Let's see if I can remember what has happened between the last blog and tonight. Rochester MN and Mayo Clinic...
I woke up about 3:20am to go to the bathroom, and found my cousin, John, sitting at his computer working on a grant. I couldn't get back to sleep, so got up about 4:14 as I had planned on 5am anyway. My appointment for a blood test was at 6am. Got that done and went back to my cousin's house to await my 2pm visit with the doctor. We showed up about 5 'til and was greeted with "where have you been? We marked you as a 'no show.' " Turned out my appointment was at 10am, but all is well that ends well. They had a busy morning and I would have had to wait a long time to get in. As it was, they called me in seconds later. The doctor, a very nice guy, said he would really need some screenings to know what to do from here....my psa test was about the same as it has been for a number of months. So we may make an August trip back - True Blue and the Lord willin', and the crick don't rise.
We said goodby to my cousin and headed back for the lake (187 miles). We drove into a ferocious rainstorm, then the rush hour traffic of St. Paul/Minneapolis. Again, white knuckle driving when we were moving and ho-hum when we weren't. Took us 4.5 hours. We got back to the cabin to find my cousin George and Jean were waiting to take us into this small MN town for the weekly Wings and Beer (or whatever you wanted to drink). The food and drink were good. They had live music and dancing! All in all, a rewarding evening! All is well that ends well.
Last day at the cabin started with rain. We went by Letty's family cabin - long sold. A handyman just happened to come by. We had a very interesting visit. Turns out he had lived in Kuna for a couple of years a while back. Proceeded into Alexandria to relive memories. Bringing back some Minnesota wild rice! The weather had cleared by late afternoon, so we sat down by the lake into the evening. Good visit with cousins!
Beautiful sunset! Also, bringing back some plants for the flower bed. Also bringing back sacks of yarn, and small gifts for grandchildren. Also bringing back a few additional books. Also bringing back some bacon. Can't tell what else is in the back of the car.
We started out early, well relatively early, this morning from Alexandria - for Billings MT, some 700 miles.
As we passed through North Dakota we saw some flooding, but heard of serious, big time flooding north of us in Minot. We knew our Meridian friends, Marvin and Brenda Nelson, were from there, so Letty texted her about it. Turns out they were headed for ND, and were scheduled to arrive in Billings about the same time as us. So we met them for dinner - a little late as our GPE got messed up and we got lost trying to find our motel.
As we walked out of the cafe, we got hit by a lightningntunder storm. Water was over the curbs and into the streets. But we lived through that! All is well that ends well.
We leave for Idaho tomorrow. My GPS says it is 460 miles. Marvin says it is closer to 650. The road weary warriors hope to drive into our driveway before dark tomorrow, Lord willin' and the crick don't rise.
Will give a trip wrap up when we get home.
Friday, June 24, 2011
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Lake Miltona
Sunday, Father's Day, was a day of rest. I started going to this cabin since before I was born. It hasn't changed much since we moved to Idaho in 1970. Letty has been there a number of times, so we spent the day looking at the lake and reminiscing with each other and our cousins. We also took a long walk with Jeanne. She shared all the changes that have taken place in the area the past 30-40 years. It was cloudy and cool when we started, and we were dressed accordingly. The sun came out and we were panting by the time we got back. We rested well. Monday was over cast and cool. By afternoon, we were geared up for action. We went to a very small nearby town for groceries, and then went to a winery that is only a short distance away. It was a very clean and active place. We were greeted by an Australian sheep dog, who came charging at us from a distance, sniffed once at each of us, and ran away. We toured and tasted and as we left, the dog did the same routine.
Our next stop was at a cabin on another lake where Letty had spent her summers while growing up. No one was home, so we peeked in the windows and walked around the place. Letty was blessed to see her place again. She and her brother had sold this cabin in 1962 after their parents had passed on. Another evening watching darkness arrive at the lake - very peaceful.
Today was travel day to Rochester MN, to see my cousin, Dr. John Miles, a doctor at Mayo Clinic, and register at the clinic in preparation for my consulting appointment tomorrow. The weather was horrific at the cabin during the morning, but the rain tapered off as we drove back southeast toward our destination. We even had sun for a number of miles. Then we heard an emergency weather forecast for a tornado warning right in an area through which we were going. The weather changed quickly and dumped buckets of water on us south of Minneapolis. The tornado watch ended shortly before we reached that area, but then we started hearing reports of small tornadoes being spotted behind us in St. Paul. Again, we were spared! John, Letty and I talked as fast and furiously as we could about families before and after dinner.
It is late and I have a 6am blood test in the morning. After my consultation in the afternoon we return to the cabin for one more day before heading home. If Thursday is sunny, we will probably try to go fishing. If it is rainy, and it is supposed to be, then we will spend one more say reminiscing. We might do some thinking about a return to MN next summer, and a canoe trip up in the Boundary Waters. Might just work!
There is a chance the motel we stay in during our return journey will give me a chance to do one more road blog. Maybe, and maybe not. In any case I will do a wrap up on our return home Saturday evening. We are looking forward to our return. Anxious to see y'all!
Our next stop was at a cabin on another lake where Letty had spent her summers while growing up. No one was home, so we peeked in the windows and walked around the place. Letty was blessed to see her place again. She and her brother had sold this cabin in 1962 after their parents had passed on. Another evening watching darkness arrive at the lake - very peaceful.
Today was travel day to Rochester MN, to see my cousin, Dr. John Miles, a doctor at Mayo Clinic, and register at the clinic in preparation for my consulting appointment tomorrow. The weather was horrific at the cabin during the morning, but the rain tapered off as we drove back southeast toward our destination. We even had sun for a number of miles. Then we heard an emergency weather forecast for a tornado warning right in an area through which we were going. The weather changed quickly and dumped buckets of water on us south of Minneapolis. The tornado watch ended shortly before we reached that area, but then we started hearing reports of small tornadoes being spotted behind us in St. Paul. Again, we were spared! John, Letty and I talked as fast and furiously as we could about families before and after dinner.
It is late and I have a 6am blood test in the morning. After my consultation in the afternoon we return to the cabin for one more day before heading home. If Thursday is sunny, we will probably try to go fishing. If it is rainy, and it is supposed to be, then we will spend one more say reminiscing. We might do some thinking about a return to MN next summer, and a canoe trip up in the Boundary Waters. Might just work!
There is a chance the motel we stay in during our return journey will give me a chance to do one more road blog. Maybe, and maybe not. In any case I will do a wrap up on our return home Saturday evening. We are looking forward to our return. Anxious to see y'all!
Tolls
We woke up early at our Courtyard in Mishaka, and had a great breakfast. Courtyards don't usually have free breakfasts, but this weekend was an exception. As we drove to connect with I-80, Brenda took us to the campus of Notre Dame. Their summer football camp was in session - a whole big bunch of kids jumping through hoops and various other exercises. We stopped at a toll booth to pick up a ticket to get back on the Indiana turnpike. (I forgot to mention that we had to pay on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, the Ohio turnpike and the Indiana turnpike on our trip to our motel last night. Again we had to pay to finish off the Indiana Turnpike as we approached Illinois. Our first few miles presented the smog of Gary, Indiana. Even though it was Saturday, the industrial chimneys were belching smoke and bad odors into the air. Oops - another toll booth in Illinois to let us cross a bridge. We are approaching the city of Chicago and see the skyline (barely). Oops - another toll booth to let us on the Chicago Elevated Throughway. It wasn't very elevated as we went through the middle of town. The Sears Tower was pretty impressive! Thank heaven it was Saturday - the traffic was manageable. Oops - another ticket booth to get on the Illinois Turnpike. And another toll booth to finish off our crossing of Illinois as we drove north along Lake Michigan. We never did see the lake as interstates take you away from interesting sights.
