A MONTH of vacation!  Whoever would have thought that we could get a whole month to do what we wanted to do?  Actually, I could never figure out what a retired person (or couple) vacation from?Most folks take a vacation from their lively-hood . . . their work.  When we are retired, our lively-hood and "work" is completed, and non-existent!

The reason I haven't been writing as regular as I was "BV", is that when a person is on vacation, they are supposed to do things they normally do not have the opportunity to do . . . right?  Although I tried a couple times to let you know that I was still around . . . sort of. (Is that a fat joke?)  At least my poor attempts at humor hasn't changed...yet.  So let me give you a few quick highlights of what Pat and I did for the last month.

Since I don't fly anywhere anymore, we drive. That takes a little longer, but I feel a lot better about not subjecting myself to the totally invasive security checks that we as American citizens have to go through just to fly commercially within our own country!  That is a whole other subject for another blog.  So we drove from our home in West Tennessee to Henderson, Nevada.  Route 40 was a nice drive that we have taken several times before and did not disappoint us with the usual amount of road repair.  Unlike the other times traveled, this time Pat wanted to drive the long and tedious "in-between large city" places.  Since those open road jaunts usually make me sleepy, that was GREAT for me.  It worked out very well, taking us two motel stops to Henderson.  We cut our time by one travel day.

While in Henderson, which is a suburb of Las Vegas, we renewed our Grandma and Grandpa status with "the kids".  Four delightful granddaughters, Hailey, Samantha, Ashley, and Julia and of course Daddy Todd and Momma Shannon.  Hailey has been taking piano lessons and the second Sunday we were at First Henderson UMC, she played a duet with her piano teacher, Miss Vickie Massey.  They both did outstanding!  The girls wanted Grandpa's help to redo their 20 gal. Aquarium in a "fantasy" motif.  So off to the store we went and picked out an appropriate background paper, some pretty purple and pink gravel along with a pink treasure chest, some nice plastic plants, a small castle, and a beautiful mermaid to set the scene.  After a day of getting the water Just Right back to the store to get the fish.  Some colored stripped Danios, a pair of Dalmation Mollies, some small cat fish to keep the place clean, and black (1) and a brown (1) Snail.  Off we went to get them back to the house and put the new residents in their watery home.  Pictures were taken, and I am waiting for them to be sent to me, so I can share with you. Perhaps later. :-)  Todd, Shannon, Darrell (Shannon's Dad), Kevin (He and wife Rosemary) came in to play with Pat and I and Todd and Shannon while we were in town, as they live in Southern California now), went to a theater and watched the first showing of Iron Man 3!  What a great movie.  What made it even better (other than it was Todd's treat) was that the theater had reclining seats, like you have in your living room only bigger ... and with a swinging tray for your snacks ... and hole for your drink! I forgot to mention it was also 3D!  Great time was had by all.  Grandma and Rosemary had the two oldest girls for an afternoon of "girl stuff", while Shannon's Mom had the two youngest girls to play with at her home.  The rest of the time with Todd and family was taken up with eating all different kinds of food, playing Mexican Train Dominoes and watching movies in his wonderful home.  We had some special time with a few of our old friends like Herman and Carol Hagen with their parents at Tony Roma's Rib place. A great time to renew and update with our best friends.  I will share a story about Carol and Herman in another post to explain "best friends" comment.

After two weeks with Todd, off we went to another three day trip to Omaha Nebraska to share Mother's Day with Mischell (David's wife), Amanda and Jessica.  David's oldest daughter Amanda was in town for the weekend as she is working on a Associates degree in a school out of town.  Jess was  graduating from High School and the ceremony was wonderful!  Very nicely done and many proud parents and grandparents were there on a beautiful day to witness the event.  We were very honored and proud that we were able to be there.  Jess had a fantastic party the following Saturday that went on to the wee hours of the morning. While there, as it seems to be tradition in the Saffell family, we ate a wide variety of scrumptious food until we all seemed ready to burst.  We were able to attend David's church which was a great experience and met many wonderful Christian friends.  Dave's Bible Study folks came over to meet with me and Pat and shared their commitment to serving God by praying over me for healing my lung challenge.  It was a very touching and spiritual time for me, to say the least.

We left before sun up on Monday morning for home.  We stayed overnight in Columbia, MO and as everyone now knows, the massive Tornado ripped through the south part of Oklahoma City causing death and destruction and the death count continues to rise as of this writing.  IF that had happened on our outbound trip to Nevada, we were in that area at that time!  Things would have been very much different.  As it was, we got into our motel about 4 o'clock pm and I went to sleep right away.  We were up and moving out at 11:30 p.m. and arrived home (after several longer food stops along the way) about 8:00 a.m.  I played with the rain most of the way, as we were chasing the storm most of the way, watching the lightening dance before us, lighting up the clouds.  Did you know that there are not many people on the interstate between midnight and four a.m.?  Kansas City was a breeze to drive through.  I love to drive at night like that.  Pat likes daylight driving, of which I can sleep through.  What a team huh?

So the point of this travel log is this:  FAMILY is EVERYTHING!  Our daughter Amy who lives 10 minutes from our home, took care of our dogs and cat while we were gone, as well as taking care of the house, mail, Sarge doing what Sarge does and that is nailing his yearly baby bird from the nest the mother robin INSISTS on building in our back yard. Sarge and Wendy are so scruffy looking after a month, I need to get them groomed pretty soon.  Since I am the one that does it, I have total flexibility!  That doesn't mean today, but in a couple days, most likely. ha ha   But FAMILY is very important for everyone within.  Our three children and their families are very special.  I think most Parents and Grandparents feel the same way.  There are some though, that for some reason, don't have that feeling.  Don't know why, but they are missing out on some of God's most precious gifts.  So for you parents, let your kids know that you love them....all the time....don't wait for special occasions...it may be too late.  And it is a TWO WAY street for you kids!  Don't wait . . . tell Mom and Dad that you love them too!  My Dad was one who showed little affection, although we all knew he loved us, but it was always a hand shake, not a hug.  My last time with my Dad was when I was visiting for four days, by myself, without my family with me.  They stayed in Henderson, while I went to Minneapolis to get a "kid's picture" taken for Mom and Dad's Christmas present.  I spent four nights of what I call "fire side chat" time . . . just me and Dad. Mom was in the bedroom doing cross stitching projects, and Dad and I were in the living room with the floor lamp on, he in his recliner, I on the end of the couch, reminiscing.  Our time together was the best time of all the years we had.  When it was time for me to leave, we were standing in the hallway to the front door.  I stuck out my right hand to shake his.  He in turn went to hug me! We almost broke his wrist in the process!  It did end in a wonderful, ultra warm hug that I will NEVER forget!  THAT is my most treasured moment with my Father.  I hope you have a moment with your Father, that you cherish as well.

Keep singing, keep praying, keep smiling

Blessings,
Gary