Well, I can't believe I am finally home, at least for a few days.  I left my home on April 6th and returned home on August 13th.  That is four months and one week!!  I must thank Donna Shrider because my peace of mind would not have existed without her checking on my apartment and picking up my mail!! Thank you, thank you,  thank you Donna!!!
       It was so hard leaving my friends, Johnny, Nancy, and Jill Vaught in Oklahoma, as it was everywhere I visited!  I have said it before but will say it again, how I would love to gather up all my friends and family and plop them down next to me!!  That would be a perfect world!!  No, a perfect world would be having Jeffrey back, along with sister Sandy, Aunt Esther, and Joe.  Oh well, it is not a perfect world so one must move on with life!  Well, I guess that is enough pontificating for today.
        I left the Vaughts and Oklahoma on Monday morning, August 11th.   That day I drove to Denver, Co., where my niece, Danielle Paullin, lives. It is a nine hour drive, but it took me, I think, about 11 hours with stops.  I helped Danielle around her apartment with a couple projects and then I took her out to the Olive Garden for dinner.  We a delightful visit and then it was off bright and early the next day.  On Tuesday I drove to Jerome, Idaho, and spent the night at a Days Inn.  This was only the second night I spent in a motel in 4 months of traveling!  I have very gracious friends and family!  Again I rose early and was on the road by about 6:30AM. That got me home later in afternoon on Wednesday, August 13th.  It nice to be back in my own space, but kind of strange at the same time.
         Once home, my focus was back on Jeffrey with his 28th birthday coming up on Monday, August 18th.  I had planned a birthday celebration to remember him and dear friends, Mike and Becky Blick, agreed to hold the celebration in their beautiful backyard.  Like I said before, I have very, very good friends and I am forever indebted to them.
        It was great to see my dear Washington friends when I returned and it started on Wednesday before I even arrived home.  One of Jeffrey's best friends, Brandon Romig, texted me while I was driving in the Columbia Gorge and asked when I was going to be back.  He wanted to see me. We coordinated and met at the Starbucks on Mill Plain in Vancouver, Wa.  When I got there he surprised me with another friend of Jeffrey's, David Nisbett!! What a delightful surprise!!  David lived with us a few weeks after high school and joined the Navy a couple months after Jeffrey.  David is a CB, construction battalion, and still in the Navy.  Thank you David for your service!!
And thank you, Brandon, for setting up this meeting with David and it was equally wonderful to see you!! Brandon, your home was Jeffrey's "home away from home" in high school and I will be forever grateful!  Love you both!!  You are a couple of my "sons" because you were good "brothers" to Jeffrey. Thank you!!  After I left Starbucks I drove to the cemetery to take flowers to Jeffrey and say hi.  Jeffrey is well loved and not forgotten because there are always lots of flowers left at his grave.  I know his dad comes, but others do to and for that I am so grateful!
       On Sunday I was able to reconnect with another of my "sons", Tommy Chau.  Tommy lives in Portland and text me and asked what I was doing Sunday.  Since nothing was written in stone, we got together and had dinner at Island Cafe.  I highly recommend this place on Hayden Island.  It isn't open all year so don't plan on going in the winter.  It was great visiting with Tommy and getting caught up on his life and just spending time with one of my boys!  I am blessed!
            Monday, August 18th, was Jeffrey's 28th birthday.  Last year I celebrated with him and his friends, Travis and Robert, by taking them all out to Joe's Crab Shack.  I really felt the need to do that again this year so Travis, Robert and Tyler (he had to work last year and so missed the dinner) and I went to same restaurant this year.  It was a lovely time of remembering Jeffrey with perfect weather dining outside next to the river.  Jeffrey would have enjoyed it immensely!  The rest of the week was spent visiting with friends, oil change and prepping for Jeffrey's party on Saturday.
            Oh! I almost forgot that I talked to Jimmy during the week.  He had been hired by UPS to drive their semi trucks between their big sites.  It is usually a three to four hour drive between destinations.  He had to train in Casper, Wyoming, and was gone for a couple weeks. (Hmmm, maybe Brittany could use help with the grandkids in Jimmy's absence!)  I call Brittany and ask and she said, "Sure".  (Well, this certainly makes my day!!)  I asked if she would like some peaches and pears that I could help her can and again she said yes.  So on Thursday my friend Lupe, Travis's mother, and I picked pears and on Saturday morning before the Jeffrey's party we picked peaches. Needless to say, I had full car on trip to Jimmy's.  I ended up canning 21 quarts of peaches and and 27 quarts of pears during the first week of my visit.  I always feel so great when I look at all those jars and they taste soooo good!  I think the grandkids favorites were the pears.

