Busy August AND September

It has been over one month since my last blog entry. I am truly sorry about that. August remained busy and so was September. We did many things and were involved with many activities.


Our motorcycle weekend during August 19-21, with our kids was a great success! We stayed in the same B&B as last year, and only used this one for two nights. Then, on the day we were there we really checked out the local area. Riding most of the day, with stops in rustic and eclectic places.

While we were riding I noticed some worse oscillation of the tires during our rides, but I had been assured that due to some “cupping” in the tires this was not all that uncommon. Yet because of these oscillations we decided to get new tires anyway, to ensure a better ride on future excursions. When I took the bike in to have the mechanic look at it I got a really big surprise: there was a large defect on my rear tire. Apparently the thread had separated from the tire lining and wore about a three inch (7 cm) hole in the tread. Miraculously we were still holding air. We had gone over 70 mph (115 km/h) on the previous weekend on the way home. We truly believe that the hand of God kept the tire intact until we could replace it. We had planned to ride to Minnesota during the following week, to see our children and grandchildren there. But it was way to windy to ride all that way, so we went by car. We only went for two overnights because they were planning to visit us over Labor Day weekend. We gave them some belated birth-day gifts. Arn made a NASCAR of his favorite driver and Will made a movable wooden lion.

The week leading up to their visit we were once again active with helping to package meals, for “Meals from the Heartland.” This is an annual event, which is patterned after “Feed the Children.” Started as a local church project, the community adopted it and for the past few years about 10.000 volunteers package over 4 million meals during Labor Day weekend. They are shipped to areas of need and all the materials are paid for prior to the event.


After that we were busy entertaining our grandchildren, while their parents took time to relax. I had finished my N-Gage railroad layout and the boys were happy to take time to run some trains. We had also scheduled some time for crafts with them. They made a bill-fold and a coin purse.
We had planned it so that they would make each others’ project. They had a lot of fun making each others special money carriers.


September started with beautiful cool weather, but we were not able to ride our motor bike because of a defect in the ignition switch. The part took a week to get here but all is well gain now. Fortunately it was covered under our warranty! The bike was ready or me to ride as an escort bringing the Dignity Wall into Des Moines. I’ll do my next blog on that event.

Busy August

So, now it is the middle of August. My bride and I both celebrated our 66th birthdays. We did so in places many miles apart! We had been invited to go to a hoe-down at Corrie’s brother’s house in Jenison, Michigan. This was scheduled to take place on August 13. We decided to go a few days early so we could celebrate Corrie’s birthday in Michigan on August 12.

For my birthday on August 5, we went to Hickory Park in Ames for dinner and visited White Oaks winery on the way home. The dinner consisted of a mixed platter of barbequed food, chicken, pork, and including some of the best ribs in the state. The desert menu was our place-mat, so we ate with dessert in mind.

After this great experience off to the winery.

They have a life band at the White Oak winery on Friday nights. When we got there they were playing “our” music; so we got to dance. Monique and I even did a twist... I used some muscles which I did not know I had. They were aching on Saturday, so I must have really had a good work-out. Not too bad for 66, but I had to work of some of the calories, didn’t I ? We had planned to ride our motorbikes, but because there was a solid rain coming down, we had to go on four wheels. We hope to make up for this on this coming weekend. We plan to do a similar trip as last year. (See my blog of August 13, 2010)

For Corrie’s birthday we were in Michigan visiting with family. She celebrated in a nice restaurant in Ionia surrounded by brothers and sisters (and in-laws as well...) We had to hold the hoe down inside, because there were storms in the weather forecast. Most every liked the air-conditioned gym better; no mosquitos to contend with either. On Saturday morning Corrie’s sister, who has been a life-long beautician, “lowlighted” her hair. It turned out really great. She looks younger than her age.

We visited some very nice lake side properties visiting with relatives. On Monday we went to Ludington to visit with my cousin and his wife. We had not seen each other for about 45 years. We took a nice boat ride and enjoyed a scrumptious dinner.

Because we were in Ludington we planned to cross the lake (Lake Michigan) to Wisconsin, rather than drive back to Chicago and fight the traffic there. It was a long day! The boat trip on the SS Badger was great. Sunshiny day with little wind. We stayed on deck the entire crossing, which lasted about 4 ½ hours. Getting there early and waiting for the car to get off-loaded added about another hour or so to this part of the trip. Then driving home, another 8 hours with a stop for pizza on the way. After we unpacked and relaxed we needed to prepare for our motor-bike weekend trip with our kids.

Slowing down???

On July 9, I wrote that July was for slowing down... This did not really happen. I just looked back at the previous three weeks and my head is spinning. During my dermatology visit on the 9th, I found out that I have a basal cell ca on my back, which they will excise some time in the future. It fortunately is not worrisome, but needs to be dealt with in any case. The cutting is scheduled for September.

On the 13th we got a new kitchen counter. It really looks beautiful, but we had to clean out our cabinets, or contend with saw dust. So, Tuesday, after volunteering at the VA all day, we emptied our lower cupboards. Wednesday after the new counter was installed, we also put our stuff back. We did get rid of some of the items we had not used for a long time. So we have some more space as well.



