A MEMORY LANE NAMED FAIRFIELD GLADE (July 27 - August 28, 2019)

One more time we made our way to Crossville, Tennessee and the Wyndham Resort at Fairfield Glade.  Travel from Indiana went without a hitch and we rolled our bags into a two bedroom condo in the Kensington Woods section just like we did when we first visited in 1983.

Then, there was just a sales trailer, a hand full of townhouses, a brand new 9 hole golf course, and a lot of promises.  Now, 36 years later, the promises have become reality.  Ninety holes of championship golf, lakes, time share units, private homes, shopping center, conference center, indoor recreation facility, swimming pools, mini golf, and on and on and on.

This was to be a five week stay to just relax and enjoy the retired life.  It was not vacation.  It was life

and it couldn't have been better.  Sundays were church and the brunch at the Country Club.  Mondays were outdoor concerts and food trucks at the park.  Wednesdays were Mrs. Millers donuts and the Farmer's Market.  The weather on the plateau was pleasant and the trails worth walking.

But what was most memorable was.....the memories!  Memories that drifted back into my mind as I walked past the playgrounds where our children played and laughed (and got mad at each other).  They were 7, 4, and 1 that first year.  The old lodge has been taken down but, as I stood where it used to be, in my mind I could hear endless "Marco.... Polo" calls echoing across its indoor pool.

The mini golf course has been redone but the layout is the same.  I walked the entire route while

envisioning those excited kids as they tried their hardest to put that little ball into the big hole while avoiding the various impediments that stood in their way.

We walked along the cascading creek and stopped to take a picture of the three seated on the jagged rocks while the waters rushed by.  The littlest trying to big and the biggest trying not to be bored.  The middle one just trying not to hurt her arm, broken in a fall from a horse.  What a struggle to get them where they needed to be seated.  Now, it is a moment frozen in time.  It is a moment that reminds me once again about the importance of family and how quickly those treasured times are gone.

Being old enough to retire and travel is wonderful but there is a certain emptiness to it.  Maybe we now just have too much time to reflect, to remember.  Remembering is a blessed part of the aging process but it is a mixed blessing.  One must learn to balance the remembering with the dreaming, the melancholy with the adventure of each new day.  I am still learning how to do that and, as a tear runs down my cheek, I pack to head back to Indiana and Missouri to see the grand kids and make more memories..

TURNING ADVERSITY INTO ADVENTURE (June 27 - July 26, 2019)

Pair A Dice Point @ Camp Clifford

Betsy Ross Home

Our flights from Anchorage to Cincinnati went well and, after picking up a vehicle from good friends, we made our way back to Indiana and our cabin.  Our time in Indiana was spent between watching our daughter's house while she went on vacation with her family and the cabin. 

We packed for a week's visit to Michigan and headed back to Cincinnati and the airport.  This time, standby flying didn't go so well.  All flights to Chicago were canceled because of weather and all flights to everywhere else filled up with those flyers trying to find a way home.  After talking about what to do, we decided to find a plane with empty seats and have an adventure. 

Philadelphia it was and we boarded for a couple of days in a city we had never visited.  Lodging was taken care of by our Wyndham Rewards Points and, with just the clothes on our backs, we spent a full day, in 95 degree temperatures, visiting the sites in the Historic District.

Camp Meeting in Howell, Michigan

Somethin' Fishy

We finally made it to Michigan a couple of days late and enjoyed a visit to the Eastern Michigan District Camp Meeting on the Water's Edge Campgrounds in Howell.  It was there that I attended church camps as a kid.  We went with friends Gene and Judy Smith and Fred and Linda Hall.  Fred, Gene, and I went to those camps together as boys 60 years ago.

Grouts

We spent most of our time with Gene and Judy at their wonderful country home outside of Davison.  Temperatures in the 70s were pleasant and the fish were biting.  Hours were spent visiting and we took a trip over to Lake Huron.  On the way, we stopped by to see Bob and Eleanor Grout.  They are distant relatives for whom I was their ring bearer back in 1953!  They are both around 90 years old and still active in farming a 6,000 acre farm in the thumb.  Then it was back to Indiana to have three teeth pulled.

