A Brief Travel Log

 

This is the view from my front door for the next 10 days. Not exciting, I know.  But, I could use some “not exciting” for a while. I will use the time to calm down from all the activity of the past 5 weeks of travel. I’ll dive into my studies in homeopathy. I’ll have all the time I need and want to spend in prayer. I’ll have plenty of time for exercise and PT for my shoulder. There is fairly reliable, if not fast, internet here at the center where I need to quarantine for these days for the safety of everyone so I can download as many of Michelle’s Faithful Workouts as seems appropriate. (Is all of them too many?) Everyone should look up Faithful Workouts. Michelle Spafadora has a fantastic ministry of gospel and workouts and good food! 

I wish I had thought of this theme, “View from my front door” back on July 18 when I started this 5 -week journey to visit family, friends, and experience life in the grand U.S. I would have taken more intentional pictures. I spent some quality time with all the family I could get to in this short time and that COVID-19 allowed me to. Those days were fantastic, of course, but I am glad to be just over a week away from being with my wonderful husband who encouraged me to go ahead with this trip and my dear Charis and Channah who are waiting patiently (or not) for me to come home again. 

  My first door was the Roger’s cabin in Carroll County:A wonderful, peaceful place to rest and simply existin God’s world. This was “home base” where my suitcases stayed until they and I left at 6:30 AM five weeks later. 

  If I wasn't here I was out shopping with Kaiah and sometimes Bradley or enjoying time at the Hancock's farm. Charlie and Donna are wonderful to welcome my clan over anytime. It's a gathering place for all of us whenever we find ourselves in the area. (Our families have been friends now for 3 generations.)

 In case you can't name those in the picture: l to R, Luke, Josiah, Drew, Bradley, Kaiah, Caleb.

 

I'm keeping this picture big cause Fin, the newest animal at the farm, is so darn cute!

My second door was one on Lookout Mountain, another place of beauty. TheCaldwells opened their cottage to me for the time I was in the south to see everyone down there. I enjoyed the company, of course, and the stunning mountain.

 What I did not enjoy but am glad God sent me, was 8 visits to Dr. Lesser’s office, the office with 3 chiropractors with a heart for God and people. They put my shoulder right, among a few other spots, after I slipped on one of those mountain trails.

My third door was that of the Presbyterian Church’s missionary loft in Elizabethton, TN. This was a short stay as I delivered Caleb back to Milligan University where he prays that he can complete an entire year of school. Will you pray with him?

Then I returned to Lookout for a couple days before journeying to my fourth door. I spent two lovely days with Jim and Jacque Rotruck, fellow missionaries in Cameroon quite a few years ago.  Again, of course, the company was fabulous and Jacque’s cooking is excellent. We enjoyed incredible weather and meals by the pool. I made my way back over the Appalacians to my “first” front door a couple days later. 

 YOU KNOW I DIDN’T take highways all the way to all these destinations. Check out my FB page if you want to learn the whereabouts of a few back roads. (Maybe I’ll compile those and my “comparisons” in a blog later this week. I’ve got the time.)

 

 After many hours of packing the heaviest suitcases our family has packed since the airlines lowered the limit to 50 lbs per checked bag, and one more road trip that included back roads to Delaware and back to get that a COVID-19 test, and  a few more visits with friends, on Wednesday morning bright and early Bradley drove me to Dulles Intl Airport and I arrived safely with three 70 lb bags and two carry-on bags approximately 35 hours later at Nsimalen Intl Airport. (Oh, I would be in trouble if I did not mention that it was Kaiah doing a lot of the packing of those three suitcases, which she has done several times now over recent years, and Bradley doing the weighing multiple times of those three bags.)

So, here I sit and the Cameroon Training Center, Yaounde, Cameroon with nothing but time on my hands and memories in my heart. 

P.S. I forgot about one of my travel days, the one when the black bear nearly wandered onto the road in the North Georgia Mountains. Kaiah and Bradley had joined me on Lookout Mountain for a few days to also visit with people and they needed to fly back to Maryland to get back to work. So, a second trip to Atlanta in 4 days, (we had to pick up Bradley from there since he didn’t drive down with Kaiah and I a few days before). I dropped off the kids at the airport, and like usual, I couldn’t drive straight back on those awful busy roads so into the mountains I went. And there, just on the west side of Ocoee National Park, little bear came out to say hello. (Nope, no picture, happened too fast)

Continued

After 3 fabulous days in Switzerland we did finally arrive in the U.S.

Met this adorable child, Luke. Oh, yeah, He's our grandson, and his parents were around too but I don't have any pictures of them!

                                                                  
 
 Shooting at Jim and Jacque's - some are a better shot than others!








                                         

Fourth of July celebration at the Ag Center in Carroll County







                                               Kevin and I had never been to a Hard Rock Cafe, but enjoyed this noisy lunch with our kids and Daniel's friend Alicia.





Ummm, did you know that July 30th is National Cheesecake Day? We missed the date but you really should go to a Cheescake Factory on that day if you can tolerate the crowds. Their cheesecake is probably 1/2 off.






Channah's request since long before we boarded a plane this summer was to go horseback riding again. We arranged to do this with Josiah at a farm not far from Lookout Mountain.

Caleb and I had one and a half days at his new school. We arrived early enough in the evening to catch a local baseball game. He was slightly out of his element since it wasn't soccer but I loved it! While he was at the school the next day I went wandering.



 HighPoint Climbing and Fitness centers are in several cities but I think Chattanooga might be the only place you can climb on the OUTSIDE of a building. (right)

Josiah, Charis, Caleb

 

 Last days at "The Farm," Thank you Hancocks!

 And to wrap up this eventful summer, look back at the family photo taken on the 4th of July.

