The 1st of June finds us well established at Camp Zion, In Ellison Bay, Door County, WI:
And grateful for it, after the physically draining volume of Highway 701,
and it is as peaceful as can be!
Our return to Door County is to step back into Bill's childhood. It has brought him to a place of peace he usually doesn't reach for weeks after arriving at a new location (if at all). The indicator that he is feeling at one with his universe lies in his simple statement, offered up after 1 day here "I think I need to paint".
Even so, we did enjoy our time in South Carolina, we were active right up to the end. Actually, on our last day there, Bill was off in Myrtle Beach taking his final lesson from Jason.
Bill is now a Certified Sailor.
And though he went right to the wire on our departure date,
the two new bird feeders are ready for the new viewing garden....
The new viewing garden is at the back of the Waccamaw NWR Visitor Center, where a row of very comfy rocking chairs
awaits the arrival of bird lovers and photogs. Bill and I were developing this new bird watching site, when time ran out for us to complete it.
The new Purple Martin House, completed just before we left.
Bill left it up to the Rangers to install these. When they do, this new "bird watching paradise"
will give visitors a wonderful respite! AND, when mulched and planted the new garden should draw birds, as well as, butterflies.
So, on May 3rd we hooked our new home up and exited the Waccamaw
Volunteer Campground with a huge sign of relied and anticipation of the adventures that await us on the road.
First stop, Sophia, NC to visit Larry and Sandy:
Bill's bestie who has recently had a couple of reconstructive surgeries.
Then on to Jan's fav second cousin, Betty in Knoxville, Tenn:
As you can see, she feeds us well!
On the way to my sister Rory's house in Kentucky, I spotted a familiar color and asked Bill what that crop could be? "Mustard" was the answer. Yes, it was the exact color of yellow mustard.
We see many interesting things as we roll down the road. In Kentucky this would not be a foreign sight:
But, it was foreign to us, and we had to pull over to watch.
A quick overnight at my sisters, and we were boarding the ferry, on the last leg of our journey.
It was a new experience spending 2 weeks in Volo, IL at Fish Lake Resort
As usual our time home was filled with family and friends:
OCEANOPOLY with Kate and Christine |
| Hanging with Don and Lisa in Wisconsin |
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| Where Don taught me how to clean my ride and then we went for one. |
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| Dinner with my Italian homies |
Lunch with brother Dave |
| Hanging with my BFF Audrey! |
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And, as always, bird photography was on the list of "must do's"
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But, the focus of this years visit home was to distribute much of what was left in our storage unit, ESP the wall art, to our children and friends. Some of the pieces to be distributed were authored by C.L. Peterson, Caillbotte, Steve Hanks and Bill Suttie. it was a very interesting study to see which pieces each of the kids liked and wished to possess.
Decisions were made and art distributed, while Bill began to miss each and every piece, some even before we gave it away. So, it was fortunate when I remembered a policy from an old, experienced full-timer, Lydia Decker....." if you have something you love, that you can't take with you, take a picture of it and visit with that item thru your picture now and again." And a new Shutterfly Book was born: "Bill and Jan's Wall art". The 8X12 book will be on display in our home.
Eventually reality returned and we were headed to our next assignment, Volunteering for Camp Zion in Ellison Bay, WI, where our coordinators (Dale and Carol) have been quite hospitable and flexible with the work. Even with certain things that need to be done, we have been able to pick and choose. So, we are getting to do things we like, as well as, things that Camp Zion needs to have done.
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| From Weeding and mulching gardens |
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| To splitting and ricking firewood |
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| To planting flowers amongst the rocks (there is no shortage of rock in Door County). |
Some of the work was less fun to do, but more satisfying, in that Dale and Carole REALLY appreciate our doing it! |
| Like sanding, in preparation for re-staining, the deck |
As the busy days give way to cool nights, we find ourselves recharging our batteries down at the edge of the bluff appreciating God's gift to late evening's in Door County.
Slightly more than a week after our arrival, we found ourselves turning Tessa over to the good hands of Mocha's parents (Carole and Dale): Apparently they are getting along:
While we headed off to San Antonio for Bill's sister's retirement party (35 years of teaching music).
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| The scenery during the flight was wonderful |
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| Tim and Jane (Bill's sister) Allen, wonderful hosts! |
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| The retirement party Tim planned was great fun! |
But, the next day was Sunday, and our 24th wedding anniversary, it started off in church, as Sunday's should. But this church was the church home of Jennifer and Ben Allen, their children Jacob-8, Olivia-4 and William-8 mo. The icing on the cake was that this particular Sunday was "baptism Sunday" for Great Nephew Jacob. What a gift to witness his commitment to the Lord!
And then, we realized two of my old friends from LZPD have since relocated to SA. We were fortunate enough to have lunch with Ann, and it made our anniversary, made our week!
After a final day of exploring the SAS store we made ready for our return to reality.
Camp Zion, here we come!
THE LORD IS GOOD! ALL THE TIME!
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