LOOKING BACK
Sunday, November 12 – Saturday, November 18, 2006
November 12…Sunday
”Going home” seems to be the phrase that comes to mind when we talk about attending Sunday School at Liberal First Baptist this morning. Don was in his usual rare form, the discussion was lively, and the lesson meaningful…and we got to visit with so many wonderful friends! Then it was on to the church service with the greatest pleasure awaiting us, since Leah and Ryan (and Caitlin, Ryan’s niece) joined us for the worship service. It was good to be back!
After church, Sergio and Jacob played (and Jake sang) the song they had promised us. I teasingly told them that if they had charged admission, they could have made a little extra cash since they drew a crowd. So much talent!
Finally...over to Leah’s for a great lunch...and just for the record...once again, Jim asked Leah what spices she used on the roast and that led to a culinary discussion by the two of them. It just amazes me that this girl who cooked macaroni without any water, now can almost…note, I said almost…out-cook Jim! While we visited, we also did the laundry; and, eventually left to prepare for our departure from Liberal, but not before exchanging greetings with our former next door neighbors, the Youngs, who had been such special friends for so many years. Bill was putting up the Christmas lights on their roof and made his annual offer for Jim to join him in climbing ladders and stringing wires. Jim, for his part, declined the invitation for the twelfth consecutive year, choosing instead to cheer Bill on from below.
Broken promises can lead to disaster! That’s the lesson learned this day. I’ll explain this statement. Jim and I promised each other that with retirement we would no longer travel after dark. Well…we broke that promise (again), since it was almost 6:00 before we pulled out of Liberal. Not only was it dark, but the wind was fierce…so fierce that each time a truck passed us going the opposite direction, it threw the Big V over on the shoulder. Poor Jim used every ounce of his strength to keep us from landing in a ditch! And, since it was so hectic and noisy with the wind and then the rain, we never realized that we lost one of the ramps on the trailer! Go figure! Anyway, we called it quits at a truck stop in Meade…only 45 miles…but trust me it seemed like a 1000! We were just thankful we were safe. And, guess what? The Moon Mist Motel (not kidding…even Jim couldn’t make that one up) was diagonally across the street and we got free internet from them while we stayed in the warmth and comfort of Big V. God is good to fools.
November 13…Monday
Thank goodness all the excitement and adventure of traveling was at bay during our travels this day.it was just an ordinary trip with us arriving at Olathe RV around 2:30.
That’s when the adventure set in though, since we had to take the Vibe off the trailer without ramps! But, all of our years in Odyssey of the Mind paid off because Jim had this brilliant idea… He lowered the jacks of the RV, which raised the rear of the motor home and lowered the trailer bottom… Then he had me stand (okay, so I weigh as much as the car???) in front of the car so when he backed off, the trailer wouldn’t bounce up… But, then he thought better of that and demanded that I sit down so if the trailer bounced me, I wouldn’t break anything! Now how considerate is that!!! Never a dull moment with that guy.
Once we got everything settled, we headed to Croft trailer where they agreed to make us another ramp for the trailer. Did a little shop browsing and then got back to the RV shop about 5:00 where we let them lock us in for the night since Whit and Jim were busy. We stayed put and watched a little TV, and I mean little! It was a perfect night to catch up on some sleep we missed while in Liberal. (That is NOT a complaint…we loved every minute of visiting…) This was just a perfect night to catch up on the sleep.
November 14…Tuesday
Déjà vu all over again! We are now sitting at Panera Bread enjoying the music, the light breakfast, and the computer time. Jim just went to refill our drinks. When he came back he commented that this looked like a corporate office with all the people sitting in their cubicles (booths) while they hammered away (OK, in Jim’s case “pecked away) at their laptops. As usual, I’m finished way before him as he reads all this intellectual stuff and I play games!
A call from Whitney brought the
news that she was feeling really, really yucky from a cold that she could not
shake; so dinner that night was out of the question. Then a call from Carol at
Olathe RV cinched our plans when she explained that the microwave/convection
oven needed to be replaced and the new one wouldn’t be in for another 4 days.
We decided to just pack our bags, leave Big V, and wander on down to the
Since this was an unexpected
adventure, we looked at the map and decided to take a longer route that we’d
never traveled before, US Highway 69. This took us through
November 15…Wednesday
With no pressure to be anywhere at any certain time, we spent a leisurely morning in the motel checking email, listening to the wind howl with unrelenting force, and plotting a travel course for the day.
