We overslept this morning. It was 7:00 when we woke up. We needed to be ready ad fed by 7:45. Believe it or not, we made it. But we certainly didn't linger over breakfast.
Pacific Press shared their new books this morning. Now I'm really behind on my reading. Good! I like it when I have a lot to choose from.
It was another full day of meetings. I did another half hour walk around the Press this afternoon. It started snowing lightly just as I was coming in.
We went to Ruby Tuesday's for supper with Bill and Mickey. They are fun to be with.
My feet are more swollen tonight then they've ever been before. They need to get better fast.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
February 21 Hagerstown
We went to meetings all day long. R&H showed their new books. I can see that I have a lot of reading to do. The hard part will be deciding which book I want to read first.
Bill Kuehl showed up around noon. Actually he got here Saturday night, but we didn't know it. So we had lunch with Bill, Mickey Johnson and Jerry Thomas.
The afternoon was full of meetings too. I went for a walk during the last one. I couldn't stay awake any longer without some fresh air and exercise. My feet have been swollen since I got here, so I was hoping that would help too.
For supper we went with Bill to the Olive Garden. We enjoy spending time, visiting with him.
Bill Kuehl showed up around noon. Actually he got here Saturday night, but we didn't know it. So we had lunch with Bill, Mickey Johnson and Jerry Thomas.
The afternoon was full of meetings too. I went for a walk during the last one. I couldn't stay awake any longer without some fresh air and exercise. My feet have been swollen since I got here, so I was hoping that would help too.
For supper we went with Bill to the Olive Garden. We enjoy spending time, visiting with him.
February 20 Hagerstown
Two showers are nice when you're in a hurry but one of them doesn't work.
The motel serves breakfast, everything from eggs, hash browns, bacon, cereal, waffles and fruits. Kellogg's provided veggie bacon strips. I wonder what the other guest thought, if they accidentally ate their first fake meat. M-m-good!
Sabbath school and Church were excellent. Jim Ayers told his conversion story for SS, from drug dealer to a minister of God. What a story!
C A Murry sang for Church. He has a wonderful voice. Then Ty Gibson shared his life story. We've heard him before. He's an excellent speaker with a fantastic story.
Review and Herald gave us a bus tour. We went to the General Conference building where the White Estate is located. For my friends who are not Seventh-day Adventist, Ellen White was a prophetess of God, living in the late 1800's to 1915. Jim Nix shared stories about Ellen, the women. He has talked with her daughter-in-law and grandchildren. The stories they shared help us to see her as a real person. We enjoyed the tour and memories.
After sundown, we continued our tour into Washington DC. We ate supper at Union Station. Then we drove by the Capitol Building, White House and several monuments. I'm glad we've been here before, because otherwise that wouldn't have been enough.
We got back to the motel around 10:00. It's been a long, but wonderful day.
The motel serves breakfast, everything from eggs, hash browns, bacon, cereal, waffles and fruits. Kellogg's provided veggie bacon strips. I wonder what the other guest thought, if they accidentally ate their first fake meat. M-m-good!
Sabbath school and Church were excellent. Jim Ayers told his conversion story for SS, from drug dealer to a minister of God. What a story!
C A Murry sang for Church. He has a wonderful voice. Then Ty Gibson shared his life story. We've heard him before. He's an excellent speaker with a fantastic story.
Review and Herald gave us a bus tour. We went to the General Conference building where the White Estate is located. For my friends who are not Seventh-day Adventist, Ellen White was a prophetess of God, living in the late 1800's to 1915. Jim Nix shared stories about Ellen, the women. He has talked with her daughter-in-law and grandchildren. The stories they shared help us to see her as a real person. We enjoyed the tour and memories.
After sundown, we continued our tour into Washington DC. We ate supper at Union Station. Then we drove by the Capitol Building, White House and several monuments. I'm glad we've been here before, because otherwise that wouldn't have been enough.
We got back to the motel around 10:00. It's been a long, but wonderful day.
February 19 Hagerstown, Maryland
We left Boise around noon today to fly to Baltimore for the Marketing Seminar, with a plane change in Salt Lake City, UT. We got in around 8:00 EST. Several of us were car pooling to our motel. After we made our connections, we stopped at Taco Bell for supper and made the hour trip here, it was after 10:00.
Jim made our reservations several months ago. He accidentally made them for January instead of February. So they didn't have a room reserved for us. Whoops! All they had left were smoking rooms and a two bedroom suite. So the rooms stinks, but it's BIG! It has 2 very large bedrooms, three beds, two bathrooms, a front room, 3 TV's, and a fully equipped kitchen with a dishwasher. No food in here through. Nice set-up.
