Thanksgiving Day 2010

We're home. Life at home is completely different from life on the truck. It takes me awhile to make the transition from one life to the other.

Friday I went to get my eyes checked and the chiropractor. Jim unloaded the frozen food. Sabbath I slept until 1:30 and Sunday until 11:30. Now I'm almost ready to get busy again.

Monday we had a meeting with two of our bosses. They are pleased with our work. We have now almost doubled the sales from when we first started. Next year won't be quite as good that way, as we won't be going to North and South Dakota and Minnesota. As with most things, that's both good and bad. Bad because our sales will be down. And good because we are on the road too long at a time. A couple weeks shorter will be better.

Next week we will be going to Kansas for a couple weeks to celebrate Christmas with our family. I have two sisters, one brother, two children and three grandchildren in Kansas and Missouri. Jeff and his daughter will also be going at the same time. I will also go to a couple meetings to work on the Enterprise Academy Alumni. I know that the trip will fly by too fast.

So, this trip is over. But we are going again next year. So if you would like to follow our trip, you can go to TravelAdventures11@Blogspot.com. Until then, happy holidays and may God be with you.

November 17 Idaho Falls, ID

We had a noon sale in Pocatello, ID. One lady was really neat. She has been saving her money all year to spend in the bookmobile. She had $100.00. She bought sharing books and pamplets, mostly priced between .49 to .99. She spent $100.01. It took her a full hour to make her selections. When I first ran her up, her total was around $95. She had $100. and she was going to spend $100. and she did!!! I like shoppers like that! I pray that God will bless every thing she shares and her for her love of her neighbors.

We did our next sale here in Idaho Falls. We had a nice turn out.

24 hours from now, we'll be home! Yes, I'm getting anxious. Home is nice!!!

November 16 Odgen, UT

Ten states finished, one to go and it only has three sales. It's been a long three months, full of memories and blessings. The Lord has protected us in so many ways.

November 15 Salt Lake City, UT

I was right. We drove all day. I only got a roll and orange juice for breakfast, so supper was a long time coming.

We had to hurry to get to the cold storage before 4:00, so we could get the rest of the canned food out. We made it with time to spare. We just stuffed it in the trailer, then had to put it away later. Jim worked until after 10:00 doing that, after we feed our faces.

November 14 St George, UT

For some reason, the people from our sale today (12-1:30) thought it was from 10-12:00. We were a half hour early, but most of them quit waiting by then. We had a very small sale. The devil works hard to discourage us, but it doesn't work. God is still in control.

We started our journey back north. We stopped at St George, because we hadn't had lunch yet and it was 5:00. Then there was the time change and it was majically an hour later. And (drum roll....) we're too old to drive after dark. Especially when we still don't feel well.

Tomorrow will be a big day of driving, around 300 miles, plus work.

November 13 Las Vegas, NV

We stayed in our room most of the day. We just don't feel good, so much coughing. I was up half the night coughing. I think we're so worn down from being on the road three months , that our resistance is super low.

We did walk out in the sunshine and fresh air about a half hour this afternoon. I'm sure that was good for us.

Our evening sale was at the Spanish Church. We had a nice group.

Only FIVE more sales and FIVE days from now, we'll be home. Hard to believe and harder to wait!

November 12 Las Vegas, NV

We drove back to Vegas. The trip was Bad. My cold has really settled in my ears. When we came down the mountain, both my ears got plugged. I couldn't unplug them no matter what I did. We even stopped and bought some chewing gum. That didn't help at all. It was a couple hours before I could hear again. It was so bad that I couldn't even hear the truck. Now that's bad!

We went across the street from our motel to eat at the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch. There's just not many choices around here.

November 11 Pahrump, NV

Jim got stopped by the highway patrol. I guess it was a 'curtosy check'. The highway patrolman stood in the door and asked for several papers, registration, etc. Jim handed them to him one at a time, as he asked. A gust of wind came up and caugh a couple papers. Mr. Highway Patrolman had to get in his truck and back down the highway until he could catch them. He said that if they hadn't got caught by sage brush, he might still be looking for those papers. He didn't give us any tickets.

We're in the same motel as the last trip through here. We got an upgrade to a nice big room. It's very comfortable.

