Our Journey Back to the Lone Star State!

We left Florida on March 30 and began the journey "home." That word, "home", is becoming more and more vague, as we continue our travels. Our home is truly our motorhome, where we sleep, visit and share nearly every day. In fact, we have to keep reminding ourselves that we are not ON a trip; our life IS a trip! We're AT home most of the time; the real variable is WHERE that home is parked! Quite an interesting concept to wrap yourself around!

The first night out from Stacey's our home was a beautiful rest stop on I-10 near Tallahassee. We rested, searched out a geocache, and prepped for the next day. After a few miles in the AM, we stopped at Florida Caverns State Park. A beautiful place which we hadn't planned on visiting until we learned about it the night before. Another perk in this journey of ours!

We traveled next to Mobile, AL where we stayed at a nice RV park, which had free wi-fi. That is a feature that makes many parks more attractive than others. Since we do much of our communicating, shopping and all of our finances on the internet, these parks get more of our business than others without it. We geocached the neighborhood around the park, slept well that night, and pressed on the next day, Sunday, for New Orleans.

The devastation of Katrina is still much in evidence as you drive into the city. Many trailers, broken trees lining the streets, and hundreds of unoccupied dwellings bear silent witness to the awesome power of natural disasters. The French Quarter is alive and well, though, and we had a delightful dinner there with our friend, MAJ Sandi Parriott, an Army veterinarian. She is a student there at Tulane. We introduced Sandi to geocaching, found a few caches in the area and finished off a great evening with cafe au lait and beignets at the famous Cafe du Monde. Wonderful!

The next day found us in Beaumont, TX where we spent a pleasant evening. Another fulltime RV couple came over and introduced themselves: Rita and Henry Leuner. They are a very special set of new friends, originally from Switzerland, now from Florida. They are on their way to central Texas, just as we are. We had drinks and chips and chatted for a couple of hours about the joys of full-timing.

We then drove on to San Antonio and Fort Sam Houston RV Park, where we remained for several days. That gave us time to get through some unfinished business in the San Antonio area, as well as to attend the Bluebonnet Ball, our annual Scottish Country Dancing special event. This was our 10th Anniversary Ball and very special! Ryan and Cali McKasson performed for us, and we jigged and reeled through about 4 hours on Saturday afternoon.

We then moved over to The Summit RV Resort where we have a membership. In the Hill Country on the Guadalupe River, just west of New Braunfels, it gives us easy access to Meg's folks, Carl and Marilyn. Also better access to some of the best Mexican food in the country! Mamacita's in New Braunfels, Tomatillo's in San Antone....mmmmmmm!

On the 28th of April we "lived" in Schulenburg, TX for a couple of days, where we attended a Scottish afternoon ball. Wonderful dancing to more live music! Our friends, Jon and Geri, new to the ranks of RV owners, brought their new fifth-wheel along on its maiden "voyage." We camped together, danced together and went on a tour in the morning to the Painted Churches of the area. They are beautiful century-old churches lovingly constructed and decorated by Bohemian, Moravian and German pioneer settlers in the area. A must-see if you're ever there!

Right now we're writing from our home in Lockhart State Park. We've been visiting with our friends, Bob and Lois Hahn, pastors of First United Methodist Church and their family. We're also just enjoying another Texas "small town", great for nice, friendly people and good barbecue!
A little birding today netted a painted bunting, one of the most beautiful birds America has. Tomorrow we head back to San Antonio, then on to the Hill Country and the Summit.
Until then, thanks for reading. May your trails always be pleasant!

Our Trip South... to Warmth!!

It's been far too cold up here in the northland. Much colder than we remember it during our 13 years in Lincoln. Not sure what happened but we don't like it much anymore! We want to say a great big THANK YOU to Fred Smith. He and Janet not only hosted us in Lincoln on their property, not only looked out for our motorhome while we were away from Lincoln for two months; Fred literally had to blast us out of the snow and ice in his yard before we could start our southward journey. The RV jacks were imbedded over six inches in ice! We warmed them with hairdryers, and Fred pried them loose with a crowbar, which he could only get under the jacks after drilling holes in the ice. Unbelievable! Thank you, Fred and Janet!

