PEOPLE!

Dick & Shirley Baxter preparing to catch catfish

We managed some more zero dollar campground fees by parking in the yard of Dick & Shirley Baxter in Gaffney SC for a few days. Fun to spend time with them! We visited a historic revolutionary war battleground (Cow Pens) and museum, took in part of a rehearsal of the play Harvey in which Shirley had a role, saw the play Nunsense at Limestone College where my nephew Tim is a professor of theater arts. Tim's wife, Susan was directing the Harvey play.

I think it was the biggest catfish caught that day!

I also added an 8 foot vinyl fence post to the bottom of the motorhome. The task was made much easier with brother Dick's help. I gave the motorhome its first bath since we left Oregon. It was not just dirty but coated with yellow pollen. Within minutes of washing it was again coated with pollen :-( We picked up an air compressor that we had previously ordered to be shipped to Gaffney. Now all I need to do is figure out how to access those inner dual valve stems!

While in Gaffney we enjoyed fishing at a private pond belonging to one of Dick's golfing buddies. Dick cleaned and filleted the catfish and Pearl later cooked it with a delicious coating of a pear relish and pecans.

with Gary Nuss

Myrtle Beach SC was our next destination to meet up with Gary Nuss and Kim Zegelien. Gary recently moved to a condominium with his dad, Ike. Gary is an educator working with special needs students in the area. He had served with us at ICA in Africa. We had enjoyed many trips together in Africa and Europe during school breaks. It was great to see him again and meet his dad and Latte.

with Kim Zegelien

Kim Zegelien is an administrator, teacher,and coach at a private Christian school in North Carolina. She was in the Myrtle Beach area for a coaching workshop at the same time we were there. Kim also served at ICA with us and Gary. It was not only fun to see her again but to learn some new things about her, like her love for her Harley.

While at Myrtle Beach we enjoyed the atmosphere of this seaside resort area during spring break, seeing some of the sights, worshiping with Gary, his dad, and Kim at the United Methodist church on Palm Sunday, and enjoying again Gary's gifts and skills as a host and cook. Of course we checked out the beach and Pearl dipped her toes in the U.S. side of the Atlantic having already experienced the Africa side.

Pearl testing the Atlantic Ocean at Myrtle Beach SC

We moved on a bit north to Carolina Beach in North Carolina just south of Wilmington. We had opportunity to visit another civil war museum and battleground area at Fort Fisher just north of our campground. Interesting to see some of the Intracoastal Waterways that were so important in avoiding the Union blockades during the Civil War and still allow passage of large ships today.

While their we enjoyed a visit from another former student. Helen (Gibbons) White was one of our students at Dalat School in Malaysia. She and her husband Doug have been missionaries in Brazil for many years and are currently between church pastorates here in the U.S. Sorry we left you out of the picture, Doug! Helen and Doug had to cut their visit short as the Carolina Beach State Park campground locked its gates at 8 PM and doesn't open them again until 8 PM the next morning.

with Helen (Gibbons) White

Now we are at Arrowhead Campground on Badin Lake in North Carolina. Dick and Shirley are due to join us this afternoon and after a couple of days we will move on to Rudd's Creek Campground on Kerr Reservoir straddling the North Carolina - Virginia border. After a few days there we go to Oakridge Campground in Prince William National Forest just south of Washington DC.

On Easter Sunday we worshiped with the Atlanta First Baptist Church, enjoying a beautiful mass choir and orchestra presentation and the preaching of Charles Stanley. Unfortunately it was too far to drive to Atlanta so we participated via TV.

But we did have the opportunity later in the day to visit with a family we knew from our very first year at ICA, the Byerly's.  We had been invited to join them for a family Easter dinner. Thank you so much. Great fellowship, delicious meal, and especially enjoyed making interconnecting webs again. We were greeted by Ben Mickelson who is married to Brenda (Byerly). They have served overseas and are now in the Greensboro area. Ben is an ESL educator. Brenda is a nurse in an ER facility. They are expecting twin boys in June. We won't comment on prospective names.