November 10 Las Vegas, NV

Jim believes in sharing. So Now I have a cold too. Funny how miserable a cold can make a person.

I went back to bed after breakfast for about a half hour. Not really long enough.

I love the road in southern Utah and into Arizona. The mountains are solid rock and hundreds of feet tall.

We hurried to get to Vegas in time for our 4:30 sale. We forgot about the time change, so we were an hour early. So our 2 1/2 hour sale actually lasted about 4 hours.

We stopped to eat at a vegetarian restaurant before our sale. It had some vegetarian dishes, but more meat dishes. It actually was a Chinese Restaurant. Jim was happy. I went out to the truck and read while he ate. I have to be very hungry to eat Chinese.

By the time we closed shop and went to our motel, we didn't see any place to eat that we could park, so I ended up with a bowl of cereal for supper.

November 9 St George, UT

The ground was still white this morning. But you'd have to work hard to make a snowball. By the time we were an hour south of town, the snow was gone.

We had a noon sale at Enoch then on to St George for an evening sale. It was a good day.

November 8 Fillmore, UT

It started acting like it was really winter today. While we were working at the cold storage today, we had rain, sleet and snow. It was was and nasty inside and outside too. To make it feel worse, Jim has a cold now. So he feels miserable to boot.

Driving in this wet stuff wasn't fun either. It was wet and overcast all the way. It was just a dark and gloomy day.

By the time we got to Fillmore, it was snowing hard. I was watching it while Jim was getting gas. It was beautiful. You could see each individual snowflake coming down. Some were bigger than the others, so fell faster.

During the time Jim was in the motel getting our room, the ground turned white. It's not cold enough to stay unless it turns colder overnight.

November 7 Salt Lake City, UT

What a mix up! Our sale was from 12 - 2:00. We got a call on our way over, asking where were we? First they had a flier saying the wrong day and time. Somehow they thought it was 9:00 this morning for the corrected time. And of course, today is the first day with the time change. The neat thing is that they worked as a team around the Church while waiting for us. Again, no one was mad. They're just so glad we come.

We made our goal for the weekend sales!!!!!

November 6 Salt Lake City, UT

We changed motels this morning. I have bug bites all over my body. We aren't seeing bugs, so really don't know if it's bedbugs or what. I just know that I don't need to stay there any longer.

I feel like I've been running - fast! The school had their Fall Festival tonight in conjunction with our sale. When we got there a half hour early, there were people in line waiting to get in. They came in all at once and filled the trailer. I can't even imagine how they can find what they want to buy. But they seem to. And no one complains about it being crowded or anything. What a fantastic group of Christians. They even complimented us on how much selection we have. But, but by the of the evening, I had put everything I had for the Spanish on the shelves and still had big empty places. And I had boxes of Spanish books to restock with.

Now I'm in trouble, since we have several more Churches with Spanish before we get home. We need to figure out where to get more books sent to us in Las Vegas.

November 5 Salt Lake City, UT

We went over tot he Cold Storage first thing this morning to pick up the school's order. We had to deliver it to the school by 11:00. After a quick lunch at Marie Callendars', we spent the rest of the day back at the Cold Storage and restocked the truck as much as we could. We have 5 pallets of canned food and a couple pallets of frozen food. Basically we were stocking for this weekend here in SLC. On Monday we'll try to get the rest of the food in the trailer for the rest of our trip. We have less than two weeks left before we get home, just in time for Thanksgiving.

November 4 Salt Lake City, UT

Short drive from Provo to SLC. We got here around noon. Our motel is close to a Ruby Tuesday's, so we walked there for lunch.

I stayed at the motel while Jim went to Cold Storage to restock. He only got enough product for tonight's sale. I worked on my alumni mailing while he was gone. I emailed all the honor classes. They all came back. We finally figured out that the computer thinks we're sending out SPAM. Not what?

We had a two hour sale at a Church we haven't sold at before. What a fantastic sale! People bought as many as 12 cases of food at a time. Several bought at least 8. Good thing Jim restocked, because we sold out of some product anyway. We'll have to restock again tomorrow. I'm expecting at least a $10,000. weekend here in SLC.

November 3 Provo, UT

I enjoy the road between Price and Provo as long as we're going west. It's so pretty. At the summit, 7000' plus, there was snow beside the road.

