Mom's 96th Birthday - Mom Meets Her Latest Great Grandchild

It has been a busy 10 days.  My oldest brother Jim arrived along with wife Carol from San Antonio.  They stayed at Patti's, but we all had two dinners, along with a lunch at Leatherby’s Family Creamery, and, of course, Mom's Birthday Party on Saturday. 

 

 

After lunch, we all enjoyed some of their fine Ice Cream.  Mom is eating a Banana Split, and guess what....she ate it all.  That is Jim and Carol in the picture with her.

 

 Here is Otis Boaz, six months old, nearly 20 pounds.  What a cute boy!

 

Here is mom, my son Michael, and Addie in the distance between them.  Addie is going to be 4 in about 3 months.  She is small for her age, but she is as smart as any 3-4 year old can be.  She is a bit of a free spirit, and not into getting her picture taken much right now.  I have a bunch of pictures of this day...but I forgot to get one with Great Grandma holding Otis...but Mom sure enjoyed the visit.  Too bad that Anna was unable to be there.

Here is the Birthday Girl.  She wanted an Apple Pie with Ice Cream, and that is exactly what she got.  That huge Apple Pie is from Sam's Club, and it was delicious!  

 

 Here are mom's kids, less Bob who did not make it.  From left to right, with order of birth in parenthesis:   Dave (4), Roger (3), Patti (5), Jim (1) and Sandy (6).  Also in attendance was Carol (Jim's wife), Arny (Sandy's husband), Rochelle (Roger's wife) and Marcia (my wife).  We all had a great time...especially Mom.  Monday Jim and Carol headed back to Texas, and I went by to see Mom.  She had a good memory of her Birthday Week.  She remembered that Bob was not there without any hints.  She remembered Otis and Addie, but forgot Michael's name until I said it.  She remembered her Ice Cream at Leatherby's, her Pie and Ice Cream for her Birthday, and had a clear memory of much of the week.  That won't last...but at least she has the memories for a little while.

 

 

Back in the Sac

Sorry, no pics...didn't even take any that I know of.  Anyway, we are back in the Sacramento area, pulling in at my Sister's backyard at 4 pm on Wednesday.  Saw my daughter and her Aunt and Cousin in Salt Lake City, parking one night at her Aunt Debbie's house along the street.  Tuesday night, after early dinner at Texas Roadhouse, we drove to the Rest Area 10 miles east of Wendover Nevada.  As a rest area, which can be noisy, we did real well.  The remaining 525 miles to my sisters was uneventful, very little wind, we made good time.

Seeing mom early this afternoon, after getting the Van cleaned and some groceries bought.  Sister said it is best to visit mom around 1 pm, so that is our plan.  Now that we are back in our Home away from Home, there will be less postings, but I will always monitor the comments just about every day. 

Laramie, Wyoming

For the first day in four days we had little to no wind!  HURRAY!!!  I have been along I-80 from Sacramento until we turn south towards Kansas City so many times in my life.  Driving west many times one fights wind...no so today, the wind was light...it was a good drive.

 

This is one of my most favorite "man made" features along I-80.  It is the Lincoln Monument, a memorial to the Lincoln Highway.  The monument commemorates the sesquicentennial of Lincoln's birth by the state of Wyoming in 1959.  Before Interstate 80 was constructed, the
Abraham Lincoln Memorial Monument in Wyoming was located at the highest point of the original Lincoln Highway on Sherman Summit (or Sherman Hill), east of Laramie, at an elevation of 8,640 feet.  It was placed there on October 18, 1959, and was later moved in 1968 to its current location at a rest area on I-80. The highest elevation on Interstate 80 is
8,640 feet (2,633 meters) above sea level, located at the Sherman Summit in the Laramie Mountains of Wyoming...not far from this monument.

 

The details in the face and head are remarkable, especially for a monument which is nearly 70 years old.

We have stopped for the night at the Albany County Fairgrounds.  This is a self serve site, has about 15-20 sites, all with water, electricity and dump, and we are the only people here...in fact, other than a couple who were walking a horse, we have seen no one.  There is a self-serve kiosk, which includes a QR Code that will direct you to a site where you can put it on your credit card.  Cost is $40.  There is a train track a 1/2 mile away...we have heard no trains (been here for 5 hours so far.)

