The Wandering Bruces

Recent Updates

2011-12-05T12:55:00.000-08:00

I finally finished blogging our recent cruise on the Baltic Sea, Parts I, II, III, and IV.

Places We've Been in Our Lives

2011-08-27T19:07:00.000-07:00

Found a fun little website which generates maps from data input. Really interesting to see the territory we've covered. A couple of places were only visited by one of us before we were married, but the rest have been a joint (ad)venture!

visited 48 states (96%)
Create your own visited map of The United States or Like this? try: Google Share

visited 38 states (16.8%)
Create your own visited map of The World or Free android travel guide

Our Baltic Sea Cruise: Part IV Estonia, Sweden and Denmark

2011-08-20T19:05:00.000-07:00

After the wonderful days in St. Petersburg, Russia the next stops had a lot to live up to. But we were not disappointed! This was the view sailing into the harbor of Tallinn, Estonia. It's a medieval town that still preserves much of its heritage.

Here is the facade of the gorgeous Russian Orthodox church in the center of town.

This state house is beautiful in its own way.

A unique sign welcoming visitors to the Estonian National Academy of Music :

Our excellent guide made sure we saw everything important in our day there.

There is an "upper town" and "lower town"; the upper built to provide defense against invaders. These are views down onto the lower town from above.

A renaissance festival was in progress and this archer was demonstrating her skills next to the castle.

Most of the castles and churches are now art museums, containing the best works of local artists, as well as some internationally famous works. This picture shows a warship in the Tallinn harbor. The inlaid wood work depicts the city at an earlier time. (be sure and left-click on any pictures in the blog for a larger view.)

Our Celebrity Eclipse awaits us in the harbor.

Local vendors greet you in the port area, ready to sell you souvenirs of your visit. This young Estonian lady is holding the pretty wooden box we bought from her.

One of our favorite parts of a cruise is meeting new friends: here are Buddy and JoAnne from Georgia. We "hit it off immediately" and enjoyed time together, eatingmost meals, as well as meeting up for the entertainment and some of the same tours.

Several evenings are always designated "formal" occasions; a kilt and evening gown were made for just such times. Roger met several other Scots on the ship.

We made this trip with Jim and Barband had a fantastic time together! So much so that we're trying to plan another trip together already!

Not sure what the surprise was here? We're in Stockholm, Sweden now. We bused out to a working farm, found this lone cow there:

Traveling by ferry and bus we visited several towns on the Stockholm archipelago.

Gustavsberg is home to a porcelain factory and museum, filled with beautiful examples of the craft, such as these: And, of course, there was always time to hunt for geocaches nearby.

Meg's holding up part of a find here.

Barb and Jim enjoying the elevated view of the port.

The entry and departure from Stockholm is described commonly as one of the most beautiful in cruising.

On to Copenhagen, Denmark and what may be the most famous landmark in the world: The Little Mermaid, of Hans Christian Andersen fame.(She's the smaller girl on the right!)

The new Opera House in Copenhagenseen from an evening cruise tour boat.

The phenomenal shows each evening in the ship's theater are major contributors to the overall fun experience of a cruise. Here the cruise director and "volunteers" from the audience are dancing to "Y.M.C.A."

A Welsh comedian and singer was a blast! We really enjoyed his entire show. Emily, another wonderful singer, also from Wales, brought songs of Streisand and Judy Garland to life.

The crew and performers are a "United Nations" showcase; they revel in how well they get along with each other and admonish the audience with "why can't we all just get along?!" coupled with lots of smiles. This is the face of a Romanian acrobat, Andrea. We remarked often about how happy the crew members appear. Their apparent joy is a major contributing factor to our enjoyment of the cruises.

There are frequent educational opportunitieson board; we had history lessons on the various countries we visited. This is a former MI-6 agent teaching us about computer hacking, espionage and identity theft.

Here was a helpful hint on how to spot a terrorist!

A nice couple we met on board: he's German, she's Hungarian. They have both lived in the US.

The last evening was a time for us to say thank you to the members of the crew who were personally responsible for making our trip so memorable: our room stewardsand our waitstaff.

At our last meal they celebrated our two birthdays with us. "Happy Birthday to Us!" Yeah!! Yes, we've gotten to the stage where ONE candle will do, thank you very much!

After two wonderful weeks of visiting capitols and countries new to us, and enjoying the camaraderie of old friends and newly-made friends, the beautiful "White Cliffs of Dover" which historically have welcomed many sailors home to England, loomed like icebergs before us, showing us that we, like they, had safely navigated the North Sea, and were approaching Southampton's haven.

We took a cab the short distance to the Southampton bus stop. A 2-hour bus ride brought us to Heathrow and sometime later (much later) we fell into our own bed, happy and tired! Thanks for joining us for this reminiscence. Hope you can do something like this in the future!

Our Baltic Sea Cruise: Part III St Petersburg

2011-08-17T14:59:00.000-07:00

Our friends Barb and Jim waiting to enter Catherine's Palace at Pushkin.

Our next two days were spent in Russia, and, just as in the cases of Belgium, Finland, Sweden, Estonia and Denmark, our very first visit to this country, though two of our children, Abey and Sabrina, were here about twenty years ago. ) Our time was roughly divided in two, with the first day at Peterhof and Catherine's Palace, and the second day devoted to St. Petersburg and the Hermitage. These sites all suffered extensive damage and destruction during WWII but have been lovingly restored now to much of their former beauty and glory. Most were decorated in baroque manner after the French court (one can easily see the similarity to Versailles and its Hall of Mirrors) because of Peter the Great's infatuation with the style and his esteem for France as the epitome of European beauty and culture. He wanted to make St. Petersburg and Russia into "European" models.

Much of the weight of the palace is on Hercules' shoulders. Gold is everywhere in Catherine's Palace.

Some of the most beautiful art is on the ceilings:

The grand reception hall

Dining room

A long hall of golden doorways!

The gardens are almost as beautiful and ornate as the inside of the palace.

The golden onion domes gleam gorgeous in the sun!

Russian girls sell souvenirs to tourists at all of these locations.

Nesting dolls (Matroyshka) are probably the most popular national souvenir in the world. They often represent world figures. Here's one of a currently prominent socialist (the other person is Putin, the Russian premier)

We visited several Russian Orthodox churches, including this one which contains the crypts of many of the Russian czars and czarinas.

Here is the final resting place of the Romanovs who were assassinated during the Bolshevik Revolution. They were first buried in makeshift graves by a roadside. Their bodies were discovered fairly recently and they were laid to rest here.

This is the Battleship Aurora, which fired the shots that signaled the beginning of that revolution.

One of the most beautiful exteriors of any church is that of the Church on the Spilled Blood, built over the spot where Czar Alexander II was murdered.

There is also a modern side to St. Petersburg, as these apartments attest.

Peterhof, not far from the city, was the summer palace of Peter the Great and is outrageously beautiful! Among its attractions are its wondrous fountains and gardens:

Each morning the fountains begin at 11 o'clock, accompanied by beautiful classical music. Throngs of visitors wait for the magic moment!

You may click on this link to enjoy a little of the beauty. Also this one and this one.

These fountains are breathtaking!

The rest of our visit was spent in The Hermitage, one of the world's great museums. Owning over three million pieces of artwork, less than a tenth are on exhibit at any time. It is said that if one took a minute to look at every artifact, it would take over seven years!

This is one of the staircases. Part of the museum was at one time a palace.

Artwork of all kinds is housed here.

A mosaic floor from somewhere in the Roman or Greek world and brought here for us to enjoy.

This pair of matching vases are of malachite and lapis lazuli:

In 1985 a vandal secretly brought acid into the museum and threw it on this painting "Danaë", by Rembrandt, damaging it severely. It has been restored quite well over the succeeding years. (click on the name above for more details.) Because of this act no one is allowed to bring even water into the Hermitage. Tough on very hot days like the ones we had, where the temp outdoors was in the 90's and the crowds inside made it even hotter!

You might enjoy a taking a virtual tour of the Hermitage; click here if you do. Or come back when you have more time. After all, it is the world's largest museum!

So ended our Russian visit, with a beautiful sunset from our balcony, at 11:30 at night! Tomorrow: Tallinn Estonia.

Our Baltic Sea Cruise: Part II Belgium, Germany, Finland

2011-08-17T10:38:00.000-07:00

We embarked from Southampton port on Saturday 16 July, arriving the next morning in Bruges, Belgium. Bruges is a beautiful medieval town only a few miles from Brussels. We toured the city on foot and spent a little time geocaching (in every city we visited.)

A very modern statuary in an ancient city:Old streets, many cobblestoned, are lined closely with beautiful facades.

This is the central square of the city. Belgium is roughly half Dutch and half Flemish; Bruges is in the Flemish portion of the country. Its main products are lace and chocolate; you can guess which one interested us the most!

This is the beautiful city square of Bruges.

Ornate facades all around!

We took a fun canal ride in Bruges, known as the "Venice of the North."

Always time for geocaching!

Back on the ship again, we spent that night and the next day at sea. Those "sea days" are fairly relaxing, composed mostly of eating wonderful food, resting, conversation and shows and preparing for the next city. Each morning in a new port we met in the theater and were matched up with our tour guides. Here we are prepping for our visit to Germany.

Our ship docked at Warnemuende, Germany from where busses conveyed us to Luebeck and Wismar, two medieval cities.

We wandered narrow streets and alleys.

These were some gorgeous painted wall panels in Saint Jakob's Kirche in Luebeck.

Moses and King David

Jesus and several of His disciples, as well as ceilings with gorgeous color!

A wonderful painted box window!

This is a "puppet theater" marquis.

On to Wismar in the State of Schleswig-Holstein. This is the one remaining city gate of three from medieval times.As in Luebeck, a canal runs through town.

One of the bridges of Wismar, known as the Pig Bridge (Schweinsbruecke) is humorously decorated on four corners with these little porkers.

The port of Warnemuende was sponsoring a sand sculpture contest during our visit; here are some of the entries:

Another sea day and a chance to recoup from lots of walking! The Eclipse has a very nice library and we each read a couple of books while on board. The Art of Racing in the Rain was a fun read!

Helsinki, Finland was our next stop

Our Finnish guide, "Violet", was a delight and her information made the trip very enjoyable.Our first real stop was Porvoo, a small rural Finnish town. We visited a small church there, tasted some of the local chocolate and spent a few minutes geocaching.

While searching for a geocache near this church we met this Finn and his daughter from Helsinki, out for a day of cache hunting also.

Then it was on to lunch at a neighboring horse ranch and riding school

The dessert was a torte with caramel sauce, decorated with an edible flower, with sliced rhubarb, cloudberries, blueberries and lingonberries on the side. Wow!

Taking a very necessary stroll on the ranch after lunch!

After the delicious Finnish meal the bus carried us to Helsinki town center and a visit to the Rock Chuch, which has a very interesting history. Apparently the "locals" resisted having a church built above ground which would have obstructed the view. So architects devised and built this church under the rock instead. Now, the locals are more upset because of the markedly increased traffic of the half-million tourists coming to see this church annually!

The ceiling consists of coiled copper wire for the ultimate in acoustics, making it the perfect venue for concerts.

A last glimpse of beautiful Helsinki before reboarding and prepping for our next stop: St. Petersburg, Russia!

