Claude's Birthday, General Conference, Yard Work...

Friday, October 2nd, we started this day with a Frank's Donuts run for breakfast. Yum!!

I did a Blog entry to catch up with things that happened with the family while we were gone on The Drive.

Claude napped and I cleared the DVR. 

We decided to have Claude's birthday dinner early. We would be watching General Conference on Saturday and Sunday. Claude wanted steak. Cattleman's Roadhouse always makes him a good steak and it is located here in Georgetown. I enjoyed my salmon and Claude enjoyed his steak. Our server was a young mother named Bri. I asked her about her name to see if it was a shorted version of the name her parents gave her at birth. Her given name is Briana but no one pronounced it as intended. This was frustrating to her so she shortened it to Bri. Since our Aubrey Anne has also shortened her name to Bre, it was a fun conversation. She just kept on talking about her 18-month old son and whatever else came to her mind. It was a cute moment. 

We returned home and finished our evening watching Psych.

Saturday, October 3rd, I got up early and set to weeding the front side flower bed. Then I changed the exterior decorations to fall things. 

At noon we were planted in front of our television to watch the first session of General Conference. Some tidbits that caught my attention were:

• Elder Garret W. Gong: Why did the temple workers cross the road? To help the people on the other side. 
• Sis. Tamara Runia: The Gospel isn't an umbrella. It the solid rock we stand on.
  Refining experiences, Sanctifying experiences, Divine Mending.
• Elder Gerald Causse: Your testimony can change lives, your own and others.
• Elder Patrick Kearon: Jesus specializes in the seemingly impossible.

Claude would take his nap and I adjourned to Sandiland to watch two Northern Disclosures.

At 4pm we were again planted in front of our television for the afternoon session of General Conference. Some tidbits that caught my attention were:

• Elder Dale G. Renlund: Our redemption comes through the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
• Elder Timothy L. Farnes: When someone encounters us, they should experience something of Jesus Christ.
• Elder Patricio M. Giuffa: The Law of Tithing is a Law of Faith.
• Elder Jeremiah J. Morgan: Covenants stretch over all time and all space.
• Elder Patrick Kearon: Our Savior loves to lift.
• Elder Matthey J. Eyring: The Savior saves us from two things that could permanently separate us from the Father: 1) the separation of our spirits and bodies (resurrection) and 2) the separation of us by our sins (repentance). 

Claude fixes a new chili recipe for dinner. It was a Cajun Chicken Chili. It was quite good. It also had shrimp in it. 

The remainder of our evening was watching Psych.

Sunday, October 4th, was Claude's 77th birthday. He has decided to count backward from this point forward. So, instead of being 77, he is now 75. Good luck with that!

I posted this on the Facebook for his birthday: "Once a year, we pause to celebrate a life. It should be more often than that! Today it is Claude Christensen that we celebrate. Please join me in saying "Happy Birthday" to my good hubby. Here are a few pictures of Claude from our recent Drive. Can't wait to make more memories this next year! Love him bunches!"

We opted for a biscuit run for his birthday breakfast. 

At noon we were planted in front of our television for the Sunday Morning session of General Conference. A few tidbits that I particularly enjoyed:

• Sis. Rosemary K. Chibota: Our labels should be Child of God, Child of the Covenant, Disciple of Jesus Christ.
• Elder Neil L. Andersen: Discipleship always requires courage. 
  Faith lifts our courage, then courage lifts our faith.
• Elder Edward Dube: We come to Christ to be perfected.
• Elder Quentin L. Cook: The ultimate reward of integrity and virtue is the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost.
• Pres. Dallin H. Oaks: Wait upon the Lord, trust His timing, trust His promises.
  Never let your secular learning limit your spiritual learning.

While Claude napped, I watched two more Northern Disclosures. Being gone for a month put me way behind on this much enjoyed podcast.

When Claude woke, we decided to go to Fat Katz for pizza for his birthday dinner. Jessie was our server again. He is a hoot. We enjoyed what was basically a Cowboy Pizza (BBQ'd chicken). It won best pizza in 2006. 

Home we headed to was the Sunday Afternoon session of General Conference: Some tidbits that impressed me:

• Pres. Dieter F. Uchtdorf: Christ-centered unity.
• Sis. Andrea Menuz Spanneus: Make a list of the righteous desires of your heart. 
• Elder Paul H. Sinclair: A true disciple is quick to help and slow to judge.
  Seek to be Holy.
  
