Life Without a Cellphone Camera...

This last week we had company. What a joy to have someone actually travel to stay with you and spend some time with you after a year without that kind of visit. Our visitors would be Claude's brother, Cordell, and his dear friends, Lanny and Arlene Lewis. They flew out on Monday and arrived in Sadieville Monday, March 22nd, in the evening. Claude had a smoked pork roast he pulled and we enjoyed sandwiches and salads as we settled in for a nice visit. I tried to take a picture and my cellphone tries but then says, "Camera Failed". It would do this all week long. I love to take picture, lots and lots of pictures. Not having that camera really limited that experience. I would wait until a picture I really wanted and then borrow Claude's camera to take a picture. Then text that picture to my phone so I could post on our families Facebook page for the rest of our family to see. Cumbersome. Limited number of pictures.

Tuesday, March 23rd, was our first day out and about. Cordell's wife, Julie, passed away last year from pancreatic cancer. On her bucket list was seeing the Ark Encounter in Williamstown, Kentucky. Lanny and Arlene would have come with Julie and Cordell to do this but Julie just couldn't make that trip. Arlene promised her she would go for her. Seeing the Ark Encounter was a must do for this trip. Tuesday was the day we would get that done. We would spend this day and all others in two cars. I would ride with Lanny and Arlene and Cordell would ride with Claude. It was good to visit the Ark again. Everyone enjoyed their visit. I was amazed that Cordell walked the entire visit. He has Parkinson's and his legs and feet are giving him fits. But he made it through. Claude, Cordell and I left after we ate lunch at Emzara's Cafe. As we were on the bus headed back to the parking lot, Claude realized he left the bag with the fudge and jelly he bought to share with everyone. Cordell sent a quick message to Arlene and they went back to Emzara's and were able to retrieve the bag. Lanny and Arlene did a new Virtual Reality experience and took a few more pictures inside the Ark. Then they came back to Sadieville.

The first picture is Claude and Cordell. The second picture is Lanny, Cordell and Arlene. The third picture is Claude and Cordell at the base of a support for the end of the Ark. 

Wednesday, March 24th, we drove to Louisville to visit Mega Caverns. This tram ride was lots of fun and a different kind of experience. Arlene took this picture of us on the tram before the driver took off through the caverns. Left to right is Cordell, Lanny Arlene and Sandi. Claude is in the red cap making horns behind Lanny. We were a very mature group of people!! 

After the caverns we found our way to Joe's Crab Shack on the Ohio River in downtown Louisville. Lunch was very much enjoyed by all of us. Our plan was to then go to the Louisville Slugger Museum. I happened to check their website as we were driving there and learned they closed at 3pm and it was now 3:30pm. We called Claude, who was the lead car, and made a new plan to go to Frankfort.

In Frankfort we stopped first at the Viet Nam Memorial. In this picture are Claude, Lanny and Arlene. You can see the Kentucky State Capitol in the background. 

From the Memorial we drove down and around the Capitol stopping at the season clock. We determined a ride through the Kentucky horse farms would be a good way to get us back toward Sadieville. Claude led us down Hwy 60 toward Versailles and then picked up 62 through Midway and over to Payne's Depot Road back to Georgetown. There are some gorgeous horse farms along this road and everyone enjoyed seeing this part of Kentucky.

Thursday, March 25th, was a potentially rainy day. There were to be two waves of rain. One in the morning and one later in the day. We wanted to drive through the Kentucky countryside so we tried to time it between these two waves of storms. We left with only a drop of rain here or there. By the time we got on I-75, it was a deluge. The truckers were spraying buckets of rain and we thought about calling Claude and Cordell to tell them to turn around and head for Sadieville. Claude got off I-75 at Exit 129 where the Pilot stations are located. I knew he and Cordell had decided to turn around or they were going to drive around Toyota so everyone could see the outside of the plant. They were driving around Toyota. The rain let up a bit and the truckers were not on this road so all felt a lot better. We kept to our plan. 

Our drive took us from Georgetown to Paris and then to Mt. Sterling on Hwy 460. This stretch of highway is designated a Scenic Byway. In Mt. Sterling we picked up Hwy 60 and took it to Winchester and then into Lexington. In Lexington we ate at BD Mongolian Grill. Then we drove I-75 to Hwy 922. Hwy 922 to Iron Works Pike. Then onto I-75 and back to Sadieville. The ride was just what they needed to see several different types of land in Kentucky. We went from horse farms to the cattle farms and back to horse farms. 

In the evening, Arlene pulled out a puzzle she bought at the Ark Encounter of the Ark and we all worked on putting it together. 

We ended this day by watching Seabiscuit. A true story about a race horse. 

Friday, March 26, 2021, was Nissa's birthday. Nissa is our firstborn. I posted this on Facebook with this picture. "Our firstborn celebrates a milestone birthday today. Nissa Tyler enters what was my favorite decade. She was our test monkey as parents and she still turned out great! Happy Birthday, Nissa!! We love ya bunches!!"

Friday was the day we opted to see what was available at the Kentucky Horse Park. Things don't open up fully there until April. But we were able to see some things and enjoyed being there. 

We opted for Applebee's for dinner. After dinner we watched Hidalgo, another true story about a horse that raced in the great Arabian horse race. 

Saturday, March 27th, was Paul's birthday. I posted this on Facebook with this picture. "Our grandson, Paul Thompson has a birthday today. So happy he is part of our family. Happy Birthday, Paul! Love ya bunches!!"

Saturday was the day for our company to return home. They left around 10am to drive to the Creation Museum before boarding a 5pm flight to Salt Lake City. 

We had such a good visit with Cordell, Lanny and Arlene. What fun to host someone for several days and to share this beautiful place we live in with them.

I made a pudding cake before they came. It was made with lemon cake mix and lemon instant pudding. Lanny loved it. When we finished it, I made another with chocolate cake mix and banana pudding. I am sharing the recipe with you in case it is something someone else would enjoy making. 

I bake this cake in a bundt pan and do not ice it. I also now use a large box of instant pudding or two small boxes of instant pudding. This makes a truly great cake and will take a little longer to bake. My families favorite flavors over the years are the two I made for this visit.

Another fun family thing that happened this week was with our Hayden. He applied for and received an invitation to interview at Gatton Academy in Bowling Green Kentucky. This is a school that specialized in science, math, technology and something that beings with a 'E'. Andie tells us they started with over 300 applicants. They interviewed 144 of these. 95 will be admitted and all the other interviewees are automatically wait-listed. I'm not sure when they will know if Hayden was accepted. If he is accepted he will live and go to school in Bowling Green his Junior and Senior years of high school. He will graduate at his Oldham County High School graduation with lots of college credits to start his college experience. Andie sent two pictures. The first is Michael helping Hayden early in the week with what he would need to dress like. The second is him walking away to interview at the school. Oh My!! 

Jacob, our son, posted this picture on Facebook. It was his first picture taken with his new phone. It seems, as he has worked from home, he kept these shoes to slip on when we walked around his apartment. Clearly he didn't put them all the way on and the heel is quite worn down.

I commented that he is genetically his mother's son with this picture of the pair of shoes that sits by my front door for me to walk my daily letter to Papa to the mailbox each evening.

So I made it through this week and still got a few pictures. Monday Claude and I will go to the AT&T store and see if my camera can be fixed on my cellphone. If not, we may be purchasing two new cellphones. Ugh!! Technology!!