Jim made our reservations several months ago. He accidentally made them for January instead of February. So they didn't have a room reserved for us. Whoops! All they had left were smoking rooms and a two bedroom suite. So the rooms stinks, but it's BIG! It has 2 very large bedrooms, three beds, two bathrooms, a front room, 3 TV's, and a fully equipped kitchen with a dishwasher. No food in here through. Nice set-up.
February 14 Ely, NV
After our late night, it was hard to want to get up and around for our morning sale. Yea, I know 10:00 isn't really early. But there are always things we have to do first, to get there, set up and be ready for our first customer, which is usually early.
We had a nice two hour sale that lasted three hours. The last man came in around 12:40. After awhile he must have realized that he was the only customer. So he asked Jim how long we were open. Jim said 12:00. He said okay and kept shopping. A little later t=he looked at his watch and realized the time. It was kind of funny. We certainly weren't going to have a customer leave just because we were closed!
We started our journey home after we were finished there. We're driving straight north through Nevada. It's a long, long trip. There's not much to see or many towns. The last couple days we've seen fields of rocks and trees, today all we saw was cactus. Lots and lots of cactus.
It was hot in Vegas when we left, probably the 70's. When we stopped for supper around 7:00, it was about 25 in Ely. We saw snow on the ground the last couple hours.
The plan is to get home tomorrow. On Friday we leave for Baltimore, Maryland (fly) for a week's Marketing Seminar. So I won't write again until then.
Happy Valentine's Day!
We had a nice two hour sale that lasted three hours. The last man came in around 12:40. After awhile he must have realized that he was the only customer. So he asked Jim how long we were open. Jim said 12:00. He said okay and kept shopping. A little later t=he looked at his watch and realized the time. It was kind of funny. We certainly weren't going to have a customer leave just because we were closed!
We started our journey home after we were finished there. We're driving straight north through Nevada. It's a long, long trip. There's not much to see or many towns. The last couple days we've seen fields of rocks and trees, today all we saw was cactus. Lots and lots of cactus.
It was hot in Vegas when we left, probably the 70's. When we stopped for supper around 7:00, it was about 25 in Ely. We saw snow on the ground the last couple hours.
The plan is to get home tomorrow. On Friday we leave for Baltimore, Maryland (fly) for a week's Marketing Seminar. So I won't write again until then.
Happy Valentine's Day!
February 13 Las Vegas, NV
Between Pahrump and Las Vegas is a big mountain pass. Jim and I really worked hard to get over that mountain. We both peddled hard and fast and I even helped by pushing on the dashboard to get to the top. Then viola!!! we made it! About one inch later we started down. The sign said a 7% grade. We both drug all four feet and still went fast. I went wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeee all the way down.
Yesterday we saw miles and miles of rock fields. Today it was Joshua trees. At least we get a nice variety.
Our sale tonight was at a Spanish Church. Since we can't carry enough Spanish books on the truck, we had to set up shelves outside. We had about 15 shelves outside the truck. It helps that the weather is so much nicer here. I was too hot even outside part of the time. This is the only completely Spanish sale that we have. Business was brisk all evening. In fact we started selling about a half hour early. We got there early so we'd have time to set up. It didn't work that way!
Yesterday we saw miles and miles of rock fields. Today it was Joshua trees. At least we get a nice variety.
Our sale tonight was at a Spanish Church. Since we can't carry enough Spanish books on the truck, we had to set up shelves outside. We had about 15 shelves outside the truck. It helps that the weather is so much nicer here. I was too hot even outside part of the time. This is the only completely Spanish sale that we have. Business was brisk all evening. In fact we started selling about a half hour early. We got there early so we'd have time to set up. It didn't work that way!
Saturday, February 13, 2010
February 12 Death Valley Nat'l Park
We enjoyed our visit to Death Valley National Park so much last year, that we decided to go again this year, since we're so close and have an empty day. We rented a car here in Pahrump.
On a normal year, the park only gets about 2" of rain a year. I don't know how much they got, but it rained for four days. Lots of roads were messed up or washed out. Several areas you couldn't go to, because of the roads. They are expecting a beautiful spring with millions of flowers, but that won't happen for another month.
We still enjoyed our visit. The second picture is where the water came rushing through when it rained. Even mud can be interesting.
We wanted to drive through Titus Canyon Narrows. We read that this is a place you do not want to be during a flash flood. It is a one way road through a narrow canyon, with very high rock walls. If the water came rushing through, there is no place to go. We drove up a two-way gravel road, about 3 miles, to a parking area. The canyon road was closed because of the rain. We hiked up about a mile. The next several pictures show this road. It was kind of like the Golden Canyon we hiked last time, but not as pretty.