       Oh my, I did not get this last entry to my blog finished, or I thought I had not finished it and now it is December 7th and I am bound and determined to post this last blog entry today. Not a lot to add to this blog entry aside from an update. When I opened this entry I had forgotten I had drafted the entry and so thrilled to find I had. I would never had remembered it all.
       While I was visiting Jimmy and Brittany the nurse coordinator for the school district called to see if I would be interested in subbing for a school nurse who was going to take maternity leave. I had in my mind that it would be three months and I would be finished at Christmas break.  Imagine my surprise when I find out at first nurses meeting that I was working till June! YIKES!!  That will teach me to ask more questions!  Actually it is turning out OK. I now have much cheaper health insurance and I will have some foot surgery done while I am working.  I am working with great people and so allis good.  Will I offer to sub again?  Probably not. :-)) I am a slow learner, but eventually it sinks in!
      On November 9th it was one year since Jeffrey passed away.  It just does not seem possible!!  That was a Sunday and after church I went to house where Jeffrey lived and spent next couple days with Jeffrey's "brothers" aka housemates, Robert and Travis. It was wonderful to spend time with them and their mothers.  We are all family now and all very supportive of one another. I even spent a couple nights in Jeffrey's bedroom and was hoping he would visit me but disappointingly,  it did not happen.
      This next year, 2015, will be an interesting one for me.  I really need to move from my rental to a slightly bigger space and my dream would be to build and call it "Jeffrey's Place".  I would hope it could be a gathering place for his friends and those who need a little respite time.  I say a dream because that is exactly what it is!  Will it come to pass?  Time will tell, but everything starts with a dream and it is to be, God will provide the way.  As we all know, life is full of twists and turns and what the next day brings, we never know.
      Well, I guess I need to wrap up this blog. I have rambled on long enough and all of the readers have been very kind in their comments of which I am very grateful.  I pray everyone has a blessed Holiday season and that 2015 will be filled with many blessings.    

