WANDERING WITH THE WRIGHTS

May 18, 2021

Last blog we were just a week away from leaving our winter hangout in Benson, AZ.  We are now settled in our summer hangout in Park City, IL  Fortunately on this trip back to IL and with the rules surrounding Covid loosening some we were able to do some touring, visiting and fun things!  Few things we had hoped to do Covid still interfered with but it was awesome doing and seeing things we had never experienced before

We had never stayed in AZ as late in the season as we did this year and SO enjoyed seeing how beautiful cactus are when they bloom

Jerry climbed under the coach one day to check out a few things before we departed and if you look closely you will Jerry's white socks just to the left of the tire and a little further over his buddy Teddy supervising him :-)

Can make changing the bed a challenge

Just to show that our park took masking seriously

 

Right before leaving Benson we had a chance to meet up with some very special missionary friends of ours.  Paul & Pay Dye

Some states have nice Chamber of Commerce/Visitor Centers that they allow you to spend the night at

The washroom in this Texas rest stop is one of the fanciest we have ever encountered

Some of the scenery we saw on driving days

We spent a few days in Austin, TX

This is the State Capitol which was very pretty and interesting

The dome was really pretty - this picture does not do it justice

Fancy elevator doors

and fancy door knobs

They were in session and because we had had our Covid shots we were allowed in

The LBJ Library was closed due to Covid BUT.......

We still got our picture with LBJ!

We took a sunset tour on a pontoon boat to see bats - yes bats!  

Every year they travel 650 miles from Monterey, Mexico to a bridge in Austin where they live in the expansion joints. It is mainly pregnant females that come and some immature males.  They bring the males and every evening before the females leave the nest to go feed they send a few of the males out - if they aren't attacked by predators then the females go out.  There wing spans are only 6".  When you travel under the bridge it smells like corn tortillas!  The bats go the corn fields and eat moths - the moths have been eating the corn so the bats smell like corn.

There is every kind of boat out there trying to see the bats

This is the pontoon boat we were on

People and boats everywhere

The city was beautiful lit up at night

And shortly after sunset they come out in waves.  Our guide estimated 750 - 850,00 at the time of year we were there.  When the babies are born and begin to fly later in the summer it will be in the millions

We also visited McKinney Falls State Park - it was beautiful 

BUT the highlight of our trip to Austin was to see my friend Sharon (Nielsen) Critz and her husband Dick.  Sharon and I were besties in high school.  When our kids were small we spent a lot of time together until they up and moved to Texas.  I met Dick while working for Jewel and introduced them - the rest is history!!

Shared another meal with our dear friends Len & Phyllis East.  We met them over six years ago when in Hondo, TX.  We hit it off immediately.  They introduced us to NOMADS Mission Projects.

The chairs at the Mexican Restaurant where we ate were gorgeous

We spent the night at a delightful little winery in Portland, TN

Here we are parked next to their gazebo

There were beautiful stained glass windows

And a chandelier room where you could sit and enjoy your wine

We enjoyed a flight (or two) of their different wines

We visited the Creation Museum

But to get to the museum you have to walk through the Garden of Eden

We really enjoyed the Creation Museum - learned a lot

And next was The Ark Encounter

The size of the Ark - built to scale that Noah built - is huge

 

We learned how they stored provisions for themselves and the animals and how the animals were caged and cared for (and cleaned up after) - 

Storing Provisions

They brought herbs and other food items

Cooking in the Ark

Vessels full of water

Small bird crates

The living quarters were very nice

1,398 animal kinds/6,744 animals

Noah and the dove 

There is always something in the motorhome that needs work.  Fortunately I am married to a VERY handy guy - here he is trying to fix a latch on one of the drawers

We spent our last night before arriving in IL in Merrillville, IN at a Cracker Barrell

Once we saw the city - we knew we were really close to home!!

We will be in Illinois for 3 months this summer visiting family and friends