Tag Archives: Christian bloggers

Christmas is Coming-Part 5

31 Dec

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Well, Christmas is behind us, but the decorations are still up.  Fred likes to leave them up until January 6, or The Three Kings Day.  I don’t mind – it’s only one month each year, and we like the decorations.

Back to our living room/dining room…early on in our marriage, when we were poor, and I didn’t know how to decorate very well (not sure I do even now!), I went for “simple,” and would just lay or drape gold garlands across some of the furniture – like I’ve done here with our teak-wood sideboard:

and other places around the house, as will be shown in other pictures.

There is a “runner” on the sideboard above – we purchased that from a vendor in Rothenberg, Germany, on our Viking River Cruise in 2015.  She had a lovely little shop along the main street, and I liked this one.  We remember that shop and owner every Christmas when we put it out.

The next thing to see is our teak-wood dining room table.  I purchased the runners through the mail when we were living in Heidelberg, Germany in the early 1980’s.  They have held up nicely, and I use them every Christmas.  The pinecone wreath I purchased while we were living in Wiesbaden, and have used it ever since.  I really enjoy it.

This is how the room(s) look from the kitchen doorway:

In the short hallway between the living room/dining room and the kitchen is a short wall, where I hang a Disney Advent Calendar (regular calendar the rest of the year).

On the opposite wall, I hang these Christmas stockings (regularly baskets and greenery).

And now into the kitchen/family room/den area.

There is a short wall between the kitchen and the living room, where I hang this Santa figurine (usually German bells).

Opposite that wall, I have what I call a “green bakers rack.”   As you can see, I’ve added some gold garlands to each of the shelves.  The candle in the middle of the top shelf we purchased in Wiesbaden.  It has a topper that holds a wick that comes off and allows you to place a candle inside that can burn.

The middle shelf holds a figurine of the gate to Heidelberg, Germany.  Our daughter, Karen gave that to us many years ago, and we love it, since we lived in Heidelberg for three years.  There is a small electric bulb inside that I have kept lit all those years – and it has never burned out!

The lowest shelf holds a Lennox cathedral, given to us by my best friend quite a few years ago.  It also has a small electric bulb in it, but I only burn it during the evening hours.  The “angels” I purchased some time ago, and are “Hope” “Faith” and “Love.”

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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2023 Road Trip-Part 15

27 Dec

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites                                                    

Day 15 – July 29: 

 After Breakfast this morning, I packed up my things and headed east out of Little Rock on I-40 for 30 minutes to visit the Lonoke County Museum in Lonoke, AR but they were closed.  So, I continued east on I-40 for another 45 minutes to visit the Central Delta Railroad Museum located in Brinkley, AR.  This museum is housed in the restored 1912 Union Railroad Depot and displays antique railroad artifacts and memorabilia related to the influence of the railroad on the Monroe County area over the years, dating from the early 1800s.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites 

Continuing east on I-40 for another 25 miles, I visited the St. Francis County Museum located in Forest City, AR.  This museum has recently been moved into the Historic 1906 Rush-Gates house and displays artifacts from Dr. J. O. Rush, such as his medical clinic, a Native American room, including many pre-historic items from Dr. Rush’s collection, a parlor room, and a ’Hall of Schools’ room depicting the evolution of the St. Francis County education system over the years.  Other display rooms include a genealogy room and a railroad room.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites 

Now it was another 45-minute drive east on I-40, across the famous Mississippi River (the border), to visit the Metal Museum located adjacent to De Soto Park in Memphis, TN.  I had visited Memphis on another road trip, but most of the museums I had visited on that trip revolved around Elvis Presley and the Country Music Industry.  I found that the Metal Museum is very unusual and is dedicated to the art of ornamental metal design.  The museum displays a wide range of metal artwork ranging from jewelry to weathervanes, swords, unique BBQ devices, and many others.  The museum offers visitors an opportunity to watch a blacksmith at work forging metal artwork of all types.  His creative ability is simply amazing!

Photo Credit: Bill Lites 

It was just a few blocks drive from the Metal Museum to where I visited the Edge Motor Museum located in downtown Memphis.  This museum displays a variety of some 25+ sport and muscle cars dating from a 1913 Ford T Runabout, that tell the story of the American Sport Car from the prospective of their historical and cultural significance.  