• Elder Gabriel W. Reid: We should leave a lesson not thinking about the teacher. We should leave a lesson thinking about the Savior.
• Elder Clark G. Gilbert: Avoid contentious settings.

Andie called to wish her dad a happy birthday. Katelyn called and had her four children, our great-grandmonsters, sing Happy Birthday to their great-grampa. They finished the first time and Claude said, "Sing it again". They did and a bit louder with cha-cha-cha's in there. When finished, Claude said, "Sing it again." They did and were much louder this time. It was for fun and Claude was really grinning.

Claude received his birthday present in the mail at two time earlier in the week. He had been reading and studying about the coatings on cookware sloughing off into your system. He had a skillet he knew he wanted to replace. He suggested he order some new pants for the kitchen. In addition, he learned about wooden spoons for cooking made out of a single piece of acacia wood. He ordered a set of those as well. You know you are well into your married years when I plan my own birthday trip for us to Nashville to see Vince Gill and Claude buys his own birthday gift. We are both very happy with our birthdays this year. Look at that grin on my hubby's face.

Someone put another duck on Claude's Jeep. This is a thing with Jeep owners. This clown duck was a bit disturbing. 

We finished our day with a big more Psych.

Monday, October 5th, Claude had so much fun with his birthday he decided to extend it two more day. We had 10am appointments at CVS Pharmacy to get our flu shots. Claude also had a prescription that was ready for pick-up. We did that and headed to Bojangles for a biscuit treat. 

Claude would take his nap and I would finished my final two Northern Disclosure podcasts. I also get a good start on the laundry. 

Then I secured our airline reservations to Los Angeles to meet up with our tour group next year to go to India and Nepal. LAX is not a favorite airport for us. The flights from her to there are not ever at a time to easily connect with the group or when returning home. This time, we will fly in a day ahead and stay at a hotel with a shuttle to the airport. For the return trip will hang out at the airport for 10 hours till our flight home. Ugh. But at least all of that is secure and I used points + cash to get the hotel room. Yeah!!

Claude fixed us tomatoes stuffed with tuna salad for dinner. He also boil some corn-on-the-cob. Yum!

Jake called Claude for his birthday. Jake was out-of-pocket all day Sunday and had to work Sunday evening. We had a delightful call. Jake would then share a link with me of the sermon he delivered Community of Christ on-line service from Toronto, Canada. Their text was the Book of Thomas. Jake does a masterful job. I got the link but waited until Tuesday to watch it. Jake tells me they now have him on a quarterly rotation to give a sermon. I have requested a copy of all of them as he gives them.

Tuesday, October 6th, I woke up feeling weird. I can't even find a word to describe the feeling. After a bit, I went to our bedroom and climbed back in bed for a few more minutes. This surprised Claude as I am not a napper usually and especially after just getting up. Fortunately, being retired allows me that privilege. 

We had errands to do. Claude got the tags for both cars, did a little banking, stopped at Lowe's for dirt for me to repot my Peace Lily and for the bourbon barrel planter and two more filters for the refrigerator water dispenser, then to Walmart for fabric, a mouse for my laptop and a charging cable to replace the one in my car. We finished our outing with an early meal-of-the-day at 5 Guys. 

Claude napped. I cleared some more of the DVR. 

Cordell, Claude brother, and his wife, Kris, called to wish Claude a happy birthday. 

Bailey also called to check in. She wanted to tell us she was baptized while we were on our trip. The pastor at her college baptized her in the river near the school. Her parents were there. We would have loved to have been there for her. 

Katelyn messaged us that she and Drew that the Hospice facility where his mother was told them they did not expect Denise to live more than two weeks. This is very hard for Drew.

Wednesday, October 7th, more yard work to begin my day. I cut back my irises, peonies and Lucifer plant. Then I repotted that huge Peace Lily. The old soil in the pot I put on top of the irises. Claude and I filled the bourbon barrel planter with new soil. The remaining bit of soil I put on the azalea bushes on the front corner flower bed. Claude also put the new tags on the cars. 

Claude napped. I worked on clearing the DVR. 

We had BLT's for dinner. I suggested to Claude that some night, instead of sandwiches, we simply cook up a pound of bacon and eat that by itself. We got through a bit more of Psych.

Thursday, October 8th, I spent time in Sandiland. It seems things get out of whack when you leave for a month! It was a good morning to print some receipts, clear things off the cutting table and work on the November and December Relief Society newsletters. 

