New York City ! ! ! !

Our first trip turned out to be a cloudy day - but we enjoyed the train ride down from Poughkeepsie to Grand Central Station. Then we rode a city bus down to Battery Park. After 2 security checks, we were allowed aboard the ferry that took us to Liberty Island. There she is...We walked around the base, then inside the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. It was quite a view of Manhattan from just the pedestal balcony.On our second visit to "the city". We met up with our friends from Kansas, the Hanson family. We toured Central Park, and the Natural History Museum. There are a lot of bones in that place!! Then a subway ride over to the Astor Theater for a matinee performance of the Blue Man Group. It exceeded our expectations - we were thoroughly entertained!!

After that - a trip to Times Square and then to a famous Pizza place.

If I weren't such a country girl, I'd move here. :-)

We made it to the BIG APPLE!

Made it to Maine

One Saturday we headed out in the car from Windsor, New Hampshire and drove all the way to the Atlantic coast in the state of Maine. Sounds far - but it was just over an hour's drive.
Below is the Nubble Lighthouse.

A little too chilly to swim - but warm enough to enjoy a walk along the beach in Maine.

As we drove through Ogunquit, Maine, we saw this beautiful stone library. Just had to take a picture.

Niagara Falls

The Prowell family had a fantastic time exploring the Niagara Falls area. We are so glad we could make it up there for a few days of R&R before heading to the next work project.

Exploring around Pittsburgh

From Mt. Chestnut outside of Butler, we drove 30 miles to downtown Pittsburgh, PA. There we spent time on the campus of University of Pittsburgh. Here is the Carnegie Library. It's just part of a massive structure also housing a history museum and art gallery.Here is the impressive Cathedral of Learning. Tallest schoolroom in the world. It looks like a medieval castle inside and around the perimeter are rooms depicting education in other countries around the world. This was awesome.

For fun one weekend, we attended the Butler Farm Show with Dr. Steve and Glenda Dillman. We looked at all the farm animals, tractors, and rode some rides.

Visiting Cade & Vicki in Ohio

After we left Indiana, we drove through Columbus, OH and to Cade & Vicki's house on the East side of town. We had a great weekend together. One day we drove downtown to visit the sights. First we visited a huge book store called The Book Loft. Room after room on several floors - we got lost for hours.
Then down by the river to see a replica of The Santa Maria. Legend has it that Christopher Columbus got this far inland - so they named the city after him. I'm skeptical about thatBack home, Cade gave Emma some archery pointers in the back yard. You should have seen their awesome garden, too!

Trip to Downtown Indianapolis

One Friday in July, Emma and I drove to downtown Indianapolis and had some fun. Here is the war memorial that is the centerpiece. It is a masterpiece.

On the circle around the monument sits one of the oldest churches in the city. We went inside and heard the noontime pipe organ recital.

There is an amazing glass structure called Artsgarden that connects the shopping mall to an office building and hotel.We went to the food court and ordered sandwiches at Chick Fil A - then went to the Artsgarden to eat -with traffic driving right beneath on the city street.While we ate, a jazz ensemble entertained us - isn't this a cool stage?

Camper Registration

On Monday another week of children's camp started here at Camp Camby. My job was to collect the money campers brought to spend at Snack Shack. I love that job. The table next to mine was the camp nurse. Kids brought in medications for her safekeeping, and also got their heads examined. . . . For lice. During slow spells at the snack sales table, I would watch the nurse at work.
We'd only been at our stations for 30 minutes when an adult rushed through the doors carrying a young boy on his back. The boys legs stuck out straight on either side of the counselor. One foot had a flip flop on it, the other had a bloody napkin. Following close behind were 8 nervous-looking boys. They swarmed the nurse's table and the boy was placed in a chair. After initial examination, the nurse assured everyone that the boy wouldn't require stitches OR amputation (big sigh from the patient's friends). He just needed the wound cleaned and bandaged. I motioned to one of the witnesses to come over to my table to tell me what had happened. With great
animation, he explained that their group had gone out front to pose for a picture, and then on the way back, just happened to find a parked trailer and decided to high jump over the hitch. All had passed this feat - except for the boy now crying at the nurse's station.

