Convention Trip to Canada & Pennsylvania

After leaving the New York City area we made our way across eastern Pennsylvania and central New York state up to the Findger Lakes region and then on to Buffalo and Niagra Falls. Not many campgrounds are open in the north after November 1st, but we found some adequate spots. However, when we reached Canada we stayed at an excellent campground that is open all year. Our convention in the Toronto area was truly worthwhile and a blessing.

Heading south from Toronto in mid November was a challenge. We found only one campground open on our route to Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Here was our camp site on the Susquehanna River in the small village of Montgomery, about 10 miles south of Williamsport. It was a little chilly, but actually a beautiful fall location.
We arrived in Lancaster several days early and enjoyed the oppportunity to rest for a few days. On Monday we drove up to Hershey and toured "Chocolate World" and "The Hershey Story" museum. It was fun because we had visited Hershey 30 years ago with our kids.
On Tuesday night we had the privilege of reconnecting with Skip and Katie Mable and enjoyed a wonderful dinner at a Lancaster area restaurant. Skip and Katie ministered with us at Maranatha 20 years ago and it was wonderful to see them.
Our convention was good -- but Connie had an unusal experience and victory. One of the vendor's across the aisle was a Christian camp that had an unusual wildlife demonstration at the booth. They had an acquarium full of giant cockroaches! Connie has a great fear of these critters, but notice how she conquered her fear by allowing a cockroach to climb on her finger. Go girl!!
Early in the week at Lancaster we paid a visit to the Sight & Sound Theater and purchased tickets for the opening day performance, later that week, of the 2011 "The Miracle of Christmas." Here is Connie in front of the fantastic facility of this Biblically oriented theater.
Connie even had the opportunity to meet some of the "actors" for the upcoming performance.
On Friday night we dressed up and attended the outstanding performance. The spirit of Christmas was everywhere and the evening was delightful.
Over 2,000 people packed the theater that night for a wonderful presentation of the Christmas story complete with a very large cast, real animals (camels, horses, sheep, donkeys, etc.) and dynmic music.

New York City Adventure

Our second fall convention trip for 2011 took us to an unusal campground in Jersey City, New Jersey. We camped at the Liberty Harbor Marina RV Park -- directly across the Hudson River from downtown Manhattan. Here is our helpful campground host who helped us with instructions and advice about navigating the New York City area.

The campground was filled with RVs from all over -- especially Canadians! We were five blocks from the subway that took us right into downtown Manhattan.
Less than a mile to two to the east was the Statue of Liberty. On Friday evening, Oct. 28th, we were able to witness the fireworks that celebrated the 125th birthday of "Lady Liberty".
In order to set up for our convention on Wednesday we had to drive our truck over to Queens via the Holland Tunnel to lower Manhattan and then on to the Williamsburg Bridge into Queens. Then on Friday it was necessary again to drive the truck to retrieve our exhibit materials. This time we used the Lincoln Tunnel to enter mid-Manhattan and fight the traffic to the Queensboro Bridge to the convention site. It is an exciting adventure.
On Thursday we took the subway to the convention. That was truly an adventure! First, we walked five blocks to the PATH station (NJ Subway) and caught a train to 34th St. in Manhattan. Then we had to walk a block to find the correct NY Subway train to 21st & Queensbridge. We made it!

Many of the 590 teachers who attended the convention traveled the same way -- via the subway. It gave us a great appreciation for the dedicated service of these Christian school teachers. They were truly inspiring and an energetic group.

After the convention was concluded we stayed over to attend a Broadway production on Saturday afternoon. Once again we took the subway, although this time we had to take a taxi to the PATH Station due to a cold rain. When we surfaced from the subway at 50th and Broadway we saw this scene looking back towards Times Square.

Lo, and behold we ran into a church youth group from Madison, Wisconsin that were happily bouncing around the subway station and up to the street corner. We even helped them with some directions because we "oldsters" had the smartphone. Go figure!
We found a wonderful (healthy) sandwhich shop next door to the Gershwin Theater where our play was being performed. While eating lunch the rain turn to snow and kept on snowing.
We thoroughly enjoyed "Wicked" which is the delightful (and very family friendly) pre-quel to the story of the Wizzard of OZ. It was fun for sure.
But the snow kept on falling and by morning we had over 5 inches on the truck and trailer. This caused us to stay an extra day before leaving the New York area and heading west through the Pocono Mtns. and our trek toward Canada.