Claude and I did a grocery run. I saw these and picked them up for us. I loved a little pumpkin flavored treat in the fall. So very good. I don't think I have ever seen pumpkin flavored snickerdoodles.

Then he napped and I watched two really good documentaries. One was about finding a cure for Cystic Fibrosis and the other was about Angor Wat. 

Katelyn and Drew went to visit his mother. I suggested to her that they get a picture of Drew with is mother's hand in his. 

We watched Stanly Tucci in Italy and Psych.

Friday, October 9th, was my last yard work for this week. I weeded the front flower bed. While I did this, Claude trimmed the bushes in the front of the house. Slowly we are getting things ready for winter.

I have been posting a Trivial Pursuit question for the family on our family Facebook page almost every day since 2020. This week I quit doing that. No one has seemed to notice. Hmmm. Time to change it up. I will now watch for something that amuses me and share it with the family. Here is my first entry:

    By Jove, I got this!

    That's what I said after a bit of success playing a game. Then I thought, where did that phrase "by Jove" come from?

    Ready to learn with me?

    Jove is another name for the Roman god Jupiter (Greek = Zeus). Originally the phrase was a way of swearing as "My God". Chaucer and Shakespeare used it. Over time, the English version became a milder substitute for swearing. It is considered old-fashioned today. 

    Would you imagine I would say something old-fashioned?

Katelyn and Drew were both filled with anxiety. This is normal as they wait for Denise to pass. I sent them a message with a scripture that helps me. Then I sent an eMail with a talk by Elder David A. Bednar that helps with dealing with accepting the Lord's will over our own. 

Claude and I got a brief phone call from Katelyn in the afternoon. Denise had passed. There plate is now very full of all the things that must happen after. I told her she could go and take care of these things and we would talk when she had time to do that. I thanked her so much for keeping us in the loop. We are not sure what the kids will do for a funeral. If they have one, we will make a quick trip to Michigan to support Drew. 

Claude and I left for Lexington. He had planned an afternoon to take care of things we can only do in Lexington. I wanted to check for quilted fabric for a project. My only fabric store options are Hobby Lobby and Michael's. this is so sad to me. My mother was a seamstress and taught us girls how to walk through a fabric store with your hands out and touch the fabric. You might find something that feels just right. Then a fabric store was huge with tables and tables of fabrics. I appreciate that I can get some things an Hobby Lobby (more so than Michael's) but the pickings are very slim. There was not one bold of quilted fabric. Not one! Ugh. I did find a fall flower bed decoration. I saw some in Lowe's earlier in the week. Lowe's wanted $35 for a simple arrangement of pumpkins. I didn't want to pay $35. When in Hobby Lobby with no fabric success, I went to the holiday decorations and found these wonderful sunflowers for $17. When I got to check-out, they were on sale and I got them for $10. I was a win-win to me. A fall decoration that will last a long time and $25 less that getting something at Lowe's. Yeah me!!

Claude next place for us to shop was Cabela's. I lot a favorite shirt to travel in with the ballpoint ink pen explosion in our dryer. Claude wanted to see if we could find me a replacement. He was also looking to replace two golf shirts lost in that experience. There was not one shirt like mine. They usually always have some. they did have short-sleeved ones for me. They had no golf shirts that Claude was interested in. 

We left Cabela's completely amazed we went all the way to Lexington and didn't purchase anything thing we went there for. Thank heavens for the fall decoration for our flowerbed! We would go to City BBQ for dinner and that made everything just right. It was a fun outing even if we didn't achieve our goals. 

Home we drove as the clouds began to fill the sky. There was a hurricane, Isaias, coming up the Gulf of Mexico and will send bands of rain with strong winds in front of it all the way to Kentucky. The sky seemed to be confirming this possibility. 

Our evening was watching more of Stanley Tucci in Italy and Psych.

Back Home & Catching Up...

Tuesday, September 22nd, we returned home for our 6,998.9 mile Drive about 3:30pm. We unpacked and then crashed in our recliners. Frozen pizza was for dinner. The recliners and watching our television with things we wanted readily available was a real treat.