Wisconsin - beautiful farms, small lakes and lots of trees. Our journey took us close to, but around Milwaukee. One of my long time friends in Boise comes from Milwaukee, so I called him to announce I had just seen a billboard that read, "All of Milwaukee wishes Dick Rant a Happy Father's Day".
On we drove, and happened to come to the town of Delafield. I pointed the sign out to Letty - "Sound familiar?" She had been a girls' camp counselor there between her junior and senior years in college. We pulled off for a quick DQ, then toured the town and area looking for the camp. We found out it no longer exists. But we enjoyed the town as it is a big tourist area.
On to and around Madison - didn't really see any of the campus or town area. On we rushed toward Eau Claire and the Minnesota border. Rain started falling, but not so heavily that it affected our travel. Minnesota, and the highway around the Twin Cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis. 150 miles to go! Go a little faster. We reached Alexandria, and basked in the memories of our teenage years as we drove through the town. Our family cabin is 14 miles north on Lake Miltona. We arrived there at dusk and were greeted by our cousins, George and Jeanne Ready. It has been 14 years since we have been here and seen them. 10 hours on the road for the second straight day!!
Wisconsin - beautiful farms, small lakes and lots of trees. Our journey took us close to, but around Milwaukee. One of my long time friends in Boise comes from Milwaukee, so I called him to announce I had just seen a billboard that read, "All of Milwaukee wishes Dick Rant a Happy Father's Day".
On we drove, and happened to come to the town of Delafield. I pointed the sign out to Letty - "Sound familiar?" She had been a girls' camp counselor there between her junior and senior years in college. We pulled off for a quick DQ, then toured the town and area looking for the camp. We found out it no longer exists. But we enjoyed the town as it is a big tourist area.
On to and around Madison - didn't really see any of the campus or town area. On we rushed toward Eau Claire and the Minnesota border. Rain started falling, but not so heavily that it affected our travel. Minnesota, and the highway around the Twin Cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis. 150 miles to go! Go a little faster. We reached Alexandria, and basked in the memories of our teenage years as we drove through the town. Our family cabin is 14 miles north on Lake Miltona. We arrived there at dusk and were greeted by our cousins, George and Jeanne Ready. It has been 14 years since we have been here and seen them. 10 hours on the road for the second straight day!!
Friday, June 17, 2011
Westward Ho
We left my brothers house @ 8:20am and started driving west through Pennsylvania. and we drove and we drove and we drove, and we finally got to Ohio, and we drove and we drove, and we finally got to Indiana, and we drove and we drove, and finally reached Mishawaka! And where is that? It is where we are staying after driving for 11 hours today! Actually, it is immediately east of South Bend, home of Notre Dame. We decided to go eat at Applebee's. I had my BSU shirt on - the hostess said, "I know where that is. I almost decided to go there next year. But I am going to Old Miss instead." We weren't able to get her to change her mind. I told her she could root for Mississippi when we play them in a couple of years, but we would beat them. The kitchen left the mandarin oranges and pineapple out of my Paradise Salad, so I got a freebie.
Tomorrow we get to drive through Chicago on our way through Madison, WI, on our way through Minneapolis, MN, on our way to our family cabin near Alexandria, MN. I hope Saturday am traffic in the Windy City isn't too bad. As I sit here typing, my body is still rolling as though I am in the car bouncing over the bumps in the Interstates.
Pennsylvania is all mountains (big hills) and trees. The land started to flatten out as we proceeded into Ohio. We finally came to lush farms, every one having a grain silo. Neat and clean! And the same farmland appeared in Indiana. It was so good to see something beside trees along the highways.
My eyes are watering and I can barely see the screen. I guess I will go to bed so I can get up tomorrow and drive, drive, drive.
Tomorrow we get to drive through Chicago on our way through Madison, WI, on our way through Minneapolis, MN, on our way to our family cabin near Alexandria, MN. I hope Saturday am traffic in the Windy City isn't too bad. As I sit here typing, my body is still rolling as though I am in the car bouncing over the bumps in the Interstates.
Pennsylvania is all mountains (big hills) and trees. The land started to flatten out as we proceeded into Ohio. We finally came to lush farms, every one having a grain silo. Neat and clean! And the same farmland appeared in Indiana. It was so good to see something beside trees along the highways.
My eyes are watering and I can barely see the screen. I guess I will go to bed so I can get up tomorrow and drive, drive, drive.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Turning west
Our trip from Williamsburg to Bethlehem PA was mostly uneventful. Brenda, bless her heart, took us into the heart of Washington DC instead of the Beltway around it. We did get to see the tops of the Washington Monument, Jefferson Memorial and the Capitol while traveling over the Potomac River. Delaware has interesting parkway 'rest stops'. Actually they are called 'service stops', and feature several gas stations, several fast food chains, information booths, rest rooms, etc. Delaware doesn't take very long to get through. Brenda wanted us off the Interstate and into Philadelphia, but I put my foot down and went around that city - to head north toward Bethlehem.
We did have an interesting event. Letty was driving north on I378 - in the left lane, with 4 lanes completely full. I noticed there was a toll booth sign ahead, but the lane we were in took us around the booths at a pretty good clip. I figured there would be a booth ahead for us - there wasn't, so we proceeded the remaining miles to our exit, where there was a collection booth. When we stopped, the attendant looked at us and we looked at her. Finally Letty said, "How much is it?" "Where is your ticket?" "We don't have a ticket." "You have to have a ticket." "There was never a place for us to get a ticket." "You can't get on the toll road without a ticket." "We did!" The lady must have thought we robbed a bank. She wasn't particularly friendly!! "You will have to pay the full fare." "How much is the full fare?" "$24.95." I don't know that she heard my comment from the passenger side - "Welcome to Pennsylvania.". But we paid and arrived at my brother's house in time for dinner.
Bob could be considered a good chef. We had lamb chops grilled outside - best we have ever had. I could have eaten the whole bunch of them. Then last night we have cornish hen (grilled outside) flavored with an orange sauce. We spent awhile yesterday afternoon touring around - with a walking tour of the Moravian Colonial Settlement next to the river in Bethlehem. Tonight we are going to eat our and then attend South Pacific at the area's Shakespeare location.
Tomorrow we start west! It will take two long days of travel to get to our family cabin in Minnesota. We must go through Chicago :) I would rather go through there Saturday morning early than try to fight the Friday evening rush hour, so we will probably stay around South Bend, Indiana. If something interesting happens en route I will try to blog from there. I think there is no computer connection at the cabin. Probably my next blog opportunity will be from Rochester MN in the middle of next week.
Until then, stay in peace.
