It has been about 18 days since last sat to say hello and update all with our travels.
This afternoon we arrived in Tyler, Texas.
We left Fayetteville Arkansas at 0700 this AM and arrived here about 3 PM.
We bid a tearful farewell to Peggy and Larry on the morning of 9 September. Our time with the Reinharts are always just perfect. This time we not only had remnants of the Hurricane but a week later...had flooding due to Hurricane Lee!! Their yard had a river running through it! We had spent the evening before the rain with Dan and kids as Amy was at the beach with her Aunt and the two youngest boys. Their home is a neat farmhouse that Dan has added onto with wood used from Larry's grandparents home...what a beautiful job he has done using the old wood. We found out the next AM that their basement had flooded. Tom even got involved in helping rescue two benches at Keith and Lisa's. The benches were near the creek on a wooden area that was flooded so Tom was able to go over and help Lisa move them to a safe place. Guess can say he helped out in the flood of 2011 in Lancaster!!! Larry, Peggy and Tom and I were able to spend the Labor day weekend just doing fun stuffs as Larry was off work. Tom could not believe had to mow the yard 2 times in 5 days!!! We had nearly 15 inches of rain in 2 days...more than Tucson gets in one year!!! We were also able to visit with their Aunt Doris and Uncle Jim which is becoming a tradition when we go to Lancaster...what special people they are too. Tom was a hit with the kids as he was happy to show them how to play Angry Birds and other games on the IPAD...another great reason to have an IPAD!!!! Once again we were blessed to spend these days with our Reinhart family....did I forget to mention the wonderful food that Peggy fixed for us....hmmmm...lots of fresh fruits and veggies and everything else wonderful...and Larry also had BITBURG Beer for Tom...what a friend!!! Peggy's grandson asked if we slept in the carrier on top of our car....how cute!
We had rain in Lancaster but by the time we got to Virginia, the sun was out. We stopped at Williamsburg and walked about and had lunch at the Cheese Shop(great little place to eat)and then headed to Langley AFB and walked around where we used to live and relived great memories
from 1975-76. We then headed to Virginia Beach where we spent 3 nights. We stayed at the Navy Lodge at Dam-Neck on Virginia Beach. The ocean was just across the Sand Dunes. We took the time daily to stroll on the beach and sit awhile...the water was warmer than in Plymouth!!! It is a private beach for the military so not a lot of people so very nice. We also walked the boardwalk at VA Beach...very crowded. We also checked out the Military Resort at Ft Henry. It was very nice but we felt the cottages and lodging at Dam-Neck (20 miles away) was a little nicer due to the location. We spent nearly a day at Yorktown Battlefield and walking around the town of Yorktown. The Va Beach area has so much to offer all ages so hope to someday go back with family and friends. One night we walked up to the beach to check out the full moon over the beach...amazing sight. One thing that never changes is the nice staff we always meet at the military billeting...they are just so willing to always help us.
We left Va Beach on a Monday morning ...late as we had slept in...no need to hurry!!
We drove thru Virginia and West Virginia and arrived in Ohio and drove on to Columbus where we stayed at a defense logistics base...also very nice...right downtown Columbus. We then met our friend Connie who lives in Lancaster, Ohio for a long breakfast to catch up. We were stationed together in Japan in 1971-75..what fun to catch up! Connie and Bob were "family" when we were in Japan and have continued to be. Bob died 3 years ago...but we were still able to talk about the good times we all had. We hope that Connie will come to Tucson and spend some time with us soon. Next stop....Dayton, Ohio!!
George and Pat came down and spent the evening and of course we had dinner...So good to give them a hug to celebrate George's news that his cancer is in remission! George took us the long route to dinner...even tho he had GPS...but it was OK as we are all retired so can take the LONG Way...huh George! We stayed in Billeting at Wright Patterson AFB so Maryann was able to just walk across the street to visit with Amy Kinnon. Maryann and Amy worked together in Tucson for several years. As always...lots to talk about! Tom took the opportunity to finally get a hair cut!!! We then went and surprised Greg Eberhart at his office ( he is a pediatrician near Dayton.) Greg worked with Maryann at Davis-Monthan. We had his office staff tell him that a patient had a complaint and insisted on talking to HIM....he was very surprised to see us! He had a very nice practice and staff. We arranged to meet for dinner and then went back to his home to spend some time with Angie as she had a meeting so could not join us for dinner. How blessed we are to know and have such wonderful friends!