We wanted to drive the Artist Palette and see the Natural Bridge also, but that was closed too.
We did go see Scotty's Castle. It's hard to imagine a castle in the middle of the desert. He made the area into a resort oasis. I have several pictures of trees and cactus there too.
Look at the old gas pumps. I wonder if they sell old (and cheap) gas there.
Jim decided to rotate the tires out on the highway. When he said he had a donut in the truck, I was ready to eat it. Imagine my surprise when he used it as a tire. A car stopped to help him change the flat. Afterwards I realized it was probably because they thought we were old people. We may look it, but inside we're really much younger.
How about that sunset? What a beautiful way to start another Sabbath!!
On a normal year, the park only gets about 2" of rain a year. I don't know how much they got, but it rained for four days. Lots of roads were messed up or washed out. Several areas you couldn't go to, because of the roads. They are expecting a beautiful spring with millions of flowers, but that won't happen for another month.
We still enjoyed our visit. The second picture is where the water came rushing through when it rained. Even mud can be interesting.
We wanted to drive through Titus Canyon Narrows. We read that this is a place you do not want to be during a flash flood. It is a one way road through a narrow canyon, with very high rock walls. If the water came rushing through, there is no place to go. We drove up a two-way gravel road, about 3 miles, to a parking area. The canyon road was closed because of the rain. We hiked up about a mile. The next several pictures show this road. It was kind of like the Golden Canyon we hiked last time, but not as pretty.
We wanted to drive the Artist Palette and see the Natural Bridge also, but that was closed too.
We did go see Scotty's Castle. It's hard to imagine a castle in the middle of the desert. He made the area into a resort oasis. I have several pictures of trees and cactus there too.
Look at the old gas pumps. I wonder if they sell old (and cheap) gas there.
Jim decided to rotate the tires out on the highway. When he said he had a donut in the truck, I was ready to eat it. Imagine my surprise when he used it as a tire. A car stopped to help him change the flat. Afterwards I realized it was probably because they thought we were old people. We may look it, but inside we're really much younger.
How about that sunset? What a beautiful way to start another Sabbath!!
Thursday, February 11, 2010
February 10 Las Vegas, NV
This was a 25 hour day! We're in Pacific Time zone now. Makes a long day! Then Sunday on our way home, we won't have enough time!
We woke up to a foggy morning, by the time we finished breakfast, it was a bright, sparkly day. Nice for driving.
The first few miles out of St George, through the corner of Arizona, were so pretty. I shared several pictures last fall, so won't repeat them again so soon. The road goes through mountains. It really is unbelievably beautiful.
We had a nice big sale at the Abundant Life Church. It was Prayer Meeting night, so probably more people came by, as they were out anyway.
We probably won't 'tour' the strip or even drive by it while we are here. It just doesn't seem important. I thought last time that we were here, that it would be nice to see it once, but have decided once might be too often. What a prude!!!
We woke up to a foggy morning, by the time we finished breakfast, it was a bright, sparkly day. Nice for driving.
The first few miles out of St George, through the corner of Arizona, were so pretty. I shared several pictures last fall, so won't repeat them again so soon. The road goes through mountains. It really is unbelievably beautiful.
We had a nice big sale at the Abundant Life Church. It was Prayer Meeting night, so probably more people came by, as they were out anyway.
We probably won't 'tour' the strip or even drive by it while we are here. It just doesn't seem important. I thought last time that we were here, that it would be nice to see it once, but have decided once might be too often. What a prude!!!
February 9 St George, UT
We've had a variety of weather today. It was a beautiful sunshiny day to start with. By the time we finished our sale in Enoch, there were big, lazy snowflakes floating around. By the time we got back on the highway, the flakes were in a race to see how many could whiz by. We would drive in and out of now squalls the next thirty miles or so. It started raining later, during our sale in St George. By the time we were finished, it was raining fairly hard. Right now it's not anything but dark outside. It does that most every night.
I hope that our sale in Enoch will be the smallest sale we have ALL year. I also wish that all our sales had people as friendly and kind. They are such neat people.
Our motel is next to Denny's, so we walked over there for supper, in the rain. We were looking forward to a hot bowl of broccoli cheese soup. That was yesterday's soup, so we had a grilled cheese sandwich instead, with hot chocolate. But it was still good.
I hope that our sale in Enoch will be the smallest sale we have ALL year. I also wish that all our sales had people as friendly and kind. They are such neat people.
