Downpour!

On Monday Silver Dollar City was closed. This is the first year that we've been here where that was true. So that meant that we had the day to spend at the campground. After a slow, lazy morning, Roger went for a swim and I soaked my feet (I don't like to get too wet!!). We enjoyed lunch in the R.V. and after dishes, I had my nap (while Roger did the dishes...bless his heart). I awoke to a tremendous thundering rainstorm!! So glad not to be caught in it at the park. It's fun to be sitting in a pleasant R.V. and listening to the rain pouring down. We got in our weekly Scrabble game while the rain gushed.

Silver Dollar City

We arrived at Silver Dollar City campground on Thursday in time to hook the R.V. up and catch the afternoon bus to the park. 

The music is truly heavenly and greatly inspiring. God has gifted some folks with amazing vocal "pipes" and incredible abilities on keyboards, guitars, banjos, mandolins, etc.

Some of the groups we have heard include: Ernie Haase & Signature Sound, The Hoppers, Greater Vision, Jeff & Sherie Easter, The LeFevre Quartet, Dixie Echoes, The Littles, and more...

Chris Stanley is a magician/evangelist! We really enjoyed getting to know him a little more. He uses a comedic approach in performing his tricks.

The food is also superb - hard to pick each day where we'll eat.

And, yes, we have ridden a few rides. Since I only do kiddie rides, Roger has gone along with me!!

For our Sunday service, Dennis Swanberg preached - in his unique way- to a packed auditorium. His title was "Do what needs to be done right now - that's God's will" and he did a good job!

We also love going to the Wilderness Chapel that is always open. We were there for a hymn sing. The pianist teaches piano at College of the Ozarks - and she's good!

 

Notes from CEF of Warrenton, MO

When we arrived at CEF, we were given a key (actually, it was left in the laundry room) that gave us access to all the outside doors. This was very nice because in the past we had to enter the front door and it was quite a walk from the R.V. Anyway, upon entering the side door, we came upon the new president of CEF, Jeremiah Cho. We introduced ourselves and were glad to meet him.

On Tuesday evening, we lit a fire in the pit and roasted hot dogs. There are lots of small branches/twigs laying around and we like to burn them. While sitting outside, we could hear a cardinal call. Later, we saw lightning bugs all around. It was a beautiful night to watch the stars and enjoy the outdoors.

This is the CMI (Christian Ministries Institute) time and that means that on Wednesday the students here give their testimonies. It was so encouraging to hear all the young people tell their history of how they came to the Lord and then gave Him control of their future.

My job on Wednesday was housekeeping. It took more energy that the kitchen work did and I'm worn out! Roger stayed with the outside job of tree trimming.

Tomorrow we move on to Silver Dollar City for a week of uplifting music!

Today at CEF HQs:

Roger was busy outside helping cut large thorns from trees while cutting the lower branches.

 

I worked in the kitchen – we fed 136 for lunch. I was the dishwasher with 2 helpers. But I ran the machine the whole time (a first for me!). I also washed about 2 dozen towels, cut up multitudes of veggies and 8 cucumbers; baked brownies & generally stayed out of trouble!!

On to MO

Before we left town on Thursday, Alan and family took us out to Minerva’s for lunch. From there we headed south to Broadwater, NE, population 140. It was dark, but we found a side street surrounded by abandoned buildings and parked for the night under a streetlight. At one point a police car drove by, which reassured us that we weren’t totally on our own!  As we traveled, there were multiplied fields of sunflowers along the way and as the sun set, multiplied bugs hit the windshield. But we slept well. Here's a daytime image of where we parked.

Continuing on to MO, we stopped at North Platte, NE, at the Golden Spike Tower. Besides the tower that relates railroad history, the world’s largest train yard surrounds it. We learned a lot about how rail cars are directed and connected to the right engine. The information was overwhelming…!

From there we went to a pony express stop museum. Although Roger thought we had been there before with the kids, it didn’t look right. We learned that the youngest pony rider was 11! It was a dangerous job – they advertised for orphans to ride. When we described what we remembered about the place we had visited with our kids in 1992, they directed us to a sod house museum across town. And that was what we remembered – only it did not seem to be maintained very well.

We drove on to Grand Island, NE, and spent the night in a truck stop. Slept well!

Saturday we went to the Stuhr Pioneer Museum in Grand Island, NE. They have 100 buildings onsite. The museum is set in the 1890’s era. We couldn’t begin to visit it all, but enjoyed what we could, including watching several men tanning a deer hide.

 

We ended up in Columbia, MO, and spent the night in a truck stop. We slept well. Sometimes these overnights amongst the trucks are noisy, but this night was pretty quiet.

Our 50th with the Kids

We stopped at Josh’s place for Friday night. Galina had asked us to babysit the kids so they could go downtown Sturgis. As it turned out Brandi and Josh stayed home, too. The kids entertained themselves!

After a morning Zoom session, we drove into Rapid City to make some preparations for the gathering. It took several hours to move into our motel room from the R.V. Just as we were leaving to pick up Mary & Scot, Christina’s family arrived. Alan drove us and Christina went along. Besides Mary & Scot, we picked up 2 rental cars. We hadn’t been back too long before we had to get Crystal & kids and Jazmin.

The 8 oldest girl cousins shared 2 connected rooms. Turns out they switched beds several times – getting to know each other a little.

Once everyone was assembled, we met in our room for a couple of mixer games, including the balloon pop. 24 of 26 gathered. Jessica and Tim were missing. I served chili to all.

 

Sunday morning found many of us in church! Mary, Christina, & Crystal were there with their families; some of Alan & Josh's families were there, too! Dinner at Millstone; then family pictures (all there for that). The kids went swimming and we had bar-b-que pork in the room for supper.

 

 

Monday morning we all met for games in the park. Everyone got in on the action. To Culvers for lunch. Then Alan took a group to the lake for jet skiing; on the way home they stopped to do some shooting. Some went shopping; some swimming. We brought KFC in for supper. Together we celebrated Christmas in August.

 

Tuesday noon found us at WaTiki water park. The kids were quite blown away with it!! Pizza for lunch. Chinese and Wendy’s for supper. Then Everyone’s Birthday celebration.

 

Wednesday morning started early with Crystal and kids leaving first. We dropped off one car at that point. Shortly thereafter it was Jazmin’s turn to board the plane. There was a long break before Scot and Mary left, so we drove Scarlett back to her home in Sturgis. Roger drove the R.V. to the airport and we left the second car. Now it was time to go to our room and rest and pack up!

Thank you, Lord, for this amazing get together!