One more thing

Take all the awesome beauty of creation that we've seen, add some magnificent trees, and you have the unbelievable West Coast! How good to see green trees -- lots and lots of them -- as well as mountains, fields, valleys, farms, cities and all. Even Pike's Peak doesn't compare.

BIG Valleys, BIG Round Mountains, BIG Table Top Ridges

Today was a BIG day. We left southern Idaho, passing modest, but apparently successful farms. It was somewhat unspectacular country, but pleasant if you like flat. Interestingly, on both sides of the large valley, were tall hills (or little mountains, I guess). The sides of these hills were almost vertical and the tops were flat so they looked for all the world like walls. We could see that they had had snow, but it was about 8 or 9 degrees, so there was no danger of our seeing any new snow or ice.

Boise is a bigger city than we expected. It seems like a prosperous area with lots of evidence of industry, but not ugly at all. I think we have given a "thumbs up" to Idaho . . . not for me to live in, for sure, but fine for a visit.

As we drove north and west, we entered the northeast corner of Oregon. Here we saw amazing scenery. It's hard to describe, but the overriding observation would, again, have to be that everything was big. The mountains (not hills) are massive and round and bare, resulting in huge dips and valleys.

You might get a bit of an idea from this photo (taken from the car window by Nita, of course)

This photo doesn't show that off in the distance were much bigger bald mountains rising higher and further away -- big, round, bald mountain ranges.

We climbed up over some of these mountains, and at one point, we stopped at a viewpoint for a spectacular sight. The scene is a huge valley, the centre of which is the city of Pendleton. Here's a bit of a look. (By the way, I took the first one! I couldn't see what I was taking because the little camera that I'm using has an LCD screen but no view finder. All I could see was a reflection of myself, so I just sort of pointed the camera in the general direction of the valley!)

And here is one that show the road below and the patchwork of the cultivated fields. Wherever there is no irrigation, the land is as arid as can be -- sagebrush and all. I am constantly amazed at the lack of water and green growth across most of the country I've traveled!All of the interstates have trucks, trucks, trucks. As you will see in this picture, some are even three trailers long.

We're going to try to get home by 4:30 tomorrow so I can get the dentist to tighten up my implanted tooth! The cap is loose and I'm afraid it will pop off. So, if all goes well, I should be home from the dentist by about 5:30. I am so looking forward to seeing my friends and family at home. I just wish I didn't have to travel from one end of the country to the other to see those I love!
So, this is the end of this Kentucky Bound Blog. It's been a wonderful trip, coming and going. I hope you were able to get a glimpse of the fun I've had. Thanks for reading.

From Winter to Summer to Winter in Ten Hours

We left Dillon, Colorado in freezing winter weather. It was about 22 degrees F., which is something like minus 5 or 6 C. The car windows were covered with ice, and with freezing hands, a credit card, and the defroster on full, we finally cleared the windows enough to be on our way. As the morning unfolded, the temperature increased and the sun shone. By the time we got through most of the mountains the temperature soared to 22 degrees Celsius. We drove on after supper since the driving was easy and we weren't too tired until we reached Burley in southern Idaho. The temperature dropped again, and the close-by hills were again snow covered. You've probably never heard of Burley, Idaho -- neither had we. It's about 200 miles north of Salt Lake City on I-84, but we have no idea what the place looks like since it was dark when we arrived and is still dark this morning.

I forgot to mention that we saw two Rocky Mountain big horned sheep right next to the highway between Denver and Dillon. We were surprised and delighted because those animals are usually found only in remote mountain areas. I have seen them before, but never that close. Too bad we were on the Interstate so we couldn't stop and have a better look.

I have been to Colorado before, but I am still shocked by the fact that by far, the largest part of Colorado is arid. The plains in the east are just a continuation of Kansas, but when I think of the Rockies, I think of huge mountains and trees -- even if they are high altitude trees. Well, as we drove through the Rockies yesterday, the area looks more like Kamloops than the Hope-Princeton. We saw huge mountains, for sure, and some were snowy crags, but, for the most part, they were big bald yellow mountains separated by wide, arid valleys. By the time we crossed the state line into Utah, the valleys were bigger and the mountains and hills were the strange shapes that go with the beautiful Arches of southern Utah. The other thing that impressed me was that there are huge distances between settlements. People living in a remote little village miles and miles from any kind of city makes me wonder what on earth they do for a living. Some settlements were mining communities and, of course, Vail and surrounding areas were ski resorts, but there were plenty of others that seemed to just "be there".

