Historic Boone Tavern

When we were done at the Ark Encounter on Monday September 27th we filled up our tank with gas for just under $49.00. The receipt was torn so I’m not sure the price per gallon. This tank would last us until we got into North Carolina. We drove south in Kentucky for 80 miles on Interstate 75 to the college town of Berea.  We had a room booked at the Historic Boone Tavern. You can read about the Historic Boone Tavern located on the campus of Berea College in Berea, Kentucky. Our room charge was $119 and with taxes the total was $130.90.

It was nice to stray from national chain hotels to this beauty on our Land That We Love Tour.

We were able to check in earlier than we expected and went out to do a little shopping at an Artisan Village called Old Town Artist Village. The college campus was busy with students walking to and from classes. Berea is a college that does not charge tuition but the students given admission to the college agree to work 10 hours a week for the college in different positions around the campus.

This was a nice shop featuring woodcrafts called The Cabin of Old Town.

We had an early dinner reservation at the restaurant in the hotel.

I tried some deep fried deviled eggs that were delicious.

Dear tried the Shrimp and Grits. (When in the South…) Besides the deviled eggs I had a cup of soup, a salad, and we shared Steamed Mussels. We had a drink each. We shared Bread Pudding for dessert. Our bill came to $98.93 before tip.

Tuesday morning we would be checking out early and heading to Boone, North Carolina for our Tuesday night stay in the Appalachians. Are you catching the theme in this part of our country. In Kentucky we were on the edge of the Daniel Boone National Forest.

Speaking of Painting Hodgepodge

It’s time for Wednesday Hodgepodge where Jo From This Side of the Pond asks the questions for all to answer.

This week there are questions about paint/painting so the photo above shows our storage room where we have to store any good paint we plan to use so it doesn’t freeze in our garage or shop. Dear recently painted this storage room and we reorganized it. Our storage room is 10 x 11 with an upper deep shelf of storage space that we utilize, too. This room is right off our Master Suite and was originally planned to be a sitting area but because we don’t have a basement or attic for storage we are using it as a storage area.

1. It’s often said we should be grateful for small blessings. What is one small blessing you are feeling especially grateful for today?

Our electricity stayed on through the windy storm event we had on Monday! I’m always grateful if our power stays on!

2. How do you feel about leftovers, not just on Thanksgiving but after any meal? Favorite thing to make/eat using your Thanksgiving leftovers? 

I find leftovers enjoyable and convenient. My favorite thing to have with Thanksgiving leftovers are turkey sliders using the leftover rolls, turkey and stuffing with a little cranberry sauce.

3. Sherwin Williams unveiled it’s 2022 Color of the Year-Evergreen Fog.

Are you a fan? Yes, it’s a decent color I could live with.

Would I find this mid-tone gray green shade anywhere in your house?

No, the interior of our home has all been recently painted and we went with a medium brown tone everywhere except for our Master bathroom and laundry room. Those rooms have a pewter tone. The whole house has white ceilings and white accents against the brown.

Does your house need painting? Inside or out?

Outside needs painting which we plan to do next summer and Evergreen Fog could work nicely but time will tell what we pick. Dear recently painted our front and back door in Dress Blue. Whatever we choose for the whole of the exterior will be complimentary to the Dress Blue doors.

What one space is most in need of a paint job?

Our exterior is most in need of a paint job. This past few weeks Dear has finished all the spare rooms of our house with fresh paint including all the closets except for the Master bedroom. We are going to install new doors on our closets so he will finish them up after the new doors are installed.

Are you a do-it-yourselfer or do you hire a professional? 

Dear is a professional painter, taught by his father who was a professional painter in Los Angeles County area in California. It was his job into the first years of our marriage before he worked in the mining/quarry industry running a front end loader and then in his mid 30’s he went back to school to become a Pharmacist. He is now a retired Pharmacist who is my resident painter. Woohoo!

I’ll do a little name dropping about Dear’s Father’s painting business. He was featured in an L.A. magazine as a recommended painting contractor. Here’s the name dropping…he painted many homes in Beverly Hills, Brentwood and Belair, including Peter Falk’s home (Columbo). Dear and his brother worked with their dad at these homes. They also painted at L.A. Baptist College which is now the Master’s University.

4. What is one aspect of the way you were parented that you are grateful for today? 

I am grateful to my parents who modeled repentance in seeking after God and walking with God. This was a priority with them. They knew that was the most important heritage to model for their children and grandchildren.

5. Write an acrostic for the word-thankful

Trusting
Him
Always
Not wavering
Knowing that
Father God faithfully
Upholds His own with
Loving kindness that endures forever.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Had to throw in a photo of my resident professional personal painter. I am a fortunate gal.

The Ark Finale

Today I’m wrapping up my Ark Encounter posts with a hodgepodge of photos I took inside the three level Ark. If you ever find yourself in Kentucky you really should put a stop at the Ark in your itinerary! The next overnight stop on our Land That we Love Tour was Berea, Kentucky.

