HOME!!!! Leavenworth-Washington- May 30,2010

Hi everyone,

This is the final posting for our year long trip.  It has been fun to include all of you on our journey and to listen to all of your responses as we have traveled.   We arrived home last night after a long day leaving Vancouver in the morning and then travelling home last night.  Our first thing to do when we pulled in was to thank God for a wonderful trip, taking us safely across the United States and Canada and bringing us safely home, but now to back up so we pick up the story where we left off as we left Sacramento, saying goodbye to all of our family and friends there.  We headed up to Medford, Oregon, where NanCarrol stopped to see a dear friend of hers, Vi Brasseur.  They were in the Christian Womens club together for years, and had a wonderful time sharing stories with each other.

What a joy it is to meet up with old friends

After leaving Medford, we headed to Vancouver where we started our Journey in July with our three grandchildren.   Norm, NanCarrol’s son, lives in Vancouver with his wife  Janet, and their two children Tessa and Colton.  When I stepped into the house, I was shocked to see how much Tessa had grown.  She is almost as tall as her father now.  She grew about 7 inches during our trip and she is only 12 years old.

NanCarrol and I with Tessa and Colton

We just goofed off and enjoyed each other for a week, although Janet and Norm had to keep their daily routines going, with school and work.  Janet is homeschooling Colton and Tessa and they are both great kids.  She is an amazing mother, and it is always fun to watch her as she relates to her children.

Norm, Janet, Tessa, Colton and me at the end of the Oregon Trail

We took a day to go off in the coach together as a family, and went first to the end of the Oregon trail, then went off to the Columbia River Gorge, an incredibly scenic ride.

Looking over the Columbia River in the area that they call the Gorge

As we were walking along in the town of Stevenson, an old paddleboat came up the river, and NanCarrol caught a picture of it as it was navigating the currents.

One of the cruises on the Columbia River

The Columbia River separates Oregon and Washington.  We traveled up the Oregon side, then crossed this bridge near Stevenson to travel back to Vancouver on the Washington side of the Columbia.  It was a beautiful ride.

Colton sitting in front of the bridge that crosses the Columbia at Stevenson

But before we headed back it was time for an ice cream cone that was oh, so good!!!

Norm, with his masterpiece

Colton and Tessa are both in Martial Arts, and both have received their black belts, so we went off to watch them during their classes.  That was fun watching them go through their routines.

Tessa at her class, I don't think I would mess with her too much, with her black belt status

Colton went through a routine individually and looked like a true ninja warrior

Colton going through his routine

Just before we left, we watched a beautiful sunset as we sat in the coach in the driveway at Norm and Janets house.

Another beautiful sunset, God does good with his paintbrush

We left Vancouver yesterday morning, saying goodbye to a couple of sleepy kids, grabbed a cup of coffee, and headed off at about 7 in the morning to rendezvous with family in Seattle.  My sister Trish, who lives in Hawaii, was here to visit her son, Jeffrey and his precious family.  It was a great time to catch up with her, and my brother, Bryce, who lives on Bainbridge Island.

NanCarrol, me, with my brother Bryce, and my sister Trish

We went off to Bellevue square, a large three story mall, to meet up and sit and visit for a few hours.  Trish flies back to Hawaii in a few days, so it was fun to visit for a little bit on our way home.

My brother Bryce, with his wife Sherry, and his three kids, Ali, Joli, and Austin. Kyle, Jeffrey's little boy joins them in this shot, no Bryce and Sherry do not have four kids yet

We all went into a Chinese Restaurant to sit and talk and just enjoy each other while the older kids went off to the theatre to watch the new Shrek movie that just came out.

On the left, Sherry, Jennifer, Lauren, and Jeffrey, On the right, Trish, Bryce, me and NanCarrol

We got a few pictures just before we all had to say goodbye to one another and go our separate ways.

Aargh, so ye want's to be a pirate do ye, these be me apprentices.

Jeffrey and Jennifer have three beautiful children, Kyle, Ashley and Lauren, and it was fun to chat with each of them although Lauren was more of a waver at our dinner.  Kyle reminded me a little of myself when I was his age.  I can remember many times when I tried to be the center of attention as a child.  Hopefully I will grow up soon.   We said our goodbyes, and left last night at about 6, headed for the motorhome to start the last leg of our journey back to Leavenworth over the Cascade Mountains, about 130 miles away.  At about 9:30 last night we pulled in and it was a joy to see the house once again and realize that we were finally home.

Home at last!!!!!! Anyone want to buy some weeds?

Early this morning we awoke to the sound of the swallows, and started a walk around the house to see how it faired through the year as we were gone.  I think it faired better than we did.  It looks great, so now it is just a process of putting things back together slowly.

Everything is green and beautiful!!!

As we were walking around the house, the freight train came by and NanCarrol got excited to see her train again.  Since we were gone, Leavenworth was able to put in a train station here about a 1/4 mile from the house which will be a fun way for everyone to travel to the house, particularly in the winter.

Our own personal train, woowoooo!! Who needs an electric train set.

The house needs to be painted, but it survived quite nicely, through the winter.  The funny thing about this last winter was that Leavenworth got a fairly mild winter, while we were getting a very cold winter as we were in Florida.  I looked on the computer one day as we were enduring 13 degree weather and saw that Leavenworth was actually warmer than us in January, at 17 degrees.  Florida was getting a record cold when we were there.

It's still here, Pam you were fibbing when you said it burned down and you had a better view!!

This was the view that NanCarrol fell in love with when we first saw the house, and we still fall in love with it daily.  She was so funny when we came up to Leavenworth to see it for the first time.  She saw the house, saw the view, and said to me, “Buy it”  She hadn’t even seen the inside of the house.

Still a little bit of snow left in the mountains. We saw just a little bit as we crossed over Stevens Pass last night, most of it is all gone until winter sets in again.

We do have our share of extra weeds if any of you would like some.  We have learned to share on this trip, and if you would like some plantings, come and help yourself.

Plenty of weeds to go around, come help yourself!!!! By the way, that was plural, not the singular version of weed

In all seriousness though, we have now travelled about 25,000 miles since we have purchased this coach, and have found nothing as beautiful as the setting for our lovely home and our wonderful Bavarian town.   We went from sea to shining sea across Canada, travelling from coast to coast across the beautiful mountains, through the valleys across hundreds of miles of farmlands, through the deserts, across the southern wetlands and swamplands and few places that we have seen compare to the beauty that we have here at home.  We are truly blessed to live in a place where it is so beautiful.

From coast to coast, we have seen God's beauty that he has crafted for us to enjoy.

So now we sign off, but what have we learned from a year of travelling?  We have watched people all across this nation and seen the stress of their personal lives and the business of their schedules and realize that so many of us, including me, seldom take the time to look at God’s creation and thank him for the simple things of beauty like a flower.  NanCarrol taught me that as we traveled.  Take the time, and while you are at it, thank him for your families, and the people that God has placed in your life, and for loving you enough to give you life on this beautiful planet. You won’t regret it, He loves you immensely and wants you to know it.

We love you all deeply, and we now say farewell, until we meet again or as we say in Leavenworth,

Auf Wiedersehen.

Glenn & NanCarrol

We love you all, come by and see us soon, we're home

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Sacramento, Calif.- May 20,2010- It’s all about family!!

Hi everyone,

So now our year long trip is coming to a close, but what a year we have had!!  I am glad to have had the opportunity to put our travels in a journal with pictures so that all of you could follow along with us, and we have thoroughly enjoyed the many comments that we have received.   Our travels here in California have been all about family and friends.   My work career was here and our children, grandchildren, brothers, sisters,  great uncle, cousins, nephews, nieces, great nephews and nieces, and even great great nephews and nieces, not to mention our wonderful friends are all scattered around California, so we took three weeks to just enjoy them and catch up on missed time.  So our journey for this post begins as we left Utah where we were working on our coach.  We left, headed west on I-80 and headed to Donner Pass.

Our drive over Donner Summit in the Sierras

The pass was closed with restrictions on all vehicles due to blinding snow, so we held out at the local Wal-mart store overnight in Reno, Nevada, to see if the next day would bring better conditions.   The pass was clear the next morning with no restrictions, so off we headed over the pass.  The right lane was incredibly rough from all of the snowchains from the large trucks that have cut grooves into the concrete.

Gosh, I love the snow!! There is nothing prettier than driving though it when it is new.

Our first stop was in Sacramento, to see my brother, and Lynlae, NanCarrol’s daughter.   Lynlae came over and kidnapped her mom, eagerly looking forward to spending the time with her.  She was in the process of moving from Santa Cruz to the Sacramento area, so the two headed down to Santa Cruz together, while I visited with my brother, Butch,  at his house in Orangevale.   Butch is a dedicated hot rod builder, and has set up his retirement so that he can work in his garage in his backyard to build his cars.   They are beautiful cars, and we all took turns driving his white T Bucket around the neighborhood.   Talk about power, it is kind of like putting a 750 cc motorcyle engine on a gokart.  Lots of power for a light vehicle.   While we were at Butch’s house, my beautiful niece, Michelle came up with her incredible four children to see her dad and spend the day with me.  Michael and Eric also made the journey up from the Santa Cruz area.

