So - where have I been

Well most lately in Denmark! Took the old lady there as she has been talking about it for a long time and I have been thinking about it since last year. So when we went to see her gerontologist, Dr Juergen Bludau at Brigham and Women's ( who I highly recommend) and she talked about wanting to go but waiting to feel stronger he said "what are you waiting for." Then when she was in getting blood drawn he passed me in the hallway and said "Really! What are you waiting for?" and he was right so the plan was put in motion. Called my sister to discuss - she needed to wait until her baby goats were grown enough to be sold - so we determined that mid-June would be best.

Got air tickets (IcelandAir) and travel insurance thought Triple A. I used Rick Steves site for train passes - you get a discount on his travel items when you purchase passes so I also got a couple of small suitcases and carry-ons from him as well as roll-up plastic bags for packing. I found though that the largest one of these was TOO large. I would only end up using it if I was traveling in winter with a large coat or sweaters I think.

Looked on-line for booking rooms - the two hotels we had used when the old lady and I traveled to Denmark before were listed as full in all online booking sites for the days we wanted! Little bit of panic there - but I decided to email them directly as I also wanted to make sure we were on a lower floor and had the right kind of beds - 2 singles for sister and mother. Turns out that was the best thing to do - rooms were indeed available and I got exactly what I needed.

In the meantime I was researching how to travel with someone who couldn't walk very much. Tried to locate somewhere to rent a wheelchair once we got to Denmark - I did not have any luck. So even though I had heard of problems with bringing a wheelchair with you - mostly baggage handling problems, I went ahead and looked into buying one. Found one online and found a good price on EBay - Medline Freedom 14.8 lbs Transport Chair Wheelchair from Bethman Sales. I would definately recommend both the chair as a sturdy and compact model. I bought the bag to carry it in as well and it came through the flight there, many miles of pushing over cobblestones and other interesting terrain and the flight back in good condition. And now we own a chair that we can take more places and make the Old Lady more comfortable. For about $155 plus shipping for both items I don't think we could have made a better purchase.

So with that all arranged we were left with just one big problem - Ken's passport! I shall tell you about that in the next installment.