Great worship in Cajun country

We were a bit improved. We had breakfast , but, as was the case last year, most of the good cereals had been eaten yesterday morning. The young man at the desk was kind and went somewhere to get some Raisin Bran for Evelyn. We dressed for church, but I had to wear my white tennis shoes with my black slacks. We were blessed by Holy Communion on this Reformation Sunday. The message about forgiveness was very special. We picked up Roland and went to Piccadilly Cafeteria where crawfish etouffee is served every day. We took Roland home and then returned to the motel to rest. John and Whitney Knight called us and we talked for nearly an hour. We hadn’t talked with them for several years and caught up on our family situations. We received another call from Evelyn’s Aunt Pauline from Florida. It was nice to catch up with her too. We took a nap—mine was minutes—and then dressed to go dancing. That was more informal than this morning. We shared a bowl of gumbo and an order of shrimp jambalaya for supper and danced a few zydeco songs before leaving around 8. We came home and watched the Saints play the Steelers. We will try to get out of here by 7:30 tomorrow morning because we want to stop to get some boudin and crawfish tails to take to Texas. We have enjoyed our stay in Lafayette as usual. We did also get to talk with the Beelis for a while too. Tomorrow night is Wurstfest.

Driving to Mississippi

Evelyn wasn’t much better so we didn’t rush out. After breakfast we left around 9:30. It was a lovely day for driving, we had missed the rush hour traffic as we have a habit of doing. We cruised out of Atlanta without incident. I had fueled up last night so we didn’t stop until reaching Alabama. I thought we had agreed to get a sandwich each and share some of the crackers or chips we had brought from home, but, alas, I was misled into thinking “that’s fine” meant just that. When we arrived at the counter, Evelyn ordered a combo meal. I got the agreed sandwich and went out to eat on the hood of the car because I was tired of sitting. We ate a muffin we had brought from the motel for dessert and continued on toward Mississippi. It remained beautiful and rain free. We had forgotten about crossing into the Central time zone, so we arrived in Meridian around 3:30. I went in and cancelled our reservation so we could go on to Hattisburg, giving us an opportunity to get to Lafayette earlier. We arrived in Hattisburg and went to the La Quinta but learned it would cost almost double to the price in Meridian. We went to a Sleep Inn and got a nice suite for $62 plus tax. Evelyn went immediately to bed. I walked to a Pizza Hut next door and brought back a large pizza. We ate it and then watched some TV. We were in bed by 10 (11 by our body clock).

Ill travelers

We got up ill. Evelyn was especially miserable, yet had to go with Stacy to a Bible study. I went down to eat breakfast, so I could stay out of her way while she dressed. Stacy picked her up at 9:45. I came back and showered. I caught up on my Bible reading and went to the lobby so the maid could freshen up the room. I came back and slept for a short while. Evelyn was back by 1, and we walked to the Red Lobster for a bowl of soup and cheese biscuits. We returned and spent the afternoon in bed. We dressed for Tom’s birthday dinner, and Stacy picked us up. We met Tom and Peter at Boca Italian restaurant. It was decorated with almost every Italian trinket and plaque imaginable. It reminded me of Frankie Bones in Asheville, except it was much more crowded. We had reservations for a table in the kitchen and were shown each dish as it was bought from the grill to be served. We had an appetizer of Mozzarella cheese with basil and tomato. We shared an entrée of Chicken Pruccito and a pasta shell filled with spinach, sausage, feta, and ricotta cheese. We enjoyed all of them and the Celebration cake which was Tom’s birthday. The cake had green, red and yellow layers with egg white icing between them, topped with coconut icing. We said goodbye for the winter and returned to the hotel to rest up for tomorrow’s trip to Mississippi.

Rainstorm driving

We were up by 7 and finished packing things in the trailer. We drove in a heavy downpour to the bank in Clyde. The fax I needed wasn’t there by 9:30, so I had to call Texas. The woman faxed the paper as we spoke. We brought it home, finished packing the car and the coolers. We hooked up to the car and drove to Waynesville to get our lunch of a KFC sandwich. We drove on to GA where we filled up with cheaper gasoline. We continued to drive in rainstorms until we stopped at JaMar farms to eat and buy some Vidalia onion mustard. We drove in the rain virtually all day. We came to the La Quinta and checked in by 3. We took a nap and then drove to Stacy’s. On the way we picked up Peter and got him home just before it began pouring again. We talked while Olivia made us her specialty, linguini alfredo. It was very good. We watched a movie, “Rocket Man” and then came back to the hotel. On the way we stopped for Nyquil and some cough drops before going to bed.

