1999 Travels......

How can it be December already???? We had a good time in MO visiting family and friends. That month went by way too quickly!!! We are now at Missionary TECH Team HQ in Longview TX and will be working here until mid-January with about 2 weeks back in MO for Christmas. We had a good trip down here - the weather cooperated and it didn't rain until we got set up here. We will take a weekend off and go to Dallas next weekend to do some visiting there. Other than that we will be busy working on databases....

After a fun visit in Quincy we moved on to O'Fallon MO on October 30. We are enjoying our visit here, visiting with Cindy, Ed & kids and with friends from our 24 years of living here. We were here to celebrate Sam's 2nd birthday last Saturday. He is growing up so fast!! The weather has cooperated so far and has stayed warm! We plan to leave the Monday after Thanksgiving and head down to Longview TX and Missionary TECH Team Headquarters for a month or so.

We had a good trip to the midwest and enjoyed visiting with cousins on the way. We spent 2 days in Topeka KS at the state history library doing some genealogy research. We arrived in Quincy IL on October 9 - in time to help our grandson, Jonathon, celebrate his 11th birthday on the 10th. We have enjoyed our visit here..... Don & Tracy are tearing out and replacing the old plumbing in their home - quite a job! Pam & I have been sewing, chatting, shopping and working on some Christmas things. We will leave here Saturday, October 30, and move down to O'Fallon MO for about a month where we can visit with Cindy & Ed and family and friends in that area.

On the road again!! We left Grand Junction on Tuesday, September 14. We spent 10 days in Thornton CO, having a great time visiting with family - and friends in Boulder from when we lived there 25 years ago!! Then we moved to Colorado Springs for a week and did some computer work for Greater Europe Mission. We also attended a 50th Anniversary celebration for Bev's cousin and enjoyed visiting with family there. Then we began our trek through Kansas heading for Topeka where we will spend a few days visiting with some distant cousins and doing some genealogy work. Then we will head for Richmond MO and a visit with more distant cousins and then on to Quincy to visit our oldest daughter, Pam, and her husband, Tracy, and son, Jonathon.

Cindy, Ed and kids were here last week and we enjoyed their visit. Unfortunately, we had rain several days (it cleared up the day they left!!) but we did some sightseeing anyway. We did have a couple of sunny days so we took them up on the Monument, to Glade Park to the Miracle Rock (huge balanced rock) and, on Saturday, we went up on Grand Mesa (where we froze trying to have a picnic!!). Those little ones are growing up so fast, it was good to have some time with them! Sam has a deep little chuckle and is so funny!

We took off last weekend (without our trailer!) and went to Rangely, Craig and Steamboat Springs CO. We spent two nights in Steamboat and hiked up to the Fish Creek Falls, walked around town looking at some of their many springs, and spent some time in the hot springs pool. It is a very pretty area up there and we had a great time wandering around. Our motel room had a balcony overlooking the Yampa River where we watched many people having fun tubing.

We are still in Grand Junction and, right now, plan to be here until mid-September. Bev's sister is doing quite well but still cannot lift, twist or bend; which means she can't reach bottom cabinets, dishwasher, or do laundry. She also cannot stand up for very long so can't do much cooking. So, we are enjoying the quiet time, getting some computer work done, visiting with friends who live here, and enjoying time with family. We have taken a couple of Sunday afternoon drives up in the mountains to soak in the beautiful scenery and enjoy the wildflowers!

We are in Grand Junction CO and will probably be here at least another month helping my (Bev's) sister as she recuperates from her back surgery. She is getting along pretty well, we can see improvement, but it isn't quick enough to suit her! She can spend some time in the recliner and then has to lie down. Flat on her back is most comfortable - but boring!!

In the meantime, we are enjoying the western CO weather! It is great to be away from the humid midwest, although we do miss everyone there!! We enjoyed a trip to the Denver area for Josh's graduation over Memorial Day weekend. He was one of 3 Valedictorians! We certainly are proud of him!! He plans to go to CU to study computer engineering in the fall.

