Thursday-Friday, May 27-28

 We started early, about 5:45 am heading through Chicago to get over to Michigan. We got up to Prudenville where Teresa’s chalk art teacher lives, about 3:00 or so. Mr. Bowman was in the process of making chalk and described how it is done. Fascinating. 

We met his wife, son and three daughters. They are all a wonderful, Christian family. They are expanding the building where the chalk is boxed and stored. Check out his website here:

http://www.eternityarts.com/

 We had to leave about 4:30 to get Teresa to Camp CoBeAc which stands for:

COme BElieve ACcept. We were able to stay the night in one of the family cabin rooms, recently refinished.

It is a beautiful location, recently landscaped, clean, wide, borders a lake, has a gym, game room, plenty of cabins for hundreds of campers. The group of kids there for counselors are young college-age people. Teresa said she was assigned to the cleaning crew.

On Thursday Henry sat in on one of the training sessions. The camp director is well-suited for the job. He told the kids about the camp philosophy and what was expected. We were told many times, “If you have any questions, please call us.” The staff were very helpful. After the morning session, the kids were given tasks on cleaning up the campgrounds. Many of them were outside raking leaves. Teresa and some others were cleaning cabins. Her crew’s job was to clean all the corners in the cabins. Some other group was to come after them and mop. We found her, took photos, hugged and said goodbye. I guess we won’t see her before we return to Japan.

About 11:00 we headed toward Kalkaska where we will be on Sunday. We arrived early, so went to the post office then the local library to check email. It was a nice, small library, albeit, not as quiet as I recall libraries.

About 4:30 we arrived at the pastor house and chatted for over an hour. They are hosting a Chinese high school student. He chose the American name Tommy and speaks good English. He got saved shortly after arriving in the USA back in August, and is a very engaging young man of 17. He graduates from the local high school on Saturday.

The pastor and his wife took us out to dinner at a local restaurant. That was really good and also a very popular place. Three of us has the special fish dinner; it was really a lot to each. Sara did not eat her fries and I did not finish mine.

So tonight we are in a local hotel. Saturday, Henry goes to the men’s prayer breakfast while Sara and I will go visit with pastor’s wife until they are done. Then it is preparation for Sunday.

Wednesday, May 26

 Wednesday we stayed in Hampshire, IL. About noon we went over to the Coon house and ate lunch with Jesse. She is an engaging young lady. Her parents said she has active PDD,(I think that was it). She is 21 but has the mind of a 12 year old. She is very articulate, and talks a lot. She is an expert on all things Disney and remembers many story lines from books she has read. Her mom worked hard with her to do her studies and drill her in her schooling. She recently graduated from high school.

Jesse fixed us lunch of soup, Teresa helped with sandwiches. We then took a tour of Hampshire. Jesse directed us to the Blocks butcher/grocery store in town where I bought ingredients for curry. We got back home about 3:45 or so after her dad got there. We then prepared dinner and ate about 5:30 when Debbie got home from work. After that, we got went to church.

During the service, Henry showed our DVD presentation, then preached a message on “a cup of water” given in the name of a disciple. Jesus told us that if we give just a cup of water to anyone, even in the name of a disciple, we will not lose our reward. It was quite good, IMHO.

When we got back to the Coon’s house, we had cheesecake for dessert and showed some photos of Japanese Engrish. Some of it is so funny. About 10:00 pm we left for the hotel and packing and getting ready for the morning.

Tuesday, May 25

  Barbee, Denise, Teresa, Sara,Henry

We left Omaha about 7:30 a.m. to get to the Iowa Machine Shed Restaurant near Des Moines by 9:30 for brunch. It is a really beautiful place, country store and restaurant with that rustic atmosphere. They sell all things John Deere and the dining room had a big sign with that name on it. Barbee and friend Denise came a few minutes after us, we hugged and greeted each other, then were seated for breakfast. Again, the choices were wonderful. We each ordered something different, except Denise as she works night shifts at the hospital and is not used to breakfast. I had an omelet with has browns and sausage links. Enough for me. Henry’s portion was big. He shared a slice of real smoked bacon and small piece of country fried ham. Sara had three big pancakes which she could not finish. Teresa’s plate had hash browns, toast and country fried chicken. Barbee had bisquits and gravy. Neither could finish their plates. And plenty of coffee. Water and juice for me.