No letter today!

I was up at 6, unable to sleep. I worked on the computer until 7 and then began to prepare omelets for our breakfast again. Evelyn came out just in time and said she really enjoyed hers. She usually doesn’t like eggs, except in cake. It had rained some during the night but stopped early, giving us time to began bringing in the items from the deck. She washed everything first and put the new plastic cover down on the living room floor. I had wanted to use the tarp as we have for 5 years, but that was not to be. It was too dirty. I cleaned out the car and worked on finishing my suitcase. Then Evelyn went to town to get her shoes, return a book, and walk the lake. She didn’t return home until 2. I had begun making lunch since it was so late. I cleaned up all the dishes, and then Evelyn went to rest a while. I checked the mail and our absentee ballot and license sticker were neither in the box. I began calling. The county election board had no record that we had applied for an absentee ballot but did say that we might be able to vote on the state offices in New Braunfels when we are there. We are both very disappointed about not being able to vote in this very important election. Then I called Edinburg to see why our license sticker had not arrived. I learned that it was to be mailed tomorrow. Of course, we need it tomorrow. I finally pressed enough to have a statement faxed to a local bank tomorrow morning. Otherwise we would have to take a chance in driving with expired plates. We continued packing until our friend, Jo, came to bring Evelyn something for her feet. I talked her into staying for supper, and she and Evelyn talked until 7:30. We then watched some TV and went to bed early. I forgot to mention yesterday that I needed to pump up the tires on the trailer. I went to the neighbor and wheeled his huge air compressor down and used it. It was quite an adventure.

One day to go

I am having trouble sleeping late, possibly because of breathing problems with this allergy. I am taking Claritin or a reasonable facsimile thereof. (Did you know “fax” comes from that word?) We are continuing to pack the last essentials for the trip. It was raining so Evelyn couldn’t walk the lake and stayed home to help. It is certainly easier to pack when the trailer is right outside the door. I have decided to not change the oil until we get to Texas. I will have only 5,000 miles on this oil, and it doesn’t feel gritty. Many people think changing at 3,000 miles is too soon anyway because the new oil treatments are better. We also had Doris and Dody, our new neighbor, come for a chili lunch. We still have some left but will get rid of it somehow. We have too many leftovers left to eat in the next day. The incompetent water department came and turned off the water even though I told them we would not leave until Wednesday. I called and they immediately returned to turn it back on. We took our geraniums to our friend, Eva’s, and took our trash on the way. The sun had returned so we also covered our Purdue wishing well and took our Aloe plant to Linda’s for the winter. Evelyn cut the mandevilla back, I loaded it into the trailer. It is getting full in there. We take too many items back and forth, but that is what we have the trailer for. Evelyn walked our loop with Doris before going to our square dance lessons at 7. We have learned more this year than last, but this is really a review. We returned home for some blueberry smoothies for our supper and went to bed.

Worship Sunday

We went off to church and sang with the choir for the final time this season. We returned home and began the project of eating all the leftovers from the party. Afterward, we went to hook up the trailer to bring it here. We did hook it up but were unable to get the ball hitch to seat properly. It was easy to tow it the short distance here and back it in. I loaded some of the final things into the trailer but of course there are many last minute things that we will have to load just before we leave. Evelyn went to walk, and I went through yesterday’s mail. We still haven’t received the sticker for our trailer nor our absentee ballots are from Texas. Evelyn invited Doris and our new neighbor for a chili lunch tomorrow afternoon and that will help use some of our leftovers. We then invited Gary and Linda to come for popcorn and play Phase 10. She gets up around 4:30, so they left around 8. I watched some TV while Evelyn talked on the phone. We have 3 days left on this month’s telephone allotment.