One of the massive "rocks" along the way.

See what I mean by wide, arid valleys?

Still arid and beginning to show some interesting shapes.

Some hills looked like this, others just like castles, yet others like pyramids. Strange shapes.

We turned North at Provo, Utah. Provo and Salt Lake City almost run into each other in one large megalopolis. We arrived just in time to experience rush hour. Well, other than two slow downs because of construction, I don't believe we drove more slowly than 60 mph during the entire time. If that's rush hour, then these folks from Utah certainly know how to do it.

We stopped in Ogden, Utah -- just a bit north of SLC at a Cracker Barrel for supper. We looked at the map and at the books and decided to carry on for another couple of hundred miles. I pulled into the Fairfield Inn parking lot and was able to hook into their free wireless service in order to reserve a room in Burley. I felt very much as if I had found a real bargain by saving the cost of a phone call! The roads are good, and like earlier in the day, I was able to set the cruise control for 75 mph and on we went, passing only big trucks and being passed by a few cars. The GPS did its thing, and we arrived at the motel we had selected without incident.

It's light now -- and cloudy. Nita just looked out the window and described the area -- "Farm country with snow on the hills." We're off in a few minutes to drive through the surprisingly large state of Idaho (I always just think of that northern little part of Idaho), through a bit of Oregon, and then into Washington. It's interesting that as soon as we came out of the mountains into the Salt Lake City area, Nita and I both felt more "at home". Idaho feels closer, Oregon will feel good, and by the time we get to Washington, we will be virtually "back home."

Purple Mountain Majesties

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,

For purple mountain majesties

Above the fruited plain!

America! America!

God shed his grace on thee

And crown thy good with brotherhood

From sea to shining sea!

These words were penned by Katharine Lee Bates after she visited Pike's Peak by Colorado Springs. We drove the 19 miles from Colorado Springs (altitude 6000 ft.) to the summit of Pike's Peak (altitude 14,110 ft.) It was so steep in places that I couldn't go over 10 mph. Part of the road is paved, and part is gravel. There was snow and fog on the way up, but the fog cleared so on the way down, we could see down the precipices and across the ranges of mountains. Coming back down, we were told to put the car in the lowest gear so that we didn't burn out our brakes! There were steep inclines and hairpin turns that made the Summits to Christina Lake look like a little winding road in the park! Just to prove we were there in the well-below freezing temperatures and blowing wind -- well above the tree line . . . (you can see that I cut the top of the sign off when it was my turn to take the photo!)

We witnessed what must surely be the most spectacular sights I have ever seen. I used up all my superlatives yesterday, and now I have no words left to describe the scenes. So, here are some of Nita's photos -- you know what they say about a picture being worth a thousand words! Too bad that even Nita's superb photography doesn't do justice to the pictures we saw with our eyes.

See the mountain ranges in the background.

This shows the summit -- and we were all the way up there at the very top!

I told you there was snow!

I will, however, have to try to describe the aspens. Remember that when I use the words "lower" altitudes, we are starting at 6000 feet! In the lower altitudes, the aspens are beginning to change colour. First, they seem to be almost a lime green. A little further up, and mixed in with the green aspens, are ones that are a mixture of green and yellow. Next, they become bright yellow, and then a tangerine orange colour. They look so spectacular because their trunks are paper white. Standing next to dark pines with black trunks makes them stand out even more. By the time we travelled further up the mountain, they had lost all their leaves and stood naked and chilly in the snow and wind. So here are some pictures of the aspens.

We're somewhere in the Rockies tonight in a little town named Dillon, Colorado. We're still about 7 or more hours from Salt Lake City if the weather holds. We hope to make it to Ogden, Utah tomorrow. We'll keep you posted.

By the way, just as a postscript -- the altitude at the summit made for strange feelings. I felt pretty uncomfortable -- a little shaky, swimmy head, and a general "not good feeling". These are signs of altitude sickness, except what I experienced was very mild. Some people cannot handle it and can become very sick. I think the combination of altitude, the special doughnuts that they can make only at that altitude (we ate two each), and the tension of the drive attacked my digestive system so that I have "suffered" every since! Not only that, but the little Suzuki also felt the altitude and had its oxygen sensor knocked out of whack. It cost $50 to have it put on the scan to find out what the warning light was all about! It's a good thing we met this very nice mechanic the previous day when I had the oil changed. We've now driven a couple of hundred plus miles in mountain country and no more warning lights. As well, a good shower and some ginger ale are working together to repair my innards too!

