Hello Everybody…..kids, grandkids, and anybody else who happens
on this blog that our kids are doing because we’re not smart
enough to do it yet!! We’re here in New York……unbelievable! It seemed like we sat in
the car coming for at least 5 months instead of 5 days. Actually
the time went rather quickly except we’d wake up in the morning
and wonder “Now which state did we stay in last night?”
We tried sending pictures but we don’t know if they actually made
it from where we were to where you all are! Besides the texts we sent,
here are some other things we learned on our trip across country:
You meet Mormons everywhere! At our first stop in Sidney, Nebraska,
our waitress invited me to stay for a couple of days and go the the
General Women’s Meeting with her. Oh and also going across Wyoming
and Nebraska we had a tail wind and our car got 28 miles per gallon
fuel efficiency. Unheard of in a vehicle that was loaded with
everything but the kitchen sink! In the visitor’s center at
Winter Quarter we met a sister missionary that was in Bryce’s YSA ward in
Lehi and a senior couple that were in the same ward as Warren and
Beverly Buss from Greeley, Colorado (Joy Viehweg’s sister).
And it was wonderful to have dinner with the Winter Quarter’s
temple president and his wife who were good friends from the graduate
school days in the Ames, Iowa ward. Kirtland was awesome! It had just
snowed 8 inches the night before and the morning we got there
and then the sun was shining so it was absolutely beautiful. By the way,
with the exception of the first 100 miles, we followed the storm
so had great roads all the way. Niagara Falls looks just like the photos.
We walked about a hundred miles that day….in and out of Canada even!
The last thing we learned is that there are actually places on the freeway
between there and here where you can go off the road at “texting stops”
to send your messages…..imagine that! So now we’re in Ithica and even in the middle of winter still,
it’s a beautiful place. Can’t even imagine what it will be like when
the trees turn green! Tonight we went to a CES meeting at the
stake center in Owego which takes about 45 minutes to get to and
it was on a little 2 lane country road. Looked and felt like we were
driving from North Fork to Salmon….beautiful old houses and churches
in small villages every so often….and signs saying “the deer come out
at 7:00.” Didn’t really say that but there were jumping deer signs
along the whole road. We were meeting with our CES supervisor
(who drove all the way from Pallmyra)and the volunteer seminary teachers
in the stake. Those teachers are the heroes of the whole CES system!
And the kids too! Some of them drive 40 minutes to an hour to get to
early morning seminary at 6:30….5 days a week!! Today we also tried to settle in our apartment. Dad/Grandpa/Von spent
the day doing what he absolutely hates to do…..go shopping. He was a
good sport as we wandered through 3 thrift stores and Walmart looking
for bargains to make this house a home. He would have drawn the line
at Hobby Lobby if we hadn’t of run out of time. The interesting thing
about our apartment is that the furnace either runs on “off” or
82 degrees…..have to work on that. But this morning I sat at the kitchen
window and watched 2 squirrels with big bushy tail play with each other.
Tomorrow we drive two and a half hours to Utica to meet our mission
president,President Joseph Wirthlin, and be oriented with the new
missionaries. Then we come back in the afternoon and go back to Owego
that night to teach institute at the junior college that’s there.
Then reality sets in and we get busy doing what we were sent here to do!!
We’re glad it’s Conference weekend and we can watch it on the computer
in our house. Dad will really miss you all going to Priesthood Meeting
by himself unless he decides to do the computer thing too. We love the e-mails we’ve gotten so far and in the next day or so will
answer them personally. We had a major homesick hour or two when we
got here but it got better…..just happened once in a while today. We love you and miss you but know we’re doing what we’re supposed to be
doing at this time of our lives…..and we know that you and us will be
blessed for it. XOXOXOXOOXOXOXOOXO Grandpa and Grandma
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