Football party

We put the finishing touches on the party and then waited for the guests. Tom and Luann were first, followed by Gary and Linda. Phil and JoAnn were last. Ramseys were ill and didn’t come. The game began and was over within 2 minutes. Ohio State was far too good for Purdue and won the game 49-0. We had many appetizers—boudin, Rotel/Velveeta dip, etc. At halftime we ate the chili Evelyn had made as well as the brownies and pecan/apple pie. Everything was delicious, and everyone had a good time. They were all gone by 5. I then tried to change the oil. I drove the car upon to the ramps and tried to loosen the plug to the oil pan but couldn’t. The technician at Kia of Ashville had tightened it too much. I remember asking the manager to make sure that it was not tightened too tightly. I finally gave up and came in. It was now around 7. I had drunk a bit too much and felt sleepy. I went to bed at 7 and slept until 10. I was too hot and went to the living room to try to go back to sleep. I was there until about 1 and went back to the bedroom for the rest of the night.

The blessing of a haircut.

I slept better last night as did Evelyn. I haven’t walked the lake or the golf course for a couple of days and my leg feels better. We had a light breakfast and left for town. Evelyn wanted her haircut and made an appointment for 11:30. The Lord blessed her, as He always does, by making the stylist available at that time. But we still had other errands. We returned a book to the library, took a blouse to the Thrift shop and went to the grocery to get some last minute supplies for tomorrow before returning to the stylist. I just waited and caught up on my Bible reading until she finished. We returned home for lunch. Then Marty came to see if I wanted to play golf. Evelyn wanted to work on some desserts for tomorrow, so I went with Marty to play 18. It was a cool but lovely day. We rented a cart and got ahead of a foursome and thought we were in good shape. Unfortunately, there was an extremely slow foursome—2 men and 2 women--in front of us. The men weren’t very good and the women didn’t appear to have ever played before. They parked the cart on the path and walked 50 yards, one each way. This makes the game very slow. As a blessing to us, they played only 9 holes. We moved much faster on the back 9. Marty used to be a very good golfer, shooting in the 30s for 9 holes. Neither of us did anything near that today or any other day. We said we would play until 6 and were finished at precisely that time. We returned home in time for supper. I had thought I would change oil in the car today but was too tired after golfing. We tried to finish our preparations for tomorrow. We did get a call from the Ramsey’s saying they were both ill. We may have a great deal of chili to eat before we leave.

Evelyn's final Bible study

I couldn’t get to sleep until after midnight. I spent the time reading Drew Brees’ book. After I went to sleep, I wakened again at 6 and resumed my reading until 7:30. I had set the alarm because she had to be at the church at 9:30. I carried some things to the trailer and then took her to church. I went back to the Terrace Hotel to get on the Wifi and watched the golf lessons I was given. It took almost an hour and a half. The good thing is that it would have taken 4 hours using my air card. I returned a got Evelyn after picking up my medicine. We weren’t very hungry, so we just had some snacks. She wanted to go walk, but I talked her into resting first. After her nap, she went to the lake. It was a beautiful, crisp day, but she returned saying she thought she would not make it around. She says that often, but I am usually there to encourage her. I am not walking any longer to see if that will relieve the ache in my lower leg. I had gone back to the doctor to check on my PSA reading because I had forgot yesterday. I thank God that it was 1.59—a good reading since 4 is the danger point. It had risen .1 since last year. Evelyn rested again and then got up to heat up some leftovers for supper. We are slowly eating down the items that are perishable. I think we may come out even this year, except for the milk. During the evening, I helped Evelyn a little in cleaning the bottom cupboards. We still have 3 to finish. I watched some of the baseball game but went to bed early, hoping to sleep this time.

Great health news.

We slept late again because Evelyn is into a non-sleep cycle. She was up 2 hours last night, so I let her sleep until about 10. We then got ready and went to the Open Door for the final time this year. We also gave money to them. We left and got some milk to last us the rest of our time here and left Evelyn’s shoes for repair at the cobbler’s. We had to come home because she had left the shoes she was wearing. We spent half an hour at home during which time I put my push golf cart back into the box it came in. We were then off to my 3:00 doctor’s appointment. We got in to see him at 3:30. We have a great relationship with him, and he gave us some good news. My weight is down around 215 and my triglycerides, cholesterol and LDLs are down. My HDLs are up. He combined some of my meds but had no advice about my aching right lower leg. He did write a script to get a foot brace for my foot flop. We took things to recycle, picked up some small cardboard boxes to use in packing and left my prescription to be filled. We had a light supper and then went off to our final choir practice. We were there for only 1 song because they are going into rehearsal for Christmas and we won’t be here. We came home and finished washing out the top kitchen cupboards. We will wash the bottom ones tomorrow. We have also begun organizing for our football party on Saturday.

