Headed South

Thursday

Bonnie and I both slept in later than usual today.  I was still reading email when she said she was leaving in 9 minutes.  I thought I had another hour.  I needed to help her load a table and chairs into the Odyssey.  She was taking them to sell at Arcade Junction and needed to meet her sister there.  I decided to stay out and finish flushing the water on the coach.  I put about 50 gallons of water in the tank and then flushed out the lines to each sink and shower.  Made a note to order a new filter for the ice maker.  Rolled up the hoses and stowed them.  It was nice out not too hot so I decided to install the filter for the drinking water.  I was not real happy with the location of the hole but had to use it because of the way the under-counter sink is mounted.

All ready to supply our drinking water for this year.

I missed lunch and so stayed out in the Coach and hooked up a 12 volt multi-outlet to use to power the GPS, Tire Monitor, and charge our phones.  I even used the built in vacuum cleaner to clean up the mess I made drilling a couple holes.  I cleaned up and called it a day.

Then I packed up some stuff for my son and made it to the Post Office before 4 to mail it.  They have strange new hours down there to "save money".  Then since we are going to be gone for the weekend I ran up to Court to clean up some paperwork.  Bonnie was home when I got home so I loaded up My Grandfathers mounted deer head to take to my cousins tomorrow.  He shot it in 1943 and I am passing it on to another family member to keep and cherish.

We watched a little tv and headed to bed early after packing suitcases for tomorrows trip, you guessed it we are not taking the Coach, I could not find an open decent campground near where we are headed.

Friday

We were up bright and early this morning and headed South by 8:30am.  Our first mission was to delivery the deer head.  We made good time with one stop to change drivers and one stop for gas at $3.39 a savings of $.40 a gallon by crossing one state line.  With the aid of the GPS and previous directions we found my cousin Shirley's house just before noon.  Her and Alec her husband have a beautiful house in a nice quiet setting.  Donna her sister was already there and Alec and I drove out and led Helen in to the house.  We had a great time visiting and catching up, sadly we do not see each other very often these days.  Shirley made a wonderful lunch and the others brought dessert.  I know I ate way to much but it was so good and the company was even better.

Me, Shirley, and Alec

It was after 4 when we got back on the road for our hotel in Monroeville.  I kept in touch with Silvia by text to see if they needed help at the church.  She said they were all set with plenty of hands.  So after checking in and a brief rest we headed to her house to join in the fun.  About half wee there as was my Aunt Katharine the main reason for our trip.

My Aunt, second cousin Stephen, his mom my cousin Bobbie, and Bonnie

Getting a little cool out on the porch

Tomorrow we are celebrating her 90th birthday.  My cousins have arraigned a dinner and get together.  We were able to have a great one on one time with her while the others were gone.  Then when the others got done at church they joined us and we sat out on Bob and Silvia's beautiful back porch and visited till well past 11pm.  Warren went to the airport to pick up the last of his daughters to arrive and we headed to our bed at the Red Room Inn.

Saturday

We slept in this morning and took it easy.  The party starts at 1pm.  Bonnie got up and got ready and we headed over to Kings Family restaurant for breakfast.  It was good and they were just finishing cleaning the room as we got back.  Time to shower and get ready to go and see if we can help a little.

We found the church and arrived at the perfect time just as the guest of honor pulled in.

We found the church

The guest of honor arrives

Happy as can be

Family prepares the food in the kitchen

With her cousin Ruth Jae Bader and Ruth's daughter

A tribute is given by Silvia

Mother and Daughters

Wishes made and Candles extinguished

The cake is cut

It was a great birthday celebration

Everyone pitched in to clean up and in no time at all we were done.  Lots of folks headed over to Bob and Silvia's to enjoy the beautiful afternoon.  A campfire blazed and lots of smores and campfire pizza's were made.  We had a great time talking to family that we seldom get to see and we really enjoyed having the time to talk to them and get to know them.  The kids all played well together and it was what many would call a perfect family day.

We said good by to the ones leaving early in the morning and good night to ones we hope to see tomorrow.  We were back in the motel by 9 and ready for a good nights sleep.  We all shared the pictures we took today so some of these pictures are not mine but are shared by other family.

Sunday

Well we slept in again today and we had another late breakfast at Kings Family diner.

A good cup of coffee brings a big smile

Then we headed over to Crossroads Cemetery to visit my Mom and Dads grave.  It was nice to see there Headstone sitting nice a straight again after the cemetery fixed it last year.  We also walked around and visited the other family graves that I knew about.  Then we headed over to Bob and Silvia's  again.  Most of the family was already on their way home but Aunt Katharine was on her way to visit for the afternoon.  We had a nice lunch and visited for a while.  Then Bob and I got to talking genealogy since my son is interested in it.  The next thing I knew I had downloaded Family Tree Maker and I had started a new hobby.  So Bob shared his info via a file download a few pointers and I am now on my own.  This could be a lot of fun so I am looking forward to it.  We looked at some pictures and also face timed with my son to talk about what he had already learned.

Then we all took my Aunt back to her place.  She recently moved into an assisted care facility and I was interested in seeing it.  Also she is moving into a bigger room and wanted Bob to help figure out where all her furniture would be placed.

No doubt this is the room

Lovely quilt

I always liked this picture of my Uncle Roy when I was a kid

The facility is very nice and everyone seems very friendly.  We got a tour of the whole place.  She seems to like it there and has made a lot of friends.  After that we said our good byes to everyone and headed to the hotel.  It has been a great weekend but I think everyone is pretty tired.  We caught the end of the race and the big wreck.  Now time to study this family tree a little, read a little and then get a good nights sleep.

Its been a great week Thanks for Checking In!