Land That We Love Tour ~ October 7th

We start on our home stretch on our Land That We Love Tour.

After two and a half great days with our brother’s family we left Dallas on Thursday October 7th at O’dark’thirty heading north to Oklahoma and Kansas. I posted a short post on that day here. We got a few gallons of gas at Central Truck Stop in Oklahoma City at $3.199 per gallon. Later that day we filled up our tank at the Costco in Wichita, Kansas for $2.729 per gallon.

After our gas and shopping stop at the Costco in Wichita Kansas we continued North and noticed the sign on the highway about the Mennonite Heritage and Agricultural Museum in Goessel, Kansas. We took the exit and enjoyed our time on these backroads checking out the church and museum.

Alexanderwohl Mennonite Church

Here’s a link to the museum for more information. It is a well thought out museum with a great collection of history and historical artifacts and other objects that tell stories of the Mennonite people in Kansas.

When we walked into the museum we noticed the Mennonite Girls Can Cook Cookbook. Woohoo!

Schroeder Barn

One room schoolhouse

Goessel State Bank

It was quite warm on this day and we were parched after walking around the museum out buildings.

Back on the road we made our way to McPherson, Kansas where we stayed at Fairfield Inn and Suites. We used our accumulated points to stay here for free. We ate at La Fiesta Restaurant and ate well for less than we had at any other Mexican restaurant.

McPherson has developed into one of the most industrialized small communities in the nation. Centered in one of the largest wheat producing areas of the United States, McPherson is also ranked among the top agricultural centers of Kansas.

On this Thursday we traveled 416 miles for approximately six and a quarter hours not counting our shopping and time at the museum.

Farm to Table Hodgepodge

It’s time again for Wednesday Hodgepodge where Jo From This Side of the Pond asks the questions for us to ponder.

Speaking of farmers, on one of our traveling days we took an exit to visit the Mennonite Heritage & Agricultural Museum in Goessel, Kansas. The mural above is from part of the museum.

1. What obligation do you believe you have to your country?

I suppose as a good citizen we are obliged to follow the laws of our country. It would be good for a citizen to know what is in the Constitution of the United States of America. I also think we are obliged to cast an informed vote in elections. As long as the laws of the country don’t violate my religious freedom in following God’s laws and my worship of Him I’ll keep the law. My allegiance is first and foremost to God the Father and His Law set down in the Bible.

2. October 12 is National Farmers Day. Do you know any farmers?

Yes, I know several farmers from my experience with the Mennonite Girls Can Cook and now living in Colville we’ve been acquainted with more farmers. We have farmers across the road from us.

What do they farm/grow/raise?

Hay, Wheat, Alfalfa, Corn, Vegetables, Apples, Apricots, Pears. Dairy Farms and Cattle ranches abound, too, along with sheep and goats and pigs.

Are there any farm stands where you live? Do you shop there?

Yes there are great farm stands and farmers markets and yes, I do shop there. Wednesdays and Saturdays we have a Farmer’s Market in town. I like to stop and support our local farmers. Farmer’s Market only runs through October and then opens up again sometime in the Spring.

3. What’s a skill you think everyone should have? Tell us why?

I think everyone should be taught to read. Reading is foundational to so many other skills. Without this skill you are more open to misguidance and deception and false teaching.

4. Favorite thing you’ve purchased this year?

I bid on, won, and purchased Tea for Eight in my home. It was so nice to sit at the table and be served all the wonderful delicacies that the Hostess made. The only thing I had to do which I thoroughly enjoyed was to set the table with my hoard of tea things.

5. What’s your favorite place to visit in the fall?

The Pumpkin Patch and Corn Maze at a local farm here in Colville. The maze is always top notch!

6. Insert your own random thought here.

We are just back from driving across the country for 20 days. We called our trip, Land That We Love Tour. I’ll be sharing lots of photos from all the things we saw along the way on my blog. So much to share.

When we arrived home we found sweet notes taped around the house that our grandkids left us.

“Welcome home We missed you See you soon Addy” also “I ❤️ u”

The note on the bottom right is Do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti. Addy has been mastering and enjoying this song.

Baba appreciated each note and drawing and it made me smile real big.

Hope to come around soon and see how y’all answered the questions this week.

At the Break of Day…

We left McPherson, Kansas heading north on our Land That We Love Tour on Friday before dawn and then we turned West heading for Colorado. The majority of our drive was heading west today.

We saw the sunrise through the rear window of our car and the rear view mirrors.

Some Kansas views speeding by at 75 miles per hour.

We found some color in Colorado.

We ended our travel day in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

We are so thankful for another safe day on the road.

On the road we listened to a couple of sermons from 1 Peter chapter 3 today and then listened to a book on CD by Louise Penny.

A small portion of the sermon we heard on 1 Peter 3:13-17 by John MacArthur in 2013;

“I can’t tell you precisely what’s going to come in the future against us, but it’s going to come and it’s going to escalate. For how long? I don’t know. And in what forms? I’m not sure. Persecution is going to come against you as an individual, if it doesn’t already come, because you’re an outspoken Christian. Here you are in the world, an alien and a stranger, and your task is not just to survive, your task is not somehow to defeat the enemy, your task is to win the enemy to your side. You do that by keeping your behavior honest and excellent. You do that by being a shining light in the world so that men can see your good works and glorify your father in heaven. You do that by proclaiming the gospel and loving your persecutors and showing kindness to them. You do that by doing good, having a passion for goodness, being willing to suffer, focusing on Christ, looking to eternal glory and keeping your conscience pure.”