Our sleeper car and the Washington Monument in the socialist capital

Waiting at Penn Station, inside shots, Evelyn delighfully having her picture taken

The hot kitchen, The back yard, the first synagogue in Newport

The husband's bedroom, the drawing room, guest room and servants quarters

A day of golf

We slept late again this morning, and I decided to play golf. I drove to the course, and Evelyn stayed home to clean some of the kitchen cupboards. It was a pleasant morning and few were playing the front 9, an unusual situation. I walked with my new push cart. I didn’t play as well as I had been lately but not as badly as sometimes. I didn’t get home until 1:10. Evelyn had a wonderful lunch prepared and had completed the cleaning of half of the cupboards. I was surprised to learn Marty wanted to play 18 holes. She is usually too tired after playing pickle ball in the morning. I rented a cart with her and rode around the course. Neither of us played very well, but we did enjoy the weather and the scenery. We didn’t get home until after 6. Evelyn heated some soup for me but didn’t eat. She went for a walk around our loop with Doris. She did walk at the lake in the afternoon but walked again anyway. We watched a movie, “Knocked Up” in the evening. I was in bed when it finished and asleep immediately after. I heard Evelyn up during the night, so I knew she wasn’t sleeping well.

Good friends are back

We were up early because I had a fasting blood draw scheduled. We walked before I went to the lab. The draw went smoothly and we returned home. I worked on the computer while Evelyn worked on making a rhubarb dessert. We didn’t eat lunch until around 1 and then sat down to relax. Evelyn went to lie down to rest but carried it too far. I was dozing in the living room while she slept in the bedroom when the phone rang. It was the doctor calling wondering where we were. We had both forgotten her appointment to have a small growth removed from her arm. We drove to the doctor but were too late to be worked in. Evelyn didn’t seem too disappointed and made an appointment for next spring. We came home and had some soup for supper before going to the Bible study at 6. We liked the DVD and plan to borrow it to take to TX for the winter. From there we went to square dance lessons. One of the men in our square had been drinking. He has a great deal of trouble remembering the calls, but I doubt that it can be attributed to the alcohol. We came home and found a note from our friends, Tom and LuAnn. I had invited them to the football party Saturday and they will come. They had invited us to visit them too, so I called them. As it turned out, they have to go to San Antonio to look at some housing. They will try to meet us at the Wurstfest in November. It has certainly been a beautiful, cool autumn. The nights are crisp, but the days are temperate and sunny.

Sunday on the telephone

We slept until 8 and got into the car to go to church. We were ready until I tried to start the car. The battery was dead, so I went to Gene Ford’s to see if he could give us a jump. He did and we even made it in time to rehearse with the choir. We had two wonderful meals in the morning: one was during Holy Communion and the other was with some church members at the Sagebrush Steakhouse. We didn’t get home until after 2 and just laid around. I watched some football, and Evelyn read until we couldn’t stay awake. We slept until 5 when we had to get up to go to the final Haywood Community Band concert of the season. They played songs that dealt with colors; e.g. Pink Panther, Goldfinger, etc. We came home for popcorn and TV. I talked with Peter for a while and am encouraged at his music future. Helen Fisher called and Evelyn enjoyed talking with her for a while. One program that we like is “Undercover Boss”. Tonight the CEO of Frontier Airline was featured. It was a joy to see him in his hotel room reading a Gideon placed Bible and praying with an employee. There are many Christians out in our country that have a close relationship with Him. It will be a blessing to worship our Lord with them in Heaven.S

Boiler up!