Colorado Springs - Mountain Splendor

We spent a lovely day today in Colorado Springs. It has been COLD -- we had layers of warmies on. We started out this morning for the US Air Force Academy. Our GPS guided us easily to this military base, which, while right in Colorado Springs, is huge. Once we passed the inspection point (when a freshly scrubbed young man peered at our over laden car, looked in the over laden trunk, and just waved us on) we drove for about six miles before we reached the visitors' centre. We stopped at a static display of two Thunderbird planes -- a Warthog and a T-38 (I think).

We looked around a bit and watched a short movie about the Academy. It was okay, but not great -- mostly advertising for the Academy. However, then we walked a 1/3 - mile trail to the Chapel. What a beautiful building! Nita, of course, has some beautiful pictures, but, for now, here are a couple I took -- truly a unique building.

It's not really possible to describe the interaction of the stained glass windows and the shape of the building and the windows. The Protestant chapel on the main floor was glorious in the light. The Catholic Chapel is on the bottom floor, and has a lovely mosaic behind the altar. The Jewish Chapel and the Buddhist Chapel are on the lower floor and are quite small in comparison. There is an Islamic Chapel as well now, but we were unable to see it.

Our next port of call was The Garden of the Gods. This natural area is free and open to the public after being donated to the city of Colorado Springs many years ago. Again, pictures cannot do justice to the magnificence of nature. This area is right up there in terms of strange beauty. Again, here are some poor pictures. (I really should have waited till I could get Nita's photos.)

After a wonderful drive through the Garden of the Gods, we drove into Old Colorado Springs, expecting to see what the town looked like in the very early days. Instead, we found shop after shop selling antiques and such. It was a bit disappointing, but we poked around for a bit, and then headed back to our very modest motel. We entered some addresses into the Tom-Tom and headed out for supper. We have been saving a portion of our dinners (always too much around here) and using the leftovers for lunch the next day! We were going to get gas after supper, but some of the gas stations around here make it difficult to use a Canadian credit card (if you can believe it). Before you can pump gas, you have to put your zip code in. Of course, a Canadian postal code will not work. I tried putting either Donna's zip code or Mary Ann's zip code in, but they didn't match the address on the credit card so that didn't work. If I take my card into the cashier, they sometimes don't know what to do, and even if they do, I don't know how much gas the car will take. So, tonight, I just drove out. We'll fill up somewhere else. Many stations will take the card -- especially the major oil companies. Still, it's a nuisance!

We did an analysis of our time, the distances and the weather conditions and have decided to change our Yellowstone plans once again. The weather and road conditions are just unpredictable so we aren't going to try to even drive anywhere near the park. We aren't even going to go up to I-80 since there is some question of the conditions even of that Interstate through the Rockies. The best route we can find is I-70 from Denver to Salt Lake City and then north to I-90 at Ellensburg. It's still a long drive home. We're planning to go to Pike's Peak tomorrow and then on to a little place near Vail. The next night we're hoping to make it to Ogden, Utah and then to Kennewick, Washington -- getting us home sometime on Friday. If we are delayed by weather through the Rockies, we might not make it home till Saturday, but so far as we can see, we should be fine. We'll keep you informed if our plans change. Pike's Peak should be good tomorrow.

Wind, Rain, Road Construction, Trucks and Cold

As I predicted, today was a hard drive. It started out just fine -- good road, not too much traffic, easy directions. However, once we passed the Kansas City Ring Road, the wind started up. It blew in gusts -- not dangerous like the Casper trip of the past, but just enough wind to make me unable to relax as I drove. That wind went on for quite a few miles and then eased up until we were just getting on and off gusts. Next, however, we experienced rain. At first, it was ordinary rain, but then turned into driving rain along with much traffic, road construction, and truck after truck spraying water making visibility an issue. So, we are tired, but safely in a motel in Colorado Springs, near the Garden of the Gods which we plan to visit tomorrow. We're thinking of staying another day here so we can do some sight seeing. We're not sure about Yellowstone, so perhaps we'll settle for Pike's Peak instead.