Reunion Prayer in Retrospect

Back in September we posted pictures of Connie's 50th Robbinsdale High School Reunion. In a follow up to that fun time, the class members have posted a number of comments and pictures on a class reunion website. One of the class members posted this picture of Connie leading in prayer at the reunion event. Connie was so blessed by the obvious respect evidenced by her class leaders as expressed by the photo.

1st Fall Trip of 2011

In warm September we set out on our first convention trip for 2011. Our first stop was Spartanburg, South Carolina where we exhibited our new Positive Action Preschool Bible curriculum for the very first time. The response to this colorful and well done curriculum has been very positive and encouraging.

Then we traveled on to beautiful Gatlinburg, Tennessee, where we had several days of rest and relaxation before the next convention. At this convention we were able to spend time with Kristy and Brian and other dear friends. Here is Connie fellowshipping with Tona Mae Walker, Kristy's mother-in-law and our longtime friend.
We also had the privilege of hearing Kristy deliver several of her workshops. She is a convention favorite every year as is evidenced by this picture with a packed room of about 100.
During these two weeks we camped in our 5th wheel and enjoyed some good times. I was even able to try out my birthday gift from Chad and Jen. It is a dandy headlamp flashlight that allows me to deal with trailing unhooking in the dark. I love it!
But we did encounter a bit of adversity. While in Spartanburg we experienced very heavy rains that caused our trailer awning to collapse. The workcamper at our campground was kind and helpful, and he temporarily repaired the awning so that we could get the trailer back to Rocky Mount for permanent repairs.
While in Gatlinburg we did some sightseeing and typical tourist activities. We especially enjoyed the Breakfast Jamboree Show put on by The Blackwoods. The singing group is led by the son of the original leader of the Blackwood Brothers Quartet. It was a fun time.
We also had the opportunity to hang out with Kristy and Brian for the latter part of the week. They even took me out to celebrate my birthday -- again! Great pizza.
We also had to find a good coffee shop for Brian. Well, we actually all enjoyed the cozy coffee house on the Parkway in historic Gatlinburg.
Our final night was capped off with a warm campfire and marshmellow roast. Actually Kristy directed us in the making of S'mores. It was a beautiful evening. Twin Creek RV Resort is one of our favorite places.

Minnesota "Memory Lane" Trip

On the weekend of Sept. 10-11 we traveled to Minnesota for a walk down "Memory Lane". Connie had the privilege to attend her 50th Robbinsdale High School Reunion. It was a fun time for her to reconnect with friends from the past. Here is a collection of memorabilia that was on display.

Connie was honored by her class president to offer the opening prayer for the occasion. She did an outstanding job honoring the Lord and presenting the Gospel before her 300 classmates who attended.
We were able to sit with Dave and Sue Martin and enjoy fellowship. Dave was a classmate and a member of the 4th Baptist youth group.
My favorite girl was also featured as one of the two class favorites in this picture from their yearbook that was displayed at the reunion.
We also took a ride down memory lane by visiting the site of the old 4th Baptist Church location in North Minneapolis. The old church buildings have been totally dismantled and a new headquarters for the Minneapolis Public Schools is being built on that site. Here is a photo looking north from the corner of Broadway and Fremont. That is the old Welander-Quist building in the front with the new high-rise headquarters building in the background.
This 27 million dollar project is slated to be finished in the fall of 2012. Here is a view looking south on Girard from 22nd Street.
This picture is looking south on Fremont, and the big pile of dirt is about where I lived during seminary days and where the Fosmark's lived for so many years while serving at 4th.
The final photo shows the street signs of 21st and Fremont, with the spire of the church building in the background that is now Family Baptist Church.

Wild Summer and then some...

After our wonderful 4th of July trip to the beach with Kristy it was time for Connie's trip to the surgical suite. She had her second surgery of 2011 and her second rotator cuff repair. She came through fine and here she is benefiting from a DeRoyal cold therapy unit. This marvelous contraption (loaned to us by our wonderful neighbor) circulates cold water through a pad that sits on Connie's shoulder. Swelling is controlled and healing is aided. Connie is enduring physical therapy now, and is improving steadily week by week.