I had set the alarm for 6:30 because Evelyn had said she would shower before going to Spartanburg for an LWML meeting, but she decided not to shower. This made us about 20 minutes too early. I went up to the truck stop to get gasoline which is 10 cents cheaper. I then took Evelyn to church for her trip. It was only 7:30. I came back home and did odd jobs. I repacked my clothes into another suitcase because 1 is just not large enough to hold the items we need for the trip south. I also wrapped up the garden hose we will take with us. I put the tool box into the trailer also. I also did the dishes and brought another plastic tub down from the attic to carry incidentals such as our business and tax papers. I did some other things I can’t remember. I did get to watch some of the pregame shows and then the Purdue/Minnesota game. I am very impressed with the freshman quarterback, Rob Henry. He can run and will improve his passing as he matures. Purdue won, and OSU, next week’s opponent, lost to Wisconsin. I would like to think Purdue could win 2 more games to become bowl eligible but can only find 1 realistic possibility. The tragic news was the one of Purdue’s excellent basketball players, Robbie Hummel, tore his ACL again and will miss the season. With him, Purdue was a real contender to be in the final 4. That dream is now in the tank. Evelyn got home at 3:30. We immediately went outside and planted all 6 plants we had bought yesterday. We also went to a neighbor’s and dug out a hasta she didn’t want. We planted 2 out of the 1 because the plant split itself. We watered the plants again and folded the tarp we use to protect the mandevilla from frost. We came in for an early light supper. I watched the weather forecast and noticed a frost warning for Haywood County. Out we went to unfold and replace the tarp. We were both tired and planned to go to bed early. We did after talking with Emily for about an hour, Stacy for 20 minutes, and Peter for 10. We are always happy to talk with the daughters and grandchildren. We were in bed by 9.

Where have all the dancers gone?

We planned to arise at 7:30. We had put our telephone, set for that time, beside the bed. When we crawled out of bed at 8:45, we dressed and went to walk. Actually, that too was our plan. Instead we went to BoJangles and had a breakfast biscuit. We both had one with country ham in it and were stunned about how salty it was. That is what country ham is. We left there and went to a local nursery and looked at plants. We ended up buying 3 burning bush and 3 daisy mums. It was really windy but sunny. We came home and decided to dig holes for the plants but not plant them today. There is a frost warning for tonight. We also tried to move one of the poorly growing azaleas. We came in for lunch, planning to eat on the deck. I put some weight on the tablecloth but the wind instantly blew things over. The weather people had predicted 40 mph gusts. After the late lunch we rested and packed a small bit into the suitcases. We didn’t eat supper because there are always many snacks at the dance. Unfortunately, there were only 4 couples there, the one man band was in the hospital, and there was little food. We stayed only until 10 but did dance some. There was a preponderance of cha-cha songs on the CDs that had been pre recorded.

The anticipated LWML omelet brunch

We had a good night’s sleep—until 5 A M for me and 6 for her. We got ready to go to the church for the brunch. We didn’t have to be there until 9:30 but were early. We took the remainder of our supplies to the church, set them up, and I began cooking. I mixed the ingredients of the omelets and poured them into our omelet pan. The first one was lovely, but the pan got too hot and scorched the rest of them just lightly. The ladies enjoyed them, the potato casserole, the miniature bagels, and the incidental items. I ate with the ladies and then went to the hospital to upload pictures using their Wifi. I didn’t finish and went back to get her. The meeting was not over, so I cleaned up the kitchen while they finished. We came home and had no lunch. We had some more cleaning to do at home, and I made Evelyn rest afterward. She immediately went to sleep. When she wakened, we went to the lake to walk. It was another cool day but had a strong wind with it. It is beautiful here when the sun shines on the colorful leaves as we walk. It is certainly more pleasant than it was this past summer in the high 80 degree weather. Of course, Evelyn has to bundle up now because she is always cold. She is already looking forward to going to the Valley in a couple of weeks. We waited until 6 to finish off the tortilla soup for supper. I watched some TV while Evelyn ironed some and watched a movie I had recorded earlier. We have become concerned about our absentee ballot which has not yet arrived. We know that we will never dump our representative, Ruben Hinojosa, because he is in a hotbed of liberal Hispanics, but we want to try to help keep the liberal democrat out of the governor’s office. We are also hoping our new license plate sticker for our trailer arrives soon. We will be risking a lot if we have to try driving it to Texas without a 2010 sticker. We put our trust in the Lord.

Sleeping for the lady of the house, her bath room, and guest quarters

Mansion

Notice the golden piano and frescoes.

Pictures of the interior of the "summer home" we toured.

The next sets are of the manwion we toured.

The mansion we toured

Notice the old tree.

