Sunday - November 16

Bob: Well, we made it home Friday about 7:20. It took a long time to drive through Wyoming. The winds were blowing us in the face making us use lots of gas.  In fact, we stopped for gas in Laramie, Rawlins, and Evanston and then for dinner in Rock Springs. I believe this was my slowest trip ever through Wyoming. Didn't have this much trouble going eastward. I think it is because the wind blows west to east so that traveling eastward the wind gives you a great advantage.
Unpacked some things Friday and Saturday, but there is still more to do. Plus we haven't touched the boat yet. On Saturday afternoon I had to get up on the roof and replace 6 shingles that had blown off the garage. Only found 1 on the ground and it was inside the entry way leading to the front door. Did manage to get some shopping on Saturday too.
Bonnie keeps saying my appetite is too finicky and it's so hard to make something I like. She asked me what I wanted to eat for Sunday dinner. I settled on a beef roast. She tried a new recipe and I must say she outdid herself in the kitchen today. It was sooooo good. Told her we could eat it again tomorrow night.
Basketball season is off and running. Got games for Tuesday and Thursday in Salt Lake. Orem recreation is supposed to call me tomorrow about getting a background check and a drug check so I can be hired by them to work games locally. It will beat driving to Salt Lake, plus they pay more. The drive to Salt Lake will start to get bad soon as UDOT is starting a widening project for the road from Lehi SR 92 to 12300 South in Salt Lake. That's a 7 mile stretch. Preliminary work is beginning soon, but will pick up greatly in the spring. It is scheduled to be completed in the summer of 2016 while we are on our mission! Yippee.
Well it's time to close. I have enjoyed posting on the blog during our travels. I hope you have enjoyed our comments. It is nice knowing that a few people were following the summer escapades of a couple of senior citizens! Until our mission, may God bless everyone with peace and happiness.

Bonnie:  I am so glad to be home. The thought of any more car trips makes me groan!  As I was cooking today I realized that I didn't have all of my baking pans.  I thought for a minute that I had left them in Ontario! Then, Bob went out to look in the boat, which we haven't unpacked yet.  He came in with my missing pans, thankfully! It took Friday night and Saturday just to unpack the back of the truck. Tomorrow we will tackle the boat. There is also much needed yard work to do.
It has been such a great trip, beginning with seeing beautiful Ontario and making wonderful friends there. And ending with family (what can I say? Our grandchildren are the best in the world!) and friends. Along with this, we have seen some wonderful historical sites that have helped me appreciate this country of ours. The Lord  has surely blessed us on this 5-month sojourn. I, too, am pleasantly surprised by those of you who have faithfully read our blog. I  hope it has given you some enjoyment.  It's been good for us to write it. May the Lord bless us all.

Thursday - November 13

Bonnie: To be honest I am so ready to be home!  I am really tired of being in the truck all day doing sudoku puzzles while Bob drives. I have one book I can read but I've read it once already. And, we have to put the boat cover on each evening and take it off each morning before we start our trip. The first night it wasn't too bad because it wasn't too cold.  But, tonight we are in Sidney, Nebraska, and it is frigid weather.  I dread going out in the morning to take the cover off.  It will be 1 degree and feel like minus 1, according to weather.com.  Even though I have on a blouse and sweatshirt, plus a zippered jacket, plus my heavy coat, I am cold.  I hope they have hot chocolate in the breakfast buffet tomorrow!
Hopefully, we will be home by late afternoon or early evening tomorrow.  Yes!!!!

Bob:  It appears we are driving into a head wind each day. I noticed last night and today that our miles per gallon average is much lower on our return trip than when we left in June. I believe the last tank average was just a little over 12 miles per gallon. Hope it starts getting better.
We snacked today, not stopping for lunch. Looked on the internet and didn't see a lot of options for food in Sidney, but we decided to go on to Sidney anyway. We were going to eat at the truck stop, but there is a Perkins here. We both ate like we had fasted for a day! It was delicious.