Well, we have been on the road 1 year tomorrow!! It has gone by really quickly! We have certainly enjoyed our time and have seen lots of God's wonderful creation. Everywhere we go is different yet all have their own beauty from the lush woodlands to the ocean cliffs and beaches to the desert. We feel really blessed to be able to enjoy so much of it!

We left Mission on March 25th and went to Victoria TX and then to Livingston TX (to see where we "live"). The Escapees Campground at Livingston is very nice and we were warmly welcomed and enjoyed our short visit. We then headed for Longview TX and spent about 3 1/2 weeks at Missionary TECH Team HQ working on their database and got it as useable as possible in that period of time and then had to move on west. We enjoyed our time there getting to know some of the staff members and their families. After much agony, it was decided that we will design a new database for them in 4-D, so it can be used on both the PC's and the MAC's that they use, and, hopefully, have it ready the first part of December when we can return there for a time. While we were at TECH, we made application and were accepted as Team Associates to make us "officially" part of the team.

From there, we went to Dallas for a few days to visit family and friends there and left on May 26th as soon as a horrible Texas storm cleared out. We had lots wind and rain which made the trailer rock quite a bit (and I didn't like that at all!!!). Once we got west a ways, the sky cleared and we had a beautiful day from then on. We spent the night in Vernon TX and then on to Amarillo where we spent two nights. Then it was on to Tucumcari NM for a night before we went to Albuquerque NM. We spent 4 nights there and had a good visit with some long-time friends there (Gary & Juanita Sullivan) who will soon be leaving the big city and moving to Boulder City NV (giving us a new place to visit!).

On May 4 we headed to Gallup NM and stayed at the beautiful Red Rock State Park just east of town. It was a beautiful area and we had a nice stay there. Then we went to Four Corners where NM, CO, UT and AZ meet and about froze with the cold wind blowing! The trip from there to Goulding NM where we stayed to visit Monument Valley - a wonderful sight! - was quite hilly and gave the poor truck quite a work-out! Getting off the Interstate can be an adventure!

We are now in Moab UT for a week or so. It is really pretty here with the red rocks around and the snow covered La Sal mountains in the distance! We will visit Arches National Monument, probably tomorrow, and spend some time getting some work done (like updating our web site - finally!). My sister, Diana, has had some setbacks with her surgery and we aren't sure just when she is going to get home - she could use your prayers for a speedy recovery! It has been a really terrible time for her - and her family. Yesterday, some long-time friends (Gordon & Jane Moore) from Grand Junction came down to visit us and we had a great visit with them and look forward to visiting more while in Grand Junction. We plan to be in Grand Junction by May 14th.

Unfortunately (for us), we were invaded at South Padre by Spring Breakers the first week of March. It wasn't too bad until Texas week which started Friday, the 12th - then passage was nearly impossible after noon. The bridge/causeway from Port Isabel to SPI (about 2 ½ miles long) was solid cars barely moving - 2 lanes - from around 2:30 or 3 pm until about 7 or 8!! We tried to go into town Sunday around 1:00 to get dinner and got about 2 blocks and could see that the kids were cruising and the traffic was not moving ahead of us so turned around and went home and walked to a nearby restaurant later in the afternoon when they opened!!

We took a day and went down to Progresso Mexico and did a little shopping (got the girls some vanilla - Cindy likes the Mexican vanilla for her cakes, it gives them a distinct flavor) and wandered around a bit there. Several days we walked the beach - there were lots of shells, but mostly the same, not much variety and no sand dollars at all (although a gal did give us one she had found and didn't want).

Another day we went to a nearby wildlife refuge and saw many gorgeous birds. Some were too pretty to be real! Especially the green jays and the avocets; it seemed more like a zoo than just out in the wild!! We picked some wonderful grapefruit on the way home - we were too late for oranges. We have really enjoyed the sweet grapefruit for breakfast every morning - we are getting spoiled!!

We spent quite a bit of time working on the computer program for Berean Bible School while on SPI and drove to Mission TX one day to talk to the director and get his imput. Then, Monday, March 15, we moved to Mission so we are here to ask questions as we try to complete the program. Tuesday evening we went with the extended family here over to Reynosa Mexico for a delicious dinner. The traffic over there was really something! Don was glad we didn't have the truck and he didn't have to drive!!

