Down to the party

The trip to Texas is a long one – and we made it longer by doing some sight seeing. Saturday we made it to 6 PM mass in Litchfield. I looked around the congregation and only found 3 people smiling – is the economy really that bad? Since I had broken a tooth, there was a time out for a repair job at WalMart. The permanent repair can wait until we get back to OK. After supper in the Casita I did a couple of quick caches and watched some PBS. We had tried to find some decent radio on the road, but it was all loud and obnoxious music. I guess Illinois doesn’t support NPR (my favorite).

Years ago we went as a family to visit Meramec Caverns in Stanton MO. Well, Cathy and I decided to go on the tour again. The caverns are basically the same but the path through the cave is much more people friendly. We even saw the spot where Michelle lost her contact lens, some 35 years ago, only to have one of the guides find it.

After the caverns we proceeded to Turkey Creek SKP Resort where we ran into Sharon Bradshaw, a long time SKP friend. Tom did some geocaching (and discussion about same) and Cathy lay up to rest her weary bones after “caving”.

Cathy’s thermostat dictates that she have more air conditioning than is possible with the battery source in the van – so we drove all the next day to keep her cool and went as far as Texarkana where we stayed at Camp WalMart.

We stopped at the Dallas Area Red Cross Chapter where Tom serviced the Sysco Kitchen and made arrangements for a promotion interview. After lunch we visited Jeff and he showed us around the Bachman Lake Library, where he is a librarian.

After stopping to see Jim at Omni Direct we ran into a little problem – or should I say a little problem ran into us. A car tried to pass the van and trailer as Tom made a wide U turn. The van stopped the car dead – totaling it. The van only had slight rear panel damage and a blown tire. In about an hour the tire was replaced and we were on our way to Holiday COE Park in Benbrook, where we stayed while taking care of all of the things planned for the week.

The 75th Birthday Party was a fantastic success. Daughter Mary did a great job of planning it and Jim and Gail were excellent hosts. We ate – we swam – we played – and we shared. We were presented with picture albums that had our whole life on display. Lots of memories and stories came back! Here’s just a few of the pictures of Tom, Cathy, and family.

Talk about procrastination!

It’s been over a month now since my last blog input. I guess I need to set a schedule – I’m going to try to input every two weeks – Saturday should be a good day. Anyway, here’s what I’ve been up to for the last of my tour at Lake Texana - all the way to Illinois:

The chiropractor treatments were successful in fixing my neck problems, and made my final days at the Lake Texana State Park much more enjoyable. I will miss the nice surroundings and the staff that I worked with. Perhaps next year???

After leaving Texana I made an ACTS retreat with 47 other men from the Catholic Church in Ganado. The worship atmosphere of this church is fantastic and has really been a boost to my spirituality. The retreat is based on the Cursillo movement but was, I think, a lot more spiritual and effective. Someday I hope to return to Ganado and be part of the parish again. Who knows, maybe I’ll be on an ACTS team. I was very warmly welcomed into their community – even as a Vagabond.

After leaving Ganado I went to Livingston for my bi-annual cardiologist visit. Dr. Mani said that all the pills seem to be keeping my problems under control and that I should keep on doing what I am for another 6 months. My valves are marginal and I still have hypertension and arrhythmia, but I feel good – even though I am slowing down. What particularly bothers me is that I am losing strength in my advancing age.

Leaving Livingston, I went north to Dallas and serviced the Sysco Kitchen at the Dallas Area Chapter. The tilt boiler failed while I was there and caused me to stay an extra day, but the kitchen is now ready for deployment during the hurricane season. And I am still ready to go with it.

Traveling on, I spent a couple of weeks in OK, at Cathy’s place, working on repairing a leaky roof and other “honey-do” tasks before leaving for the Escapade in Sedalia MO. While geocaching in the state park my grandkids and I came accross this fellow.

The Escapade was very wet, but enjoyable. I transported Cathy’s quilting stuff, but then I was free to attend many of the seminars and even give one myself (Materialistic Minimalism). I got a lot of new computer toys and tricks to try out when the trip is over. Cathy’s quilting group made a lot of charity quilts which were donated to the CARE facility in Livingston and to CASA (Citizens Against Spousal Abuse) Here are some of the quilts that they donated.

Traveling on, we went to Indiana and visited with Guy, Gary’s son. Guy enjoyed geocaching with me. Wow, is he ever getting big! Here is a picture of him with Cathy.
And here is another picture, taken with his mom, Laura, and his step-dad Bob, and step-brother Brian.
Sunday, we traveled west, slowly going through Chicago to Gurnee IL. Cathy enjoys visiting all of her relatives and friend there, while I geocache and do chores. I now have a bedroom in the truck so that it isn’t as crowded in the Casita.

Tomorrow we will go to Wisconsin to visit our dear friends the Casciaros and Wokwiczes. I am having breakfast Friday with Chuck Frieman, who I know from my Boy Scouting Leader days.

Life is good – next week we head to Texas and our 75th birthday celebration in Arlington, which the kids are going to host at Jim’s house.