Grandma's Journal 10/5/08

Sunday 10/5/08
Drove to Lusaka (about 5 hours). Of course the trip would not be complete without Mike being pulled over at the police check point. He came barreling down a hill and passing a truck when he saw the barrels which means…”Stop! There are cops ahead!” He was going really too fast and had to slow down in a hurry. Didn’t slow down fast enough and the cop saw how fast he was going. OK, so now they tell us we have to park the car, get out and leave the car while they transport us to the police station to pay a fine. Well Mike’s and old pro now. So he innocently says, “Can’t I just pay you officer?” The cop says no that he doesn’t have a receipt book. Mike said, “but, we are in an awful hurry going to Lusaka.” The cop then wants him to go into the “office.” OK the office is a storage pod along the highway. Mike goes in the private room and offers the guy k50,000 kwatcha (that’s about $15). The cop says no, no, two. So Mike gives him another k50,000. Then the cop says, “I need to buy some drinks.” So Mike gives him another k20,000. Then we were off and on our way!! Much better than being detained in the police station. I should start taking pictures of these incidents to put in the blot. Once in Lusaka we were lost for about 1 hr, then found our hotel. Got some lunch and laid by the pool. Pool water is much to cold to swim in, at least in this late afternoon hour. Grabbed some soup and sandwich and crashed. You should see this $200 a night hotel room. The bed is down feathers everywhere. Very soft and beautiful room. Fortunately the company is paying.... Just Heavenly.