Kansas was okay, but by the time we got to the Colorado state line we were pretty sick of prairies. We did see fields and fields of milo -- a kind of grain used to feed livestock. It looks like stunted corn with a brown flower on top. I forgot to mention that we also saw fields of cotton in Missouri. We're not sure just what stage those fields were in -- ready for harvest??

The one thing of particular interest today was the clouds (and there were plenty of them!) They looked like big grey blankets rolled up and placed in a row. At one point it looked as if the entire sky was moving quickly -- the wind was strong enough to be moving all the clouds together. Interesting. The temperature dropped as far as 1 degree Celsius along the way and it's only about 3 degrees here in town. With the wind added, we were COLD as we walked across the street to the restaurant, even though we were pretty bundled up. It's supposed to snow tonight I think, so we'll see what tomorrow brings. It's all good though.

Windy Interlude

I just have a few minutes before we leave. We need to get on the road because we have a difficult drive ahead of us. There are wind warnings over I-70 in Kansas -- right where we're going. We're aiming for Colorado Springs tonight. We will likely have to change our Yellowstone plans yet again . . . snow seems to be accumulating. The same thing happened on our way home from Philadelphia a number of years ago! We'll let you know when we decide on alternatives. Right now, we're planning to do some sight seeing around Colorado Springs. More later.

Whew -- The Show Me State

Well, here we are in Ozark, Missouri -- just about 10 miles north of Branson -- the Las Vegas for old folks! We hope to take in an afternoon show on "the strip" before we head back north and west.

Dee came over for breakfast yesterday, and we had a good last visit. How I hated to leave. The little Suzuki, packed to the gunwales with shopping, headed out bravely for its second cross country trip in a month. We decided to take the scenic route for the first part of the trip, and I'm so glad we did. The scenery between Pine Knot and Glasgow was glorious. Much of the trip saw bright fall colours and rocky outcroppings interspersed with biscuit shaped hills and green and brown fields. Along the road past Marrowbone, Summer Shade, Winter Shade, and Eighty Eight, we saw just a bit of the burnished copper and brass coloured hills that I remember seeing in the Ozarks some 13 years ago. Once we reached Glasgow, however, we were pretty much past any colour of any note. I think it is a combination of the trees and terrain of the area and being just a bit later further west. It was November when I made that trip through the Ozarks.

As we drove along, however, and calculated the time required to complete the scenic route for the rest of the way, we decided to let Susan and Tom-Tom (apologies to Tom Hall) take us the rest of the way to Paducah. We cut almost an hour off our trip by doing so, and we arrived in Paducah shortly after lunch. We "gained"an hour because we are now in Central time.

The quilt museum at Paducah is spectacular. While I'm certainly no quilter, I was stunned by the skill and artistry that clearly went into producing all the gorgeous quilts shown in the museum. I can't even begin to describe the wide variety, the huge array of colour, and the stories and ideas wrapped up in the designs. Perhaps the ones that staggered my imagination the most, however, were the miniatures. They were mayber 12 to 18 inches square, and still contained all the complex piecing found on the large quilts. There was a double wedding ring sampler in which the little squares were less than 1/4 inch. As well, there were several other patterns that I recognized but don't know their names. I think there is something called a "Pineapple" -- with little increadingly larger triangles overlapping -- some of you quilters will no doubt know the pattern. Several of the little samplers included this pattern. The smallest triangle would have had a base of less than 1/4 inch -- unbelievable that anyone could work with such tiny pieces with such precision.

A second quilt caught my eye for sure. The front of the quilt was beautiful, but the back of the quilt had thousands and thousands of tiny beads sewn into intricate patterns. A young woman from Arizona made that one.

In a separate room was another special quilt. It's hard to describe this quilt, which they had hanging over a rod. It wasn't as complex as some, and when I went to the door, I couldn't imagine why this one had such a place of honour. There was a museum person in the room, however, and I soon learned that this quilt was carved from wood! It had folds and ripples and I would defy anyone to identify it as anything but fabric! They had a piece set out so people could look at it and feel it. The quilt was carved from a piece of basswood -- must have been about 8 or 10 inches thick to carve the folds and ripples. It was a full sized quilt, painted and showing even tiny little quilting stiches. Truly amazing in every sense of the word.