My brother in his shop with two of his gorgeous cars. I tried to swap cars with him, but he wouldn't go for it

Butch handed Michael, my son, the keys to the T Bucket and asked him if he would take everyone for a ride.  That was really tough on Michael.  I think that he thought that he had died and just gone to heaven.  He reluctantly, with great hesitation, and extreme politeness said that he would suffer through the job.  He kept asking if anyone else would like to go for a ride throughout the day.   What a guy, I can’t imagine how hard that must have been for him.

My niece, Michelle, in her Dad's T Bucket hot rod

We spent the day together and Connie, Butch’s wife, fed us and fed us and fed us…..and fed us and fed us….. and fed us.    Oh my gosh, that woman can cook.   I don’t think it is humanly possible to eat all the food that she put before us, and was it ever good!!!

My brother Butch and his wife Connie, thanks Connie for all the food, I think we will be good for about a month before we will be hungry again

What a fun time that we all had as we shared stories, laughed together, and played together before I left.

Butch, Peyton, me, Evan, and Mason who is being crushed by his big brother

NanCarrol’s visit with her daughter turned out to be longer than expected, so I headed to Michelle’s house in Brentwood with three of her children, Evan, Peyton and Mason on board.  All three spent the night with me in the coach before we headed off the next day to get back in time for school.   Michelle said that the kids needed to be there by 2PM, so we left early enough to make it there.  I think that I have always found things in life that help me to be thankful for circumstances.  I had a serpentine belt that was on it’s last leg that was driving the fan.  Due to it’s  location which was impossible to view without climbing onto the engine under the bed, I had been negligent in checking the condition.  The drive to Michelle’s house was uneventful and I got the kids there on time safely.  The next day, when I went to take Michelle and the kids for a short ride, the belt broke, leaving us stranded about 4 miles from her house.  After the engine cooled down, I was able to drive it back to her house, call a diesel mechanic who was just 6 miles away, and he installed a new belt on a road call, in less than an hour.   Thankfulness in life comes in all forms, but I have learned to be thankful for circumstances that I am in , no matter what the consequences.   I have come to realize that it is through the trials, and suffering that we go through, that God is able to do his greatest work in our lives,  carefully molding us into His image.   And oh, how I would love to be like Him, to be loving and kind hearted as the Lord is.  I find myself at times not caring about people, and am embarrassed to see that attitude in my heart.   When we took our little ride to go have a picnic before the belt broke, Michelle said that we needed to pick Evan up at the school after football practice.  I pulled up in the line of cars with our 40 foot motorhome.  Evan started to laugh when he saw it, and told his friends,” there’s my ride, see you guys later”.   Peyton was hilarious on the ride.  She said she was pretending she was a movie star and waving to people passing by.  I left Michelle’s after a four day visit, NanCarrol still at Lynlae’s house involved with her move and headed for my sister’s house in the Salinas area of California.  She is my older sister and has now been married to Jim, her husband, for 48 years.  They have been through a lot together, but have stuck through it side by side.  I admire that in a couple.   Jim has always had a great sense of humor, and turned to me and said “Do you want to know how to stay happy in a marriage?”  I said sure, and he said, “just say yep, and smile a lot”

My sister Sharon, her husband Jim and me and Sharon's house on mother's day

Jim is quite a character and plays along with all of the children very willingly.  Emily, who is my great, great niece is here in his lap playing dress up with him.  I took Bridgett and Missy, my two great nieces to their apartment to sit and talk with them, and to get to know my great niece and nephew, Bridgett’s two children.

My great nieces Missy, Bridgett, and my great great niece Destiny, and great great nephew Micah in their apt.

My brother in law Jim, and my great, great niece Emily

So, while I was enjoying Jim and Sharon and her boy David with all of my great nieces and nephews, and great great nieces and nephews, NanCarrol was still in Santa Cruz, boxing things getting Lynlae’s things in order for her move.

Me with my nephew David and Brother in law Jim

Eric, Angelina and Dani at Mama Mia's restaurant. The food there is oh so good!!

I headed to Santa Cruz after leaving Sharon’s house to join up with NanCarrol and put the coach  in the parking lot where we went to church at Redwood Christian Center in Felton.  We enjoyed meeting up with Alan Gibbs and his wife, who I led the worship services with, and our former pastor Richard Tennison and his wife Mandy.

Alan Gibbs, and Richard Tennison at Redwood Christian Center visiting in our coach

NanCarrol and I headed to the Santa Cruz wharf for a nostalgic romp to our favorite restaurant, to have an oh so good seafood meal.

Hey that's me!!! This shot was taken on the wharf at Santa Cruz

The next day, I headed over Highway 17 to Saratoga, where my Father’s brother, Uncle Fenwicke has been living.  Butch drove down with his wife to meet up for the small reunion.  Uncle Fenwicke’s son, Brian, our first cousin and his wife Jolynda came to meet us and we all went out for Japanese food at a local restaurant, mmmmmm…. good food.  Butch said that he hadn’t seen Brian, his first cousin for about 50 years, so it was quite a reunion for the two of them.

Uncle Fenwicke, Me, Butch, and Brian at Uncle Fenwicke's house in Saratoga

Uncle Fenwicke shared some fun stories of his memories of the times that he and Dad had when they were young, and talked a lot about their parallel military careers.   Uncle Fenwicke is now a retired Brigadier General from the Marines.   My father retired as a lieutenant colonel from the Army,  with a Ph.d. in Chemistry and Physics.   His last job was as a professor at  Hartnell junior college in Salinas, California.  A heart attack shortened his teaching career and put him into an early retirement.   The next day we picked up Michael, Dani and Peter and took them to see an old work friend of mine, Marc Lefaucheur.

Marc Lefaucheur, his wife Mindy and their daughter Courtney in front of their house in Carmel Valley

What a nice time we had with Marc and his family.  They had a pleasant surprise for all of us because they were living on a farm in Carmel Valley, where we watched the cows being milked, and witnessed firsthand happy cows from California.  The kids really enjoyed the time there.

Peter, our grandson in Carmel

Our granddaughter Dani, on the ride to Carmel

Michael, my son on the ride to Carmel Valley

After leaving Carmel Valley the following day with the three kids in the coach, we headed back to Santa Cruz so Dani and Peter would be back for school, and Michael would be back for work.  NanCarrol and I headed back to Michelle’s house in Brentwood so she could see the kids, and Michelle, and the brand new litter of kitties that Lulu, their cat had delivered.

NanCarrol with one of the new kittens, Michelle in the background at Michelle's house

The children knew that Lulu was about to deliver, and while I was there, the children all witnessed Lulu delivering 5 new healthy kittens.  It was fun to watch the joy, the excitement, and the wonder on each of the children’s faces as they watched one of the greatest miracles on the face of this earth as they watched life begin.

Mason with one of the kittens, I love that expression!!

It was a lot of fun sharing such a special time with them.

Peyton and me with one of her kittens in her bedroom

Peyton was soooooo excited as she watched Lulu deliver the kittens over a time span of about an hour and a half.  I was delighted to have been able to be there during that time to watch the children’s expressions as they watched God’s miracle unfolding before their eyes.

Peyton with one of her new babies, she has names for all of them.

We left Brentwood, saying goodbye to Michelle and the kids, and headed back to Sacramento so NanCarrol could spend some time with her daughter, Lynlae,  before we head North.   Two nights ago, Dave Fulwiler and his wife Lorraine made a long drive from their home in Placerville to come down to our coach to see us where we had set up in a Walmart parking lot near Lynlae’s house.  Dave and I had been foreman together before we both retired.  Retirement is treating him well and he and Lorraine are enjoying their lives together and the time that they have with each other.

Dave and Lorraine Fulwiler in our coach in Sacramento

And finally, last night we went our for dessert with Lynlae and her new friend Dave.

Lynlae, Dave, me and NanCarrol in one of the local restaurants, good pie!!!!

So our trip here has been all about family and our dearest of friends.  As I looked through the pictures, it hit me hard about how much I value each one of these relationships and how precious they all are to me.  And now we are homeward bound.   We will be leaving the Sacramento area here in about two hours, headed toward Vancouver, Washington to see Norm, Janet, and our two grandchildren there.  We have seen so much during this trip, but nothing compares to the love that we have as a family, one for another.   I have enjoyed the last three weeks being with family, and the visits along the way with other family members by far much more than any of the sights that we have seen.  Many of the places have been spectacular, but they don’t compare to being with those that you love and miss.  God’s love is like that, and I marvel at his love for each of us.  His love doesn’t compare to the greatest things that our minds can comprehend.   With that, we wish you all God’s richest blessings on your lives,

Glenn & NanCarrol

Butch, Connie, Michelle, Bailey, Evan, Peyton, Mason, Michael, Eric and me in front of Butch's house

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Sunset, Utah- April 25th

Hi everyone,

This is a short note to let you all know that we are still alive and well.    After we left Branson, Missouri, we headed for Masonville, Colorado to go and visit with NanCarrol’s sister, Inky and her husband Joe.  We had a really nice time with them.    Inky and NanCarrol sat and made jewelry together, and we all celebrated NanCarrol’s birthday last week by going to Olive Garden.  Joe does most of the cooking and fed us royally while we were there, and Inky was a wonderful hostess and a great Jazzercise partner for NanCarrol.