      On Saturday, August 2nd, I drove from Parsons, Kansas, to Edmond, Oklahoma.  It was hard to say goodbye to Jan Chapman, but we are determined not to allow another 35 years to pass before getting together again!  Good heavens we would both be dead if that happened!
       Well, onto more pleasant thoughts!  Edmond held more Navy friends!!  I first met Johnny and Nancy Vaught in the Philippines in 1976.  Johnny was stationed at Cubi Point Naval Air Station with my ex-husband, Jeff.  Then Johnny and Jeff were both stationed at Corpus Christi together and there we formed a relationship that has lasted through the decades and through difficult situations.  It was good to spend a week with them and their beautiful daughter, Jill. Jill attends the other UO (University of Oklahoma) but was able to spend the weekends with us so that was so appreciated!  Jill is a beautiful girl both outside and inside and certainly does her parents proud!  She is studing biochemistry and all the related sciences that just make my head spin from thinking about it.
        When I arrived on Saturday a little after noon, Johnny and Nancy drove me about 20 minutes north to their property in Guthrie,  Oklahoma.  No, it is not named after Arlo or Woody.  Guthrie was first established in 1887 as a railway station called Deer Creek on the Southern Kansas Railroad.  Then with the "Land Run of 1889" over 10,000 people settled the area in 6 hours and Guthrie became the new capital of the Oklahoma Territory.  As reported in Wikipedia,  within months Guthrie was viewed as "Queen of the Prairie" with brick and mortar buildings, municipal water,  electricity, a mass transit system and even underground parking for horses and carriages.  What a hoot!  But alas, Guthrie was not to remain the capital.  In 1910 a special election was held and Oklahoma City won the most votes for the next capital.  However, Guthrie did not want to relinquish the honor and the State Seal was "stolen" and taken to Oklahoma City.  However, Guthrie has done well to preserve their heritage and today has the largest urban historical district in the United States. Nancy and Johnny are proud to own one of these historical buildings with a business space on the first floor and an apartment above.  What a wonderful job they are doing getting it ready for occupancy.
       On Sunday we returned to Guthrie to attend the First United Methodist Church.  It too is a gloriously restored building.  The congregation was welcoming and it was a special treat to have Jill join us for the day.  When we returned from church, Nancy whipped up a delicious brunch and the rest of the day was spent in a leisurely manner.
        On Monday, Nancy and I drove down to Sterling, Oklahoma, where Johnny and Nancy grew up.  Nancy's parents still live on their farm a couple miles outside of Sterling and Nancy oversees their care and scheduling of caregivers.  I had met her mother many, many years ago, but had never met her father.  What delightful people they are!  Thank you Nancy for giving me his opportunity to get to know them!  This was truly one of the highlights of the trip.  Nancy and her dad showed me around the farm and of course had to show me his pet cow of 21 years, Jill! (See pictures below) Yes, a cow named after his granddaughter.  He got rid of all his cows but could not get rid of Jill!  His grandaughter and the cow have a permanent bond and I am told that Jill, the granddaughter, can make Jill, the cow, do anything she wants it to do.  And they say cows don't remember!  Well, I am sure someone says that.  After the tour of the farm, Nancy set up the dominoes!  I had only played Mexican Train, but they played another version of dominoes which I evidently caught on to pretty quickly since I won.  I know it could not have been beginner's luck!
         After Nancy fixed breakfast Tuesday morning she and I did some housecleaning for her folks.  Then it was time for lunch and some more of that good fried okra and garden fresh tomatoes, thanks to Nancy's brother, Keith.  In the afternoon Nancy and I headed back to Edmond.  But not before Keith brought Nancy lots of produce from his garden.  Before leaving for Edmond Nancy took me on a tour of the area and she showed me where she and Johnny grew up, the school and church they attended and of course the store front where old men would gather and spit tobacco off the porch. It was a treat to step back in time and get a glimpse into their history.
       On Wednesday Nancy and I drove to Norman, Oklahoma, where Jill attends the University.  Jill had completed a final and so we took her out to lunch to celebrate. She took us to her favorite Mexican restaurant and showed me some sights of Norman. What a great afternoon!!  Did you know that James Garner was from Norman?  People were still laying flowers around his statue to remember him from his recent passing.  Then of course Jill showed me around the campus and her sorority house.  They have huge sororities and fraternities!  She had 96 girls who live in her sorority house!  She only lived there one year and now shares a house with 2 other girls.  I am sure that was a relief!  Oh, before Nancy and I went back to Edmond, Jill took me to get my pressed penny!
        On Thursday Nancy took me downtown Oklahoma City and we walked around the Oklahoma City National Memorial.  That was a very sobering experience and it was wonderful to finally get to visit it, but I can understand why it is not one of Nancy's favorite places. It is just to painful and overwhelming.  But at the same time it is a beautiful memorial and one that can offer some peace.  After that, we drove to Guthrie and worked a little bit on the apartment and checked out a few shops downtown.  What fun!!
         Saturday, August 9th, was a special day in several ways.  One year ago on that day, my friend, Joe Hugill, passed away.  My heart was especially with his sister, Lee, daughter, Jennifer, and son Patrick and his family.  As I have said before in this blog, life is crazy!!  The bright spot of this day was that Jill and her dad, Johnny, took Nancy and me out to dinner in celebration of our birthdays! Mine was on the 8th and Nancy's was going to be on the 11th.  They picked a "hipster" restaurant, Picaso Cafe, in the Picaso Art District of Oklahoma City.  Not only was the food absolutely delicious, I had a lobster bisque that was out of this world, but the people watching couldn't be beat!  And to top that, when we got home, Nancy and I were treated to a variety of cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory!!  JACKPOT!!  Of course we shared with Jill and Johnny!  If that wasn't enough, Jill had stopped on her way home that day and picked up a couple gift bags for Nancy and me filled with goodies!
        Sunday we drove back to Guthrie to attend church and after church checked out the apartment so Nancy could show Johnny the latest changes.  I can understand their love for this place.  The whole area exudes an ambiance that just draws you to it.  There is something to be said for history!  When we returned home to Edmond, I mainly preped for my leaving on the next day.

                                            I don't think I am in Kansas anymore!

The living room of Johnny and Nancy's Guthrie apartment.  Beautiful brick walls!

Johnny and Nancy in their refurbished kitchen.  Notice the huge pocket doors behind them!  These are original to the space, over 100 years old!  They don't make things like they use to!!

This is one of three huge skylights in the apartment.

You can take the girl off the farm but you can't take the farm out of the girl!  Something tells me she has done this before!  You go Nancy!

Nancy, her dad, Jill the cow and a tractor.  Mr. Sanders was in 7th heaven!

Nancy with her parents.

The Oklahoma City National Memorial.  Read the signs below.  They explain it better than I can!

In this picture,  Nancy is walking towards the Surviver Tree. Amazing!

This is the Mexican Restaurant Jill took us to to celebrate the final being over. If you are ever in Norman, Ok, I highly recommend it! 

Jill, you are as beautiful as your mom!

Jill took me around Norman to some historical sites.  This marker tells the story of Norman. 