Our Baltic Sea Cruise Part I: England

2011-08-09T17:11:00.000-07:00

A year ago our good friends Barb and Jim invited us to plan a trip with them to Russia, via a Baltic Sea cruise. We agreed, made the reservations, saved our "shekels" and finally it was here. Now, hard to believe, but it's already behind us! Ah, well.......

We flew from San Antonio to Heathrow on 11 July and immediately transferred to Southampton via a National Express bus. (Perfect transportation and we'd recommend it to anyone.)

We spent four days in the south, visiting various noteworthy locations, beginning with Stonehenge. What a magnificent and awe-inspiring structure, rightfully added to the list of World Heritage sites.

No one knows for sure its true story; there are many theories.
We walked around Salisbury, a wonderful medieval town with a glorious cathedral, and, of course, made plenty of time to search for geocaches on the way.

This is a restaurant converted from an old mill. It's only a short walk from the Salisbury Cathedral. This is thought to be the finest example of a medieval cathedral in southern England, if not the world, and is associated with the book and recent movie by Ken Follett, The Pillars of the Earth. It is also home to one of the few original copies of Magna Carta, a foundational document for so much of the liberty we all enjoy.

Southampton itself is an intersesting town, home port of the Mayflower and the Titanic, with memorials to both.

Much of the old city wall is intact and makes for a very interesting hike.

We spent a full day wandering around Winchester, early home of the Saxon kings of England. Here is the statue to Alfred the Great who united the various regions of the island into one country.

The beautiful guildhall nearby houses the visitors' information center, where we obtained maps and self-guiding walking tours of the city. Winchester Cathedral (that's right: just like in the '60s hit song of the same name.) is another wonderful medieval structure with a fascinating history. As is the case with most churches of those times, deceased individuals often find their repose under the feet of the worshipers, buried under a slab in the floor of the cathedral. Winchester is noted for the final resting place of author Jane Austen, and a plaque nearby commemorates that fact.

We did all of this touring on local buses and on foot. Great ways to get around! And very important exercise before two weeks of cruise food!

Finally the next morning, 16 July, we were ready to embark on our cruise to visit seven cities, including capitals, mostly of countries we had never before set foot in. Here we go!

Hummingbirds and Ministries and Architecture

2011-05-30T09:46:00.000-07:00

We visited several towns in Texas during the spring, including Kerrville, where Roger thought he'd try his hand at high-speed photography.There were lots of hummers in the area and they provided some good moments.

We took time to celebrate Phineas' 2nd birthday with him.

Our good friends, Janet and Fred, introduced us to US MAPS, an RV volunteer mission arm of the Assemblies of God. They drove from Nebraska and we from San Antonio and we met at the little Texas town of Maypearl, a "suburb" of Waxahachie. (Look it up; I had to!) The AG has a beautiful RV park/Conference Center there and we stayed several days. We volunteered for kitchen duty while there. Actually, lots of fun!

Reagan came down from OK and stayed with us for a week there. Friday nights are "game nights" among the volunteers and Rea had as much fun as the rest of us and made a great impression. We had a remarkable time with MAPS and filled out our applications on the spot. We were accepted within a few weeks and plan to attend the annual RVolunteers' Convention in Illinois in October.

We have a very charming friend, Vanay Walek,who, with her husband Chuck, has served with Wycliffe Bible Translators in the Dallas area for the past twenty years. Vanay's "job" (read that: her joy and delight!) is telling visitors all about Wycliffe's work all over the world, and she does it with unbridled enthusiasm! We spent a fantastic day with her there, learning much more about the work going on to bring the Bible to people groups everywhere.

Reagan will never forget the time! Thank you, Vanay and Chuck!

Perhaps not so obvious a perk of our lifestyle is the enjoyment of a variety of architecture, and the (re-)discovery of small towns. "Stopping to smell the roses" is a truth not given enough credence by most; we are all just too busy. Geocaching and RVing have given us that opportunity we had so often overlooked before.

This is the Richardsonian Romanesque courthouse, in downtown Waxahachie, fashioned of red sandstone and considered by many to be among the most beautiful of Texas's older courthouses.The town also features many examples of Victorian architecture and Gingerbread homes, several of which have been converted into bed and breakfasts. The city's annual Gingerbread Trails festival features tours of many of these homes.

Additionally, Waxahachie became popular in the movie industry in the mid 1980s. The Academy-Award winning films Places in the Heart (starring Sally Field, Danny Glover and John Malkovich), and Tender Mercies starring Robert Duvall, were both filmed in Waxahachie. The movies 1918 and The Trip to Bountiful were also filmed there. The long-running television series Walker, Texas Ranger, starring Chuck Norris, was filmed in Waxahachie on occasion. (the above two paragraphs lifted from Wikipedia.)

My favorite discovery was the "Sims Library and Lyceum": simply gorgeous! The original building featured a classical Renaissance style with Doric columns. The central unit features white Vermont marble, a pressed tin ceiling, a curved bay window, and winding staircase. It has many of the original pieces of furniture and book collection dating back nearly 100 years. Roger spent a day there just wandering through it.

The "lyceum" is a large auditorium with a stage, located on the second floor. Nearly everything is original, except for a few minor repairs:

Stage floor
Drapes and window shades
Fabric wall coverings
Chairs
The lyceum is still used today for many library events, including concerts, piano recitals, plays, and debates.

Look at this close-up of the underside of the chairs; what is that semi-circle of wire??
(I had to ask, too.)
Those are hat-holders. When this was built, and for years afterward, gentlemen all wore hats to the theater. The hats were, of course, an obstruction to view. Hence, every chair has its own rack.

One last look!

Waxahachie is definitely now on our favorite places to revisit! (and they have a Wal-Mart!)

Texas and California

2011-04-13T19:01:00.000-07:00

At Galveston's north end is the Bolivar Ferry, which carries cars and pedestrians over to the mainland and back continually. It's a fun trip and for Meg and me while in school here back in ...... it was a "cheap date!"

We drove over and spent the day birding and nature-watching at Anahuac Wildlife Sanctuary.Meg and her Dad

Now, tell me the truth, how many of you knew Texas had alligators? We saw several that day, along with many varieties of birds.

Though Texas is known for its barbecue, its pits are seldom noteworthy! I found this sign interesting:

What's this? Stonehenge? In Texas?

Yep, it's Stonehenge II, a creation of two guys who just had a crazy idea and fashioned this out of concrete and wire.

Highland Games are always high on our list and the San Antonio games are held every April in Helotes. Our Scottish dancers perform and there's always lovely music to enjoy. Here's Caili, one of our dancers, entertaining the crowd with her violin and voice.

We went to a "muster" of military RVer's and invited our own WWII vet to come along. Here are two 90+ year olds regaling each other and us with stories of the war. Neat time!

Carl used to live nearby and this lady, Margie, the owner of the RV park, was a frequent visitor in his home as a little girl. Nice reunion!

In April we flew to California for a week to visit with Sabrina and be there for a play that she was in.

Josh and Bina just "chilaxin" a while!

A little welcome back to California at a local Mexican restaurant. Sabrina's newest roomie.

Along with some of our best friends there: Josh and Heidi.

Meg found "Thurman Ally"; not sure about the story but they spelled her maiden name right.

Interesting thought for the smokers out there!!

The play was "The Mouse That Roared", which you might remember from its movie version with Peter Sellers.

The play was a perfect delight, carried off professionally by a cast and crew that appeared to have a lot of fun together.

Before flying home we spent one more day at the Huntington Gardens and Library, a perfectly wonderful oasis of beauty in the Pasadena area.

At the entrance to the Chinese Garden

The library is a repository of some of America's most famous paintings, including these of our Founding Father:

Just before leaving we happened upon a few of the local flock of green parrots, escapees from times past, that now live in California, as well as south Texas and Florida. A beautiful documentary by Mark Bittner of the Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill, in San Francisco, is well worth your time. His personal blog makes interesting reading as well.

Spring in Texas

2011-03-10T16:45:00.000-08:00

We returned to Texas from "Canyon Country" this year, bypassing our usual travels on to California. Meg's Dad was approaching his 99th birhday in January and we had planned a party and reception for him. Illness, however, intervened, the plans had to be cancelled, and his "party" was toned down to a big cookie and candles! He recovered fully and we travelled some together through the spring.

We found a great little restaurant in Medina, Texas, the "Highway 16 Cafe", and ate there twice.

This is Constance, who made us feel right at home! One of their specialties is a Philly cheese steak sandwich on a jalapeno bun....fantastic!

It is always good to be back in Texas, and in this case, to be back with Abey and family for a little touch of Ethiopia! We often eat at Aster's in Austin, near the UT campus.

The atmosphere is relaxed and the kids can play when the eating is done.

We spent a week in March at the folks' timeshare in Galveston, the Four Seasons on the Gulf

and were pleasantly surprised to find ourselves there for Mardi Gras week! Galveston's Mardi Gras celebration is second only to that of New Orleans, so I'm told. The party is marked by several parades and two of them passed directly under our window.

The Children's Parade and the Pet Parade

There were ferrets, dogs and cats and even ponies.

Several took the "easy way!"

This little one was a spectator but she was quite a bead collector!

We used the time in Galveston for a mini-reunion and belated birthday party for "Daddy Carl." We met Meg's Brother Thom and his wife Melody at Landry's on the Boardwalk in Kemah, Texas, located between Houston and Galveston. Marilyn's Daughter Nancy and husband Bob were there also. The Kemah Boardwalk is an exciting family-themed entertainment venue, with rides, food and a lovely aquarium.

When Hurricane Ike came through Galveston,the salt water killed many old trees on the island. Many of the residents, not to be beaten by nature, banded together and hired three tree sculptors who used their skills and chainsaws to fashion beautiful art which, like the Phoenix, rose from the ashes of the tragedy and now beautify about 15 yards in the historic areas of Galveston.

The dog and fire hydrant are downtown.

The Tin Man and Toto from Oz

Mermaid and dolphins

Herons

Well, it's Mardi Gras, isn't it?!

Later in the week we were joined by Mary Louise and Mike, Meg's cousins from Houston. Good times!

Visit the Boardwalk and Galveston when you're in the area; you'll be glad you did!

Arizona 2010: In Canyon Country

2010-12-31T07:10:00.000-08:00

This year's trip to Arizona allowed us time to see some of its grandeur! Roger taught at the Arizona School of Health Sciences again for the fourth time. His class of very sharp physician assistant students was a joy to teach as usual. Time spent with friends there, including Bob and Amy McMullen, is always refreshing. We were invited to their home for Christmas dinner, along with our daughter Sabrina, who had flown in from California to spend the holidays with us. Good times!

Kaitlyn showing Sabrina the back yard

Bob and Amy putting finishing touches on a wonderful meal!

Kira, their daughter, visiting from San Francisco, was an added surprise, along with John, Bob's Father. They were all a joy to be with!

When class was over we spent a week at a timeshare in Flagstaff which put us close to some of the prettiest scenery in the state. We spent one day exploring Walnut Canyon, the site of well-preserved cliff dwellings.

Of course, there were geocaches there, as well.

I placed three arrows on this picture to show you how well tucked-away these dwellings are in the shadow of the cliffs above them.
Leaving Flagstaff northward we came first to Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument

This is the cone of the volcano.

A view of the Painted Desert from the highway.