We started our trip south in early February, saying a reluctant goodbye to Andrea and family. Spent our first night in Scott AFB FamCamp in Illinois, still too cold! The pipes in the campground were frozen, but we hooked up to one that was working. Got a good night's sleep and moved on to Chattanooga, TN where we overnighted in the parking area of a TA (Travel America) truckstop. Had dinner and breakfast with the truckers and pressed on to the home of our good friends, David and Karen Crippen, in Wildwood, GA. We've known them since the day they welcomed us as "baby" missionaries to Kenya, E.Africa in 1969! David now pastors the nearby Episcopal church, and he and Karen raise, train and show rough collies.
We spent the next day reminiscing and catching-up on our two families which have spread out over the country. Great to be together again, even if it's only a few hours at a time! Thanks for your hospitality, Karen and David!
We moved on to Augusta, GA where we were stationed for six years. Our best friends there, Mike and Susie Felz, welcomed us warmly as usual and we talked non-stop for the next 24 hours! Fun!
The next day we went further south, the length of the state, and spent the night at Eagle Hammock RV Park, on the navy sub base at King's Bay, GA. Very nice park! The following day we finished our trek at the new home of our daughter Stacey and her family in Hernando, FL.
They built a concrete RV pad and hookups for us behind their home, and it was perfect! A place of our own, but only a few steps away to their backdoor. We loved it! And at last we began to thaw!!!
One of our main reasons behind this lifestyle we've chosen is the opportunity it gives to be with our kids, and especially our grandkids, as they're growing and experiencing so much of life. Our distances have been a problem and we've had the chance to "catch up" a little. We want to know all of them so much better than we've been able to in the past.Here's Ashley at her honor student breakfast which we were able to attend. And here's Nathaniel, receiving his Cub Scout awards at his Blue and Gold banquet. We're so thankful we could be a part of these things for the six weeks we were there!

Darren's parents, Darry and Lynn Griffis, live nearby and we really enjoyed their company, getting to eat out together several times as well as attend a fun play one evening. Here we're enjoying a feast at Enrico's, one of their favorite spots in nearby Inverness. Of course, we spent lots of days geocaching with the family. They love it as much as we do.Here we've just found a virtual cache in DisneyWorld! What fun!

We left for San Antonio on March 30. More on that the next time. Thanks for reading.

Roger and Meg

Steamboat Springs, CO-January 2007

We had a GREAT January! For the first time ever we were able to spend an entire month in Colorado during ski season. We stayed in a couple of very nice timeshare resorts, Thunder Mountain Condos and Celebrity Resorts. Sabrina visited with us there from her home in LA. We also spent some wonderful moments with our good friend Bonnie from Denver, who both visited us there, and hosted us both coming and going in her Denver home. We skied about every other day, and hiked or geocached when we weren't skiing.

A couple of interesting stories:

We left our ski jackets in Lincoln (it was that warm the day we left for Colorado!) on Thursday. On Friday the Smith's mailed them to us. They arrived in Steamboat Springs on Saturday evening. On Sunday we went by the post office to find out their hours and met "Debbie" who just happened to be working. She checked, found our box of coats and "delivered" it to us on a Sunday afternoon!

We went walking in a park near sunset, got back to our car and found that Roger had lost the car keys out of his pocket. Had to call a locksmith to open the car for us. It was dark and it took over an hour in frigid air to get into our car, and an "angel" named Madelyn who lives in Steamboat was out walking her dog and stayed with us until we were on our way. God bless her! The next day we prayed, returned to the scene, put one shovel into the snow and found the missing keys. God is sooooo good! All the time!

