An Addendum and More

My last blog was about our trip to Helen and to 'Babyland General'. I was reminded by Peg that I had forgotten a very unusual sight. While we were shopping at the Ingle's Supermarket in Cleveland, in the produce department I spotted a lady in a wheel chair who was evidently blind because she had a 'seeing eye' pony. The pony had a harness just like a seeing eye dog with a handle and all. She was holding on to the handle and being led by the pony. Now that is something you don't see everyday. But wait..... there is more! While we were in a shop that sold beautiful 'Dresden China', I noticed that the lady running the shop spoke with a German accent. Not being bashful, I asked if she was in fact from Germany. She confirmed that she was. I asked what part of Germany she was from, because I was stationed in a little town called Goeppingen. Her eyes widened and said that is the town she had lived in. Small world isn't it? I was there in 1951 & 1952, She left there in 1954. She had married a G. I.. I forgot to ask her who she married. It might well have been somebody I knew because ours has the only unit in that little town.
And now on to the present. My Father's Day was a big success. I either heard from or saw all of my children. I even had the pleasure of dinner with Jim & Sue on Monday evening.
Then came my Birthday. Another round of calls and visits from the children. I once again had the pleasure of a lovely dinner with Mike, Michelle & the girls at one of my favorite restaurants.
All in all, this summer, so far has been nothing but a real good time. So now I'll stop writing because my mind is going soft again. I know I forgot a lot and will hear from my Children. Love.

A little late!

It's been a week since we returned from our trip to Helen, so I thought I better blog and fill you all in on the trip. I picked the ladies (Betty & Elanor) at the airport and we set out straight away for Helen. Thanks to the GPS, we made it there with no problem. We were a little disappointed that there were two flight of steps to get to our unit. This rural location in the mountains should have tipped me off, but the catalog never mentioned steps.Always the gentleman, I told the ladies to I would bring the four suitcases up. I made it in two trips, but was completely winded. It was at this point while I was sitting and trying o catch my breath, When Bill called. He seemed concerned that I was having a heart attack, he was close. The unit was comfortable, was not a luxury operation we have been getting at other resorts. There were several wall switches that did nothing. I'm pretty sure they originally did something. The living area seemed a little crowded so we decided to rearrange the furniture. This stuff was too big and too heavy to move. I mean even the coffee table wouldn't budge.
Helen has a General Store, but not a supermarket. We were sure that the General Store Was just a for show, tourist place. We drove into Cleveland, the next little town and stocked up on groceries. We also had to go to church In Cleveland.
We spent the week seeing the sights. Peg called to let us know that she would like to visit, of course we welcomed her with open arms. She spent one night with us on the sofa (we couldn't move the coffee table to open the sleeper sofa). We did some of the little town with her the next day and 'Baby Land General' to marvel at the birth of a Cabbage Patch Baby. Her visit was a very welcome interlude.
One of the days we visited the General Store and were pleasantly surprised to find it was really a very nice little market with fresh meat and produce. The prices were very much in line with the supermarket. They even made fresh sandwiches at the deli counter. We tried them for lunch one day and they were very good.
During the week, we visited several local wineries for some wine tasting I think the ladies really enjoyed that. Of course we had to buy some of the product.
All in all, it was a very good week and very restful for El. The Friday to Friday thing is what we like, but this was a tough year to find a spot.
Hope I don't take so long to blog next time.
Love.