Farther driving north brought us to the Wupatki National Monument, a series of pueblo ruins.

This is a sports arena, similar to some found in Mexico.

Our night sky was graced with a full lunar eclipse while we were there!
The following day we spent traveling the rim of the "Mother of all canyons," the Grand! And is it ever! Pictures don't do it justice, only the eye can really take it in.
As you approach the Grand Canyon from the east, you come first to the Little Colorado Canyon, and, had it not had the misfortune to be so close to the other, it might have been the "Grand." It is quite spectacular in its own right.

Our drive brought us at last to the sight we had anticipated, but could not really fully imagine.
Words failed us more than once as drove along the South Rim, disembarking at each viewpoint in an attempt to take it all in.

This observation tower has been recently restored and allows even better viewing of some areas of the canyon.

Every viewpoint has its representative of the common American raven, who begs for handouts from visitors.

Interesting warning sign! But we didn't see any!

As we hiked along the rim trail the sun began to set, casting an "Alpenglow" on the upper canyon walls.

Why must the children always play near the edge?

Finally, the colors deepen as the sun sinks below the horizon and we say "goodbye" the Grandest of Canyons, a must-see for any bucket-lists out there and one we were happy to check off, but sorry to leave. Wish you could have been here with us!

Our New Home, Lincoln and Halloween

2010-11-30T16:42:00.000-08:00

While we were parked at the lake in Arcadia, our refrigerator went out. So, we moved over to Lee's RV City for repairs. While there Roger wandered around the lot, looking over the newer RV's. (Pay attention, children, there''s a lesson here!) We fell in love with a 2007 Newmar Mountain Aire motor home, 4 years newer than ours at the time with many perks that we had contemplated upgrading to. Long story short: our new home!

It has a nicer layout, two more slides, solar panels on top, and other features that really have added to the comfort and enjoyment of our home.

The church in Lincoln which we were instrumental in starting, Christ's Place, is still going and growing and "God is adding daily." These are some of the artwork. Each Halloween a "Trunk n Treat" event is sponsored for the neighborhood and we had a ball here entertaining and feeding several hundred.

Janet Smith here was quite entertaining all by herself! Hope to do it again next year!

We were able to enjoy a reunion lunch at the Wind Chimes restaurant with Roger's original partners and their wives from Lincoln Family Medical Group. Dale is still there, while Frank and Alves have been fulltime missionaries in Bangladesh. Circumstances rarely allow us to all be in the same place. So, we're always grateful for the opportunity.

Linda, another good friend in Lincoln, invited Meg to Ruby and Cordelia's Fine Tea Room for "high tea." They had a wonderful time there and Roger's already added it to his list for next year. (Hey, guys like tea, too!)

We spent the rest of our time in Lincoln with friends and family: lunch with Carol, some gourmet meals from our budding chef nephew Brandon, Thanksgiving dinner at Shanna's, and, of course, Husker football with about 85,000 of our closest friends! The Sea of Red beckons us back every fall. A Husker game in this stadium should be on your bucket list; there's nothing quite like it! Next year: the B1G 10!

Trip to Andrea's with Grands

2010-09-30T16:38:00.000-07:00

Following our family reunion in San Antonio, Stacey and Darren flew back to Florida, while we traveled north to Oklahoma City for a visit with the Ross clan. This fulfilled one of our longtime plans and dreams: that of traveling with Grand kids AND providing the venue for all the cousins to spend more time together and draw closer to each other as family. Meg and Ryan squaring off with the marshmallow guns we brought along.

Ashley and Reagan "in the hunt"

At "Pops", the fun restaurant on Historic Route 66. If you can't find your favorite soft drink, it's probably not available anywhere!

We thought this picture on a bottle of pop sure looked like Ash!

Ryan turned 7 while we were here and we celebrated at her choice: the local Japanese restaurant!

Guess what her favorite part of the meal was!!

Happy Birthday, Ryan!

Wiley Post, who was killed in the same crash that took Will Rogers, is buried here. We were looking for geocaches in the cemetery and one is associated with this grave. One of the most exciting aspects of the game is how it leads you to learn unanticipated new information when you're visiting new locations. Try it sometime. (You can click on the side of this blog for more info.)

And it's great for a grandparent-grandchild activity!

We always stay at Arcadia's Central State Park, which has a nice swimming lake.

We had a wonderful time together, a pleasant extension of the "reunion" we never really wanted to end!

The Bruce Reunion 2010-Viva San Antonio!

2010-09-05T21:18:00.000-07:00

We arrived in San Antonio in time for the Great American Rubber Ducky Race on the San Antonio River. We picked ours and cheered them on... (Our ducks lost.)The rest of the families arrived on Friday and we ate dinner together at the Little Red Barn, a well-known local restaurant. The entire next day, Sunday was spent at Sea World ...what a great time! The walrus show may have been everyone's favorite.

We took several long strolls together along the River Walk, giving us all time to just chat and renew our relationships. Trivia question: what are the two most visited tourist sites in Texas? (Answers at the end)

A river boat ride on the San Antonio River was a must!

One day we had breakfast at the Guenther House, one of the city's best secrets, then took the Trolley all over town. The trollies are part of the bus system and a great way to sightsee on the cheap!

We went shopping at the Mercado (Mexican market.)

We ate in the Tower of the Americas Observation deck.

Meg and her "Daddy Carl"

One evening in the hotel was spent just sharing stories and performing fun stuff for each other: songs, dances, poetry. Meg's Father, Carl, 98 years old and a WWII veteran, led us all in the Pledge of Allegiance.

At the Snake Farm

The day at the San Antonio Zoo , ranked in the top three nationally, was loads of fun for everyone. The lorikeet exhibit was the biggest hit of all!

Well, did you get the answers to the trivia question? The two most visited tourist attractions in Texas are in this order: the Alamo and the River Walk.

We made the Wyndham LaCascada Hotel our home for the week. This was the night view from the roof. Bruce Reunion 2010 was a wonderful success thanks to everyone who was here.

It has been said that every Texan has two hometowns: his own and San Antonio! Be sure and visit. And if you need a guide or ideas, just let us know. Y'all come!

Summer Travels and "The King and I"

2010-08-15T09:40:00.000-07:00

Before leaving Durant we, of course, had to search for a few geocaches. In a local park were these horse sculptures:

Now, where could that cache be?

Hmmm? You don't suppose?

Then on to a local cemetery:

There it is!!

On the way home we spent one lovely night in Round Rock, Texas with our good friends Jim and Barb. They were married the same summer that we were. Great supper and visit!!

The Austin Scottish Country Dancing Alliance held its Second Midsummer Ball in June and we were there. Live music, a beautiful hall and beautiful dancers! We're already planning on next year's!

Lydia reached her 9th birthday in July and we celebrated at her house; here she is on her new bike

This called for a sleep-over at Nana's. She stayed for three days and went to a lovely vacation Bible school at a local church in Canyon Lake.

A travelin' lifestyle gives us the opportunity to see old friends as well as make new ones.

Bob Hahn, a lifelong friend of Roger's, is pastor of First United Methodist Church in Lockhart, Texas, along with his wife Lois. We look forward to every visit with them that we can manage. They fixed a great lunch for us on the first day of our trip to Florida and Stacey's.

That evening and the next morning we spent with Nili and Joel Kerich, two dear friends from our Kenya days. Nili was one of my nurses in our hospital and Joel was a nursing student. They have been married for many years and have settled in east Texas. We found each other again through FaceBook.

Our Daughter Stacey has a beautiful voice and is a consummate actress. Each of the past four years has seen her starring in the summer musical of the Citrus County Arts Playhouse: Marian (Music Man), Maria (Sound of Music), Sarah Brown (Guys and Dolls), and this year, Anna in "The King and I." It was fantastic seeing her this time. She and the King, Dennis Love, brought the house down more than once!! The audience never realized that she did the entire show with a fractured left arm which she had broken just before opening night! "The show must go on!"

Our granddaughter Ashley was one of the many children of the king; she's in the red long dress to the right of Anna; she performed her role perfectly.

Our birthdays came while we were at Stacey's and we surprised Meg with her own cake...can you tell?

After the show closed we began our trip to Texas and this time with a little extra: we brought the whole Griffis Family along! Darren was able to work the entire time because we planned to stay in RV parks with Wi-Fi connections. We left Hernando on a Friday night and travelled on the weekend. On Sunday we were in Pensacola and ate a fun meal in nearby Foley, Alabama
at Lambert's Cafe, the "Home of the Throwed Roll."

I took this video with my iPhone.

We spent two lovely days in New Orleans Jackson Square Saint Louis Cathedral Is that Ashley? Touring the above-ground cemeteries of New Orleans. Soon we'll be in San Antonio for our Family Reunion.

Summer of Reunions

2010-06-29T09:02:00.000-07:00

A Bruce Reunion, the first in many years, was announced over a year ago, and the time finally arrived! Our branch of the family Bruce is descended from a James Bruce who came from Midlothian, Scotland as a two-year old, settling with his family in Culpepper County, Virginia in the mid-1700s. We have since spread out to both coasts with the majority of the family living in the middle US states: Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas mainly. For this reunion folks came from Oregon and Louisiana as well.
We met on Friday evening at the motel for gab and get-acquainted time around the pool,

but we officially opened in the morning with prayer.

Here my Aunt Debbie takes a little break.

Food and talk, much of it about our genealogy and heritage, made up most of it. Some O'Neals, and others from parallel family lines, came from Arkansas.

Her Granddaughter Kelsee, who leads the Choctaw, OK High School Cheerleading Team.

Cousins and more cousins!

My cousin Mike.
My uncle Bill with Marianne

More cousins: Cory, Deena and Sheena

Marianne took pictures; she's the official photographer for the Oklahoma State athletic department.

Three of my father's siblings: my uncles Bill and Dale and aunt Betty

We finished up on Sunday morning with devotions and communion together.

Before leaving Durant my uncle Jerry and wife Annette took us out to dinner at a local restaurant. We had a wonderful time getting acquainted/reacquainted with so many relatives from around the country. Hope your next family reunion is just as meaningful for you!

Back to Arizona and A Little Texas Folklife

2010-06-28T18:25:00.000-07:00

and welcome back to our travel blog. We arrived back in San Antonio in time for a Contra Dance weekend workshop, which included both English and Scottish Country dancing. The callers/teacherswere from New England and did a fantastic job.

The Arizona School of Health Sciences invited me back to Arizona to do some extra teaching in June. I flew out and stayed in the home of my good friends, Bob and Amy McMullen. They took me and Bob's Father, John, out for several meals. This wall displays a strong credo of the faculty, members of which are seen here at Dos Amigos. Amy and Bob with Monica and Bartley. It was never dull, with students like Shung, Harmoni, Derek and Sarah always ready to add spice to the mix at any time! Here, Stan, Nattasha, Dave and Jessica listen attentively as Muff goes over some of the more intricate teaching points we covered. (At least I presume that's the subject.)

When I'm in Arizona with Bob and Amy, we usually find an excuse to get out in the desert or the mountains, hike and take pictures.

This is an alligator bark juniper. The beautiful Salt River

Back to Texas and a favorite swimming pool, always a popular focus in the heat!

Our newest grandchild, Phineas Roger Bruce, is enjoying it all with his brother Christian and sister Lydia.