Basically our travel course was this…take I-44 and go through Jenks, Oklahoma (that’s a long story…just to make it short…our paths in Chengdu, China, crossed with what we thought were some rude, snotty, American kids and we wanted to see what their “perfect” town looked like.)
Eventually, we wound up in
November 16….Thursday
Only one thing is definite on this trip…taking it nice and slow is our motto. We didn’t even venture out to the Waffle House for our free breakfast until after 10:00. Finally, around noon, we were off for the final leg of this trip.
After checking into a Rodeway Inn
close to Heather’s and Andy’s, we had time to unpack and get organized before
the kids got off work. Eventually, we went over to their house to wait for Mike
and Kelly to arrive from
November 17…Friday
Happy Birthday, Randi! Our oldest
granddaughter who lives in
Oops! We had a deadline. Mike called and said for us to meet him and Kelly at Cracker Barrel at 9:15…wasn’t sure we could get our act together that early, but we did!
We can’t believe how blessed we
are. While at breakfast, Kelly, who had been to
The kids had to get on over to Fort Worth for wedding duties; so Jim and I spent the rest of the morning and part of the afternoon shop browsing…as opposed to regular shopping. I swear most of our time was spent in fighting traffic. Can’t imagine wanting to live in this place!
Later over to Heather’s to baby-sit Alexander for a couple of hours. Then it was dinner (Jim fixed his trademark baked chicken with all the trimmings) before we journeyed back to the hotel.
November 18…Saturday
We got up at 6:00 so we could allow
plenty of time to get over to
Wedding…The bride was beautiful and
the groom (Josh---Mike’s roommate when they were in
After saying good-bye to Kelly and Mike at the reception, we set out to return to the motel for some rest! This time we weren’t quite so lucky with the traffic and it took an hour and 15 minutes to return to the motel.
Tonight we will share dinner with all of the kids.
And, that brings us to the end of another week in the “little” journeys.
Jim hooted when we saw this sign at
a church in
From
Jim & Barbara
FORWARD TO NOVEMBER, 2020
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Sunday, November 1 - Monday, November 23
After attending Sunday School and the morning service at New Hope Missionary Baptist Church, we came home for lunch, then Jim changed into his uniform and we drove to Myrtle Springs Cemetery north of Quitman to sound Taps and provide final honors for the father of one of our friends from Yantis FBC. Cathey Dye had called earlier this week to ask Jim to do the honors, and he readily accepted.
Tuesday, November 3
Barbara had an appointment with Dr. Olvera, her pain management specialist in Tyler this morning. Seeing Dr. Olvera is serious business, but that didn't stop us from having some photo phun and clowning around a bit. Except in excruciating circumstances, our motto is, "If you can't have some fun at something, why do it?"
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Wednesday, November 4
For some time we have been considering a getaway in Big V, but couldn't decide where we wanted to go. With so many Covid restrictions around the country, we decided to focus on somewhere in Texas that would be warm. Kids John and Carol love Port Aransas as their favorite getaway spot, so we decided to take a couple of day to drive down there in the car and check out what was available for a month or so of motor home time.
Of course, the cameras go with us everywhere. Barbara got these photos along the way.
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Thursday, November 5
We were up early this morning to begin scouting for RV parks in Port Aransas. But first, we stopped at the restaurant where we ate last night to see if Jim had left his hat there. He did, but someone had turned it in, so we were ready to rock and roll.
When we hit the beach, Jim was prepared with his head covering, but found that he had packed mismatched sandals. Oh well, the best-laid plans are sometimes just well-laid plans.
After a full day of driving all around and through Port Aransas, we finally settled on an RV park for a six week stay. Then it was back to Rockport to settle in for a good night's sleep before heading back to Mineola.
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Friday, November 6
The name of the game today was drive, drive, drive. Other than getting lost in Victoria after missing a turnoff, the trip was fairly uneventful.
After arriving at home and settling in for the night, we received this photo from Mike, Kelly, and the kids, along with some Facetime...looks like the kids were having a good time!!!
Sunday, November 8
Today was Veterans Appreciation Day at New Hope Missionary Baptist Church. Jim played "God of Our Fathers" on trumpet as the congregation sang. Church members who were military veterans were recognized and honored throughout the service.
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Monday, November 9
Another trip to Tyler to see Dr. Olvera. Barbara had surgery on her back to burn some nerves. Jim wasn't allowed in the hospital due to Covid restrictions, so there was nothing to see, and little to say about the experience.
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Wednesday, November 11
