CELEBRATIONS

On May 26 we went into Philadelphia for my sister's farewell party from Friends Select School. Lynda has been the secretary of the lower and middle school for the past 43 years. Her party was held at the Sofitel Hotel.

Lynda with Terry, the director of the Middle School.

The lower school presented her with an autographed picture.

Several people gave very nice speeches. I surprised her by speaking. Her stories about Friends Select have always been part of our nightly conversation.

I closed with reading a poem about her years at Friend Select written by Charlotte a friend of Lynda's.

Rose, the head of Friends Select, presented Lynda with a chair from the school. She is only the third person to ever receive one.

David Wood, the director of lower school, was the MC for the evening and did a very nice job even though he has only been at the school since September. He sang a cute song about Lynda with a Y not an I.

The autographed picture the lower school gave her.

The Friend Select chair with the school symbol on the front and a plague with her name and years of service on the back.

Lynda always has a special pen she uses at work and if anyone walks off with it she will track them down and get it back. So everyone at the farewell party was given a pen and they toasted her with them. They then could give them to her or keep it as a party favor. She received quite a few.

It was a very nice farewell party, a very special affair for a very special lady. I'm sure the school will miss her very much.

Sunday morning I surprised Lynda by showing up at her church and having a birthday cake for her after the service. (forgot to take a picture of the cake, and it was a pretty cake).

After church she and I went shopping at BJ's for some things I wanted to get, but I told her we had to be back to her house by 1:30 to go out for her birthday dinner with Bob. SURPRISE there were 14 people at her house for another party.

Some friends from church.

Charlotte, a friend from childhood.

Kathy, my friend since college, she is almost like another sister. Thanks to her Gena was able to come down for the party. Gena has known Lynda since she first started working. Gena hasn't been able to drive to Lynda's for almost two years so this was a treat for her to be there. Lynda took in Gena's cat, Smoky, when she couldn't keep him any longer, so it was nice she was able to visit.
We had fun playing a game to see how well they knew Lynda. I made up the questions and I even missed answering a few correctly.
It was a fun day and I'm glad we were able to surprise her for her 65th birthday.

MYSTIQUE'S GRADUATION

On Saturday Larry's daughter, Mystique, graduated from York College. It was a cool damp day and the ceremony was under a tent. From where we were seated we didn't have a very good view.

We moved inside after the graduates came into the tent and watched the ceremony on screen where we could see their faces.

Tom Corbett the Governor of PA received an honorary degree and gave the commencement address.

Larry helping Mystique with her gown.

She is a proud graduate.

We stayed at the college for a very nice buffet meal. From left to right is Mystique's grandmother, her step dad Larry, her mother Kathy, Mystique, her dad Larry and her step mom Dottie.
We were all very proud of her and look forward to see what her future holds.

SPRING IN PA

It is hard to believe we have been back in PA for three weeks. We have been busy visiting with family and friends. It is a perfect time to be back in PA with all the trees getting their leaves and spring Flowers blooming. It was a beautiful Easter.

Larry and I took advantage of the golf course at Circle M to practice our shots. I'm not ready for the pro tour yet!

One morning we woke up to our weather radio warning of tornado watches. About 9:00 they came around and knocked on our door and told us to go to the laundry room because of the storms. We spent to 10:30 there, and luckily there wasn't any bad weather in our area, so we were safe and sound.

My family came up to see our new RV at Easter and we went to my sister's the following weekend.

Lynda is checking out the vegetables Bob has planted in a garden.

Bob making dinner on the new grill.

What a feast! Everything was delicious.

My sister has just gotten a new bedroom suit. She was anxious to show it to us. The bedroom suit that was in the room before was the one my mother had bought 30 years ago. So I think it was time for her to up date the room. It looks very nice.

Larry always does a few little choirs for her when we go down. Lynda had just gotten the two oval bird pictures from a friend so we hung them for her. The birds are made out of leather.

We are now at Hershey Thousand Trails. Our RV is now registered and inspected in PA. It took awhile to get all the papers from California that were required here in PA.

The pickle ball courts are empty so if anyone is around we are ready for a game.

We were so glad to see Sue and Jim again. They spent the winter in Florida and we missed them. I made a Mexican meal for Cinco de Mayo. We started the celebration with Larry making margaritas. Sue and I split another with our meal. They were rather large and soon after the meal we certainly were feeling them.

Sue and I slept through the evening and never played any cards. So we went to their RV the next night had a lovely steak dinner (cooked on the grill in the rain) and learned a new dice game called Farkle. Sure is nice to be home with family and friends.

BACK IN PA

We got up at 5 to leave the Wal Mart in Stauton, VA for the last leg of our trip home. We couldn't get the bedroom slide to come in. We had found a roller was off from under the bed. We finally got the slide in with a little pulling and tugging. We called the Tippin factory and they sent us to Cummins in Harrisburg. We had already arrived in Lancaster, so we worked on getting the coach registered and inspected in PA before heading back to Harrisburg.

Cummins looked at it but didn't know how to fix it and Tiffan plant technician had already gone home. So we stayed in the Cummin lot for the night and called Tiffin the next morning. There is a design flaw and since we were getting the slide in and out (most of the time) we agreed to take it to Alabama in June to have it fixed.

We were back in Lancaster by 11 so Larry could go to his dentist appointment. and then we came to Circle M in Millersville, PA. We had to set up in the rain.

Our site was on a slope. Our rig self levels and when it was done the front wheel was off the ground. We moved back and forth a few times trying to get it level and finally ended up putting blocks under the front wheel.

We are all set up and ready to visit with family and friends.

GETTING CLOSER

We left the Wal-mart parking lot Thursday morning bright and early. We got through Memphis,TN by noon.Entering Tennessee, only have to go 425 miles across this state.

We got through Nashville and drove for another hour or two. It was a very long day, through two big cities and a lot of strong winds. At 5:00 we stopped in Crossville,TN to stay at Deer Run Resort, a Passport park.

It is a very nice resort and we have a great lake side site.

It is much nicer here for Godiva to explore. Last night she ran out at the Wal-mart parking lot and scared us to death running in front of traffic.

The flowering trees along the highway and in this park are beautiful, feels like spring.

We ended up staying at Deer Run also Friday and Saturday night. Larry seemed to have a bug of some kind. He was very tired, we had really pushed the last few days (weeks). The weather was stormy and windy so we waited till Sunday morning to continue our trip.

We were on the road soon after sun up.

We are headed north on I-81. It was a beautiful drive.

The Blue Ridge mountains seen from I-81.

At 3:30 we were parked for the night at the Wal-Mart in Stauton,VA. Only 300 more miles to go tomorrow.

A close up of those pretty trees we have enjoyed all along the road. I missed being in church on Palm Sunday but sang praises to God for all the beauty we see in the world.