One day to go

We got up and the jacks worked fine. That means that the first two times since Friday they didn't work but did the next three. Go figure. We packed up and took the coach to Darrell's mom's so he could work on some things while we are gone. We took the Jeep and our travel belongings to Glenbrook Dodge to get the chrome wheel cover and settle up. We owed them only $268 because we had paid some in Georgia where the tire was replaced. We went to the City Utilities campground and had lunch at the only picnic table in the sun. It was chilly and the wind made it chillier. Evelyn was cold. Go figure. We did enjoy eating the things that would have spoiled while we were gone. We are now at the campus where Evelyn worked. We will go to dinner with her secretary this evening then to her home for the evening. Someone will drive us to the Indianapolis airport early in the morning and then off we go. This may be the last exciting entry into this exciting blog for a couple of weeks. Perhaps one of the hotels we will stay in will have a computer for use by the guests. If not, aloha and may Christ continue to bless us all while we are gone. Tie me wallaby down, Sport.

Trinity Sunday

Sunday we arose and went off to take Mom to the Lutheran church in Berne. I had called for times of the service yesterday and learned that there was a carry-in dinner afterward for a field worker who had served there for two years. We took some cookies and ate with them after a marvelous sermon dealing with the Trinity since it was Trinity Sunday. Some of the congregation had barbecued chicken and others had brought side dishes. Come to find out, the young man had spent some time in Australia and gave us some information that might be useful. Mom enjoyed the dinner but not the worship service. It is difficult for non Lutherans to follow the liturgy even with help. She has always attended a Methodist church. We took her back to Swiss Village, and I watched some of the Cubs game while they visited Mom's sister Jean. We came home and napped before dinner and the season finale of Cold Case, desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy. I was disappointed in all three episodes, but I shouldn't be wasting my time on them anyway. We are getting psyched for the first leg of the trip tomorrow.

Saturday

I arose early and went to Monroe to get a new tire for the Jeep. It has been aligned and I think the replacement will stop the extreme pull to the right. Things went well and it really helped. I returned and we went for our walk. I then went to get some oil and filter for the motor home. I also went out to a salvage yard and sold the old wheel for a whopping 50 cents. The funny thing is that when they thought I was buying, not selling, they wanted 5.00! What a mark up! I started for the post office to mail a package I only thought I had brought.
I came back to shower only to find that Evelyn had made a rhubarb pie but had tried to run the convection oven and the heater at the same time, breaking the circuit. I reset it and showered in time to meet the Riders and Nancy Springer for lunch at a local Mexican restaurant, El Camino Real. It was good food and our server was from Brownsville/Matamores so we had some experiences in common. We had a good visit, reminiscing about the days when we were teaching and about what we have been doing lately. We returned home and I changed the oil and filter in the motor home. First, however, we moved the coach to dump and get fresh water. When we did, the jacks didn't retract as they should have. After changing oil, I raised the jacks again with the same result. I was discouraged. Evelyn decided she wanted to invite Ned and Orpha for dessert and cards. It is crowded inside so I dragged out the table and lawn chairs again. As I was taking the dessert out the door, one of the paper plates folded and spilled the pie and ice cream, some onto my shirt. The blessing was that we had more of both. We all enjoyed the cards and dessert. I
joked with Orpha who had earlier misremembered the name of protestant poker as prostitute poker. I told her we were playing euchere, not turning tricks. I am quite the clever dude. Which reminds me, while at the library, I sat beside three young boys playing some game on the internet. One of them kept referring to the others as "dude". I asked one of the boys why he didn't know their names. I considered saying goodbye to the "Dude" family, pretending that they all had the same last name. I don't think they would have got the joke. The Knapes left at 8:30 after arriving 1/2 hour late. Off to bed shortly thereafter.