Newport

Belted cows. I had never seen this before. More mansions and a figure above a gate. There were many gated mansions.

More Newport

The glare is from the bus window. Pictures of mansions and Evelyn at Fort Adams. A few yachts behind her.

Barely making weight

Evelyn is having trouble sleeping again, so she slept a bit later. We went to walk around 10 and then went to get my medicine and go to the hospital to weigh ourselves. Evelyn thought she could go to Weight Watchers for this month. She brought me home and went to be weighed. She barely stayed under her target weight. We had discussed buying a Roadtrek to use in the summer. There is one just below Greenville that we could go down to see, but Evelyn was unwilling to go to the neighbor’s to use her phone to make a toll free call. Therefore, I am bowing out of the search. It was her idea in the first place. After lunch I went to the golf course with Marty, the next door neighbor. I was 2 over par after the first 5 holes and then had a monumental meltdown. I didn’t even break a hundred. We finished the final hole in a gentle rain and came home. I relaxed for a while and then had supper. Evelyn had worked all afternoon on more things for her meeting tomorrow morning. I will make omelets for her ladies group. We went to choir, taking some of the supplies for tomorrow with us. We came home and cleaned up the kitchen before going to work on the computer. How about a wonderful God who delivers the Chile miners! It was heartwarming to see so many of them fall to their knees and thank their merciful Savior.

delightful golf

We are in the habit of sleeping late. We did go to walk around 9 but then went on several errands: the pharmacy, the recycle center, the audiologist (to pay the other half or my hearing aids), the library, and the GO grocery for the last items for the brunch Evelyn is in charge of for Thursday. We came home and ate lunch. I was working on slight packing of the trailer when Marty, the lady next door, came and said, “Let’s go.” I had forgotten that I had left a note on her door saying we should play golf at 2. I was ready and, with Evelyn’s blessing, we went off to the course. She rented a cart, but I walked. I played fairly well and used her cart to drag mine up the severe hills. We played only 9 holes (the back 9) and , just as we walked onto the 18th green, it began to sprinkle. We got loaded and out of the lot by the time the rain began in earnest. What a blessing! We came home and unloaded the hatch. Evelyn and I had agreed to have no lunch because we would serve popcorn when JoAnn and Phil came to play Tripoley. They came and we had a good time. They left around 10 because Phil got a call saying that his daughter’s water had broken, meaning her baby would come soon. Phil and JoAnn will go to Cleveland to visit her tomorrow. Evelyn worked on her Bible study and the brunch she is in charge of. She has decided she wants me to make omelets for her Thursday. I question the flow of the cooking and service. The Lord will have things planned for us.

Beginning the packing for Texas.

We slept really late this morning. We must have been more tired than I even imagined. We went to walk the lake around 10:30. We have decided to leave one day earlier than we had originally planned. Olivia has to go on a field trip with her school on the 28th and we would not get to see her before we go to Texas. We are getting a bit concerned about how much time we will take to pack, so we got a plastic tub and a hanging bag of clothes down from the attic. We finished our walk and had lunch before we began packing clothes. I took 4 bags to the trailer with some shoes. She also packed some of the spices and condiments we want to take back. There is nothing in our mobile home in Texas. We are also packing some of my clothes in the plastic tub. We rested in the afternoon and then went to the Bible study at church. They meet for a potluck at 5, but we have stopped going for that part. The video series is very good, and we may use it in Texas. We went from there to the square dance lesson. We delivered the dinner and then danced for an hour and a half. One of the students, like we are, kept telling me what to do even though I knew everything that she was telling me. I don’t like this type of arrogance. We came home and talked with Emily for a long time. Evelyn also made plans with Jo to go to Spartanburg for a LWML meeting next Saturday. We also made plans to play Tripoley with Phil and JoAnn tomorrow night at 7. We will use our new Tripoley board.

