy, Scott & Cade. We did the usual winery trips, boating, Ashland etc, but it's hard to beat the hot tub and a beer:

In 2003, I met up with the Lesinas on 3 separate occasions - March, July and then, at Christmas, they all came over to Scotland. Dad was still staying at home, but he was noticeably getting older - he was 82 by now and some external support would be required. He was still able to sit Cade on his knee - just - for the camera:

We did a few excursions over the Xmas holidays - firstly to Glentanar get our Christmas Tree:

Then to Glenfiddich Distillery:

Scott had to experience the uniquely British panto season:

Surely Jo wasn't bored already?

The Home of Golf was another trip - we stayed at St. Andrews Bay Hotel and walked round the castle ruins, past the R & A and posed in front of the 18th green of the Old Course:

There were meals and drinks at the Balaka, St. Andrews, Lairhillock Inn, Netherley and Marine Hotel, Stonehaven amongst others, and Scott joined me one day in Fraserburgh, where he was given the full tour:

I even got Scott out on the squash court:

We visited Kelly in her flat in Aberdeen and Cade enjoyed playing on her bed:

He was comfortable with Ross and Gary:

It was a busy holiday, but all too soon, it was time to leave and we had to say our goodbyes at Aberdeen Airport:

Lucy was pregnant with Braeden at that time, but Jo and I already knew that, unlike with Cade's birth, we wouldn't be able to be present when Braeden was born in May, 2004.

Lucy's cousin, Julie, was also pregnant in 2003 and she gave birth to twins Sam & Tom in the autumn. Another item to appear that year was my new company car - a Volvo V70:

You can tell from the sports bag on the driveway that our squash club was still going then and I was still playing - but it wouldn't be long before our troubles here manifested themselves. Golf was still a favourite, of course and our golf group's autumn overseas trip in 2003 was to the Algarve, staying at the famous Penina Hotel that had long been a dream destination for me. I'm sorry to say I was disappointed, however - there had been some rain before we got there and the hotel course was closed on the first day and was in poor order on the 2 days we did get to play it. The hotel, too, was far from the 5-star resort advertised - my room was small with only a tiny window and even the fruit served at breakfast was tinned - not what I had imagined.

I was playing in a competition at Torphins one Sunday in 2003 with my friend Syd Freeman, who was having a wonderful day. He set a course record of 62 that still stands to this day, including a wonderful 29 strokes on the front nine:

My claim to fame is signing his card - it's framed in the clubhouse!

I used to organise a bus to the annual CAMRA beer festival in Aberdeen in November. They were great fun. Occasionally, a few of us who were CAMRA members, would help out behind the bar:

That's my squash pals Peter Cook and Jas Bhagrath with me.

That's my memories of 2003. No doubt I've missed some important stuff out and for this, I apologise. E & OE.

Chronicles Part XI - the new Millennium (5)

After all the ups and downs of the first two years of the new millennium, I was hoping that the year that would bring our 30th anniversary would be a happy, stressless one, but it was not to be.

On the positive side, over in USA, Cade was now up and about and would be celebrating his second birthday in August:

We would be meeting up with the Lesinas again in the summer but the logistics of our trip had to be sorted out first of all. We liked to go to different places, and, in those days, we used what was then my boss' Florida timeshare and exchanged it through Interval International. What came up that year was a resort in Branson, Missouri - a place that we didn't know much about, but it then advertised itself as the "entertainment capital of USA". Certainly, there's plenty of theatres/theaters and shows there, but Las Vegas it's not.

Our big flight that year would take us in to Chicago and we would spend a couple of nights there before heading south to Missouri. Once everything was booked, prior to leaving, we bumped in to John and Jayne Taylor, who were on a visit back to Banchory, having moved away down south a few years previously. We told them about our plans to visit Branson and discovered that they had been there a few years before. John's immediate comment was that we were way too young to go there!

The timing of our holidays in those days when we were both working full-time was determined largely by the school holidays, which thankfully coincided with a summer shutdown period at the canning factory where I spent most of my working time. Kelly was 23 but still living in relative poverty and the chance of another free holiday in USA was too much to turn down - even if it was with her middle-aged parents - and she got to spend some time with her sister again and see how her little nephew was growing up.

We got to our hotel in Chicago city centre in good time. It was early evening Friday and all the office workers were out celebrating the end of the working week. Across the road from our hotel there was a brewpub with a rooftop terrace so we hot-footed it over there:

We were in the home of electric blues and I was determined to visit one of the clubs, and Buddy Guy's Blues Club wasn't too far away:

We had something to eat and listened to the music for a while, but soon our body clocks took over and told us to get some sleep - quickly!