One of the other customers had ordered the cinnamon rolls. This is not your ordinary roll. It was more like a quarter of two-layer cake. That would add a few calories to your diet for sure.

This is a cinnamon roll....
We noticed that when the staff prepared for lunch, they moved an old wood wagon to use for the salad bar. Unique. When we paid the bill, one of the ladies asked where we were from and I told her Japan and why we were here. I was standing next to a tray of those cinnamon rolls that were wrapped in plastic. She said to pick out two—for our travels. Thank you so much! I chose one with pecans and a plain one. Mind you, we really did not need to have one of these, but, after all, she insisted. We thanked her and I gave her one of our prayer cards.

We got back on the I-80 East to Illinois. Along the way we ran into two rainstorms, complete with lightening and thunder. The first one was before we crossed the Mississippi and we had a detour to take. After getting back on the main highway we ran into another severe storm. This time we had to pull over because we could not see. After a few minutes it let up a bit and we started out slowly again, only to come across a semi-truck that turned over in the left lane.

 The rain was so hard, we could not see.

It did not look as if anyone was hurt but a few hundred yards down the road we saw a police vehicle that looked like it spun off the road onto the grassy median. Just a lesson in how to drive carefully through a rainstorm.

We got to our next destination about 4:45 pm, which is the Coon’s house. We know them from our days at Independent, but they left there about the time we came to Japan, so we have not seen them in 20 years. They live on a family farm out on a country road. The house sits on three acres and they own 17 additional ones they lease to a local farmer who is growing soybeans this year. Last year it was corn. This man is a Christian and plows their driveway when it snows heavily. We showed David and Debbie photos from IBC and the Shuffields and our kids when they were much younger. There are several pictures in my book with their girls and our boys together. David made spaghetti for dinner, with fresh radishes and home-canned green beans’ quite tasty.

The youngest daughter, Jesse, is 21; her two older sisters Jackie and Jamie are married living in different states. Their house is a family heirloom, several generations old. Family live nearby. It is a very nice place to rear your children.

We are staying here on Wednesday because Dave called his pastor and told them about us, so we will be going to church with them on Wednesday night.

Monday, May 24

We decided to stay an extra day in Omaha. The original plans were to go to Iowa and meet another quilting friend named Jan. However, she wrote and said her daughter was there and was taking her back to Wisconsin and the grandkids for a month. It was a disappointment, as we were to also meet Sandy from Minnesota and Barbee, also from Iowa.

I contacted Barbee and we decided to meet in Des Moines, Iowa, for breakfast on Tuesday.

So Monday, Henry and the girls went to the Omaha Zoo, upon recommendation from several people. It was rated the second best in the country, I think, with lots of different pavilions and natural habitat type areas for the wild animals.
We first stopped at the church to pack up our display stuff, then they dropped me off at the WalMart and went on to the zoo. I got some items then walked the mile back to the hotel. The wind was powerful. I had on a full skirt so it was a challenge to keep it from blowing all over the place while holding on to my purse and bag. I made it back in one piece, no worse for the wear.

After the family got back about 6:00 pm, we walked over to Burger King and ate dinner. I think we will try to eat at a different restaurant as much as possible while here. Salads are always good, even on the $1 menu.

Saturday, Sunday, May 22-23

We left Enid and headed north toward Omaha, Nebraska, for our first meeting on Sunday. Passing through Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska was a long trip, but the scenery was interesting at some points. Lots of cows, open fields, big, blue sky and farm equipment. One can understand why this part of the USA is called the Breadbasket.