German dinner

We had an inspiring worship this morning and then came home for lunch and rest. We had taken our red cabbage to the church with us in the morning, so we could rest in the early afternoon. We had to go back about 3:30. Evelyn had to cut cakes with JoAnn Green and then serve them from 4:30 to 5:30. I had only signed up to bring ice and had gone to Taco Bell on our way to church, so I just kibitzed with the workers and crowd. I had sold more than 20 tickets and was happy to see everyone there. I also waited for our friends, Karen and Dallas Norris. They didn’t arrive until after 5:30, during the second shift. We had a very good turnout, but we thought the portions were smaller than they had been in the past. Perhaps it was because we had more people; I know we prepared a similar amount as in previous years. After the dinner was over, we spent more than an hour cleaning up. It was a real mess exacerbated by the spilling a large amount of applesauce on the small kitchen floor. We were home around 10 but were very tired. We also took an extra dinner for a church member who had bought tickets but couldn’t go to the dinner. We planned to take it to him tomorrow night at the square dance lessons.

Football/festival Saturday

Saturday was a chilly, beautiful day. We were scheduled to work at the Folkmoot booth from 10-12. We handed out a brochure about a performance by a Serbian dance group touring the US. I stood in front of the booth and made goofy comments as I announced the event. Several people were interested but many said they would be gone, mostly back to Florida. I warned them of a sink-hole epidemic, but most of them just laughed. I said several other goofy things too, hoping they would at least take a brochure and think about. The event was the “Church Street Festival” and featured many craft or art booth. They came from as far away as New York. What a surprise that was! Others were from other parts of the Appalachian area or the piedmont area of NC. Evelyn found a few pieces of jewelry she wanted. We listened to some of the musicians that played: Balsam Range, Whitewater Bluegrass, and some others. There were the usual cloggers and other dance groups. We came home around 2 and had lunch. Evelyn rested and talked with Stacy who spoke of her trip with other ladies to Florida. She thought it was to be Christian women, she was the only one. After a few blasphemies by one especially vocal pagan women, Stacy confronted her and stood up for her Christian values. I have seldom been prouder of her. We received a letter from Emily detailing her family’s activities on Wednesday. They had a good time square dancing. Evelyn walked a bit with Doris before we went to our own square dance. We couldn’t dance but the people who are conducting the lessons are having their regular monthly dance. We went and stayed for about 45 minutes and came home to watch the Purdue/Northwestern football game. I had hoped to sell 2 German dinner tickets at the dance, but the couple that said they would be there didn’t show up. At the time of publication, Purdue just took the lead in the game 20-17. I want to quit while I am ahead.

Friday lunch

It was a beautiful Friday fall morning. Evelyn began working on preparing for the lunch she had planned for her friends JoAnn, Debbie, and Megan. I helped reduce the size of the table for her and then went off to the golf course. I had taken my computer to work on in case there was a big stack of golfers at the first tee. There was a stack, but they had not planned to play until 12 so I went ahead. The starter put me in with a group of 2 men and their wives. Only 1 man and wife played. The other wife just drove the cart. I was walking with my push cart. We played the first 9 together and I played fairly well. When we started the back 9, I lost it and returned to old form. We were playing so slow that the starter asked us to skip a hole or 2 and return to play 11 later. I broke from the group and played the rest of the way alone. The group behind never caught me despite my poor play. I had not eaten lunch but had eaten a breakfast bar and wasn’t very hungry. When I got home, Evelyn wanted to walk, so I went with her and took my computer to the hotel where I could publish more pictures from the cruise. She returned and read until 6 when I stopped. I was still not finished. We came home for supper of things left from noon. Evelyn worked on the red cabbage for the German dinner. We went to bed after the early news.

New Port Rhode Island

I think the bridge I promised was outside of Newport. We had to be tendered in past a thousand yachts and sailboats. These are shots of Newport. We had a bus tour.

Boston at Paul Revere's house.

A huge bridge crosses the Boston Harbor (another shot to follow). We toured the preserved Paul Revere house. Many sidewalks had copper figures imbedded in them. The Bell in Hand Tavern may be famous for something, but we couldn't get anyone to take an order for a drink. We left thirsty.

Walking the freedom trail

We would have taken a ride on this "Duck" (amphibion) but didn't see it in time. One building is the site of the Boston Massacre. Enlarge to read the placque. The other building is Fanuel Hall, another meeting place for insurgents. The statue is of Samuel Adams, but will likely be replaced by one of Karl Marx, Fidel Castro, or Hugo Chavez. That is before we give the country to the Muslims.

Historic Boston

Part of the Freedom Trail. The church is where many of the founding fathers worshiped. George Washington was here for a dedication once. Boston had the first subway in the country. Who knew?