Friday

We walked our 2 miles this morning and then had an light, early lunch. We had hoped to return to get our Jeep but had no call from the body shop. We decided to go to Fort Wayne regardless since they would most certainly finish today. We went to Evelyn's Mary Kay distributor but could not trade any product because she was not able to look at her inventory. We had no place special to go so we went to the body shop and received a promise of delivery by 5:00. We had time so we went to a local shoe store and found some red sandals Evelyn had been looking for in every outlet mall since we left Texas. We returned to the body shop and were about to leave when Evelyn noticed that the wheel cover had not been replaced. We must return Monday at noon to have it installed. We went to Uno (we still have free coupons) and ordered an appetizer and a pizza. It was a real life illustration of the proverb dealing with eyes and stomachs. We left with our carry out boxes which we didn't want because we want to clear our refrigerator of spoilable items before leaving for Australia. We thought of attending a minor league baseball game but were not dressed warmly enough. Evelyn gets cold very easily. I am concerned about her circulation. We just returned to the motor home where she colored her hair and I looked for a receipt for the tire and wheel from Georgia. I had no success.

Welcomed rain

We could not make ourselves get up until 9:00. It was raining quite hard, making it hard to wake up. The land here certainly needed the rain although not desperately. We pray that the Valley got some rain during the past month. It is difficult to know since the area is so wide. It may be pouring in McAllen and baking in Harlingen and Rio Hondo where Don and Janice live. I should say I got up at 9:00; Evelyn stayed in bed until 10:10, although she did read some during that. I also read a book that we want to send to Noah, our grandson, who likes animals. He will probably like the book although I didn't much. I talked to the technicians who think that our only jack problem was that the legs needed to be lubricated. I thought that never needed to be done because it is a hydraulic system, but Evelyn did and was quick to point out that I should have listened to her. I guess I should once in a while. I won't know the charge until later today, but we owe them a lot for allowing us to park there while we are in Indiana. I also learned some other key areas that need lubricant: window wells, awnings, electric steps, etc. We will also have to carry a can of hydraulic fluid to keep the reservoir full. We have a leak somewhere because the fluid level was quite low. Wherever it is, it is very slow. We will move our coach to Darrell's mom's place while we go to Australia. Since rain is predicted for all day and we don't have to go to Fort Wayne to return the rental, we plan to go to Berne in the afternoon to visit Mom.
Evelyn and her mom had a nice visit with Olive's sister, Pauline who was working on a quilt for a great grandchild. She had been to Australia two years ago so Evelyn enjoyed talking about that. The problem is that they went to Brisbane and we are going to Sydney, several hundred miles south (away from the equator). They were there at virtually the same time of the year as we will be, but it may be much cooler where we are. I stayed at Mom's room and watched reruns of Law and Order. We came home and went out for a fish basket and returned to watch the season finale of CSI.

Current at last

We walked this morning and then showered. I came to the library as I have said. We had an early lunch of pancakes and sausage links (mostly to get rid of the links we had brought from Texas). I tried to learn more on the status of our jacks but must wait until tomorrow. We went to Berne to get Mom and take her to Bearcreek Farms for the Liberace impersonator. We happened on to a letter last week saying that bringing it to the theater would get us in free. The show was outstanding. Martin dressed in the gaudy attire and brought a younger man with a marvelous voice who sang three numbers. I was especially taken with the percussionist, not drummer. He really added to the performance with his skills, and I told him so after the show. We took Mom back and went home for dinner and a quiet evening at home.
We went to Fort Wayne on Tuesday to attend a "Forever Young" expo presented by St. Joe Hospital. It featured many health examinations and other things. We each had a five minute massage and had a dermatologist examine us for skin cancer. He said Evelyn was fine but I had two beta cell cancers, one on the right ear that I was aware of and one on my left shoulder that I wasn't. We picked up many freebees including some pill boxes that we need to take on our trip to Australia. We will be gone more than 14 days and needed medicine for those days. We had intended to wrap them in saran wrap but don't have to now. We left there and went out to the auto auction to see Darrell and have lunch in the cafeteria. We had very good beef stroganoff. Darrell was in good spirits because he had finished third in the demolition derby last Saturday. We came home, napped and prepared for our dinner with Stan and Bonita. We set up our football table and chairs so we could eat outside. We ate a salad Evelyn had prepared and then we ordered a Pizza King pizza. We brought it back and ate it and drank beer. It cooled down so we went inside for dessert of razzleberry pie and ice cream. Somehow Evelyn and managed to grossly over bake the pie, and it was quite inferior. We did top it with delicious vanilla ice cream. They stayed until after 10, and we had a nice visit recalling fond memories of Via de Cristo.
Wednesday we had to take the jeep to be repaired. It went smoothly and the body shop called Enterprise to pick us with our rental car. We have $20 per day allotment on our policy which gets us a Neon type compact. The young man came in a big hunkin Ford Explorer because it was the only car they had. How blessed we are! We drove out to get our prepared tax return. The bill for computation was $300, more than we have ever paid, but the mess we had was worse than ever before. The "good" news is that we will receive $2,200 in refund. I don't like that really because the government has used that money for many months without paying any interest. I thought we would have to pay this year but felt relieved even though unhappy. We went to Uno for lunch and had a shrimp/crab fondue that was delicious. We had planned to take Louise, but she had to cancel for today. We are at this writing in her office at the IPFW campus. We received a call from the repair shop stating they had found some additional problems and would not finish the work until Friday. We keep the Explorer another day. We finished this and drove back to Decatur, buying $1.89 gasoline on the way and mailing our tax return to Austin. Evelyn was very tired and took a nap so I made dinner by browning some ground chuck we had carried from HEB and added a can of Manwich we had carried for more than a year. It was pretty good, but we won't buy any more. We just don't eat many sloppy joes. We spent the evening watching Lost and Law and Order. Between those shows we tried to watch some comedies on ABC. They were so stupid and salacious that we opted for part of Alias, even though we knew we would never see the end. We went to bed late.