We found a wonderful Christian fellowship there, Steamboat Christian Center, where the Bible is preached and Jesus' Name is lifted up! Visit them when you're there!


Our good friends, Dana and Pam Baker, (Pam here with Meg in our kitchen working on something special) joined us for four days of skiing and fellowship during our last week there. We had a wonderful time together renewing old friendship, sharing books and ideas, and, of course, the slopes.

After the month in the mountains (we were TIRED of the cold!!) we are picking up our motorhome from its winter home at the Smith's house in Lincoln and heading south. All about that part of our journey the next blog. Thanks for reading.

At Home in Kansas and Nebraska

Following our trip to Olathe, KS to deliver the contents of our two storage rooms, we have spent the last two months with friends in Lincoln and with our daughter Andrea's family in Kansas. It has given us a wonderful opportunity to renew old friendships, including Carol, who loves cats and graciously took care of our cat "Gypsy" (at the top) while we were away in Scotland. We visited our church in Lincoln, but best of all to get better acquainted with our kids and grandkids than we had been able to before. Rod and Andrea moved into their new home in Olathe and we have been able to help considerably with all the settling in.

We all went to Lincoln over the Thanksgiving weekend. Here we are with Roger's sister Marilyn and niece Shanna at a game of Mah Jong after the feast. We also shared a wonderful meal with

Fred and Janet Smith during that time.

Rod and I attended the Colorado-Nebraska game: great fun! Always! And then two weeks later we all went to the Big XII Championship game in Kansas City. With the score OU 21-NU 7, it was much more fun for my Sooner son-in-law than for me. But it was a fun evening, nonetheless.

These two cookie-mice joined us (temporarily) during the prep time for Christmas. They didn't stay long.

Daddy Rod helped the girls Ryan and Reagan make their gingerbread house;

a work of true beauty!

We had a great family time at Christmas with Andrea and Rod, Reagan and Ryan at their home in Olathe, and then shared more family time with Rod's family in Oklahoma City. Roger provided the magical entertainment for the party, ably accompanied by his young assistant, the Great Reagan!



We've had a wonderful holiday season with the Ross family, spending Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas together for the first time ever.

On 1 January we'll be gathered in front of the TV for the Boise State-Oklahoma and the Auburn-Nebraska Bowl games. (Hopefully, we'll ALL come away winners.)

We leave next week for some skiing in Colorado. More about that later.

Homeward Bound

After leaving our friends in Cornwall, we took the train to Mildenhall AFB, spent one night and the next day we were homeward bound on a wonderful (free) military hop.
This plane was smaller than the one we took over. We landed about 7 hours later in Dover, DE. We had a rush trip by rental car to Philadelphia, where we caught a Southwest flight to Houston. Interesting twist to our trip: the weekend we arrived home, the Texas Longhorns were playing the Huskers in Lincoln. We could not get a flight from Philly to Lincoln.


However, Houston connection was easy. And our Scottish Country Dancing fellowship was having its annual ball and workshop in Houston that weekend. So, we went to the host hotel, got a room for the next two nights and had a wonderful weekend of dancing.

Our friends from San Antonio gave us a ride there, where we stayed with them for the next two nights. We were able to rent a truck, empty our storeroom in San Antonio, as well as that of our Daughter Andrea, and on Thursday the 26th we headed north. We spent a night with our Son Abey and family in Austin and the next night with the Ross Family in Edmond, OK, the parents of Andrea's husband.

The next day we met up with Roger's cousin Marianne in Stillwater, OK and attended the Nebraska-Oklahoma State football game. (NU lost...sigh) Then we went on to Olathe, KS, delivered all our storeroom's loads to Andrea's new garage, and thus completed this month-long odyssey.
A fable of Sri Lanka tells the story of three princes and how they kept making accidental but valuable discoveries while looking for something else. Another name for Sri Lanka is Serendip; thus our word: serendipity, which fairly describes much of our trip, especially the last part. When we left for Scotland we had no plans to attend the ball in Houston, clear out our two storerooms, or see Marianne and



attend another Husker game, let alone getting to spend some nights with Meg's parents in New Braunfels, Abey in Austin or the Ross family. God is good all the time, and many are the blessings that come our way, often unbidden or expected, but always appreciated.