Our Bluebonnet Scottish Country dancers are invited to perform each June at the Texas Folklife Festival, and this year was no exception. We took our grandkids and watched with them after we performed.

They were duly impressed with the performers, and even had a chance to get in the act themselves. Visit the Folklife festival if you're in the area; it's well worth the effort. It's June 10-12 this year. See you there? Hope so!

North to Alaska!

2010-06-19T09:32:00.000-07:00

The usual Alaska cruise itineraries depart and return to Vancouver or Seattle, but once a year Celebrity sends a cruiseship from LA to tour the Inside Passage and return to LA. It's a boon to the LA population and avoids that extra plane trip. On May 5th we departed San Pedro Harbor for the 13 day roundtrip for our first visit ever to the "largest state" in the union. (We Texans still resent that claim, and are confident that, if we were to drag the entire state south to Texas, most of it would melt and WE would have our rightful title back!)

This was the first cruise of the season and, in May, it's fairly cool during the days on board. Sweaters and light jackets worked fine. The cruise included about 4 days at sea each direction, allowing time for rest, reading, some games and sudoku.

After four days we docked in Juneau, the capital of Alaska. We took an excursion on a whale spotting tourboat, and saw our first humpback whales. Also sea lions and eagles We hiked around Juneau (no, we didn't see Sarah!), one of the country's smallest capital cities, and visited the Mendenhall Glacier, a national historic site. The Visitor Center there is quite informative.

The Russian influence from the days before "Seward's Folly" is still present, as evidenced by this Russian Orthodox church and the souvenir shops selling Russian gifts, including the matroyshka dolls like these Dallas cowboys.

We travelled next to Skagway, the farthest point north on our cruise. Spent the day there, wandering the byways and shops. We took the White Pass Railroad up to the Canadian border and back, a beautiful three-hour scenic excursion. Saw some mountain goats on the way. We walked several miles to the Pioneer Cemetery, exploring and geocaching Skagway as we went. Here's an ingenious way to use old skis: These graffitti drawings near the docks tell of visits by previous cruise ships

The next day it was south to Ketchikan, where we visited the Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show. Chopping, climbing, log-rolling, sawing! Mock battles between Canadian and Alaskan teams (the outcomes of which I suspect are rigged...er..predetermined.) Lots of fun! And, as Ketchikan has the wettest climate of almost any American city and it was pouring when we docked, an indoor seat away from the rain was perfect! Later in the afternoon it cleared up beautifully and we wandered all over. Totems abound throughout Alaska. It's a state with a rich history. This interesting "street", aptly named Creek Street, has a particular spot in that history. Lined with shops today, this boardwalk was lined with entertainment of a different sort in former times. This sign spells it out!

We cruised through Tracy Arm Fjord the next day and then spent another day at sea before docking for the day at Victoria, British Columbia. The weather there was gorgeous, the people charming and the geocaching fun! Our searches took us all over the downtown and tourist areas of this beautiful city. The Parliament Building and lunch at a nearby dockside cafe.

We spent four more days at sea on the return voyage to Los Angeles, giving us a long and relaxed opportunity to read, eat, and enjoy more of the great on-board entertainment. We heard fantastic music, a ventriloquist, a magician and several wonderful music and dance revues. We were very pleased with the entire Celebrity Cruise experience and the Mercury and its crew. The smile with which this young lady from Peru, so appropriately named "Joy," greeted us at each meal tells it all!

On our return to LA, we passed this whale. We saw only his fin; imagined he was waving "goodbye."

We arrived back at LA on Monday May 17th at 7AM. We opted to use local public transportation for this trip. So, we caught the bus, transfered to the train, and took a free shuttle to the airport. Entire trip: $1.80 each! Hard to beat and no difficulty whatsoever. Of course, we packed with that in mind, pulling one rolling bag apiece. We flew back to San Antonio on Southwest, arriving around 6PM, rather tired but very content with a wonderful cruise and many thousands of trouble-free miles behind us. We remain two very grateful travelers, thankful for His continual care. Wish you could have been with us! Maybe next time?

Catalina and Scottish Country Dancing

2010-06-19T08:52:00.000-07:00

After a few weeks in the Heart of Texas with family, we flew to California on April 28, and spent some fun days with Sabrina. We went to a surprise birthday party and attended a play, all involving the members of her Bible study small group. Good times and fun friends!

Of course, the best part was spending time with our Daughter Sabrina!There's a lovely old uphill trolley, or funnicular, in downtown LA, the "Angel's Flight", that had been closed for many years, but which has recently been rejuvenated. For a quarter you get a welcome ride up/down the rather steep "Bunker Hill". Nice!

On Friday the 30th we went by catamaran ferry to Santa Catalina island, about 20 miles from the LA coastline. What a gorgeous place! Fairy-tale like! Once every 3 years the LA area branches of the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society host a dance weekend on the island and this was the weekend! We stayed at a lovely resort, shared meals and good times with friends like Jeff and Robin, and danced in classes on Saturday and Sunday. It all culminated in our banquet and grand Scottish Ball at the Casino: home of the most perfect round ballroom and dance floor. (The "casino" was never a gambling establishment. The name is from an old Italian usage for friendly gathering house.) The theme of the weekend was "the flapper era". We gathered in our kilts and Roaring 20's period dresses at the fountain in the square of the main town of Avalon, and walked the 20 minute promenade to the Casino, led by a drummer and bagpiper. Quite a parade! After a marvelous meal we danced the evening away to the music of Fiddlesticks and Ivory. (Click this link if you're interested in seeing some of the activity on the local news recording of the event.)

Sabrina and another friend Roberto joined us for the weekend and the banquet, and we spent Sunday geocaching and hiking the island, holding out as long as possible until the final ferry was ready to carry us home to LA. Thanks to the LA Area Branches for a tremendous party!

Bandera, Galveston, Family and Friends, and a New Citizen

2010-03-29T17:26:00.000-07:00

Most RVers belong to one or more travel clubs, which have get-togethers, variously known as "musters" or "rallies." And one of the regular activities featured at these is .....eating! This is at a muster in Bandera of SMART, a military travel club. On an "off day" we drove up the road a few miles to Tarpley, and found a small restaurant with great hamburgers. Here's Meg with her Texas "small" burger!

Bandera, Texas, the Cowboy Capital, is the frequent location for rallies and we made it out to one this spring. A popular eatery, the 11th Street Cowboy Bar, hosts "cook your own steak" night every Wednesday. They provide the fires and the setup of utensils, spices, sides dishes, and drinks; you bring your own steak and cook it.
Meg and Lynn Barrett are chatting here together over the "grub."

Mmmm...good! And follow that with a little country music and the Texas Two-Step and you have an evening that's hard to beat!

Meg loves her laptop! I'm not implying that she's addicted to Farmville or WoW, but let's just say that a closed library in a small town is no deterrent when she needs a wi-fi connection. When she says she's going into town to try to get hooked-up, I never worry!

Meg's Dad, Carl, was 98 this past January and we took him and his wife to Galveston for a week at a timeshare. We had a relaxing time there together, visiting some of the sights of the old city, and reviewing the damage of Hurricane Ike and the repairs that have been done. It's actually quite wonderful! A unique development was the reclamation of many dead trees into beautiful sculptures. Check them out.

On the way back home we spent a couple of night's with Meg's Niece Vanessa and her family in Deer Park, Texas. She hosted a big family get-together on Sunday, attended by

her nephew "Little Tommy,

Vanessa with her Granddad Carl,

her Brother Thomas and his wife Melody

cousin Teresa and her parents Dana and Johnnie Means.

This was a great opportunity to have many of Meg's family members together in one place and we all had a ball!

Before finishing our trip we stopped by the home of two dear friends, Kaylon and Dick Fenner, who live near Houston; she was one of Meg's bride's maids. We had lunch and chatted away the afternoon before heading on back to our Hill Country hangout. Good times!

One of our proudest moments as a family was on April 15, 2010 when the USA welcomed its newest citizen, Sunny Bruce! She accepted her new certificate from a local district judge and we celebrated together at a local restaurant. Welcome, Sunny!!!

Quartzsite and Home

2010-03-20T16:48:00.000-07:00

What does this electrical outlet have to do with our blog? I'll explain later.

An easy day's drive east from LA on IH10 brings you to Quartzsite, Arizona. "Where and what is that," you might ask. In a nutshell, it's a wide spot in the road that is a small town (pop. 3000) for much of the year, but which becomes an RV mecca in Jan-Feb, at which time the population swells to over 500,000! It hosts several large RV and gem shows during those months. The land around Quartzsite is owned by the Bureau of Land Management (all of us) and allows free, or "dry", camping. We spent two nights here on the way to California and two more on the way back to Texas. We visited the grave of "Hi Jolly" (Hadji Ali) a camel driver who took part in the US Army camel experiment of the last century.
We were able to coordinate a visit with LeRoy and Shirley Davis, two of our oldest friends from missionary days in Kenya. Roger was their doctor in Kenya and delivered their first child there. They have been fulltime RVers as long as we have, and are based in British Columbia, but we hadn't seen them for many years. We met up at the "London Bridge." If that is a surprise to you, I'll explain that the developer of Lake Havasu City, Arizona bought the actual "London Bridge" from England and had it shipped to the US in 1971. (Click the link for the full story.) We enjoyed several good meals together and lots of good chatting time. Renewed friendships is one real bonus of this lifestyle.

Quartzsite contains many interesting sights, among them the Readers' Oasis Bookstore, owned by this gentleman

Paul Winer and, yes, he's a nudist. Here's a link to another blog with more info. This is one of the "must" stops in town. He has a huge selection of books, mostly used, and at great prices.

Here's a nice Rainbird Sprinkler head in a park.
Here are the reasons we were anxious to get back to Texas: Abey, Sunny, Lydia, Christian and the newest grandbaby: Phineas Roger! We've had some neat times with the grands: we spent a day at the Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch nearby It's home to many exotic animals, including these cute faces at our car window

Another day we spent at the Witte Museum in San Antonio, followed by burgers and milkshakes at Cheesy Janes a great little local eatery. The kids always want to go geocaching, too, so we stopped to find one on the way home. Which brings us full-circle: why post pictures of an electrical outlet and a Rainbird sprinkler? Mainly because all is not as it seems in the world of geocaching:

Here's the "sprinkler": actually a cache container.

And here's that "electric box": not connected to anything and
revealing a cache container inside. This is the kind of sneaky stuff that makes this such a fun hobby. Try it sometime!

We're here in the Heart of Texas for a few months, trying to stay warm! Thanks for taking time to keep up with us.

Santa Sabrina

2009-12-30T15:38:00.000-08:00

We arrived in Los Angeles just in time for Santa Sabrina and presents! Yeah!! Christmas dinner followed with Sabrina and her roommates, Kim and Melanie, and Josh Burns. Fun, as always! We brought in the New Year at the Hogmanay Dance in El Segundo with the LA Branch of the Scottish Country Dancing Society. We had another dance two weeks later in Pasadena. We always enjoy dancing with the folks out here. We took a short trip to Rancho Cucamonga with Sabrina's Bible study friends to take in the Christmas lights there. Quite a lovely display!

Here I posed next to someone wearing Big Red colors; another Husker fan, I presume.

We celebrated Sabrina's 32nd birthday at a lodge at Big Bear Lake. We skied together one day and invited some of her close friends up for the night. A blast!