At this point, children waiting for their lice inspection were piling up. I scratched my head wondering what to do (just the mention of head lice makes me itch). I had observed the nurse doing this job and felt I could help out. I moved over to that end of the table and announced to the first camper in line - I'll check you for lice. This went well for several heads - I was feeling confident. I would look at the child's nametag, and chat with them casually as I ran my fingers through their hair looking for unwanted guests. As I was checking Tommy's head, I mentioned to him I was just looking around for "bugs". He replied, "Oh, I haven't had any bugs for a LONG
time." Thanks, Tommy. Define "LONG". I passed Tommy anyway and let the next child sit down. He had a buzz haircut. That's the best kind for lice checks, in my opinion. I went over his whole head and didn't find lice, just some crumbs leftover from the cookie eaten on the way here. I noticed he wasn't wearing his nametag, so I said, "Hey, kid - you'll want to stop by the front table and find your nametag.". . . . "Oh, I'm not going to camp, we're just here to bring my brother." "Oh really", I replied- "well consider this your complimentary scalp massage. Have a nice day."

4th of July in Louisville

We spent 4th of July weekend in Louisville, KY visiting friends Steve and Lisa. They live right by the Ohio river, and keep their sailboat docked just a short walk from their home. It was a cloudy day, but the rain held off and we went for a nice ride.

This is Sadie and Emma with Amelia, Steve & Lisa's granddaughter.Captain Steve at the helm.Back at the house for a music jam. Here is Lisa, Amelia, and Sarah. Joel was playing blues guitar, and Steve was playing harmonica. Scott was playing mandolin. I'm putting the video on facebook.

If we got thirsty or hungry for pretzels, Emma and grandson Caleb were ready at the Tiki Bar.

Scott and Steve playing music outside beside the pool and Tiki Bar.

Visiting Shut-ins - as Everyone SHOULD

We went to a place called "Johnson's Shut-Ins" near Arcadia, Missouri. Don't get hung up on the name-- this is a state park with a shallow river you can swim in. Absolutely loved the place. It was 95 on the thermometer and the water was clean and cool. Because of the rocks creating little "rapids", there are great places to sit against boulders and just let the water rush by you - SOOO refreshing.But back to the name.
I thought the term "shut-ins" meant someone who is homebound -due to infirmity or illness. Someone who needs phone calls from the prayer chain, meals on wheels, and a real live visitor now and then, to sit and chat. What genius some Missouri geologist had in naming this nifty outdoor playplace. Imagine the next time his mother-in-law called to see if he could get her toilet unclogged: "Oh, Mildred, I can't come over right now - I've got to visit shut-ins!" Or when his neighbor asks if he'd like to come over and watch tapes 4-9 of his recent trip to Indiana: "Hey, Dwight, I really appreciate the invite, but I've committed to spending more time with shut-ins this week". What a brilliant (and truthful) excuse! Reminds me of the time a guy in our town wanted to open a tavern. He named his bar "The Office" and the place was always busy (so I'm told). A friend of ours was home with the kids and wondered why his wife wasn't home from work yet. Called her cell phone: "Hi, honey - where you at?" "Oh, I'm still at "The Office", dear- be home in an hour or two". These unusual names for places has inspired me to give a new name to my bed. Its new name is "the word" (small w, of course). Friend on phone: "Hi, what have you been doing this afternoon?" Me: "Oh, just spending some time in "the word". Friend: "You sure inspire me. etc. etc."

Here's us spending more quality time with the shut-ins:I could go on - but I'd really rather go get in "the word".

Attack of the Killer Golf Cart

Most of you probably think of a golf cart as a harmless, somewhat slow-moving vehicle. I encountered the exception to this rule - a bright red golf cart that I attempted to drive. Pinecrest's gardener was leaving for the day and told Scott and I we could borrow his cart to run errand around camp.