The cars come from different sources, and the selection is rotated from time to time as other cars become available for display.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites 

Over a couple of streets from the Edge Motor Museum I visited the Fire Museum of Memphis.  This museum is situated in the restored 1910 Fire House #1 and displays fire engines, firefighting equipment, and memorabilia dating from the late 1800s.  A unique ‘Fire Simulation Room’ demonstrates how residential fires can start and how the local fire departments fight and control those fires.  Interactive firefighting stations are available for the education of persons of all ages.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites 

My plan was to visit the PT Boats Museum located in Germantown on my way out of Memphis, but they were closed.  Bummer!  I had been looking forward to that museum as I love the WWII version of ‘David vs. Goliath’ with the small plywood PT Boat up against the giant Japanese Battleship.  Oh well, maybe next time I’m in the area.  So, now it was southeast on US-72 another 10 miles to visit the Morton Museum of Collierville History located in Collierville, TN.  This small museum displays antique artifacts and memorabilia related to the Bellevue Female College that operated in Collierville from 1872–1904 and the many lives that this educational institution touched over the years.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites 

On my way out of Collierville, I stopped to take a photo of the Battle of Collierville historical marker.  The marker describes one of the bloodiest Civil War Battles, for control of Collierville’s Union Supply Base, to take place in Shelby County during that war. 

Photo Credit: Bill Lites 

Continuing east on US-72 for about an hour, I crossed the border into Mississippi and wanted to tour the Cocoa Cola Bottling plant located in Corinth, MS but there were no tours today.   So, not to be discouraged, I drove over to visit the Historic Corinth Depot (also known as the Corinth Crossroads Museum) there in Corinth.  This museum is housed in the third railroad depot to be built on this site (1st -1857, 2nd -1912 & 3rd-1960), and displays antique railroad artifacts and many Civil War memorabilia related to the fight for control of this strategic railroad crossroad during historic that war.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites 

It was almost time to head for the motel for the evening, there in Corinth, so I gave Greta (My Garmin) the address.  But on the way I spotted the local Cracker Barrel and stopped for a plate of their Crusted Fried Pork Chop with green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy, and one of their famous biscuits with butter and honey for dessert.  Yummmm!  I can’t eat all that food at one sitting.  That means there was plenty left over for another delicious meal tomorrow evening.

Photo Credit: 

https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/pork+chops+greenbean+cass arole+potatos+gravy  

By the time I got to the motel, there in Corinth, I was ready to relax and I recorded today’s activities.  No TV tonight, as I was tired and ready for a good night’s sleep.  So, ZZZZ….. 

—–To Be Continued—– 

Bill is a retired Mechanical engineer living with his wonderful artist/writer wife, DiVoran, of 65 years in Titusville, Florida. He was born and raised in the Southwest, did a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy, attended Northrop University in Southern California and ended up working on America’s Manned Space Program for 35 years. He currently is retired and spends most of his time building and flying R/C model airplanes, traveling, writing blogs about his travels for Word Press and supporting his wife’s hobbies with framing, editing and marketing.  He also volunteers with a local church Car Care Ministry and as a tour guide at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum there in Titusville.  Bill has two wonderful children, two outstanding grandchildren, and a loving sister and her husband, all of whom also live in Central Florida, so he and DiVoran are rewarded by having family close to spend lots of quality time with.

One of Bill’s favorite Scriptures is:  John 10:10

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Merry Christmas

25 Dec

Bill, DiVoran, Janet, Judy, and Onisha

Isaiah 9:6

This child is our King. He is our wonderful counsellor when we are hurting or perplexed, He is truly our mighty God who fights for us and He is our everlasting, loving Father. He is not only the Prince of Peace, he is our peace. We hope that He is yours as well.

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Christmas is Coming-Part 4

24 Dec

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

After we had lived in Kissimmee for 3½ years, we decided we wanted to move closer to where we worked.  So we hunted around, and finally found a house in a development called Hunter’s Creek.  It’s a nice area, lots of little sub-divisions.  Ours is Chalfont.  We have enjoyed our house and the Chalfont neighborhood for nearly 25 years now.

In any case, I’ve had more fun with the house decorations in this house than any other where we’ve lived. Let’s start with the outside:

Since this picture was taken, we’ve had to add a tree (Robelinni – palm tree family) to the right side of the flower bed.

That’s about all the outside, so we’ll go inside.  I suppose the first thing to catch the eye is the tree we have up.  It’s artificial (Fred really dislikes cleaning up the pine needles from a live tree), and pre-lit.  No more fussing with tangled lights!  

And next to that would be the piano.