We arrived at our hotel in Omaha about 5:00 pm, then went up the road a couple of miles to Midwestern Baptist Church where we met Pastor Bentley. We were last here in 1989 on deputation when Teresa was just a baby. The present location of the church is a big stone house which they added a big extension for the auditorium and classrooms. The property used to be wooded and had a high wall on one side so that people could not see it from the road. They landscaped it, cut down a bunch of trees and put in three levels of parking.

Outside near the main entrance is a rock garden with oodles of iris! I’m missing the iris growing in my yard in Japan. There were more colors than the lavender and purple I have. A relative of the pastor’s family was well known in the area for their iris breeding. Wish I could take a few chormes home with me.

Sunday Henry preached in Sunday School, as well as the morning and evening services. He spoke on serving God and our part in the great commission, along with a few corny jokes tossed in. The congregation must have liked it because they laughed a lot. Sunday evening we showed our DVD presentation which was well received. I had not really seen it before this, and parts of it brought tears to my eyes; my kids are so all grown up. We met and shook hands with many people who told us they pray for us and took one of our newest prayer cards. It was so good to see that the church had not changed its standards when so many are doing so, especially in the area of music.

Our Display of Japanese items

After the evening service we went to a restaurant with Pastor’s son and his family for a late dinner.

Friday, May 21

Thursday evening, Ron came back from a business trip earlier than expected. He was due in Friday evening after we departed. We all chatted, shared photos and stories of days gone by. Ron now pastors a small Southern Baptist church in View, Texas, about 10 miles from where they live. The church is celebrating its 100th anniversary shortly, so they are in preparation for that event.

Today's trip was about six hours total, a nice, no-rush trip. We had time to stop and eat lunch at a Pizza Hut--thin crust, half cheese, half supreme. Delicious.

The drive through Texas and Oklahoma was different than the Southwest. Here there was real greenery; one could see the gradual changes in the landscape. We drove through some small towns and plenty of wide, open spaces. The crops were either not planted yet, or just harvested.

There was plenty of hay rolled up in the fields. We came across a pickup truck with one of those rolls in the back.

When we got to Kingfisher, OK, I called Callie and said we were on our way. She left her house and would meet us in Enid at the hotel. We got to Hennessey and saw a billboard for the Prairie Quilt store. Of course, we had to stop. I went there, the family went across the street to the Dollar General store. The quilt store was just super; wall to wall fabric bolts, fat quarters, colors, notions, kits, machines, anything.

Give me a yard of everything. I settled on a half yard of a pretty floral print and four fat quarters. I could have stayed longer, but Callie was waiting.

We got to the hotel, checked in and the called Callie. She knocked on the door about 20 minutes later. It is so nice to put a face to a name. Teresa took a few pictures while we chatted for about 30 minutes. Callie had to go back home to take care of a new kitten and put a quilt on her machine and get it done before 2:00 pm tomorrow. We walked her out to her pickup, took some more photos, then said goodbye. It is really nice to meet friends for the first time, that you have known for over 10 years via the internet.










Monday, we get to do it again with Sandy, Barbie and Jan in Iowa. That will be fun.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Today Terry took us to the Abilene Zoo, which was actually a nice, small zoo. Lots of the usual animals. The giraffes had a bridge in their section. Kids would feed them special crackers and their long, gray tongues took the food readily.





There were seven bison who also ate those crackers. The lioness looked pregnant, the rhino was roaring as it was in its enclosed cage and apparently wanted out. There was also food for the catfish, koi and ducks out on the small lake. It was one of the better zoos I have seen.


After that we went to a chocolate place and got some chocolate covered strawberries; they dipped them as we waited. Fresh, good and so healthy! You could get anything dipped in chocolate there. The store is a former railroad depot.

Wednesday, May 19

Terry took us to a Texas history Museum. It was an interesting exhibit of a 100 year history of Texas and the early settlers. Some of the stories are really sad, of course, and others one wonders how these people managed to survived.

She then took us to downtown Abilene which still has the old brick buildings, nice quaint street and angle parking on the street. The storefronts are really neat. We ate at a place called Alley Cats which had such delicious sandwiches and tortilla wraps and so big—I hope I do not put on weight while on this trip as it is only the second week.