We did have an interesting event. Letty was driving north on I378 - in the left lane, with 4 lanes completely full. I noticed there was a toll booth sign ahead, but the lane we were in took us around the booths at a pretty good clip. I figured there would be a booth ahead for us - there wasn't, so we proceeded the remaining miles to our exit, where there was a collection booth. When we stopped, the attendant looked at us and we looked at her. Finally Letty said, "How much is it?" "Where is your ticket?" "We don't have a ticket." "You have to have a ticket." "There was never a place for us to get a ticket." "You can't get on the toll road without a ticket." "We did!" The lady must have thought we robbed a bank. She wasn't particularly friendly!! "You will have to pay the full fare." "How much is the full fare?" "$24.95." I don't know that she heard my comment from the passenger side - "Welcome to Pennsylvania.". But we paid and arrived at my brother's house in time for dinner.
Bob could be considered a good chef. We had lamb chops grilled outside - best we have ever had. I could have eaten the whole bunch of them. Then last night we have cornish hen (grilled outside) flavored with an orange sauce. We spent awhile yesterday afternoon touring around - with a walking tour of the Moravian Colonial Settlement next to the river in Bethlehem. Tonight we are going to eat our and then attend South Pacific at the area's Shakespeare location.
Tomorrow we start west! It will take two long days of travel to get to our family cabin in Minnesota. We must go through Chicago :) I would rather go through there Saturday morning early than try to fight the Friday evening rush hour, so we will probably stay around South Bend, Indiana. If something interesting happens en route I will try to blog from there. I think there is no computer connection at the cabin. Probably my next blog opportunity will be from Rochester MN in the middle of next week.
Until then, stay in peace.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Colonial Williamsburg
It was late in the afternoon when we arrived. We thought we might locate the visitor's center to scope out the next day's entry point. That done, we decided on an eatery called Second St Bistro. Yes, it was located on Second Street. Letty ordered french onion soup and a wedge salad. She said the soup was about the best she had ever had. The salad was quite large. I ordered one of their specialty burgers. I gasped when it arrived. Letty estimated it was 5" high. 8 oz of meat; 1/4" lettuce; dill pickles; enough pimiento cheese to sink a battleship; and cole slaw of the side. It was outstanding - it was more than enough!! Brenda must have eaten too much too as she belched on the way home. I realized we were driving out in the country and she wasn't telling me how to get back to the motel. I turned her off and started her again. She took us back, but we went almost 20 miles out of the way.
This morning we went early to the visitor's center. Before we hit Colonial Village, we decided to see a 30 minute movie on the conditions in Williamsburg leading up to the Declaration of Independence. Then out in the village, we attended a visit of, and speech by, Martha Washington. She was well received by the townspeople (us). Next we attended a speech by a freed slave, minister of a 500 member Baptist church; preceded by and interspersed with warnings from his wife and a congregation member that pending freedom from England would not result in freedom from slavery. We wandered up and down the streets and visited some shops, stores, and the Palace of the Crown Governor. That was impressive!
Our visit to Colonial Williamsburg ended with a presentation of the music of the African born slaves on a tobacco plantation. Their music wasn't for entertainment, it was to deal with the miseries of living the lives of slaves. The interesting thing was the group (some 50 of us) was included in the presentation. We sang the songs and did the dances of the slaves. The scene was on a reproduced farm of the time. The last dance number was one of the crowd leading the rest in whatever type dance they chose. The program narrator/instructor lady chose many from the crowd in turn to do their stuff. This writer was one who turned his baseball cap backwards and got it on. Got some compliments afterwards from some of the kids! Quite a day.
Tomorrow we head for Pennsylvania for a couple of days visit with my older brother. Will post again soon. blessings to all!
This morning we went early to the visitor's center. Before we hit Colonial Village, we decided to see a 30 minute movie on the conditions in Williamsburg leading up to the Declaration of Independence. Then out in the village, we attended a visit of, and speech by, Martha Washington. She was well received by the townspeople (us). Next we attended a speech by a freed slave, minister of a 500 member Baptist church; preceded by and interspersed with warnings from his wife and a congregation member that pending freedom from England would not result in freedom from slavery. We wandered up and down the streets and visited some shops, stores, and the Palace of the Crown Governor. That was impressive!
Our visit to Colonial Williamsburg ended with a presentation of the music of the African born slaves on a tobacco plantation. Their music wasn't for entertainment, it was to deal with the miseries of living the lives of slaves. The interesting thing was the group (some 50 of us) was included in the presentation. We sang the songs and did the dances of the slaves. The scene was on a reproduced farm of the time. The last dance number was one of the crowd leading the rest in whatever type dance they chose. The program narrator/instructor lady chose many from the crowd in turn to do their stuff. This writer was one who turned his baseball cap backwards and got it on. Got some compliments afterwards from some of the kids! Quite a day.
Tomorrow we head for Pennsylvania for a couple of days visit with my older brother. Will post again soon. blessings to all!
Night in North Carolina
We arrived in Greensboro, having outraced the storm there. Brenda took us to our former foreign exchange student's home - whether directly or roundabout I don't know. But it seemed direct. A short distance before arriving, we hit a sort of traffic jam. A lot of cars ahead had double blinking lights on oh I hoped it wasn't a bad accident. No, it was a funeral procession. Fortunately the cemetery wasn't too far ahead.
Frances Bright - full name is Fraces Fata Kolison Bright - or as our kids called her, Fata Baby - is originally from Liberia. We had an eventful year with her some 25 years ago. This is the story she remembers most of her year: it was about the middle of November and we took her up to Stanley. She had never seen snow. She practically went beserk when she got out of the car to see and touch it. After a brief play stop, we got back into the car to travel one, but the car wouldn't start, wouldn't even turn over. So...we got out of the car and we laid hands on the car and prayed for it to start. We hopped back in the car, started it and drove on. She thought a lot about having that kind of faith in God, and having that kind of communication with God. A few years later that kind of faith took her successfully through the civil war in Liberia, as she fled from the rebel forces with members of her family.
After a too short visit, we asked Brenda to take us to my cousin's house. I am sure she took us in a semi-circle instead of a straight line, but we did get there just in time to make our reservations at the Green Valley Restaurant. A wonderfully decorated restaurant which offered a rich fare on the menu. All three of us chose the prime rib dinner - ahh, scrumptious! Doug McKnight is my first cousin, once removed, on my mother's side. It has been many years since we have seen him, so we spent several hours of enjoyable catch up. We spent the night at his home, and he sent us off the next morning with a home cooked pancake breakfast.
The trip to Williamsburg was not a long one. Interstates all the way...well, not entirely. Every thing was copesthetic until we reached the Richmond area. Suddenly, Brenda had us off on state and county roads. We got to see something beside the tree lined roadway. Suddenly we were high above the James River, an amazing sight. After we passed over, we sign a sign advertising a plantation. We thought, "We have plenty of time to get to Williamsburg. Let's stop in at the next plantation, just to see what it looks like. We won't even have to go in". Suddenly we were close to the entry of the Berkeley Plantation. We crept in, ready to make a fast escape. We saw a number of cars in the parking lot, so it might be worth a stop. It turned out to be the home (at one time) of William Harrison, a signer of the Declaration of Independence; the birth place of William Henry Harrison, the 9th president of the US; and his grandson, who was the ??th president of the US. We spent a lot of time there and thoroughly our stop. Thank You, Brenda!
