Annual Turkey Run State Park Biking Week

Each year before Memorial Day, we travel with our biking friends to Turkey Run State Park. It's located in Park County Indiana. Our group was the largest ever - 24 persons. Some of us camped in the park in our RV's and others stayed in the Lodge. Here's our RV.


The terrain is quite different than here in Northern Indiana. There are hills!! The weather this year was perfect - temperatures in the 70's and 80's, no rain, and low humidity. Park County is noted for it's covered bridges. We saw several on our bike rides. Ruthann and I rode 4 days and covered 135 miles. Quite a work out. Here are some scenes of our ride.

















One route took us through a small town, Ferndale, that had an old country store. In past years, this store was open. However it is now closed. We did have our picture taken on the porch.






Several days we carried our lunch, usually consisting of peanut butter and banana sandwiches, fruit, and veggies. Other days, we did find a deli where we could buy a sandwich. One of our favorite towns was Bridgeton where there is an old mill and bridge in addition to a local deli.



























One evening, we had a carry-in meal. We had quite a variety of food. It was enjoyed by everyone.





We had a great week with the good weather and good fellowship with our biking friends.

Springtime Southern Caribbean Cruise

We wanted to get out of the Northern Indiana weather, so a cruise to the warm Caribbean looked good. March 15 to 22, 2009 was the week of our trip on Royal Caribbean Cruise Line.


We flew to San Juan, Puerto Rico to set sail. Our first day was at sea. This gave us time to explore the ship and get our bearings. There were 3500 passengers and 1500 crew. Our cabin was on the 7th deck. This was the first time that we had a room with a balcony. It was a great place to sit and read.






The center of the boat had a mall area. There were shops and restaurants. The favorite was Seattle's Best Coffee. No charge for coffee 24 hours a day.










The dining room was three levels. We had an early seating 6:30 PM. There was a couple from New England and a family from New Jersey at our table. The same persons were at the table each evening.





The top deck of the ship had a 1/5 mile jogging/walking track.















Our first stop was Aruba. The island is Dutch heritage. Architecture is typical Dutch. Buildings are not permitted to be more than five stories high. The island is 80% coral. That means that they can't grow anything and all staples must be imported.






























Next stop, Curacao. This island was also Dutch and is a World Heritage City. We did a walking tour of the old city. The story is that a Dutchman came to the island and saw all the white buildings. This gave him a headache. As a high official, he suggested that building ought to be painted very colorful. After he died, they discovered that he had stock in a paint company!! They must be repainted every 7 months.






























After another day at sea, we visited St Maartins. It's the smallest island in the world divided between two countries - French and Dutch.

Our last island on the tour was St. Thomas. Here we visited a Butterfly Garden. We saw numerous butterflies as well as chrysalis. Butterflies emerge in two weeks and live for only two weeks. They are attracted to fermenting fruit. Bananas were the fermenting fruit that we saw them feasting on.

































We walked into town from the ship. The town is jewelry shops and tourist trinkets. This is a view of the town from our balcony.





Our ship arrived in San Juan at 7:00 am and we needed to be off the ship by 8:30 am. The flight back to Chicago didn't leave until 4:30 pm. So, we decided to take a tour of the rain forest - El Yunque. It did rain - 3 times. The vegetation was lush and green.



















Needless to say, we had a great time!!!

Grandma Peachey's 95th Birthday Party

On February 7, 2009, Grandma Peachey celebrated her 95th birthday. A party/openhouse was scheduled for her between the hours of 2:00 - 4:00 PM. Invitations were sent to her friends and relatives. An announcement was placed in the County Observer, Belleville, PA alerting her friends of a card shower for her.






Grandma was surprised that her sister, Aunt Nora was able to attend the party and spend a week visiting with her. Dee Swartz, Chaplain at Greencroft is pictured with Grandma and Aunt Nora




Grandma's second cousin, Wes Zook, serenaded her with a harmonica rendition of Happy Birthday.


Lois and Roy Hartzler greeted Grandma. Roy's Mother, Ellie Hartzler was a good friend of Grandma. Both Ellie and Grandma traveled back to Belleville numerous times.















Opal Vance was a neighbor to Grandma when she lived in Greencroft Manor III.

Kay Yutzy is a special friend to Grandma. She visits Grandma every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Kay has been helpful to and a constant contact with Grandma when we travel.

Grandma was indeed surprised at the number of persons who attended her party. Once when were planning the party, she said, "What if no one will come?" People did come as the next pictures note. Also, staff from Healthcare who care for her were there.

Grandma appreciated the cards that she has received, which number more than 120 to date. It was a good day for her and she enjoyed the interaction with everyone.

Winter in Goshen

This morning, Friday, January 16, it was -20 degrees F. It is cold. So, here are a few pictures to make us wish for summer!

Christmas in LAOS

We spent 4 weeks in LAOS visiting Kris, Khamko, and Andy. We've noticed that there have been changes in Vientiene since our last visit. There is much new construction and the traffic has increased. Many cars and motorcycles inhabit the streets during rush hour.


When we arrived, we were privileged to see Andy's end of the term show at the Cultural Hall. Andy's class did various cultural dances.

The Cultural Hall is a beautiful building used for various city events.

We admired the growth of trees and flowers at Khamko and Kris' home.

After a few days in Vientiane and following the completed term of Andy's school, the 5 of us travelled to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is a beautiful city, with many rolling hills within the city center. We visited Petrosian Twin Towers. They were reported to be the tallest buildings in the world, however, that included the antennas on the top. There is a skybridge on the 42nd floor, connecting the towers. We were able to get tickets and make a trip to the skybridge.

















It was a great trip and we all enjoyed being part of another culture.

After our return to Vientiane, we spent much time reading, visiting sites in Vientiane and playing games. One afternoon, we visited an organization called COPE. This organization makes artificial limbs for people who have lost limbs from the bombies that are still very much alive in LOAS. These are left over from the Vietnam War. LAOS was the most heavily bombed country per capita than any other country during a war. Here are some photos from our visit to COPE




















Above is a map of LAOS and the red indicates where the most heavily areas were bombed.

These bombies were part of the exhibit. They are small, filled with ball bearings, etc. Today, they are found by children and farmers. There continue to be about two explosions each week with injuries to Laotians. A program is currently in progress to discover where the bombies are and to detonate them so that they do not continue to injure Laotians. It's estimated that there are still 78 million live bombies in the country.

In the park at Patxay Monument, there is the World Peace Gong. It traveles to different countries as a way to promote peace among nations.
















LAOS Jewel of the Mekong. It's a great place to visit!