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.

October 20-1, Tx to Vicksburg, MS

Sunday morning we visited Pleasant View Baptist Church in Arlington, TX. It was a bit bigger than the last couple churches we visited and very friendly. Even though each church has its own style there is a sense of family when you are with others of like faith.  After lunch we walked a couple hours though part of the largest Flea Market I have ever seen then we went back to camp and did some laundry, made some phone calls and relaxed.

This morning we broke camp early and headed east again on I-20. You start seeing trees again in east Texas and by the time you cross over into Louisiana, you would think you were driving in eastern North Carolina except for a sign now and then that reminds you that you are in Louisiana.






We crossed the Mississippi River about 3:30 pm CT and found a campground in Vicksburg, MS.  We plan to drive through the Vicksburg Battlefield in the morning before we head east again.

Just got off the phone with our family in TN.  Happy 13th Birthday to our sweet granddaughter, Hanna!

October 19 Fort Worth, TX

This morning we drove over to Fort Worth to the Texas Civil War Museum, which is a non-profit museum and the largest Civil War Museum east of the Mississippi. It was quite large and especially interesting because quite a few of the artifacts they knew who owned or used them and included a summary about that person and their military career. They had a good selection of weapons and equipment from both side displayed opposite of each other so you could compare them.  The video about Texas role in the Civil War was very interesting. The collection of Victorian dresses was very nice and showed how styles changed during the 1800's.

After lunch we drove over to the Forth Worth Stockyard Station which was once the biggest and busiest marketing center in the southwest for various livestock. Today livestock is marketed by satellite and online auctions rather than in person and the 125 acre stockyard is now a National Historic District attracting over 2 million visitors a year with it hotels, shops, restaurants, museums and rodeos, etc. They keep a dozen or so long-horned steer that they herd through the street twice a day as they used to be when they were brought in to market.

October 17-8, Waco and Dallas, TX

Thursday morning we packed up again and headed northeast to the Dallas/Fort Worth area.  We stopped in Waco early afternoon to visit the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum.  There are several Texas Ranger Museums around but this Texas' official museum. It was very well done and gives the history the Rangers from it's inception in 1823 (it is the oldest state law enforcement agency in the nation), and how its role has changed over the years. It has the largest collection of Ranger artifacts and memorializes Texas Rangers who have given their lives in the line of duty or served with great distinction.

We went on from there to set up camp in Arlington, TX which is between Dallas and Fort Worth. Today we drove in to Dallas to visit the George W. Bush Presidential Center.  It was like a breath of fresh air with all that has been going on lately. It tells the family history and about their family life during their time in the White House. It reviews George and Laura Bush's public service which continues today . It trace the issues and challenges  he dealt with during his presidency and some of the decision process of the office of President. There are displays about both their international visits and visits from dignitaries from around the world. There is a memorial to the 9-11 tragedy, those who were lost and those who responded to help.

October 16, San Antonio, TX

This morning we woke up to rain so we dug out our Dominion game and hung out at the camper. After lunch the rain had let up some so we ventured out.  San Antonio is an interesting town but has been very challenging to us and our GPS because there is so much road work going on.  Almost everywhere we have tried to go, on and off base, we have run into closed roads and detours.  We went for a drive through the King William Historic District which has large houses designed in the Greek Revival, Victorian, and Italianate styles, some of which date back to the late 1800’s. 

 

 We were able to tour Edward Steve’s House which was built in 1876 by a German immigrant who made his fortune by starting a lumber mill.  It was donated to the conservation society in 1952 and contains many articles and furniture that had belonged to the family supplemented by items from the period the family lived there. 

 This inlaid parquetry table was a gift to Edward Steve from his sons on his retirement, made from scraps of wood they had collected from his mill. 

 This grand stairway winds up 3 floors; the statue built into the rail was purchased at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition and the designs painted on the walls and ceilings were had painted by an artist without stencils. 

Later in the afternoon we went to the SAS Shoe Factory and General Store (we found out that SAS stands for San Antonio Shoemakers).  It was a very interesting place: at the General Store they sell factory seconds (usually just slight imperfections in the leather) of shoes and handbags made in a nearby factory. 

They also sell high-quality children’s shoes that make right in the store. There is a gift shop and ice-cream parlor and candy shop.  They also sell concessions like popcorn, peanuts, soda) at early 20^th century prices.

They have a bunch of antique cars and toys displayed indoors and out. They offer free factory tours at their other location, but we got there too late for that. We had a good time there nevertheless.

October 14-5, San Antonio, TX

Monday morning we went to tour the Alamo which is in the heart of downtown San Antonio, and then we took the mission trail south to see four other Spanish missions.  The Alamo is maintained by the state but the others are part of the National Park Service and were “closed” though there were Park Rangers on duty at two of them. The other two are still active parishes so they were unlocked and we were able to get in.

We went back downtown to see the San Fernando Cathedral and some of the other beautiful buildings in San Antonio.

 We were amused by this sign we saw. Then we did some grocery shopping and went back to camp to fix dinner.

This morning we went to see the Combat Medic Museum on base and found it also “closed due to gov’t shutdown” though there was a cleaning crew there working.  We were glad to see at the Base Exchange this sign: 

 After we did a little shopping there we went back downtown for lunch and walked around Riverwalk, which is a multilevel shopping mall built along both sides of the river that runs through town.

 We went to the Witte Museum which has a variety of interesting exhibits from wildlife, art, culture and history of South Texas. Then we came back to camp to fix dinner and do laundry.