Wednesday, September 23rd, I was most pleased when I stepped on my scales in the morning that I had not gained one pound while on this trip. One tries to behave while traveling but staying strictly to an intermittent fasting diet is not really possible. I had yogurt for breakfast every time we had breakfast at the hotel we stayed in. Claude and I both watch how much we eat. But when one is driving for miles and miles, a treat to stay alert is often needed. Claude purchased white cheddar cheese Cheez-its and we would nibble off that box throughout most of the trip. We only had one big meal a day, just like at home. That was a help. Now I will try to maintain that weight loss and slowly but surely lose a little bit more. 

I had a LOT of laundry to do. This day I would wade through that. I got down to a load of colored clothes in the dryer with the final load, which was whites, in the washer. I opened the dryer and pulled out my little rain jacket. There was a large black streak on the back. The day before Claude parked close to the storage shelves. I slid between them and the Jeep to get inside. I assumed I had rubbed up again something in my favorite little jacket. I pulled that prewash stuff off the shelf, sprayed the streak down really well and started to scrub it between my hands and fingers. It took a look of rubbing but I finally got it out and a few other spots on the sleeves. I opened the dryer to get the next item of clothing out and noticed that the entire back of my dryer was covered in this black stuff. It was on some other items of clothing. I pulled another item of clothing out, sprayed it down and proceeded to rub it between my hands and fingers. I decided I should check the other clothes in the dryer. Some had black on them and some didn't. I separated the stained items from those not stained so I knew what needed to have prewash sprayed on them. It was at this point, I felt concern that the problems really was my dryer was spitting out something black. That feeling was gone when I pulled a broken ball point pen out of the dryer. It was Claude's favorite pen and it had been left in his pants pocket. It was cleaning black ink. I had an old towel and two old washcloths. I put the folded towel on the floor to kneel on and tried to get this 76 year old body to bend inside the dryer with the door lowered. It was not easy but the spray for cleaning the bathrooms was working wonders on cleaning off the inside of my dryer.  Ugh. When the inside of the dryer was clean, I put more water on the old town and put it in the dryer by itself. I would run it through a drying cycle to see if my dryer was really clean. When the towel came out of the dryer clean, I felt comfortable putting the final washer full of whites in the dryer. While it was drying, I called Claude to help me try and get the ink out of the shirts now on top of the washer. We did our best but at least five articles of clothing we unsalvageable. What an experience. My fingers were bleeding by the time I gave up with hand rubbing that prewash into clothes. I will cut the buttons off the shirts and toss the fabric.

The other exciting thing was no mail delivered for while we were gone. I had set up for USPS to hold our mail for 26 days and deliver it on Wednesday. When we got home Tuesday, there was Tuesday's mail in the mailbox but no mail for 26 days we were gone. We waited until Wednesday's mail arrived. It was clearly for Wednesday only. I get USPS Informed Delivery everyday. That is an eMail that tells me what to expect in that day's mail. I had these eMail's in my trash. I went back through them and noted any items we might really want from that days mail. We stopped at the post office. I explained my concern. The clerk checked the back thoroughly and returned to tell me there was nothing in the back. It was like there was nothing they could or would do. We decided to wait till Thursday mail came, then I would go back to the post office and ask them to consult with whoever delivered mail to our home on Tuesday and Wednesday. Maybe they had it on their truck. We went to Burger King for dinner. When we returned home, there was a white basket/box from the post office by our front door. It had our mail from the last 26 days. Hallelujah. 

Thursday, September 24th, Claude purchased a few groceries on Wednesday. He got me chocolate milk and dates. This was a pure delight for my lunch for the rest of the week. 

The interesting thing this day was organizing the receipts from our trip. I put a manila envelope in each of our suitcases. These were for Claude to collect receipts in as we traveled. He puts them in his wallet during the day and moves them to the manilla envelope in the evening. I needed to know what hotel receipts I needed to print for him. Some had given me a receipt. Some had eMailed me a receipt. Some where Choice Privilege hotels and I told them I would print their receipt when I returned home. I spent a good bit of time going through each receipt. I made a stack each for hotels, gasoline, restaurants and food, entry into places and parking, and it seems like there was a fifth area, can't remember it. I put those receipts in dates order. Then I made sure I had a printed receipt for each of the hotels. This allowed me to delete in The Drive folder on my cellphone. Felt good to have that in order and feel comfortable deleting those things off my cellphone. Claude was happy to get the receipts back in some kind of order. 