Tom took the time to go to the Air Force Museum and will need to go back as was much bigger than he thought.
We then packed up and headed southwest to Cape Giradeau, Missouri on the Mississippi River.
Tom's roommate, Danny Conrad, now lives there. The last time they saw each other was in 1968. They had been roommates before Tom left for Vietnam ...Danny, Tom and Tony who we saw in Harrisburg were friends at Barksdale AFB "back in the day". We had dinner with him..his wife was not able to join us as had other commitments. It was like they had never been apart. It was so moving to see them give each other big hugs...just like when he met with Tony in Harrisburg. After all these years...still buddies!! Danny is now an RN. Definitely a REUNION with the 3 of them in the near future!!!
Well where should we go from there...we were heading for Arkansas...and thought that we had been thru Memphis but never really stopped there...so we found a Navy Lodge in Memphis and stayed for two nights. We spent a day in downtown Memphis walking around Mud Island ( a miniature replica of the Mississippi River on the island) and riding the trolley. We went to Beale Street and had THE BEST BBQ at BB King's Restaurant and listened to JAZZ. We also went
to the Peabody Hotel and watched the famous "Duck Walk". WHO KNEW that for decades these ducks have been trained to walk from the roof to the elevator on the top floor and then take the elevator down and walk to the fountain on the first floor and hundreds of people come to watch them daily.....NOW WE KNOW! We can now take that off our bucket list!!!! hmm..even tho not sure it was going to be on our bucket list.
Now it was time to head to Fayetteville Arkansas. We stayed in Fort Smith Arkansas at a reserve base...they gave us a 2 bedroom house!! We went up to Fayetteville and spent time with Uncle Herb and Aunt Marilyn on Saturday and then drove back to Fort Smith for the night. Sunday we visited with Uncle Herb and Aunt Marilyn and their daughter from Florida before we met with Aunt Lois and Stephen for dinner. We then went back to Aunt Lois and her kids came over and then the rain came and then the tornado warnings...Maryann was looking for a place to hide as the warnings were within less than a mile from Aunt Lois home...we all visited and the weather warning moved on. We stayed in Fayetteville that night at a hotel before moving into Uncle Herb and Aunt Marilyn home. Of course we were invited over the next night to Scott's for an Ardemagni BBQ with the family. Of course we went and had such a great time..lots of laughing and great food!!
Monday we moved in with Aunt Marilyn and Uncle Herb and were delighted to be able to help with house and yard chores for the next few days. We visited two of Tom's Aunts and saw Mike and family and Debbie and family. Once again Aunt Marilyn and Uncle Herb made us feel like we were right at home! We are so lucky to be able to "arrive on the doorstep" and greeted with open arms and hugs...and a place to stay.
This morning, we got up early and headed for Van, Texas. We just spent another wonderful evening with friends. Tom , Maryann and Darlene were stationed together 40 years ago...tonight we were able to meet Ronnie, Darlene's husband for the first time. Once again it was like we knew each other for years and had not been apart. They took us to a nice dinner and showed us around Tyler, Texas and we shared pictures of our families...What blessings we have to be able to meet up with our friends from the past!!
Tomorrow we will be heading to Spring, Texas to see Fred and Belinda who we met in Austin, Texas 37 years ago and have not seen since we left Texas 36 years ago. The anticipation is growing as we are so excited about spending the weekend with them.
We of course are talking with Kelly and girls and Carrie frequently. Buddi is still healthy!