REFLECTIONS

Once again, we were reminded that things don't always go as you plan.  Once again, we choose to make the best of the unexpected and turn it into an adventure.  So the Philadelphia jaunt just added to the entire experience of a summer journey.

The Michigan part of the trip was absolutely perfect.  Long time friends (I refuse to say old), fishing until the sun went down, traveling down memory lane with family I hadn't seen in years, and walking the ground I had walked so many years ago as a kid, all went together to make the perfect interlude between lengthy times away.  I could have done without the oral surgery at the end but "it is what it is".  Now, it's off to Fairfield Glade, Tennessee for five weeks.  And the beat goes on.

Dicers and Smiths

ALASKA 2019: THE ROAD (June 10-26, 2019)

Richardson Highway

Horse Tail Falls

After arriving in Anchorage by railroad, we rented a vehicle and drove the hour or so to Big Lake, Alaska where we began the road trip segment of our Alaskan adventure.  I've thought about the best way to tell about this over two week, 2,000 plus mile trek part of our experience and have decided that a machine gun type of explanation might work best.  So here we go.

Our time included overnights at a B & B (Glennallen), a church campground lodge (Big Lake), friends' homes (Chugiak, Soldotna), a church guest room (Homer), and a tent ( Ekultna Lake State Park).

During this time we visited Valdez (Richardson Highway), Eagle River (Eagle River Nature Center), Seward (Exit Glacier), Thunder Bird Falls, Gridwood (Alyeska Resort), Seldovia (Nature Cruise), Portage (Portage Glacier), Wasilla (Iditarod HQ), Palmer (Musk Ox Farm), Talkeetna, Hatcher Pass (Independance Gold Mine), and North Pole.  There were many other stops and places, but these are the main ones.

  Ekluta Lake

We saw eleven eagles at once on the shores of Cook Inlet, a Moose (up close and personal), a grizzly bear (walked through campsite), sea otters, thousands of nesting sea birds, Dall Sheep, Reindeer, Alaskan Pipe Line, glaciers, waterfalls (Bridal Veil and Horse Tail on the Richardson Highway near Valdez were the best), and mountain after mountain.

We ate at places named;Summit Lake Lodge (Moose Pass), Bobby's (Chugiak), Little Richard's Diner (North Pole), Old Roadhouse (Talkeetna), Denali Family Restaurant (Wasilla), Lucky Wishbone (Anchorage), Artic Roadrunner (Anchorage), Moose Is Loose (Soldotna), Louie's (Kenai), Duncan House (Homer), Land's End Resort (Homer) and, above the clouds, at Boar Tide Deli (Girdwood).

As huge as Alaska is, its road system is about the size of the road system in New Hampshire.  Having said that, it really doesn't matter which way you go there is always something spectacular around the next bend.

Seldovia

REFLECTIONS

Big Lake

Our month long Alaskan experience came to an end with an exciting road trip from Homer to Anchorage.  In order to make it back to the airport in Anchorage, we cut things a day short so as to make it through the edge of the 50,000 acre Swan Lake forest fire.  The blaze was threatening to shut down the Sterling Highway (the only artery through the Kenai Pennensula).  We sat in the 400 car line waiting for the guide vehicle to lead us on the ten mile stretch of  ground where the fire bordered the road.  The wait was well over two hours.

Many times the journey of our lives come down to an end that we could not anticipate; an end sparked by things beyond our control.  Most of us have stood beside someone whose life adventure came to unexpected stop and the waiting was long and difficult.

For those of us who are Christ followers, we believe that this waiting is but a pause before the One who said "I am the Way" comes to guide us through the smoke of death to the beauty on the other side.  It is then that we say with the song writer; "I'll fly away".

Sterling Highway (Swan Lake Fire)

ALASKA 2019: THE TRAIN (June 5-9, 2019)

Grandview , Alaska, Hiking Stop (End of the line)

Spencer Glacier

After disembarking from our ship in Whittier, Alaska we shortly boarded the Alaska Railroad train for an excursion to Spencer Glacier and Grandview.  This short but beautiful rail trip would bring us back to Whittier later in the day and then continue on to Anchorage where we would spend the night.