Anna,Terry and Ron’s younger daughter, and her husband Tom, and two boys came over for dinner. We went to the 7:00 pm evening service at their church.

The pastor preached a good message about reaching out to the community and being an effective witness. At the end, all the men went to the altar and prayed for the prayer list. Then we were dismissed and met the pastor. He has been at the church since March, having served in a church in Oregon for 41 years.

Tuesday, May 18

We left Tucson, with hugs all around, about 7:45 am and got onto the I-10 about 8:30 heading East. There was construction at various spots along the way.
The ride through Arizona and New Mexico had about the same desert scenery. It would be something one could get used to, cactus, low bushes and sand. We saw several swirling sand tornado-type funnels across the wide, flat, open plains. Such expanse, as far as the eye could see in many places, especially when we hit Texas. There were many trains, some a mile long or more, parallel to the highway.

The first part of the trip the girls and I packaged up our prayer cards to send to our supporting churches. We stopped in a town about noon to mail a bunch of them; that took about an hour for the clerk to weigh and price everything, and about $100 to mail. There are still more to go.


Welcome to Texas

The drive to Abilene took 12 hours. We forgot we had to go through two time zones, so when we finally got to Terry’s house, it was after 10:30 p.m. About an hour later, we all crashed. It will probably be our longest day on the road this entire trip.

Weekend May 15-16-17

Debbie and her family came over for a late lunch Saturday. Little Amelia was a big hit with everyone. Debbie’s parents-in-law made the meal; they like to cook. On Sunday after church, we went over to Debbie and Brandon’s home, about four or five miles away for lunch. This time we had sandwiches and salad. Amelia was a big hit again, performing for everyone. She readily smiled, clapped and cooed for everyone. Monday they all came over for a short afternoon visit; again Amelia was a big hit. She is such a doll.

Friday, May 14

After taking Teresa back to the dorm to leave a few items there, we left Lancaster at 10:10 am and headed East toward Tucson. The car had some difficulties going up inclines, so we turned off the AC for that, but generally the trip of about 500 miles went well. We filled up with gas once near the Arizona border. At that time we got about 25 mpg which was good considering the load of stuff we carried.

The drive through the Southwest is desert, albeit we noticed changes in color of the mountains we passed.

There were many low-growing plants, wide, flat places for miles and miles; and rocks, rocks, rocks. We saw trains carrying sea containers and huge wind farms –acres and acres of those huge turbines; some spinning, some not. I wonder how much electricity they actually produce and at what cost. We arrived in Tucson about 7:00 pm., as it was getting dark.



Barb, Jerry and son James moved here late last year. It’s a beautiful one-level home
with a pool…and backs up to a golf course, but beyond the back fence is habitat for the birds and critters and plants. Very private. Last night the three men got into the pool and played around for an hour. We ladies just put the feet in.

Barb and I talked about family events and I mentioned my autobio that I am writing, so we launched into recollections. I showed her some family photos I have on the computer, some of which she never had seen.

We retired after 11:00 pm and it was the end of a long day.

Thursday, May 13

West Coast Baptist College

The boys checked out of the hotel and we loaded the car with their gear so Henry could take them to the airport at the end of the day for their red-eye flight. We met Peter and he took us around. Teresa was able to leave some boxes in his office for the summer. He said he was so glad he does not have school anymore and projects to do. We had lunch at the cafeteria, then left early afternoon and returned to the hotel.

So while the guys stayed there, I took Teresa down to DMV so she could take the written driving test. We waited in line for 20 minutes, then waited in another line for nearly 90 minutes. A sign said that written tests stopped at 4:00 pm. Our number got called at 4:20. She as processed through, had a photo taken, and told that she should come back and go directly to window 1 to take the test. Only Friday, the DMV was closed, so she will have to get that done when she returns in the fall.

