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