There's a core group of friends that we share with Sabrina and when we're there we spend lots of time together, at worship, geocaching, sightseeing, playing games and, of course, EATING! Here we are at a sidewalk cafe in Alhambra before going in to watch the new Sherlock Holmes movie. Fun!

Before leaving this time we found a cute little breakfast spot, "The White Hut" on the sidewalk in Pasadena. Good food and nice folks! After a great visit we are headed now for Quartzsite, Arizona and then Texas. Wish you were here!

On to Arizona

2009-11-20T11:51:00.000-08:00

We left Nebraska and headed west, trying to stay ahead of the winter weather that was on its way. We traveled through Great Bend, KS, the panhandles of Oklahoma and Texas, and on through Albuquerque to the Valle del Oro RV Resort in Mesa. Sabrina drove over from LA to spend Thanksgiving with usHer roommate Kim has family in Mesa and kept her company and helped with the driving in Sabrina's new car.We visited the Phoenix Zoo and a large outdoor nativity scene, as well as discovering some great Ethiopian food at the Lalibela Cafe. In each of the last three years Roger has been invited to teach urology and neurology to physician assistant students at the Arizona School of Health Sciences. The PA students are excellent, selected for their motivation and interest in patient care and it is a pure delight for Roger to teach them and encourage them toward their goals. The faculty is likewise highly qualified and make wonderful colleagues for the time we are there.

We took several nice hikes up in the surrounding mountains on the weekends, along with students

and some faculty members. Our good friends Bob and Amy McMullen love to hike, too, and we spent several days together on the trails.

We hiked up to the site of some Indian petroglyphs. We spent another great evening at a local pizza house with several of Roger's students from last year's class. It was a neat time of food and "catching up." (Yes, Meg's here, too, but with her parents at the next table over.) After a very pleasant three weeks visit in Mesa and a sendoff from my Aggie friend, we were off to Los Angeles and Christmas with Sabrina.

Roger's Photo Contest Bonus Blog

2009-11-06T16:23:00.000-08:00

The Nebraska State Museum of Natural History sponsored a photo contest this month and Roger entered these twelve pictures for consideration. Sadly, they didn't win but we thought you might enjoy sharing them also. This is Ashley's foot in a dinosaur footprint on the Paluxy River in Dinosaur Valley State Park, Glen Rose, Texas.

A beautiful large Golden Silk Orb-weaver spider on the back of Stacey's house in Florida. Notice the smaller male near her right rear leg.

A canyon in Zion National Park, Utah.

Some kind of wild mushrooms/toadstools/fungi on the Isle of Mull, Scotland.

A great blue heron in Orlando, Florida.

Tiger Swallowtail butterfly in Stacey's backyard, Florida.

Flock of bananaquit birds on a hummingbird feeder at Meg's Brother's home in Bonaire, Netherland West Indies.

Feeding a Bonaire whip-tailed lizard

The Nile River from the Old Cataract Hotel at Aswan, Egypt

Porcupine eating a roll outside a lodge in Utah.

A ringtail visiting our motor home in San Antonio, Texas.

"Knot what you'd expect to find" in Texas.

To see the prize-winning entries, click here.

Thanks for reading.

Man's Greatest Inventions

2009-11-06T15:10:00.000-08:00

The Texas Aggie asked an engineer, "What was mankind's greatest invention?" and he replied that it had to be the screw, the wheel or the inclined plane, for they enabled the building of the world's greatest landmarks. The Aggie replied that he had thought about it, too, and decided that it must be the Thermos Bottle: "It keeps hot liquids hot AND cold liquids cold!! How does it know?!!!"

The T-Sipper (a graduate of the illustrious University of Texas), however, came up with the correct answer and is here demonstrating to said Aggie the preparation of what will ultimately be known as man's greatest invention: the S'More!!! The Aggie is listening closely (she explains it all slowly) and will (probably) be able to do this on his own in the future. We drove down from Edmond to Dallas and stayed with our good friends Jon and Geri Simms in their fifth wheel trailer, fixed S'Mores over a campfire, and danced with the Bluebonnet Scottish Country Dancers at the Texas State Fair. We performed four shows on Saturday and Sunday and had a great time being together again. Thanks, Jon and Geri and all the Bluebonnets!
Back in Edmond we had parties with the family, including Ryan's 6th. Happy Birthday, Sweet Girl!

One of Reagan's school lessons called for the development of this improv acting troupe. After their scintillating production before an admiring audience (Daddy) they received a prolonged ovation and, best of all, a delayed bedtime! Hooray!

All our kids pooled their money and surprised us with a dinner cruise on the Oklahoma River, which they gave to us at a surprise "41st Anniversary Party" at the home of Rodney and Linda Ross, Rod's parents. And what a surprise! They said we were going there for a "game night" and we fell for it.

Reagan and Ryan spent several overnights with us at the campground, treated each morning to Granddad's (soon-to-be) famous French Toast Breakfast. Mmmm! Makes me hungry again just thinking about it.

One of my favorite words comes from the French: "rapprochement", the reestablishment of cordial relations. Our word "reconciliation" is similar. One of the joys of our last decade has been the development of cordial relations and love with Roger's father's side of his family, many of whom live in the Oklahoma City area. His parents' divorce when he was six effectively severed contact until we were stationed at Fort Sill, Oklahoma in 1995.

We had dinner together while on this visit. Here's Roger with Aunt Betty ("Boop"), flanked on the outside by his Uncle Bill and Aunt Debbie and their newest grandchild. A great evening!

After a wonderful time with family in Edmond, and having our motor home maintenanced by the great folks at Lee's RV City, (we highly recommend them if you're in need of repairs or an RV) we drove north toward Lincoln.

But we spent our night on the road in Hutchinson, KS at the home of Darlene Detwiler, a friend and nurse with whom we worked in Kenya over thirty years ago. We have written but not met since that time. She greeted us with a marvelous nostalgic dinner of Indian curry and we reminisced and looked at old pictures until the wee hours. (From L-R: Meg, Roger, Aineah (Kenyan), Darlene, Bill and Bea Anderson; ca.1970)

In turn we had Darlene over in the AM for breakfast together in our home (parked out front!) A blessed time together (more "rapprochement") and what we hope will be the first of many more.

Coming to Lincoln each year and staying with our good friends Fred and Janet has given us opportunity to keep growing friendships which have been in process for many years.
Lunch at a local restaurant with Sandy and Bill Thurmond, Baylor game day with Christ's Place friends at the home of Mike and Melody Kenney, a revisit at Wind Chimes Chinese with Carol Newsom, as well as lots of visits with Roger's brother Randy and nieces and nephews that have now moved to Lincoln.

Football!! Another in the list of man's greatest inventions!!!
There's absolutely nothing like a game day/or night in Lincoln, Nebraska! If you love college football, it should be on your "bucket list" to attend at least once before you die. The Sea of Red is phenomenal! AND there's NOTHING BETTER on game day than enjoying a Runza (also a recipe) at the stadium and watching the Huskers beat Oklahoma 10-3! Wish you had been there!!!

Our First Granddaughter Trip!

2009-10-19T08:57:00.000-07:00

Whether you read the title above as "our first trip with a Granddaughter" or "our trip with our First Granddaughter", you'd be correct! One of our long range plans/goals in fulltime RVing was to travel with grandchildren and spend some extended quality time together. This year we were able to realize that dream! Ashley's beginning homeschooling this year provided the perfect opportunity. After a great visit with Stacey and Darren and family in Hernando, FL, Ashley said 'goodbye' to her folks, we loaded her up along with her school books and began our extended "field trip."

First major stop: Pensacola, Florida. We stayed almost a week at the Pensacola Naval Air Station Family Camp right near the beach.
The Pensacola Scottish Country Dancing group meets on Tuesday nights under the direction of Richard and Connie Walker. They're a very cordial and welcoming group; stop in if you're in the area.

We had a blast and Ashley danced great! The Navy's Blue Angels have practice sessions on many mornings. These are free and open to the public. They practice directly behind the Museum of Naval Aviation, which, along with its simulators and IMAX theater, is a must visit.

Nearby is the Gulf Islands National Seashore, part of the national park system, and it includes Fort Barrancas, Fort Pickens and the nearby beaches.

Ashley wanted to explore every nook and cranny of the old forts.

On the road again! We spent a night at Yogi Bear's in Louisiana, then moved on to Texas. A Texas waffle was waiting for Ashley at our first stop in the Lone Star State. We spent a couple of nights in Beaumont before moving on.

Once in San Antonio area we began sight-seeing in earnest. Ashley and Roger spent an afternoon exploring one of the old missions, San Jose. Along with Concepcion, San Juan, and Espada, these compose another of the nation's national parks. San Jose is one of the most intact and beautiful.

Ashley completed the Junior Ranger program at San Jose and was duly sworn in, with appropriate ceremony.

We reconnected with our friends Jon and Geri Simms in San Antone and enjoyed some wonderful meals and dancing together.

We spent the next month between the Summit, San Antonio, New Braunfels and Kyle, Texas. Abey and family have a new home in Kyle and it's lovely! Phineas is loving all the attention from cousin Ashley and grandparents.

We enjoyed another visit to the Ethiopian restaurant in Pflugerville with Abey's family, Ashley and Meg's parents.

No trip to New Braunfels is ever complete without a walk in Landa Park and feeding the ducks.

Located between San Antonio and New Braunfels are the Natural Bridge Caverns and nearby Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch. We spent a lovely day exploring both.

Finally the time came to move on. We spent a couple of nights at Dinosaur Valley State Park near Glen Rose, Texas. This is the home of remarkably well-preserved prints from several species of very early Texas residents.

It's really hard to overstate the value of this kind of field trip. We all had a wonderful time. It was, however, a very hot dry August and I'd recommend the fall or the spring for your visit.

We arrived in Oklahoma the next day. We experienced a blowout on a rear tire of the motor home; no associated problems. We spent one night at the Fort Sill RV camp, exploring the nearby Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge.

After her daughter had been gone "long enough," Stacey flew up from Florida and spent a week with Andrea and us at Edmond, Oklahoma. We had a great time together exploring the area. We enjoyed a fun day at Frontier City, a local theme park. A short excursion to Arcadia, OK brought us to "Pops", an eatery dedicated to the soft drink. They have every conceivable type of pop/soda water/soft drink, from "All Natural Apple-Beer" to Avery's "Bug Barf" (kiwi-pineapple): "It's SODAsguting...Totally Gross Soda."

"Pops" is located along Historic Route 66 just a half mile from Arcadia's Round Barn. Both are within 5 miles of I-35 and worth including in your travels.
And yes, that is a GPS in Meg's hand; we had to pick up the local geocaches while we were there.

We enjoyed a fun meal together at the local Japanese steakhouse, entertained by the clever knife handling of the chef.

OK, be honest now: how many of you knew Oklahoma City had a river? Really? Well, we didn't until Stacey arranged tickets for our early morning cruise on the Oklahoma River. It's a 1 1/2 hour trip which includes a trolley ride back to your car at the dock. It was quite beautiful!

Of course, Ryan couldn't be satisfied until she "helped" the captain pilot our boat.