A Summer in Pictures

June 15, 2019 my husband took me to Switzerland for our anniversary. Weeelll, not really. That was the choice Caleb made for his "after graduation destination." Then we were off to the U.S. for family fun and shopping and driving, lots of driving.

            Some views from our apartment window; no,I never got a photo of the place we stayed but you can look it up: Bible Guesthouse, Beatenberg, Switzerland. 

The most famous mountains of the area in the distance (Jung Frau)

 

          Took a cable car to the top of the Niederhorn, walked back down to the half-way station, got back on the cable car for the rest of the way down and a boarded a bus into Interlaken.

And we went off again on another explore the next day. This time on foot descending the mountain. Destination? Back to Interlaken to meet friends.

Probably the most photographed home in the town.

 If you look carefully you can see steps that we just came down. Then, below, you can see where we still need to go to get to the lake. Well, you can't really see where but you can see the height we are above the water, maybe. Anyway, it is a loooong way down. 

We made it to the boat just in time,

We met up with our friends at the train station and enjoyed a fabulous afternoon. 




 

The local Wal-Mart

This is the "local store" we were directed to when I asked where I could buy local products. Do you see a store clerk? We didn't either. It is an honor system, on the side of a mountain in a quaint town in the south of Switzerland. 
 
OK, so visiting Switzerland wasn't the longest part of the summer but it was the most photographed! I think I'll make another page for the rest of the weeks.

Why I think I'm camping...

(Well, I should be writing a newsletter but blogs are so much more fun!)

Why, After 25 Years, I Still Feel Like I’m Camping Over Here

It is not likely that you have ever been on a camping trip or a vacation excursion that seemed like it never ended. Probably more like the opposite – one that you WANT to last forever. Well, maybe you should consider mission work in a tropical country because that is what our life feels like sometimes. Let me explain.

1)      Well, it is warm. I never camped in cold weather. 

RFIS after a rain storm

2)      The scents and smells: The smell of where you grow up is… home. When you go on vacation you smell different things; plants, foods, even the air smells different. Yes, sometimes you have the smell of a port- a-john wafting through the air. The smells here are unique to this place: the grass, the rain, the flowers, the palm oil in food, the compost, and, yes, port- a-john smells in the streets. There is nothing like a hyacinth here and nothing in the world compares to the scent of this flower

                                or a Queen of the Forest tree in the evening. And the air is often laced with the smell of campfire smoke.

3)      What about odd habits people display when camping? Brushing your teeth outside; showering or bathing in a building outside of the house or tent; walking back inside with a towel wrapped somewhere visible, either around the waist or  draped on an arm, head; cooking your food outside. We see all of these things (and more) pretty much every day.

Pretty sure I have a pic of Emelda cooking corn at this fire pit but can't find it now!!

4)      Sounds: Can you hear the crowd laughing five campsites away? Can you hear a child being disciplined? Or the radio a little too loud? The shouts of an impromptu soccer match in the nearby field?

5)      Tasting and sharing: have you invited your camping neighbors over to share your fire and have a hot dog? I can stop at my neighbor’s and taste her meal almost any day. And that music I often hear from a distance – that is because people are sharing. They are happy with their radio and want to bless you. (Nope, I don’t often appreciate the blessing since I grew up in a quiet world.) The taste of a fresh mango! Nothing like it where I come from. Peaches are close, but, no.

Channah picking the mangoes pictured

      What about those interesting tastes you only got when you went on vacation or when visiting someone a distance away, what were they? Some for me were: a certain store’s ice cream, Aunt Betty Ann’s macaroni and cheese, salt water taffy. Well here, even the “normal” things taste different. Did you know that peanuts taste different, even from different regions within Cameroon? Garlic, onions, tomatoes, celery, chicken; they are all different here. Not to mention the rest of the exotic tropical fruits God put here.                   

  

Pineapple growing in my yard, spicy peppers above it

If you are interested, ask me about Josiah’s first trip to the U.S. and bananas.

6)      Sights: I sure didn’t grow up with Palm trees visible outside my window but here, they’re everywhere.

This one makes me think of Florida and a college evangelism trip.

These useful beauties are visible right outside my kitchen window.

 And now, whenever I see an evergreen here, no matter how often, especially the ones that look like white pine, I cannot help but think back to Wildrose Court. I also did not grow up with grasses four feet high all around me, though I did see that on our trips to the beach. I only ever knew poinsettias that were inside plants bought at Christmas time and though they are not very common, the beautiful plant does grow seven feet high in some yards here.  Ok, so maybe I never saw poinsettias growing wild around my campsites in the U.S. but there sure were unique plants I enjoyed in those locations. And now, even after so long here, the plants around me still seem so exotic. 

 And how many of you saw uniquely colored or shaped houses en route to your family vacation spots? The interestingly painted houses here certainly make me recall those drives.                                          

artwork on the entrance to a hair salon

businesses along the road

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      I really wanted a picture of a house around here that has three shades of green (not complimentary) on it. Or another one from my old neighborhood that is... well, more shades of bright green. But I don't have those photos so here are two others.  

 When they began finishing the houses and businesses in the new developments along the road leading east out of Yaoundé, I swear there was nothing but pink (Pepto Bismol pink) available at the paint store.

7)      More sounds: outdoor sounds- constantly!  Crickets, wind, rain, other people’s barking dogs, certain bird sounds that always make me think of the beach, and oh, that season when the frogs are loud and annoying outside my window! More birds. (When I catch that lovely bird outside Channah's window that likes to come visit the guava tree I'll add it, in the meantime, enjoy some pictures below of birds in another region of Cameroon that our friend Bob has taken.)

So, there you have it. I have spent the last 25 years camping.

Bob's photos