Day 4 (I guess!)

Well, it's kind of hard to keep track of days. I guess I'll call NY to Ohio day 1, then we spent a full day in OH, which was day 2, then we spent a half day in OH and drove across IL and MS, which was day 3.

I already mentioned the loud crowd at the hotel. The next morning we were leaving the hotel (we were on the second floor), and I was carrying purse, camera bag, sweater, suitcase, and who knows what else. As I reached for the stair railing and stepped down for the first step down, I slipped, my suitcase pulled me down, and I bumped down about 3 stairs. I scared both my mom and myself to death. They were exterior cement steps, so I had a very hard landing. I had a few minor bruises, and one very, very huge, very black/purple/blue bruise on my buttock. I hurt so badly that I sat for a few minutes before attempting to get up. Thankfully nothing was seriously hurt or broken! On the scale of 1-10, that bruise was a 10. Well, we got the car loaded and began a long day's journey through Kansas. Most of my trips have been through northern Kansas, and I was surprised at how pretty southern Kansas was.

It seemed that every time Nancy drove, it poured! Here is a storm coming across the fields.

We saw several fixer-uppers--the kind of places we could afford. They give the countryside a lot of character.

Nancy and I took our turns driving (and punching each other every time we saw a "punch buggy--no return" or a "cruiser bruiser"). I have to admit that she was a much better spotter than I, and ended the trip at least 3 punches ahead of me. I definitely owe her. Anyway, it was planned that Dad would drive when we got into Denver! Traffic wasn't terribly heavy, but it certainly helps to know where you're going.

This is downtown Denver. Can you believe I went to college in that mess? And took the city bus back and forth! I used to have lots of great stories to tell. Wish I had written them down.

This is the high school/church that I attended when we lived in Denver area.

I will continue this day in the next posting.

Vacation Time

This year my mom and dad, pictured to the left, asked my sister and I to join them on a trip out west, for "old times" sake. Nancy was home from Africa for a short time to get her son, Daniel, settled in college. We all convened at my house, and the trip began from there.

We left Thursday after I finished work, getting started on our way to Ohio about 6 p.m. We arrived at my Aunt Jeanette's about 1:30 a.m. It was a longer trip than usual, due to road construction.
We all went immediately to bed. Aunt Jeanette

had a full house, because her brother, Uncle Carl,

was visiting as well. The beds and couches were

full, I slept on an air mattress, and Daniel took the floor. Aunt Jeanette, pictured to the right, is such a wonderful, sweet, godly lady. She is 94, and is absolutely amazing. She's a wonderful hostess, and it is so much fun to visit her. She had a breakfast casserole prepared ahead of time, so we all enjoyed a nice breakfast in the morning.

Pictured to the left is Uncle Carl, who is 96. He is in good health, and his mind is so sharp. We sang around the piano, and he could sing most of the verses to any hymn from memory. He could even remember a few hymns in German from his first pastorate. Both he and Aunt Jeanette have wonderful stories to share, and great wisdom to impart.

That day Nancy and Daniel went to Cedarville University and got Daniel registered and moved in to his dorm room. Uncle Carl, Dad, and I went over later to help him unpack.



My cousin, Jeanne, and her husband, Ken, joined us for supper. It was great to visit them as well. Nancy didn't get home till late that evening.

The next day, our family went over and had lunch at the college cafeteria with Daniel, did a little more unpacking for him in his room, and he and Nancy attended another meeting.

This is Daniel in his dorm room. He was pretty much settled in, but his roommate hadn't even arrived yet.

Nancy was trying to enjoy her lunch in the cafeteria, and Dad kept asking her if it was time for her to go to her meeting yet. Dad ended up attending the meeting with Nancy and Daniel, while Mom and I went to his dorm room to hang up the rest of his shirts.

We left that day about 1:30 on the next leg of our journey. This is the bridge over the Mississippi River, and the construction on the bridge delayed us about 2 hours. We traveled that day as far as St. Louis, MO (actually Blue Springs). We arrived very late at our hotel. Our sleep was interrupted several times by partying neighbors at the hotel.

More to follow in the next blog.

Front Porch

Nothing is quite as nice as a front porch. Picture an old-fashioned white porch with rockers or wicker furniture. Since we purchased our 1840s farmhouse, we have not been able to enjoy relaxing on a front porch. The porches on the house were collapsing and too dangerous to use. They were torn off in order to build a new foundation under the house. We have finally come to the time to build a new front porch because we need a new roof and Duane wants to do them at the same time.

So, he rented a post-hole digger, and he, Jeremiah, and his brother, Den, began digging the holes for the porch posts. However, alot of the old foundation had been buried in the front yard, and they began to hit chunks of cement and old sandstone. So, inbetween digging a few inches with the post-hole digger, they had to use a jackhammer to break up the cement and stone. It was a huge job, but the holes are now dug and the wood has been ordered from the Amish. A visitor decided to cool off in one of the holes.