Catch up 4

Saturday was still rainy. Evelyn had made arrangements with a friend from IPFW to pick up Mom and go to Huntington for lunch. I was left to take the motor home to Monroe and have the tires rotated. I knew the front tires were pocketed because the coach shimmied around 50-55 mph. The repairman at the RV lot said that moving them to the inside rear tandem would give longer life. I should have had that done last year when we were here. The trip was successful, and I returned to Decatur and dumped our tanks and took on fresh water. First, however, I took a shower instead of waiting and adding to an empty tank, using water. By this strategic maneuver, I could go back to our parking spot with a full tank of water for the next week. I ate a late lunch and came back to the library to dump e-mails. Evelyn returned around 2:30, having had a pleasant but expensive lunch. She bought for everyone since her friend had driven. I was in the process of clearing some of the things out of the Jeep so we could put the back seat up for tomorrow when we took Mom to church. We spent this evening at home watching re-runs on TV.
Sunday we went to Berne, picked up Mom and went to church. It was Pentecost and the pastor had a short, powerful homily about the power of the Holy Spirit. The bulk of the worship was a quartet called the Christianairs. We were all blessed by the music they sang. Many of the songs hinted at "choosing" to be saved. I don't believe that we choose that event: Jesus said, "You did not choose Me, but I chose you". Regardless, they were sincere and the songs were uplifting. We went back to the Village and joined Mom for lunch of baked chicken breast and baked potato. A strange thing about this place is that lunch is $1.25 more than dinner, which costs $6.00. I did get some more pickled eggs that would have eventually been tossed out anyway. We came back home in the afternoon, watched the Pacers "play" the Pistons and took a nap. We stayed in again. There is little to do in Decatur. We could go to Fort Wayne, but that is a good drive and we would have to go to the other side of town. Besides Evelyn likes to watch "Desperate Housewives.