The other problem I incurred was getting my pictures off my cellphone and onto my picture files on my laptop. I needed to do that to begin the blogging of the trip. Ideally, this should be an easy task. I have an app on my laptop and reads what is on my cellphone. I should be able to open that app, open file explorer with that app, then find all my pictures there. I can then cut or copy and paste them to my laptop. My app would open but none of my travel pictures where showing in file explorer. I had labeled my pictures each day of our trip. I could see them on my phone but not on the app. I decided I would have to eMail the pictures to my laptop from my cellphone. I started trying to that. My phone and laptop decided they were not going to play that game after doing two and a part of a day. So, here I sat with hundreds of pictures I needed on my laptop to begin my blog of the trip. After spending hours trying to get this to work, I determined to stop, let my phone and the laptop rest, and try again the next day. 

Claude made is delicious grill cheese and soup for dinner. Very comforting after a frustrating day with the pictures. 

Friday, September 25th, we were happy to get home and find the grass not knee deep in our yard. Claude cut it the day before we left. It had now been a month and the grass was longer than we normally left it but not over-the-top tall. That is a testament to not getting lots of water in Kentucky while we were gone. Claude would cut the front yard and edge it. It went fairly easy for him. I need to weed but we will wait for some rain to make that process a little easier. 

I went to work on my picture project. Amazingly, the picture showed up on the file explorer with my cellphone app on the laptop. I quickly copied and pasted all pictures into daily files under The Drive on my laptop. Hallelujah!! Then I set to work posting our travel pictures to Facebook. I did the first 16 days of our trip when we were travel the Lewis and Clark Trail and visiting interesting places. The last week of the trip was driving home and stopping to see family. I did not post that. 

Saturday, September 26th, Claude set to work cutting the back yard. Boy the grass needs water. Praying for rain. 

I started my day by being sure the lesson I was to teach in Relief Society was ready. I had prepared it before we left on our trip. I read through Elder Stevenson's talk about "Lost Luggage, Redeemed Souls" again. Then I opened my PowerPoint I had already created to use for this lesson and reviewed it. I made a few tweaks. If felt good to have this lesson so firmly in my heart and mind. We are on a new schedule at church now. Instead of 40 minutes for Relief Society, we now have 25 minutes. This leaves the teacher very little time to present the lesson. I would set up my lesson by comparing a personal experience with our luggage in Israel our first time abroad, with Elder Stevenson's personal example. Once the setting was firmly in place with a quote by Elder Stevenson about his purpose in sharing that example, I then used two of his bullet points about how to accomplish this helping of others as the Savior would. I prepared a slide for each of these points and then shared the first slide and let the sisters fill in with personal examples of how they have ministered to other adults or how other adults have ministered to them. The second point was ministering to youth. Again, after viewing the slide, the sisters shared examples. We ended right on time. Whew. It felt like the lessons went well. The hardest thing about teaching is all the personal feeling I gain from these General Conference talks. The lesson is to facilitate the sisters each finding their own personal testimony about the talks. It takes a lot of prayer and listening to the Spirit prompting me as to which pieces to use to teach a lesson that reaches all the sisters. This one felt particularly good.

The rest of Saturday I spent getting my Blog going for the trip. I determined I would do a Blog entry  for each individual day as some days had lots of pictures. I was able to get through 7 days with the time I had Saturday. 

Sunday, September 27th, Claude and I got to church at 10am. He put the hymn numbers up. I sat quietly grateful to be back in our home ward on the bench we always sit in. The second counselor showed up at the end of our pew just before the meeting started. He said Bishop wanted me to lead the singing. Elizabeth, Christensen, the organist, told Claude and me that Mark Thomas Watson was to lead the singing this day. We had not worried about it further. I assured him I could do that and left Claude to sit on the stand. My arm held out okay. Claude told me he can tell when it is getting tired but he doesn't think others can. I do enjoyed leading the singing. Wish my arm was stronger but at least it works well enough to be of help. 

I taught the Relief Society lesson and it was well received. 

We went to Panera to pick up lunch. They no longer have my Asian Sesame Chicken Salad. Ugh. I found a veggie bowl and ordered that. When we got home and I ate it, I found it to be delicious. They line the bottom of the bowl with phoofy lettuce in the bottom. I would order the salad again but I would ask them not to put lettuce in the bottom. And, I would order a half-size. Very good dressing to mix in with the veggies. 

I cleared the DVR while Claude slept. When he woke up we watched all the Music & the Spoke Word that were DVR'd from while we were gone. Then we found Pretty Woman and watched that. We each enjoyed a white peach while watching television. Yum!