Tomorrow, Salt Lake City to see more family.   

Hope you have had a wonderful Easter Day....He has risen...HE has RISEN indeed!        
  

Grand Island, Nebraska

Just a quick note that we made it to Grand Island, Nebraska tonight...staying in a State Recreation park.  Electricity for $25...but the ALSO make you buy a out-of-state entrance fee at $14, so $39 for the night.  At least we can run our new DREO Space Heater that Nancy Kissack talked about in her blog.  She is right, it is quiet.  With temps dropping down to low 30's, it will be a good test as to how well it keeps us warm.

Wind has been our nemesis since leaving Cincinnati...today was mostly head on, but it still moved us around a bit.  Tomorrow we are hoping for Laramie...and wind is in the forecast.

SURPRISE! Visit with Marcia's Son John (no idea we were coming)

Thursday we got sidelined due to the weather.  The wind in Southern Illinois was real bad...30-35 mph wind guest...I was being blown all over the Interstate.  Finally gave up 120 miles shy of Amboy, where Marcia's son John works and lives in a small town sports bar...he has the entire second floor to himself.  We stayed at...yes...another Cracker Barrel, this one in Bloomington, IL.  The wind died down around 9 pm, we had a good nights sleep.  Drove north to I-80 where we went west for 1.5 miles and pulled into a Flying J to fill up and to empty.  (Got Gas, Emptied Waste Tanks)  We needed fresh water, but it was all turned off.  (Thank goodness we were able to fill up at the Bar later)

 We pulled up to the bar finding John sitting out on the bench in front of the bar.  He watches us pull in...he looks at me very hard and mouths "What the ???"  Then he sees his Mama in the passenger seat and mouths "MAMA!!!"   Oh, we surprised him alright!   Above he sits in his Walker (he needs a hip replacement), and you can see the bar in the background with one of his staff awaiting their first guests of the day (besides Marcia, Indy and me).

 

Here is Marcia sitting in her Walker, and you can see much of the rest of the bar behind her.  I was sitting in a cushioned booth along with Indy.  After talking, getting water, John and I went next door to get Lunch to bring back.  We had an enjoyable 4 hours with John, and headed out.  We are now in Davenport, Iowa staying WHERE????   Yes, a Cracker Barrel...but not eating tonight since we had a late lunch/early dinner with John.

As we travel through to Nebraska, Wyoming, and eventually Salt Lake City, we will be staying in a couple of campgrounds so that we will have electricity to help keep us warm at night.

 

 

Cincinnati -- Visit with Ryan and Kaelyn and Kids

 I LOVE coming into Cincinnati from the south, as you cross the river you immediately see Paycor Stadium, home of the Bengals Football Team.  As you take the turn of the Interstate you quickly come upon Great American Ball Park, home of the Cincinnati Reds.  And next to it is Heritage Bank Center, home of the minor league Cincinnati Cyclones Hockey Team.

As a kid I remember seeing the Oakland Raiders Frank Youell Field from I-80, where they played from 1962–1965 until the Oakland Colosseum opened in 1966.  Or seeing Arrowhead Stadium and Kauffman Stadium from the Interstate in Independence Missouri where the Chief's Football Team and the Royal's Baseball Team play.

 

The reason to come through Cincinnati was to visit with my son Ryan, wife Kaelyn and meet the three adorable girls that they have been fostering for the past 8 months.  Due to foster rules, I cannot show pictures or even mention names online.  Let's just say that these three girls are doing so well under Ryan and Kaelyn's control...we hope that one day the word "Foster" changes to "Adopted".  

Above is the house they literally moved into about a week ago.  Plenty of room for the expansion of the family.  Due to their 9 hour drive from Kansas City to Cincinnati yesterday, and the disorder that comes from moving, we only stayed for 3-4 hours, and then got out of their way.  The girls all got a kick out of me when I said, "What?  Didn't Aunt Stephanie tell you that her and Ryan's daddy looks like Santa Claus?"

Staying at another Cracker Barrel, this one at the boarder of Indiana and Ohio.  Had a thunder storm roll through, which was refreshing and it helped to clean some of the bugs off the van.