Suitably refreshed, we determined to "do" the Windy City on Saturday and this involved Lake Michigan shorefront, an architectural cruise through the city, a trip to the top of Sears Tower and, to round the afternoon off, we took in the Rockin' Rib Fest:

It was hot and I didn't have a hat - hence the makeshift bandana. Little Steven (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Van_Zandt), I'm not:

After watching the sunset from the top of Sears Tower, it was time to tick off another brewpub - Goose Island this time:

Next stop Branson, Missouri - another new state to tick off. The Taylors were right - Branson is for very old people - and we weren't quite that yet. The outstanding memory of that week was when we went to see The Platters - one of many who parade under that banner:

The town is full of pensioners - many of them war veterans. Before the show started, everyone was upstanding to sing the Stars & Stripes, with hands on hearts. We hadn't expected this and didn't quite know how to react. In the end, we stood up with the rest of them, but we didn't sing along - we couldn't anyway. It was at that moment that we realised Branson wasn't quite the place we thought it might be when we booked it.

It wasn't all bad, however - far from it. We visited Silver Dollar City, where Kelly and I - but not Jo - did the rides there - Wild Woody go-karts, Wildfire roller coaster and the American Plunge water slide:

We also took a boat out on Table Rock Lake and visited the local canyons. I managed a game of golf at Thousand Hills GC, where I played with Bruce, a Hawaiian on vacation. We had to take in at least one more show, however and we chose a Neil Diamond tribute - it was awful. On the way home one night, we spotted Andy Williams' Moon River theatre/theater:

All in all, it wasn't a bad week in the end - an experience, all part of life's rich tapestry. It was time to head west now to meet up with Lucy, Scott and Cade - and also my friend Syd Freeman, who would be staying with us for a while.

Syd and I played some golf when he was in Oregon, but we also did a bit of the tourist thing, including a visit to the Oregon Vortex/House of Mystery:

In those days, Jo, Kelly and I slept in the house, as Cade was only small, but Syd slept in the trailer - the old one, which didn't have AC! When we went out in the evening, rather than take two cars, we all got in to Scott's truck, but there wasn't enough room in the cabin for Syd, so he had to rough it in the back of the pick-up:

Does he look hard done by? I think so - but he had a case.

It was one of the smoky years. Most days, we could not see the sun for the smoke coming from the huge forest fires of California and Oregon, although it was still pretty warm - a steady 96 F, I seem to recall. There were occasional periods of sunshine however and we took a few trips to local wineries and also to pretty Jacksonville:

Cade's second birthday was the highlight - he enjoyed demolishing the penyatta:

We enjoyed the (rectangular) pool, as it was in those days:

Then it was time to leave, so it was time for a family photo - the first in a line that is still going to this day - although not quite from the same position:

We weren't long back when I got the call from Barry that we had been dreading. It was a Monday morning. Mum had gone downhill and Barry told me I should get down there. Jo and I got ourselves organised and let everyone know where we were going then set off down the road. Driving between Dundee and Perth, Barry called again and told me we were too late. I was shaken - I didn't imagine it would have happened that quickly. I stopped the car for a minute. Jo offered to drive, but I said I would carry on.

We spent a bit of time at Mum's bedside. I said a few words to her. It reminded me of the year when Mum had her fall at Foxbar Drive, precipitating subsequent events. It was again when we had just returned from USA. Mum was in hospital and they were waiting for the coagulant that neutralises the effects of Warfarin to kick in, so they could relieve the pressure on her brain caused by the haemorrhage. She was conscious but not really with it and I started telling her stories of what we had done on holiday. There wasn't much reaction from her but I kept talking anyway to help to keep her awake until the drugs kicked in and the medics could take further action.

I deeply regret not being there when Mum actually passed - we could have left Banchory a bit earlier than we did, but I imagined we were going to be down there for her last few days, and it turned in to just hours.

I'm always told I'm more of a Barr than a Stewart and it's true I did spend a lot of time with Mum - especially in our days in Corby before Barry and Dawn came along and when they were still young. I always remember coming home from school during Wimbledon fortnight and watching the tennis with her - but I've chronicled these days in early postings to this blog. When we moved back to Scotland, Dad was away quite a lot with his job with Beanstalk (whatever happened to them?) and again I would spend time with Mum, joining in with whatever she was doing, be it watching TV, knitting, crocheting or cooking - not that I actually cooked anything, but I was a useful "hoover", especially when she was baking - I loved licking the bowl clean. I can still see that bowl to this day - it was kind of creamy/magnolia coloured and it had a criss-cross pattern on the outside.

I miss her - but I guess probably not half as much as Dad did, as evidenced by this note he wrote at the time, which was in his possession when he passed several years later:

I still can't read this without crying.

Moving in to winter, I was a fairly regular attender at the golf club's annual prizegiving, regularly picking up trophies - and this year was no exception:

Perhaps Dick Taylor and I celebrated a little too much?

Come Christmas, it was our 30th anniversary and we decided to celebrate it by heading off to Mallorca for a short break over the holiday period, stopping first of all in London. We stayed at the Marriott County Hall, formerly the home of the GLC, where Ken Livingstone was briefly "king". The hotel was lovely and what a great location - the London Eye was just outside and the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben were just across the river:

Next stop was Mallorca. We stayed at the Marriott resort, Son Antem, which wasn't far from the city of Palma and its huge cathedral:

We also took a trip back to Palmanova, where we had been on on October "tattie holiday" break back in 1984. We stopped outside the hotel we had stayed at back then, where there had been building work going on, which had disrupted our holiday a bit:

So that was 2002.