Monday, September 28th, was my bi-annual dental cleaning. All went well for me. 

Claude would go to Dr. Hollen in the afternoon. He had a tooth fall out after we got home from the trip. He will now need and implant for that tooth. He starts the process in October. Claude would take back the mail basket and get a few grocery items while he was out and about. 

I finished the Relief Society newsletter for October and sent it to Jenessa Dymock, our president, for review. She approved it. Yeah!!

I was able to get Day 8 Blogged. 

In the evening, Katelyn and Drew called and asked Claude to say a prayer with them. Drew's mother, Denise, is not doing well at all in the hospital. They were going to talk with her about end of life care. Denise is only in her 50's so this is young for this needed conversation and decision. Claude gave a beautiful prayer. 

Tuesday, September 29th, was a good day. I received the final flyer to be added to the newsletter. I was able to get it printed, scanned, sent via Facebook and eMail. Then I created the eMail to get the Relief Society announcements for October to Jennifer Barber for the bulletin with the flyer for the October Relief Society activity. 

I set to Blogging again and got through our walk in the rainforest at Quinault, Washington. 

I called Junie, my sister, for her birthday. She was in great spirits and have a wonderful birthday. We had talked about rodeos. Junie and Steve had never been to a rodeo. She really wanted to experience that. Steve found one near enough to them to make a quick day trip out of it. They both loved the rodeo. They plan to go every year. 

In the evening. Claude made a baked halibut dinner with corn on the cob and a little salad. Mike and Neffie gave us the halibut. I sent them a quick text to thank them for this wonderful meal. 

Wednesday, September 30th, was a goofy day. Claude and I had both been diligent in trying to get back up to speed after returning from our trip. This was a week later and we had been very busy every day. I think we were ready for some down time. We both got up and accomplished something. I got two more days Blogged. Then we climbed into our recliners, Claude made us hot dogs and potato salad, and we watched Psych for the remainder of the day. 

Thursday, October 1st, we started a new month. We were officially in the last quarter of 2026. Yike!!

Claude tried to start his Jeep to back it out on Wednesday evening to get the garbage can to the street from the garage. The Jeep would not start. He back my car out and moved the garbage can. Then he found his trickle charger and put it on the Jeep. Thursday morning, the Jeep turned over but wouldn't keep going. He called Tire Discounters and told them he probably needed a battery and asked if they could look at the Jeep. They told him to bring it right in. I heard all of this happening and quickly went in and asked Claude how I could help. He wanted me to follow him to Tire Discounters in case he had any issues. He let the Jeep roll into the driveway. Then he backed my car out and pulled it around to the passenger side of the Jeep to give the Jeep a charge. Then we were off to Tire Discounters. The Jeep got there okay and we left it and drove to Chick-filA to get Claude some mini-chicken biscuits for breakfast. 

We did a couple of errands and then came home. Tire Discounters had called to say it was the battery and they would replace it, they had one in stock, and then run diagnostics to be sure nothing else was going on.

Claude got a nap and I continued to work on my trip Blog. I really wanted to finish the trip Blog this day.

Tire Discounters called. We drove over and Claude picked up his Jeep. He would go grocery shopping after. I would hurry home to complete the Blog of our trip. I did finish the Blog about 6:30pm. Whew! 

Katelyn sent us and update about Denise. They are moving her to hospice car and changing her health care directive to Do Not Resuscitate. That is a big decision. It will be hard for Drew. That is where my concern lies. 

While watching Psych, Claude received a notice on his phone that his package was at the front door. He ordered new cookware and new wooden cooking utensils. The cookware had arrived. These will presents he purchased for himself for his birthday. Look...he had a grin!!

Catching up with Family Pictures:

Satuday, August 29th, Raelyn and Emelia were treated to little motorcycle rides by a dear friend of Drew, their father. These guys have been friends since they were children. The girls were very happy to get to do this.

Tuesday, September 1st, was the first day of school for the Roper children. We have Raelyn, Emelia, Joel, two pictures of all three kids, one picture of Joel with Katelyn. Katelyn works in the same school that Joel attends. 

Tuesday, September 8th, Raelyn started piano lessons. Some new teaching method. 

Nelson had an abscess in his shoulder and a rash covering his entire body. They put him in the hospital to be sure of what was going on. He would have surgery to remove the abscess. Then he stayed an extra day as they tried to isolate the type of infection to determine the best antibiotic to give him. He is home now and back to his old self. This picture was taken Tuesday, September 15th of Nelson and Aubrey a Devos Hospital in Grand Rapids.