L to R in back: Pearl, Bonnie Byerly, Brenda (Byerly) & Ben Mickelson, Elmer
kneeling: Becky Byerly

Becky is a math and science teacher in a public school in the Greensboro area. Bonnie works with a veterinarian and had a dog and two rabbits at the house suggesting its more than just a job. Missing were oldest son Ben, son Billy, and daughter Beth. It had been our privilege to teach all of the Byerly kids plus some of their spouses, including Ben Mickelson and to coach most if not all of the girls in basketball at ICA.

People! Definitely one of the most important benefits of this trip is getting to reconnect with people that have been such an important part of our lives.

Relaxing by the Lake

Red Bud trees blooming along the roads throughout the South

We've been enjoying the beautiful blossoms on the red bud trees and just this week are seeing the dog wood trees beginning to bloom. One of the towns nearby has advertised an azalea festival in a couple of weeks but I haven't seen a hint of an azalea bloom so far--their festival may be in anticipation of future azalea blooms.

For the last few weeks we have been camping at Corps of Engineers campgrounds--a good choice for us old people with the Golden Age pass giving us a 50% discount. The Corps of Engineers have created low dams to form shallow reservoirs all over the south. There are large, multi-fingered lakes everywhere and most of them have more than one campground to choose from.

View from our Twin Lakes campsite on Hartwell Lake
in South Carolina near Georgia border

Our current site is the Twin Lakes COE campground on Hartwell Lake on the border of Georgia and South Carolina. Our site is right on the lake. With a breeze from the lake to help us handle the 80+ temperature, the sound of the wind in the trees and the waves against the shore, the scenic views, boats in the water, kids on bikes on the roads, squirrels and birds everywhere, its not too difficult to relax!

We eat most of our meals in the motorhome but when we do eat out we often find restaurants that are going to offer food typical of the area rather than the fast food places. Lately we've been enjoying catfish. Pearl's catfish was served with a marmalade and pecan crust and she chose cheese grits as one of the sides. She liked  the grits so much that we found the cheddar cheese grits at Wal-Mart and have them w/ breakfast occasionally. We stopped at a restaurant in Alabama for lunch after church and discovered they were offering a buffet of typical southern food including some shoo fly pie (southern variety) for desert. Great meal! 

At every major highway intersection there seems to be a Waffle House. Not familiar with that in Oregon so we decided to try it and were not disappointed. A waiting line seems standard, food was good (pecan waffle) and reasonably priced.

Most of our "seeing" is just enjoying the unending variety God's creation as we travel but occasionally we check out some of the tourist attractions. In Alabama we visited the Gainesville Antebellum Mansion in Demopolis. Our tour guide was a very knowledgeable archivist / restorator who provided us with a great deal of Civil War history along with the description and history of the mansion itself. 

Gainesville Antebellum Mansion in Demopolis AL

While camped near Atlanta GA we visited the Southern Civil War and Railroad Museum. The main focus was the Great Railroad Chase during the Civil War but also included general information on the Civil War and railroads in the South. We also visited the Gone With The Wind Museum. Both of these museums' presentations as well as the mansion tour above confirm the overall sense one has that there is a very different perspective of the Civil War in the South than in Oregon. 

Dave and Betty Shady, served with us at ICA

We enjoyed meeting with Dave and Betty Shady in Toccoa. Reconnecting with friends that served with us at International Christian Academy in Cote d'Ivoire was great. Recognizing how Toccoa is such a center and focus for missions made the experience even greater. We spent a few hours creating a web of inter-connections as we talked of individual missionaries who had attended Toccoa Falls College or taught there or were currently living in the Toccoa area. 

Toccoa Falls near Toccoa GA

A highlight was viewing Toccoa Falls on the college campus and reading the names on the monument there of those who lost their lives in that 1977 flood--another interconnection as we recalled Bob Carter who had survived that flood and came to serve with us at Dalat School with his wife, Becky, only to lose his life at Dalat while saving a student from being swept over a falls.