We stopped for a photo-op under this sign in Bricktown next to the ballpark, for obvious reasons. Oklahoma City has done a magnificent job of reclaiming and beautifying their downtown area and any visit should include lots of "wandering time." Take in a baseball game if you can. Bricktown Ballpark annually hosts the BigXII baseball championship tournament in May.
We visited the Oklahoma City National Memorial, a beautiful but grim reminder of the tragic bombing there in 1995.

Worth a visit! After a week Stacey and Ashley left us to return to their family in Florida. It was a wonderful "field trip" with our granddaughter, and the final verdict: we'd love to do it again! We're looking forward to the next time.

Thanks for reading.

Our Star-Spangled Guys and Dolls Disney Summer

2009-08-26T14:20:00.000-07:00

We left our South Carolina friends in early June and travelled south. We spent another nice night at the submarine base in King's Bay, GA where we had stayed one time before. A great military campground and an easy one day's drive on to Stacey's home in Hernando, FL.

We arrived in time to be added to the local Art Center's cast of "Guys and Dolls." This time Roger was "Society Max" and "Margarita" was a doll at a Havana night club. We also played the roles of two tourists from Texas (easy for us!) We rehearsed and rehearsed and rehearsed....leaving us pretty well "used up" by day's end! But it was worth all the effort. The show was a popular success and we had loads of fun. Here's Darren ("Nicely Nicely") singing "Sit down you're rockin' the boat!" We had a cast party after the final matinee, where cast members each received awards for their accomplishments. Meg's was for "Best Substitute Hooker" and Rog's for "Best Characterization."

Roger entertained the rest of the cast with his mysterious feats of magic.

The cast members enjoyed each others' company so much we had a couple of impromptu parties at a local restaurant as well.

Florida visits are never complete without a trip to Mouseland and we spent several days at Typhoon Lagoon, Disney Quest, Blizzard Beach and Animal Kingdom. We shared the fun with Darren's parents, Lynn and Darry Griffis. Darren's back really started hurting; good thing Meg is a physical therapist. The military and Disney provided me with complimentary and discounted family tickets in appreciation of my service. A neat blessing! Very popular are the "can't miss" shows: "Finding Nemo" and "The Lion King" While in Orlando the kids treated Meg and Roger to a birthday dinner at the local Ethiopian restaurant. It's one of our favorite foods and the hostess provided us with cake and coffee.

We've made some wonderful friends in Hernando, FL and, along with Stacey and Darren, we hosted a "murder mystery" party. This fun evening was spent questioning suspects and accusing one another, until we finally figured out "who dunnit." . Darren won the Sherlock award for the best solution to the crimeAll the time our intrepid sleuths kept up their strength with wonderful fondue dishes topped with chocolate fondue for dessert. Wow!!

One final entry: Florida boasts a beautiful large spider, the Golden Web spider, so-named for the golden threads she weaves into her web. This large, but harmless, weaver had her web right outside Stacey's home.

So you see, Florida is not all manatees, dolphins and giant mice! Wish you were here!

Journey into the Past

2009-06-16T13:03:00.000-07:00

Genealogy is both fascinating AND time-consuming. Retirement and our RVing lifestyle have allowed us more time to think about where we've come from, as well as giving us the opportunity to visit the lands of our forebears. As is the case with many Americans, we trace our family roots to the original colonies and the Revolutionary War. They immigrated to Virginia and the Carolinas, then gradually moved through Tennessee and Kentucky to Arkansas, or through Alabama and Mississippi to Texas.

Our first major stop after leaving Texas was Shubuta, Mississippi. Roger's maternal grandmother was a Joiner; her parents, Sam and Regina are buried here in the Shubuta Cemetery. Shubuta is an interesting little town that even most Mississippians we met had never heard of. At one time, it was the county seat, but that was long ago. Known for its "healing red artesian waters", the town houses its well in this gazebo. A local historian, Jerry Mason, wrote an excellent book on the town, which guided us in our efforts to learn more. We had the joy of spending several hours with Jerry's Mother, Betty, one afternoon, as well as worshiping with her at the Shubuta First Baptist Church with her on Sunday. Roger's aunt grew up in this town and that was her church. Betty showed us many of the sites in town, including the well and the remains of the "Hangin' Bridge", where lynchings took place in a thankfully distant past.

Next stop was Chambers, Sumter County, Alabama, the birthplace of Roger's great-grandmother. In most of these places we didn't learn new facts. Rather we were able to associate real places with family names and stories which heretofore had been only words. Quite a treat!

After a couple of days in Alabama, we traveled on to Watson Mill Bridge State Park in northwest Georgia. We visited friends in the area and spent time in the Athens library researching names in Meg's family line.

The Watson Mill Bridge is the longest covered bridge in Georgia and is beautifully preserved. The park is also a splendid place to stay if you're visiting the area, or for just a picnic if you're only passing through.

The main reason for our visit to this area was to attend the wedding of our friend Anna Felz to Donny Stamper on Saturday the 23rd of May. It was held on the beach of a lake at a beautiful resort in western South Carolina.

The parents of the bride are our very good friends, Mike and Suzie Felz. Mike and the happy bride going down the aisle; the happy new couple coming back!

The wedding was officiated by another friend of ours, Rodney Elkins of Florida.

The reception and dinner followed indoors, and Joanna Elkins, accompanied by the bride's brother Daniel, provided very special music.

The food was wonderful; the music was great; the dancing was fun!

We stayed for a week at Hickory Knob State Park in South Carolina, a few miles northeast of our old home in Augusta, Georgia. We had several more fun times with the Felz family after the wedding, including golf, lots of good food, and a Bruce-Felz ritual: popcorn in a hot tub! We've managed to repeat this together in Dallas, Chicago, Los Angeles and here in Augusta! Good times!

Leaving our Georgia "family" we moved on to Spartanburg, South Carolina where we stayed five days at Pine Ridge RV Park in nearby Roebuck. This gave us easy access to the Spartanburg Library, the Laurens library and Revolutionary War battlefields of Kings Mountain

and Cowpens . These Patriot victories were fought primarily between Rebel and Loyalist militias. The stories of these battles make very interesting reading. One of Roger's Bruce ancestors, Daniel McClaren, fought at both of these battles. His daughter, Nancy, was Roger's gggg grandmother.

These beautiful green treefrogs were regular nighttime visitors in our camping area.

One main line of Roger's ancestors are the Felders. Hans Heinrich Felder came to South Carolina colony in 1735 from Switzerland, bringing his infant son John Henry with him. Hans died shortly thereafter, but Henry, as he was called, lived to become a Revolutionary War hero. He and his seven sons all fought for the Patriot cause, and he was ultimately killed by Tories in 1780. He was my ggggg grandfather. An independent film of his life, "All For Liberty," was completed this year and has won awards at several film festivals. Hopefully, it will be released to the general public later.

The graves of Henry's grandson, Daniel, and his wife Rachel are in Union County, South Carolina. We visited them there.

Their daughter Louisa Amanda Felder became my gg grandmother, marrying into the Wallace line that had moved to Brenham, Texas.

We went exploring the woods around Spartanburg and found this idyllic scene of waterfall and ruined mill wheel.

Spotted this beautiful skink nearby.

A local landmark in Spartanburg is The Beacon, known for its good burgers, big plates and thick milk shakes. The reputation is well-deserved.

The downtown Spartanburg Square has been renovated and is quite lovely. There is artful sculpture everywhere. Here's a pretty locomotive, across from a great little restaurant, the Monsoon Noodle House; specialty: Vietnamese pho. Mmmmmmmm!

Meg checked the paper out with a local Spartanburg regular: no news.

On to Orangeburg, South Carolina, the original home of the Felders. We found the old Felder cemetery there.

Henry Felder rests there and his two cannons used to defend the area are mounted permanently in the town square.

We spent a lovely day in Charleston with our very good friends Chris and Jessica. They treated us to a wonderful meal in a local restaurant, Poogan's Porch, where we had for the first time "shrimp and grits." If you haven't tried it, don't knock it! So good we brought the recipe home! (You can click on the name for the recipe, too.)

One last fun thing. Many of our readers know that one of the largest grocery chains in Texas is H.E.B. What some do not know is the name of the founder: Howard E. Butt, a remarkable Christian businessman. Now, the reason this is funny at all was that our friends drove us out on the South Battery in Charleston where we saw the home of the founder of another chain, "Piggly Wiggly." These were the ornaments in front of his home:

Now, I could not help but muse: if this had been H.E.B.'s founder's home: what would HE have on his porch? Hmmmmm? Interesting thought.

Wish you were here.

Scots, Fiesta and the Toilet Seat Museum!

2009-06-16T11:18:00.000-07:00

San Antonio in April means "Fiesta!" and it's always a fun party. On April 21, 1836, just a month and a half after the Fall of the Alamo, Sam Houston and his Texian forces defeated the Mexican dictator Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto, and won independence for Texas. The Republic of Texas was born. (Ten years later Texas was joined by the United States, and lost that independence. There are those who say we should have left well enough alone...but that's another story.)

So, every year the week that includes April 21st is set aside in San Antonio for a week-long party, Fiesta San Antonio! There are dances, carnival rides, a band festival, four (or more?) parades, including the longest torchlight parade in the country, the Fiesta Flambeau. It's a great time to visit the River City, with fun for the entire family. We stayed for part of the week at a downtown hotel with our good friends, Jon and Geri Simms, and together walked in the Battle of Flowers Parade, representing the Scottish Society of San Antonio. The Battle of Flowers follows a 2.3 mile route through downtown San Antonio; this was the fourth time we've walked it. After the parade we met at Mi Tierra, a famous and popular Mexican restaurant in the market square of downtown. It's one of very few local Mexican restaurants to stay open 24/7; worth a visit if you're passing through.

When we're stopped for awhile, we take the opportunity to clean up the motor home. Here "we" are cleaning the roof! (Someone has to supervise and take the pictures!)

Most folks that RV full-time are members of one or more RV organizations, usually determined by interests and affiliations. There are the Good Sam (for Samaritan) Club, the FMCA (Family Motor Coach Association), the Newmar and Winnebago and Holiday Rambler clubs, among others. We are members of S.M.A.R.T., the Special Military Active and Retired Travel Club.
Composed of present and former members of all the military services of our country, the organization plans get-togethers ("musters") all over the nation. We attended two musters on this trip, one in Bandera, TX and the second in Schertz, a suburb of San Antonio. The dinner one evening was a Hawaiian luau:

During these events we plan tours of local sights, historical and "hysterical." One small museum which should definitely be on your list for San Antonio is Barney Smith's Toilet Seat Museum.
Barney is a retired master plumber who has for over thirty years been creating masterful works of art on his favorite medium: the toilet seat! The themes cover everything imaginable: from all the states to the Boy Scouts to the military services to clubs to nations to our country's wars. If you visit and name anything, chances are good he'll have a lid for you to sign. He has over 700! That's right: he'll invite you to add your name to his creation. He'll etch your signature in permanently. Barney is a lovely person who delights in company and will be happy to show off his gallery. Saturday mornings are his planned times. It's free; just call ahead.
Here I'm holding the SMART seat from a previous visit of our club.... I added my name today.

Three of his seats are actual geocaches. If you're a cacher and you visit his place, just tell him so and he'll help you locate them and log them.

The Scottish Society is well-represented: When our family visited Barney's as part of our 2006 family reunion, he asked them to sign the seats from their states; here they are:

Click on the links above for more info, and be sure and visit Barney when you're in town.