Our stay in Williamsburg is coming on the next episode. blessings!
Frances Bright - full name is Fraces Fata Kolison Bright - or as our kids called her, Fata Baby - is originally from Liberia. We had an eventful year with her some 25 years ago. This is the story she remembers most of her year: it was about the middle of November and we took her up to Stanley. She had never seen snow. She practically went beserk when she got out of the car to see and touch it. After a brief play stop, we got back into the car to travel one, but the car wouldn't start, wouldn't even turn over. So...we got out of the car and we laid hands on the car and prayed for it to start. We hopped back in the car, started it and drove on. She thought a lot about having that kind of faith in God, and having that kind of communication with God. A few years later that kind of faith took her successfully through the civil war in Liberia, as she fled from the rebel forces with members of her family.
After a too short visit, we asked Brenda to take us to my cousin's house. I am sure she took us in a semi-circle instead of a straight line, but we did get there just in time to make our reservations at the Green Valley Restaurant. A wonderfully decorated restaurant which offered a rich fare on the menu. All three of us chose the prime rib dinner - ahh, scrumptious! Doug McKnight is my first cousin, once removed, on my mother's side. It has been many years since we have seen him, so we spent several hours of enjoyable catch up. We spent the night at his home, and he sent us off the next morning with a home cooked pancake breakfast.
The trip to Williamsburg was not a long one. Interstates all the way...well, not entirely. Every thing was copesthetic until we reached the Richmond area. Suddenly, Brenda had us off on state and county roads. We got to see something beside the tree lined roadway. Suddenly we were high above the James River, an amazing sight. After we passed over, we sign a sign advertising a plantation. We thought, "We have plenty of time to get to Williamsburg. Let's stop in at the next plantation, just to see what it looks like. We won't even have to go in". Suddenly we were close to the entry of the Berkeley Plantation. We crept in, ready to make a fast escape. We saw a number of cars in the parking lot, so it might be worth a stop. It turned out to be the home (at one time) of William Harrison, a signer of the Declaration of Independence; the birth place of William Henry Harrison, the 9th president of the US; and his grandson, who was the ??th president of the US. We spent a lot of time there and thoroughly our stop. Thank You, Brenda!
Our stay in Williamsburg is coming on the next episode. blessings!
KABOOM
Brenda (our name for our GPS) is always trying to take us off the beaten path. The last time I checked, she was set for 'the fastest route'. She always gets us to where we want to go though. Saturday, I decided to override her, despite her repeated cries for me to turn, and then "recalculating"; as I knew we could take interstates to Greensboro.
Everyone in South Carolina was on the move....and I mean on the move. Speed limit was 70 - I was going anywhere from 75 to 78 - almost everyone was passing me, cutting in and out of lanes with one or two car lengths space. It was what I call white knuckle driving. South Carolinians are crazy! Driving in the East isn't exactly scenic as all you can see are trees lining both sides of the highway. You can actually pass a pretty good sized city and not know it is there, except for the increased number of exits. We made it past Columbia (the capital) and turned northeast toward North Carolina. Charlotte is almost on the border. I did catch a brief glimpse of a very impressive skyline. I learned that Charlotte is the largest city between Washington and Atlanta. Its money comes from banking (Bank of America's home, etc.).
As we were getting past the outer limits of the city I noticed the sky was getting a little darker - kind of like those little squalls we have in Idaho. The rain began (Letty was driving) and it was a dump. We could barely see the road. Crash after crash of lightning. Along with many others, we decided it might be a good idea to pull over to the side of the road. Wind was whipping the trees and leaves were flying. PING, SPLAT, PING, SMACK, PING! Marble sized hail began yo pelt us. KABOOM - simultaneous lightning and thunder and a little vibration of the car. Whoa! We noticed the sky was lightening a little, so we decided to move on. The storm was soon left behind us.
We drove on to Greensboro....and I am out of time...to be continued a bit later.
Blessings to all.
Everyone in South Carolina was on the move....and I mean on the move. Speed limit was 70 - I was going anywhere from 75 to 78 - almost everyone was passing me, cutting in and out of lanes with one or two car lengths space. It was what I call white knuckle driving. South Carolinians are crazy! Driving in the East isn't exactly scenic as all you can see are trees lining both sides of the highway. You can actually pass a pretty good sized city and not know it is there, except for the increased number of exits. We made it past Columbia (the capital) and turned northeast toward North Carolina. Charlotte is almost on the border. I did catch a brief glimpse of a very impressive skyline. I learned that Charlotte is the largest city between Washington and Atlanta. Its money comes from banking (Bank of America's home, etc.).
As we were getting past the outer limits of the city I noticed the sky was getting a little darker - kind of like those little squalls we have in Idaho. The rain began (Letty was driving) and it was a dump. We could barely see the road. Crash after crash of lightning. Along with many others, we decided it might be a good idea to pull over to the side of the road. Wind was whipping the trees and leaves were flying. PING, SPLAT, PING, SMACK, PING! Marble sized hail began yo pelt us. KABOOM - simultaneous lightning and thunder and a little vibration of the car. Whoa! We noticed the sky was lightening a little, so we decided to move on. The storm was soon left behind us.
We drove on to Greensboro....and I am out of time...to be continued a bit later.
Blessings to all.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Catch up
Well, I didn't make it in the pool, but I hung out with the girls. About 4pm the management started setting up brat hot dogs, potato salad, coleslaw and drinks. That turned out to be our dinner. Letty and I drove over to Hilton Head Beach to look for a certain place to eat. Then we went back to our near-by marina and took a long walk along the piers. Every open air restaurant had live music. We crossed over and walked the length of the Disney Resort here - didn't see Mickey tho'. Bought ice cream and watched the yachts come in and go out. A great evening near the water.
Thursday was another pool day. The afternoon snacks were chips and salsa and soft drinks, except I discovered they weren't soft! Red and white wine over ice, fruit and some other additive. I felt like I was getting light-headed after one sip! For the evening we went back to the beforehand located seafood restaurant. I ordered flounder and they asked if I wanted the whole thing. I thought that meant the full dinner, so I said, "yeah". It was the whole fish - but they had at least cut the head off. The shopping wasn't spectacular and the outdoor band wasn't particularly good. So, we grabbed an ice cream cone and headed off for the beach. The weather was cool - the sand was nice - the water warm - so we stuck out toes in! We came back to the room to watch the NBA finals and wait for Brad to get here from Huntsville. He pulled in about 11:30pm - in time to see the last 40 seconds of the game.
Today was sightseeing day - Letty and I drove 90 miles to Charleston. We didn't get there any too early, so we opted for a guided bus tour of the city. Like Savannah, lots of humungus homes and churches, and quite old. We were guessing which city has more money. We toured a rather large post revolutionary home - circa 1813, with a couple of later additions. We had a great tour guide who told us the real story of Fort Sumpter. The downtown was just coming alive when we decided we has better head back. We were tired and completely out of touch with the gas gauge. When we were driving through the tulies, the buzzer sounded. We drove and drove and watched the needle go down. Finally we came to a hamlet with a gas station and a church. The church had a ton of people there, but the station was locked up. Many stations will keep the pumps going when they close, but this station's pumps didn't even have a slot for a credit card. So on we drove, finally coming to an intersection with a US highway, and a gas station. It took more gas than the tank holds, so we must have been using gas in the carburator. Did I mention we prayed?