NanCarrol's sister Inky, doing the zimba, I have no idea what that is.

Joe, Inky, NanCarrol and Glenn at Olive Garden on NanCarrol's Birthday

We spent a week and a half with them.  The final day we spent with one of NanCarrol’s dear friends, Angie Hinojos, who lives in Loveland, Colorado.

NanCarrol with her dear friend Angie, what a sweet spirit she has.

It was a very nice visit with Angie.  We stayed overnight with her and left about a week ago to be in Sunset, Utah for a service appointment for our coach.  When we got here, we were surprised to see about 7 coaches that were identical to ours sitting in the lot.   As soon as we got here, couples emerged from their coaches to welcome us, and we sat outside and visited.

Each of the coaches were home to retired couples waiting for Charlie to complete the work on their coaches. Ours is the last one in the row next to the trailer

Coaches have come and gone since we arrived.  When we got here, I originally had a list of about 4 things to correct.   That list has grown to about 35 items, of fix-its, add-ons, and maintenance issues.  Charlie, who owns the service center, specializes in Alfa’s, which is the coach we own, so he has a whole bunch of things that he was doing to each of the coaches to customize them.  We all walked through each other’s coaches to get ideas, and sat outside, and went to restaurants with each other, sharing stories of our travel adventures.  It seems that we are the most adventurous of the group.  All of them use their coaches as their primary residence going from the north in the fall to the south, and back again.  They all set up for months in one place, which is the traditional snowbirds.

Yep, that's our coach. We came in with the slide stuck. The guy inside the access panel found a broken shear pin, so we had our slide back in about 15 minutes after living with it stuck for almost two months.

We will leave here on Thursday morning if all goes well with the work that is being done, and will be in Orangevale, California on Friday night, pending weather going over Donner Pass.   We have a host of kids, grandkids, brothers, sisters, cousins, nephews, nieces, not to mention great nephews and nieces, and friends that we are headed to see.  Should be quite a reunion and we are looking forward to it greatly.   NanCarrol is enjoying making jewelry, as she is travelling and sat with her sister making jewelry with her.    Well that’s about if for this posting, this month has mostly been visiting and sitting with the coach waiting patiently for the work to be completed.  So for all of you in California and Washington, WE CAN’T WAIT TO SEE YOU!!!!!!!!

Love you all,

Glenn & NanCarrol

This picture was taken as we traveled west on I-80 in Wyoming

As we entered Utah near Ogden, we travelled through these mountains. Makes me kind of homesick for our beautiful Cascade mountains at home

This is Joe and Inky's view out their front window. They have cattle that wander their property on 400 acres

One of NanCarrol's creations in process

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Eureka Springs, Arkansas- March 24th

A chapel in the Ozark Mountains in Eureka Springs, completely sided with glass, it was tall and narrow, seating about a hundred people

Hi everyone,

It has been about two months since our last posting and a lot has happened, keeping me from posting.  I had intended to post about an month ago, but NanCarrol and I  both got very sick and we  have used the last month to just lay low and rest before continuing on and heading home.

So to pick up where we left off, we were in St. Mark’s, in the panhandle of Florida visiting with our new found friends, Sharon and Mel for about a month.  Mel suggested that we go to a place called Wakulla Springs.   So off we went and were pleasantly surprised to find beautiful scenery, lots of birds, alligators, manatees and beautiful clear water.  I still don’t quite understand how people here swim in alligator infested waters, but they do and several areas of the spring were reserved for swimmers.  I hope that the alligators know that they are reserved for the swimmers only.

He's just waiting for one of us to go swimming

It was absolutely one of the the prettiest places that we have been on this trip, and a surprise to both of us, because of the way that it is played down.  We went through a state park entrance, paid the $5 entrance fee, and went to an area where they board everyone on boats to take them on a 45 minute guided tour of the swamp area.  It was a delightful tour and we all learned a lot on the trip.

Angelina in front of the entrance to Wakulla Springs in the panhandle of Florida

It was a beautiful tour, and we saw birds of all types, turtles, about 40 alligators, a dozen or so manatees that had swum upstream to get out of the cold to be in the warm springs, and were looking for deadly snakes wrapped in the tree branches.  The south is known for some pretty nasty snakes, most of which you wouldn’t want to tangle with.  Our close friends said that one of the visitors was chased by a cottonmouth viper on one of the trails.  They are really nasty looking and I am glad that we haven’t encountered one yet on our outings.  On one of our treks on a trail to the ocean, I carried a large stick watching the trail and the brush as Angelina and NanCarrol tagged behind.

We have had many highlights on this trip, but none any greater than watching our granddaughter, Angelina being baptized.   I led her to the Lord on New Year’s eve, and she asked if she could be baptized shortly after.  I thought about baptizing her by a rope from the boat in Wakulla Springs.  No need for both of us to go in when the area was infested with alligators.  I figured that if she didn’t get eaten then she would be baptized.  She said that she would prefer a church setting.  Mel and Sharon had a nice church that they introduced us to and we talked with Pastor Larry about Angelina being baptized.  We were staying on the Wakulla River in St. Marks several days before she was to be baptized.  An extremely powerful storm came through the area drenching us, and causing us some concern about our location on the river.  We decided to move the coach to the church parking lot in Tallahassee about 20 miles away and stayed there for about 4 days until after Angelina had been baptized.

Angelina's baptism day with Pastor Larry and her Nana bringing her up out of the water. Praise God for new life!!

What a joy that day was for us as we watched her give her heart to the Lord and surrender herself completely.  Angelina was a happy girl for quite awhile before and after being baptized just enjoying the love that the Lord was pouring into her heart.  We loved watching what the Lord was doing in her life.  A few days before she was to be baptized, we went down and bought her a camera for the trip home as a present for her baptism.  She has quite an eye for beauty and had a lot of fun trying different things with her new camera.

Visiting with our new friend Lily Jones and her husband Dr. Ed Jones

We met an extremely loving couple, Dr. Ed and Lily Jones, at the church and they asked us if we would join them at their house for a meal after church.  We enjoyed a wonderful meal together that Lily had prepared, and then sat and watched a football game together and chatted.   What a nice afternoon that was getting to know them.    One of the nice parts of this trip is the people that we have met along the way.  It is nice to know that we will see them again when we all gather together in Heaven.  It helps as we travel and meet other Christians to know that we will all be together one day in our final home.  In the meantime we are just sojourners, travelling through a place that is not home, but the Lord is preparing us and equipping for his work as we go through each day.

What's the third peddle for?

I spent a lot of time with Angelina teaching her how to drive our Honda.  It is a stick shift and she had never driven a car with a clutch, so it was a fun opportunity to find places to take her where she could learn.  After killing the car about 40 times, she quickly learned that the third pedal had something to do with a smooth start.  After about a week or so of practice she began to get the feel of it, and I asked her to take me to Tallahassee so I could get NanCarrol’s meds.  We headed for the Bible book store, to find her a new Bible that Norm and Janet and I all wanted to get her.   I laid out a whole bunch of Bibles and asked her to read a little from each of the different versions.   After she did, I asked her to look at the different helps and and covers and see what appealed to her.  She picked out a Quest Bible in an NIV translation with excellent helps. It is  a beautiful Bible and I think that she will be pleased as she enters into a study consistently.

NanCarrol, Angelina and I in the Botanical Gardens in Alabama

We left Florida, saying goodbye to Mel and Sharon, but knowing that we will see them again at our house in August.  We headed west along the gulf of Mexico and went into Alabama.  Angelina had been having some problems with one of her feet, and so we took her to a clinic on the way to have her foot looked at and treated.   We headed out of Florida into Alabama,  heading for an estate previously owned by the Coca Cola original bottler.  It was a modest spread, some 900 acres, with about 65 acres that were landscaped beautifully with trails that rolled through the hills.  The house was spectacular and had been left as it was when they both died, even to the point that the dishes are on the table awaiting a meal.  It was fun to walk through the house and the grounds and see a little of their lives.  His wife was a master gardener and saw to the planting year after year.  The estate was eventually given to the state who oversees it now and charges a healthy admission to help defray the costs of keeping it up.  We walked for over three hours on beautifully manicured trails through different types of gardens never once crossing our path.  It was hard to guess distance, but I would imagine we walked about three to four miles on trails through the gardens.  

The greenhouse was filled with all types of exotic plants.  I am not a gardener, but NanCarrol was in heaven as she she looked at all of the plants.  She loves to walk through botanical gardens, so we have tried to make that a special part of our journey finding as many gardens as possible.

