Faithful Sayings: Heading North

Well, I guess since it was two weeks ago today that we left to visit my family in PA, I had better get blogging!

We don’t get up to PA very often, so we try to see as many of my family as possible when we are there. This trip, however, didn’t lend itself to spending very much time with part of the family. We wanted to see my niece, Tabitha, who was home from South Africa for a few weeks, and we had to choose a week, of course, that Ken could get time off from work. That left us with one option. Sadly, the only week we could be in PA was after my nephew, Daniel, had moved to western PA which meant we wouldn’t meet his new little guy; only one day after our arrival, two more nephews and families were headed to AYC; Andy had two bus trips to drive; and Tim and Andy both had annual conference to attend. I guess somewhere in all that mêlée we should have expected to dive into one crazy, mixed-up vacation!

Over the eleven years we’ve lived in TN, we’ve made this trip so many times through the evening/night in winter that traveling during daylight in summer was delightful.

Wytheville, VA, has become a favorite stop for us although we usually stop because it is suppertime and only get off I-81 as far as the Shoney’s. Since we arrived early afternoon this time, we decided to take the time to enjoy the Visitors’ Center even though it was a little off the beaten path. Ironically, as many times as we have vented our frustration at how to pronounce the town’s name, instead of remembering to ask the ladies at the Visitors’ Center, we ended up doing a little online investigation after we returned home to finally learn that the official pronunciation is WITH vil but that the natives run the syllables together and get WI full. (Same way we get MUR vuhl / MARE vuhl out of our town of Maryville, I spoze!)

Here’s Ken relaxing in one of the rockers on the front porch of the Visitors’ Center… quintessential Southern architechure!

We did ask about these beautifully flowering trees we noticed at the edge of the property and learned that they are chaste trees. (Lots of interesting info online.) When we walked close to the trees, we also noticed loaddds of bees!

Every time we have made this trip up/down I-81, I see all the cows dotting the hillsides and hafta hum the little chorus, “He owns the cattle on a thousand hills…” These cows are in a level pasture compared to many of them. Most of the cows we see in VA need to have longer legs on one side of their bodies!

We had to get a photo of this sign. Friends of ours who used to pastor in Staunton, VA, now pastor in Stanton, AL. Believe it or not, both towns are pronounced STANT on.

Sometime when we make this trip again, I will try to keep my camera a little more handy. Probably a half dozen specially decorated towers announce the names of towns. This one is for Mount Jackson.

When Ken said we should stop soon to eat supper, I admitted that I had a vote. He guessed it first guess: Chinese! Then he countered, “Yeah, but they don’t advertise, so how will we ever find one?” We were coming up on Martinsburg, WV, so I suggested we take the first exit and see what we find. Amazingly, a large Chinese restaurant was directly across from the end of the exit ramp! We managed to squeeze into the parking lot, but since the restaurant was jammed and the buffet sorta pricey, we decided to drive on and find another one.

Ken looked at the atlas and thought US Rt 11 appeared to run parallel to I-81 through Martinsburg, so we chose that option for finding another Chinese restaurant. Well, 11 wasn’t exactly parallel, but it was a nice jaunt through downtown. Three times on every block, variously painted palettes were mounted. I was so busy looking at the different pictures painted on them that I didn’t think of my camera until we were halfway through town! When I did grab my camera, every light was green and I couldn’t focus on a palette long enough to snap a picture. Ken finally slowed down and held up traffic just a bit so I could get one picture. When Ken saw the photo, he thought it pretty cool that I caught the hanging planter in the side mirror too.

Just before the signs to return to I-81, we spotted another Chinese restaurant, but too late to make the turn we needed to make to get to it. After some maneuvering, we managed to get a Chinese supper after all! The restaurant was somewhat of "a hole in the wall," but the food was very tasty.

Here’s a sign I was happy to see! : )

After traveling all day, we weren’t overjoyed to see DETOUR signs directing us to Paxtonville as we came down the hill into Middleburg, PA. Ken was sure there had to be a shorter option, but I assured him that there is no other way to get around the first bridge (that used to be by the ice cream shoppe) which was apparently the one that was out since they detoured us already at Paxtonville Road. I wished it would be the second bridge (that used to be by Cole’s Hardware) that was out because I know how to get around it. * sigh * Sunday morning when we asked Tim & Ruth to refresh our memory with directions to their church, we discovered it is the bridge by Cole’s that is out. All that long, roundabout detour for nothing! They’ve been driving the short detour, but didn’t think to mention it to us when we had called.

Perhaps that was a “Here’s your sign!” moment for one crazy, mixed up vacation straight ahead. …we missed it!

Sunday was a wonderful family day, however. My brother, Tim, conducted the ceremony for my nephew, Philip, and his wife and family as they dedicated their little Micah to the Lord. Niece Rose and nephew Stephen and their families as well as their Grandma & Grandpa Stence were also present for the service. We were so happy to be there for the baby dedication and delighted to hear Tim preach too! He posed a question that has been mulling in mind from time to time since that morning: Would God have become flesh if there had been no fall? Hmmm......

I didn't miss my opportunity to hold Micah!

Afterwards, all the family met at the parsonage for a picnic dinner. I tried to get photos of all the kids for their Grandma Becky (and me, too, of course!).

I absolutely love Hana's grin. You can't look at her when she's grinning like that and not smile!

Liliva doesn't quite know why Uncle Ken is snapping pictures.

Something has Kihannah's attention. (I was so focused on Kihannah, I didn't realize I chopped Rose & Fanie's heads. Sorries!)

Uncle Ken was nervous to hold one-month old Micah but didn't want to miss his only opportunity!

I tried most of the afternoon to get a picture of Allanah, but she was on the move until Daddy Stephen sat her on his lap and gave her an ice cube. Shylah Faith looks like she wanted an ice cube too!

This was one of the rare times LaDonna was not chasing Alannah! That ice cube kept Alannah occupied long enough to give Mommy a break. Mommy thinks Alannah is into the terrible twos a year early!