Wednesday - November 12

Bob: Left Sellersburg about 8:15 this morning. We headed for Kansas City via routes 64 and then 70. We were to follow 64 and pick up I-70 on the east side of St. Louis. Well, the ramp from 64 to 70 was closed. Saw one sign for a detour, but never saw another. We ended up on I-44 which took us about 10 miles out of our way. It ran into I-270 which took us back to I-64. I-64, which I believe is a new route through St. Louis, then ties into 70 several miles west of St. Louis. To top off that we had to stop for gas! It was quite the adventure. Tomorrow we will have to go around Lincoln, NE, but I have it mapped out already!!
When we got to Kansas City it was COLD. Temperature says 27, but it is bone chilling cold. We put the cover on the boat once we got to the motel. When we left Sellersburg the ends of the tie ropes for the boat were damp. Tonight when I started to tie the boat cover down, I discovered the ends of the tie ropes were totally frozen. Oh well. I think the ropes will hold till morning.

Bonnie:  I've had to get creative keeping myself warm, putting on some "stretchy" pants over my jeans, and an extra sweatshirt under my heavy coat.  I'm sure this cold is worse because of the humidity.  I'm so grateful we won't have that problem when we're home! It gets cold, but humidity makes it worse and there's not much of that in Utah.

Tuesday - November 11

Bob: Up late again. Shannon, Michelle and the boys are gone. Went for a walk and then went shopping with Bonnie. Finished up buying Christmas gifts for everyone.
Weather is getting colder and we had a little rain today.
Went to Olive Garden for dinner. Olive Garden was giving away free meals to veterans today, so to say it was crowded is an understatement. Thank goodness we called ahead to get seating. Our wait was a little over 15 minutes. The hostess was telling people walking in to expect over an hours wait.
Came home and played a few hands of Mexican Train. Took pictures and wished everyone well as we might not see them in the morning. It's been fun, but all things come to an end. Tomorrow, it's back on the road again!!

Bonnie:  I had fun wrapping the few gifts we bought today.  Christmas is coming sooner than I want it to.  The gifts are strategically placed under Michelle's "Thanksgiving Trees" in the living room.
It feels like winter.  Tomorrow I will need to get my gloves out before we leave for our long day of driving.  Utah, here we come!

Monday - November 10

Bob: Not much happening today. The weather was nice. Warmed up to about 61. Cold air is supposed to hit Wednesday, the day we leave. Hope we don't hit snow.
Bonnie and I went for a walk this morning. Then we went shopping for lawn mowers. Shannon thinks I should get a Husqvarna tractor like his. They are about 300-400 cheaper than a comparable John Deere. Could not find any Husqvarnas at Lowe's today, but they had the John Deeres. Shannon said they are the exact same engine as the John Deere, but just cheaper. He has had his over a year and it is doing just fine. Cannot make up my mind whether I want to buy the riding mower now, or after I get back from our mission. I am thinking if I pay someone to use my mower I would rather have them use the walk behind mower than the tractor.
After supper we had a short Family Home Evening and then played an exciting game of Apples to Apples. Everyone else is in bed now, so I am signing off till tomorrow. Going Christmas shopping tomorrow.

Sunday - November 9

Bob: Went to church this morning. Shannon and Michelle have changed ward buildings since we last went to church with them. They now go to the Charlestown Ward. It is a nice building right off Route 403. It sits right in front of a new housing development. It is a small building and does not have a chapel. They have to set up chairs every week for the Sacrament Meeting. I think someone said this is a Phase 1 building. (Scott Crossley: Is that correct?)
After church Michelle's oldest brother, Keith, came over with his family of 4 kids. We played several games of mexican train with 7 or 8 players. Lots of fun.
About dark I finally had time to take a walk. No street lights in this development so I had to be real careful where I was stepping.

Bonnie:  I like the ward here. The building didn't seem small to me at all, but it did seem odd to go into the chapel and see fold-up chairs instead of pews. There is a Sister Martin in the ward who claims that the first Martin in North America came from France to New Brunswick in the 1600s.  The French married women from local Mikmac Indian tribes and became known as Acadians.  It's fascinating to think about this. We may try to get more information tomorrow.
We've had an enjoyable time with Michelle's brother and his family, though I like to remind myself that next Sunday we will be home in our Lindon Ward!

Saturday - November 8

Bob: Took Bonnie to an eye doctor today at Sam's Club. He thinks she had an allergic reaction to the medicine she was putting in her eye. He thinks the initial problem, conjunctivitis, has cleared up and the swelling and redness is caused by the medicine. She got a prescription for a steroid cream to rub around her eye. It comes in a very small tube and her co-pay was $104.83!! And that was with insurance.
Once we got home we went to Huber Farm to pick apples, but they had stopped the picking on the 2nd because of frost. So we bought some apples, bread, a pie and ice cream cones for everyone. I was disappointed in the ice cream because they didn't have white-house cherry ice cream this time like the last time.