Our newfound friends on Dauphin Island

We headed from the gardens to Dauphin Island, the southern most point of  Alabama.   It was hit hard by one of the hurricanes that ravaged the area, and it took out the bridge and left the island in ruins.  The people here are a hearty group that pull together to help each other.  It is a a very small island with about three to four hundred homes scattered on the island.   We headed for a place to put in for several days at an RV park next to Gaines Fort a fort that goes back to the early 1800’s with a lot of history.  We were also parked next to a wildlife sanctuary and had a chance to walk through the trails to see the birds there.

We headed off to a small Baptist church on the island and met a very nice family and went off to a restaurant with them and then to their condominium to spend the afternoon.   Everywhere we went, we just seemed to be finding a trail of nice people.    After leaving Dauphin Island, we traveled west toward Louisiana, and stopped at the Global Wildlife Center, a favorite for all of us.  It was a really fun stop, and it was a little cold.  We bundled up, and climbed into the back of an old German military truck for a private tour of the park.  Our driver put 20 lbs of corn in the back and gave us some empty cups to feed the animals.  It is somewhat like wildlife safari driving through the open range to see all of the animals, except that they feed inside of the truck, and I do mean inside of the truck.  We were amazed as all of the animals started to head for us as soon as we got close and then put their heads inside to feed on the corn.   We covered it so we would have enough for the 90 minute tour to feed all of the animals.  What a fun time it was though.  They had no carnivorous animals, what a shame.  It would have been fun to share the back of the truck with a couple of lions, bears and tigers.   NanCarrol and Angelina both giggled as they fed the insatiable and voracious appetites of the animals that poked their heads toward us.    They fed giraffes, antelopes, deer, camels, llamas, goats, and a host of other animals that I don’t remember.  It was a great time.  It was about this time that Angelina started to get a little homesick, after having been with us for 7 weeks, so we made reservations to put her on a plane out of New Orleans to go home.  Before she left however, we went into New Orleans, while the mardis gras, was ongoing down in the French Quarter.  It was interesting, but not something that I really want to see again.   It is a huge street party, with beer everywhere.   We stood on the street as the floats came by throwing beads to the crowds.  It was fun, and entertaining, but not the highlight of our experiences.  Honestly, we have had more fun at the wildlife centers just walking the trails and seeing the wildlife.  I guess, you could say that walking the streets of New Orleans was kind of like walking the wildlife trails and witnessing a different sort of wildlife, but it just wasn’t the same.  Maybe it was the screaming and yelling.   The following morning, Valentines day, we saw Angelina off at New Orleans International Airport and NanCarrol and I headed west through the bayous of Louisiana.  They are interesting, as you drive through miles and miles of bridges that are over the wetlands.  My eyes were peeled to the sides looking for gators to wrestle, but alas no gators.  Lucky for them.  When we got to the midpoint of Louisiana, south of Baton Rouge, NanCarrol said that she was not liking it and said that she wanted to head North toward my sister’s house in Arkansas, so off we went headed North.  We headed up through Mississippi on what was supposed to be a scenic ride that went through Vicksburg.  In many of the states, the rides are scenic.  This one wasn’t too scenic, just miles and miles of trees, not much else to see.

We arrived in Jonesboro Arkansas, and I called Marie, my sister, to let her know we were there.  We spent the weekend with Michael, her husband,  and Marie.  That was a nice time, and we sat and I was able to bore them to death with the thousands of pictures that we have taken on the trip, and that was only the first two months.  We really should have stayed with them for a month or so, so they could have seen all the pictures.  We miss them both already, and it was a sweet, short visit.  I love Marie a lot, and miss her a lot, so it was nice to see her.    We all took a ride in the coach to a small town in Arkansas where we walked the streets and spent a little money in the shops.  That was a nice day.

After leaving Jonesboro, we headed toward a town that Michael recommended us seeing before we left Arkansas, Eureka Springs.  We arrived a couple of days after we left Jonesboro, and fell in love with the town, and settled in to spend a little time here.  It is an old town, built in the 1880’s on the side of a hill in the Ozark Mountains.  The town has been preserved, and it has a lot of charm as you wind through the hills looking at all of the old houses, and buildings.  We found a site at a city park on Lake Leatherwood where we could have a beautiful view of the lake, with all of the hookups that we needed.   The geese here honk endlessly.  Now we arrived at the end of February.   One of the things that NanCarrol desperately wanted to see on this trip was a show in Branson, that is called “Noah”.   Only one problem, it was a month away and we were only 30 miles from Branson, so we decided to just hang our hats here, and call it home for a month.  That was a good call in retrospect.  About a week after we arrived, NanCarrol came down with Bronchitis, and I got some form of the flu that knocked me for a loop.  Must have been the Ozark mountain moonshine flu.   This ole boy didn’t do to well with it, and it spun me off in the wrong direction, leaving me in a horizontal position for about four days.   Fortunately, I was able to get antibiotics for NanCarrol just before I got sick, and stocked the coach with easy foods.  So for the next week, we just grunted at each other, a loving way of saying, I am too sick, do it yourself.   As we got better, we were able to wander into town and walk about three steps, before falling on our faces.  It took a lot out of both of us, and now as we have put it behind us by at least two weeks, we are still recovering.  We have been able to catch three shows, two in Eureka Springs, and one in Branson so far.   The shows we have seen have been, “The pine mountain jamboree”, “The Ozark Mountain Hoedown”, and “The spirit of the dance”.   The last show we will see, on the 31st will be “Noah”.  I will have more to say about it on our next posting, but it is supposed to be incredible so we are eagerly looking forward to that.   Two nights ago, we had a campfire here, and I invited all of the campers to come and join us by the fire.  One of the couples that we invited was ripe for picking, so to speak, and I was able to lead them into Jesus’ arms that night.  That was a nice time with them as they shared there stories with us and we shared our travel adventures with all of them.   Tomorrow will be our last day here, and we will head toward Branson, Missouri on Tuesday.  After that it is westward ho, toward Denver, Fort Collins, Salt Lake City, and then toward Sacramento, and Santa Cruz.  If all goes well, we should be in California in about a month to see all of our loved ones there, and we do have a flock there.    Well I guess that about wraps up this newsletter.  I hope that you are all well, we do miss each and everyone of you and love you,

Glenn & NanCarrol

Lots of pictures to follow,

Now this made us homesick, it is the Bavarian Inn here in Eureka Springs

The Ozark Mountain Hoedown, and yes Grandma was a man dressed up, and it was a hilarious show

Now this is the stuff we expect at home, not here in the south in Arkansas!!

Ft. Gaines, on Dauphin Island

Ft. Gaines along the Gulf of Mexico. It was the fort that protected Mobile, Alabama

A map showing the location of the Fort along Mobile Bay

NanCarrol in the back of the truck feeding one of the animals at the Global Wildlife Center. This one liked her a lot

Angelina with one of the Camels in the background

Mike, my sister Marie, and me at one of the restaurants we went to in Jonesboro.

The largest windchimes in the world, hanging here in Eureka Springs

One of NanCarrol's little friends that she has been feeding. All of her friends got names, squirrels, cardinals, geese, and deer.

One of the many cardinals that NanCarrol was feeding while we were here

Angelina and me in front of the local Baptist church on Dauphin Island on Sunday morning

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St. Marks, Florida- January 13, 2010

Florida's done us good, the moss is all over the trees, and now growing on me

   

Hi everyone,   

Well this is our first posting of the New Year and what a spectacular New Year we had, but I will get to that soon and keep you all in suspense!!  We drove from the everglades to Naples, and went through a spectacular storm that drenched the area.  I have never seen rain on the west coast like it rains here.  It was almost as if a thousand fire hoses were being pumped into the sky overhead with the water pouring down on us.  The furnace didn’t work for awhile, until I could dry it out.  It took on a lot of water through the vent.  After visiting Naples, we went on to Ft. Meyers, and set up an appointment to have the front wheels aligned and to have an oil leak checked.   We checked into a pretty nice RV park, each one of the sites were privately owned.  A little pricy, but that is par for Florida.  It is prime season for them right now with all of the snowbirds heading down here.   

Our campsite at Ft. Meyers, the lake in front of the motorhome was patrolled by an alligator. Most people use watchdogs, not this place.

   

So, while the coach was being repaired, NanCarrol and I headed off to tour Ft. Meyers.  Thomas Edison had a summer house that covered about 14 acres, complete with multiple buildings, and his workshop.  He was a good friend with Henry Ford, and the two homes which are next to each other  are now museums as well as all of the workshops.   

NanCarrol and I at the Thomas Edison Museum.

   

So we toured the museum and enjoyed all the sights there all day.  The shop where Edison spent most of his time on his inventions was really interesting.  It was set up with a lot of belts overhead that were driving the different equipment.   