Our motel is next to Denny's, so we walked over there for supper, in the rain. We were looking forward to a hot bowl of broccoli cheese soup. That was yesterday's soup, so we had a grilled cheese sandwich instead, with hot chocolate. But it was still good.
Monday, February 8, 2010
February 8 Fillmore, UT
We're a day late and at least a dollar short. We intended to leave yesterday to make the trip easier, but that didn't work.
Jim went to the Press yesterday morning before 8:00 A.M. to meet the food delivery man. To receive the delivery and put it all away took until after 8:00 last night. I took eight boxes to the Boise store because we just couldn't fit it on the truck. We have an upright freezer, a chest freezer and 5 large coolers all full plus tons of canned food. It's hard to believe how fast all that goes.
Since yesterday was full, we didn't get to leave until this morning. It was a gorgeous day, lots of sunshine. We drove 10 hours. We have two more hours of driving to get to our first stop. That will make an easy drive in the morning for our noon sale. We have two sales tomorrow.
We'll be staying in motels alot more this year, especially while it's cold out. I have no reason to want to trust the carbon monoxide levels in the truck. If we just wouldn't have fixed the leaks and windows, we would have been okay....
Jim went to the Press yesterday morning before 8:00 A.M. to meet the food delivery man. To receive the delivery and put it all away took until after 8:00 last night. I took eight boxes to the Boise store because we just couldn't fit it on the truck. We have an upright freezer, a chest freezer and 5 large coolers all full plus tons of canned food. It's hard to believe how fast all that goes.
Since yesterday was full, we didn't get to leave until this morning. It was a gorgeous day, lots of sunshine. We drove 10 hours. We have two more hours of driving to get to our first stop. That will make an easy drive in the morning for our noon sale. We have two sales tomorrow.
We'll be staying in motels alot more this year, especially while it's cold out. I have no reason to want to trust the carbon monoxide levels in the truck. If we just wouldn't have fixed the leaks and windows, we would have been okay....
Saturday, February 6, 2010
January 30 Meridian, ID
Craters of the Moon National Monument is between Idaho Falls and home, if you take the right road. It was two lane most of the way, but still good driving. It was another bright, beautiful day. There were lots of light fluffy clouds. Sometimes you couldn't tell where the sky started and the mountains ended.
We've been camping at the Craters before. It's actually pretty in the winter. Everything was snow covered. Of course, I really do enjoy seeing all the volcanoes and lava rock too.
We couldn't go past the visitor center. They only plowed that far. The road was about 3' under the snow. The visitor center was actually all we needed anyway as we just wanted to pick up brooches for this summer.
It was a couple more hours of driving to get home. We hadn't been home more than a half hour before it started snowing. Great timing!
Sunday we'll work in the truck again, trying to finish up processing the books. It'll be a busy week, with finishing the books, food and a couple doctor appointments and packing for our next trip. On February 7 (my grandson's 8th birthday) we will leave for the Las Vegas area for a week.
January 29 Idaho Falls, ID
It was about a two hour trip to Bozeman. The roads were clean and good. The snow and scenery were beautiful. The fields were mostly smooth and untracked. Then we would come across snow with animal trails dotting the landscape. Other places were all marked by snowmobile tracks. The evergreen trees were graceful and lovely, with their snow coats. It was a gorgeous drive.
We made our delivery at the Academy before noon. With careful planning, we always try to be there at meal time. Vonnie is a fantastic cook and a sweetheart of a friend. We were only in Bozeman a couple hours before we started our return trip. The sun had been out today warning the streets, so West Yellowstone was not as snow packed. You could actually see some pavement.
We stopped by the visitor center to pick up some broaches for this summer. while we were there, they told us that Yellowstone has had 1506 earthquakes since January 15. That's an average of about 100 per day. And that's not unusual. These measure around 2.0 on the scale. Then think of all the geysers, which are like mini volcano's! To think that millions of people visit places like this every year. What's wrong with us?!!
We saw about 20 snowmobiles lined up at a gas station waiting for gas. They must have had a beautiful day of playing Yellowstone. I had hope to go in the park to see it during the winter. I didn't realize that you can only travel by snowmobile or snow coach in the park during this time of year.
We made our delivery at the Academy before noon. With careful planning, we always try to be there at meal time. Vonnie is a fantastic cook and a sweetheart of a friend. We were only in Bozeman a couple hours before we started our return trip. The sun had been out today warning the streets, so West Yellowstone was not as snow packed. You could actually see some pavement.
We stopped by the visitor center to pick up some broaches for this summer. while we were there, they told us that Yellowstone has had 1506 earthquakes since January 15. That's an average of about 100 per day. And that's not unusual. These measure around 2.0 on the scale. Then think of all the geysers, which are like mini volcano's! To think that millions of people visit places like this every year. What's wrong with us?!!
