Creation tour trip - Day five

Though dated Saturday, this is the post of Friday's events.

6:30 am: Rise 'n' Shine!!
Even a mantis is doing his devotions on the window this morning.
7:30 am: Eat 'n' Drink!!
One final delicious buffet we ladies don't have to cook or even set up.
8 am: Load 'n' Board!!
Depart ON THE DOT under thin clouds and 61 degrees. After a little song fest, Pastor Dave shared devotions on Psalm 66 and emphasized making a "joyful noise". When he was young that meant, "Yee Hah!!!!!!". But the years have taken their toll and though he still makes joyful noise it now sounds more like, "Yesssss! Lord! Way to go! Praise You Jesus!!!" And much of the jumping around has ceased because he has discovered he no longer bounces when he hits the ground. Our assignment for the day is to write down all the old sayings we can come up with.
9:30 am: RS Beloit, WI high thin clouds and 66 degrees.
As we reboard our coach we participate in a photo shoot for the gallery of mug shots which you can peruse. Each of our pictures will be labeled with our names for easy identification of all your friends, new and old. They're not posted quite yet but keep checking. They will come soon.
9:53 am: Depart for the Wisconsin Dells.
11:22 am: Arrive Tanger Outlet Mall in Lake Delton, WI under partly cloudy skies and 73 degrees for lunch and SHOPPING!!!!!!!!!!
At least that's how the ladies feel about that activity. As for the men, they come in handy for carrying parcels. And they have cushy recliners for them to wait in too.
1:40 pm Depart after stowing all our bargains. It's getting hotter, 77 now.
2pm: Time for the game of the day.
Today it is, "Possessions". The object is to come up with the notable possession that belongs to the name in question. Such as, Anderson...windows. And whom do you suppose should tie for first place with Kenn Maurer but the blogger. Each received a prize and the once donated Tootsie Roll made it back to its original possessor the winner of yesterday's game of "Landmarks". And when the week's total in the BIG Tootsie Roll was announced at $116.98 she contributed her two cents worth to make it an even $117. By the time of the reading of this daily blog someone had put in another $3 to make it $120. A pretty goodly amount for the Braaten's ministry in Israel. Everyone felt the penalties paid out to be a small price to pay to benefit such a worthy missionary couple. We pray God will bless the use of the gift in innumerable ways.
3 pm: RS Black River Falls, WI for fuel and snacking...again!!!
We are seeing more and more color in the trees as we progress northward. The color spread into the coach as Shirley B. and Bobbie took up crochet lessons.
3:20 pm: Depart on the final leg of the journey back to Minnesota.
6:10pm: A quick, wet and rainy stop and 73 degrees.
The secret of our beautiful weather this week is revealed. Now that Troy is home again the skies in Plymouth will doubtless clear up.
6:20 pm: RS a few blocks from Fourth Baptist and grab and go with fast food.
6:34 pm: Final departure.
Bobbie and Shirley proved to be quick learners and made good progress on their little sampler pieces of stitches they've learned. Next time you meet them ask to see the projects they will doubtless have completed by then.
9 pm exactly!! Arrive at First Baptist.
Unload the bus and pack up our cars and head for our OWN beds tonight. Get ready to share the blessings and adventures of the week at testimony time on Sunday night. Out of towners are encouraged to come back and join us for that service at 6:00 pm.

JUST A REMINDER: Be sure to reread yesterday's post and notice that some details have been corrected thanks to information from some helpful fellow travelers. More pictures will be posted now that we are home and Glenn can access those he took with his camera. Again thanks to Troy for pinch hitting with his excellent photographic skills.

