Well, good morning. Here I am to finally tell you about my wonderful vacation trip that I had from June 11th - 17th. The reason for my tardiness in reporting is that I came home so thoroughly exhausted and felt so bad I just could not bring myself to sit at this computer and write. To be able to tell you about this "trip of a lifetime" I wanted to feel well so that I could convey to you the wonderful experiences that I had on this excursion.
Forty Three people boarded a luxury bus on Saturday morning at 8:00AM. Everyone was full of conversation, laughter and anticipation for what we knew was going to be a great week. My roommate was my friend, Sara. Also on board this bus were some of my really good friends and former traveling companions, Kay Hudson, Betsy Smith and Susie Williams. My long-time friends, Billy and Peggy Jones, were also on board. So you see, I was surrounded by really good friends. As soon as the bus was a safe distance from the Shrine Temple meat/cheese balls were passed around along with whatever you desired from the fully stocked bar. From that point on we were snacking on cookies, candies, peanuts and other goodies. Our travel the first day took us to Virginia and the beautiful mountains and rolling meadows of that beautiful state. We spent the first night at a Holiday Inn in Roanoke. After a restful night and a good breakfast we boarded our bus for another day of travel, eating, card playing, napping and made our way to New Jersey. Our dinner was prepared for us at Applebee's Restaurant in Edison, New Jersey where we dined on sirloin steak, pasta dishes, fish or chicken. After this meal we made our way to Carteret, New Jersy to the Radisson Hotel for another good night of rest and relaxation. After that long bus ride it was just complete Heaven to take a long leisurely bath and stretch out on a comfortable bed. After breakfast on Monday morning we made our way with great anticipation to New York City. A young, energetic, most knowledgeable tour guide came on board our bus and we toured the entire city of Manhattan, stopping for lunch at Rockefeller Center and an hour of browsing that area. After lunch we boarded our bus and went to Ground Zero where we observed the ruins from the 5th floor of a building nearby. It was so emotional to stand there and see what was left of the two magnificent towers and remember that day on 9/11. From that point we drove through all of the rest of the island - China Town, Little Italy, Harlem and the Battery for a view of the Statue of Liberty. We ended our tour with a lovely private dinner at Ginger's Restaurant on the 5th Floor of the Double Tree Hotel where a room was prepared with china, crystal, silver and a sumptuous buffet dinner. After dinner we drove to our destination hotel in Atlantic City - The Tropicana Casino Resort Hotel. Sara and I were directed to a room on the 46th Floor that had a view of the ocean and most wonderful queen sized beds and other beautiful furnishings.
Tuesday, after a breakfast buffet at the Fiesta Room of the hotel, we drove to Philadelphia where we were met with another young, knowledgeable tour guide for a tour of everything historical. She gave us dates, times, people's names and places where everything that makes up the history of our country took place. The bus stopped at the steps where in the movie "Rocky" he ran up all of those steps to prove he was ready for a career in boxing. Some people ran up the steps but I just stood at the bottom quite content to make a picture. After a luncheon of sandwiches and cokes at a food court I visited the Liberty Bell and made some more pictures. We left Philly and drove back to the Tropicana for a nice dinner at the Fiesta Room Buffet. The food there was quite good and so many choices for our pleasure.
Wednesday was a Free Day to do anything we desired. Sara and I took our time with getting up and dressing and having a good breakfast and then we went to the Board Walk. All of my life I have heard of the Board Walk in Atlantic City and here I was, actually seeing the shops the people, the ocean and the beach. What a wonderful experience. After making some purchases and walking as much as we wanted we went back to our room for a game of Scrabble and a nap before dinner at the hotel. In our Tour Package we were given $30.00 for playing the slot machines so we made our way into the casino and had a fun time winning, losing, winning again and then cashing out. I came away with $30.40 which I thought was splendid.
On Thursday morning we were told to have our luggage ready for pick up so after breakfast we finished packing and set our bags by the door and made our way down to the bus. When I say "made our way" I am telling you that every time we tried to go anywhere in this massive building we seemed to get lost and would wander forever until we finally would see something familiar and would be able to go where we wanted to be. It got to be a real joke among everybody that we seemed to go around in circles to get to a final destination. After boarding the bus we departed for Baltimore, MD where we parked the bus at the Inner Harbor and had some hours of shopping, lunching and just sitting and watching the beautiful ships that were coming in and out of Chesapeake Bay. When this excursion was over we boarded the bus and drove to Lexington, Virginia. We were so tired when we got there that rest was welcome and sleep came quickly.