Connie progressed sufficiently in August to throw a super birthday party at Positive Action for my 70th. She really did it big! Pizza, cake and ice cream, balloons, party favors and noise makers. It was a bash! It was topped off with a 20 minute video shown on our giant 10'x13' screen in the Media Room at PAFC. Our three kids all contributed video clips for the production and then our IT Director added a number of historic photos that Connie provided. I enjoyed it very much.
All of the party goers enjoyed their food on the special "China-ware" that accompanied matching napkins and decorations.
Just a few days after the monumental party we began to hear about the impending visit of Hurricane Irene. We have been extremely busy at work with a very blessed sales season and so we did not have much of an opportunity to prepare. On Thursday night we decided we better go to Walmart to pick up a few items before the storm arrived. Here is what we saw when we walked in the door of the store.
And when we got back to the shelves that are supposed to contain one gallon jugs of drinking water -- here is what we saw. We grabbed our supplies before the locals cleaned out the store completely.
On Saturday morning Irene came calling -- and did she leave her impact! The constant hurricane force winds kept up for over 12 hours. They ripped up Rocky Mount. Praise the Lord we escaped safe and sound and did not sustain any damage at our house. Many friends were not as blessed. Here is the house of Frank Hamrick's daughter and son-in-law. They lost their garage and two cars inside.
Our Shipping and Warehouse Manager took a tree right into their kitchen. This picture was taken on Sunday afternoon and you can see the temporary decoration at Paul and Pat's home.
Here is the street in front of the Positive Action office building with the electrical transformer laying on the ground. We are still without power at the office and it looks like it will be at least a week before it is repaired. We only lost power at home for about 21 hours, but many, many folks in our area are still in the dark. Our staff at PAFC has done a great job pulling together to serve our customers. Three generators have us up and running -- although without air conditioning -- and we have already taken about 100 orders this week. Summer has been a truly busy time, and now comes a busy fall.

The Outer Banks Revisited

Each year we like to return to The Outer Banks (OBX) for a few days, and each year Kristy likes to come to spend a week of her summer vacation with us. We appreciate it that Brian lets her come and this year she wanted to come for the July 4th week. We had already made reservations for the 4th weekend at our favorite OBX campground -- The Refuge -- and so we said, "Sure, come that week, but you'll have to go camping with us." Of course our camping is in style!

So, off we went and she just fit right into our activities. We rented a bike for her and set off on our favorite 10.8 mile Kitty Hawk Loop bike ride. We park at the Kill Devil Hills city municipal building and start our ride going around the south and west ends of the Wright Brothers monument.
About half way through the ride we stopped to take a picture of the monument shown below. While we were taking our photos the owner of the house approached and asked, "Would you like a history lesson?" He then explained to us that this was the first place where the Wright Brothers set up camp on their initial visit to the Outer Banks in 1900. For the first time things made sense to me.

As a kid I was always enthralled with name Kitty Hawk and it's link to the history of flight. But after living in North Carolina for 15 years I had come to realize that the Wright Brothers made their first successful flight at Kill Devil Hills, not Kitty Hawk. Mr. Brown straightened out my understanding by clarifying that the Wilbur and Orville first experimented with their gliders at Kitty Hawk for several years before they moved about 4 miles south to actually accomplish their historic flight near the huge sand dunes called Kill Devil Hills. This monument acknowledges the approximate spot where the Wright Brothers first pitched their tent in 1900 -- four years before they accomplished their first flight.
On our second day we took another 10 mile ride, but this time it started at Manteo and included the north end of Roanoke Island. Here is a beautiful shot of Kristy on the bridge to Festival Island, looking out at the Manteo harbor.On that ride we were able to inspect the Waterside Theater where the famous outdoor drama The Lost Colony is conducted each summer. We have attended this play several times, and have taken Kristy to see it. But on this day we were able to roam the grounds and actually go on stage, and to the backstage area. Kristy was in her glory taking lots of pictures to share with her drama students back in Chattanooga.
Later on Saturday we headed for the beach and enjoyed the beautiful new Jennette's Pier on the south end of Nags Head. The water temperature was relatively warm and the day was beautiful. Connie had me to rent some beach umbrellas -- which was a very good idea. :)
On the final day we grilled "Wisconsin" brats at our campsite near the water's edge at The Refuge. We love this campground that is nestled in the marsh land south of Manteo and just north of the quaint fishing village of Wanchese.

We were able to send this video to Chad and Jen who were camping at a State Park in Wisconsin at the same time.

We've enjoyed the beautiful sunsets before and this night was a great one.

As an added bonus we were able to squeeze in an enjoyable lunch with Gail and Paul Fosmark -- plus Sara and the kids -- on our way to take Kristy to the airport. That was a special treat.