Kelly called and asked her Dad to assist with the Samantha's 5 yr old soccer team that she volunteered to coach...Kelly is studying how to be a soccer coach..and Tom will have to study too, as he does not know anything about Scoccer. I think Pete, Bryan's Dad is going to help too. HMMMM...Maryann will be helping with watching the Molly and Kirsten...no need to study up on that!!! Also Carrie has asked if we can keep Buddi for a few days in October when we get home. So we were so thrilled to know that we will have "stuffs" to keep us busy on our return to Tucson!! What a relief!
Tom and I continue to enjoy our days together...in fact we feel that our relationship has grown since our adventure began 4 months ago..did not think that was possible but it has!!
God has blessed us not only with wonderful family and friends but with safe travels and blessings of all of those who have opened their homes and hearts to us during our adventure.
Maryann was reading and found this quote that would like to share with all:
"It does not take much strength to do things, but requires great strength to decide on what to do". We hope we can always have the strength to be able to know what is the best to do for our family and friends and those we meet ... and to always be here for them as you all have always been here for us at home and in our travels..no matter how long it has been since we have talked or been together...we are blessed to have you all in our family.
We appreciate you keeping us in your prayers and we continue our travels to Tucson.
God Bless
Love and hugs
Tom and Maryann
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Lancaster PA....4 Sept 2011
Good Morning
We are now in Lancaster, PA.!
We bid a farewell to Pete and Linda on the early morning of 3 August to head to Pennsylvania.
We took the scenic route through Rhode Island, Conn. and New York. We did make one final stop to have a seafood lunch prior to leaving the Northeast Coast!!! Pete and Linda were such great host that it was bittersweet leaving them...even knowing we would see them when we get back to Tucson in October. We thank them for sharing their family history and allowing us to spend time getting to know their family from the area...what gracious people!!
We arrived at Maryann's home to spend time with Mom and family on 3 August in the evening...as we hit traffic on Interstate 80...not sure why we were at a near standstill for over an hour...as could not see any reason for the delay. Tom said that "just Pennsylvania"! We hit rain just as we arrived at the PA border and it follow us to Maryann's Mom's in Karthaus, PA..central PA. Of course they were having the hottest week of the summer...Mom does not have air conditioning...hmmm. Very hot sleeping on the second floor...the window fan did move the air around a little... Maryann's sister Joan and her Tom brought them a large fan up from the camp which made the nights bearable...during the day we had 4 fans going in the room we were in....even thought it would be better in the 108 degree days were having in Tucson...as 0 humidity vs 100 % humidity!!! We were able to help Mom with stuffs that needed done around the house. My brother in law Kenny and Tom decided that the sidewalk needed to be leveled.. Maryann even was part of the team to help..and we were able to get most of it done. Of course it started to pour so we were able to get wet before we decided to finish another day.
Tom and Kenny were able to spend lots of time together..they are like brothers...lots of time spend at Kenny's Camp sitting and talking and of course..drinking beer and eating peanuts!! Tom got to see lot of deer too..
It was difficult going home and knowing that Maryann's sister Carol would not be there to make us laugh. ( for those who do not know, Carol died suddenly from cancer last October..after only being sick for 5 weeks..she was 64). It was a comfort to sit on the bench Carol had always wanted vs a tombstone. It is right down from her and Kenny's home and looks over the mountains. Maryann keeps Carol in her heart but it was a comfort to be able to go up and just sit and talk and just be there knowing this meant so much to Carol. We were able to see cousins and attend birthday parties, make Pigs in the blanket with Julie (Carol's daughter) and play dice and do all the things we miss out on living far away. Maryann took Mom shopping and out to lunch and we were able to convince Mom and her sister to go to town and have lunch and just dropped in on her Aunt's daughter and she went to lunch with us...a 2 hour day trip turned into 7 hours!!! Mom's brother lives in Cleveland, Ohio so was able to convince Mom to go see him. We left on a Sunday afternoon and went to Joan's and her Tom's and spent the night and went on to Cleveland ( 1.5 hours from Joan and Tom's) the next day. Had a wonderful visit and so good to see Uncle Eddie and his family as had been 20 years since Maryann had seen him.