Thanks to an Alaska friend, who works for ARR, we had been given "family passes".  These passes allowed the four of us to travel 1/2 price for one continuous booking.  Sherry figured out a way to get us on every inch of passenger track with the exception of the spur to Seward.  All told, we spent about 36 hours on the rails.  I would highly recommend that any trip to Alaska include at least a short trip on the ARR.  I would recommend the run to Grandview or the run from Anchorage to Hurricane Gulch and back.

Time on the train can be spent reading, sleeping, or enjoying the scenery from the upper level of the observation car.  From this vantage point we saw eagles, swans, beavers, moose, bears, homesteaders, mountains, valleys, passes, waterfalls, rivers, lakes, and so much more.  It is an excellent way to get from Anchorage to Fairbanks and back without the hassle of driving.

REFLECTIONS

There is an old gospel song entitled "Life Is Like A Mountain Railway" and I would have to say after spending such a long time aboard the Alaskan Railroad that the journey did remind me a little of my life.

There were times of weariness as we chugged through the final hours of a twelve hour ride.  There were times of excitement as we watched a moose run along side the tracks.  There were times of awe as we encountered breathtaking scenery and the high waterfalls splashed down the mountainside.  There were times that were good to be shared with others and times when it was right to just be alone and drink it all in.

Put it all together and it was an interesting and enjoyable experience.

Such is life.  There will be together times and alone times.  There will be times when we get caught up in all the beauty of the things that have appeared along the track of our life.  And, yes, there will certainly be times when we are just weary; warn out!

Put them all together.  See them all as a wonderful tapestry and, as you look back, you will understand what a beautiful adventure you have been on.

Keep on rollin' and be blessed.

ALASKA 2019: THE CRUISE (May 28 - June 4, 2019)

After going the long way around (Indianapolis to NYC to Seattle to Vancouver) we found ourselves aboard the Coral Princess on our way to Alaska.  This would mark our 5th visit to the "Last Frontier" for Sherry and me but the 1st for Sherry's brother, Curt, and his wife, Jenny.  We would be their willing "guides" for the next month.  The weather was great and each port of call provided wonderful excursions.

We stopped at Ketchican, Juneau, and Skagway and cruised through Glacier Bay and College Fjord.  College Fjord was absolutely the most spectacular sight I have seen in my lifetime!  The deep blue skies, the fluffy white clouds, the towering mountains, and the bluish glaciers brought almost more than I could take in!

Sharing a small cabin with two bunk beds was interesting to say the least but it did not diminish the wonderful time we all had as we traveled.   The food was delicious, the service was outstanding, and no one got sea sick!  It was also great to be able to celebrate our 50th Wedding Anniversary with a formal dinner with special friends.

After the seven day journey, the ship dropped us off at the dock in Whittier, Alaska and we began the next stage of our adventure.  This time, the Alaskan Railroad would be our transportation as we started to explore this expansive state.

REFLECTIONS

Sometimes, when on a cruise ship, we begin to think that all the food, entertainment, and lodging are free.  It's great to be able to eat all you want, anytime you want, and they never bring you the bill.  The problem is that we forget that we paid for all this up front.  The fact is that you are only getting what you paid for!

Many times, life is so much like that!  We find ourselves enjoying the blessings of life or struggling with the issues of life and forget that, in reality, we might be getting just what we paid for.  Paid for with choices that we made somewhere along the journey.  It is a life principle that we often overlook.  It's called reaping and sowing (getting what you paid for)!

Please understand that I am not saying that there will be times when, in spite of right choices, things don't turn out just like you hoped.  Nor am I saying that if you make poor choices sometimes everything just seems to work out.  What I am saying is that you have a good chance to receive good results if you've made good choices to start.

Cruises can also be very demanding and hectic.  They can wear you out.  It's good to find a place where you can be renewed.  Life, too, demands much and can get very busy.  We must be able to find a place were we can "center down" and be refreshed in body and soul.

Be blessed, make right choices, and cruise on.  Now to get back on that diet!

