Merry Christmas

Our place is decorated for Christmas! Lynda and Dan had a bit of help this year when Mike offered to come over and do his part. As usual, I started cooking for our party about the time they began working on the decorations. Another friend, Joan, came over and helped Lynda with the inside decorations, then Dan came back and did the Christmas tree lights. We (or at least Lynda was) were disappointed to discover that the LED lights we bought after Christmas last year had a definite blue tint. When they were set to "fade", they weren't as overpowering. I've already bought new ones for next year.

After the lights were on, Betty came and decorated the tree. Dennis and Gwenda came early Saturday afternoon (Dec. 13th) and really helped get ready for the party. I believe everyone enjoyed the party (or open house).

Lynda has an appointment tomorrow (Dec. 22) to talk about hip replacement. We are hoping she can have it done shortly after the beginning of the new year.

She and I will drive over to Lauri and Jeff's in Memphis for Christmas brunch. Then later in the week we will head down to Canyon Lake, Texas to spent the New Year's holiday with Ray & Carolyn and Robert & Olivia.

Definitely Fall

We have had some cold weather. The temperature is predicted to be down below freezing again for tonight. Not much new going on around here.

A Dreary Day

It has been raining off and on all day and we haven't seen any sunshine today. Lynda and I are planning to go to Texas for Thanksgiving. We will spend the holiday with Ray and Carolyn and then drive over to Arlington to spend a few days with Neal and Carolyn. As soon as we get back, it will be time to get ready for the Christmas holidays. We are planning to have our traditional open house on December 13th.

Where Did October Go

I let the month of October slide by without posting anything!

We got back from Colorado during the first week of the month, then stayed home for a spell. We got some pansies set out in the window boxes and some of the potted plants ready to bring inside.

Ray and Carolyn called and suggested that we meet them in Hot Springs for a visit. That way we have about the same amount of driving.

Fall Is Officially Here

I just realized that it has been over a month since I wrote anything here. It is now fall, and the temperatures have been a bit nicer. The guys are giving our house its annual washing. C.L. mowed the yard and working in the flower beds earlier in the week, so the place looks pretty good.

And Lynda did major house cleaning (inside) last week in anticipation of Valerie's visit. Valerie spent two nights with us and we had a nice visit. On Wednesday evening we went to Memphis and had bar-b-cue at the Bar-b-cue Shop.

Another Trip

Lynda and I have just returned from a trip to Texas. We attended the 50th wedding anniversary celebration for Mary Sue and Fletcher Fields in Brady on August 15th. Mary Sue and Lynda were roommates at San Angelo College and Mary Sue played the organ at our wedding. After the Brady event, we went out to Christoval the next day to spend a few days with Lynda's aunt Frances. We went in to San Angelo one evening to have supper with Bill and Pinky Humble at one of our favorite Mexican Food places.

The next day we visited with Sue Mims, another Water Valley-days friend, over coffee at the Baker Street Coffee House. We did a little shopping at H.E.B. and also took some photos of the blossoms in the international water lilies park.

As we left the area, we had planned to get some sausages at the place where we have bought the best German style sausages, but they are closed on Wednesday.

We were in Arlington to attend the wedding of Cody and Veronica, the son of Lynda's cousin and his bride. The afternoon wedding was a lovely event and we had a break in the weather--it was only in the 90s and not 100+.

We continued down to Palestine to visit with my east Texas family members and to attend a reunion of the 1952 through 1957 classes from Elkhart High School.

Almost Home

You could say that we are half home. We got to Paris, TX today around 2:30 p.m. We left Lawton, OK sometime before 9:30 after eating breakfast in the restaurant at the motel. Since it was going to be a short driving day, I drove the entire way from Lawton to Paris. Our complete trip was 5670 miles.


Here are some prairie dogs that live in the area just off the motel's parking lot.




We ate lunch at a Whataburger (Lynda's favorite hamburger) in Sherman, TX.


Lynda and I will stay with Ray and Carolyn until Saturday.. We should be back in Forrest City by Saturday evening.

From Garden City to Lawton, OK

We had a good night's sleep at the Soft Pillow Motel in Garden City and then head down the road a bit to Hanna's Corner for breakfast. The breakfast was O.K., but nothing spectular.

Lynda had read somewhere about bison at a rescue place nearby, so we looked for it. The only persons around were men working on the roof of the build. We didn't find any bison. So, I drove on to Dodge City.




We didn't see Marshal Dillon, but did see a statue of Wyatt Earp.

Farther on down the road we saw a sign for St. Jacob's Well. I drove onto the narrow gravel road and as we topped a hill we saw a herd of bison near a windmill.





We watched the bison for a few minutes then drove on to St. Jacob's Well.
We viewed the well from the high lookout and didn't walk down the steep path to the well (the temperature was approaching 100 degrees).

From Palmer Lake, CO to Garden City, KS

We had a late breakfast with Jerry and Dale then set off. After a bad day, I was now feeling very good. I ended up driving the entire trip to Garden City, KS.

Our one major stop turned out to be not so good. We we arrived at Bent's Fort in the afternoon the temperature was near 100 degrees and there was a long walk (it looked very long) walk to the fort. We opted to take some photos from the road and drive on.









We did stop at Camp Ameche--an interment camp for Japanese-Americans during WWII.

Visits with Relatives

I wasn't feeling very well, so Ray did all of the driving today. We stopped by Nelson Museum in Cheyenne, WY, then drove on to Carolyn's cousin's near Boulder, CO. After a short visit with Beth and her family, we heading on down to Palmer Lake to Jerry and Dale's for the night. We had a very good visit.

From Burley to Rawlins, WY

The main thing today was driving across Idaho, Utah, and into Wyoming. We did manage to stop to eat lunch (Mesican food) and make a short visit to Fort Bridger. I drove for a while and then sat in the back while Ray drove.

Along the Oregon Trail

We spent the night in Baker City, Oregon. We arrived at the motel around 10 p.m. to find that the woman at the desk could not find our reservation. After several anxious minutes she finally retrieved it.

We spent the morning at the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center.









Two other sights on our list were the three island crossing area in Glenn Ferry and Shoshone Falls near Twin Falls. I wasn't impressed with the Three Islands Crossing State Park. It probably would have been better if the Interpretive Center had been opened. Shoshone Falls was as wonderful as the first time I say it some years ago. It is sometimes called the Niagara of the West.

Friday- July 18

Lynda saw a sign for lavender so we checked it out and came across this patch of blooming lavender. Our van had a delightful air of fresh lavender as we drove down I 84.


We traveled along the Columbia River for a good part of the day. There are several waterfalls on the route.



















The wind is fierce in the gorge. Many of the trees show effects of the strong winds.

Thursday-July 17

Our three major objectives for Thursday were 1)go to the Pacific Northwest Shop in the Tacoma area, 2)see the Dale Chihuly glass work at the "bridge of glass", and 3) drive out to Mount St. Helens. I set the GPS for the shop and we were off.






Lynda and Carolyn chose a few of the items at the Pacific Northwest Shop. A friend had sent an email telling me about the shop and suggesting that we would probably like it.




The Bridge of Glass was a good display for the Chihuly works.



The ceiling of the first passage was covered with the art pieces.







One wall of the second passageway provided good display space for other of the colorful pieces.






Mount St. Helens lost its top when it epurted in May of 1980.





During the 28 years since the eruption, life has returned to the area.




At least two new lakes resulted from the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens.