With Barbara's condition being somewhat improved we elected to accept Bob & Lorraine Russell's invitation to visit them in Haslet, TX. The drive both ways in light traffic and mostly good weather could not have gone smoother.

We also enjoyed perfect weather in Texas where we sat in the Russell backyard and watched the Blue Angels practice and perform an air show at nearby Alliance Airport. That was certainly better than enduring the heavy traffic and large crowds; plus we had our own drinks.

Once again Bob and Lorraine were the perfect hosts and we seriously considered staying longer, but did not want to wear Barbara down too much. We will return!

We recently made the two day trip to Rose Hill, Kansas, for a reunion of Jack's 1955 high school class. The drive was uneventful with no problems. It was great to see the classmates and the attendance was very good with 14 folks able to make it. For a change we stayed at the Air Capital Inn on McConnell AFB and the quarters were exceptional! Plus it was very convenient to Rose Hill. A great trip!

We just returned from a wonderful visit to see our good friends in Texas, Bob and Lorraine Russell.
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A great time with some fine people! The last 5 days were spent in Montgomery, Alabama, at the 47th year reunion of Jack's Air Force OCS Class (when he became an officer). This was the best reunion yet and we are already looking forward to the next one. There are some pictures at the Reunion Recap site.

Lots of driving concluded yesterday as we returned from a quick trip to Florida. Saturday was spent with Barbara's mother, Dorothy Selbmann, and her husband, John, to celebrate Dorothy's 93rd birthday! They are in assisted living in Bradenton, FL. Our hosts for the trip were Wally and Emily Gore, long time friends; it was great to see them again. The drive down on Thursday went well with moderate traffic until we got to Florida. A huge area of rain slowed us to a crawl for over an hour and then an accident snarled traffic in North Tampa for another hour or so; it was a long day. After all the driving in the last two weeks we now plan to stay put for awhile.

We just returned from a trip to Manchester, Michigan, where we attended the Healing Farewell Service for Pat Bergmann, Barbara's Sister-In-Law. Read More...

Our annual trip to the Gospel Steel Guitar Show is now history and we had a wonderful time. You can read about it and view a few pictures of the performers on the Gospel Steel 2008 page. It sure was nice just driving a little over two hours to Nashville rather than eight hours to Indianapolis. This is one event we never miss and the new location drew even more supporters. They plan to have it in Nashville again next year.

Our first trip of 2008 was to see our good friends in Texas, Bob and Lorraine Russell. It was a wonderful time again. Read More...

Yesterday we again went to the Sweetwater, TN, Flea Market and ate at Wally's in Chattanooga. The food at Wally's was great as usual, but the service was not up to their usual standards; we'll chalk it up to just an off day and we plan to return the next time we're in the area. The weather was beautiful, we saw some friends, the traffic was light to moderate, and we had a fine day.

Today we made our first visit to the Cardinal Rose Organic Grocery Store near Albertville, AL. Along with a nice selection of organic produce, meat, eggs, and other items they also serve lunch. Naturally we had to partake and found everything to be delicious and fairly priced. We look forward to a return visit.

Today it was back to the Sweetwater, TN, Flea Market and our day of eating out at Wally's in Chattanooga and other spots. Then we visited Russell Cave in Northern Alabama. It was our first time at this National Monument and we were impressed with how the Park Service has handled the site. Alabama has many caves and we have seen most of them.

Every once in a while we take a day trip somewhere and today it was to the Sweetwater, Tennessee, Flea Market. We don't ever buy much, but do enjoy getting some home-canned items from one of the couples who make wonderful products. Then we headed to Chattanooga for the East Ridge Flea Market, a couple of thrift stores, and one of our favorite places to eat, Wally's at East Ridge. It was a pleasant, lovely day.

After a couple of months at home we attended our annual Gospel Steel Guitar Show in Indianapolis, Indiana, this past weekend. It was fabulous, as usual, and the trip went well both ways. If interested, look at some of the performer's pictures on our review page.

It was time for our annual visit to Florida and it went well, but we're glad we don't live there. Read More...

Our latest trip to Texas is now history and as usual, the visit with Bob & Lorraine Russell was great; we talked for days. February was picked so we could accompany them on their annual jaunt to the Bill Gaither Homecoming concert. It was a wonderful experience in the beautiful American Airlines Center. The weather was uneventful both directions and we had a pleasant trip.