On the road in Kansas…

On Saturday we travel from Cheyenne, Wyoming to Billings, Montana.

Thursday Was a North Day!

Our Land That We Love Tour took us north from Dallas into Oklahoma and then into Kansas. We left in the dark and missed the Welcome to Oklahoma sign. This sign lit up the darkness. We traveled 35 north.

I was driving when we entered Kansas so we missed the Welcome to Kansas sign, too.

We stopped at Costco in Wichita and when we got back on the road north we noticed there was a Mennonite Heritage Museum on our route we pulled off and enjoyed a visit there. More to come later.

We made it to our hotel in McPherson, Kansas for the night. On Friday we have a longer day of driving north to Nebraska and then west to Cheyenne, Wyoming. 569 miles which should take us 8 hours.

Cross Country

For my flashback post this week I’m posting some photos from Dear and my trip from California to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. We made this trip in 1976. We stopped in Denver, Kansas, Illinois, Michigan and Canada in our little yellow 1976 Honda Civic.

Somewhere in Colorado on our way to Denver to visit Dear’s uncles and aunts on his mother’s side. Just as we entered the fine state of Colorado the state patrol decided we should contribute some money for the state’s economy!

Dear had 2 uncles that never married and they cared for their mother till she died. We had a good time in the kitchen and I helped Uncle Cliff make his famous Rhubarb pie. This was my first experience ever with Rhubarb. Uncle Arnold was the poet of the family and historian. We spent some time with Uncle Red (Chester) and Aunt Jeanette at their cabin and Dear helped Uncle Red saw wood. We also stopped to see my sister’s SIL’s family who had moved to Denver from Chicago, Kenneth and Lillian Semenchuk. (Upper left photo). We would stop at another of my sister’s SIL’s in Michigan.

As we continued east we went through Kansas and stopped at Dear’s Great Aunt Matilda’s. She was single all her life and never forgot anyone’s birthday. We all received cards every year while she was alive.

Our next stop was in Peoria, Illinois to visit Dear’s paternal grandmother and his uncle Harry at the family home. We visited other aunts and uncles while in Peoria but I don’t have photos. One uncle was a pig farmer and those pigs scared me. So huge! From Peoria we made a stop in Wheaton to visit our friend Andrew Semenchuk who officiated our wedding and his dear wife, Pauline. They worked for Slavic Gospel Association so we visited the offices in Wheaton.

From Chicago we drove to Michigan to my sister Kathy’s sister-in-law’s home. Peter and Ruth Leonovich were so hospitable and generous to us whenever we ended up at their home on the lake. I learned to water ski here.

We continued on our journey into Canada from Detroit with a plan to stop at a China shop in Windsor to complete my Royal Albert china set. All I had was a tea set that I purchased on one of our trips to England. We found a shop that had a good selection of seconds and we bought service for 12 in my pattern. We decided to continue on and visit the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. We also visited Niagara on the Lake. If only I had a digital camera then. I would love to visit this area again.

Have you ever visited Niagara Falls? This was my second visit. In 1970 I visited friends in Buffalo, New York and they took me to the U.S. side of Niagara Falls.

It’s good for my brain to document these trips we took so long ago. It’s amazing how far we’ve come in the world of photography since those days. When we crossed back into the U.S. from this trip we were given the 3rd degree about our camera. They would not believe we hadn’t purchased it in Canada. I gave them all the receipts for the China but they did not care about the China, all they were concerned about was the camera! Oye!

This week I’m looking forward to a visit to my hairdresser and then our tax return appointment with our accountant. It will be nice to have that behind me. How’s your week shaping up?

Memorial Day Tribute ~ Home on the Range ~ Dickenson

Memorial Day Greetings to you. God bless our Troops and Veterans!

For Memorial Day weekend I’m posting this quote from Home On the Range ~ A Century On The High Plains by James R. Dickenson.

Home on the Range chronicles the epic drama of the settling and development of the High Plains, as viewed through the saga of journalist James Dickenson’s family and the wheat-farming community of McDonald, Kansas.

He speaks of Dear’s mother, my MIL Verna who’s father and brothers served in civilian and military duties in World War II. Verna was a school teacher in a one room schoolhouse in Kansas before she married Rex (Dear’s father), who also served in World War II.

“The father of my fifth-grade teacher, Verna Moline, a pretty young woman whom I adored, was a civilian construction worker on Midway Island at the time. His family obviously had many anxious moments about him until the naval battle of Midway, a turning point in the war in the Pacific, ended the threat that Midway would suffer Wake Island’s fate of invasion and occupation by the Japanese. He returned safely shortly thereafter. On days when the news was particularly dire, we kids would crowd around her desk before class to ask anxiously about him and voice our sympathies – probably seeking reassurance ourselves in those dark early days of defeat at the hands of the Japanese. However, as my mother, who was teaching English in the high school at the time, finally pointed out, our constant solicitude was something Miss Moline probably could have done without, although she was too gracious to show it.”

Remember our troops and pray. If you know someone who served our country give them a hug and a thank you. Blessings on this Memorial Day Weekend!

http://www.kansaspress.ku.edu/dichom.html

Photobucket replaced all my photos with ugly black and grey boxes and they are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

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