When we returned to Linesville, PA where Tom and Joan live, it was a beautiful day so Joan and Tom got out there ATV's and let us not only ride but drive!!!! Maryann had never been on a ATV...let alone let her little sister drive...but after a short time....Joan was riding with Maryann!!! We have pictures...Joan said could take off her bucket list....never really on her bucket list...but it was so much fun....so many laughs. We also went to the Amish place to shop and to the canal to feed fish...amazing how many fish...Mom has not done before so was good to share with her...she could not be convinced to get on the ATC with her daughters!!! (could not blame her). Tom and Joan are also such great hosts...lots of great food and dice games. Kenny, Tom and Maryann also spend a day with them at their camp ..yes the sisters did some more ATV riding... Maryann was able to see two good friends she grew up with and spent nearly an entire day with Janet ...going to dinner and movie...had not done that in YEARS!!!
It was so fun to see the cousins and their kids...the little ones were thrilled to use the IPAD to play Angry Birds... The night before we left, there was no parking at Mom's house as everyone came to say good bye. What fun!
On 27 August we said our teary good byes to Joan and Tom and Mom and Kenny and headed toward Hurricane Eilene..hmmm. We arrived in Harrisburg, PA about 11 AM and spent several hours over lunch with a friend Tom had found on Facebook that lived in Harrisburg. Tony and Tom were stationed at Barksdale AFB together. They had not seen each other since 1968!!! It was like they had never been apart. It was fun for Maryann to listen to all the stories etc. We look forward to seeing them again...either in Tucson or in Harrisburg...Tom and Tony are trying to find others who were with them and try to set up a reunion. THE AF is a small world.
After our time with Tony, we went to Maryann's Aunt Ethel's and we had a get together with Aunt Ethel and kids and Aunt Fran. It was Linda's birthday so we got to share another family event. When you go to my Aunt Ethels...you always come out weighing much more...she alway has lots of food and can get it all together in minutes!!! Linda had spent 6 weeks with us in Hawaii years ago...and we had not seen her since..she was 40 and when she was in Hawaii...she was 14!!! hmmm . What good memories.
Talked with Peggy and Larry on our way down and they were concerned as the hurricane was to hit Lancaster...we decided we had never spent a hurricane with them so would come on down!! We arrived here about 8 PM. Had rain and winds during the night but no loss of power etc. Sunday the morning had reports of severe rain and winds but we were able to go out in the afternoon to a nice sunny day. There were several area with trees down and no power but we were not affected. Since arriving in Lancaster we have been able to share the joys of seeing Peggy and Larry's kid, grandkids and family that we see as our own...even got to meet their bible study group at a pot luck and went back to church with them today and attended bible study with the same folks...such friendly people...felt just like we were at home! Today the sermon was on friendship...how appropriate...we were meant to be there!! Yesterday we did the Lancaster tourist stuff. Dan is the engineer at the Strasberg railroad so he was so good to get us tickets so could ride his train after a wonderfully breakfast at "Sugarplums and Tea" in Lancaster...highly recommend if you come to the area. Tom is Larry's yard boy while we are here and making sure the yard is mowed. Maryann, Tom and Peggy made cookies from Larry's Mom's recipe too as a surprise for Larry as he has had to work!!! Once again, we feel so at home here with Peggy and Larry! How blessed are we!!!
We were also able to visit Maryann's Aunt who lives in Lancaster too.
We are so blessed to not only have family but friends that are family too..it is the best of times to share moments with them.
Update on Buddi...Carrie says he is back to being Buddi...he will have more labs done this week to see if needs to continue on his meds. He sent us a video last week and YES, he does look like he is OUR Buddi again! Carrie has started her last class and then will have her BS degree.
We SKYPED with the girls last weekend...what a treat.
As we got on the interstate last weekend heading this way, we received a phone call and email from Pat and George with wonderful news. George's cancer is in remission. Thank you all who have been praying with us! We have planned to meet up with them in Ohio as they will be near I 70 as we make our way south. What tears of Joy we had to hear this news about our "GEORGE" and Pat!