Thomas Edison's workshop

   

We went back for the coach, but  it wasn’t quite done, so they allowed us to pick it up and go back to Wal-Mart, our favorite location while traveling, and return it the next morning so they could complete the work.  The tires were looked at closely and they suggested replacing them, not because of the tread but the cracking on the sidewalls, so we made a reservation to have the tires changed in Orlando, and headed for Haines City to see NanCarrol’s stepfather and to meet his brother, Clifford and his wife, Katherine.   Clifford is the associate pastor at the local assembly of God in town, so we parked the motorhome on the church property, went to Christmas eve services and spent Christmas day with them.  Katherine served up a beautiful meal with ham, potatoes, and beans, and we all stuffed ourselves.  The company was great.  We spent several hours playing mexican train with them, a form of dominoes.   

Clifford, Katherine, NanCarrol and her stepfather Ron on Christmas Eve

   

On Monday morning on the 28th, we left early to make our appointment for new tires in Orlando.  We arrived and they waved us into the garage, and put the Honda on a rack.  Both the car and coach got new tires, so we are set for the trip home.   

Oh, oh!! I have a feeling that this is gonna cost more than the whopper that we just had

   

The coach now has about 46,370 miles on it.  I purchased it in South Carolina with about 27,000 miles on it, so we have put about 19,000 miles on it since February a year ago.   The highlight of the day however was that Angelina, our granddaughter was scheduled to arrive at Orlando airport flying from California at midnight.  I drove to the airport to pick her up, and we spent the next day resting.   I had gotten ahold of an old friend, Patrick Carvalho, that was in High School with me through facebook.  He said he was in the Orlando area, so after Angelina arrived and was rested we set up a time when he and his wife could come over for dinner.  Pat and I were both in a Hawaiian song and dance group in Hawaii.  He was a champion ukulele player as a sophmore in High School and pursued a career as a musician.  He has been performing at Disneyworld for the last 20 years, in a Hawaiian Band.  He brought his guitar and Ukulele, and we sat and sang the old Hawaiian songs and reminisced about the past and talked about all of our old friends.  Angelina cooked a wonderful dinner and jumped right in and sang with us, with a Hawaiian song book in front of her to follow along.   

Me, Angelina and Patrick Carvalho singing all the old Hawaiian songs that we loved to sing

   

That was a wonderful night with Pat and his wife, Noreen.  It is so much fun to catch up on missed time with friends and family.   So now for the highlight of the entire trip for us.  New Years was just going to be a quiet time for us, just going to bed early and rising to take in the sights.  Angelina came with a ripe heart to know the Lord, and I had the incredible pleasure to lead her in a salvation prayer on New Year’s Eve.  Since then, we have had two weeks of miracles in her life.  The Lord has moved on her in a powerful way and she has a newfound hunger for the Lord and the Word that has been delighting the Lord and us daily.   It is an absolute delight to have Angelina with us and to watch the Lord at work in her.   

Angelina found this spot in the Holy Land to just kneel down

   

We went to the Holy Land experience in Orlando, a part of the trinity broadcasting network.  They put together a gospel message using people in costume in a setting that recreates the time period.   I was in tears, as we watched them play out the life of Jesus from the prayer in the garden of Gethsemene through the resurrection.   They drug him through the streets beating him, and then took him to the cross and lifted him up while we all sat and watched.  It was painful to watch, but brought our faith to a new level of understanding.   

That is a real man on the cross representing the crucified life of Jesus as they played out his life

   

We went to several presentations, that challenged us in our  beliefs and faith in a powerful way.  We went to the last supper, where the man playing Jesus himself served communion to us, talking to us as if we were his disciples, and then he went out into the crowd and blessed each of the people.   We all just enjoyed the time to sit, reflect, and allow the holy spirit to change our hearts.   

After arresting Jesus the Roman soldiers  took him to a spot where they chained him against the side of a mountain and began to beat him.  Each time they beat him, a red stripe was left.  I was reminded of the verse in the Bible, that says “by his stripes we are healed” and it began to cause me to tear.  As they led him through the streets spitting on him and mocking him and then raising him on the cross, it hurt me to watch it and I saw my own sinfulness as he was raised and I wept for the pure sacrifice for our lives.   

Lots of time to reflect and just listen to Lord

   

After we left Orlando, we headed into the Oscala National Forest and stayed at Lake Dorr for two nights.  We then headed off to see the manatees at Blue Springs State Park.   

I love you Nana!!!!!!!!

   

We stayed at a park where we saw these very large birds, and Angelina was sitting in the field feeding them.  They almost took food from her hand.  I think that they must be florida chickens.   

We got to the Blue Springs in Florida and the temperature was a little cool.  The outside temperature was about 43 degrees, but the manatees had it good.  They were in a spring being fed by clear spring water that was 73 degrees.   

Our heavenly creator's masterpiece.

   

Yeh, bring em on, hey papa and nana where's my bathing suit? It's gator wrestling time!!!

   

How can it get much gooder than this? God just keeps blessing and raining his love on us

   

After leaving the Blue Springs, it was off to Cedar Keys National Wildlife Preserve.  Angelina asked to spend as much time with the animals and nature, so much of our trip home will be to see places of God’s beauty.   

Nana and Angelina at Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuge. The south has a lot of deadly snakes so we walked carefully and I carried a big stick watching the bushes closely

   

We left Cedar Keys, picked up some fresh seafood, including fresh alligator meat, prawns, and fresh grouper and looked for a place to spend the evening.  I picked a nice sandy place to rest for the night and barely made it off the road before the wheels were nicely settled into the sand.  We settled in for the night, and then in the morning I set out with a shovel to see I could dig my way out.  After about an hour of digging and slowly inching my way out, we got some help from a couple of guys that passed by, and they pulled us out.  I needed practice getting stuck so it was all good.  The shoveling did me good.   

I guess this isn't a dune buggy... hmmm, maybe I should have gotten the one with the monster wheels

   

This trip is a fun one for all of us to try new foods.  I stopped at an oyster bar so Angelina could get a taste of raw oysters for the first time.  You will be able to tell by her reaction that it will quickly become her new favorite food.   

So our next stop was at San Marcos de Appalache, an old fort dating back over 500 years.  It has transferred from Spanish to French, British and American rule, with lots of fighting over the years.   

Our beautiful Angelina at the entrance to the old fort in St. Mark, Florida

   

We met a couple here that host the state park that are Christian and we built a great friendship.  Mel and Sharon are from Minnesota and travel down each winter with their trailer to this area, carrying their Harleys with them.    They helped us find a place to settle down for a couple of weeks and unwind from the constant traveling.   So here we are now sitting on the Waculla River, sitting  here looking at all of the boats.  It is a beautiful location and we are enjoying it immensely.  Mostly we enjoying the newfound friendship.  We spent the day in Tallahassee running around to the shops and picking up things we needed.   We picked up a beautiful dress for Angel, and she looks adorable in it.   

NanCarrol and Sharon quickly realized that they had another common interest in their art, and have had one day together here in the motorhome crafting together.   

While they were crafting, Mel asked Angelina and I if we would like to go for a ride in his boat to see the gulf of Mexico and to take a ride up the Waculla River.  That was a beautiful ride, but the temperature was a little cold.  We were in the middle of a freeze down here.  The temperatures plummeted down to 13 degrees one of the nights, and record low for them.  The coach is warm so all is good.   

We just happened to be here when operation migration was herding the whooping cranes into Florida leading them with ultralight aircraft.  There are less than 50 of the cranes left and they are carefully trying to bring them back.  We saw them go overhead, and they take them to a protected area where they are not visible to the public.  There were about 300 people there at 7 in the morning in about 30 degree weather to see them fly over.   

Mel had asked me if I wanted to take a ride with him on the Harleys.  I used to ride a lot in Hawaii and rode with a club there, so took him up on his offer.  I took it out for a spin with him to get a feel for the bike, and the following day took Angelina with us for a long slow ride through the rural area of Florida.   They left a Christian Cd in the player, and we turned up the volume and just enjoyed the breeze, the beauty and what the Holy Spirit was doing in both of us as we headed down the road.   When we got home Angelina said, I think that I saw two angels  fly into the clouds.  Do you know what they look like?  I didn’t have much of an answer for her, but was excited for her.    God has continually blessed us to the point that we overflowing in the abundance of his love for us.   Angelina will be baptized this coming Sunday here in Tallahassee.  Please pray for her this week as the Lord prepares her heart for what is to come.   

We love and miss you all, and rejoice in the goodness of our Lord and Saviour   

Glenn, NanCarrol and Angelina   

Saints ride Harleys too!!!!

   

Mel and I at the midpoint of the ride. Both Harleys are identical and were a real joy to ride.

   

Never knew life could be so ummmm ummmmm good

   

Can't stop now, I'm on the right track

   

Woohoo!!! What a ride!!!

   

This was the closest we got to the whooping cranes. They flew overhead about 400 feet above us.

   

Yeh babie, how fast does this thing go? Yeehawwwww!!!!!

   

My beautiful NanCarrol and Sharon crafting jewelry. NanCarrol made a beautiful necklace that day.