Gone to Texas!

2009-06-09T14:12:00.000-07:00

After a long absence, we were anxious to spend some time with family and friends back in the Lone Star State. So, we headed the motor home back to the Texas Hill Country. When we're there we set up at the Summit RV Resort, where our membership allows us to remain without charge for two weeks/month. That puts us close to Meg's Dad in New Braunfels, Abey and family in Austin, and friends and Scottish Country Dancing in San Antonio. Here four generations met at the River Pub Grill in San Marcos, a fun family restaurant on the San Marcos River. Another day we met our good friends, Dave and Deb Evans in Austin for dinner and got a chance to catch up.

But the main event of March this year was the birth of Abey and Sunny's third child and our seventh grandchild: Phineas Roger Bruce! He's a beautiful healthy boy and a glorious addition to this family! Of course, this called for a celebration! So, we had a wonderful meal at an Ethiopian restaurant in Round Rock, Texas, followed by dancing:

though some skipped the dancing in favor of more eating!

We had lots of special times with the older kids while Mom was recovering from her delivery and getting used to the new baby at home. It was great being able to attend Lydia and Christian's school track event

Sometimes "onlookers" from the crowd couldn't help themselves and just joined in on the track. (I'm just "pacing" her, you understand.)

There was time for reading and bedtime stories,

as well as taking them to their first Longhorn baseball game! Here they met "Hook 'em", the Texas mascot.

It was a great time with our Austin family!

Meg's Brother Thomas and his wife Melody, who live much of the time in Bonaire, Netherland Antilles, visited us and the parents during our time in the Hill Country as well. Whenever we're together it's off to the Clear Springs Catfish Restaurant near New Braunfels; a "must" if you're ever in the area. It wasn't voted "Best in Texas" for nothing! Wish you were here!

From Kartchner Caverns to Tombstone

2009-04-29T13:59:00.000-07:00

After our relaxing week in Yuma, we moved to the campus of the Arizona School of Health Sciences, where Roger teaches PA students each year. We stayed two days, but this time it was so Roger could go "back to school" himself. Every two years most physicians must recertify their training in acute cardiac life support, or ACLS. Roger's friend and fellow faculty member, Bob McMullen, graciously offered to bring him up-to-date on the procedures and drugs. So, with the help of several student friends, Roger spent the day in class and lab, repeatedly saving the life of "SimMan", to the relief of everyone involved.

Speaking of "cardiac support", Roger's "valentine" to Meg: a heart-shaped cherimoya. Mark Twain described the cherimoya as "deliciousness itself!" Try one sometime.

I did follow up with a marvelous meal at the Outside Inn, a small family-owned restaurant in Sierra Vista which specializes in a small, but extremely flavorful menu. Highly recommended!

We moved the next morning to Kartchner Caverns State Park, home of one of the country's newest and best cave experiences. We took two different tours of the caverns and spent more time hiking the surrounding mountains and, of course, geocaching. This state park is within 10 miles south of I-10 and west of Benson, so it's within easy range of most travelers on this route. Check out the virtual tour on the link above if you like.

Fort Huachuca and Sierra Vista, Arizona were our home for the next week, and we used the time to explore them and the neighboring towns of Tombstone and Bisbee. One of the distinctive "treats" of our lifestyle is the enjoyment of local color and flavors. We had a great steak dinner at the Sierra Vista VFW, and attended a high school band performance of a wonderful patriotic concert in conjunction with the Army Band from Fort Huachuca.

We hiked the hills and valleys of Fort Huachuca, noting the unusual birds of the area, and visiting the site of Indian pictographs in Garden Canyon.

These decorate the ceiling of a small cave in the wall behind where Meg is standing. They are assumed to be several hundred years old.

Within thirty miles of Fort Huachuca are the old towns of Tombstone and Bisbee. Tombstone has been popularized in many movies and the town majors on replaying "the gunfight" for all who will watch. The most popular reenactment is at the actual site of the O.K. Corral, and is theatrically quite well done. We had a great time exploring, reading the signs, watching Wyatt Earp with brothers Morgan and Virgil, along with Doc Holliday, fight Ike and Billy Clanton and the McLaury brothers, and then visiting the graves of three of them at Boothill Cemetery. and finding a few geocaches in the area, as well.

Another day we spent exploring the old mining town of Bisbee. It has beautiful old period houses built on the sides of the hills, where, as one old-timer so well put it: "you can spit off your porch down your neighbor's chimney!"

Bisbee was a center of copper-mining, as well as gold and silver, and at one time was one of the wealthiest towns in the country. The mining of copper left Bisbee with one of its most distinctive features: the Lavender Pit. It's over 900 feet deep and pictures do not do it justice. Awesome!

After a full week of exploring, we were ready to move on toward Texas.

On To Yuma

2009-03-08T21:15:00.000-07:00

On 6 February we said "goodbye" to Sabrina and LA friends and headed our home eastward. First stop was overnight with new friends Claire and Jerry McCleery, whom we met last March

on our trip to Egypt and Jordan. They invited us to park in front of their home and we enjoyed a wonderful fish dinner from Claire's kitchen. Sweet southern hospitality! (Southern California, that is.) The next morning they joined us at our table for breakfast with us. Neat times with fun people!

We drove on to Yuma, AZ in time to arrive for a geocaching get-together, the "Yuma Event", wherein cachers from all over descend on an area, look for special caches hidden just for that purpose, compete in navigation contests, and generally have fun. It started with food at Lute's Casino and Saloon in "old Yuma" downtown. Look what Roger found there in "take-out!"

We met the next day in the park near the historical Yuma Crossing, where the railroad line connected east and west in the 1800's. We had free barbecue and a fun time outdoors. Met some new friends and found some great caches.

I know some of you are STILL wondering what this "geocaching" thing is all about. Well, simply put, it's a game played by thousands of people all over the world. Players hide containers, from "micro" which might be as small as your fingernail, to "regular", the size of a shoebox. These are hidden in spots which are interesting, out of the way and fun to see in themselves. They then publish the GPS coordinates online. Would-be finders who will be in that area download the information, and begin the hunt. Using a handheld GPS the searcher can often get within a 12-15 foot radius of the actual site. Then using the clues published along with the coordinates, he looks for the actual hide. For example, we went looking for a cache in a park in Yuma, without much success at first. Then Meg noticed this innocent looking piece of wood on the ground. We had both walked around it for several minutes. Then she said,

"I wonder..." and picked it up: and there was the cache: a medicine bottle glued to the underside and placed in a hole in the ground beneath it! That's the kind of ingenuity that makes this such fun. For more info and how to get started, check it out on http://www.geocaching.com/

We spent a week in Yuma, relaxing and learning the history of this fascinating place. There's a weekly farmers' market on the main street of old Yuma: the fruit and veggies were fresh and tasty. The Yuma Territorial Prison is now a museum and cemetery. It has a very interesting history, and, as it is right on I-8, is worth a stop. From here it's back to Mesa for a visit.

Christmas and New Years Day

2009-02-14T15:11:00.000-08:00

We spent the last of December with Sabrina and friends, shopping a little and visiting a lot. We met Josh and went to see the new Jim Carrey film, "Yes, Man" in which we had all been filmed as extras. We had hoped, disappointedly, that we had made the final cut, but ....no ....(deep sigh) It's a very cute movie, though, and we'd still recommend it, even without our presence on screen.

The gang all went out to the 'burbs to see the Christmas lighting. This is a local mansion that is always "over the top." (Can you say National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation?)

We danced every Thursday with the Eagle Rock Scottish country dancing class and a highlight of the month was the Burns Night dinner and ball on the 17th, held in a beautiful hall on the Cal Tech campus.

Our friends Heidi and Susan were both away over the holidays and asked us to house-and-dog-sit for them. It gave us a way to actually live together for a couple of weeks. Their home is lovely and it was a pleasure to stay there. We had our Christmas dinner together, and then opened a few gifts; Susan's dog, Winnie, takes advantage of her bed's being close to the action; even Gypsy had some nice "toys" to play with.

Hogmanay is the Scottish New Year's celebration and is often accented by Scottish country dancing. We attended the LA Hogmanay Party and had a great time, dancing from 8-midnight, then welcoming in the New Year.

We geocached whenever we could this visit, learning many of the out of the way places in Claremont, La Verne, San Dimas, and Glendale. What a fun hobby! We hit #900 with Sabrina while here.

We celebrated Sabrina's birthday (you'll have to ask her which one) with some of her good friends and later met at the home of our good friends Lyndsay and Aaron for a Super Bowl Party. And what a game it was!

Too bad our personal favorite Kurt Warner lost, but the room was split... so, some went away very happy! We finished the evening with three rousing games of "Scene It", testing all of our movie memories and logic.

This was a wonderful visit with Sabrina, as well as with all our LA friends: Heidi & Susan and their home; Lowell and Linda Rice (with whom we picked fresh oranges in La Verne;) Roberto, Jen, Eric, Maria, Lyndsay and Aaron, Josh, Leah, Jim and the Eagle Rock dancers. Thanks for making this another memorable trip to California. Wish it didn't have to end but end it did, as all things must. On the 6th of February we said our goodbyes and headed east for Arizona.

On to L.A. with Major Stop in Arizona

2008-12-23T11:06:00.000-08:00

After four months of shuttling between Lincoln and Olathe, we began making final preparations for the next leg of our journey. We had planned all along on a major family get-together for Thanksgiving, and Marilyn's early home-going did not interrupt it. Andrea, Rod, Reagan and Ryan came to Lincoln on the day before, and settled into the AmericInn motel in south Lincoln. (They loved it and we highly recommend it.) We spent Thanksgiving Day with Randy, Kayleigh, Shanna and kids at their home. Great food, games and football! The next day the Huskers closed out their season with the annual "war" with Colorado. Rod and Roger were present as they defeated the Buffs in the closing minutes with an NU record 57-yard field goal and a Suh interception-touchdown that sealed the deal. Fantastic finish!!

We had a very rewarding stay in Lincoln during a trying family time. Many thanks to our good friends Janet and Fred, who once again allowed us to stay on their property for a prolonged period.

On Saturday the 29th we started our journey. We traveled diagonally across Kansas, through Liberal to the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles. We visited the Petroglyph National Monument in New Mexico, and the Petrified Forest National Park in northern Arizona. We arrived in Mesa, AZ on Thursday, to begin teaching at the Arizona School of Health Sciences. For the second year the staff has invited me to return and instruct physician assistant students in the art and science of medicine, with particular emphasis on genitourinary and neurological disease. I arrived in time for the Christmas party (any excuse for a kilt!)

Just a few of my phenomenal PA's-in-training! They'll be great medical providers in the future!

Meg's parents made the flight to Mesa and stayed for the same two weeks, giving her great opportunities to spend some personal time with them while I was in class. There wasn't much time for us to play while there, but we took time on the one weekend to search out some geocaches and to show Roger's colleague Laura and her husband Alden the basics and get them started on this fun hobby. They helped us reach our #800 milestone cache.

We said our goodbye's to Mesa on Saturday the 20th and headed west. An easy drive put us at Joshua Tree National Park. We parked outside in BLM land (free); there had been a lot of snow and the campgrounds inside were not totally cleared.Our home-on-wheels! The next morning we finished the drive to LA. This is the view of the California mountains from the highway. We are parked at the Sea Breeze Naval RV campground at Seal Beach. We plan to be in this area for the next two months. It's beautiful here; we are so blessed! We wish you were here, but wherever you are may you have the most wonderful Christmas ever!