Friday morning found us having breakfast at the hotel, boarding the bus for a long, tiring day of card playing, snacking, drinking, talking, napping and longing to see Nashville and getting off of the bus. We stopped at a Subway Sandwich shop for lunch and decided not to stop again until we were home. We arrived back at the Shrine Temple at 5:00PM and there stood Kim waiting for Sara and me. What a welcome sight.
I have no words left in my vocabulary to tell you what an amazing experience this entire trip was for me. Yes, riding a bus as much as I did made me very tired but to go through the states of Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and see the beautiful countryside was a delight that I will carry in my mind forever. I came home with so many memories of sights that I saw, things that I heard, friendships that I made among the travellers, and I feel so privileged to have been able to make this trip at this time in my life. I have made many trips to New York and on this tour I just rode by all of the places that meant so much to me - the Metropolitan Museum, the Guggenheim Museum, FAO Swartz, the Empire State Bldg., the Plaza Hotel - so many others that are too many to name. I had made the statement that I would never get to see New York City again in my lifetime but I did and I am happy that I could ride by and not have to walk to all of those places.
When the information came out many months ago telling about this trip I knew that it was something that I wanted to do. My children helped it become a reality. Some of my friends helped it to become a reality. I rearranged many activities to leave me free to go, but I know that it was in God's plan for me to go and see the things that I experienced while I am still able to do it. I have thanked Him many times for working it out for me and it makes me understand even more that God is good - all the time.
Friday, June 24, 2011
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
SUMMER HAS ARRIVED IN ALL IT'S GLORY
Today is the first day of June. We are entering the second half of the year already. So many things have happened in the first half it just makes me wonder what is yet to come? I'm sure that it will be pleasurable and happy some of the time, unhappy and unexpected sadness some of the time because such is life. As the song goes "I didn't promise you a rose garden" but we do have lots of roses and, fortunately, few thorns among them.
One of my "roses" happened this past Sunday. The day had been designated as Adoption Sunday at First Baptist Church in Hendersonville. This day, that is held every year, is a day that the church pauses and honors those people who have adopted children, are adopted themselves or contemplating adoption, etc. Nita and Ray were invited to speak to the church on the subject of integrating an international adoption into the family. They did a remarkable job in a short time of telling how much it meant to have Patrick Ray and Nicholas Drew Maddux in their family. We watched a film of Drew announcing that he and Tara had decided to adopt the boys from Uganda and the film followed their journey to the orphanage and meeting the boys and then going back and bringing them home. This whole procedure took over a year but Drew and Tara, with fierce determination and validation from God, pursued all of the mountains of paperwork and being delayed with a date and everything until the day came that they were approved, a date given and the trips (2 of them) made to bring the boys back and introduce them into our family. As Ray said in his part of the speech "our family looks different now but it is a family" and that is true. It is hard to remember when Patrick and Nicholas were not running around screaming and playing with the other children when we have family parties. I was so proud of Nita and Ray as they spoke from the pulpit and I was proud of Drew and Tara as they stood up to show the boys. Now, our next adventure is when Emily and Jackson go to Haiti to bring back Jode and Valencia, two little girls that they are adopting and bringing to be a part of our family. The commitment and obedience to God's calling for my grandchildren is just overwhelming to me. As my mother would say if she was here "I glory in their spunk".
As I mentioned earlier, it is June now and we just stepped from winter right into summer. It is hot and sultry and not good to spend time outside. Yesterday as I ran some errands I realized that the summer sun and fun I used to think was so great is not so great now. Poor Houston has to get up early in order to get to go walking because we have to beat the heat. We love walking the track beside my apartment and following the trail over a creek and into the park. He saw two ducks in the creek yesterday and it was a tug of war between him and me to keep him from chasing right into the water after them. By the way, I won!!!