Henry took the boys to LAX and then checked at Delta for the lost video camera. It was there and intact! Praise the Lord nothing was lost. Henry had emailed Delta on Monday night about it and finally got a response on Friday via phone. By that time we were on our way to Tucson.

Graduation May 12, 2010

Wednesday, May 12. We got a call from my brother Bob who was staying in the same hotel, but did not know that previously. We met them downstairs at the continental breakfast; Bob, Erin and son Nathan.

We got over to the college about 8:20 and parked the cars. As we walked toward the auditorium, we met my brother Joe who lives in Los Angeles. Then we took a few photos before going in.





Bob and Joe Cavalli and me.











Nathan, Bob and Erin









The Leonards had found seats on the right side of the auditorium so we all sat there.

At nine o'clock the faculty and graduates filed in. After that, two Marines carried in the US and Christian flags and placed them on the platform behind the graduates. That was a special touch. Both men are students of the college.


The College Choir came up and sang a song about We Are Not Ashamed to be called a Christian. It was a very powerful song


A couple of the College Ensembles sang specials also. They were a very coordinated, sharp-looking group of young people; a very pleasant change for what you see at the mall.

Pastor Chappell preached on Acts 6 about Men of Faith like Stephen. He was a man full of faith, the Holy Ghost and power. Faith is the deliberate confidence in God whose ways we will not always understand.

The man of faith's message was filled with the Word, he was fervent in opposition and focused on Christ. His manner is full of grace and truth in balance. He has grace under pressure, Acts 6:15. Stephen died without hate, asking God not to lay that sin to the charge of the people killing him. Then Pastor said that Saul was watching how Stephen died and it affected him on the Road to Damascus. Someone is always watching. Pastor charged the students saying, "You don't owe the flesh anything. You owe God everything." Be not ashamed.

The diplomas were then handed out by degree, starting with Secretarial Science and ending with Master of Religious Education in Christian Education, which was Peter's degree. These people got a special colored hood put on by one of the professors.

Then after all the diplomas were handed out there were several special awards given. One was to a young man named Grant Dean who graduated with a degree in Music. He apparently had some struggles and tough times which everyone knew about at the college. Peter said he is autistic, but not severely.

Afterward everyone filed out and we eventually found Peter and Johanna and took plenty of pictures .


Cavallis, Wards, Johanna and Mr. and Mrs. Sisk,









Mom, the grad, and Dad


Mrs. Leonard, Mrs. Sisk, Johanna, Peter
Dr. Sisk, Mr. Leonard.



Uncles and Nephews

After we decided to eat lunch, at this time it was about 1:30, we all got into cars and drove to the Sizzler Steakhouse in Palmdale, near our hotel. I think there were 16 of us after the Leonards joined us. Henry and Joe split a rack of BBQ ribs, several of us had salads, others had chicken sandwiches and hamburgers. We ate, stayed and chatted until after 3:00 pm. We had asked the waitress if they had a birthday special and she brought out a sundae and we all sang Happy Birthday to Peter. I think he was a bit embarrassed.

We all left; my brother returned to California, Johanna and Teresa were taken back to campus to pack up and the rest of us hung out in our hotel room just chatting until Bob and Erin had to leave about 5:00 pm to return home. It was really good to see my brothers after so long a time. Perhaps we can do it again in two years when Teresa graduates. God is good, all the time.

Mother's Day May 9, 2010

Mother’s Day at Independent Baptist Church. There was a good crowd of people; many new faces, some familiar old ones and a good time of getting reacquainted. Pastor’s granddaughter and another young girl sang “My Mother’s Gentle Love” for the moms. It was so sweet. Corsages were given to the oldest moms, ages 87 and 86, the one with the most children present in church (7) and the ones that came the farthest (a lady from Germany and me).

Pastor Creed preached on three mothers of the Bible: Jocabed, Hannah and Mary. Each was willing to be used of God as a behind-the-scenes influence on their children.

My sons, Matthew and Joe are active in the church, serving in the bus ministry, Reformers Unanimous and media. It was so good to see people again and meet some new folks.

