HAVE PASSPORT- WILL TRAVEL............................................

Travel has always been a part of me. I guess I came by it naturally, as my Dad loved to be on the go. Not my Mom, she loved to stay at home. But not Dad. Mention a trip to take, and he was the first to be there!  And I am sort of like that too.  Right now we have tickets for two trips - one to Connectivut for a family Christmas and another to Africa for a nostalgic visit to Burkina and a new country, Tunisia.  If anticipation helps to keep you young, we will live forever!  God has brought so many wonderful things into our lives already, and more are to come - as He allows us to remain on this earth.

I of course travelled extensively with my parents by car and train and ship, never by plane in those days.  And my parents continued to be the reason for much of our travel right up to the time they went to be with the Lord.  They moved so many times - Pennsylvania and various places in Florida and finally back to Pennsylvania and then to Colorado Springs.  And of course visiting them in all those places was a priority for us when we were in the States. 

Dad and I started out our life together travelling as we made that six weeks honeymoon tour through Europe and the Middle East!  I think that was Dad's first passport, but I had travelled with my parents and had my own passport when I was young.  I have written already about that memorable trip - not evereyone can have a six weeks honeymoon in Egypt and Paris and Switzerland and such places!  We traveled by plane and bus and car and even by camel at the Pyramids in Egypt and a river boat on the Nile River.  Such great memories!

We travelled for years on missionary tours here in the States, in Canada and in Puerto Rico. We went by air or by car and saw some amazing scenery and met many wonderful people as we travelled for Alliance missionary promotion.  One of our fun tours was after we retired and just before I had my brain problems, Dad and I were sent to California.  We flew out and started out in Los Angeles, then were sent by train down the coast to San Diego.  That was such a fun trip sitting in a comfortable train seat and riding right alongside the Pacific Ocean all the way down the coast. 

Twice we made the trip by car clear across the United States from New York to California.  When Uncle Jim and Aunt Donna were living in San Francisco, we got on route 80 and drove right across the country on that route, ending up at a big bridge in California.  When we were travelling through rugged and mountainous country sometimes, we would think back to those early pioneers in our country and all they went through traversing the States in their rickety wagons drawn by horses!  We made that cross country trip twice by car. 

Soon after we retired, we were asked by Bob Fetherlin to do a job for the Alliance at national office and so we flew out there and spent a couple weeks clearing out files for them. We were asked not to talk to anyone else about the content of any files we found - and there were some very interesting ones - and so it was an unusual job.  Every morning we would leave Kennedys (where we stayed) and spend the entire day at the office. We had to clear out all the old files of missionaries, some of whom were long dead!  There were travel papers and all medical records and copies of letters, etc.  As I remember, we filled fifty six of those large garbage bags with paper that were taken to be burned!  In some ways it was a tedious job but in other ways interesting and it made us think of many friends whom we had in Alliance missions all over the world.

The trip to Nyack College with the Mark and John Pierces, by plane, was also fun when we were asked to go to ATS to be honored with doctorates of divinity for our missionary work.  That was a fun surprise. The Pierce children were small and such good travelers. We rented a van at the airport in NY and drove to Nyack where we joined the Phenicies at the College.  More recently we were asked to go to Nyack College once again for Dad to be honored as alumnus of the year, and again Nyack picked up the tab for travel and place to stay.  Again it was a family affair as we were joined by  John and Mark and family. And had the added delight of seeing Elizabeth and meeting Chris. Just the year before we were all at Nyack for the dedication of  the Cheryl Phenicie School of Nursing and then a memory lane trip up to the old Pierce family homes in Connecticut.

Carlisle was our destination for many trips, both to see Grandpa and Grandma when they lived there, and then later to visit Grandma Kennedy.  Every three months or so we would head for PA. and Carlisle to see Grandma.  We were so thankful for the good care she got there. Each time we would take her out to a restaurant to eat as a treat, and she loved that, We would have to take her wheelchair, but it was worth it to get her out in town and the fresh air.  But that became harder for her, and since she did not live in the side of Carlisle where they have a nice dining room, we would take her there to eat. It gave her a chance to see old friends and also helped her to eat what she needed , as she had no teeth to chew by then.   We got to know Carlisle well in those years. Our dear friends, Mac and Helen Sawyer, were such a blessing in those days as they had a lovely guest room and bath where we could stay with them and enjoy their company.

A year ago we took a long trip from here to Florida, stopping to see several friends along the way.  Ending up down in Ft. Myers with Tim and Ruth.  That was almost our last trip as Dad fell asleep at the wheel one morning (he has never done that before!) and I screamed and saved the day in wakening him and we got back on track, after a few shaken moments sitting by the road!! 

They say anticipation prolongs life, and we should live a little longer with the anticipation of some fun trips in the next couple of months. First to Connecticut for Christmas with Mark and Katy and our four youngest darlings plus John.  That is next week and we look forward to that, plus seeing Elizabeth and Chris for one day!   And then our wonderful February-March trip to Africa is still ahead of us!  How blessed we are, and how grateful we are to all you kids who take such great care of us - even from a distance! 

So travel will no doubt continue to be part of our life. We are both glad to be well and able to continue a normal life - whether here in Toccoa or on the road or in the air!