Chronicles Part XI - the new Millennium (4)

It wasn't just going to be what was now the usual USA holiday - we had a wedding to attend as well, so 4 of us made it across the pond this time - Kelly and Ross, as well as Jo and I. We flew in to New York and spent the first couple of days there, doing the usual tourist things - Ellis Island, Manhattan etc - and the Heartland brewpub:

We went to to see a show - Love Janis. It was a very small and intimate theatre and we had the very front seats, so the music - and the performance by the actress playing Janis Joplin - was very much in-your-face. I think Jo was a bit shocked.

One image from that time still haunts a little:

This is World Trade Center Plaza where Ross and Kelly are walking and we're about to enter one of the Twin Towers. The date is Friday 13th July, 2001. Just over 8 weeks later, there was nothing but a scene of devastation here.

We flew down to Florida next, staying at Marriott's Cypress Harbour:

We did the full Disney/Epcot/Animal Kingdom thing of course - and Universal too. The Tower of Terror and the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster held no fears for us - afterwards anyway:

We also went back to the spot where we'd taken a photograph 12 years earlier, on our first ever trip to USA:

Kelly and Ross were a little unprepared for the Florida sun at the height of summer - both managed to get burnt a bit, but that didn't stop Kelly from enjoying yet another cocktail - or two:

They may have been 22 and almost 18 by now, but they were just kids really, judging by the delight in their eyes as they went on the Buzz Lightyear ride:

We ate at Fulton's Crab House, Bennigan's Grill and Kobe's Teppanyaki Table, amongst others. Ross and I played golf at Faldo's International course, but, after a week, it was time to head across to the West Coast.

We changed planes at Denver for our onward flight to San Francisco, where we were going to spend a couple of nights before heading up to Crescent City, where Scott's parents lived.

We crammed in a few of the usual touristy things - Union Square, Pier 39 and, of course, the famous cable cars:

Bill and Karen had plenty of room for us in Crescent City - and plenty of land too, where Ross played on their quad bike. We went on a jet boat up the Klamath river. Everyone has this image of California always being sunny - and generally it's true inland and down south - but when it's the coastal north, it's a whole different ball game, as we'd previously experienced in San Francisco - and even more so in Crescent City. The haar, as we call it, or, more commonly, coastal fog, is a regular feature. Generally, it rolls back as the day goes on and it heats up. This picture at the Klamath Basin shows it clearly:

I got a game of golf at Del Norte with Tim Harrison, the pastor who conducted the ceremony at Scott and Lucy's wedding. We did a little bit of local sightseeing, which included a visit to the Trees of Mystery, the entrance to which is guarded by giant statues of Paul Bunyan and Babe the blue ox, where we had our first ever sighting of Amish tourists:

The wedding was inland at Patrick's Creek and we stayed there for a couple of nights. Cade was now approaching his first birthday:

The wedding went well and the Scots girls were well turned out:

Here's the full wedding party:

The only slight mishap was the plan to release the butterflies - half of them were either dead or, like the rest of us, zonked out by the heat:

Back in Crescent City, Ross was first to leave as he had to return to work, but Jo, Kelly and I then went over to Redding with Scott, Lucy and Cade, who was glad to see Ryan and Bailey again:

Perhaps as a portent of things to come in later years, Kelly and I went on a cycle:

We'd crammed a lot in to our 3 weeks' vacation, but it was now time to return to the UK.

Back home, more of my job was migrating northwards - the core activities were mostly now in Fraserburgh, but the group still had a processing factory at Bridge of Don, in the north of Aberdeen and that was where the Directors - including me - now spent most of their time. It wasn't as easy to get to as when we were based in the south of Aberdeen, but it was a better option than travelling to Fraserburgh every single day. Parts of the business were doing well, but things were starting to get a bit tricky in some of the companies, notably those in primary processing and vessel management, where the added value content was lesser.

One very small perk to compensate a little for the days when I had to travel to Fraserburgh was the fact that the company had free tee times at the local golf course - the 7th oldest in the world. I imagined I would make regular use of this facility, but, in reality, it was little more than once a year when I used to invite some of my pals up from Banchory for a game.

Come September, Ross turned 18. He was working at Wm. Wilson's, then still a family owned Aberdeen business involved in plumbing and electrical supplies. Just a few days after his birthday, I got a frantic phone call from him. I was in Fraserburgh and Ross said "Dad, Dad - quick - switch on the TV!" It was the fateful 9/11 and the TV was showing the awful scenes from the World Trade Center in New York on endless loops. It was like watching some kind of CGI disaster movie - you couldn't believe what you were seeing. Ross and I remembered being there just a few weeks before. It was spooky.

After all that, the rest of 2001 kind of petered out quietly. All of our children were now officially adults and Jo and I were both in our 50's. Tempus fugit.