The cart- "Christine" we'll call her, was parked in front of the gardener's home. I sat down and switched the key on and lightly touched the gas pedal. It's still called a "gas" pedal even when the unit is battery-operated - like this one. I was unprepared for the sudden jump to light speed. I didn't know golf carts can rear up with front tires off the ground like that. We covered the first 50 feet in "wheelie" mode. Once the front wheels settled back down to the pavement, I attempted to decelerate by pushing on the brake pedal. No change. Press harder. No change. Use BOTH feet and stand up on the brake. No change. By this time, we began to gather more speed down a slight hill. Unfortunately, at the bottom of the hill is the new pump house, where Scott is inside working.

My next thought - is "Oh no, I'm going to crash into the new pump house - this is awful". But just then I had a revelation: THERE'S a STEERING WHEEL gripped in my hands - this could be useful. At least I could choose my crash site. To the left was a steeper hill sloping down to dense woods - a tree could stop the cart eventually and I would probably be ejected. Might result in a trip to the hospital. To the right the road levels out and I could even try to turn the thing UP hill and slow it down, perhaps even get it stopped. I chose this path.

I steered past the pump house without taking any of the siding off. But my speed was still substantial. That's when I had a 2nd Revelation: THIS THING CAN BE TURNED OFF!" As I reached down to find the key and turn it off - I looked at the "gas" pedal, which was all the way down. Mind you, I had not touched the pedal since that intial tap in the beginning. Perhaps if I got my foot under it and pulled it back up.... Ahh HA! The little devil cart came to halt with the combination "key off - pedal back" move. I considered leaving it right there and walking home, but something my parents taught me echoed in my brain: "always return things where you found them." So with great trepidation, I turned the key on, but instead of engaging the gas pedal with my foot, I used one hand and operated it like a joystick - forward-GO, back-SLOW. The other hand steered, and I ignored the brake pedal altogether. I was able to get the cart back to the gardener's driveway - although it faced "in" instead of "out". I figured that was close enough.

Elephant Rocks State Park

Today we went to Elephant Rocks State Park near Ironton, Missouri. We had a picnic there and hiked the trail to see the giant granite rocks. It was a beautiful day.Can you believe how big this one below is? It's nicknamed "Dumbo".

As a tree gets bigger, it starts to grow "around" the boulder - like it's trying to eat it!

Graduation Time

My niece graduated from SNU in Bethany, Oklahoma. Here we are in the gym waiting for the ceremony to start.
Gabrielle with Cynthia's folks: Myrna and Charles Lucas.


After graduation, we all went to Swadley's BBQ and pigged out. Then back to Kathy's house to relax and have her famous Chocolate TRIFLE for dessert. Here's the whole gang:

Turner Falls

We visited Turner Falls in south central Oklahoma. It was a chilly day and there were very few other people. In the summer, many folks come here to hike and swim.

Below are the remains of a stone "castle" - someone's exotic summer retreat 70 years ago.

Dinosaur World

Over spring break, Sadie and Emma and Cynthia went to Dinosaur World in Glen Rose, Texas. We had a fun time walking through the park with life-size models of dinosaurs. Not nearly as scary as Jurassic Park.

Singing in Scottsville

We gave a concert for the worship service at Scottsville Community Church on February 22. Here we are outside the chapel.Below is a picture during one of our songs.

On previous Sundays, we enjoyed working with Rev. Phillip Phelps, Donna Hamiter and Johnnie (sorry forgot last name!!) singing and playing for the worship service.

Valentines Fun

We helped serve at a Valentine's Banquet at Scottsville Camp.
Below is Donna and Dan Hamiter - who is serving as Interim Camp Manager.

Next is Phillip and Alice Bough, who are ROAM volunteers.

Here we are setting up the hot serving line with Brenda Harwick, Heather, and Alice.












Volunteers got together the night before and had a little party of our own in Yocum Center.




















Emma found some time to go fishing in the camp's pond. The big one got away, however.
















One evening after work, Sue and Bill Ponder built a campfire and invited us all to enjoy it's warmth.