Reunion October 15-19

In 1970 when we were medical missionaries in Kenya, E. Africa, we attended the wedding of the local veterinarian Vic and his bride Jane. We have stayed in contact over the intervening years and following our Scotland visit we had the privilege of visiting with them in their lovely cottage in Cornwall. They were wonderful hosts, showing us the beauty of their farm, their nearby towns and the Cornish coastline.



We visited Penzance and St. Ives. We taught Jane all about geocaching, and she drove us up on St. Agnes Head and Beacon where SHE found her first two caches. We found four others while in Scotland.



Vic told us all about the history of the area and its mines. Fascinating!
We said farewell over a lovely meal at a local pub, The White Hart. We toasted our 38 years of marriage and their 35.

Thanks, Jane and Vic, for a wonderful conclusion to our trip and your gracious hospitality!

Standing Stones and Castles October 8-14

There are many sites in UK of so-called standing stones or mounds or circles, thought to be prehistoric burial sites. This one at Clava, Scotland is very interesting and is probably 3000-4000 years old. (click link to learn more)


At a loch (lake) nearby, I caught this beautiful rainbow.

Castles make up a large portion of our trip and what most people think about in Scotland, other than bagpipes and Highland dancing. Here we are in the gardens of the Clan Donald castle on the Isle of Skye.

Another castle, Eilean Donan, is often described as the most romantic and most photographed castle in Scotland.

While in Inverness-shire we stayed at a lovely timeshare, Scandanavian Village, which I can recommend highly. The town of Aviemore was perfect. We even found the local Scottish Country dance group and danced one evening with them. All over far too quickly!

The Week In Inverness-shire October 8-14

Following the wedding our Bruces and Herman families spent a week in the Cairngorm National Park, a beautiful area of the central Scottish Highlands near Inverness. The Cairngorm is one of the tallest peaks in Scotland and the focus of winter skiing. We took the funicular (vertical train) up the mountain and spent a beautiful day just enjoying the outdoors. It was cold!
We took a cruise on Loch Ness (what's that in the water!?!) Lovely, still and dark...what could it be hiding?
That's Urquhart Castle behind us. We saw it only from the boat; perhaps we'll go back.






In 1746 a terrible battle took place at Culloden that essentially brought an end to the Highland and Clan way of life. Visiting Culloden is quite sobering and sad. It is marked by this monument and has scattered rocks bearing the names of the various clans involved.






This small peasant's house standing at the edge of the battlefield was there before the battle and somehow survived. They've kept it as a museum-piece for learning what life was like in the 18th century. Really interesting!

To Aberdeen and the Wedding! October 7

We journeyed on by train from Oban to Aberdeen and spent the next week visiting the city and helping our friends prepare for their wedding. Aberdeen University is one of the world's oldest and most respected and is quite beautiful. This red ivy-covered building is part of King's College, and our college-missionaries are gathered here in front of it.

Saint Machar's Cathedral was established in Aberdeen in the late 500's, and is a beautiful church building, worthy of your visit. Just wish we had had more time at every location to really investigate .

Our long-time friend Sarah Herman and Rob Malcolm, originally from Glasgow, were married in Aberdeen on 7 October. About ten or so of us from the States were able to be there and celebrate with them.
We've known Sarah and her parents since she was two. She and our children played together in Lincoln. Our Daughter Sabrina and Sarah roomed together at Southwest Missouri State University.

The ceremony was followed by a lovely dinner and a ceilidh (pronounced: "kay-lee"; Celtic for "party".) There was a fun band and the music was a mix of rock and roll and Scottish country dance music. We loved it!