   

Aww, she's so pretty

   

Yummmmmm, oh my gosh, this is soooooo good. Can we have these every day?

   

Oh, the beauty of God's creation!!!

   

Florida Chickens, look our for the colonel you guys

   

Angelina and Nana at the Holy Land Experience

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Everglades National Park, Florida- December 16,2009

Hi everyone,

We are in Naples Florida, and just left the everglades yesterday.  We have had quite an adventure since our last posting on Thanksgiving day and we have much to be thankful about this Christmas season.  Eric joined us in Virginia  and traveled with us through 5 states for a period of one month.  That was a delightful time for both NanCarrol and me.  He is a really good natured young man now, and we had a lot of fun with him.  When we left North Carolina after leaving the caverns, we drove down through South Carolina into Georgia to see Savannah.

This was what most of the trees looked like in Savannah

The foliage in Savannah began to change dramatically from the trees and plants in the North, where we have spent all of our trip.  We also noticed that the weather was beginning to change.  We donned light jackets and toured the city on a tour bus.  The jackets came off quickly.  We northerners just don’t know how to dress in the south.  We were ushered with the tour bus through the streets of Savannah, winding around the parks and the homes so eloquently manicured and maintained.   It was a lovely quick visit to see a little of an old southern city.   We had a limited amount of time with Eric, so we sped off into Florida to see Disneyworld.  We pulled into the main entrance a couple of weeks ago, and I was amazed to see the enormity of the park.  I have been to Disneyland, but this is nothing in comparison.  It covers 48 square miles, and has it’s own freeway system linking the different theme parks together.  It is incredibly clean, and was a really nice visit.  We checked into Ft. Wilderness RV park.  I suspected that this was going to be a very primitive experience for us, paralleling the Lewis and Clark expedition.  The pictures are not exactly in order, but I think you will enjoy them.  They are all from the Florida area.  We spent the first week in Disneyworld, then Eric and I went to Medieval Times in Orlando before he left to head home.  That is quite a show, especially the horsemanship.  After Eric left to fly back home to California, NanCarrol and I headed south toward the Florida Keys.  All during this trip we have not made reservations ahead of time.  We usually pull into Walmarts at night as we are travelling, and pull into RV parks or State Parks when we want to spend a little time there, or we need to service the coach.   When we got to the keys, I was a little concerned about driving to the end of the keys with no place for us, so I called ahead, about a 20 minute drive, and reserved a spot that we were checked into an hour later.  It was spectacular, there a couple of pictures below.  It reminded me of something that you might see on lifestyles of the rich and famous.  It was a truly spectacular location, and meticulously cared for.  They charged a premium price to stay there, but we savored every minute of it, soaking up the sun, and enjoying the beauty of the evenings as the tradewinds blew on us all day and night.  When we left the keys several days ago, we headed for the everglades.  We headed down highway 41 which is the most southern route that connects the east to west Florida, passing through the everglades.  It is a long straight highway with alligators roaming in the canals on the side of the road.  We saw a guy fishing next to a cross on the side of the road.  Ordinarily I would assume that someone had died in a car accident there.  I quickly deducted that the cross represented the last fisherman that chose that spot.  When you see the pictures of the alligators, you will know why.   We parked the coach in the parking lot of Safari Air Boats in the everglades overlooking the swamp and the boats.  The following morning, we bought tickets to ride into the everglades.  What a fun ride that was!!  We went fast and slowly, creeping through all the grass looking for alligators and wildlife.  The everglades is home to about a million animals, all of them bite.  I got bit by about 4 hundred mosquitoes.   I guess they never had a Bavarian meal before, and they seemed to enjoy it.   We left the everglades yesterday with all of our fingers and toes, and lots of swelling on my feet from the mosquito bites.  The temperature here is uncomfortably hot and humid.  It has been in the mid 80’s with high humidity.  Not fun for us, when we are not accustomed to it, and they won’t let us run around naked without being arrested.   I honestly miss our beautiful Leavenworth, and the snow right now.  I could use a snow plunge right about now.   So that’s about it for now.  Christmas is now upon us and the greatest and most glorious message of the birth of Jesus Christ is there to be discovered by many.  So as you all go about your busy lives this Christmas, we pray that you will pause for a minute and let the love and peace of God fill your hearts and lives,

We love and miss you all,

God’s Richest Blessings to all of you this glorious Christmas,

Glenn & NanCarrol

Eric in our primitive campsite at Disneyworld. It was really roughin it.

Medieval Times in Orlando Florida

Yes that's me!! The sun has done wonders for us down here in Florida!! I even grew hair

This is a typical shot as we drove into the keys. Lots of water, and lots of bridges that connect the islands. The weather was beautiful, about 87 degrees during the time we were there

NanCarrol just relaxing and enjoying the beauty of the keys

This was the most beautiful RV site we have been to, maybe the most beautiful RV park in the world. It was next to keywest. We had our own Private dock, where we could swim and just enjoy the sun and stars. It was beautiful there!!

What? You mean you've never heard of Ice Cold Coconut Juice before? Yummy

Safari Air Boats. We camped out here looking out at this setting and took a ride into the everglades the following day. During the night I heard lots of rustling and splashes in the water. It is full of alligators!!

Some of our alligator friends that we met on our airboat ride.

Doesn't he look friendly? We were amazed to see how many places like this one where the alligators were next to the road with no fences

I picked the wrong career!! Just imagine what I could have become in this profession. I wonder if a promotion means you get to work with the big alligators?

NanCarrol on the nature trail in the Everglades National Park

NanCarrol and Eric in Epcot Center in front of the waterfall at O’Canada

Glenn and Eric in front of a sculpture in the Italian Village at Epcot

Eric in the Swiss Family Robinson Tree House. "How come you never made me one of these dad?"

Eric really liked all the animation, especially the girl that played Alice in Wonderland

Eric and Glenn in adventureland

Eric and NanCarrol looking into Fantasyland just before dark

The castle at night. It was lit up with lighting that made it look like it had icicles hanging all over it. It was spectacular!!

They never get too big for hugs

Glenn & Eric on main Street in the Magic Kingdom

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Raleigh, North Carolina- Thanksgiving Day

Hi everyone,

It has been several weeks since our last posting.  Since our last posting a lot has happened.  NanCarrol and I drove from Maryland to Richmond, Virginia.   Eric, my son, was scheduled to arrive on the 10th of November, flying in from California to join us for awhile.    When we got to the Richmond area, we looked for a place to service the generator, then NanCarrol walked through the Botanical Gardens in Richmond.   She said it was really beautiful, but I wasn’t feeling very well to join her, so she had a day where she just walked the gardens by herself and enjoyed the peacefulness.  Hey that wasn’t supposed to come out that way.  Is it me or what?

The Arboretum at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens in Richmond, Virginia

We stay at a lot of Walmarts in their parking lots.  It is amazing and extremely kind of the management of Walmart to allow travelers to stay there.  We are self contained, meaning that we can go about a week with the fresh water, and storage tanks that we have on board before we need to go to a location to dump tanks and take on fresh water.   Walmarts save us a tremendous amount of money on RV parks, but we spend a lottttt of money at Walmart.  I wonder if that factored into their decision to be so kind to travelers.  Hmmm.   We needed to check into an RV park just before Eric arrived in Richmond, so we put into a park for three days, just outside of Richmond.   We have a washer and dryer, small but adequate, on the coach.  It is adequate as long as we don’t let the clothes build up too long, but the clothes come out pretty wrinkled.  We found out that someone has written an entire book on how to wash clothes in a motorhome with the washer/dryer combo that we have so they won’t wrinkle.  Sounds like great reading, right?

This was the country road, that took us home, to a place where we belonged, in Virginia. Hey that could be the words to a song.

We put into the park, got a few things done on the coach, did our laundry, and I had to work on the drivers window of the Honda again.  The window has fallen off of the guides that allow it to roll up twice now.  Oh well, the car is 15 years old, and still running well.  It is tough on the car being pulled the distances we drive.  A lot of rocks get thrown at it.  The headlights are cracked, the windshield is scratched, and the car has many rock chips on the paint since we started the trip.  If we had considered pulling a new car on the trip, it would have been discouraging to watch it deteriorate behind the coach, just from the wear and tear of the trip.

The RV park where we set up camp waiting for Eric. The river in the background began to rise steadily and was up 4 feet in two days from the storm that came through

The first day in the park was lovely, and then the clouds came in.  We began to hear about the remnants of Hurricane Ida, and that it was on a direct path for us.  The rains began slowly, and by the time I had picked up Eric, we were well into a steady rain.  During the night before we were scheduled to leave, the rains picked up in intensity as well as the wind.  By the time we left the river had risen 4 feet, the docks were under water, and the river was scheduled to crest in several hours and run over the bank where we were.  We left the park, and headed to Walmart in Hampton, Virginia, just east of Virginia Beach.  I turned on the news just in time to see that the main cell was headed directly toward us from the Atlantic.  About two hours after we got there, 60 mph winds hit us broadside, with torrential rains.  We had already pulled in the slides, but then moved the coach into the wind head on and we hunkered down for the night, and hoped nothing would fly into the windshield damaging it.  Morning came with no damage to the coach and a lot of branches down, with a lot of flooding in the area.  During the night and all day the next day, emergency vehicles sped down the main street next to us.  It was  a busy time for them.  Many of the roads were 4 feet under water due to rising tides, and rivers that crested very rapidly.  It is amazing to me how quickly things turn when the heavens open up, and pour water on us.  It can be a cause of anxiety when we don’t get enough rain, and another cause of anxiety when too much falls too quickly.  Kind of makes me think that it might be good to leave the anxiety in God’s hands, since we have no control over it anyway.