Tomorrow is leave this grand resort day. Nancy and Brad and Kaylie will head back to Huntsville, and Letty and I will drive to our next stop at Greensboro, NC. We will stay with a cousin of mine, and we will see a foreign exchange student we had some 25 years ago. She was from Liberia, but is a nurse in Greensboro now. We have never met her husband or two kids, so we are excited about seeing them.
Until later, count your blessings....
Thursday was another pool day. The afternoon snacks were chips and salsa and soft drinks, except I discovered they weren't soft! Red and white wine over ice, fruit and some other additive. I felt like I was getting light-headed after one sip! For the evening we went back to the beforehand located seafood restaurant. I ordered flounder and they asked if I wanted the whole thing. I thought that meant the full dinner, so I said, "yeah". It was the whole fish - but they had at least cut the head off. The shopping wasn't spectacular and the outdoor band wasn't particularly good. So, we grabbed an ice cream cone and headed off for the beach. The weather was cool - the sand was nice - the water warm - so we stuck out toes in! We came back to the room to watch the NBA finals and wait for Brad to get here from Huntsville. He pulled in about 11:30pm - in time to see the last 40 seconds of the game.
Today was sightseeing day - Letty and I drove 90 miles to Charleston. We didn't get there any too early, so we opted for a guided bus tour of the city. Like Savannah, lots of humungus homes and churches, and quite old. We were guessing which city has more money. We toured a rather large post revolutionary home - circa 1813, with a couple of later additions. We had a great tour guide who told us the real story of Fort Sumpter. The downtown was just coming alive when we decided we has better head back. We were tired and completely out of touch with the gas gauge. When we were driving through the tulies, the buzzer sounded. We drove and drove and watched the needle go down. Finally we came to a hamlet with a gas station and a church. The church had a ton of people there, but the station was locked up. Many stations will keep the pumps going when they close, but this station's pumps didn't even have a slot for a credit card. So on we drove, finally coming to an intersection with a US highway, and a gas station. It took more gas than the tank holds, so we must have been using gas in the carburator. Did I mention we prayed?
Tomorrow is leave this grand resort day. Nancy and Brad and Kaylie will head back to Huntsville, and Letty and I will drive to our next stop at Greensboro, NC. We will stay with a cousin of mine, and we will see a foreign exchange student we had some 25 years ago. She was from Liberia, but is a nurse in Greensboro now. We have never met her husband or two kids, so we are excited about seeing them.
Until later, count your blessings....
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Beauty in the bay
Yesterday started with a bang! I woke up at 6:30am (that is Boise 4:30, but it was light out). Everybody else was snoozing away, so I jumped out of bed, cereal for breakfast and headed for the exercise room. You get sweaty easily in this humidity, but it felt good. Still nobody was up when I got back, so I leisurely read the paper, and did my lesson for the counseling class we are taking at The Pursuit. It was so good that I had to read it to Letty in our devotions.
Everybody finally got going (about noon) and we hit the pool for some serious sunning - everybody except me. I am so fair skinned that I have been accused of having mayonnaise legs! So I do work on my legs a bit, but my tummy and back are white plus. Pretty soon music started up poolside. Caribbean type music (or maybe it was South Carolinian). Before long, it was announced there would be free sundies or root beer floats. Letty and I sat on a swing eating them and watching a great egret snacking on fish out in the marsh. Next came a water melon contest ( for the young at heart and flat of belly). We did get a piece as they passed around the remnants.
We decided our evening entertainment would be a boat ride out into the bay to watch dolphins play and a beautiful sunset. It was a big boat - 80 feet - lots of people - cool breeze - fiery red sun that descending over the distant shoreline. The thing that was eye opening was the affluence - shore lined with mansion after mansion after mansion. We came back just at dark - a wonderful evening. Of course, the evening ended with the Dallas-Miami NBA game. My kids strongly lean toward Dallas, who won to even the series.
Today started with another workout. We are now trying to lose our added vacation weight. It appears to be another pool day. I may risk the water today - blinding everyone poolside with the sun reflecting off my body!
Our best to y'all!
Everybody finally got going (about noon) and we hit the pool for some serious sunning - everybody except me. I am so fair skinned that I have been accused of having mayonnaise legs! So I do work on my legs a bit, but my tummy and back are white plus. Pretty soon music started up poolside. Caribbean type music (or maybe it was South Carolinian). Before long, it was announced there would be free sundies or root beer floats. Letty and I sat on a swing eating them and watching a great egret snacking on fish out in the marsh. Next came a water melon contest ( for the young at heart and flat of belly). We did get a piece as they passed around the remnants.
We decided our evening entertainment would be a boat ride out into the bay to watch dolphins play and a beautiful sunset. It was a big boat - 80 feet - lots of people - cool breeze - fiery red sun that descending over the distant shoreline. The thing that was eye opening was the affluence - shore lined with mansion after mansion after mansion. We came back just at dark - a wonderful evening. Of course, the evening ended with the Dallas-Miami NBA game. My kids strongly lean toward Dallas, who won to even the series.
Today started with another workout. We are now trying to lose our added vacation weight. It appears to be another pool day. I may risk the water today - blinding everyone poolside with the sun reflecting off my body!
Our best to y'all!
Monday, June 6, 2011
Begging your pardon
Where we are staying is called a villa, not a room. I guess that comes from not staying enough at the fancy spots, ie, vacation resorts.
Slept in this morning, then drove the 30 miles to Savannah. Savannah has a mystic that few other cities have. We decided a tour bus would be the best way to see the old city. It is laid out like no other city. Old town is mostly in squares interspersed with some 24 parks; lots of statues in those parks. Huge old churches (most denominations) front on the parks. Large old homes amid the commercial buildings. The Savannah River is at one end of the city. Our tour guide talked for 90 minutes as we went around and around circling the parks, up and down the streets. We took pictures until the battery ran out in our camera. We got off the bus to have lunch in an area called the City Market. We have pictures of each of us with Marilyn Monroe or Elvis.
One of the homes we saw on our tour was the house where the movie, "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" was made. It was taken from the book of the same name. The book was based on a real story about the society (both high and low) of Savannah - a true crime story. It is said the Savannah-ites can recognize the characters, even though names are changed. The movie just happened to be showing at our resort this evening. A fair amount of really bad language, social misfits, and a fair amount of voodoo. We can't recommend it, but we had to finish it to see how the trial came out.
I think I didn't fully cover yesterday. We went to the beach. It was hot and humid, but the breeze kept it fairly comfortable. The water is shallow and warm. The three ladies swam - I waded a bit and kept pretty well our of the sun. I had my Bronco hat on - everyone knows about BSU. I visited with some Clemson fans - one of whom had been to Boise when the Tigers played Louisiana Tech in the Humanitarian Bowl. Another man told me he would root for Boise when they play the Georgia Bulldogs in Sept, even though his son went to Georgia.