Possible water storage on the ark.

There is a lot about the whole Ark experience that Noah and his family had that the Bible does not spell out. The Ark Encounter made it clear when they were taking artistic license.

A devotional popped up in my email about the time of Noah that I’ll share parts of here. It’s from Drawing Near by John MacArthur.

Genesis 6:5 says, “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Before moving in judgment against the most evil and corrupt society in history, God appointed Noah to build an ark, which became a symbol of life and salvation to all who believed God. For those who disbelieved, it represented impending death and judgment.

Concurrent with constructing the ark, Noah preached about coming judgment. Peter called him “a preacher of righteousness” (2 Pet. 2:5), and every board he cut and nail he drove in was a living illustration of the urgency of his message.

God’s warning was stern and His message horrifying, but His patience and mercy prevailed for 120 years. As Peter said, “The patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark” (1 Pet. 3:20). The people had ample warning of judgment, but they chose to disregard Noah’s message.

As sad as the account of Noah’s day is, perhaps the greatest tragedy is that man’s attitude toward God hasn’t changed since then. Jesus said, “The coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, they were marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be” (Matt. 24:37-39).

After 120 years of diligent work and faithful preaching by Noah, only eight people entered the ark. But God’s purposes were accomplished and the human race was preserved.

For your information there are many attractions on the Ark Encounter grounds. Ararat Ridge Zoo, camel rides, kangaroo walk about, Rainbow Gardens, The Village Smokehouse (food), Emzara’s restaurant (food), Southwest Grill (food), Zophar’s (food), Free Fall Tower, Zip-Line Tower, Truth Traveler Virtual Reality Experience (separate ticket for this event along with the Screaming Eagle Zip Lines and Aerial Adventure), Family Playground, Noah’s Village has pizza, burgers, hot dogs, soft serve and hand dipped ice cream and funnel cakes. Strollers and wheel chairs along with motorized wheel chairs are available.

Monument Walk at the Ark Encounter

On the way to the entrance of the Ark you walk through these monuments.

So much Biblical history illustrated and memorialized at the Ark Encounter!

For those of you following our Land That We Love Tour I’m sure you’ve noticed the amazing weather we’ve had all along the way. This ‘Encounter’ was on the 27th of September.  One more hodgepodge of a post is coming from our Ark Encounter. Thank you for following along.

Sunday the 14th was a full morning until early afternoon for us as we were in charge of facilitating from the kitchen an all church potluck breakfast for about 200 people. It all came together nicely and we even had leftovers. Always hard to know what will happen at a potluck. Favorite conversation of the morning with a young lad newer to our church, “Is this all free?” and I answered. “Yes it is.” And he countered with, “when we go to restaurants everything costs money”. And I said, well…this is not a restaurant, this is a church, all of this is free.” 🙂  My feet, legs, and back are recovering from our time on Sunday. Hope you had a good weekend.

How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds ~ Hymn

How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds

How sweet the Name of Jesus sounds
In a believer’s ear!
It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds,
And drives away his fear.

It makes the wounded spirit whole,
And calms the troubled breast;
’Tis manna to the hungry soul,
And to the weary, rest.

Dear Name, the Rock on which I build,
My Shield and Hiding Place,
My never failing treasury, filled
With boundless stores of grace!

By Thee my prayers acceptance gain,
Although with sin defiled;
Satan accuses me in vain,
And I am owned a child.

Jesus! my Shepherd, Husband, Friend,
O Prophet, Priest and King,
My Lord, my Life, my Way, my End,
Accept the praise I bring.

Weak is the effort of my heart,
And cold my warmest thought;
But when I see Thee as Thou art,
I’ll praise Thee as I ought.

Till then I would Thy love proclaim
With every fleeting breath,
And may the music of Thy Name
Refresh my soul in death!

Words: John Newton, Ol­ney Hymns (Lon­don: W. Ol­iv­er, 1779).

The Ark Encounter Continued

The 7 D’s of Deception. The Fairy Tale concepts of Noah’s Ark.

One of the displays/sections of the Ark that really struck me was the section they had displayed as Fairytale.

The 7 D’s of Deception

This made me think and examine how we teach Biblical events.

We purchased a children’s book about the Ark that was faithful to the whole story.

This is a very busy weekend for me with my responsibilities in the church kitchen. I’ll be putting my feet up on Sunday evening.

Have a great weekend.

This is a continuation of our Land That We Love Tour.

 

Inside the Ark~The Door

There were several displays inside the Ark that were so meaningful to me and one in particular that was a wake up call to me. I’ll be sharing more in the days to come as I’m able to upload the photos.

Back at our country internet I’m having challenges in uploading some of the photos in the order that we saw them but this display about the door was so meaningful to us that I uploaded the photos at our hotel in Kentucky with decent internet service.

There was only one door in the Ark. Noah’s family and the animals entered the Ark that would save them from the destruction of the world through that one door. We also enter the door provided for us for our salvation and that one door is Jesus Christ.