Now this is Eric, he is a chip off the old block, you might say. He wants to be in the air force, so I took him to a place where he could get some practical experience before he takes off. The little boy in front was trying to help him get it started.

Once the storm was behind us, I took Eric to the Virginia air and space museum.  We spent the day there, touring the museum, and watching the IMAX film about the trip to the moon.  Eric plans to enlist in the air force once he returns to Calif. so I thought this would be a good start for him to get him acquainted with planes, and what they are for.  Actually he is a really bright kid, and runs circles around me when it comes to a computer.  He has put his own web design company together, after completing courses in college that taught him a lot about networking and computer jargon.  Now he wants to jump out of airplanes.   I hope I raised him so that he is smart enough to use a parachute.  Sometimes I wonder.

Eric in front of many of the fighters hanging from the superstructure in the museum

The museum is done very nicely with a lot of hands on type of things.  Eric waited very patiently, well kind of, maybe not so patiently for the 6 and 7 year old kids to get off of the different simulators so he try his hand at them.  I wonder if that will help him to get into the air force if he adds that to his resume.

Now Eric is just a kid at heart with an all grown up body.  We saw this simulator and he was ready to take it on.  I jumped in with him and said you’re driving, or maybe flying.  That might have been a mistake.  The simulator is pretty impressive.  It does barrel rolls, and spins front to back all at the same time.  All while you are trying to look at a screen in front of you.  I think he purposely did the rolls and spins.  We rolled and spun for about three minutes.  I was arrested on the sidewalk for disorderly conduct and walking sideways shortly afterward.  It took a while to shake that off.

Eric and me in the top gun simulator. This is what it might be like to ride in a blender

After we left the air and space museum we headed to Langley Air Force Base.  Eric said he was ready for them, showed him his credentials from the visit to the space museum, and they shooed us away.  It must be tougher than we thought to get into the Air Force.  We headed over to the Air Power Museum to get him some more experience where he found the job that he wants most once he gets in.

Now Eric is a bright kid, just like me.  He found this flying thing that he said he wants to pilot.  I can’t see any reason why they shouldn’t consider letting him be a pilot, seeing he’s smart like me.

Wow Dad, do you think that I can qualify to be a pilot on one of these?

The next day Eric and I headed to Ft. Monroe, to see the fort and the museum while NanCarrol worked on the coach.  It is an old fort, with high rock  walls all around and a moat around the fort.  It was built before the civil war, but no one ever attacked the fort.  One thing that we found interesting was that many of the blacks sought refuge in the fort during the times of slavery.  They found out quickly that the army would not return them to their unkind masters, and they were able to work on the fort to compensate for their room and board.

Ft. Monroe, in Hampton, Virginia

NanCarrol and I waited a week for Eric in the Richmond area, because there were so many things that we could take him to see.  The following day, we headed to Jamestown.  It is the first colonized settlement in the United States.  It was settled in 1608.  The first settlement comprised of 500 people.  Of those 500 people, 440 died either from starvation or illnesses like the influenza.  We walked the area where they settled, and it was obvious that the choice for the first settlement was not the wisest.  They had no good clean water to drink for a long time.  They must have been drinking brackish water, that was making them sick, contributing to their illnesses.  At some point they talk about digging a well, and claiming that brought them clean water that was “at want”.   The language that they used, a form of high english, was a little difficult to understand as we read some of the writings.  Eric asked why they didn’t just speak in plain English like us.  I told you he was a chip off the old block.  Smart kid.

Downtown Williamsburg during rush hour

We headed to Williamsburg the next day.  Williamsburg is a historical town in Virginia where the people dress in costumes of the mid 1700’s reenacting the history of the United States just prior to becoming independent of the English rule.  It really is a fascinating place.  The play, if you want to call it that, runs throughout the day on the streets of Williamsburg.  It begins as the people begin to get excited about the announcement that they are going to go against the British and fight for their freedom.  They move you about from location to location, bringing all the spectators into the action by putting the costumed people in the crowds with them.  They engage in conversation with the people, asking them if they are for or against, and start quite a conversation.

Walking down the streets of Williamsburg

When Eric and I were walking down the street, this black man, playing a slave in his role, came up to talk with us.  He was extremely animated, and the most memorable character of the day for us.  He came up to Eric and said that they were going to be free, and asked him what he thought.  He said I am going to be a free man, and I’m going to find my wife and my kids and I’m going to have a new life.  He was a lot of fun, we really enjoyed talking with him.  The characters, never step out of the time period when you are talking with them.  They are there in 1769, and the questions you have they can only answer as if they are in that time period.   It is a big operation.  One of the people that we talked with said that they employ 4-5000 people.

We started out in the Governor’s mansion.  The inside of the mansion is decorated with about 500 muskets, and swords.  It is pretty impressive.   Although much of Williamsburg was recreated, they said that 88 of the buildings are original and restored.  The intent was to recreate it to what it was, and put people in character to relive that part of

NanCarrol and Eric in front of the maze in the Governor’s gardens

history, and allow the visitors to participate in living history.  It was an important part of our history and a fun thing to do while we were there.

After the tour of the mansion we went out into the gardens of the governors mansion.  It covers some 10 acres, and was very nice.   Thomas Jefferson, and Patrick Henry were two of the former residents of the mansion.   After wandering the gardens, we headed out onto the street to watch everything play out during the day.   The picture with oxen was unusual.  I don’t think that I have ever seen two oxen yoked together.   Their is a scripture in the Bible about being unevenly yoked.  It reminded me of the passage.  If they had tried to put a donkey and an oxen together on the same yoke it might be similar to the meaning of the spiritual text, however the deeper meaning applied to us as humans and being unevenly yoked as spiritual beings to one another.

In the tunnel of trees in the gardens

Two oxen that are equally yoked

In the evening we headed back onto the streets, and had dinner, then waited for a play to start that was modeled after the plays that would have been similar to ones that they might have seen during the 1700’s.  One could only describe it as “stupid”.   It was funny in some ways, but I don’t think that I would spend much money in that direction.  It was clearly apparent that they didn’t spend a lot of time on quality entertainment.  One of the guys came out on stage and stood there smiling for about two minutes without saying anything or doing anything before being whisked off the stage by someone else.  It was a little like old style comedy vaudeville, doing stupid things to try and get people to laugh.

NanCarrol on the street before the play taking care of Thomas Jefferson

We left the Richmond area, and headed west on I-64 to see the Appalachian area, and to see a few of the many caverns in that area.  We picked up flyers promoting about ten caverns that were eager to have visitors come and see their cavern.   We chose the grand cavern first, owned by the city and run by their parks dept.  It was a nice tour, about an hour long underground with beautiful formations.   On the way back to town, we came headon to a railway overpass that was marked at 9′-0″ clearance.  That wasn’t going to work as we were 13′-0″ tall on the coach, so I proceeded to get out in the dark, disconnect the car, and had Eric move the car while I backed the coach in traffic to get out of that situation until we could get turned around.

Eric inside of the Grand Caverns

The following day, we headed up to the Shenandoah National Park and followed the Skyline drive.    It is a pretty drive following the ridge overlooking the valley below on both sides of the mountain.

The weather was a little hazy, and cool, but we were able to see quite a bit off into the distance.  The view of Eric is west of the Shenandoah National Park.

We put into the big meadows campground at dark, and set up camp.  When we woke up, the clouds were upon us, and we were engulfed in the mist.

NanCarrol and I in the Big Meadows Campground of the Shenandoah National Park

Eric in the Shenandoah National Park overlooking the valley below

The next day we headed down to the Luray Caverns in Luray, Virginia of all places.  This is a big operation.  The parking lot would have easily held about 600 vehicles and another 50 RVs.   They handed us headsets and said that the tour underground was at our own pace, and we could listen to the tour on the headset by punching the numbers in as we came upon the markers.

Eric and I in front of Luray Caverns

I have been in a lot of caves and caverns throughout my life.  These were the most impressive I have ever seen, not the most adventurous.  They had taken the time to lay a brick path that is well lit throughout the cavern.  The lighting is spectacular on the formations.   You wind your way up and down the path through the cavern looking down into formations, and caves, into pools reflecting the ceiling, and it is jaw dropping gorgeous.  I did expect some trolls to jump out at us anytime, but no luck.  It looked like a movie set for the Lord of the Rings, or something like that.  It was really incredible.