I received this from son Joe at the end of the day:

Mothers and Fathers

There are two days in a year
That we set aside to honour
The ones that God did choose
To bring us into this world.

She’s shown us how to love,
To serve with humility and grace,
Submitting to those in authority
While patiently running the race.

By them we’ve been so dearly loved
Before we were even born
Because God put it in their hearts
But to care for us as their own.

He’s taught us how to lead,
To prepare, to protect and provide
For our family and for others
And to forever in God’s Word abide.

So as these days come by
Sincerely thank them for
Sacrificing all that they have
Sweetly loving them in return.


Steve and Joe are the poets in the family. It was a good day all around.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

This morning, Matthew, Joe and I drove to Dulles Airport so we could fly out to LAX and then go to West Coast. Our early morning flight was on time on Virgin America; the first time I've flown that airline and I do like it. We landed at LAX about 10:30 a.m. Henry and Sara were due in from Narita about 11:00 a.m., and the Leonards were already there from Chattanooga. They rented a car. Stephen came out on Monday and got a hotel room in Palmdale, the John Jay Inn and Suites, where we are staying. Steve and the boys will room together.

Stephen met us at the airport. The deal was he and the Leonards would drive us all back to Lancaster. However, someone got a call from Henry saying that their Delta plane was delayed from Narita for five hours and would not arrive until about 2:00 p.m. The Leonards called from the car rental place. We decided to let Matthew and Joe ride with them out to the college and Steve and I would wait. And we did. Their plane got in later in the afternoon and we found each other. Steve rented a car called Focus, pretty nice, new and spiffy. We loaded everything and drove out to the college first as there was a dinner at 5:00 p.m. for the parents and grads.

           

We met the Leonards for the first time and they are really nice folks. Johanna and her sister, Amanda, were there, as well as Peter. I think Peter had to do some work, so he did not eat dinner with us. The meal was great, the preaching was great also and we met some folks from our home church and other grads from IBC.

 
The Baccalaureate service was preached by Tim Ruhl, a California pastor. It was really good; we laughed, we cried. We sat in the third row center and could see Peter and Johanna in the choir with the rest of the grads behind the speaker. After the service I met Rebecca who answers the phones when I call the college to pay the bill. Always nice to put a face to a name. I also met Rose and David Chovan. Her mom is Becky Mullinex my high school friend. Rose and Stephen shared a class at BJU and I met her when I visited in 2005. Her husband was graduating also.


We took photos of the families then headed for the hotel and checked in. The boys were on another floor and the three of us in a different room.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Stephen had flown out to California ahead of us to help Peter get the car bought and all that stuff finalized. Peter decided on a maroon Toyota Camry LE with about 147,000 miles on it. It is supposed to be good for another 100,000 miles, so he should get some good use out of it. Our plan is to borrow the car for the summer since he will be staying at WCBC to work for the summer and does not need the car. We will pay the insurance on it through August and drive and maintain it while we visit family, friends and churches. The idea is to drive from California across the country to DC, then drive it back to California in August and give it to Peter. That is the plan at this point in time.

Friday, May 7

Friday, May 7

Today was bright and sunny. And hot eventually. I mostly did some running around. First stop was Motor Vehicles where I was able to renew my license! Yes! Now I am good to go for another five years. It was also a quick trip to DMV; about 40 minutes total which was really nice.

After that I went looking for the Lens Crafters so I can get new glasses. However, I did not find it in the mall where their website said there was a store. The name did not appear on the store directory so I went looking, but still did not find it.
Alas, after I got back to the local library I accessed the internet and was able to get the phone number of the store. I called. It was in the mall, I just did not go far enough. So I made an appointment for Saturday morning.

For lunch I stopped by Panda Express where Matthew works and got lunch. It is good food. He asked if I would go over to Wendy’s where Joe works and get a frosted twistee with Oreo cookies. I may have to try that sometime.

