AC's Journal Entry 2, Day 2, 9/23/08

Tuesday, September 23, 2008.

Flights were uneventful and we went through baggage claim in Ljubljana as if we were in a US city - no customs to go through there since we had a stop over in Zurich on the way. When we came through the door – where Dot and Carol were patiently waiting – a happy birthday chorus rang out to me. All 4 of us were thrilled that the first challenge of meeting up was a success. They were wondering what fate awaited them if we didn’t walk through that door!!

Our sojourn has begun!!

Our rental car is great – very roomy with enough passenger and luggage space. Dot’s luggage was lost in Paris but she was given a free overnight kit and the bag will be delivered to the Abram Tourist Farm, our first place to stay, tomorrow.

Thank God for the GPS. If we didn’t have it, our first night would never have ended successfully. I had used google maps to get directions to the first farm which showed route numbers dutifully written down. I gave the list to Carol and told her to keep GPS honest, but little did we know that Slovenia doesn’t mark its routes, so we wouldn’t have made it out of the airport, let alone to the farm. We did, but not without some miscues from our new friend, Ms. GPS – I’m sure we’ll come up with a name for her before trip’s end! She kept telling us to turn left on a multi lane highway which had no left turns, only exits like in the US. To keep her happy we got off an exit and followed her directions through 2 small neighborhoods, only to find we went in circles and ended up back on the highway going the same direction. “Recalculating” will definitely be THE word we’ll hear most often these next days in this car!! And, thank God for that one little word!! Everything went well for about the next 30 minutes – until we got off the highway. We drove down a hill on a two lane winding road for a few miles when Ms. GPS told us to turn right. There was a “no entry” sign but I foolishly put my trust totally in Ms. GPS and followed her instructions up a dirt road that soon turned into a dirt path. Everyone in the car was telling me to turn around (really yelling at me would be more accurate) but there wasn’t anywhere that was possible, so I kept going. They all insist Ms. GPS told us to turn right off a cliff but I honestly don’t remember that….denial?? Finally, there was space to turn around and since by then we felt it was our only alternative, turnaround we did. On the way back down this dirt path our trust in God was heartily renewed for our safety. (Note: when I get nervous I laugh, so I was hysterically laughing by this point, along with sweaty palms).

After we turned back on the main road and heard “recalculating” we thought we were ok. We were brought to another “turn right” and this one actually had a sign to Nanos where I knew the farm to be located. Joy filled the car, but quickly faded as we traversed up a steep mountain mile after mile after mile on a twisting, narrow road praying no one would be coming down since it seemed there wasn’t room for two cars to pass. Finally we saw a house and then met a lone soldier walking down the road who assured us we were on the right road. But after several more miles we weren’t so sure he was right – but trusty Ms. GPS kept telling us to continue so we did, which much laughter initiated by UB’s narrative. After more uphill driving and hairpin turns we saw our first sign to Abram’s – this time our shouts of joy were very heartfelt - and we continued – now along the top of the mountain. We came to the end and Ms. GPS told us we were there, but only a darkened house was in front of us. UB got out and read the sign and saw 2 people walking their dog and they told us to go left – the farm was right there….AND IT WAS!!! We were shown to our rooms and then we lugged our bags up 2 flights and settled in with no food other than Dot’s pretzels.

Buzz and I decided to go for a short walk and the two walkers we had met earlier were actually guests at the farm from Italy and they proceed to tell us that there was a very unusual pet here at Abram – a grizzly bear!!! With UB’s past experience with bears in CO, he didn’t even want to go back outside. Our Italian neighbors took us to show us the huge cage he was in, but he was sleeping so that thrill will have to wait until tomorrow. In bed by 10 – but writing this at 2:30 after tossing and turning – and Judy and Bill are now on their way!!! BTW, I don’t recall any literature mentioning the bear.

Dot’s best line said on the drive up the mountain: “I think we should stay here one night, not 3” with Carol’s retort “no wonder its only 18 euro a night” and UB’s “they should pay us the 18 euro if we make it up there”….tomorrow we’re going to see if there’s an alternative road that we can take up and down.