We saw about 20 snowmobiles lined up at a gas station waiting for gas. They must have had a beautiful day of playing Yellowstone. I had hope to go in the park to see it during the winter. I didn't realize that you can only travel by snowmobile or snow coach in the park during this time of year.
January 28, 2010 West Yellowstone, MT
After getting off the truck 9 weeks and 3 days ago (whose counting?), we're back. During that long extended 'vacation', we did take a trip to Kansas from December 3 - 15, getting to visit family and friends. After Christmas, Jim's daughter and family came to Idaho for a few days,. We also unloaded the food from the truck (so it wouldn't freeze during the winter), we inventoried all the books, Jim has done days and days and days of paper work, I ordered more books from Review and Herald and from Pacific Press and Jim ordered the food for our next run. Then we also processed the books as we received them, checking inventory, labeling them and trying to find the correct places to display them. All of that doesn't include housework, shopping for Christmas and just adjusting to home life after living on the truck for three months. And we did our yearly doctor appointments, teeth, eyes, body, etc., etc., etc.
So, today we're on our first road trip, a delivery run to Mt Ellis Academy in Montana. We rented a cargo van. The truck was too big for this trip. By the time we got the van, went to Boise ABC to get it loaded, it was noon before we left town. After 6 hours of driving time, we got to West Yellowstone, MT. The trip was quite interesting.
It was around 50 degrees when we left Boise. It's about 5 degrees here. We drove through sunshine, fog, sunshine and fog all in a 5 minute period. Sometimes we would be able to see over the fog and sometimes it was so thick that we could barely see the white line on the road. In a couple places the fog was frozen on the trees. That's always so pretty. It looks like an ice storm has gone through. There's a full moon tonight, so driving after sundown wasn't very dark. After the first couple hours of driving, there was snow on the ground most of the way, so it made a 'bright night'. The roads were clear though. We did pass a snowplow once, but the road was clear, even thought there were drifts by the road.
Once we even saw a falling star. It was so bright and it was in our view out the front window for quite awhile. It must be a good omen for our journeys this year. About half way between Idaho Falls, ID and West Yellowstone, we could see the Grand Tetons. The tallest mountains, the Three Sisters were very visible and so neat to see.
It was really interesting when we drove into West Yellowstone. The streets are all snow packed with some piles of snow almost as tall as the buildings. It's almost unreal, the difference in the roads here and the highway. This is totally a tourist town. There are snowmobiles parked all over the place, restaurants, motels, just everywhere.
We're having a family reunion here this summer after we complete our tour of duty. So tomorrow after our delivery in Bozeman, we'll check out the town a little closer. We already have our house checked out and rented before we got here. There's nothing better than having fun while you're working. If you can't enjoy life, friends, family and stuff - you've got a problem.
So, today we're on our first road trip, a delivery run to Mt Ellis Academy in Montana. We rented a cargo van. The truck was too big for this trip. By the time we got the van, went to Boise ABC to get it loaded, it was noon before we left town. After 6 hours of driving time, we got to West Yellowstone, MT. The trip was quite interesting.
It was around 50 degrees when we left Boise. It's about 5 degrees here. We drove through sunshine, fog, sunshine and fog all in a 5 minute period. Sometimes we would be able to see over the fog and sometimes it was so thick that we could barely see the white line on the road. In a couple places the fog was frozen on the trees. That's always so pretty. It looks like an ice storm has gone through. There's a full moon tonight, so driving after sundown wasn't very dark. After the first couple hours of driving, there was snow on the ground most of the way, so it made a 'bright night'. The roads were clear though. We did pass a snowplow once, but the road was clear, even thought there were drifts by the road.
Once we even saw a falling star. It was so bright and it was in our view out the front window for quite awhile. It must be a good omen for our journeys this year. About half way between Idaho Falls, ID and West Yellowstone, we could see the Grand Tetons. The tallest mountains, the Three Sisters were very visible and so neat to see.
It was really interesting when we drove into West Yellowstone. The streets are all snow packed with some piles of snow almost as tall as the buildings. It's almost unreal, the difference in the roads here and the highway. This is totally a tourist town. There are snowmobiles parked all over the place, restaurants, motels, just everywhere.
We're having a family reunion here this summer after we complete our tour of duty. So tomorrow after our delivery in Bozeman, we'll check out the town a little closer. We already have our house checked out and rented before we got here. There's nothing better than having fun while you're working. If you can't enjoy life, friends, family and stuff - you've got a problem.
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