Jill next to the James Garner statue.  

And now you know the rest of the story about James Garner!

Murals in Norman.  These would have been much better if cars and trucks were not parked in front of them!

Entrance to University of Oklahoma

Jill's sorority,  Pi Beta Phi.  96 girls live here.  It was a huge building and you are only seeing the front entrance.

My pressed penny from the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History.

This is the buffalo statue across from the museum. I love that it is set in its natural setting of prairie grass.

Sharing a birthday with a "sister" is the best!

Johnny, Nancy and Jill, what a beautiful family you are!!

     

          On Tuesday morning, July 29th, I drove from Tennessee to Parsons, Kansas.  I was on the road about 13 hours by the time I reached my destination.  I stayed with Jan Chapman, a Navy Nurse friend.  Jan and I had been stationed at Bremerton Naval Hospital and then at Subic Bay together.  It had been 39 years since we had seen each other and so we had lots of history and memories to share .  What a wonderful visit we had!!
          When I arrived Jan felt that her area of Kansas would not be able to compete, interest and sightseeing wise, as my previous travels.  Oh, was she wrong!  Staying home and just visiting would have been perfect for me, but Jan showed me sights that matched any I had seen thus far on this journey.  We started on Wednesday by driving into the countryside to tour Big Brutus at West Mineral, Kansas.  This is the world's largest electric shovel used by the Pittsburg and Midway Coal Mining Co. from 1963 to 1974.  The shovel is over 15 stories tall and the bucket held 150 tons which is enough to fill 3 railroad cars.  This machine was not used to dig the actual coal, however, but instead it cleared the land to reach the coal.  A worthwhile stop in this part of Kansas.  See pictures following this blog entry.
         After we were finished touring Big Brutus, Jan drove me over to Carthage, Missouri, to visit the Precious Moments Chapel and Gardens.  Again this was more than I had expected. Sam Butcher is the artist and creator of Precious Moments.  In 1989 the Precious Moments Chapel opened and it contains 84 hand painted inspirational murals which cover over 9,000 square feet and 30 stained glass windows.  The scuptures in the gardens were equally impressive.   Unfortunately I did not leave empty handed and found a few figurines that will be perfect for gifts.  I am not sure how many more of these stops my car will be able to hold!  Yikes!
        On Thursday Jan took me to Coffeyville, Kansas, to the Dalton Museum.  Coffeyville is where the infamous Dalton Gang met their demise.  The museum was small but quite interesting, containing historical artifacts from Coffeyville history and Dalton robbery.  Then Jan drove me out into the country to pickup canning tomatoes from an Amish family and to an Amish store. This store was a little different then previous Amish stores I had seen in Ohio.   The two I visited in Ohio were a little bigger and on a main highway. This one was probably 14ft X 14ft and was located on an Amish farm, but certainly seemed to carry all the essentials and once again Jan and I couldn't seem to leave before we purchased something.  Jan has her grandmother's treadle sewing machine but needed a belt for it. Sure enough, the Amish store had it!  After the Amish store, Jan took me for a drive to see the state hospital in Parsons.  This is the hospital for mental health and addiction and her husband, Bill, worked here until his death in 2012, and her son, Frank is a supervisor there as well.  It is a major employer for Parsons.
       The last day with Jan was equally interesting.  We went back to the Amish farm and attended a produce auction.  VERY INTERESTING!  I had never intermingled with the Amish this much and it was fascinating.  They brought boxes of produce to a building on the edge of the property and all the surrounding Amish farmers participated and it was for the "English" population with an "English" auctioneer.  Oh, how I wished I lived closer and could can some that beautiful produce!  It was simply fascinating watch the Amish children, many barefoot, work along side the adults, driving and maneuvering teams of horses!  A sight to behold!  If that wasn't enough, Jan then drove me to a civil war cemetery!   The last day with Jan in Kansas was certainly a memorable one!  Thank you Jan!!  Navy friends are some of the best!!


                                             Crossing the Mississippi River

           

                                           Big Brutus near West Mineral, Kansas

I am standing next to the track of this shovel and the track is higher than me!

Me standing inside the bucket.

Precious Moments Chapel and murals.

A sculpture in the garden at Precious  Moments.  They had many more of these sculptures through out the gardens.

The Dalton Museum in Coffeyville.

Glass companies were a major employer in Coffeyville at the turn of the century. Read the information below the jars in this picture. Interesting!

The infamous Dalton Gang

The Amish auction barn

I love this picture of the barefoot Amish girl driving the horses.