After a picnic lunch of tuna sandwiches, we headed on west -- along the route that Susan selected. It was easy driving, although pretty much boring and unspectacular surroundings, so we just kept on driving. We decided that we could just make time and drive all the way to Branson, so we did. We stopped in Ozark, really just on the outskirts of Branson, because it seemed like a good Super 8. Susan took us directly to a motel, but it wasn't a Super 8. We looked and looked and reprimanded Susan several times until we finally decided to go and ask at the motel she took us to. Turns out it WAS a Super 8 but is now an independent motel. We couldn't get rewards points there, so we crossed the freeway and are in a Days Inn -- seems fine, in fact, pretty nice, and gets Wyndam points for a free motel stay just the same as Super 8.

We're going to head down into Branson and will leave in time to get to Harrisburg tonight -- that's about 3 hours from here, and thus we should be able to get to Denver tomorrow. I'm off now to try to do something to make myself look presentable and then we'll get out free breakfast and head off to Branson.

By the way, we bought gas for under $3 in a couple of places. I think the best price is $2.55 right near our motel.

I wonder if anyone is reading this blog --

Last days in McCreary County

Autumn colour is becoming increasingly brilliant. Yesterday, while Mary Ann was at work tutoring, Nita and I took a drive to Blue Heron, or Mine 18. Out about 8 miles into the hills is this restored mining community illustrating life among the coal miners and their families in the last century. The community itself was quite interesting, although much of it is semi-closed as the tourist season is basically over. More interesting than history, however, was the stunning display of autumn colours and rocky outcrops. I've added some pictures that Nita took, so perhaps you'll get some idea of the experience. Pictures -- even good ones taken by Nita -- are never as good as the real thing, but they do serve to aid in making memories.

This morning, after a leisurely breakfast of oven pancakes (Gail's recipe), we drove the 12 miles down to Oneida, Tennessee to Tom Chitwood's photography studio. He took pictures of Mary Ann and Nita and me -- separately and together. He brought them to the house this evening and we did a scan of which ones has possibilities and which should be tossed. We've had great fun joking about how well Tom can do cosmetic surgery without a knife! He apparently can even trim some of the back fat from bride's photos, so we're hoping he can do miracles with the shots he took today!

Christopher dropped by between home visits this afternoon (he's a social worker who works for a company that provides therapeutic foster care for needy kids). It was fun to just sit and chat with him for a while. He's a fine young man and it's such a joy to be with him. He's already thinking of arranging things to be able to get to Derrick's wedding next summer.

Mary Ann made chicken and dumplings tonight -- one of my favourites and certainly one of Amy's favourites. Dee took us on a quick tour of one of the plants that Outdoor Ventures has right in this county. She is the HR person for the company which is the largest employer in the county (other than the school district). They make specialized tents, mostly for the military. It's pretty interesting-- they make tents that have some amazing characteristics. For example, there is some kind of fabric that blocks out some sounds (like gunfire and tank noise), but allows voice communications through. Another tent is erected solely with air pressure. I had no idea that there was so many kinds of miraculous fabrics.

Tonight's Dessert - Yum, as usual.

Tomorrow is our last day here. It hardly seems possible that I've been here for two weeks. I hate leaving. I love to be with this part of the family, but I also miss my family at home. It will be fun to visit some new areas along the route home. Maybe we'll see a show in Branson, and hopefully, Yellowstone will be accessible. I have tried twice in the last 10 or 15 years to visit, and both times, we have been prevented from making a full visit by bad weather. We'll try to keep you posted on our experiences.



We'll pack tomorrow, have breakfast at Dee's on Friday morning, and be heading west before too late in the morning. We'll plan to visit the national quilt museum in Paducah, KY and then go on as far as we can or want to.

Sunday Dining and Monday Shopping

Chris played his guitar and sang in church on Sunday. He sang his own arrangement of " There's Something About That Name"; it was SO beautiful. His arrangement was really sensitive, and his voice was filled with emotion as he sang. What a treat. It was fun to see several of the old ladies in the church hurry up to him after the service. He smiled so sweetly at them as they expressed their thanks and praise.