Bonnie:  It was a circus getting to Sam's Club.  We were following Christian and Michelle when a car drove by waving at us that something was wrong with the back of the truck. We pulled over and found that the tailgate was down! After we fixed that we could no longer see Christian and we ended up missing the right exit. We called Michelle and turned around but when we got to the correct exit, we couldn't use it because of construction!  So, after bypassing the correct exit we turned around and went back to the correct exit. What a comedy of errors.
Huber Farm is a delightful place...lots of delicious home-made goodies and farm produce.

Friday - November 7

Bob: Wednesday night we had dinner at Quinets with some of the people I used to work with at Iron Oxide. Those attending were Don Gray and his wife, Gary Church, Mike Herrick, Bob Shreve, Steve Pettit and Tammy Whitlatch. Had a good time visiting and left stuffed.

Yesterday morning we visited with Alexis, Robin and Tincy. Then we went to Reader to load the truck and pick up the boat. Just as we finished the boat and were driving away we experienced a hail storm! 5 minutes earlier and we would have been drenched.
We went back to Quinets again for dinner. For the second night we were stuffed!! After dinner we went back to Loy's as Mary Rose and her mother were coming over for a visit. We laughed our heads off at Mary and some of her comments. And Mary wore out Ken flashing him!! (She kept taking his picture with a flash. Ken said she tired him out. Someone suggested she had flashed him too much!)

Drove to Sellersburg today. No problems other than tractors/trailers in the passing lane blocking traffic. Expected this on I-70, but it was really bad on I-71 from Cincinnati to Columbus.
Played several hands of mexican train with Michelle and the boys tonight.

Wednesday - November 5

Bob: Got to New Martinsville yesterday close to 4:30. Traffic was already backed up through town. Took our stuff to the Loy's and then went to PJ's Pizza for dinner. Left there around 5:40 and traffic was still backed up north on Route 2 for as far as I could see. We drove to the nursing home which was northward and found the end of the backup was about in front of Grisell's funeral home.
Bonnie left me at the nursing home so I could visit with Ron Wilson while she went to visit with Leann and Mariah.
Weather here today is overcast and it has rained some.


Bonnie:  It was great traveling through both Carolinas and Virginia yesterday.  The only bad thing was that many of the trees had lost their pretty autumn leaves.  It is still beautiful country, though.
I had a wonderful visit with Leann and Mariah last night.  What a sweet girl Mariah is.  On the 19th she will have a baby sister so life will change for that little family!
Tonight is the great gathering of Bayer buddies and their wives at Quinets, where is found the greatest food in New Martinsville (so they say).  It should be fun!

Monday - November 3

Bob: Said good-bye to Eddie and Lorraine this morning. Very hard to leave them as I don't know for sure when we will get together again. Hoping we can go back to Florida in March.
Drove to Rock Hill, SC today. It was a little over 600 miles and we are both tired. Had dinner at Cracker Barrel. Not all family members care for Cracker Barrel, but the chocolate-pecan pie made it worthwhile. Not much more to add. We are turning in for the night.

Sunday - November 2

Bob: Got up Saturday morning and took Bonnie to an InstaCare facility. Her right eye itches and waters, and is puffy. She had never used her medicare until now. After the doctor looked at her eye he told her it is not matted in the morning, so it's not infected, and that it is only her right eye so it's not an allergy.  Then, he said "I'm not sure what it could be, but take this prescription and it will probably take care of it." I would like to know why he knows what it is NOT, but not what it is, and how he knows the medicine will take care of it. Anyway, she didn't have to pay anything at the doctor's facility. Took the prescription to Walmart and they charged her $1.00 for the prescription. Afterwards, Bonnie said she likes medicare! Today, her eye is better, but still itching.
We went to the Arcadia Branch this morning.  That was the smallest church building I have ever seen. The building capacity is 79.
Been doing some genealogy work with Eddie. Showed him how to access the "Find A Grave" website.

Bonnie:  Church was great today.  I felt that closeness with the members that is common at our meetings wherever there is a gathering of the Saints.  It's been a fun visit with Ed and Lorraine.  I think one reason we came back a second time is to talk about genealogy!  I've learned a lot about Bob listening to Ed and Lorraine talk.  Ask him about his head full of blonde curls, his teddy bear, and a farting contest with his brother!
We leave early tomorrow to go back to West Virginia to pick up the boat and go to dinner with Bob's buddies from Bayer.  Then it's homeward bound by way of Sellersburg, Indiana to see Christian and Michelle and the boys.

