November 2, Home at last

turning into our subdivision

We had a pleasant drive up from Columbia, SC, enjoying the fall leaves and arriving home about 3:30pm.  We are thankful for God's protection over the last 2 months and the 10726 miles we traveled through 16 states.

We enjoyed seeing several friends and family along the way and meeting many new people as well.  We are still processing all that we learned about our country's history and geography and feel very blessed to have had this opportunity.

It is great to be home again, though we managed quite well in the 16 by 7 foot camper.  It will take several days to unload, clean, and store the camper until our next trip. Looking forward to reconnecting with our family and friends here at home.

(don't forget to turn your clocks back tonight :)

October 30-Noveber 1 Clermont, FL to Columbia, SC

Wednesday we spent the day driving up from Clermont, FL to Columbia, SC and set up camp late afternoon. We are in Columbia for the 90th Homecoming at Columbia International University (formerly Columbia Bible College). Lorraine attended there '71-'74 and received an Associates Degree. Roger took classes there in '79-'80 when he was temporarily medically retired from the Navy.  We hadn't been back in years and enjoyed reconnecting with a few people we went to school with and meeting some new people. The four living presidents of the school took part in the chapel service.  It was great to see and hear again Robertson McQuilkin (far right) who was president when we were there and to meet his successors. It was good to see that the school is still thriving and is still faithful to it original values and mission.  Today we were given a tour of the facilities by some of the current students and it was interesting to them and to us as we compared how things have changed over the years. We ran into Bob and Shirley Peach's daughter Emily and her husband there. We had forgotten that they were alumni. Their son is a current student and was one of the students leading us on the tour. Small world.

October 27-9, Clearwater to Minneola, FL

Sunday we had the pleasure of attending Lakeside Community Church where my Mother, brother and his family attend. It is always a treat to hear their pastor teach. As a rule his preaching is not topical but verse by verse through a book of the Bible with no limit on the number of weeks it takes. I appreciate his thoroughness and always learn a lot. This happened to be the week the church was having a family fellowship after the service and it was nice to have lunch with most of my family that lives down there.




Later Roger and I went back to my brother's house for more fun and fellowship with John and Beth.

Mom and her niece Peggy

Monday morning Roger dropped me off at Mom's apartment and he went ahead to Minneola area to find a campground  before the funeral service. I visited with Mom and showed her the blog and some other pictures from our trip and we had lunch.  John and Beth picked us up for the 2 hour drive to Minneola. The service was at the church which my grandfather helped start in 1925, my aunt was a charter member and attended until her health prevented her from getting out, and my mother attended growing up.  It was a blessing to hear testimonies of Aunt Helen's faithful service in the church and community and meet some of the people of various ages her life had impacted. At a reception later in the afternoon, Mom was able to meet children of friends she had grown up with and visit with some other relatives who still live in that area.

  Duane and Lori Watt and family

Roger and I had recently discovered that a former Sunday School teacher from a church we attended in Cary had relocated to Minneola with his company 7 years ago. We were able to spend the evening visiting with their family and meeting the new additions since they had moved away. It was a blessing to see hear and see how God has been blessing and using them here.

Today, Tuesday we walked around Downtown Disney a while and had lunch there, did a little shopping, then we came back to the campground to relax and take care of some correspondence and laundry and the like.  Tomorrow we head north again to South Carolina.

October 25-6, Clearwater, FL

It has been good to spend time with our family in Florida. My brother, John, came over to the campground yesterday morning to see our camper. After I fixed some lunch, we went over to visit Mom a while, then went back to his house and when Beth returned from shopping we played a game of Dominion and had dinner together.  This morning Roger and I went for a walk on Clearwater Beach on the Gulf and collected a few seashells. Then we spent the afternoon and evening with John, Beth and their son, John and his wife, Alicia, playing Dominion, visiting and sharing pictures and stories about our trip.

October 24, Clearwater, FL

This morning we continued south from Lake City, Florida to Clearwater. We got in early afternoon and found a campground on the main road into Clearwater between my brother's house and my mom's apartment. After we set up camp we went to visit my mom for about an hour and a half.


 Then we went over to my brother  house and went out with John and Beth for dinner. Afterwards we were treated to a beautiful sunset . We did a little shopping on the way back to their house.

October 23, change of plans

Instead of spending a few days in Atlanta, GA, we picked up I-75 and headed south to Florida to spend time with family down in the Clearwater area. Tonight we stopped in Lake City and plan on driving to Clearwater in the morning. We received word yesterday that my Aunt Helen peacefully went to be with her Lord at the age of 99. We plan to drive up to Clermont with my Mom (92) and brother John for the funeral. Please pray for Peggy, Aunt Helen's niece, who was with her when she passed and is handling the arrangements. It gives us peace to know that Aunt Helen is with the Lord and Morgan (her husband) once more.

October 22, MS to AL

This morning we went by the Vicksburg National Military Park which preserves the site of the American Civil War Battle of Vicksburg, waged from May 18 to July 4, 1863. Vicksburg was the last Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River and because it was built on a hill overlooking the river, Grant's army was not able to take it by force and only brought it down by a 47 day siege. We didn't take the time to drive the whole battlefield but went to the museum at the visitors center and watched the video they had there.  It is sobering to think that in that one campaign over 20,000 people lost their lives.

It was about 11 am by the time we got on the road so we decided not to drive all the way through to Atlanta since we would arrive after dark.  We found a campground in Anniston, AL about 100 miles from Atlanta around dinner time so we were able to set up camp while still daylight.