Letty and I walked the grounds. There was a beautiful sunset to watch. Our resort is facing the marshes and creeks. They have dolphins that hang around the area. If we don't see some from the resort, we may take a sightseeing dolphin watch boat before we leave. Fog has moved in this evening. it will be interesting to see how thick it will be by morning. We did have a light rain, with cooler weather for a few minutes in Savannah.
Tomorrow will be a down day - swim pool - maybe a work out - walk down the resort area. Will post again soon. Stay warm!
Slept in this morning, then drove the 30 miles to Savannah. Savannah has a mystic that few other cities have. We decided a tour bus would be the best way to see the old city. It is laid out like no other city. Old town is mostly in squares interspersed with some 24 parks; lots of statues in those parks. Huge old churches (most denominations) front on the parks. Large old homes amid the commercial buildings. The Savannah River is at one end of the city. Our tour guide talked for 90 minutes as we went around and around circling the parks, up and down the streets. We took pictures until the battery ran out in our camera. We got off the bus to have lunch in an area called the City Market. We have pictures of each of us with Marilyn Monroe or Elvis.
One of the homes we saw on our tour was the house where the movie, "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" was made. It was taken from the book of the same name. The book was based on a real story about the society (both high and low) of Savannah - a true crime story. It is said the Savannah-ites can recognize the characters, even though names are changed. The movie just happened to be showing at our resort this evening. A fair amount of really bad language, social misfits, and a fair amount of voodoo. We can't recommend it, but we had to finish it to see how the trial came out.
I think I didn't fully cover yesterday. We went to the beach. It was hot and humid, but the breeze kept it fairly comfortable. The water is shallow and warm. The three ladies swam - I waded a bit and kept pretty well our of the sun. I had my Bronco hat on - everyone knows about BSU. I visited with some Clemson fans - one of whom had been to Boise when the Tigers played Louisiana Tech in the Humanitarian Bowl. Another man told me he would root for Boise when they play the Georgia Bulldogs in Sept, even though his son went to Georgia.
Letty and I walked the grounds. There was a beautiful sunset to watch. Our resort is facing the marshes and creeks. They have dolphins that hang around the area. If we don't see some from the resort, we may take a sightseeing dolphin watch boat before we leave. Fog has moved in this evening. it will be interesting to see how thick it will be by morning. We did have a light rain, with cooler weather for a few minutes in Savannah.
Tomorrow will be a down day - swim pool - maybe a work out - walk down the resort area. Will post again soon. Stay warm!
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Whoosh, it's hot
The 'piano recital' Nancy had wasn't exactly a piano recital. The kids were actually advanced toddlers, and could barely stamp their feet in the song, IF YOUR HAPPY AND YOU KNOW IT CLAP YOUR HANDS, etc. But it was fun to watch.
We got away from Huntsville at 1:30pm, with a GPS projected arrival time of 10:40. A couple of hours into the trip, I called the resort. They told me they closed up for the night at 11pm. Oh, boy! I decided I could make better time driving although I do not like to drive after dark. One rest stop, one stop for gas, and one pit stop was all we had. We arrived at 10:35. It took awhile to check in and find our way to the room, We were able to get all our gear on one gurney, but I don't know how. There wasn't room for an envelope behind the back seat of our PT Cruiser, and the back seat had two people in it.
The room is very nice - it would make a nice apartment! The resort is large. We will have to find our way around later this morning. The resort had a complimentary European breakfast out by the pool. It was hot and muggy in the sun at 9:30!
We will give you a run down of our day in the next blog.
We got away from Huntsville at 1:30pm, with a GPS projected arrival time of 10:40. A couple of hours into the trip, I called the resort. They told me they closed up for the night at 11pm. Oh, boy! I decided I could make better time driving although I do not like to drive after dark. One rest stop, one stop for gas, and one pit stop was all we had. We arrived at 10:35. It took awhile to check in and find our way to the room, We were able to get all our gear on one gurney, but I don't know how. There wasn't room for an envelope behind the back seat of our PT Cruiser, and the back seat had two people in it.
The room is very nice - it would make a nice apartment! The resort is large. We will have to find our way around later this morning. The resort had a complimentary European breakfast out by the pool. It was hot and muggy in the sun at 9:30!
We will give you a run down of our day in the next blog.
Friday, June 3, 2011
Packing for the next leg
What does a person do when the temperature pushes 100, and the humidity is around 70%? Not much!
It has been pretty quiet the last two days. Letty did have lunch with friends on Thursday, and we both joined some of the same people today. We started packing for the 430 mile trip to Hilton Head tomorrow. We can't leave until about 1pm as our daughter, Nancy, has a piano recital for her music students tomorrow morning.
Let me tell you about our packing dilemma. Our car was literally packed to the ceiling on the way down. We deposited 8 boxes/sacks of items for tornado relief. In their place we are taking on 2 adult people and their bags for the week's stay at Hilton Head. In addition, Letty has been yarn shopping, yarn shopping, clothes shopping, yarn shopping. It ain't going to fit!! To relieve my frustration, we have decided to leave
bags, boxes, sacks and heavy sweaters (for Minnesota) behind. Brad is planning on driving down late week to bring the two Ruffs home. He will be able to bring everything we are leaving behind. So, I am not feeling so frustrated now. We hope to be in Hilton Head by 11pm tomorrow.
Since I am not so frustrated now, I have promised Letty a 5 minute :=) walk in the heat!
Hilton Head, Savannah, Charleston - here we come.
It has been pretty quiet the last two days. Letty did have lunch with friends on Thursday, and we both joined some of the same people today. We started packing for the 430 mile trip to Hilton Head tomorrow. We can't leave until about 1pm as our daughter, Nancy, has a piano recital for her music students tomorrow morning.
Let me tell you about our packing dilemma. Our car was literally packed to the ceiling on the way down. We deposited 8 boxes/sacks of items for tornado relief. In their place we are taking on 2 adult people and their bags for the week's stay at Hilton Head. In addition, Letty has been yarn shopping, yarn shopping, clothes shopping, yarn shopping. It ain't going to fit!! To relieve my frustration, we have decided to leave
bags, boxes, sacks and heavy sweaters (for Minnesota) behind. Brad is planning on driving down late week to bring the two Ruffs home. He will be able to bring everything we are leaving behind. So, I am not feeling so frustrated now. We hope to be in Hilton Head by 11pm tomorrow.
Since I am not so frustrated now, I have promised Letty a 5 minute :=) walk in the heat!
Hilton Head, Savannah, Charleston - here we come.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Blogs in the night
Nigh has fallen and the 95 degree temperature has retreated a few degrees, but not the humidity. We did get out for a walk at dusk, and watched the lightning bugs show their stuff, and listened to the evening songs of the birds. We think they were mostly mockingbirds as the variety of songs were most inspiring. Today we drove up to Sewanee TN, to the home of University of the South. I found out today they were one of the founding schools of the powerful SEC - they never won a game. They decided to concentrate on academics a number of years ago.