After that we relocated the furniture on the loft, primarily into the guest bedroom, to prepare the loft and the stairs for new carpet. We had done done some of that earlier in the week as well. Surprising how much small stuff accumulates, and how much is really useful and necessary.
We did get both the kitchen and the loft, back into shape before Thursday night, when we entertained dinner guests.



Then we dog-sat our grand doggy. Our kids from West Des Moines had sold their house and were moving over the weekend. On Monday we helped with clean up and moving some fragile items. I rode the motor bike and my thermometer registered the outside temperature at 101. I wore my helmet and gloves after that, but tucked my armored coat away.
We kept the dog until mid week. This requires us to take her for walks, she likes more walks than we do. It was hot most of July, so the walks were more like a chore, particularly in the heat.




Nice get-togethers and some needed shopping trips filled the next few days. We did enjoy a really nice long motor bike ride on Monday, the 25th. Board meeting, dinner guests, overnight guests and a dental check-up finished the month.

In August, September, and October we have trips planned. I guess we rest when we can, and slow down between activities to play catch-up.

JULY is for slowing down

It seems that my life is less exciting, because I have not blogged since the middle of June. But that is not correct. As I stated in the previous blog, life has been hectic. We planned some home improvement projects and also scheduled some personal vacation time later this year.

Our activity with the DELTA kids was great fun, although we did not sleep much during the two overnights we spent with them. When the rain let up we went for motor cycle rides. July has been much better weather wise. So, we have been on a few longer rides through the country side of Iowa.




On the weekend of the 4th of July we went on a group ride with “Hope’s Angels.” The group is primarily comprised of a group of motor cycle enthusiast of HOPE Lutheran Church in West Des Moines. We also attend here. Although it is a very large church, it does not seem like a very large church. Just click here if you would like a neat description of what goes on there.

During the month of June we did so many things, that I was wondering how come we had not gotten paid yet; I honestly though that much more
time had passed than it actually had.

Time to slow down and smell the roses.

Sheep and other activities

I posted a low res video of our encounter with the Big Horn Sheep on Facebook. Here is a better resolution clip. I thought that it would be fun to share this.



We have been home from Glen Eyrie for about 10 days now and time has been hectic. There were many open activities we needed to deal with. Like new glasses, new license plates, bills to pay, and a doctor's visit. Tonight we are spending the night as chaperones for a group of high-schoolers from The Navajo nation, who are in Des Moines as guests of Lutheran Church of Hope. The are engaged in leadership training for the week. This is the second time we have invited a group like this to the Midwest; a long ways from New Mexico.

BigHorn Sheep

Usually I like to write about the places we visit and the activities we are involved with. But because I have blogged pretty extensively about Glen Eyrie, the Navigators, and the Pink House, I decided to mainly share some pictures of our surroundings.


Sunday we went on a nice hike with our daughter, son in law, and another volunteer. We especially wanted to see some scenic sights, so we took the “Echo Rock” trail and migrated up onto “the Scar” which is an old gravel harvesting area. There we encountered a large herd of Big Horn sheep. Of course we took very many pictures. I included a few for your enjoyment. Also some scenic views from the scar give a great shot of the “Castle” and the “Garden of the Gods” with Cheyenne Mountain in the background.

The Navigators

big horn sheep on our front lawn
We are here! One week has alreadygone by of our current month at Glen Eyrie, home of the Navigators.
We went from winter to summer.
Last week we had snow on Sunday and Monday, but now we had 70 degrees (F) on Saturday and 80 today!


We took a hike on Thursday also with beautiful weather. One of the places we hiked to was Dawson Trotman’s grave. He was the founder of the Navigators. The Navigators is a non-denominational Christian organization. Trotman wanted to share his knowledge of God with anyone who would listen. He worked regularly with military staff, starting in the Navy. He taught them to navigate through life, hence the name “Navigators.” The biblical basis for the teaching methods used is found in 2 Timothy, Chapter 2, verse 2. Trotman developed a memorization system using small card, simple booklets, and pamphlets. Such trained Navigators spread to college campuses after their military service, spreading the salvation message and learning system. The Navigators also provided counselor training and follow-up for the Billy Graham crusades. In 1953 the Navigators were able to purchase the property known as Glen Eyrie, here in Colorado Springs. The property contains National Headquarters and Nav-pres, the International Headquarters, the Glen Eyrie conference grounds, where we work, and Eagle Lake.
Eagle Lake is one of the reservoirs general Palmer built for water storage and is used as a summer camp for many youths. You can get much more information by going to the navigators web site. (www.navigators.org)



As I said earlier, we are the volunteers at the Pink House. We also manage the newly renovated “Eagles Nest” which contains 4 premium rooms, a great lounge, and a guest kitchen. I am being groomed to become a tour guide, which is a really fun job. It allows me to share the richness of this beautiful valley and the Creator, who allows us to enjoy it all.