11 States In 11 Days

We have just returned from a long, yet short trip to the South and back. The purpose of our trip began with the sole purpose of being with Banks (kenny's brother) during his thyroid surgery in Nashville. The surgery took place on Friday, June 29th, and all went well. He was able to come home from the hospital the very next morning. It was great to spend a few days with Banks and the family and we're so glad he's doing better now.

Since we were so close to Florence, Alabama, where Kenny grew up, it was a great opportunity for him to go back and visit and show me around. And since word got around that Kenny was coming back to town a few guys decided to get together for dinner with him. Little did we know that we were going for a Mars Hill Bible School 16-year reunion. It was great! Kenny got to see a lot of his old friends and catch up on the past 6 years since his last reunion. There were at least 15 classmates and their spouses present, all still members of the church. We were blessed by getting to stay the night at the Heupel's home and did a lot of catching up with them.

The trip also served as an opportunity to buy a Ford Escape (and get around the high prices of CA dealerships) and to drive back several pieces of furniture that we have inherited in a U-Haul trailer. There was a bit of chaos in getting the trailer, apparently the closest one they could get for us was in Iuka, Mississippi. After spending a morning driving around trying to find the right size trailer hitch and getting to Iuka to pick up a trailer (which had a flat tire), it was worth it when we loaded up Kenny's great Grandmother's China Cabinet that was being stored there in Florence.

Another highlight of Kenny's visit to Florence was a visit to his school, Mars Hill Bible School, where he studied from 1st thru 12th Grade. We had a good talk with Dr. Barfield and a tour of the school. We saw some of his old debate trophies and some places that brought back memories of his mischievousness.

Our next stop on the trip was in Benton, Illinois to visit my family. While there we had a family get together to celebrate both of our birthdays. It was a great cook out with lots of food and, of course, chocolate birthday cake. We had a great time relaxing out in the country and going for a swim in the pool. We also got to go out and see the cows and the bull, Simba. On July 4th we drove down to my Grandpa's farm in Vienna and took a tour. The night before we left we all went out and ate barbecue, Kenny's favorite!

On Friday morning we set out to Neosho, MO to make one last visit on our way back to California. We had only been on the road for about an hour when a tire on the trailer blew out. The wait for U-Haul to send someone to fix it took about two hours! This delay put us way behind schedule. We arrived in Neosho around 7p.m. that evening.

We had a great dinner and a nice visit with Kenny's parents in Neosho. After dinner we got to see their garden and all of their beautiful flowers. The next morning at breakfast we ate pancakes and watched the birds outside flying around.

Back on the road, Kenny and I passed the time by reading the Bible to each other, which I would say was one of the highlights of driving for so long. It was very uplifting.

We tried to stop only when we needed to get gas, which seemed like it was pretty often. Our half way point, and stopping place for the night was just on the east side of Albuquerque. The most scenic states were New Mexico & Arizona, with their large rock mountains and wide deserts. We also enjoyed the random dinasaur statues that people put along the side of the road.

Crossing the border into California meant that they had to check our vehicle for any plants or animals. The desert there was supposedly 110 degrees, which we could feel. It's probably the least populated part of California.

Our trip was a success, nothing in the trailer was broken or damaged when we arrived.. We had a great time!