Creation tour trip - Day four

7 am: Up and eat 'em...I mean at 'em. Another delicious buffet breakfast!
7:31 am: A good ol' truckin' song comes to mind this morning. Adapting new words to the melody it would go something like this: "Roll on coachie. Roll on crew. Roll on driver like we asked you to do. Roll on dinos. Roll on!"
7:42 am: Crossin' the Ohio River and "The Sun's Comin' Up In the Morning" over fog shrouded fields.
Calvin Wallin, brother of the mayor of Brainerd, presented our devotions today. He recalled for us many of the experiences we'd had yesterday at the Creation Museum and presented a piece of paper with a squiggle drawn on it. He said that over time the molecules of ink would migrate around on the page and eventually become a beautiful sheet of music. Oh yes, it would take a few million years, but it would happen. Just like evolution teaches regarding our natural world. Yeah sure it will, Cal. Following this lesson we had a time of prayer for several gravely ill or grieving people we knew and for whom we'd received special requests.
The daily blog report was read aloud as we climbed up the Ohio bluff country to the rolling farmlands of Indiana dotted with buildings ancient and modern. The sky is clear and the air a crisp, calm 54 degrees. Golden fields of soy beans alternate with yellow-green fields of corn. Sliced and sectioned by strips of trees.
The coach is again quieter this morning as we drink in the view or examine the insides of our eyelids. A low growling sound sneaks up on us from the rear. Lions? Tigers? Bears? Oh my! It's guys snoring. And a few gals, too. They've been lulled to dreamland by the murmur of ladies' voices sharing with one another the news of their worlds and doubtless solving all its problems as well.













9 am: Arrive at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to tour the museum and watch an historical video of the track. Next year they celebrate their centennial.
10 am: Depart "The Brickyard" to continue our homeward trek.
11:16 am: Arrive in Zionsville, IN
Shop and browse the quaint stores along the old brick street. We take in lunch where we choose. The blogger gets her kitty and doggie fix with some of the pets who own shops in the neighborhood. Charlie, the big ten year old tiger and white cat, for instance, owns the jewelery store run by his human lady for the past six years. Several other four legged owners employ their humans in a similar fashion up and down the street. It remains clear and sunny with an easy breeze and 68 degrees. Two stuffed kitties are adopted and make their way aboard the coach to eventually take up residence with the Wolf's menagerie in MN.
2:04 pm: Depart to cover some of the remaining distance home.
3:17 pm: RS at the Pilot truck stop in Covington, IN.
3:34 pm: Depart under the same clear sky we've seen for days. It's 77 degrees and calm.
4:00 pm: Time for the daily game.
This time we have to match landmarks with their initials such as Same Old Lady, i.e. Statue of Liberty. There are 25 matches and the blogger was the only one to get them all correct! It was extra special that 25 is one of her favorite numbers. It being her birth date and also her dad's birth year. She won the giant Tootsie Roll candy bar. Immediately she thought of Cindy the Cop and made an offer of it to her in exchange for forever amnesty from penalty for speaking the "b" word. Though at first reluctant to accept her terms, when it was put in terms of "Give it to your granddaughter." She began to cave. Yet resisted saying Katrina's mom wouldn't like her doing that. Finally, she was convinced when the point was made that that is what grandmas are for. And she could give it to her just before Katrina left to go HOME from grandma's. That way Cindy wouldn't have to deal with the resulting sugar high. Now this blogger can say bus as often and as loudly as she wishes with no repercussions. And she has 27 witnesses to the amnesty agreement to back her up!!!
4:28 pm: Game over!! Passing between Urbana and Rantoul, IL.
5:43 pm: RS We reach El Paso. Wait a minute! Isn't that Texas? Did we miss a turn somewhere? We were supposed to be northbound but it is getting hotter, too. I sure hope this driver knows what he's doing. We don't need another "detour". Especially not one that long!! At least we can get a snack here and get back on track. The blogger made free use of the word bus as she walked among her fellow dinos encouraging them to get on the bus. "Hurry and board the bus." "The bus is about to leave." "Jump on the bus!!!"
6:06 pm Back on standard time (making it 5:06) and back on the road again.
5:56 pm: Arrive at the La Quinta Inn in Peru.
We must still be off track somehow. How we get all the way to Peru?? Ohhhhh...Illinois!! We still have just a few high clouds and haze and it's risen to 79 degrees.
7:45 pm: Return from dinner with most going to for Chinese cuisine tonight. Two held out for more homestyle fare and did the IHOP!! A long relaxing, yet invigorating swim and multiple dips into the spa made for a great finish to a beautiful day!! Good night. Sleep tight. Don't let the bed bugs bite!! We'll be sleeping in our own beds tomorrow night.