We went up to see a suite mate of Letty's from Sophia Newcomb College. Her husband is the retired vice chancellor of the university, having retired a few years ago. They are getting ready to re-retire to Chapel Hill NC, so we were lucky to be able to see them. We had a wonderful visit with them. Letty and Joan were reminiscing about a car accident they were involved in when they were juniors or seniors. They were returning to school along the Gulf Coast Highway in foggy weather when some soldiers heading the other way missed a curve and sideswiped them. Letty had always remembered they had been on a weekend into Mississippi. Actually two friends had an accident and were in jail (playing cards with the jailer). They had to pay the girls' bail. Maybe that is what they call selective memory.
Our daughter heard today that she will be hired back at the school where she taught this past semester as a long term sub. That is our miracle as the school has had to lay off 4 other teachers for budgetary reasons. Getting hired on was really a long shot, except in the Lord's eyes. She is a class act, and a good teacher! We drove by the school on today's trip.
Our odometer shows we are well over 3,000 miles already, and still headed east.
Letty is supposed to have lunch with friends tomorrow. Then on Friday we will start preparing for our trip to Hilton Head. Sweet dreams, and blessings to all.
We went up to see a suite mate of Letty's from Sophia Newcomb College. Her husband is the retired vice chancellor of the university, having retired a few years ago. They are getting ready to re-retire to Chapel Hill NC, so we were lucky to be able to see them. We had a wonderful visit with them. Letty and Joan were reminiscing about a car accident they were involved in when they were juniors or seniors. They were returning to school along the Gulf Coast Highway in foggy weather when some soldiers heading the other way missed a curve and sideswiped them. Letty had always remembered they had been on a weekend into Mississippi. Actually two friends had an accident and were in jail (playing cards with the jailer). They had to pay the girls' bail. Maybe that is what they call selective memory.
Our daughter heard today that she will be hired back at the school where she taught this past semester as a long term sub. That is our miracle as the school has had to lay off 4 other teachers for budgetary reasons. Getting hired on was really a long shot, except in the Lord's eyes. She is a class act, and a good teacher! We drove by the school on today's trip.
Our odometer shows we are well over 3,000 miles already, and still headed east.
Letty is supposed to have lunch with friends tomorrow. Then on Friday we will start preparing for our trip to Hilton Head. Sweet dreams, and blessings to all.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Delivery of goods for tornado victims
Letty and I have the most interesting things happen to us. We had planned to drive 2.5 hours to Tuscaloosa to drop off the contributions from our family and neighbors for tornado victims - then 2.5 hours back to Huntsville.
I wasn't looking forward to that in the 95 degree heat. This morning we got a telephone number of a possible drop place in Decatur, a mere 25 miles from our abode. We had an approximate address, but we stopped at an information services place in town to check on the address. The lady who helped us recommended we go to the old district of town, and gave us the name of a good place to eat. We found the warehouse, run by the Methodist church. Inspired by Letty's reluctance to strike up a conversation :=) we ended up visiting with the volunteers for 30 minutes. Letty now has the name and phone number of a lady's daughter in Minneapolis for her to call as we buzz through there in a couple of weeks. We drove to the old part of town and found the deli, called TimBucks2. Our lunch was so yummy - true southern comfort food. We visited with our waitress for 30 minutes or so. A rather petite lady who has 10 kids. Her parents lived in Mt Home while he was in the air force, and her older sister was born there. Her second oldest daughter wanted to go to Dartmouth College (where I went 55 years ago), but she ended up at Auburn instead. Her oldest two are going to be doctors!
Everyone down here knows about the blue grass at BSU, and several have said they root for us.
Tonight is quite, and tomorrow we go to Sewanee TN for a visit with one of Letty's suite mates from college.
Until next time.....blessings to all.
I wasn't looking forward to that in the 95 degree heat. This morning we got a telephone number of a possible drop place in Decatur, a mere 25 miles from our abode. We had an approximate address, but we stopped at an information services place in town to check on the address. The lady who helped us recommended we go to the old district of town, and gave us the name of a good place to eat. We found the warehouse, run by the Methodist church. Inspired by Letty's reluctance to strike up a conversation :=) we ended up visiting with the volunteers for 30 minutes. Letty now has the name and phone number of a lady's daughter in Minneapolis for her to call as we buzz through there in a couple of weeks. We drove to the old part of town and found the deli, called TimBucks2. Our lunch was so yummy - true southern comfort food. We visited with our waitress for 30 minutes or so. A rather petite lady who has 10 kids. Her parents lived in Mt Home while he was in the air force, and her older sister was born there. Her second oldest daughter wanted to go to Dartmouth College (where I went 55 years ago), but she ended up at Auburn instead. Her oldest two are going to be doctors!
Everyone down here knows about the blue grass at BSU, and several have said they root for us.
Tonight is quite, and tomorrow we go to Sewanee TN for a visit with one of Letty's suite mates from college.
Until next time.....blessings to all.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Down Day
It is Memorial Day. Saw a moving program on PBS last night. The walking wounded were featured, as well as those who have given their lives in defense of the country. Quite moving.
We feel like we have gained 10 lb since the beginning of our trip - too much sitting and snacks on the road. The apartment complex where the kids live has a workout room. Letty and I made it there yesterday, and I am going today. Letty thinks she will hit the swimming pool.
The graduation party last night was well attended. We saw many friends from former visits to Huntsville, and met others. The food was typical of a church buffet - way too much and way too good!
Today is rest and laundry day. The kids washing machine went down the other day. With 7 in their family and us being on the road, we have to track down a laundromat.
Tomorrow we plan to drive to Tuscaloosa to deposit the personal care things we brought with us. We will report on that. Blessings to all.
We feel like we have gained 10 lb since the beginning of our trip - too much sitting and snacks on the road. The apartment complex where the kids live has a workout room. Letty and I made it there yesterday, and I am going today. Letty thinks she will hit the swimming pool.
The graduation party last night was well attended. We saw many friends from former visits to Huntsville, and met others. The food was typical of a church buffet - way too much and way too good!
Today is rest and laundry day. The kids washing machine went down the other day. With 7 in their family and us being on the road, we have to track down a laundromat.
Tomorrow we plan to drive to Tuscaloosa to deposit the personal care things we brought with us. We will report on that. Blessings to all.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Our problem posting is (at least temporarily) solved. Our daughter, Nancy, is considerably more skilled on the computer than we are. She downloaded Firefox and that seems to be working fine.
Later in the day in Fort Worth, we went to dinner at the family's favorite restaurant, Joe T. Garcia's. We were joined by by Pat Buckley, Betty (Lynn) Buckley, and her personal secretary. Betty Lynn still goes on singing tours, and teaches voice. Meanwhile, the weather was getting worse. When we headed for the car the wind was blowing 55-60 mph. Marble sized hail started coming down. My cousin's car got a few direct hits. TV showed a local picture of a hail ball and a baseball - guess which was bigger. That evening killer tornadoes hit Oklahoma very close to the route we had driven the day before.
The next day we headed for the New Orleans area. Our motel was actually in Houma, about 50 miles from New Orleans. We drove through Cajon country - the lowlands where the Mississippi flood water was released to save NO. We saw very little flooding though. The highways were high and dry, and there are trees lining the road. We had to shorten our Louisiana stay as I was informed Kaylie's graduation was Friday night instead of Saturday.