Our travels will take us South on Friday when we leave. We will spend a couple nights at Virginia Beach and then head to Ohio and down to St Louis and then on the Arkansas before we head to Texas to visit friends and home...should arrive on 2-3 October.
All keep asking us what is the best part of these travels...everyday is a blessing and to be able to spend time with family and friends in their everyday lives seems like that is where we need to be...helping when we can or just visiting etc.
How blessed we are...and how fortunate we are to have all our family and friend at home checking on our home and knowing they will be their when this adventure ends.
We are keeping you all in our daily prayers. We ask you to keep us in your prayers as we head home.
Love and hugs
Tom and Maryann
We are now in Lancaster, PA.!
We bid a farewell to Pete and Linda on the early morning of 3 August to head to Pennsylvania.
We took the scenic route through Rhode Island, Conn. and New York. We did make one final stop to have a seafood lunch prior to leaving the Northeast Coast!!! Pete and Linda were such great host that it was bittersweet leaving them...even knowing we would see them when we get back to Tucson in October. We thank them for sharing their family history and allowing us to spend time getting to know their family from the area...what gracious people!!
We arrived at Maryann's home to spend time with Mom and family on 3 August in the evening...as we hit traffic on Interstate 80...not sure why we were at a near standstill for over an hour...as could not see any reason for the delay. Tom said that "just Pennsylvania"! We hit rain just as we arrived at the PA border and it follow us to Maryann's Mom's in Karthaus, PA..central PA. Of course they were having the hottest week of the summer...Mom does not have air conditioning...hmmm. Very hot sleeping on the second floor...the window fan did move the air around a little... Maryann's sister Joan and her Tom brought them a large fan up from the camp which made the nights bearable...during the day we had 4 fans going in the room we were in....even thought it would be better in the 108 degree days were having in Tucson...as 0 humidity vs 100 % humidity!!! We were able to help Mom with stuffs that needed done around the house. My brother in law Kenny and Tom decided that the sidewalk needed to be leveled.. Maryann even was part of the team to help..and we were able to get most of it done. Of course it started to pour so we were able to get wet before we decided to finish another day.
Tom and Kenny were able to spend lots of time together..they are like brothers...lots of time spend at Kenny's Camp sitting and talking and of course..drinking beer and eating peanuts!! Tom got to see lot of deer too..
It was difficult going home and knowing that Maryann's sister Carol would not be there to make us laugh. ( for those who do not know, Carol died suddenly from cancer last October..after only being sick for 5 weeks..she was 64). It was a comfort to sit on the bench Carol had always wanted vs a tombstone. It is right down from her and Kenny's home and looks over the mountains. Maryann keeps Carol in her heart but it was a comfort to be able to go up and just sit and talk and just be there knowing this meant so much to Carol. We were able to see cousins and attend birthday parties, make Pigs in the blanket with Julie (Carol's daughter) and play dice and do all the things we miss out on living far away. Maryann took Mom shopping and out to lunch and we were able to convince Mom and her sister to go to town and have lunch and just dropped in on her Aunt's daughter and she went to lunch with us...a 2 hour day trip turned into 7 hours!!! Mom's brother lives in Cleveland, Ohio so was able to convince Mom to go see him. We left on a Sunday afternoon and went to Joan's and her Tom's and spent the night and went on to Cleveland ( 1.5 hours from Joan and Tom's) the next day. Had a wonderful visit and so good to see Uncle Eddie and his family as had been 20 years since Maryann had seen him.
When we returned to Linesville, PA where Tom and Joan live, it was a beautiful day so Joan and Tom got out there ATV's and let us not only ride but drive!!!! Maryann had never been on a ATV...let alone let her little sister drive...but after a short time....Joan was riding with Maryann!!! We have pictures...Joan said could take off her bucket list....never really on her bucket list...but it was so much fun....so many laughs. We also went to the Amish place to shop and to the canal to feed fish...amazing how many fish...Mom has not done before so was good to share with her...she could not be convinced to get on the ATC with her daughters!!! (could not blame her). Tom and Joan are also such great hosts...lots of great food and dice games. Kenny, Tom and Maryann also spend a day with them at their camp ..yes the sisters did some more ATV riding... Maryann was able to see two good friends she grew up with and spent nearly an entire day with Janet ...going to dinner and movie...had not done that in YEARS!!!
