****13 Years Later****

We saw the kids off early in the morning. They were up before the sun. I had to hike up to the meadow and pull them off of the swing to get them to say goodbye. Nice to know we would be missed.

We began our drive east through Pennsylvania. It was beautiful. The fall colors were in full display. We thought we would only be able to get a glimpse of them through our estimated 3 hour drive through Penn.

But we were lucky to see about twice as much due to the detour and our sense of adventure that got us lost. A map you say…yeah, if only stores or gas stations in Penn. Sold maps. What a novel idea! This is the picture I took of the only gas station in town, it wasn't that small of a town either! We finally had to stop at a Post Office and ask for directions because our gas was running low. We had to back track 15 minutes or so to find some gas and then another hour to find a map.

We stayed in Frederick, MD. This was the first area that Chuck served his mission in 13 years ago. It is amazing to see all of the early history. It was a heavy slave community. There were slave quarters in all of the homes down town that we were able to see as we walked around. Right down the center of the town is a wandering river. Chuck has pictures of him by these murals under one of the bridges on his mission. How could I resist having him take a picture by them again.

Saturday was very busy. On our trip we saw 5 States! It is strange to drive through so many in such a short time. I am not sure we could have made it from North to South California in one day. We went on a short drive through VA and into WV to see Harper's Ferry. It is on the Potomic river. Lots of fun stuff to do, canoeing, white water rafting, hiking, etc. We didn't do any this time...Next time!

We went on into Baltimore. It was beautiful at the Inner Harbor. We parked at Camden Yards and walked down to the inner harbor. There was an old Civil War Ship there. Lots of big ships and even little paddle boats that looked like Chinese dragons. We will definetely go back with the kids.

The highlight of the trip was driving by Chuck's old area in Brooklyn Park. WOW! They let 19 year old boys live HERE? This is the area that has trash pick up monthly and the people just toss their trash into the street and alley ways to be shovelled up by the city workers. He also has fond memories of helping a nice lady load all of her belongings into a shopping cart to move her down the street to a new apartment. That's right, matress and all in a shopping cart, going down the street. The beautiful weather had the streets hopping with activity. As we started to drive up the street, in our shiny black car with my dark sun glasses on, an interesting man started to approach the car. GO CHUCK, GO! Nice to know that they are willing to business with anyone who is in the area. As we were leaving the neighborhood Chuck asked if I got any pictures of him. Are you kidding me?

To another 13 years!

Homecoming Parade

This week was Lakewood's homecoming. The parade is just down the street from us so we walked down to the curb at the beginning of the route and waited for the fun to begin. I forgot that last year the kids got TONS of candy and I was not prepared. The nice little man, that lived in the house behind where we were sitting, brought us out a grocery bag to hold all of their candy for a tootsie roll in exchange.

Cars that go....MEOW

This afternoon we all loaded up in the car to go down the road to Kroger for some groceries. It takes about 3 minutes to drive down the road to the store, just a quick trip. So we get parked and pile out of the car. As the kids are unloading I notice the car making a wierd sound. I think "oh great, what's wrong with the car! I can't deal with this, we just bought the thing." Chuck notices it too. The more we listen the more it is sounding familiar. The lady loading her groceries across the parking lot must have thought it was familiar too as she ran across the parking lot to the rescue. So I head inside with the kids, sure that when they (Chuck and the animal loving lady) open the hood there will be a mangled cat or squirel or some other creature. A few minutes later I peek out and a small crowd has gathered. They are all cuddling with a small cat that is now scared to death from its race down Highway 40 on top of my engine. The cat is fine and has a new loving home with a teenage girl that was one of the first on the scene. I needed my groceries and I was sure not going to return the cat back to our home. And she was thrilled to death to have a new pet. She lives nearby us so I made her promise she would keep an eye out for anyone with a missing cat. The lady didn't look too thrilled, but she didn't volunteer to drive it home either. I need a nap!