Getting Out of Dodge

Piles and piles

 At least we got it all down stairs or rather this kind gentleman got it all down stairs.  He says we are not the 1st and we will not be the last.

And as you know, it all made it. Tight but it made it.  See previous post

St. Louis and the Arch

 Sorry there are no pictures of the cross country but the plains of central Utah and Colorado are really not a whole lot better than the high plains of Wyoming.

After the night in the wonderful "upgrade" in Independence we "cruised" straight to St. Louis, fell into bed, slept got up, loaded up and started off.  Dad wanted a picture of the arch, I thought he meant he wanted to stop at the park and take some pictures but no.  Just let him off and he will get it from the street while I go around the block.

Southern Gentleman

I don't remember who this was but it was taken out of the car window.

We "press(ed) on to Atlanta" (us and Sherman and the Union Army)
Arrived very late and fell into bed only to arise and get on with it.  It was raining when we got up and out the next morning but as the sun got higher and we got further from Atlanta the rain began to slack off.

Yup, we're in the South

I told dad that we had not stopped for one thing and that when we got to this  fruit "stand" we were pulling off and enjoying a little local flavor.

He of course made use of the relaxation chairs while I shopped/looked.  I bought a bottle of Vadalia onion salad dressing (8 oz so pretty small, just a taste), some FRESH pecans, and a small jar of peach/pecan preserves.  Can't wait for that one on hot toast some winter morning.

Then back in the car for about 15 more miles at which time we decided we were hungry so we got off the interstate at some converted truck stop, bought some Tupelo Honey (which turned out to be "ambrosia) and some candied pecans.  Then we asked for a lunch recommendation and were directed to the Downtown Diner in Vienna GA.  Picture Mayberry RFD, Dukes of Hazzards and Flo all rolled into one.  The town has one stop light and the one cop car is sitting to the side of the light waiting for someone to run it.  But the cop was nice he directed us to The Downtown Diner when our directions proved a bit off and even vouched for the food.  The diner is a converted service station and after we had ordered Dad said, "I thought we would need to scrub off the table but it looks as though that is the problem, it has been scrubbed through the paint."  We shared a bar-b-que sandwich that nothing could have lived in because it was so thermally hot we had to wait to eat it.  Then we were off.

We are in Orlando!

 This is the apartment.  Not our home but sufficient.  The Young's got here with their stuff and our boxes on Tuesday also.  We have been back and forth several times as you can see by the boxes on the floor.  We are just trying to get as few things as possible moved over here because we don't want to move it all back at the beginning of Sept.

 And here is the AMA.  This is where he spends most of his time.  Tomorrow, 1st job is getting him some bluetooth ear phones so he can listen, talk and record with both hands at the same time.

We have had since Wed morning, sever headaches, hurt sholders, sever acne out breaks, what looks like a Whetlow (elder took a picture with his phone and mailed it to us), shingles, car bicycle accident, an elder with a veagle nerve problem (which is a real catch 22 because it is a real problem that he will probably out grow but stress and fear causes it to be more sever.  The symptoms are that as the patient is stressed his nerve begins to shut down his heart rate and he becomes lethargic, may even loose consciousness, then you are rushed to the ER because you fall over in a dead faint and your companion thinks you are on your way out on his watch.  Not a good thing to have as a 4 month missionary from Canada now in Florida and trying to learn Creole and riding a bike.  If the mission stress doesn't get you the climate will.)  Any way that is just some of the fun things dad is dealing with.  These poor mission moms!

Liz, any memories coming back looking at this kitchen?








This is a Queen bed and we did have to buy a foam pad to be able to sleep on it.  The 1st night is was like sleeping on "the rack" or a board.
Every thing is donated and I can see why the bed was donated.  It would have lasted about 30 min. in my house at this stage of my life.  Note all the blonde wood it is every where in missionary apartments.  I don't know if it is that popular here in other people's homes.  The rolling kitchen chairs are pretty good,  I think Catherine had some like these at one time and I know that there were at least two in Dad's garage that went to the DI.

On Wednesday night Sister & Pres. Hall (to my right) had the seniors for dinner to introduce the new ones and send off the couple going home (red skirt and white blouse).  The company was delightful and the food was GREAT.  A home cooked meal.  Yea!!!

We are have been asked to attend Zone Conferences somewhere starting Aug 14th.  There are 8 zones so we will have 4 one week and 4 the next and will be gone 2 weeks.  I will let you know if this comes to pass

Love to all Nana/Kathleen/Sister Rose