It was so fun to see the cousins and their kids...the little ones were thrilled to use the IPAD to play Angry Birds... The night before we left, there was no parking at Mom's house as everyone came to say good bye. What fun!
On 27 August we said our teary good byes to Joan and Tom and Mom and Kenny and headed toward Hurricane Eilene..hmmm. We arrived in Harrisburg, PA about 11 AM and spent several hours over lunch with a friend Tom had found on Facebook that lived in Harrisburg. Tony and Tom were stationed at Barksdale AFB together. They had not seen each other since 1968!!! It was like they had never been apart. It was fun for Maryann to listen to all the stories etc. We look forward to seeing them again...either in Tucson or in Harrisburg...Tom and Tony are trying to find others who were with them and try to set up a reunion. THE AF is a small world.
After our time with Tony, we went to Maryann's Aunt Ethel's and we had a get together with Aunt Ethel and kids and Aunt Fran. It was Linda's birthday so we got to share another family event. When you go to my Aunt Ethels...you always come out weighing much more...she alway has lots of food and can get it all together in minutes!!! Linda had spent 6 weeks with us in Hawaii years ago...and we had not seen her since..she was 40 and when she was in Hawaii...she was 14!!! hmmm . What good memories.
Talked with Peggy and Larry on our way down and they were concerned as the hurricane was to hit Lancaster...we decided we had never spent a hurricane with them so would come on down!! We arrived here about 8 PM. Had rain and winds during the night but no loss of power etc. Sunday the morning had reports of severe rain and winds but we were able to go out in the afternoon to a nice sunny day. There were several area with trees down and no power but we were not affected. Since arriving in Lancaster we have been able to share the joys of seeing Peggy and Larry's kid, grandkids and family that we see as our own...even got to meet their bible study group at a pot luck and went back to church with them today and attended bible study with the same folks...such friendly people...felt just like we were at home! Today the sermon was on friendship...how appropriate...we were meant to be there!! Yesterday we did the Lancaster tourist stuff. Dan is the engineer at the Strasberg railroad so he was so good to get us tickets so could ride his train after a wonderfully breakfast at "Sugarplums and Tea" in Lancaster...highly recommend if you come to the area. Tom is Larry's yard boy while we are here and making sure the yard is mowed. Maryann, Tom and Peggy made cookies from Larry's Mom's recipe too as a surprise for Larry as he has had to work!!! Once again, we feel so at home here with Peggy and Larry! How blessed are we!!!
We were also able to visit Maryann's Aunt who lives in Lancaster too.
We are so blessed to not only have family but friends that are family too..it is the best of times to share moments with them.
Update on Buddi...Carrie says he is back to being Buddi...he will have more labs done this week to see if needs to continue on his meds. He sent us a video last week and YES, he does look like he is OUR Buddi again! Carrie has started her last class and then will have her BS degree.
We SKYPED with the girls last weekend...what a treat.
As we got on the interstate last weekend heading this way, we received a phone call and email from Pat and George with wonderful news. George's cancer is in remission. Thank you all who have been praying with us! We have planned to meet up with them in Ohio as they will be near I 70 as we make our way south. What tears of Joy we had to hear this news about our "GEORGE" and Pat!
Our travels will take us South on Friday when we leave. We will spend a couple nights at Virginia Beach and then head to Ohio and down to St Louis and then on the Arkansas before we head to Texas to visit friends and home...should arrive on 2-3 October.
All keep asking us what is the best part of these travels...everyday is a blessing and to be able to spend time with family and friends in their everyday lives seems like that is where we need to be...helping when we can or just visiting etc.
How blessed we are...and how fortunate we are to have all our family and friend at home checking on our home and knowing they will be their when this adventure ends.
We are keeping you all in our daily prayers. We ask you to keep us in your prayers as we head home.
Love and hugs
Tom and Maryann
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