We purchased the Disney plates at Disney one time or another.   I haven’t added to those plates – two is enough.  The two Disney figurines – one I purchased and one is Lennox, given to us by my best friend.  The little “store” is a Norman Rockwall figurine, part of a “village” – but I only wanted the store.  There is a light inside, as well.

Do you see a lot of “snow” among the figurines?  Many years ago, we were at Bill and DiVoran’s house, and DiVoran had decorated, using fiber-fill as snow.  I thought it was a great idea, and copied it for myself.  Thanks, DiVoran.  You are an inspiration.

On an end table next to the piano is this little nativity:  

There is a bit of a story behind these figurines.  My mother came to Germany to visit us one year, but made some side trips on her own.  I’m not totally sure whether she picked this up in Spain or Portugal, but she picked them out, just for us.  I think of her every Christmas when I put them out.

On the other side of the piano, in a corner, is this marble pedestal with this Disney ball hanging on it.  It is a very heavy ornament, and this holder is perfect for display.  It’s one of my favorite Disney Christmas ornaments – vintage Mickey and Minnie.

I did forget to mention that, just inside the front door, is a narrow wall where I like to hang this piece of Christmas artwork.  We purchased it in Virginia – the artist was local.  Nothing special about it, except that we liked it  – and still do.

If you will turn around, you will see a sofa table against the wall.  More “snow” and lots of decorations.  Some Precious Moments, some wood ornaments given to us.  The most recent addition was last year’s Christmas when our daughter and her family gave us the German Christmas wooden pyramid.  I’ve not burned the candles yet, but it makes a lovely decoration.

Since the living room and dining room is just one big room, the decorations go on from there.  I actually copied this decorations on the chandelier from a pastor’s wife many years ago.  I have thoroughly enjoyed doing it each year.

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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2023 Road Trip-Part 14

20 Dec

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

Day 14 – July 28:

After Breakfast this morning, I headed south on US-65 for about ½-hour to visit the Lost Valley Fish Hatchery located just north of Warsaw, MO.  This fish hatchery is part of a huge 969-acre state conservation project where a large variety of warm-water fish species are bred and raised to stock fish in the many Missouri rivers and lakes.  It was early, and no one was around to give me a tour of the facility or tell me about how it all worked, so I took this photo and was on my way to the next place of interest on my list for today. 

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

It was about an hour’s drive south on US-65 to where I found the Wommack Mill, also known as the Boegel & Hine Flower Mill, in Fair Grove, MO just north of Springfield.  This original 1883 sawmill was converted into a flower mill in 1926 with the addition of the two concrete storage silos and other structures.  The Fair Grove Historical Society is now in the process of a multi-year restoration of the mill to an operating flower mill using most of the original mill equipment, including the original buhr stones used by the Wommack family.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

Now I headed south out of Fair Grove on US-65 for about 20 miles to visit the Route 66 Car Museum located in Springfield, MO.  This museum displays an amazing collection of some 75+ beautifully restored vintage cars and trucks dating from as early as 1907 (Reo Runabout).  My favorite was their fire engine red 1936 Cord 810 Sportsman.  They also have a Batmobile used in the 1960s Batman series.  I never get tired of looking at vintage cars and trucks.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

While I was in Springfield, I wanted to visit the Pedalers Bicycle Museum just a few blocks from the car museum, but the traffic was terrible, and I couldn’t find a parking place anywhere around the square.  So, I just headed south, out of Springfield on US-65 about 45 miles toward Branson, MO.  I was not particularly interested in most of the famous attractions in Branson but did want to see what they had done for the Titanic attraction.  DiVoran and I had seen the traveling Titanic Artifact Exhibition in Orlando several years ago, and I wanted see Barnson’s version.  I was impressed with the half-ship replica of the Titanic but didn’t want to fight the crowds to see the artifacts again, so I took this photo and went on my way to the next museum.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

After I weaved my way out of the traffic jam around the Titanic attraction, I headed south out of Branson for 30 miles on US-65, across the border into Arkansas, to visit the Boone County Historical Museum in Harrison, AR but it was closed.  Continuing southeast another 40 miles on US-65 I visited the Buffalo River Historic Jail Museum located in Marshall, AR.  This museum is housed in the original old restored 1902 Searcy County Jail and invites visitors to experience the turn-of-the-century jail conditions for themselves with antique jail artifacts, photos, and memorabilia.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