After church, we all went to Suzanne's Fine Dining Restaurant in the Stearns Heritage complex. She is a friend of MA, Dee, and Sandra. It was a lovely meal -- I had prime rib, scalloped potatoes, Kentucky green beans and sauerkraut, along with a sample of meatloaf. It was fun to have everyone there, and there was plenty of happy talk. From left to right: Chris, Sandra, Tom Hall, Dee, Tom Chitwood, Nita (hidden from view) and Mary Ann

Almost everyone came back to the house afterwards. Dee displayed her vegetable crop -- and, of course, we made funny pictures with the vegetables. I guess I'll upload all these pictures to show you just how silly we were.

By the way, these beans, shown next to a penny for comparison, illustrate her total crop! She had dozens and dozens of tomatoes and peppers of various types, and egg plants.

Today, being a shopping day, saw us heading back up to Somerset to Belk's and the Mall! Nita exchanged a pair of slacks and bought out half the children's department for kids at home and in England, while I "topped up" my purchases with just a couple of items from that girls' department.


We had lunch and I achieved one of my goals for this trip -- to be sure to have an artichoke sandwich from Penn Station. This may be the best sandwich I have ever eaten . . . yum!

Nita needed to stop a drug store to get some contact lens solution, and next to that drugstore was -- you guessed it -- another place to buy things! There were numerous items on a rack outside with a sign saying that ALL their sale items were $3.00 each. Well, you wouldn't really ask us to pass that up, so we came home with even more purchases.

Dee and Amy came over for supper and lingered over dessert and a chance to look at Nita's Egypt pictures while Mary Ann went to her computer class and I fooled around with the Tom-Tom in preparation for our trip back home.





It's time for bed now, because tomorrow begins yet another eventful day in South Central Kentucky. I think we'll try to get to the Natural Arch which should allow Nita to take some great pictures. We'll upload some of her photos tomorrow.

Comings and Goings and Kissin' Kin

Yesterday was a busy travel day, for sure. Mary Ann and I drove to Knoxville where we couldn't seem to get past West Town Mall for the longest time. We didn't even get out of the clothing department of the first store we entered! Belk's Department Store had all their summer clothing on clearance racks. Mary Ann found a wonderful cache of tops. I found a good pair of dress pants (sorely needed) as well as quite an array of clothes for two little girls that I know. I sure hope that Nana's choices are in keeping with the fashion modes of Blakeburn Elementary.

Before we even got out of the store, Sandra called to say that she was home -- she had been able to get off early. We made out way to Sandra's beautiful house. What a treat to see the lovely home she has created. It's a very nice, well established and slightly upscale neighborhood and she has decorated with wonderful taste. I can't begin to do justice to it with just words and I don't think the pictures I have seen do it justice either. I loved being there. The only thing that would make it better would be to have been able to sit and listen to her play her violin. She did promise to bring her violin with her when she comes to visit tomorrow.

Sandra drove, and we set course for the America Cafe in Hamilton Place Mall in Chattanooga, Tennessee. It's about a 2 hour drive and, aside from some delays for road work, we had a pleasant, though uneventful trip. It wasn't too long after we found the cafe in the mall that Chaundra arrived from Atlanta. She, too, had about a two-hour drive. We chatted and laughed and reminisced as we ate supper. It was so GOOD to see her. We were sorry that Chris could not come, but, as a new attorney, he was busy closing his first deal at his office in Atlanta. I wish it could have been a longer visit, but we had to leave to get to the Knoxville Airport in time to meet Nita.It turned out that we had lots of time, so we went back to Sandra's house, dropped her off, and took the little Suzuki to the airport. Nita's plane was a few minutes early, and since I had carried most of her luggage with me, she was able to by-pass the luggage pick up and meet us right away. We drove the hour and a half trip back to Pine Knot and even had a cup of tea before we finally went to bed sometime after 1:00 am.

We got up this morning, had a leisurely breakfast and then headed up the highway toward Somerset. We stopped at a pottery place and spent a great 40 minutes or so looking at all the nice pieces. After we almost bought out the place, we went on to Somerset and . . . you guessed it . . . stopped at the mall. This time Nita found all kinds of bargains, and Mary Ann and I added to our list of purchased items. We had a fashion show when we got home and Nita and I took stock of our purchases so we will be able to declare them when we cross the border.

I also bought a new gizmo to hold my GPS unit in place. It is terrific -- exactly what I wanted, so I'm pretty happy with that.

