Home at last

Well I finally made it home. It was a 24 hour drive from Cincinnati to Orem and overall it was pretty uneventful. Sorry I didn't stop in and see the Denverites, it would have added an extra day to my drive and I've already been gone long enough. I did wave as I passed the I-76 turnoff in Nebraska.

After making a pretty good tour of the US this summer I've decided a few things.

1. Most of the US is pretty flat compared to Utah/Colorado
2. The ugliest part of the whole trip was the Nebraska/Wyoming border
3. I liked Indiana
4. States in the Midwest are much smaller than states in the West
5. No matter what the weather is like, I'm glad I always take 1-70 to Denver instead of I-80
6. I saw some nice sights and nice parts of the country but I still think that Idaho, Utah and Colorado are the prettiest parts of the country
7. People who complain about the fall colors in Utah need to drive up Provo Canyon this week
8. It should be illegal for a state to have a maximum speed limit of 65 on the freeway (I'm talkin to you Illinois)
9. Kansas wasn't as bad as I thought it would be
10. The towns along I-80 in Wyoming are always bleak and windy, just not always cold

While I was gone Kelly rented us a house in Orem. Our back yard opens up the Scera pool and park. We have the whole house to ourselves and we have already removed 1 layer of wallpaper from the walls (it had a consistency similar to a thin tarp). Tomorrow I'm going after layers 2, 3 and ???. The owners of the house have graciously offered to pay for the paint if we will provide the labor as we modernize the interior a bit. I thinks it's currently stuck in the 60's. The house has lots of potential and in about 2-3 weeks we will be welcoming visitors.

Does Service Count If You Grumble?

Martha (about 1972)

Yesterday as Mom and I were getting ready to eat lunch we got a call from a lady we have been asked to home teach just last month. She was moving and the teen aged boys that were helping her had decided they were tired and left. She now had a loaded U-Haul truck and one more load to get. With a very un-cheerful attitude (Mom was much better) we went down and got the truck, drove it to Robinson Trailer Park and proceeded to unload it. I said, "no way". Mom called Seth who had just finished playing a softball game and he brought a teammate and they helped us unload that truck, load it again and unload it again. Then they were able to get all her outside stuff into her shed and get the door closed. She was very much appreciative. I was still grumbling and very sore. Seth and Scott, thank you, thank you, thank you.

Yesterday morning I started working on the Ranger to see why it wouldn't start. I put in a new battery, that wasn't it. I changed the solenoid, that wasn't it. Then I asked my next door neighbor what he thought. He used to be a mechanic for John Deere. He grabbed his tools, slid under the Ranger and pulled off the starting motor. We held it tight and put the cabe's to it and it spun fine. He re-installed it and it wouldn't work. I went out to Schucks and bought a new one and he slid under the Ranger again and installed it. Zing!!! Everything works fine now. What a nice neighbor.

I was putting my suit pants on for church this morning and noticed I could see the floor right through the seat. There was a tear about 10" long right along the seam. Gee, when did that happen. Having no other suits, I put on a pair of slacks from work, a white shirt and tie and went to church. I looked a little funny on the stand with just a white shirt but we got the job done. Mom ordered me a new suit on the Internet tonight.

The weather seems to have broken. The high is supposed to be in the 50's by mid-week. A little rain would be nice now.

We're glad Travis is home. Hope everyone else is happy and doing fine.

Mom and Dad