Now I headed southeast again, for another 30 minutes on US-65, to Clinton, AR where US-65 turned south, and I stopped for a bathroom break.  Then it was another 40 miles south to visit the Faulkner County Courthouse in Conway, AR.  The first courthouse was  built on this site in 1870, in the railroad town, then known as Conway Station, and had the distinction of being the first courthouse in Faulkner County, AR.  The original building was replaced by the present building in 1936 and serves the city of Conway and the surrounding Faulkner County area.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

Heading south out of Conway, it was only about a 30-minute drive south on I-40 to visit the Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum located in the Riverfront Park area, adjacent to the Arkansas River, in North Littlerock, AR.  I had visited this museum once on another Road Trip, and this museum is usually the home of the USS Razorback (SS-394) Submarine and the USS Hoga (YT-146) Tugboat.  Today I didn’t see either one of these boats tied up to the dock, and assumed that they had been taken somewhere for a  maritime event or for maintenance.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

It was getting late by now, so I gave Greta (My Garmin) the address for the motel there in North Little Rock, and she took me right to it with no trouble.  After I got settled into my motel room, I heated up my leftover BBQ spareribs and sweet potato fries from Bandana’s BBQ Restaurant last night and enjoyed that delicious meal again.  I found a good movie on TV that I had seen before and watched that until I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer and went to bed.

Photo Credit: https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/man+sleeping+in+front+of+tv

—–To Be Continued—–

Bill is a retired Mechanical engineer living with his wonderful artist/writer wife, DiVoran, of 65 years in Titusville, Florida. He was born and raised in the Southwest, did a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy, attended Northrop University in Southern California and ended up working on America’s Manned Space Program for 35 years. He currently is retired and spends most of his time building and flying R/C model airplanes, traveling, writing blogs about his travels for Word Press and supporting his wife’s hobbies with framing, editing and marketing.  He also volunteers with a local church Car Care Ministry and as a tour guide at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum there in Titusville.  Bill has two wonderful children, two outstanding grandchildren, and a loving sister and her husband, all of whom also live in Central Florida, so he and DiVoran are rewarded by having family close to spend lots of quality time with.

One of Bill’s favorite Scriptures is:  John 10:10

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Melodies of Praise

18 Dec

My Take

DiVoran Lites

Psalm 93

Melodies of praise will fill the air as every musical instrument

Joined with every heart overflows

With worship.

No wonder I’m so glad; I can’t keep it in 

Lord, Lord, I’m shouting with glee

What mighty miracles and your power at work, to name a few 

Depths of purpose and layers of meaning

Saturate everything you do.

Such amazing mysteries are found within every miracle.

DiVoran has been writing for most of her life. Her first attempt at a story was when she was seven years old and her mother got a new typewriter. DiVoran got to use it and when her dad saw her writing he asked what she was writing about. DiVoran answered that she was writing the story of her life. Her dad’s only comment was, “Well, it’s going to be a very short story.” After most of a lifetime of writing and helping other writers, DiVoran finally launched her own dream which was to write a novel of her own. She now has her Florida Springs trilogy and her novel, a Christian Western Romance, Go West available on Amazon. When speaking about her road to publication, she gives thanks to the Lord for all the people who helped her grow and learn.  She says, “I could never have done it by myself, but when I got going everything fell beautifully into place, and I was glad I had started on my dream.”

 

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Christmas is Coming-Part 3

17 Dec

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wil

While we were at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, Fred had received orders to be assigned to Heidelberg, West Germany.  We were so very excited by this assignment – getting to live in Germany again, and getting our girls to know Europe.  An amazing prospect!  So when the time came, Fred graduated from the school there in Kansas, and we made our way to Germany via Albuquerque, New Mexico (visiting my family), and King of Prussia, Pennsylvania (visiting Fred’s family).  

I don’t have any pictures of any decorations in our apartment in Heidelberg for the first Christmas we were there.  However, here are a few from 1981 and 1982.

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Unfortunately, our three-year tour was up, and we returned Stateside, to begin a new portion of our life in Virginia.

We purchased a house in a small community, Seaford, Virginia, just eight miles south of Yorktown, which is part of the Colonial Historic Triangle of Yorktown, Jamestown, and Williamsburg.  Here’s a picture of our house:

And since we’re talking Christmas and winter and SNOW…

Oh yeah…we had SNOW!

Here are a few of the decorations that I did in that house for Christmas:

After both our girls married, Fred and I decided it was time to look for our “forever” place, and we weren’t sure it was Virginia.  While Fred’s parents were in San Antonio, Texas (and we LOVED that city), they would soon be moving to Washington state, and we knew we didn’t want to live in the northwest.  My parents were both gone, so Albuquerque was not really in the running.

