In Oregon now

After a great time with cousin Rhonda, we traveled thru Oregon and visited more relatives and friends and wound up at Vancouver WA for a few days visit with Duane and Elsie Kennedy. While there we rested and did a concert for their Senior Citizen group, the J.O.Y. (Just Older Youth) Club. What a good time we had there. We are now near Sumpter OR visiting with dear friends, Marty and Wayne Robb. They live way out in the woods and seem to be really isolated, but in reality are only 5 miles from Sumpter. It just seems like farther and they are surrounded by trees and have a lovely log house which they built. We have had a great time with them. Thursday was my birthday and our anniversary and we went to Weiser ID to the Old Time Fiddlers Contest . That was the day for the 14-18 year old competition and we saw lots of very talented young fiddlers, including our friend, James Schlender, aged 14. He was a crowd favorite. The Robbs took us out for birthday-anniversary lunch and I had the greatest hamburger I've ever had. Anybody who wants to have a great hamburger in Weiser ID, go to the Beehive Restaurant. On the way back home, at Baker City OR, we stopped for Blizzards at Dairy Queen. What a good day!! We rode the Sumpter Valley Train the next day and it was a real experience. It broke down and we had to wait for it to get up a head of steam again several times. It was fun. We did a concert at the Meadowbrook Nursing Home and one at McEwen Fellowship Church, both of which were lots of fun. We got to meet lots of new friends and sing for the Lord. The weather has been picture perfect for our whole trip. We couldn't ask for better. We'll be leaving here tomorrow for Milton-Freewater OR to visit friends, the Chinn's there and do a concert at their church. We've met so many great people on our travels. It seems as if the word great has been overused in this post, but it has been great! We go on from M-F to Kallispel, Montana, and then to Colorado for the rest of the summer. We're looking forward to seeing all our children and grandchildren there.

August-October Schedule

August-October Schedule
August 5, LaSalle Baptist, 10 a.m., LaSalle CO
August 9, Kersey Senior Center, 11:30 a.m., Kersey CO
August 12, Galeton Community Church, 9 a.m., Galeton CO Special Music
August 14, Ault CO Senior Center, noon
August 26, Briggsdale and Hereford CO concerts, 9 & 11 a.m.
September 2, Windsor Christian Church, Windsor CO, 10 a.m.
September 5, Greeley Place, 1:30 p.m. Greeley CO
September 22, Cowboy Church, Hasty FireHouse, Hasty CO, 7 p.m.
September 23, Rocky Ford Wash. Ave. Southern Baptist Church, Rocky Ford CO, a.m.
September 27-28-29, Navajo Lake Retreat, near Durango CO
September 30, Mancos United Methodist, Mancos CO, 11 a.m.
October 7, Coronado Baptist Church, Espanola NM concert, 11 a.m.

Travelin' On

We have been busy with traveling. We left DHS on May 31 and stayed that night at Bishop CA. We never had gone that way, so decided to see what it was like. It is nicer than the trip up Hwy 99 to Stockton, much more scenic. We stopped to see several sights on the way. We didn’t go to see the Devil’s Postpile, a rock formation in the form of huge crystals. We couldn’t drive up to it and Travis doesn’t walk very well, so that was out. Lots of the driving from Bishop on was mountainous and very pretty. We could have gone through Yosemite, but opted to go over Monitor Pass instead. Yosemite is too busy now and we’d been there.
We were wiped out by the time we reached Rhonda Johnson’s house. Rhonda is Travis’ cousin, a widow, with a very nice large double wide trailer in Lodi. We have stayed with her before and she is a charming hostess. We feel right at home at her house.
She and I go shopping, thrift stores, groceries, crafts, farmer’s markets, etc. It’s always fun. We went book looking the first day here. Their library has a constant book sale, but I only found one there. When we went to thrift stores, I found a bunch. Some of them are children’s books, for my grandchildren. I usually read them first, of course. I like kids’ books. Some were just for me. I didn’t find any for Travis this time. I always look, but nothing this time.
I go walking every morning and the first morning out, Saturday, I was almost to the turn around spot (I walk about 25-30 minutes and then turn around) when I found a garage sale. I hadn’t thought about finding one, so had no money with me. When I found some stuff I wanted there, I had them save it for me and walked back to Rhonda’s to get money. It was a long walk, there, back, there and back again. I probably walked 5 miles that day. I found a couple other sales and got some good stuff, though, plus enjoyed myself.
Travis did special music on Sunday and then after church, there was a potluck dinner. Following that we went to his nephew, Brian Mimms’, home to a graduation party for Travis’ grand-niece. All the relatives of his were there, so we got to see the whole Mimms clan at once. It was a very nice party in Brian’s lovely back yard. They live out in the country northeast of Stockton. After that, we came home and crashed. We were tired!
Yesterday Travis, Rhonda and friend Jerry Courtright did a concert at a nursing home. The folks there really enjoyed it. All three of them sing together and separate. It was a good afternoon.
We'll be here until June 14, and then head north into Oregon.