We left Luray and the Caverns behind and set out on a 300 mile southward journey into North Carolina toward Raleigh to see my nephew and his delightful family.   I hate having family so spread out.  We are geographically all over the world, and it is awful to not be able to see each other on a regular basis.

On the way to Jimbo’s house, we saw this bear on the side of the road.  He wasn’t in very good shape.  It is rare to see a bear alive or dead, so we stopped and shot this picture.

We pulled into the Walmart just a little bit from Jimbo’s house, just in time for him to pull up in his car, unannounced.  He knocked at our door and said, I’m sorry but you can’t park here.  It took me a minute to recognize him.  I haven’t seen him for about 8 years.  Our visit with Jimbo and his family was wonderful.  I finally got acquainted with Bryanna, a funny witty very cute girl, and with Trevor, an articulate, shy and very thoughtful young boy.  Audra, Jimbo’s wife  has always been a lot of fun.  She is a caring, loving mom and the kids adore both Jimbo and Audra.  They are really lucky kids to have a mom and dad like the two of them.  They work hard, and love their kids deeply.  Jimbo, well what can I say.  He hasn’t changed, but neither have I, I guess.  We just get older, and dumber.  Jimbo has always had a heart of gold, a wit that never ended, and loves humor and finds it in everything.  I have always loved that about him and it was delightful to find that it’s still there in full bloom.  He finds joy in everything and his children have fun chiding him and loving him in his  humor.   Bryanna said one of her favorite past times was matching wits with her dad and seeing if she could get the best of him.  Jimbo comes by it naturally.  His dad, my brother-in-law is one of the wittiest men that I have ever met.  He will let you assault him with humor and remarks and sit patiently until you are done and lay everyone on the ground with two or three words very easily.  I never have figured out how he does that.

A bear that died along the road. We didn’t know if he was hit by a car

Our extended family that we love so dearly, Audra, Bryanna, Trevor and Jimbo

NanCarrol with the gang. We can’t wait until you come to visit us in Washington Jimbo, Audra, Bryanna, and Trevor. We love you all a lot!!!

Yesterday was Thanksgiving, and it was a day for us to reflect on the goodness of the Lord in our lives, and in the lives of our loved ones.  We said our goodbyes, tearfully, and headed south again and are now in Florence, South Carolina at the time of this posting, headed for Florida where Eric and I can see who’s stomach is the strongest at Disneyworld.  I have a strong suspicion that he will beat me out.  It ain’t what it used to be, but that’s about true for every part of me.

So until our next posting,  we love each and every one of you,

GOD BLESS YOU ALL, AND KEEP YOU SAFE,

Glenn, NanCarrol and Eric,

NanCarrol called this the humpty dumpty road in Virginia on the way to Raleigh

A very poor example of the beauty of the Luray Cavern. Our camera did not do justice to the beauty.

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Washington DC-October 30th, 2009

Hi everyone,

Well we made it to DC and we have been here for two weeks now.  It is beautiful here, but in all honesty, it is way too busy and noisy for us, and we are eager to get back into the rural areas.  Neither of us are city dwellers.  We love the quiet of our beautiful Leavenworth and the beauty that surrounds us there.  We are thoroughly enjoying this trip however,  having the opportunity to see the things that we have only heard about.   We parked the motorhome at Cherry Hills RV park about 15 miles outside of downtown Washington DC.  From here we take a city bus to a subway station and then take the subway in under the city to the destinations that we want to see.  It is a good system, but we have just about been run over and trampled underfoot during the 5 Oclock rush home.  We don’t move as quickly as they all do here, and we were pushed and shoved as we tried to get onto the escaltors in the subway system.  They didn’t win our award for being the most friendly city that we have been to.   That aside, the trip here is a dream come true for NanCarrol.  She has always dreamed of being able to go to the Smithsonian Museum.  I had no idea that the Smithsonian was so huge.  It is a conglomeration of 19 different museums scattered around DC.  We have been to 8 so far, and have worn the soles right off of our shoes in doing so.  I haven’t done this much walking since I was hiking with the boy scouts.  Once we reach DC via the subway, we begin hoofing it around the streets of DC.  I quickly learned that it would be better for NanCarrol to take her wheelchair along just in case she tired from the walking.   If we were able to park outside of the museums and just walk the museums, that would be an impressive day of walking.  Many of the museums take up 4 floors, at about 50,000 sq. ft. per floor.    NanCarrol’s dream day here was when we went to the National Gallery of art.  It houses the paintings from the 12th century through the present, but they are all masterpieces, many are priceless.  We stood in front of a painting by Leonardo Da Vinci, the most valued painting in the museum and only one of 19 that he ever painted.  NanCarrol wound her way through the masters studying their brushstrokes, and delighting herself in the fact that she finally got to see the originals, and not just prints.   The gallery had just about as many armed guards as there were paintings.  They were watching every step that the viewing audience was taking.

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Intercourse, Pennsylvania- October 18th

One of the pretty homes that we saw as we were travelling in Vermont. A lot of the homes had beautiful porches

Hi everyone,

We just left Intercourse Pennsylvania, and are headed for Washington DC.  So here is the rundown of the last week.   After leaving the Cabot Cheesed Factory, we headed for Queechee to find the Simon Pearce Glassblowing Studio.  Driving a large motorhome in the east is risky on the backroads of Vermont.  There are a lot of covered bridges with little to no warning about what lies ahead.  The first bridge we came upon as we entered Queechee, Vermont was located at the bottom of a hill.  As we crossed the bridge at the bottom of a hill,  I noticed a sign as we passed that said maximum weight, 24,000 lbs.  It was a little late to stop, with our 37,000 lb. coach and so we swiftly crossed, with a death grip on the steering wheel.   Once in Queechee, we found out that it was Columbus day weekend.  It is a small tourist town and the town was loaded with people for the weekend, so finding a place to park the coach was a bit of a challenge.  At about 10 at night on Friday, I positioned it carefully in a parking lot in town, and then left it there until Sunday afternoon when we left so we could go to a local church for services that was within walking distance.  They were selling fresh apple pies for a fundraiser, so we helped them get rid of one of the pies, mmmmm good!!  They really knew how to make a good apple pie.  The service was a music service, and some of the children participated and that was a delight for me to watch them.   We set our GPS to leave Queechee and tried to avoid the covered bridge that we crossed to get into town.  It took us to yet another covered bridge that we could not cross because of height and weight.  We had only two options, to turn right onto a dirt road that would take us to an unknown destination or to back up for about a mile, so I gambled and turned right.  A bike rider, yelled at me on the way by and said “You’re on the wrong road”   That was comforting.  About a mile down, I asked a few drivers coming the other direction on the one and a half lane road if the road went through.  They assured me that it did, about 5 miles down the road, so we crossed our fingers, said a prayer, and continued on.  About a half hour later, we came into a small town called Woodstock, and found our way out.  It was the only time on this trip that I could say that we were truly lost, and should not have been where we were.  I wouldn’t have admitted it to the bike rider though.  I just pretended that I knew where I was.   Maybe it is a guy thing.

Once we got out of the area, and had sighed deeply in relief we headed for NanCarrol’s favorite store in all of the country, the Vermont Country Store.  She loves that store and frequently buys online and looks through their catalogues, drooling over the merchandise.   I was able to slide up onto the hill and park the coach for a couple of days out of the way so that she could wander the store slowly for a day.  The store is really quite amazing.  It is a step back in time and extremely nostalgic.  It would be impossible for anyone to walk into the store and not remember their childhood.  I saw things that were brand new on the shelves that I haven’t seen since I was in elementary school, like Bosco chocolate drink, and a multitude of other things.  I asked them how they do it, and they said that many of the distributors did not go out of business, but sell exclusively to them now.  They had toys, food products, cosmetics, clothes, and medicinal things like cod liver oil.  I thought about trying it, but at $38 a bottle, I changed my mind.  I’ll bet they didn’t pay $38 50-60 years ago.

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St. Johnsbury, Vermont-Saturday, October 9th

Hi Everyone,

We traveled into Acadia National Park, which was a surprise to both of us since we didn’t know that we had a National Park in Maine.  It is on an Island, and is fairly large.  We arrived at the park at about 7 PM hoping that we might be able to camp in the park.   We came to an intersection that poorly marked where we should go, and ended up parking by the side of the road at a turnout until morning.    We kept driving and it was raining hard, so I pulled over at a turnout for the night.  A ranger pulled up and knocked on the door at midnight and said we couldn’t stay there and gave us directions to find a place so we pulled the motorhome into town, about ten miles away at about 1 am and stayed on the street in RV parking in Bar Harbor,  Maine.  The one thing that we have really appreciated about this coach is the length of time that we can go when we are dry camping.  We can stop anywhere that we choose, except for where the rangers don’t want us to, and have all the conveniences of home with our storage tanks and generator.   We spent two nights at Bar Harbor, and took a tour around Acadia park in a National Park tour bus much like the school bus that I drove for two years.  The first series of pictures is from that tour.

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