Next week - on the 11th day of June - I am going on a trip. I will spend next week getting ready but this week has been too filled with other things. I am looking forward to the trip because I haven't had such an excursion in quite a few years. My friend, Sara, will be my roommate and we will visit Baltimore Harbor, Philadelphia, New York City, and Atlantic City. All of this will be done on a big luxurious bus so there won't be too much walking. Of course it will be a fast-paced trip and I will come home tired but happy that I did get to see these places, especially New York, some of which I have never visited. I will have lots to Blog about when I return. Without Kim to make my pictures for me I don't know what pics I will have to put on the blog. She is my photographer for all events.
I have found me a new author that I am really enjoying reading. You know that I am an avid reader and the fact that I had no book to read over the week-end and the library was closed was not a good thing. I am really loving Dorothea Benton Frank's books. They are all written about Charleston and the surrounding islands which was her home. She makes everything seem so real. Pawleys Island, Isle of Palms, Shems Creek I have read and now Bulls Island kept me awake until almost midnight last night. Maybe someday I will be privileged to visit this area and see all of the places for myself. That would be a real gift and who knows - I might just get to do that. God does give me such splendid gifts and that might just be one of them because God is good - all the time.
One of my "roses" happened this past Sunday. The day had been designated as Adoption Sunday at First Baptist Church in Hendersonville. This day, that is held every year, is a day that the church pauses and honors those people who have adopted children, are adopted themselves or contemplating adoption, etc. Nita and Ray were invited to speak to the church on the subject of integrating an international adoption into the family. They did a remarkable job in a short time of telling how much it meant to have Patrick Ray and Nicholas Drew Maddux in their family. We watched a film of Drew announcing that he and Tara had decided to adopt the boys from Uganda and the film followed their journey to the orphanage and meeting the boys and then going back and bringing them home. This whole procedure took over a year but Drew and Tara, with fierce determination and validation from God, pursued all of the mountains of paperwork and being delayed with a date and everything until the day came that they were approved, a date given and the trips (2 of them) made to bring the boys back and introduce them into our family. As Ray said in his part of the speech "our family looks different now but it is a family" and that is true. It is hard to remember when Patrick and Nicholas were not running around screaming and playing with the other children when we have family parties. I was so proud of Nita and Ray as they spoke from the pulpit and I was proud of Drew and Tara as they stood up to show the boys. Now, our next adventure is when Emily and Jackson go to Haiti to bring back Jode and Valencia, two little girls that they are adopting and bringing to be a part of our family. The commitment and obedience to God's calling for my grandchildren is just overwhelming to me. As my mother would say if she was here "I glory in their spunk".
As I mentioned earlier, it is June now and we just stepped from winter right into summer. It is hot and sultry and not good to spend time outside. Yesterday as I ran some errands I realized that the summer sun and fun I used to think was so great is not so great now. Poor Houston has to get up early in order to get to go walking because we have to beat the heat. We love walking the track beside my apartment and following the trail over a creek and into the park. He saw two ducks in the creek yesterday and it was a tug of war between him and me to keep him from chasing right into the water after them. By the way, I won!!!
Next week - on the 11th day of June - I am going on a trip. I will spend next week getting ready but this week has been too filled with other things. I am looking forward to the trip because I haven't had such an excursion in quite a few years. My friend, Sara, will be my roommate and we will visit Baltimore Harbor, Philadelphia, New York City, and Atlantic City. All of this will be done on a big luxurious bus so there won't be too much walking. Of course it will be a fast-paced trip and I will come home tired but happy that I did get to see these places, especially New York, some of which I have never visited. I will have lots to Blog about when I return. Without Kim to make my pictures for me I don't know what pics I will have to put on the blog. She is my photographer for all events.
I have found me a new author that I am really enjoying reading. You know that I am an avid reader and the fact that I had no book to read over the week-end and the library was closed was not a good thing. I am really loving Dorothea Benton Frank's books. They are all written about Charleston and the surrounding islands which was her home. She makes everything seem so real. Pawleys Island, Isle of Palms, Shems Creek I have read and now Bulls Island kept me awake until almost midnight last night. Maybe someday I will be privileged to visit this area and see all of the places for myself. That would be a real gift and who knows - I might just get to do that. God does give me such splendid gifts and that might just be one of them because God is good - all the time.
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