Catch Up 3

Thursday was another slow day. We walked our two miles and took showers. We had lunch and then went to Berne to visit Mom. We really enjoy her accommodating, happy spirit. She will do whatever is suggested with a genuine willingness. She very much appreciates having her family visit. Evelyn went down to the basement of Swiss Village to shorten some slacks she had bought for Mom. The project was only mildly acceptable, but it was the best she could do. We went out into the commons area and played Rummy with Mom, and she did very well. She remembered how to play with a minimal amount of reminding. We were stopped at Ned's to see if they wanted to eat out. Orpha said she was not cooking so that settled the matter for them. They came to the motor home and picked us up. They wanted to go to a local fish restaurant where there is a whitefish dinner special on Wednesdays and Thursdays: two for $7.50. The fish was good as always. They took us back to their house and we played protestant poker for an hour or so. It is a quick game that everyone seems to like. We returned home so I could watch CSI at 9:00. A great day.
Friday we decided to check on the clothes we had packed for the Australia trip. We took everything out of the suitcases and discovered some items that we had not packed, rain slickers for example. We will be there in the late autumn and it may be a rainy season. We have a bit of a problem in that Evelyn's carry-on bag is heavier than she can manage. We transferred some of the heavier items to mine. We must move our luggage by ourselves on the entire trip. We do have two suitcases on wheels, but the carry-ons must be carried. Imagine that! I went to the library after we finished and returned for a light early lunch. We went to meet Tom and Janet Grotrian at another local fish restaurant. We shared a fish dinner that we had been looking forward to. We were both somewhat disappointed in that it was greasier than we had remembered. We preferred what we had last night. We went back to Grotrian's and played guess what: Protestant poker. Janet had made a Sunshine cake that was delicious. We left there about 10:30 and drove on a dark, rainy night. We had storms and were under a thunderstorm watch for most of the night. We were certainly thankful for the rain because the area certainly needed it. We pray that the Valley has had some.

Catching Up 2

Wednesday was dread day. We went to Glenbrook Dodge to meet with the Geico adjuster concerning our blown tire on the Jeep. He was fair and found some damage that we didn't know about. We scheduled the repair work for next Wednesday. He told us that we had rental insurance money of $20 per day, so we can have a car while ours is being repaired. He authorized two days if needed. We went to see accountant Wunrow for tax preparation at 10:00. I have never been so disorganized with him before. This is partly because of all the things we had to sell to pay for the house in NC. We took longer than usual, but he was able to maintain his Christian "cool" throughout the process. We are blessed to be surrounded by so many Christian friends. We went to Uno for lunch and then had to return to Clayton's for some more information. While there, we called the doctor's office where we had appointments at 2:15 only to learn that the doctor was not in on Wednesdays. They had sent a post card to TX and called our Weslaco phone number, but of course we received neither. We rescheduled for next Wednesday, agreeing to see a different doctor. We returned to the motor home to meet Sam at 5:30. He is my best friend from high school that drinks Crown Royal. I had brought 2 3/4 liters back for him from Mexico. We ordered Pizza King pizza (our favorite kind available only in IN, we think) and brought it back so we could have beer with it. The pizza place doesn't serve it. We had a great visit, catching up on both our lives and those of our children and grandchildren. God is good--all the time.

Catching Up

It is May 16 and I am at the local library trying to catch up on this blog. I am exactly one week behind. This area doesn't have Juno service.
May 9 we talked with the RV repair shop that will look at the rear jacks on the coach. They will call the extended warranty company, hoping to prevent the snafu that occurred in Texas with the refrigerator. Evelyn went to the laundromat, and I came here to dump e-mail and write the blog. We mostly relaxed the rest of the day but discovered a letter offering free tickets to see a Liberace impersonator at Bearcreek farms next week. We will take Evelyn's mom to see it. We ate in Monday.
Tuesday we went to do credit union business and visit with our broker, Clayton, to get information to be used in computing our income taxes Wednesday. He gave us more coupons for free pizza and appetizers at Uno Chicago Pizza. He is a great guy and keeps up with our accounts. We went to our friends the Casterlines for dinner. She wanted to cook so we went there instead of going to a restaurant. They are the couple that introduced us to Maggie Valley and the North Carolina mountains. She made many delicious things including a rhubarb sauce and a rhubarb cake. We loved the dinner and thank God for friends like them. We gave her the four bottles of Kahula we had brought for her from Mexico and also gave them some 1015 onions from the Valley.