Friday - October 31

Bob: Happy Halloween to everyone. Not much going on today. Scott Crossley stopped this morning to bring Bonnie's sandals and pick up their beach umbrella. After Scott left Bonnie and I went for a walk then shopping this afternoon. Eddie took us out to A Taste of Italy tonight. Everyone had a wonderful pasta dinner except me. I opted for shrimp. Eddie was quite surprised I didn't order pasta. He said he would never forgive me for that.
Weather was beautiful today. Temperatures went to low 80s. Tonight it is cooling off to the 60s. Can't believe it is the end of October. Called Flo and Ken Loy in New Martinsville. We are headed there Monday. Hope to arrive by Tuesday.
Bonnie sends her love.

Thursday - October 30

Bob: We took some pictures of the sights of St. Augustine this morning before we started for Arcadia. Also stopped at Walgreens and got some eye drops recommended by the pharmacist for Bonnie. She says her eye is beginning to feel better already. Her eye has been swollen, itching and watering for several days now. Arrived in Arcadia a little past three.

Bonnie and I at the Old Jail

Old Jail Marker

Marker for Original Landing

Bonnie:  We had fun taking pictures of some of the places we didn't have time to see yesterday. We saw the lighthouse across the bridge, took a picture of Ponce de Leon's statue, and looked at St. Augustine's Oldest Jail. The first Ripley's "Believe It or Not" is also in St. Augustine so we took a picture of the outside.  We also went to see the oldest Catholic parish where there is a huge cross that is 200' tall. There is a beautiful, peaceful park there.  After that we left for Ed and Lorraine's and arrived about 3:30 this afternoon.

200 foot mission cross

Ripley's Believe It or Not

Wednesday - October 29

Bob: Started our sightseeing off with a trolley ride through historic St. Augustine. It was very informative and relaxing. When we finished we walked over to the Lightner Museum. Went through part of it then we had to hotfoot it over to Flagler College to do their 2:00 tour. Henry Flagler and John D. Rockerfeller were the founders of the Standard Oil Company. When Rockerfeller was asked if the Standard Oil company was the result of his thinking, he answered, "No, sir. I wish I had the brains to think of it. It was Henry M. Flagler." The college is pretty impressive as it includes the old Ponce de Leon Hotel. See pictures below. After that tour we went back to the Lightner Museum and then toured the Castillo de San Marcos, which is a fort built by Spain to protect its interests in Florida in the late 1600s. Then we went to dinner at the Raintree restaurant.

Entrance to Flagler College

One of the many Tiffany stained glass windows in the students dining area! These windows are valued in the millions. Antiques Roadshow has valued them "priceless".

Another hotel Flagler built.

Bonnie:  We are exhausted today after our tours, but it was worth it.  What an interesting city this is. There is much to see and we have only scratched the surface. It was 1513 that Ponce de Leon explored Florida and 1565 when Menendez settled St. Augustine.  The Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620. That's almost 100 years later! Something seems to be missing with the teaching of our history! Anyway, I am impressed with the Spanish influence here.
We saw some beautiful things at the museum and Flagler college, including the windows made of Tiffany glass. There was a large display of crystal in the museum that was awesome, too.  The fort we toured changed hands a number of times from Spanish to English, back to Spanish, and then to the US. All of these changes were done by treaty and not fighting.  No soldiers died! That's impressive.

Castillo de San Marcos

Castillo de San Marcos

Tuesday - October 28

Bob: Left Clermont about 9:50. It was hard to leave Lori, Scott and the kids. Drove to St. Augustine and spent the afternoon looking at the sights. Went to dinner at Harrys and had a great meal. It was recommended by the guy that set up our tours for tomorrow. Took some pictures but left the camera hookup in the car. Will add some pictures tomorrow night.


Bonnie:  St. Augustine is a quaint place right on the water.  It's America's oldest city--1545 was when the Spanish landed here.  Through the years many different people settled it--beginning with Ponce de Leon from Spain, to the British, to blacks from Africa, to people from the Mediterranean, such as Greece.  It  makes for great food options, that's for sure.  We will go on a bus tour tomorrow that will include the fort on the water where Ponce de Leon landed and other cool places.  More tomorrow.