We just returned from Saint Charles, MO, where we attended the lovely wedding of Barbara's cousin, Christine Kurtz Fuerhoff, and Lee Roy Casten. Read More...

The last trip of the year was to Virginia to visit long-time friends, Dick & Jan Phillips. Read More...

A great trip to see our friends, Bob and Lorraine Russell, in Texas and help celebrate Bob's 70th birthday. We can only guess his thoughts as he contemplates the cake (and the years perhaps). But he really did have a good time along with the rest of us. Read More...

We had a pleasant trip to Michigan to visit with Brian, Kim, and Hunter Bos.The weather was fall-like with a few rain showers, but we did get to check out Kensington Metropark, a nice nature oriented park where Hunter has spent some time. And of course, Jack got to make a stop at the local Apple Store to check out the latest computer toys. Gas prices were lower than usual with our cheapest purchase at $2.21 per gallon and even the motel prices were moderate. It was another enjoyable trip.

For the first time in many years we visited friends in Eastern Virginia. First to Yorktown and then to New Port to see Dick and Jan Phillips. Dick and Jack served together long ago in Air Force days. Read More...

After delaying a planned June visit, we had a very nice eight day trip to Texas to see our good friends Bob & Lorraine Russell. As usual they were the perfect hosts. We again made the rounds to some favorite locations. Read More...

Our spring visit to Michigan is now over. It went smoothly with the exception of Jack picking up a sinus-related problem on the last day in Michigan; that took some of the fun out of the return trip. The grand kids are growing quickly and we attended Nathan's graduation ceremony (from nursery school). We also got to see Hunter play a baseball game where he hit a double. Our favorite junk store in Van Wert, Ohio, was closed for an unknown reason, but we did get to have lunch at the Earthen Treasures Natural Food Market in Berne, Indiana; always a great stop.

Another great weekend at the Gospel Steel Guitar show in Indianapolis, IN. Our brief report shows a few of the artists. This is always an inspirational event!

Well, we're back from another excellent trip to St. Charles, Missouri, where we visited Barbara's cousin, Christine Kurtz-Fuerhoff and her daughter, Hannah. As usual we ate a lot of outstanding meals, but Christine introduced a new twist when she brought home a 50-piece box of our favorite fried chicken! And of course we again checked out Whole Foods Market in St. Louis where we had lunch after "grazing" the store. Christine also introduced us to Global Foods, an international supermarket with nearly 30,000 products from every continent; a real adventure. And we saw the Missouri home of Daniel Boone, Boonesfield Village, which we enjoyed. It was a smooth trip both ways and the new Civic got over 43 miles to the gallon when we drove at the legal 65 mph in KY and IL.

Just back from our spring trip to Florida. Our new car performed great and got over 40 miles to the gallon while cruising at 70 mph. Visited with the Selbmanns, Ed & Pat Bergmann, and our hosts, Wally & Emily Gore. Another very nice trip with good weather except for the seven hours of rain on the way down.

Jack recently made e-mail contact with a fighter pilot friend from Air Force days; they had not seen each other since 1974. So we made a lunch date and drove up to Bowling Green, Kentucky, today to spend the afternoon with Dan Cherry and his wife Syl. They are both looking great and it was wonderful to see them again. Dan and Jack were stationed together four times during their Air Force careers; Germany, Thailand, Kansas, and Florida.

After laying low for a couple of months (we don't travel during holidays), we took a pleasant trip to Haslet, Texas, and once again visited with our friends, Bob and Lorraine Russell. Read More...

Our semi-annual Michigan trip is now history; an enjoyable journey with pleasant weather. It was again an 8 day trip to visit Robin and her family in Kalamazoo and then Brian and his family in Walled Lake. Madison had a quick trip to the emergency room after eating some poisonous berries, but is back to normal now. We mostly take back roads on our trips and sometimes find interesting places. This time it was a fine health food store in Berne, Indiana. Earthen Treasures Natural Food Market had a great selection and a nice cafe, where we had a wonderful meal and gourmet coffee.

