A Tale of Two Bloggers, Two Rallies and Football

This fall we turned the RV northward again, this time with a stop in Licking, Missouri. (That's right, Licking. I giggle every time I say it!) And I want to introduce you to some very special people, the Adams Family, who live there. We met through their blog Clan Chrisdean, where in their own words: "We love the Lord, reading the Puritans, Civil war reenacting and Scottish Country Dancing...and reading!" What's not to like?! We contacted them and told them of our plans to travel near them and they invited us to park on their farm for a night or two, which we did over the Labor Day weekend. They welcomed us to their home

and shared their time, friendship and meals with us. We attended their Scottish dancing class together in Lebanon, MO, and church with them on Sunday.

Mealtimes are a family affair, taking turns with the prep.  The children milk the cow for fresh milk and home-churned butter, also providing fresh cream for the coffee every day.  Mmmmmmm!

 

They have eight children at home, and a more well-mannered and enjoyable group doesn't exist anywhere!  Pure delight to be around!

They're home-schooled and just as full of joy and fun as these pictures suggest:

   (I won't list all of their names, for privacy's sake.)

This was truly one of those Kingdom visits that make being children of the same Father such an ongoing joy in this world!





We went on to Anderson, Indiana for a visit with our good friends Bill and Bea. We camped two nights in the Mounds State Park and spent many hours together, reminiscing, eating (great steaks, Bill!) and geocaching.

Bill was Roger's predecessor in the Kenya hospital where we worked for four years; he taught Roger most of what he knows of missionary medicine and surgery.

Bill gave us a copy of the book, The Gospel Trumpet Years on the early days of the Church of God, since that was the church we went to Kenya under in the '60s.  Then they introduced us to one of the authors, Dale Stultz, who told us more about it and autographed our copy.



While in Indiana we visited Plymouth which was Roger's home for a year at age 10.  We looked for the old house where he lived but, sadly, it is no more: demolished for something else. (sigh!) But this was a beautiful pink house that we noticed while caching.

   This old bridge hid a tricky geocache from us (for a while.)

 Roger's Great-Grandmother Joiner is buried in Plymouth, having lived to the ripe old age of 97.  When Roger lived here in 1954, she lived with them also, and, being blind, would ask Roger to read the Bible to her each day.  Many happy memories from Plymouth!



 We walked through the town, geocaching and enjoying its parks.  A serendipity: a man we met was collecting edible mushrooms in the park, specifically Hen of the Woods, and offered to share them with us. They're found primarily in the north in the fall, usually at the base of oak trees. We took them home, sauteed them in butter and ate them for dinner: delicious! 


We came to Goshen, Indiana for the SMART National Muster. The area of Indiana surrounding Goshen is known for its Amish-Mennonite history and culture. We shopped in a little Amish food store and found great buys on pickeled beets, garlics and organic blueberries.











We visited the large flea market at Shipshewana, geocached our way over to Michigan, and enjoyed a banquet at an Amish home.  Home-cooked chicken, ham, whipped potatoes, vegetables and all finished up with your choice of apple, cherry or chocolate pie! Wow!

We met old friends there, like Rick and Jana Nunemaker, and made many new ones, as well.  Here's Meg visiting with James Heldt, the president of our local Alamo chapter.
                                                    

We're in front of the Elkhart County Courthouse in Goshen with Mike and Lorraine, new SMART friends and fulltime RVers.  It was a rainy day but no one seemed to mind.

 

 Here are Larry Sockwell and Dave Weis, the future and immediate past national presidents of S.M.A.R.T. 










Next year's national muster will be in Sedalia, Missouri and this year's Escapees National Rally was held there the week after our week in Goshen. Several of our chapters are responsible for hosting that muster next year so agreed to meet at Sedalia, attend the Escapees Rally and "scout" out the situation there.  We spent the week learning, enjoying the rally and meeting together to plan.  That's where we met another new friend, Donna, a lawyer from Chicago.  We had lots of fun together and hope to meet again.

The headline entertainment of the week was Yakov Smirnoff, of Russia and lately, Branson.  He is a very funny man and an inspirational speaker, as well.  Take any opportunity to hear him! You won't regret it!











Leaving Sedalia behind us we headed for Lincoln, stopping by the Kansas City airport just long enough to pick up Ashley, who had flown there to meet us.  She got her "game face" on and we went to the Cornhuskers game the next day.  We went to the pregame pep rally beforehand.

The following Saturday Linda Becher served us a magnificent brunch on her backyard patio, to
celebrate our 44th anniversary, and a publisher's acceptance of the first book by Lynn, her roommate.  Wow! What a day for a celebration!  And we topped it off that evening by watching Nebraska come from behind in the fourth quarter to beat Wisconsin!

While there we danced with the Lincoln Scottish Country Dance group and Roger taught both sessions, their previous regular teacher having recently moved to Nevada.  We spent a very nice dinner and evening in the home of our good friends, Barb and Ken Woodhead, who were hosting some of our missionaries, Rob and Sarah Malcolm.  It is always good to be with them. 

We spent a wonderful day with Dave and Jackie Argue, who are moving to Milford, NE.  Food and fellowship are always good with these dear friends!

We got reacquainted with some dear friends from our Germany years (1986-89), Ken and Jane Smith. They recently bought a fifth-wheel and were en route from Washington state to Ohio.  When we learned that we'd all be in Lincoln at the same time, we arranged to meet for an overnight visit.  Our hosts, Fred and Janet Smith, graciously invited them to park beside us on their property, hooked them up to electricity and made it all possible.  Another surprise treat along this wonderful journey!