Monday - October 27

Bob: Scott and I went for an hour bike ride this morning. Not as hilly here as Maryland and North Carolina. They have a nice trail that goes several miles and a lot of it is in the shade. In the afternoon Scott and I changed the oil in our truck and his Acadia. We sent Lori and Scott out for dinner. Nana had the kids out back while I was packing the back of the truck. We're getting ready to leave in the morning and head to St. Augustine. Will be there Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday we are going back to Arcadia and stay with Eddie and Lorraine till Monday morning. We hope to land in New Martinsville on Tuesday. Will leave New Martinsville next Friday and go to Sellersburg. Plans are to leave Sellersburg on Wednesday and arrive home Friday, November 14th.  Can't wait to do it all again!

Bonnie:  Lori and I did several fun things today.  We were going to go to "chapel" with Allie Jane, who goes to a Christian preschool, but it was cancelled for some reason.  So, we went to lunch with Jackson at his school.  Then we did some Christmas shopping and shopping for ourselves!!  You know how it is with women and shoes....  Anyway, three pairs of shoes later we picked up Allie Jane and made our way home. Lori and Scott went out to eat tonight and I just put Gwen and Allie Jane to bed. Now, Jackson wants to know how to play Mexican Train before he goes to bed! Have we started a tradition here???

Sunday - October 26

Bob: Went to church and then took a nap. After dinner Bonnie and I went on a walk around the neighborhood. Once the girls were in bed we played a game of Mexican Train, which Bonnie won. Everyone is happy for her.
We are trying to figure out where to go next and what would be the most efficient way to do it.

Bonnie: It is about time I won Mexican Train!!

Saturday - October 25

Bob: After being up to 3am I got up at 7:45. Thought Eddie wanted to clean and wax the cover for his pickup, but he decided not to do it before we ate. After we ate and set around for awhile he changed his mind about cleaning the cover. We washed it off twice and then put 2 coats of wax on it. Also cleaned the tire rims and Nerf bars on both trucks. Had to shower then and get ready to go back to Clermont.  Ate lunch and then left Arcadia about 1:10. We got to Clermont right before 3:30. Came back through Avon Lake, but that way has too many red lights to suit me.Went to the Fall Festival tonight at Lori's ward. Gwen was dressed as a cupcake; Allie as a witch; Jackson as a squire; Lori as a punk rocker; and Scott as Darth Vader.

Friday - October 24

Bob: Forgot to post a message last night as I was watching the NFL football game. We went to Port Charlotte yesterday with Eddie and Lorraine. She had a follow up appointment for her eye surgery. While in Port Charlotte we stopped at bicycle shop to get a brake for Lorraine's bike. Discovered today that they sold us the wrong brake.
Today Bonnie and I drove to Sarasota and took a driving tour of the beach area. It was very interesting. The beach area is about 25 miles long. We stopped at Bradenton Beach and walked in the Gulf. Water was very green and cool.

Bonnie:  We had a delicious meal at The Cracker Barrel yesterday too, although Bob just had a strawberry milkshake.  His food habits are really changing for some reason.  Is it because of retirement or his pre-diabetes? I have no idea and neither does he.  Oh, well...
We had a wonderful day seeing the Gulf of Mexico in the Sarasota region.  We visited three beaches-Bradenton, Coquina, and North Shore. I love the beaches here--the water is warm with very white sand.  And the colors of the water are beautiful--aqua, light and dark blue and green in various shades.  There is lots of wild life here, too. We saw cranes and lots of big and little seagulls on the beach.  Yesterday we saw 6 or 8 rabbits when we walked.  We also saw two cranes by the name of Lucy and Desi, as the local residents call them! Anyway, today was a lovely day.  When we got back to Ed and Loraine's she had made delicious vegetable soup. A perfect ending to a perfect day.

Coquina Beach

Beach at North Shore

Birds on dock at Bradenton Beach

Wednesday - October 22

Bob: Got up this morning and headed to Arcadia. Got there around 1:30. Not too hot today. Spent the rest of the day visiting. Bonnie and Lorraine went out to get lunch and then again later to pick up some items at Walmart. They brought back mostly nutritional items such as donuts, cookies, ice cream, bacon and eggs, etc. Planning on going to Port Charlotte tomorrow and out to eat at Cracker Barrel.
Forgot yesterday to add that we had some butterbeer in Harry Potter World. It's non-alcoholic, very sweet and comes in two styles, liquid or frozen. It tastes a lot like butterscotch. We liked the frozen better than the liquid.