Colorado National Monument

We went out to breakfast with Ron and Viki this morning. We always enjoy our visits with them.

Ron took us up to see the Colorado Monument after breakfast. We've been within 5 miles of it five times now and this was our first visit. We only had time for a quick drive in the first part of the park, so we will do it again sometime. The most interesting thing we saw, were the mountain sheep. I got good pictures of them, but Ron got better pictures. His camera is worth more than my car, with a full tank of gas. Ron sent me some of his pictures to share, but for some reason, I can't upload them. Too bad, his pictures were close up and personal.

The tiny church at Price had a sale three times better than Grand Junction's last night. Interesting!

I always enjoy seeing my Aunt Florence when we come here. She isn't able to drive now, but she has some wonderful friends that take her around.

November 1 Fruita, CO

There's a motel right by the Church, so we stayed there last night. This morning after breakfast, we worked in the truck until about 1:00. One of the Church ladies stopped to see if we were okay. She thought we had truck problems. And a little later the pastor stopped to check on us too. This pastor will be the new pastor in Wichita and Harper, Kansas in about 2 more weeks. We used to live in Harper, two moves ago.

We were able to visit with Ron and Viki Carrick tonight during our sale. Jim and Ron have been friends since they were about 5. Viki and I have been friends for two and a half years. Some friends just become good friends right away and Viki is that kind of friend.

I had completely cashed up and turned off the computer when another customer came in. She ended up being our biggest sale for the night.


.

October 31 Montrose, CO

We stayed at Delta, CO last night, so we would be ready for our 11:30 sale today. For two hours, the people just poured in. It was a great sale. We were there about 3 hours for a 2 hour sale.

Montrose is only about an hour down the road, so we had time for a quick meal before our 4:30 sale. It was a good one too.

As of tonight, we surpassed our sales for our first 2 runs. This run should be at least as good as our best sale. God just blesses and blesses our work.

Dead Horse Point State Park - UT

This afternoon we decided to visit Dead Horse Point, which is by the north entrance to Canyonlands National Park. We drove by it in May, but didn't take the time to visit. I'm so glad that we did today. Not only was it another beautiful day, the view was fantastic. It was a little hazy, but I think I still got some good pictures.

The legend of the canyon is this: According to one legend, the point was once used as a corral for wild mustangs roaming the mesa. Cowboys rounded up these horses, herded them across the narrow neck of land and onto the point. The neck, which is only 30 yards wide, was then fenced off with branches and brush, creating a natural corral surrounded by precipitous cliffs. Cowboys then chose the horses they wanted and for reasons unknown, left the other horses corralled on the waterless point where they died of thirst within view of the Colorado River, 2,000 feet below.

Notice on the next to the last picture the rocks lining the road. That is suppose to keep cars from falling off the edge! It's pretty narrow there. The last picture shows the fence that they used to keep the horses corralled. It's about 5' high.

Remember, if you double click on the pictures, they will become bigger. I noticed on mine that the first double click makes the picture half screen size. Then if I click on the picture again, it becomes full size.

Canyonland Nat'l Park, South Entrance

The first picture was taken on May 7 when we went to the Canyonland North Entrance. It shows the kind of place that we were in today, in the south part. I tried to include pictures of many different parts of the park that we were in today. Several feature clouds, sunshine, colors, layers of rock, a 'shoe' rock and two show going under a rock from both directions on the road. We had a wonderful time. The day was perfect, weather included.

Newspaper Rock Nat'l Historical Site

We enjoyed reading the newspaper this morning. I'm wondering if they put the last sign up before or after the Indian's wrote on this rock and if it was after, did they arrest them?

October 28 Moab, UT

The landscape is so unique in Utah. Big rocks just pop out of nowhere. A person could spend months just going through the National Parks. Tomorrow we are going to the south end of Canyonlands. I'm excited.

I couldn't help but taking some picture today. I know that I've shared with you pictures from Monument Valley last year, so I didn't put them on again. This time I'm just putting a couple on the road from there to Moab. I love the sunshine on the first picture and the lines in the rock on a couple others. Those snowy mountains are looking into Colorado. Tomorrow you will see more than you ever wanted, probably.