Friends and family reunion

This is the famous Derby day. Evelyn did not want to return to the track and fight even bigger crowds (yesterday was 110,000) so we got gas at the Kroger store and headed for Shelbyville, IN to visit some Purdue football friends. We went to the Wal-Mart and called them. They came and took us back to their home for wine and conversation. We went to a Chinese buffet for dinner that featured all the crab legs one wanted to eat. We really pigged out. We returned to their home and watched the Indiana Pacers beat the Boston Celtics in game seven of their series. Back to the motor home for the night.
Bill and Shirley picked us up and took us to their church, PCUSA, To my delight, their pastor was a man. He emphasized families since it was Mother's Day, but I was disappointed to notice that he never mentioned Jesus once in his message. The message was good and needed, but church is to worship Jesus. We went to a local KFC for lunch because Evelyn loves that stuff and then packed up and headed for Berne. I tried calling my high school friend many times before we sent through Portland where we grew up, but he didn't answer. I was carrying 2 1/2 liters of Crown Royal for him that we had brought from Mexico. We got to Mom's nursing home in time to join her for dinner. We always enjoy the food there. We were all glad to see each other and enjoyed the visit. We went on to Decatur where we plan to park at the RV repair center for the next couple of weeks. We visited our friend Ned and his new wife Orpha for a few minutes and then retired for the night.

We got up in time to walk Olivia to her bus stop and then left in the motor home, headed for the north. After about an hour, a car passed us and motioned us over to the side. He told us we had blown a right front tire on our jeep. This happened to us on another car before. We went to the next exit, grinding sparks all the way. The Lord sent a kind gentleman who offered to help. We put the "doughnut" on and drove into Cartersville, TN. The Jeep dealership there looked around town and found a new tire and rim to get us going. I think the tire is not the correct size, but we were able to get back on the road within four hours and drove on to Chattanooga where we spent the night.
We left there the next morning early and drove up to Monteagle on the way to Nashville. We stopped at the Russell Stover candy outlet and loaded up with discount candy. We had been looking for a low carb toffee product that we had tried before. We found it for a lesser price than on the outside. We drove through Nashville headed for Louisville where we wanted to see the Derby parade. Unfortunately, I had miscalculated the distance and we missed the parade. We did find a Wal Mart on Bardstown Road. We ate a bite and went downtown to the "Chow Wagon" where there were lots of junk food booths, a band, and many drunks. We bought Pegasus Pins that got us in to the event. We enjoyed the weather and the pleasant evening.
We arose early Friday morning, packed a lunch and went off to the Kentucky Oaks races at Churchill Downs. These races are on Friday preceding the Derby and features fillies. We had been told to go to the track early to be sure to get a space in the infield so we arrived shortly after 8:00. We had chairs so we had to enter at the 3rd street gate where we paid our $25. It was a beautiful day and we got a desirable spot along the home stretch rail. We walked all over the infield and crossed via a tunnel to the grandstand. We looked for John Knight and found him later in the day. The first race of 11 was at 11:00 and ran every half hour. We sat in the sun and had a great time. When we located John, he took us everywhere he could because some areas were private and others did not permit jeans or shorts. We got enough of the flavor of intensity in the serving and food preparation areas. We went back to our seats at around 1:00 and had the delicious lunch Evelyn had prepared. We had the delicious bread we like so much: hazelnut/poppy seed topped with smoked turkey, tomato from our Texas garden, and lettuce. After seven races, Evelyn was tired so we left and to my surprise, were able to see the rest of them on television in the motor home, including the Oaks race. We had seen the preparation of the winner's garland last night. It was made of lilies as opposed to the roses placed on the Derby winner. We went to a Captain D's for dinner because we could not find a local restaurant without a smokey haze inside the restaurant. Off to bed.

Work around the house and a new baseball star.