CONNECTING POINTS (May 4 - 27, 2019)

For the past twenty four days we have been enjoying spring in the mid west.  Our stand by flights from South Carolina to Missouri went without any problems and we arrived in Springfield for our grandson, Justin's, High School Graduation.  Once again I was reminded of how fast time goes by.  He becomes the second grand child to exit High School and our prayers are that he will find the Lord's will and plan for his life.  While in the "Show Me" state, I enjoyed my walks and drives around Wilson's Creek National Battlefield.  The wild flowers were out and the deer made their appearance in the late afternoon.  It was a great time of both relaxing and enjoying family.

Following those great days, we flew to Indiana to spend some time with Autumn's family, visit Sherry's mom, ready the cabin, and get ready for our upcoming cruise and stay in Alaska.  Our grand daughter, Adelyn, had a volleyball tournament and a band concert.  They finished second!  The cabin and yard took some work but by the time we left they looked great. 

This somewhat of a pause was perfect before we begin a busy month in the last frontier with  Sherry's brother, Curt, and his wife, Jenny!  This will be their first visit to Alaska and there is so much to see.

REFLECTIONS

These times with family are more than just time to fill between trips.  They are moments to remember how important family is, to pause and reflect on how blessed we are, and to dream about what the future might hold for our kids and grand kids.  They are moments filled with both tears and laughter. 

I know that our nomadic life style is a little different than most but I pray that it will not ever stand in the way of our family knowing just how much we love them.  Time moves too quickly to not cherish each time we are able to be together.

CHOOSE THE DOLPHIN MOMENTS (April 16 - May 3, 2019)

We wrapped up our final segment of our time on Edisto Island, South Carolina, by sharing one of our favorite places with friends and family.

Jimmy and Doretta Durnil came from southern Indiana and spent four days with us.  Doretta and Sherry graduated from High School together in Bloomington, Indiana back in the 60s.  What a great time we had showing them around and just enjoying our time together.  Sherry and Doretta were able to share memories of long ago and rekindle a friendship.

Then, Sherry's brother and sister-in-law came and spent the final two weeks with us.  Curt and Jenny are also Wyndham owners and we have traveled together before and share "points" every once in a while.  Edisto offers a fantastic place to walk the beaches, watch the dolphins, and enjoy the sunsets.

During our time of traveling, these past two years, we have been reminded of the value of family and friends.


REFLECTIONS

For the last 42 days I have awakened on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean's St. Helena Sound.  I have awakened, with a cup of coffee on our elevated deck, to the laughing and crying of the Gulls as they greet the day.  I have awakened to the frolicking dolphins as they search for breakfast in the mouth of Big Bay Creek.  I have awakened to the fragrance of the flowering bushes and trees.  I have awakened to a quiet, peaceful, beautiful place that I have grown to love.

At night, I have been treated to a variety of fiery sunsets as the western horizon turned golden and orange.  At night, I have been amazed at the numberless stars that filled the darkened sky.  At night, I have listened to the local frogs bellow their repetitive croakings into the otherwise silent darkness.  At night, I have seen the twinkling eyes of the deer as they graze on the shrubs beneath the deck.

It is in between the time that my feet hit the floor and my head hits the pillow that I am reminded how blessed I am.  Blessed to feel the warmth of the sun as it turns my pale skin brown.  I am blessed to watch those beautiful dolphin gently cruise on top of the water or frantically feed with tail splashing and air borne acrobatics. I am blessed that I can see the kaleidoscope of vivid colors that make every sunset just a little different.  I am blessed that I can hear the noisiness of the gulls and the breathing of those dolphins as they catch their breath before diving deep into the blue waters.

Oh, there were days when the sun didn't shine.  There were days when the gentle ocean breeze turned into gale force winds.  There were days when the clouds blocked the sunset.  There were days when the dolphin decided to go elsewhere.  There were days the number of dead jellyfish seemed to outnumber the grains of sand on the beach.

Life, too, is like that.  Not every day will be idyllic.  Some will be way better than others, but they all go together in a mosaic of wonderful color; of great blessing.  We must decide upon what to focus.  Will it be the "jellyfish moments" or the "dolphin moments".  We will have both.  The choice is ours.

I chose the dolphin moments and, with this big guy, wave goodbye to South Carolina and head to Missouri.  There, too, I plan to be blessed.  It's just who I am.

Edisto Island, SC, dolphin dance