Jan Chapman, me and Jessica, Jan's daughter

Jan and I stopped at a quilt shop and I had to include this picture of the sign outside the shop.

The Civil War cemetery

       

       On Thursday morning, July 24th, I drove from Rutland, Vermont, to Alexandra, Virginia.  I arrived at Jennifer Hugill's house around 6PM.  While I didn't drive into New York City, I could certainly see the city from the Garden State Parkway and took a picture of what I believe to be One World Trade Center.  It was quite a sight from afar and must be amazing up close.  It was wonderful to see Jennifer again!! I saw her last in August when I had driven with her from Lynden, Washington,  to St. Louis.  She was able to stay with me when Joe was given his terminal diagnosis and we both cared for her father till he passed.  Joe's sister, Lee, was equally involved and as sad as the experience was, it bonded Lee, Jennifer and I forever.  After Joe died in August last year we packed up, in a 26 foot U-Haul, what she wanted to take back to Virginia and attached Joe's car on the back, and drove east. I drove with her till St. Louis and then a friend drove with her the rest of the way. I flew back to Washington and returned to work as a substitute until another school nurse was hired.
        It was wonderful to spend some time with Jennifer and her roommate, Ally.  Jennifer had hoped to have Friday off but, she had to work.  This actually worked quite well for me since it gave me plenty of time to work on my blog.  Plus, Jennifer's friend, Danny, had a little sewing project for me.  It was a simple project, just sewing a couple hems in a curtain, so it did not take long.  There was a good reason I brought my sewing machine with me!!
          On Saturday, Jennifer and Ally took me into Washington D.C.  I had been there many years ago but there is so much that one forgets over time or does not notice the first time.  We parked and walked everywhere, or it seemed everywhere.  It was a warm day and when we finally decided on a location to obtain a pressed penny Jennifer had the best idea ever!  We took a bicycle taxi to the art museum where I could find a pressed penny machine.  Since it was several blocks, the taxi was a fabulous idea!  Well, we arrived at the museum and alas, it was the wrong one. YIKES!  When we finally figured out where the correct museum was, it was decided it was just to far on a hot day but, I did get some wonderful pictures and great memories!  I cannot thank Jennifer and Ally enough for being such great hosts!
         On Sunday I just wanted to take it easy and stay around the house since it was going to be another warm day.  I always like to get my hands involved in yard work so I got up early and did a little weeding around their patio.  Late morning we went to a local nursery to check out possible plants for their backyard but were very disappointed in the offerings.  So we decided to drown our disappointment in food!  Yes!  We went to a little Indian restaurant and the food was fabulous!  Their desserts looked even better but, we all showed great control and resisted indulging.
       Monday morning it was off to Tennessee and an overnight stay with my school friends from Botkins, Ed and Yvonne George.  I had not spent any time with Yvonne since the summer of 2012 when 12 of us friends from Botkins spent a week on the Oregon Coast.  I arrived mid afternoon at their home in Vonore, TN.  After visiting Ed took us on a boat ride to a lakeside restaurant, however, it was closed to the public on that evening.  So Ed took us back to the house and we hopped in cars and went to a local Mexican restaurant.  Since Yvonne had a meeting to attend after dinner she drove separately and I rode with her in her convertible!  It was a sporty little thing and so fun!  A boat ride followed by a ride in a sporty little convertible,  what more could I ask for?!  While Yvonne was at the meeting, I had a lovely visit with Ed and his mother, Evelyn George, who was visiting from Botkins.  It was so nice to have time to just sit and visit and I enjoyed it immensely.  Icing on the cake was Ed helping me set up my tablet for pod casts.  The visit was very short, but what a lovely visit. Thank you Ed and Yvonne for your wonderful hospitality.

On the way to Jennifer's house, I took this picture of the World Trade Center.  I don't know how many miles I was from it, but even from this distance I found it very impressive.

Jennifer, Ally and I had lunch at the oldest bar in Washington DC, Old Ebbit Grill. It is frequented by congressmen, etc., but we didn't recognize any on during this visit. The food was most delicious!

Notice the animal heads over the bar.

The Treasury Department is an impressive building.

Below is the Executive Office Building which sets to the side of the White House.  To some it has more impressive architecture then the White House.

Of course I can't talk about the nation's capital without having a picture of the White House.

This was fun to see! A segway tour.  They were in front of the White House.

Beautiful!

These are the beautiful flowers Jennifer had waiting for me when I arrived!

Ally on the left and Jennifer on the right in front of their little garden.

                                             JenJen and me the morning I left.

                                         A pressed penny from Dixie Caverns! Yes!

                                       Evelyn George, me, Yvonne and Ed George.