John 10:9 ~ I am the door. Whoever enters through me will be saved.

We were at the Ark Encounter on Monday September 27th as part of our Land That We Love Tour.

Veterans Day 2021

Every year, on 11 November at 11 am – the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month – we pause to remember those men and women who have died or suffered in all wars, conflicts and peace operations.

Thankful for all our Veterans.

My new pin to wear on Veteran’s Day from our Laura, also known as Auntie Lolo.

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Here I am in 2014 with the Marine Corps Band at a Seattle Sounders Game. Wonder where all these young Marines are now and how many are Veterans already.

Hope we all get a chance to thank a Veteran today! The closest Veteran to us is our Son-in-law Andrew. Thank you Andrew for your years of service. We appreciate your sacrifice and are aware of the toll it took on your body. You are loved and appreciated.

Hodgepodge History

Time to go back to the beginning of Hodgepodge with Jo From This Side of the Pond.

1. How did you name your blog and do you now wish you had thought about it maybe another five minutes before hitting publish? Would you change your blog title if it were not a huge pain in the derriere? 

When my brother told me he was going to start a blog for me I was a little afraid that I wouldn’t be able to handle the technology. He convinced me everything would be ok. We then started brain storming about what I should name it. We came up with a few fun names but the way I came up with my keeper is…

a. I’m generally a very happy person.

b. I’m also someone who wonders about a lot of things and have a deep need to know.

So as we were discussing point a and b my husband came up with The Happy Wonderer.

As far as the purpose of my blog I chose “to Honor and Encourage”. I’m an encourager to people around me and I wanted that reflected in the relationships I’d develop on my blog. It is very important to me to Honor Jesus Christ my King.  I want my words and posts to be things that will encourage people and be something that won’t reflect poorly on my King. My blog was born on March 3, 2007.

I would not change my blog name.

My blog header has changed over the years. The photo at the top of this post was my header for awhile. It was taken at a photo shoot for our 2nd Mennonite Girls Can Cook cookbook, Celebrations, that was published in 2013.

2. What bill do you least like to pay? 

Our Tax Bill.

3. What is your favorite word? Okay okay, calm down. How about one of your favorite words? 

Favorite word, Hope. I also like sweet, redeemed and cheers!

4. Is the glass half full or half empty? Elaborate. 

Half full and I’ll refer you back to my blog name for the elaboration.

5. Were you here for that very first Hodgepodge post? If so, were your answers then similar to what they are today? Tell us what was happening in your life in November of 2010? 

I’m a bit surprised that I didn’t join in to the Hodgepodge until August of 2016. I put a link to my first post in the random thought section.  I was a big ABC Wednesday participant from the early days of my blog.

Our lives were very busy in November of 2010:

Our daughter was engaged at the end of September and we started wedding dress shopping and making wedding plans that overlapped into November.

Our son came home from a 6 month training in Arizona and was establishing his new digs with his new job in Northeastern Washington.

We had an early Thanksgiving celebration before our son moved to Eastern Washington.

My brother Tim and Letty flew up for Thanksgiving weekend.

Thanksgiving day we had our meal with 40 others at a friends home.

On Black Friday we had our annual tea day with my sister, sister-in-law, and daughter-in-law and shopping at Goodwill and Country Village. Laura took this photo.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I believe this was my first Hodgepodge post.

https://happywonderer.com/2016/08/08/summer-olympics-hodgepodge/

Thank you Jo for all the years and all the questions!

The Ark Encounter

This was a highlight on our Land That We Love Tour. We had this encounter 6 weeks ago on Monday September 27th. We drove 31 miles north of our hotel in Georgetown, Kentucky on Interstate 75 to the Williamstown exit. We got off the interstate and found the parking lot for the Ark Encounter. We bought our tickets (2 seniors 85.76 total with tax) and boarded the bus to take us to the Ark.

We followed God’s promise to get into the Ark grounds.

Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, “Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark, it is for every beast of the earth. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.” Genesis 9:8-17 (ESV)

510 feet long, 85 feet wide, 51 feet high

Largest timber-frame structure in the world. Made with a variety of woods, including Engelmann spruce, Douglas Fir, radiata pine and bamboo.

3.3 million board feet of lumber.

On July 5, 2016, the Board of Directors of Answers in Genesis and Ark Encounter laid these 12 stones to signify that the life-size Noah’s Ark was built to remind coming generations and the whole world of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the truth of God’s Word.

From Joshua 4:3, 6-7, 24 in the Old Testament of the Bible: “Take twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan…When your children ask someday, “What do these twelve stones mean to you?” you shall tell them…these stones are a memorial…that everyone on earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty and that you may fear the Lord your God forever.

Dressed and ready for our tour.

After walking through Monument Walk we were ready to enter the Ark. That will be for another day. There was so much to see and so much to read and learn or re-learn about Noah and the Ark and so much more.