Vacation 2010 - Day 15

This is it; the last day of vacation. It's back to the grind tomorrow.

We spent most of today with a sister church in our association, Smith Fork Baptist Church. Actually, Smith Fork is the mother church for Osborn Baptist Church. Smith Fork was celebrating 150 years of ministry. We attended the morning service, visited with some folks over dinner, and attended the afternoon service. It was a fine service. This church did a lot of work to prepare for the big day. Just wish the weather had cooled off a little, though, but it is what it is.

So, I guess that is about it concerning our vaction for 2010. We hope you enjoyed our blog and will continue to follow our various postings. If you want to be notified of future postings, be sure to sign up as a follower of this blog. The website makes it pretty easy.

God Bless You!

Vacation 2010 - Day 14

We made it home today. A short drive, but we needed the extra rest last night. We found out the hot, humid weather was still hanging around; I think we found that out at Dodge City. Hey, no rain, though and no rodeo. At any rate, we had a good trip for the final day. The camper has been unloaded and prepared for the next use.

Sort of disappointed on our arrival home. No Welcoming Committee! Oh well, most of the folks probably know we are here by now. It was a welcome sight indeed to see our church and home.

Sorry, no photos on this last day. Give us a few days and we'll try to post a slide show. Thanks to everyone who kept us in their prayers while we were gone.

The vacation is not over, yet. We still have one more day. We are going to spend a good part of tomorrow with the fine folks at Smith Fork Baptist Church as they celebrate their Sesquicentennial. Smith Fork is the mother church of Osborn Baptist Church.

Vacation 2010 - Day 13

Here it is, day 13. We probably could have made it home tonight if we had wanted to really push it, but we decided to take a little more leisurely approach. So here we are, in Paxico, KS at Mill Creek Campground. This is a quaint little town full of antique stores and old time charm. And there really is a Mill Creek that runs right next to the campground. The campground is kind of neat, too. There are some pretty unique things to see around our campsite. As you can tell from these photos, the boys are getting a lesson in "ancient" history; or, as Michael says, "You must be old." And all because we know what some of these things are.

Wow! Hubcaps. Now there's something you don't see much of today.

Diana says this is an ice cream maker.

This may be a washing machine.

Tomorrow we will be heading home fairly early in the day. Not sure of the route we will take, yet, but hope to know something by morning. We know some people must be anxious for our return because we received a phone call from one of the men in our church this morning. He was just wondering how we were doing. It's nice to be thought of. Keep us in your prayers, too.

Here are some photos from our day at Dodge City (day 12). Enjoy. See you soon.

Vacation 2010 - Day 12

There is no post for Day 11 due to connection problems at Dalhart, Texas. We did make it there and were fortunate to get a site because it was the first night of a 4 day rodeo event in their town. A pretty big deal around those parts. Upon arrival we learned there had been a line cut 2 days before that had knocked out the telephone and the internet. Not a good thing for Dalhart during their busiest time of the year. Maybe the reason we were able to get a site, though.

Day 11 was just a travel day. We made no side trips or saw much more than what can be seen from the highway. We did stop at a rest area in New Mexico and noticed that Skippy was walking sort of funny until he got under a bush that provided some shade. I put the back of my hand on the sandy soil and it was really hot to the touch. It didn't seem to bother Abby much.

Today we pressed on to Dodge City, Kansas. We had made reservations early for this one. It was also a big rodeo time for them; 10 days worth. Not only that, but they were celebrating 50 years of Dodge City Days. Well, we took in some of the usual: a trolley tour, a visit to Boot Hill and Front Street, had dinner and show while at Front Street, and even saw a staged shootout. It was quite fun and informative.

I haven't downloaded photos from the camera yet tonight, so will have to post them later.

We plan to go to Paxico, Kansas tomorrow and home on Saturday. Both of these will be travel days.

Vacation 2010 - Day 10

We said our good-byes to the wonderful folks at the Grand Canyon KOA Campground and were on our way. Destination: home, eventually.

We made our way across Arizona and into New Mexico. Along the way we dropped from 7300 feet to 5000 feet. We passed through some areas where the color orange was very predominant. We also passed through some heavy thunderstorms. There is sign that is posted regulary on I-40. It says, "Cops everywhere 100 days and nights of summer." They mean it, too. If it is not a Highway Patrolman, it is a Sheriff, and they are very active.

We stopped for the night at Grants, New Mexico. There are tons of lava rock here from an ancient volcano; we hope it stays ancient. We were told when we arrived that the campground hadn't received any rain today. The clouds over the mountains sure looked threatening to us. Well, I guess we were right because at the moment, it is pouring and it comes with plenty of lightning and thunder.

Tomorrow, we hope to make it to Dalhart, Texas. What's is Dalhart, you ask? At least one campground and right now that's all we are concerning ourselves with.

Vacation 2010 - Day 9

More rain last night, but the air cleared this morning. Michael and I went to take a drive out to the East side of the South Rim. On a whim, I checked with the airport to see if the planes were flying. They were and we were able to get the last seats on a plane getting ready to board. So, we took it. It was my last chance to see the Grand Canyon from the air. I operated a video camera for nearly the whole flight after takeoff and before landing; about 38 minutes worth. Michael operated the digital SLR camera. I told him to take lots of photos to make sure we got some good ones. I think he took over 100. Here are a few that Michael took.

Above 3 photos of the GC were taken by Michael from the air.

I don't think I'll even try to upload the flight video. I'll save it for later; maybe even edit it some.

After the flight, we continued on our journey. We drove to the farthest point and began working our way back. Along the way we saw road signs indicating deer, elk, and mountain lion crossings; yes, mountain lions. We didn't see any mountain lions, though. Probably a good thing.

Here are a few photos that were taken on our stops.

Grand Canyon at roadside stop.

Colorado River from Lipan Point, Grand Canyon.

Colorado River from Desert Inn, Grand Canyon.

We could see the afteroon rains moving in and heard some thunder and saw some lightning. I never could capture a photo of the lightning, but it is an awesome sight along the rim of the canyon.

Tomorrow we begin our journey home. Not sure of everywhere we will be stopping, but we will taking a different route than when we came out here.

Vacation 2010 - Day 8

After another rainy night, we learned this is the monsoon season for this part of AZ. We were told that it usually occurs about the last week of July, but that is not a guarantee. We should have looked closer at the weather data before we decided on a date for this trip.

We had planned to drive out to the East side of the South rim of the Grand Canyon today, but at the last minute we decided to finish the West trail out to Hermit's Rest. It is amazing how the weather changes within a couple of miles along the rim of the canyon. This trek took a little longer than planned because we took our time looking at things we hadn't been focusing on. Today was also the first day we were able to see a large portion of the Colorado River. Here's a few photos and a video to hold you over until next time.

Entrance to park.

This guy got within 5 feet of us.

There is a photo similar to this one posted on

day 6. Click on it to enlarge for easier reading.