We went to a large flea market last weekend and had a good time wandering around the many booths. We found lots of great fresh fruits at unreal prices so stocked up as much as possible! Sunday we went to church with the family we are staying with and enjoyed the fellowship. Monday morning another missionary came by to see about adapting our computer program for their use as they also run a correspondence Bible school; so as soon as we get a chance we need to work on that.

We spent our tax refund on a PC for me as the laptop just didn't handle the programs necessary for my web page and programming work (as Cindy said, "Have office, will travel!"). We will leave here tomorrow morning and head towards Longview TX to Missionary Tech Team Headquarters to work on their program some and then, maybe, to Colorado Springs to work on one for a Mission group there on our way to Grand Junction CO. So, the Lord is keeping us busy and we haven't had time to get bored!!! I have even squeezed in enough time to do some reading, get another baby quilt done and start on some Christmas presents.

A month gone by already??!!! It is hard to believe it is still winter with the weather we are having down here even tho' we see that there is still snow up north! We came down to South Padre Island on February 14 and are enjoying wonderful weather - in the 70's most days, although some days have been rather windy and we could do without that! The beach here is quite different from the one around Port Aransas in that you cannot drive on the beach here and up there you can drive for miles. We have found the shells here are different ones from those we found further north and we have seen several new birds. We have found a spot where the gulls and several other birds seem to congregate and it is fun to go watch them and their antics. We are thoroughly enjoying the valley's grapefruit and oranges - we get them for $2.50 for a 10lb bag!! - and they are wonderfully sweet. We took a drive over around Harlingen the other day and saw several orange and grapefruit orchards. We have found this area much more of a tourist area than Port Aransas, which was more of a fishing village, and think we like Port Aransas better - although there certainly are more restaurants here!! But, we like the more laid-back area. We have spent several days "at home" working on computer programs and web pages; trying to get things completed on the database we have designed for a maternity home back near St. Louis and get their web page redesigned. We understand that the month of March is Spring Break time here on South Padre - we may wish we were back up in Port Aransas when all the college kids arrive! We are here until the 16th...I guess we had better enjoy the beach before they get here - it may get really crowded!

While in Port Aransas, we enjoyed walking the beach several days. Don went wading a few times - the water was a little too cold for Bev! We got fresh shrimp right off the boat one day and it was delicious! One day was spent at the Aquarium in Corpus Christi where they have some wonderful displays. Another day we drove north to the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge where we saw deer, alligators, many different ducks and even some whooping cranes (at a great distance!).

We found a couple of restaurants in the Port Aransas area that served Cajun Boiled dinners - spicy hot, but good - just the way Don likes it!! They brought it out in a large bowl and then just dumped it on the table in front of us! No bowls, no plates - sure saves on dishwashing!!

We are now in sunny, warm Port Aransas TX, just east of Corpus Christi, on the gulf coast. It has been in the 70's here and we have had a great time bird watching and beachcombing! The past couple of days have been rather windy, but things have calmed down quite a bit today. The campground here is full most of the time and it seems that all the campgrounds around here really pack the campers in tight (especially compared to some of the ones we had in Canada and the northeast US)! A couple of times a week, a pickup comes thru the campground with fresh produce from the Rio Grande Valley; we got some oranges, grapefruit, cauliflower and kohlrabi yesterday and they all are delicious! It's great having to-the-door service!!

On the way down here from Dallas, we spent a few days in San Antonio and enjoyed the Mexican Market, a lunch up in the Tower of the Americas, watching the city below as the platform rotated while we ate lunch, and had a couple of great Mexican lunches down on the Riverwalk. The city bus ran right by the campground so we were able to ride it and avoid taking the truck and having to pay parking. One evening at the campground we enjoyed a musicians' jam session - which they have every week - and that was fun.

We are in the Dallas TX area for a few days. We left MO just before the big snow storm hit and managed to keep ahead of the snow and bitter cold. It has been cold here, but not as cold as further north! We had some really cold days while we were in MO and finally drained the trailer (after defrosting the pipes!) and moved in with our daughter & family for several days until it warmed up a bit. We will leave here on Thursday and head on further south.......