All of Fred’s siblings were “scattered” so to speak, but my brother, Bill and his wonderful wife, DiVoran, were in Florida – a state where both Fred and I had enjoyed living so many years ago.  So we began looking to find a house in the Orlando area – which we did….kinda.  We found a house in Kissimmee (kah-SIM-ee) that we thought would be our “forever” house, and moved there just before Thanksgiving of 1995.

Well, you know, there just is NOT snow in Florida – not very often anyway.  And thank goodness for that!

This is the only picture I have of Christmas decorations in that house:   I know we had a tree up and all, but not much else.

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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The Slowest Fastest Christmas

15 Dec

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

Christmas is in ten days. Nine days if you count Christmas eve. It’s is coming on fast and I am moving slow.

Some years will celebrate Christmas in Florida and other years at our home in the North Carolina mountains. This year we will have a mountain Christmas. To jump start the season, our daughter who was visiting over Thanksgiving, prodded us to set up the Christmas tree and decorate it.

We have boxes of ornaments including the special ones from our children’s growing up years. As our daughter rummaged through the decorations I hesitated. While I would love a tree filled with memories, I didn’t think my energy level would be up to the effort required to later take down the tree. We settled on a one color tree.

Our daughter returned to Florida, and the tree stood lonely in the undecorated house.

When our daughter who decorates for every holiday and season told us she wasn’t going to put up any Christmas decorations this year since she was going to be with us, I knew I needed to get moving on the holiday cheer.

My moving started slow. I like to decorate our guest bathroom with the seasons.. I store seasonal flowers and small ornaments under the sink and a change of seasons is a five minute operation.

Photo Credit: Hobby Lobby

Next, I ventured to the attic and brought down a small,handmade, net Christmas tree and a matching indoor wreath made by the same crafter.They are a fairly recent addition to our Christmas decorations and they make me smile.

More time passed and I I began to feel twitching of Christmas past. I remembered I had tucked some Christmasy items into the drawer of an antique sideboard. It didn’t take much effort to take them out and place them along the sideboard.

The Christmas spirit in me was moving and it began to spread to my husband. We aren’t able to put up Christmas lights these days, but we do put out Christmas lasers. My husband surprised me by setting them up in the yard. Then I put a big red bow on the artificial topiary on the porch.

The stair bannisters leading to the attic began nagging me to dress them for Christmas as well, followed by the front step bannister. Greenery was abounding.

And finally, I dug into the closet where seasonal tablecloths, chargers and place mats are stored. I chose a cloth with a poinsettia pattern. It looks very nice and Christmasy. I think I am finished decorating. It was a slow process, but I think we enjoyed it more that way than rushing through it.

Now it’s on to baking and making Christmas treats. This year I am corralling my husband to help with the candy making. Christmas is coming fast and we are moving slow-but we are still moving!

I'm a winner

After my retirement, I decided to re-learn the canning and preserving skills I learned from my mother but hadn’t practiced for twenty years. I titled the blog Old Things R New to chronicle my experience.  Since then I have been blessed to have six other bloggers join me, DiVoran Lites, Bill Lites,  Judy Wills, Louise Gibson, Janet Perez Eckles and Melody Hendrix

In addition to blogging, I’m a general  “mom Friday” for my author daughter, Rebekah Lyn. I also manage her website, Rebekah Lyn Books  

My 2023 goal is continue to use my love of photographs and words to be an encourager on social media.

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2023 Road Trip-Part 13 A

13 Dec

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

Day 13 – July 27:  Continued:  

Not to be discouraged there in Kansas City, I tried the National WWII Museum, but it was also closed.  Not having the best day finding museums to visit today, am I?  So, I gave up on the Kansas City museums and headed south for about 30-minutes on I-35 to visit the Belton-Grandview Railroad Museum located in Belton, MO.  This small museum displays antique railroad artifacts and rolling stock dating from the early 1920s, and gives 5-mile (45-minute) weekend excursion rides in their restored 1923 Pullman car thru Old Towne Belton, MO and the surrounding area for passenger enjoyment.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