We drove to NO in the morning and headed for the French quarter. That is a place to behold. We hadn't been there for 45 years. We had a late breakfast at Brennan's: starting with milk punch; chicory coffee; eggs benedict; topped off with bananas foster. We strolled to the levy area and purchased a couple of pounds of the chicory coffee, and several boxes of French Quarter doughnut mix. Y'all will probably get to taste those items when we get home. We then drove out to Tulane University, so Letty could revisit her undergraduate days.
To make up for the lost day, we had to leave NO for Mobile, AL, mid-afternoon. Behind us, the skies started to darken. Then the radio announced a tornado warning for eastern Louisiana and western Mississippi. We were out of its reach once again. Two of our granddaughters go to school at the University of Mobile - we drove the campus. It is a beautiful school in a rural setting, with a huge campus. The traffic was ugly, and we didn't have time to detour to Tuscaloosa. We may be able to go back down there to leave off all the personal items we brought for tornado victims.
Graduation for Kaylie was at 6pm last night. We arrived at 3:30, so we had time to change clothes before heading out. There were 8 graduates, so it was a relaxed, personal graduation. Kaylie's other grandparents from Lubbock, Texas, are here also. Tonight is the graduation dinner and party at a lovely home (up the hill).
We will be around here for a week before we head to our time share at Hilton Head. Kaylie and our daughter, Nancy, will go with us - as their graduation presents. Meanwhile, we will drive up to Sewanee, TN, on Monday to see a classmate of Letty's. We have put about 3000 miles on the car - lots of driving!
We sense your prayers and the Lord's presence with us.
Later in the day in Fort Worth, we went to dinner at the family's favorite restaurant, Joe T. Garcia's. We were joined by by Pat Buckley, Betty (Lynn) Buckley, and her personal secretary. Betty Lynn still goes on singing tours, and teaches voice. Meanwhile, the weather was getting worse. When we headed for the car the wind was blowing 55-60 mph. Marble sized hail started coming down. My cousin's car got a few direct hits. TV showed a local picture of a hail ball and a baseball - guess which was bigger. That evening killer tornadoes hit Oklahoma very close to the route we had driven the day before.
The next day we headed for the New Orleans area. Our motel was actually in Houma, about 50 miles from New Orleans. We drove through Cajon country - the lowlands where the Mississippi flood water was released to save NO. We saw very little flooding though. The highways were high and dry, and there are trees lining the road. We had to shorten our Louisiana stay as I was informed Kaylie's graduation was Friday night instead of Saturday.
We drove to NO in the morning and headed for the French quarter. That is a place to behold. We hadn't been there for 45 years. We had a late breakfast at Brennan's: starting with milk punch; chicory coffee; eggs benedict; topped off with bananas foster. We strolled to the levy area and purchased a couple of pounds of the chicory coffee, and several boxes of French Quarter doughnut mix. Y'all will probably get to taste those items when we get home. We then drove out to Tulane University, so Letty could revisit her undergraduate days.
To make up for the lost day, we had to leave NO for Mobile, AL, mid-afternoon. Behind us, the skies started to darken. Then the radio announced a tornado warning for eastern Louisiana and western Mississippi. We were out of its reach once again. Two of our granddaughters go to school at the University of Mobile - we drove the campus. It is a beautiful school in a rural setting, with a huge campus. The traffic was ugly, and we didn't have time to detour to Tuscaloosa. We may be able to go back down there to leave off all the personal items we brought for tornado victims.
Graduation for Kaylie was at 6pm last night. We arrived at 3:30, so we had time to change clothes before heading out. There were 8 graduates, so it was a relaxed, personal graduation. Kaylie's other grandparents from Lubbock, Texas, are here also. Tonight is the graduation dinner and party at a lovely home (up the hill).
We will be around here for a week before we head to our time share at Hilton Head. Kaylie and our daughter, Nancy, will go with us - as their graduation presents. Meanwhile, we will drive up to Sewanee, TN, on Monday to see a classmate of Letty's. We have put about 3000 miles on the car - lots of driving!
We sense your prayers and the Lord's presence with us.
Journey Across America......
We have arrived in Huntsville Alabama and are enjoying our viit with our daughter Nancy and her family. We attended Kaylies's highschool graduation from Valley Fellowship Christian Academy. We will keep you updated on the trip if we can make this blog post work...........
Monday, May 23, 2011
The Lord is with us...
We drove into Enid last Friday night. They had a rain of over 2" the night before. Roads were overflowed. It had dried up by the time we got there. We found out today as we arrived in Fort Worth that they had a torrential rain this morning. It had cleared by the time we arrived. We were worried about our next stop - New Orleans. Should we try to go there, or by-pass it to avoid the flood. Mid-afternoon Letty received a text from a person who used to be our neighbor - who just happened to be in New Orleans today. She knew Letty had gone to school there, but had no idea we were on our way toward that area. She comforted us by saying everything seemed to be normal there. So our next stop is New Orleans.
Meanwhile we are with my cousin and family in Fort Worth. Betty Buckley is my first cousin, and is 10 years older. We haven't seen her in 8 years or so. Her daughter, also a Betty Buckley, is a Broadway and TV actress. She has starred in the plays Cats, 1776, and others: the mother in the TV series '8 is Enough'; several movies, most notably 'Tender Mercies'. My only claim to fame is to have a famous cousin.
On our way out of Enid this morning, we met with a long time friend and her daughter. They had just arrived back from Ethiopia with her newly adopted 19 month old girl. Another blessing for us.
We did talk to my cousin in Greensboro, NC, and told him of our visit on a future date, of which we shall blog later. Many years ago we had a foreign exchange student from Liberia. She is now a nurse and lives with her family in Greensboro. We had been unable to get in touch with her. Interestingly, we received a letter from her the day after we left on this trip. Our daughter read the letter to us, so we had an address confirmation. My cousin was able to come up with a phone number for her, and we talked to her. She was ecstatic that we were coming, and that we could spend some time together.
It will be a few days before we blog again. My computer isn't working, and I won't have access to another one until we get to our daughter's house on Friday evening. We plan to spend a day in New Orleans and go to Huntsville, Alabama, via Tuscaloosa to drop off some things to the tornado victims there.
Blessings to all, Jim and Letty
Wyoming and beyond!
We drove the first day to Laramie WY, through some rain and cold. It had snowed there the night before we got there. We did see elk and antelope, so the drive was worth it. We even had time to go through the old Wyoming State Prison. Got some good pictures of Letty behind bars, but that will have to come later. The next morning, we drove through country where there was still a snow floor (over 8600 ft). Then we started down toward Cheyenne, Denver and Kansas. The temperature was 81 when we hit a rain squall, and the tempature promptly plummeted to 61. But we drove out of that and on into Oklahoma. We arrived at dark, but found my cousin's home thanks to our GPS.
We have had two delightful days visiting long time friends in our home town (Enid). We went to our old Presbyterian church (where we grew up and were married). The Sunday service was defintely evangelical. We hadn't seen a choir or clerical robes in many years.
Today (Monday) is hot and windy, and we are set to head out to Fort Worth to visit my 85 year old cousin. She still calls me Jimmy!!
Take care - we love y'all. Jim (and Letty)
Friday, May 6, 2011
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