We just had another very nice trip to St. Charles, Missouri, to visit Barbara's cousin, Christine Kurtz-Fuerhoff and her daughter, Hannah. A terrific thunderstorm welcomed us and we lost power for about 4 hours in the evening, but it was only a minor annoyance to us; others in the city were not as fortunate. One of the highlights was a trip to the Whole Foods Market in St. Louis, a great store we will investigate more closely in the future. Thanks to Christine for once again being the perfect hostess.

We had a very nice week-long trip to Texas to visit our friends, Bob and Lorraine Russell. Read More...

We just returned from our annual "trip to nowhere", which this time was mostly in Arkansas. We even wrote a recap of this journey. Read More...

We took a three day jaunt to Mississippi and visited all seven locations of our favorite junk store, Treasure Hunt. Naturally we bought some stuff, but nothing that we can't immediately use or eat. As luck would have it, we were in Picayune, MS, when tropical storm Cindy came ashore nearby. We slept through it even though the area got high winds and eight inches of rain. Another nice trip.

Back from an 8 day trip to Michigan to visit Robin and her family in Kalamazoo and then Brian and his family in Walled Lake. All went well except for the traffic and road conditions in Michigan. Several major interstate exits were closed and other main roads torn up without any clues on where to go; it made a 2 hour trip into 5 hours on Friday, but we made it anyhow. Check the family page for a couple updated pictures.

This time it was a trip to Rose Hill, Kansas, for Jack's 50th high school reunion, which was a great success. 17 of the remaining 19 graduates showed up. The entire trip went well and we even managed to return through Mississippi for a stop at our favorite junk store, Treasure Hunt.

We just spent a couple of fun days in Indianapolis, Indiana, at our favorite annual event, The Gospel Steel Guitar Show. Check our review page for a bit more about the event and some pictures.

Just back from our spring visit to Florida. It was nice to see our hosts, Wally & Emily Gore. It was an opportunity to see some family members that we don't see very often; there is a nice picture in the next section. Read More...

For our first real trip of the year it was back to Haslet, Texas, (just north of Fort Worth) for another wonderful visit with Bob & Lorraine Russell. Besides our great, lengthy conversations we also checked out the Trade Days at Canton and enjoyed the best food store we've ever seen at the Central Market in Fort Worth; this is a must-see.

Our last trip of the year was another great experience. Christine Kurtz-Fuerhoff and her daughter, Hannah, shared their beautiful St. Charles, MO home with us for several days. We always find lots to talk about and her dinner parties are exceptional. And St. Charles is always an interesting city with lots of civic pride. We especially enjoyed our visit to The Foundry Art Centre, where you can talk with artists at work. Tony Schanuel is a digital artist who essentially gave us a half hour lesson on his G-5 Mac; his work is wonderful!

It was a pleasant trip to Texas for an enjoyable couple of days with Bob & Lorraine Russell, friends from Air Force days. We talked for 2+ days and still had more to say! The two day drive both ways was about perfect and we again checked out one of our favorite "value" stores in Meridian, MS, Hudson's Treasure Hunt. Even the weather was wonderful. All trips should be this great.

A quick trip to Florida was made this week to visit Wally & Emily Gore and Dorothy & John Selbmann. It was an enjoyable trip except for I-75 in South Georgia, where we had to use side roads to avoid huge back-ups. At least the weather was fine.

We just returned from a seven day trip to Michigan where we visited Robin and family in Kalamazoo and Brian and family in Walled Lake. The weather was unseasonably warm and the drive both directions was great. We also discovered that the Fairfield Inn now has high-speed internet access in all of its locations, so we have a new favorite motel!

This was a reunion of Jack's Air Force Officer Candidate School Class of 1961 where they all became second lieutenants. Read More...

We just returned from a 5 day trip to Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, and Tennessee. Here is a review of the trip and a picture. Read More...

We spent the past four days visiting Christine Kurtz-Fuerhoff and her daughter, Hannah, in St. Charles, MO. They were the perfect hosts and made us feel very welcome. Look at these pictures of a local statue. Read More...

Nicholas Edward McNair arrived 5 weeks early at 11:18 pm, Wednesday, 5/12/04! He weighed 4 pounds, 14 ounces. As luck would have it, Barbara and Jack arrived in Kalamazoo on Thursday afternoon for their spring visit and got to see Nicholas when he was only hours old. After two days with the McNair family we headed over to Walled Lake to see the Bos family.

We spent last weekend at a great music show in Indianapolis. Here are a few pictures of some of our friends.