What is happening to us? We struggled out of bed to realize that it was 10:00! We can't be that tired. I know this pollen is taxing my lungs and sinuses, but my goodness! I spent some time scraping paint from some windows Stacy had painted while Evelyn tried to clean Olivia's closet. What a mess! These kids have three of every plastic toy known to man and never get rid of any of them. We finished off the etouffee for lunch and then Evelyn and Stacy went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond to get a 20% refund on yesterday's purchased items. They had found a coupon that had come in the mail. While they were gone, I tried to reassemble a chair for them that had been falling apart for years. It is a wooden kitchen chair. They had some dowel pins that were too small, so I looked around the neighborhood for some scraps I could use for shims in the holes. I found some and made small pieces, drove them into the holes and added wood glue. I got it reassembled and it is better than it was, but I am no carpenter and give no guarantees that it will stay together. I went to the bus stop to meet Olivia coming home from school. She is always glad to get home but reverts to antagonizing behavior soon after. We are awaiting Tom and Peter's arrival so we can go to Peter's baseball game. He has track practice for the once a year meet tonight. It is a full busy day for a ten year old. We went to an open house at Olivia's school and then drove through Peter's favorite restaurant--Krystal (a souther substitute for White Castle) and bought dinner. Off to the ball diamond where Peter played left field and second base. The highlight though was his hitting. While we played Sunday, Tom and I emphasized that we would like to see him swing at the ball more instead of trying to walk. When he came up the first time, he doubled. The second time was in the final inning. He led off with a triple and scored the winning run when a teammate hit a ball that was mishandled in the infield. He was on cloud nine, and we were blessed to be present for his first ever hit after three years of playing. We will leave in the morning.

Great buys for NC

An early rise for a change. Evelyn went with Stacy to take Peter and some other children to school and go shopping for NC items the rest of the morning. I cleaned myself up and spent some time trying to pay a credit card bill on line. I dumped e-mails and had several correspondences with Bill Keller, a man who writes a daily devotional that I like. He has a flaw in his theology which I pointed out to him. He had the nerve to say that the flaw was in my theology. Imagine the nerve. :-) Actually I enjoyed the exchange but am holding fast to my beliefs. Peter came home and to my surprise had been given no lunch. He went right to the pantry, boiled a pan of water, chopped some Velveta, poured in so olive oil and elbow macaroni, and proceeded to make some macaroni and cheese. I ate "chicken salad" and left over bean dip. We had a nice chat, and he went off to do homework. Soon after the ladies returned with a shower curtain, towels and wastebasket featuring the theme of moulin rouge or follies bergere. I thought it somewhat risque, but in my heart I am risque too. She also had a bedspread and curtains for the master bedroom. They are a shade of green that I don't care for and don't think will coordinate with the green walls. I couldn't express any opinion or my daughter would have crowned me for being sarcastic and "a jerk". I prepared two letters and wrote a check for our association dues in NC. By then Tom was home and Evelyn prepared ground beef for tacos we were to have for dinner. Tom delighted us by making flaming cheese as an appetizer. We planned for the adults to watch another movie, but by the time the children were down, we were too tired. Besides, they didn't have the movie they thought they had, "What Women Want" starring Mel Gibson. They think they had loaned it out. We have decided not to leave tomorrow at noon because Peter has a make-up baseball game in the early evening. We will leave Wednesday in the forenoon.

A day of joy

Up and off to worship. We attended the 10:45 service. Tom has said that there is little joy in the services and they are thinking of changing churches. He remembers a sermon I delivered at Stonebridge last summer where I emphasized the need for Christians to show the joy of their salvation. We went to lunch at Chilis and talked a bit about it. I noted that I thought the service that day was fine, as was the message. It presented law, Gospel and sanctification with some joy. It especially emphasized the joy that comes from serving Christ and drawing closer to Him. As it turns out, the message was brought by the associate pastor, not the senior one. The music was somewhat upbeat and contemporary. Much of the announcements were somewhat somber, however. When Tom and Stacy gave the announcements, they were presented in skits and other forms of light-hearted formats. I guess some people thought things should be totally somber in worship services, so they are not asked to make them anymore. I hope the church alters its approach. There was a ground breaking for a new educational wing after the service, and families drove stakes into the ground, outlining the new building. The families then joined in prayer for a blessing on the building. We went home, napped, played baseball (using a tennis ball) and then planned to go to a fund raiser for the swim team. Unfortunately, Tom had missed the date by just one day, so we came home and he prepared his superb pizza for our dinner. We ate it while watching a family movie called, Jacob's Harvest and then went to bed. It was later than the children usually stay up when school follows the next day. We went off to the "cold" motor home for sleep. Evelyn is nearly always cold when we are there. I don't turn on the furnace much because it runs the batteries down. Besides that is what blankets are for. Other bodies help too as Ecclesiastes tells us. :-)