Now it was another 20-minutes south on I-35 to Harrisonville, MO where I picked up SR-7 for another 40 minutes southeast to visit the Henry County Museum in Clinton, MO.  This museum is situated in the old restored 1886 Anheuser-Busch building and displays antique artifacts, an original preserved 1856 Dog Trot Log House, a one-room schoolhouse, along with memorabilia related to the history of the city of Clinton and the surrounding Henry County area dating from the early 1800s.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

Before leaving Clinton, I drove by the Clinton Railroad Depot and only was able to get a photo, as they were closed.  So, I gave up on museums for the day.  From Clinton I continued east on SR-7 for another 30-minutes to visit my friends Hank and Lois in Lincoln, MO.  Lois is DiVoran’s cousin, and they have kept in touch with each other over the years.  Hank is a big game hunter, and misses the Colorado mountains where they lived for years.  We had a very pleasant visit reminiscing about our many visits to see them and DiVoran’s grandparents in Canon City, CO over the years.  They showed me their garden where I ate a hand-full of some of the most delicious, falling-off-the-vine-ripe blackberries I have ever eaten.  They live not far from nearby Timber Line Lake where Hank spends a lot of his time fishing for Sunfish, Catfish, and Largemouth Bass.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

After that great visit, I said my goodbyes, and gave Greta (My Garmin) the address for my hotel for tonight in Sedalia, MO and we were on our way.  Greta took me to the hotel in Sedalia without any problem, and I got my things into my room.  I was impressed with the beautifully carpeted grand stairway in the lobby of the hotel that reminded me of the foyer of a turn-of-the-century Victorian mansion.   It was called the Truman Inn, and I never did find out why it had that name.  There were pictures of President Harry S. Truman in some of the downstairs rooms (and one on each side of the stairway).  It is my guess that President Truman stayed in this hotel at some point in time, and that the owner of the hotel (at that time) was so impressed with Truman that he named the hotel in honor of the President.  That’s a pretty wild guess on my part.  What do you think?

I asked the desk clerk about good restaurants in town.  He said, “If you like Bar-B-Q, you will like Bandana’s BBQ Restaurant over on Broadway Boulevard.”  So, I gave it a try.  I had their BBQ Spareribs plate with coleslaw and sweet potato fries.  It was a wonderful meal.  Yummmm!  There was enough left over for another meal tomorrow.  So, with a full tummy I went back to the hotel and looked for something to watch on TV.  Of course, I couldn’t find anything I liked, so I recorded the day’s activities, and went to bed.

Photo Credit: https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/spareribs+sweet+potatoe+fries+coleslaw+Bandana’s+BBQ+Restaurant+sedalia+mo/

—–To Be Continued—–

Bill is a retired Mechanical engineer living with his wonderful artist/writer wife, DiVoran, of 65 years in Titusville, Florida. He was born and raised in the Southwest, did a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy, attended Northrop University in Southern California and ended up working on America’s Manned Space Program for 35 years. He currently is retired and spends most of his time building and flying R/C model airplanes, traveling, writing blogs about his travels for Word Press and supporting his wife’s hobbies with framing, editing and marketing.  He also volunteers with a local church Car Care Ministry and as a tour guide at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum there in Titusville.  Bill has two wonderful children, two outstanding grandchildren, and a loving sister and her husband, all of whom also live in Central Florida, so he and DiVoran are rewarded by having family close to spend lots of quality time with.

One of Bill’s favorite Scriptures is:  John 10:10

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His Faithful Heart

11 Dec

My Take

DiVoran Lites

Psalm:71 22-24

Turn and comfort us once again.

My loving God, the harp in my heart will praise you.

Your faithful heart toward us will be the theme of my song.

Melodies and music will rise to you,

The Holy One of Israel.

I will shout and sing our praises for all you are to me-

Savior, love of my soul!

I’ll never stop telling others how perfect you are

While all those who seek my harm 

Slink away, ashamed and defeated!

Photo Credit: Pixabay

DiVoran has been writing for most of her life. Her first attempt at a story was when she was seven years old and her mother got a new typewriter. DiVoran got to use it and when her dad saw her writing he asked what she was writing about. DiVoran answered that she was writing the story of her life. Her dad’s only comment was, “Well, it’s going to be a very short story.” After most of a lifetime of writing and helping other writers, DiVoran finally launched her own dream which was to write a novel of her own. She now has her Florida Springs trilogy and her novel, a Christian Western Romance, Go West available on Amazon. When speaking about her road to publication, she gives thanks to the Lord for all the people who helped her grow and learn.  She says, “I could never have done it by myself, but when I got going everything fell beautifully into place, and I was glad I had started on my dream.”

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