May 9th Spent the last 3 1/2 days in Visalia and Delano Calif. visiting with old friends and family. Spent Friday night with my friend Mary and her family...we hadn't seen each other in way too many years. We now have grown kids and grandkids! Some of her sweet adult children and their kids came by and listened to us talk about the "old days". Some friendships do not change with time and this is one of them. Saturday we spent at the lake with Doug's brother and his sister and her grandson. No fish caught but lots of lazing in the sun and chatting. Then Sunday after Church went out for Mother's Day Lunch with family.

May 4th Many counties in TN including our own were flooded over the weekend. We were fortunate and none of our family or homes were harmed. But so many folks lost loved ones and homes along with churches and businesses. We look at pictures and the news and can't believe the damage. Praying for all and know the recovery will take some time. Feel a little guilty enjoying our trip when so many are dealing with tragedy. Here we have had winds for the last couple of days...Albuquerque and into Sedona Arizona. Today we drove to Montezuma's Castle and Well. Such interesting places and we learned much about the Indian culture that inhabited these places. We love history and that has made traveling such fun b/c we're still learning new information. Then we traveled into the Red Rock area of Sedona...we know now why people rave about how beautiful it is. Neat town where we shopped and ate ice cream( I had Prickly Pear (cactus) which was delicious) as we took in all the scenery. Then we ate at a restaurant our RV park host told us about...some of the best salsa ever!!

May 1st Arrived at Palo Duro Canyon State Park in Texas yesterday surrounded by flat landscape then driving down onto the Canyon to be surrounded by gorgeous mountains. We took a six mile hike today and are so glad we did.....as you can see in the pictures it was great. Saw some wildlife...mule deer, foxes and some animal that we couldn't identify. We keep driving up to the top of the canyon to get phone service and call home to check on the weather. Bethany has gone to Knoxville and Rachel is at her house babysitting. She say the rain is pouring down and the sirens have gone off indicating a tornado warning. Being this far away is so hard during any serious situations.

April 28th and 29th Elk City, Ok. Strong winds which made us breathe a sigh of relief aswe pulled into the RV park. We had stayed here before and even with no frills the staff was friendly and they were transplants from TN. A little concerned about the bad weather headed toward TN so watched the weather channel alot. Ended up staying an extra day b/c of winds and possible storms, didn't want to deal with that driving into the canyon. Our big excitement was a haircut for Doug..which led us to a great Mexican restaurant for dinner.

April 27th Spent the night in Tulsa , Ok. and went out to eat with our niece Lory and her husband Rick. Tried to close the restaurant but finally left as they had to work in the morning. Sweet girl brought us a homemade potpie in the morning before we left. It was our supper tonight and was delicious.

April 25th and 26th We took the road less traveled to Bull Shoals/White River State Park in Arkansas and it was beautiful. Our site is overlooking the river and there are Eagles soaring overhead. It has turned windy with a bit of a chill but we are determined to eat outside and enjoy the view. Doug had a run in with a post as he was parking the truck...just saying glad it wasn't me driving! Same weather on Monday and we had some entertainment as we ate...an old gentleman very experienced ..flyfishing right in front of us and some large egrets flying around him.

April 23rd Did a little sightseeing around the area...visited the Park displays and information center. Then we drove all around the lake. Paige and Jordan (our neice and her son) came over in the evening and we went to a local restaurant for some great catfish. Enjoyed catching up with them and seeing how Jordon is growing up and becoming such a great young man.

April 22nd Pulled into Reelfoot Lake after a six and a half hour drive. We are still adjusting to getting back into the RV lifestyle and changing time zones doesn't help. We have a nice site at the Park campground and are taking a stroll around the lake and area. Interesting history about the earthquake that formed the lake.

April 20th RV has been cleaned, packed and we are now on the road. First stop Louisville, Ky to visit with our son. After setting up we headed into town to meet him for dinner at a great restaurant overlooking the river. One problem...we had forgot about the time change. So when he called to see where we were, I proudly said "Oh we're early and we'll be there right on time after we set up". Whoops, oh well we were only 45 minutes late.

Hello to all our friends and family. We wanted to have a blog where we could keep everyone updated on our travels and experiences on the mission field. Thanks for all the support and prayers as we continue on this adventure in our 2nd half as Kingdom Travelers.