Raelyn was asked to speak in their Stake Conference. This picture was taken Sunday, September 20th, as she gave her talk. 

The Drive, Day 1, Fri, 8-28, Camp Dubois & Confluence of Mississippi & Missouri Rivers...

The inspiration for this year’s big adventure was the Lewis & Clark Expedition. Sent by President Thomas Jefferson, they would lead the Corp of Discovery from today's St. Louis, Missouri to Seaside, Oregon. We would drive 6998.9 miles in 26 days for an average of 264 miles per day. Our longest drive day would be over 7 hours. We would travel through 18 states, 4 time zones, cross the 45th parallel 2 times and use our America Is Beautiful Old Age Pass four times. This trip was epic for us. So many beautiful things to see, new things to learn and old favorites to see again. Time was spent with each of our siblings but one who was out of town.

We determined we couldn't see everything on the Lewis & Clark Trail so we determined we would see the three places they created winter camps, take a boat ride on the Missouri and the Columbia Rivers since they used the rivers as much as possible and see a few other things along the way. In addition, we had other places we wanted to see along the way.

Let's start our first day. We started at Bojangles for our biscuit breakfast at about 9:30am. It felt so good to see our travel vision unfold. There was yellow beginning to show on the trees in Kentucky. 

We sent this picture to our kids on our family Facebook page and assured them they did not need to worry about us. We were passed by a string of antique cars!! This was near Leavenworth, Indiana. 

Our first stop as in Hartford, Illinois. This was were the Corps of Discovery spent its first winter (Dec 1803-May 1804). This camp provided the opportunity to train the Corps. A lot of discipline was used to get them into shape for the grueling journey ahead of them. The camp was named Camp Dubois. The actual camp is gone but the Lewis and Clark Historic Site has a replica of the keel boat made for their journey up the Missouri.

The replica was made from a simple drawing in the journals kept by Lewis and Clark. I was told by a guide that this replica was actually brought into the building for this exhibit backwards. It has to be removed, turned around, and brought in again!

  

      

   

This statue at the entrance of the Visitor's Center is of Lewis & Clark with Lewis' dog, Seaman. 

We did make a quick pass around the museum before heading to Confluence Tower. This tower allows you to see, from the top, the place where the Missouri River flows into the Mississippi River. When the expedition left in March 1804, they would go UP the Missouri River. The word UP is important. They would be taking that keel boat and several pirogues UP the river, against the current. This would necessitate them often having to walk along the sides of the river and pull the boat through the current. There were two tour buses at the Visitor's Center. They were also headed to Confluence Tower. We were ahead of them and asked the lady about getting two tickets for us to go up the tower. She told us they were waiting for the tour buses and a group was already at the top. She was able to squeeze us in for a very quick elevator ride to the top and pointing out where the Confluence of the Rivers was. We were so grateful. There are three landings on this tower and they are all accessible by stairs to elevator. It costs $10 per person to go up the elevator with a guide.   

These are views of the Mississippi River from the top of Confluence Tower. The third picture is the same as the second except for a red dot below where the Missouri River flows into the Mississippi. There is a little island or peninsula that is come from behind. You can see a slight difference in the color of the water of each river at that point. 

   Then we went to the opposite side of the top of Confluence Tower. This picture has a red doc under what appears to be a tower. It is actually the St. Louis Arch and we are lined up with it so it appears like a tall tower instead of an arch. 

The Mississippi flows down this side of the tower as well. It seems there are locks on one side and not on the other. The water in these two pictures is the Mississippi River.  

 We headed into St. Louis and would see the Arch in full view. 

Our destination was Zia's on the Hill. This is definitely a favorite of Claude and me. I only get their salad. The dressing is so yummy. Claude usually has an Italian meal with a salad. This family is from Italy and their recipes are from there. 

 As we prepared for this trip, we decided to approach it as though we were living out of our car for 26 days. With that in mind, knowing there would be stretches of highway we would travel with no hotels, no gas stations and no restaurants for miles, Claude prepared to plastic containers with food for our trip. One of the neat things he found was Double-stuff Oreos with NO sugar. Amazing. 
Our first night was spent in St. Louis, Missouri. 
 
Gas this day: $4.09
Changed from Eastern Time to Central Time.