Tomorrow, Chris is singing at church (hooray!) and then we're going out for lunch -- all the kissin' kin and extended family. It will be fun. As I sit at the computer, Nita is shortening my new pants so I can wear them tomorrow and Mary Ann is cooking supper. Dee and Amy will be here before too long to join us. What a lovely way to spend a holiday!

The Singing Suzuki

We-e-e-l you-all (You have to talk slowly around here.) Ah drove up the road a piece and found some folk to hep me with mah tin lizzie. They's purdy nahice in these here parts. Can yuh believe that it was a little ol' gal what got mah car all fixed up? Ah jes don' no what a man's to do any more here in McQuarrie County. Time wus -- men wuz men and wimmin was wimmin! Ah I declare ah figger it mus be them Buckeyes comin on down and changin' everythin'. Them Buckeyes from Ohio don't know nothin' about nothin' Never mind, mah car's all singin' purdy agin and mebbe that little ol' gal up yondah knows a thang or two after all. (Apologies to the people of McCreary County, almost all of whom speak just the way we do with the exception of a few flattened and drawn out vowels!)

Happy Day! Although I am $125 poorer than I was when I woke up this morning, my little car is fine. The problem all had to do with the air conditioning. Apparently, the hose to the A/C got clogged with debris which caused a freezing blockage -- thus the water under the dashboard and the noise that sounded like a rainstick. I guess it was particles moving around, so it really was a type of rainstick -- or perhaps an ice pellet debris stick. They had to take out the A/C blower motor, blow out the hose, and reconnect and check. I paid for labor only; no parts. Haydn said it was the A/C. What a man!

As I sat in the waiting room at the repair shop, I connected with Lois via Skype and we began the process of doing all the end of the month tasks for DR LEARNING. We got to a place where Lois could carry on for about 45 minutes while I drove back down to Pine Knot where we reconnected through Mary Ann's computer. My laptop was out of battery power and my car was almost out of gas! After another couple of hours and several excel files e-mailed back and forth, everything is ready to go: cheques written; invoices ready to mail; next month's attendance program updated for October -- and we did it all between Somerset, Pine Knot, and Port Coquitlam! Ain't technology something?

We've been keeping tabs on a new house being built across the street from Mary Ann. It's the son of her next door neighbor (the people who built MA's house), so Mary Ann knows they will be nice neighbors. We can't figure out where the garage is to go -- Sue and I will need to be kept up to date when we get home.

Mary Ann also signed papers today that all but transfer her Slavans house to a new family. It is really quite a lovely place in Slavans, but just too far out of town and too large for one person. It is a young family -- twins due within the next few days to join a 17 month old -- who are buying the house and some acreage around it. Mary Ann will still have the log house and a plenty of the farm left. Here's what the Slavans house looks like -- the yard needs some TLC after having been neglected for a couple of years, but perhaps you can see how nice it is.

Actually, this last picture is taken from the Yamacraw Bridge. Those of you know know McCreary County will be shocked to see how low the water is. Yamacraw Bridge and Yamacraw River are on the way to Slavans from Pine Knot.

Suzuki Sufferings

We're back from Louisville. On the way home, we heard some funny sounds that seemed to be coming from the right front wheel of the car. It sounds much like a rainstick -- like some beads running around in a tube. It happens when I turn left and a bit when I accelerate from a stopped position. Everything seems to be running fine, however. Then, when we went to get out, we discovered that the floor in the front passenger seat was soaked. Upon further investigation, we found that there was water almost literally running down under the glove compartment and under the dashboard behind the gear shift. The fact that it is water only and that we can't see anything obviously wrong with the tires, the wheels, or what we can see in the engine makes me hope that it's not too serious.

I found out that there is a Suzuki dealership in Somerset, so I phoned and made an appointment for tomorrow morning. Just after I made the appointment, the phone rang and when I answered, who should be on the line but Haydn! He was phoning about having to cancel a work experience session he has with some of the MEI kids, not realizing I was out of town. When I told him about the water, he said it was probably the air conditioning hose that was blocked. I was relieved about that. He was in a big rush and so I didn't keep him on the line long enought to ask about the noise, so I'm still hoping that it's a minor thing.

We actually drove back from Louisville via a different route, so we didn't go through the horse country. We did, however, see countryside that is typical of much of the state. I was able to quickly pull over to the side of the road and snap two quick shots -- both of which are marred by wires. I was also past the spot for the best view, but, anyway, this is what it looks like. As you can see, it wasn't the brightest of days.