This Fall in Lincoln and Olathe

2008-11-11T13:55:00.001-08:00

We've spent this autumn shuttling between Lincoln, Nebraska and Olathe, Kansas, having so many family and friends in both. Our church in Lincoln, Christ's Place, is a focus of refreshing worship and praise. We really enjoy getting back here to the fellowship we helped start over thirty years ago. It's a welcoming church home in Lincoln, if you're looking for one.

We are always searching for new opportunities to interact with our grandchildren, and this trip we discovered Union Station in Kansas City: containing a science "exploratorium", perfect for little 5 and 7 year old hands! It includes a planetarium, as well. Our grandkids spotted this portrait there, presumably of President and Mrs. Lincoln, though the resemblance to family is uncanny! Note to Parents and Grandparents: join your local museum with a "family membership." (We joined the University of Nebraska State Musum.) Most of these memberships reciprocate with hundreds of museums and exhibits all over the US, and include 2 adults and 2 or more children. Real money saver!)

Near Olathe, KS, at Louisburg, is the Louisburg Cider Mill, one of the top ten cider mills in the country, according to MSNBC. We went with Ryan on a school visit and had a lot of fun. Learning about the process was fascinating, and the apple cider donuts and the cold cider were delicious!

Fall brings falling leaves and the Ross family spent several days outdoors, raking and playing in the newly grounded leaves. The kids did their best to maintain order, but just couldn't keep the grown-ups from destroying their work!

Of course, outdoor work builds big appetites, and nothing fits that better than home-baked cookies. Here are Reagan and Ryan making the Halloween pumpkins ready for the oven! Mmmmmmm! Speaking of Halloween, our local fellowship, Indian Creek Community Church, sponsored another "Trunk or Treat!" (Don't know what that is? Click on the link.) Here are Reagan and Ryan in the window of the Mystery Machine, one of the exhibits, along with Scooby and friends. What fun! Wish you were here!

Times of Celebration

2008-10-31T08:34:00.000-07:00

Celebration of a Life:

We came to Nebraska this fall a little earlier than usual. Roger's Sister Marilyn had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in June 2007. After a year of treatment and doing very well, she took a very bad downturn in August of this year and was hospitalized for a few days. We spent much of the next two months in her home, where we were joined by her children, grandchildren and our Brother Randy. For the majority of this "dying part of living", she was up: visiting and playing games with us and enjoying the life she had remaining. But up or down, she was always upbeat, saddened only each time she awoke from sleep and found she was still here. She lapsed at the last into a short coma and entered the presence of her Lord on October 5. It was a joy to know her as our Sister for 61 years, and we look forward to meeting again. We are so thankful for retirement, our wandering lifestyle, and our good friends the Smiths and their hospitality, which allowed us to come north and stay for this important time.

In October we flew to Texas for a celebration of of our Grandson Christian's 5th birthday. We rode a train together in Landa Park in New Braunfels, had cake and gave Christian his new T-ball set. While in the park we spotted this animal; do you know what it is? (see answer ***at the end of this blog)

We met family in the Houston area and celebrated the 16th birthday of Meg's grandnephew Cheyne. We had dinner at a great seafood restaurant, the Monument Inn in Deer Park, TX, named for its proximity to the San Jacinto Monument, erected to honor the heroes of the Texas Revolution.
Wonderful food! If you're ever in the area, this should be on your list.

An annual October celebration is the renewal of the Red River Rivalry, between the University of Texas and Oklahoma University.
This year we Texans are celebrating!
Texas 45-OU 35! Go Horns!!!
We attended a medical ethics seminar by Gene Rudd, MD on "Professionalism in Peril". Gene is an officer of the Christian Medical and Dental Association, and a stimulating and encouraging speaker. We shared the time there with Roger's original partner in practice, Dale Michels and his wife Roylene, a reunion that is always fun!
Of course, we're dressed in the official colors of Nebraska, on our way to the NU-Baylor game
(NU 32-Baylor 20, in case you missed it.) Great to be together again!

Our report from LA earlier this year described our exciting day as extras in the new Jim Carrey movie, "Yes Man." Here's a link to the Nebraska University newletter that gives many more interesting details. (It's on page 8!) The movie will be released December 19th.

We celebrated another life this month, that of Dwight Friesen, the husband of one of Roger's nurses in his pre-army Lincoln medical practice, who died suddenly on October 26th. His funeral provided another opportunity for old friends to meet. Here we are with wonderful friends. Linda and Margaret, who were Roger's first office helpers, the ones who did their best to keep him on-track, and on time (largely a failing effort!)

One of the joys of getting together with old friends is the laughter. Please, whatever you do and wherever you are, take time to laugh! Deep and long!

"If you are cheerful, you feel good; if you are sad, you hurt all over."
Proverbs 17:22 (Contemporary English Version)

A nice web source of quotes on laughter

*** If you said muskrat or beaver, sorry. It's a nutria, transplanted from South America to several wild places in the US. Click on the name for more info.

The Sound of Music

2008-08-28T17:56:00.000-07:00

Located near Stacey's Florida home is the Citrus County Arts Center and Theater. The summer musical production was "The Sound of Music" and auditions were held before we left for Egypt. While overseas we were notified that we had been chosen for parts in the play. So, we extended our visit as Stacey's "neighbors" for several more months, rehearsing frequently and finally getting to production. The play opened July 11 for three weekends and a total of 10 performances.

Quick recap for those who've forgotten: Maria (played by Stacey) is sent from her abbey to be the governess for the seven children of the von Trapp family. Here she is with "Marta", played by our granddaughter Ashley. The Baron and Maria fall in love. Franz, the Butler (played by Roger) and Frau Schmidt, the Housekeeper (played by Meg) care for the household. Meg performed double-roles, as Frau Schmidt and as one of the "singing nuns" at the abbey.

Franz, ever the faithful butler, is at last revealed as a traitor and Nazi sympathizer.What a great time this family of thespians enjoyed together!

The day after the cast party we said goodbye to our Florida family and headed for Nebraska for a long autumn visit with family and friends in Lincoln.

The Lost City of the Nabateans-Petra

2008-05-05T18:11:00.000-07:00

The second part of this Ken McFarland tour was a visit to Jordan and the ancient lost city of Petra. What a fantastic place! The sandstone has been carved into beautiful shapes and colors by the various elements over time, and the Nabateans who lived here carved temples, graves, and homes into that sandstone. These are "monolithic" carvings out of the solid rock, and boggle the mind with their beauty and variety. We drove to the south of Jordan to visit Wadi Rum, an area of arid beauty, with large outcroppings of stone like this. Reminiscent of areas of Utah. The film, "Lawrence of Arabia" was parially filmed here. We toured the ancient city of Jerash, reportedly the best preserved Roman city anywhere. Located along the major north-south trade route, it was very large and a key city in its time. Before leaving for the States we had to bob for awhile in the Dead Sea, the world's lowest point below sea-level.

The Jordanians are a lovely people, friendly and welcoming to their country. To answer one question you might have: in Egypt and Jordan we never had reason to fear for our safety.

Check out the rest of our Petra pix at http://www.picasaweb.google.com/vernonbr

Thanks for sharing our travels. Wish you were here!

Roger and Meg

A Dream Cruise on the Nile

2008-05-05T13:32:00.000-07:00

In March we were able to realize a life-long dream of a trip to Egypt! As long as we can remember dreaming anything, it has been to see the pyramids and the temples and the Nile! We flew to Cairo and then on to Aswan, where we boarded the SS Karim. Built in 1917 for then-King Fuad, she is the last steam paddlewheeler on the Nile. We traveled for a week in real luxury, reminiscent of that seen in the 1978 Peter Ustinov movie, "Death on the Nile," filmed on a similar ship. We docked in Luxor (ancient Thebes), Edfu, and Kom Ombo before returning to Aswan. Luxor is famed for its temples of Luxor and Karnak, with their incredible halls of columns. The Temple of Luxor by night.

We sailed "down the Nile" (south toward the Mediterranean) and then back "up the Nile" (south or down on our maps) You'd be surprised how confusing that can be!

The Nile is surprisingly clear and blue and very charming. Here's a lovely little village on its banks, looking probably as it has for centuries

The beautiful ancient art adorning the walls at Abydos, the colors unretouched for thousands of years! Back in Aswan area we visited this beautiful Temple of Isis on the small island of Philae in the Nile.
Our last night aboard the Karim we had a costume party, with all dressing up in their Egyptian garb bought after patient haggling with the local merchants. Lots of fun! Everyone was totally surprised when two of us, both named "Roger", walked in dressed in identical "galabeas"! (We didn't realize the color difference until looking through our pictures the next day.)

Before leaving Aswan we flew to Abu Simbel to visit this large temple of Ramses II. It was wonderful! We spent our last few days in Cairo itself, visiting the bazaar, the Great Pyramids and Sphynx.

One cannot realize the enormity of these structures from pictures; simply impossible. Really wish you could have been here with us.

Unsolicited ad:

We nearly always travel on our own, but this trip was arranged by Ken McFarland, who specializes in special (one might say "boutique") tours that typically are small in number and cater to individuals who enjoy walking and seeing the out-of-the-way spots of the world. He tries very hard to give his clients top value for their money, and we recommend him highly and without reservation (though you'll need reservations; he sells out quickly.) That was a joke!

Family and Good Times in Florida

2008-05-05T13:23:00.000-07:00

We left California and traveled to the Texas Hill Country, staying there for a week. This gave us opportunity to spend good time with Abey, Sunny, Lydia and Christian, as well as with Meg's folks, Carl and Marilyn, before proceeding on to Florida. We had some good Ethiopian food in Austin (new restaurant there!)

We spent a night in a Texas rest area near the Louisiana border (Beaumont,) a night in Biloxi, MS at a military family camp, the last night in a Florida rest area near Tallahassee, then on to Stacey's the next day. We did go a little out of our way for a great lunch in Foley, AL at Lambert's Cafe, the home of the "throwed roll." We learned of these restaurants while visiting Springfield, where Sabrina spent her college years at Southwest Missouri State. Great places to eat! Fun too! Stop in if you're ever in Sikeston or Ozark, Missouri or Foley, Alabama at mealtime.

When Stacey and Darren built their new home here in Florida in 2006 we invested the extra money for them to put RV hookups behind the house for us. It has been a wonderful blessing to be able to visit them and be "next-door neighbors." We parked the motorhome here for our Egypt and Petra trips.

When we returned home the kids had a week out of school. So, we packed up the motorhome and drove to Fort Myers Beach, FL for the week. We stayed in a pleasant campground, ate out a lot, and visited the beach, a renaissance fair, and the Edison-Ford Winter Estates. The grounds are a botanical garden, with trees from all over the world. The highlight is the large banyan tree near the entrance, which covers almost an acre of ground!

We took a day to drive to the Everglades National Park, and see some 'gators. This was close enough for Ashley!

The family attends a lovely Baptist church in Inverness where the Bible is preached and Jesus is lifted up. In April we were privileged to be there for Ashley's baptism, as she gave testimony to her faith in Christ. A wonderful shared moment with our family!