Later in the afternoon I stopped by the church and talked to Mr. Dove for a few minutes, since I did not talk with him the night before. Then I went outside and found Mrs. Flowers and Mrs. Ricucci who were watching the late-stay kids on the playground. It was good to see them. Mr. Flowers was also there; he graduated from the college the night before. He is also about 60 years old, and did not intend to take classes and graduate, but was convinced to do so.

Thursday, May 6

Trip to USA blog

May 6, flights
Henry and Sara took me to the bus on Rokko Island to catch the bus to the Kansai Airport. It was a smooth trip, no traffic and we got there about 10:00 am right in front of the Delta Airlines ticket counter. The flight to Tokyo was on time, smooth, and took a little over an hour. There was plenty of time to get the plane to Detroit at gate 23. Due to mechanical problems, everyone had to move to gate 15—where all 300 of us waited for that plane to be prepared. We were to take off at 3:00 pm, but finally departed 3:45. The plane was full, there were several small children who cried frequently enough; the movies were really boring. I just saw them, did not hear them. Anyway, the food was good and I got a window seat.

It was one of the smoothest flights I have ever been on, PTL.
However, since we left late, it got to Detroit 30 minutes late which meant that I could not get the connecting flight departing at 3:15, so they rebooked me on a 5:15 flight.

We arrived at Reagan National Airport on time. After collecting luggage, I found the Metro and boarded the commuter train out to Branch Avenue Station in Maryland. I have not ridden the Metro since 1983 when I quit work downtown. I was impressed at the cleanliness and organization of the stations, albeit I thought they were a bit dark, but easily accessible with my heavy luggage. Arrived at the station about 8:00 and Matt picked me up about 15 minutes later.

We then went to the church where the graduation ceremony was just ending so we waited in the gym area where the reception was held.

The first one I met was Barbara Jo. Same as ever. Then Carlton who heads the Reformers Unanimous ministry. Dr. Creed and his wife came in later (he married Henry and me nearly 27 years ago). Talked to the Tellos, a sweet, faithful couple from Peru. He made our wedding rings. They could remember my face but not the name off hand, but recognized it when told. I met the Redigers, Ken and Mary Gill, Pastor Connor, the Strouds, David and Terry Long, soon going to the Caribbean to start a church. It was so good to see familiar faces.

I am staying in the basement apartment of Rick and Brenda Dove. It is really a beautifully-decorated place.

And so thus ended the first day of travel—about 26-28 hours for me. I think I will go to bed now.

One day to go

Wednesday was busy attempting to pack under 50 lbs of stuff and doing odd things to leave the house for three months. Still did not get it all done.

This morning I saw the first iris bloom in the yard. In the eight or so flower beds I have around the property, I counted almost 90 iris ready to bloom. I won't be here to see them this year. We always give a stem to the moms on Mother's Day, and I won't be here for that either.

The columbine and ajuba are just gorgeous also. The bees love the purple flowers. Maybe I should become a bee farmer?

My trip starts 5/6 in Japan at 8:00 am so I can catch a bus to the airport and begin 24 hours plus of travel, reaching the final destination of Clinton, MD, about 7:00 pm on Thursday. Wake me when it is over!

Two days to go

May 4, 2010. Busy day trying to wrap things up before the trip on Thursday. Managed to locate a special gift for someone. Stopped at a store in Arima for omiyage. The lady is one of Henry's English students and she insisted I take several items--for free! I fully expected to pay, but there was no convincing her. Golden Week makes the quaint little town with very narrow streets even more crowded. Do you know how difficult it is to find a T-shirt with kanji? Everything is in English or French. Anyway, located some items and have them laid out on a table ready to pack on Wednesday. After I do some necessary cleaning, sheet changing and laundry I will tackle the suitcase and get everything in for under 50 pounds.

Henry tilled up the garden space. Thank you! I was going to do it, but am so happy he did. No time to fit it all in. Scanned a bunch of photos for my book which is still not done even though I have been working on it (sorta) for two years. Now to decide on the format and how to publish it.

Tomorrow is another day. God is still good.