In fact, I think Kentucky and Vancouver have switched places weather-wise. The days have been a bit grey -- so unlike the bright blue sky and not-too-warm sunshine of the autumn that is common in September and October. They have had a real drought around McCreary County and, although we've had spits of rain and cloudy days, there has been no rain of any significance. The trees are changing colour more each day. I expect that, by the time we leave, we should have a great show as we travel west and north. I am looking forward to it.

We went to the high school tonight to watch Amy play volleyball. She is on the varsity team and she played well. She made some very good sets. They were beaten by a better team. Amy thought it would be a tall order to beat this team, but apparently, this is the only team they have not beaten. She looked so cute with her blond hair pulled away back and her pink skin and excited eyes. She is such a special young lady -- so easy to love.

When we arrived at the high school, the parking lots and roadways were absolutely packed with cars. I couldn't imagine a girls' high school volleyball game drawing such crowds! Well, would you believe that in the auditorium there was some kind of beauty pageant for little wee girls? We saw some coming out to have their pictures taken with their trophies, and really, some of them didn't look any older than Anjeleigh -- all made up and dressed to the hilt. What an awful thing to do to a little girl.

Other than my trip to Somerset Suzuki Dealer tomorrow, we don't have much planned. On Thursday, when Mary Ann goes to college, I will probably shop around Somerset. I saw a camera I might look at some more. I think I'll buy a little camera because I can't remember if I bought the extended warranty for my one that's on the blink. If I did, I don't really need another one with a large zoom.

We're planning to meet Chaundra (Dawna's daughter, Heather's niece) in Chattanooga on Friday before we pick up Nita at the Knoxville Airport. Chaundra lives in Atlanta, and it's been too long since I saw her last. She is planning to drive as far as Chattanooga, which is roughly half way between here and Atlanta. I hope it all works out.

Till the next post . . .

Here are the photos

Back to Louisville

We're back in Louisville to take Sue to catch her plane back home to the West. We decided to drive up after Mary Ann finished her tutoring job (it runs in the family) and stay overnight rather than worrying about getting here on time in the morning. We are at the Best Western (with unbelievably slow wirelss access) and I was able to pick up my extra car key fob that Brian left for me. I forgot to get it before I left Louisville, but we arranged for me to pick it up tonight. It's good that I have it because I would hate to start back across the country with only one way in and out of my car!

Yesterday was another great family day. After church, we went to Dee's house for taco salad and sour cream cheesecake -- yum! Christopher came for lunch as well and graciously granted our request for a song. He sings so beautifully and with such feeling. What a treat.

Last night, Dee and Amy brought corn on the cob and we ate "corn and 'maters" (that's the way you have to say it around here.)

We also helped Amy with her "egg drop" experiment. I probably should say we interfered with the experiment in order to get pictures! She was successful, and as you can see, the egg did not break!

Sue and Mary Ann and I did a quick run past Slavans -- the "homestead farm" where the Bybees lived until Mary Ann bought her present house after Euel died. The road to Slavans isn't a great road to drive, but it goes through some of the most beautiful scenery in South Central Kentucky IMO. Here, you find rocky outcroppings, rugged, tree-covered ridges and deep valleys. The road winds around and through these hills and "hollers". In fact, we even took a detour via Clark Holler -- a tiny, winding road some 8 miles long, along which are found numerous homes hiding in little glens and along ridges. Most of the homes are small and poor-looking. Some are very carefully tended and others are veritable junk heaps. It is hard to imagine that a 65 passenger school bus can navigate the sharp hairpin turns as the road climbs and dips at very steep angles. As usual, pictures do not do justice to the beauty we see, but Sue took a few pictures that might give at least a flavour of the countryside.

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We passed some of the better-known scenery on the way to Louisville -- lovely fenced fields looking more like golf courses than pastures; freshly painted wood fences and barns. This is more of the "Bluegrass" Kentucky. Maybe I can get some pictures on the way home tomorrow. We have Mary Ann's camera. Mine still doesn't work and I'm work and I'm pretty much confused about what to replace it with.

All right -- that's it. I've tried to upload pictures for about 40 minutes with no luck. This connection is pathetic. I'll upload them tomorrow when we get home.