Special Advisory

Your regularly scheduled blogger is having technical difficulties (she's too tired to write tonight). The final installment of our adventure will be posted sometime tomorrow.

Creation tour trip - Day three

Today's pictures are available at the picture link as time does not permit tonight to process them into the blog. And because of some of those technical difficulties with which we began our week, more pictures will be posted after we get home Friday. So be sure to check the blog after that to benefit from ALL we saw and experienced. Thankfully, Glenn is only one of the techies on board the coach. Troy McDonald is the other and he asks us to give credit to God for the pictures he's been supplying us with each night. Those two enjoy the time spent together reviewing the photos of the day and fostering their new friendship.

7:30 am: Wake to devour a delicious breakfast buffet of waffles, eggs, sausage, cereal and fruit.
Devotions this morning were presented by Frank Tranby enhanced by a smattering of his humorous tales. And after a brief daily orientation update from our dedicated driver, Jim, we made the quick journey to the long awaited Creation Museum!
8:45am: Board and depart in our luxurious coach.
9 am: We are HERE!!! Wish you were too. The weather's perfect for being outdoors on the nature trails! It's 55 degrees and lovely.
9:30 am: The Planetarium Show.
Together our group entered the quiet, round theater and took our reclining seats. For some, a quiet dark room was just too tempting an environment for remaining awake and alert. The desire for napping warred with our curiosity to see the spectacular show. And spectacular is not a sufficient word to describe what our eyes beheld for the next 23 minutes. We were taken on a journey of thousands of light years in distance to the outer limits of what we call our universe. Comparisons were presented that revealed clearly how minuscule a place it is in which we live when seen in terms of universal dimensions. What love our Lord displayed for us in visiting our tiny little planet in our tiny solar system of the teeny little star we call the sun within our itty bitty galaxy which is only one dot among billions of billions of galaxies and nebulae that make up our universe!!!!!!
And that view set the scene for the rest of our day as we spread throughout the museum's myriad marvelous manifestations of Biblical history detailing how we fell from our glorious created state to the miserable condition in which we find ourselves today. The many multimedia displays led to the presentation of "The Last Adam" as the ultimate cure for all that mankind messed up in this marvelous universe. We sailed through the "seven Cs" of Creation, Corruption, Condemnation, Catastrophe, Christ, Cross and Consummation. I'm not sure I got the words exactly right because I was so busy engaging with the environment of the message that I forgot to take notes.
And while we're touching on notes, it should be noted that following the reading of the blog to my fellow travelers aboard the coach, Mr. Dean shared with me "the rest of the story" as regards his so called sortie with that cute waitress. He glowingly reports that along with the generous tip, she eagerly took his proffered tract as well as a New Testament. She is in her fourth year at college and has not yet met the Lord. Let's join him in praying for her salvation as she embarks on her final year of education.
An inspiring and educational lecture at noon by Dr. Mark Riddle was followed by more museum meanderings culminating in a video on a Biblical response to the global warming debate. Somewhere in that time we all managed to get something for lunch at one of the many venues within the complex which were available for filling our stomachs. We checked out the bookstore and gift shop and had a brief encounter with the critters at the petting zoo. Then we stowed our newly acquired resources and headed for dinner.
5:24 pm: Depart for O'Charley's Steakhouse under clear blue skies and a warm 79 degrees.
5:45 pm: We seat ourselves around the massive table and make our selections.
Dining is delightful and interesting memories of the day are shared up and down the "board". Lives of the dinosaurs become more entwined with each other daily as we share time and space and food together.
7:35 pm: We set off on the brief jaunt back to our hotel and settle down for the night.
Some of us refreshed ourselves with a long soak in the pool. While others relaxed and shared testimonies of the week's events and their impacts on our hearts and minds. Tomorrow's another day as we set off for the races. Or at least for that famous race venue The Indy Track. Relax, rest up and be ready for an early departure as we start northward toward home.

Creation tour trip - Day two

Here are some of yesterday's pictures as promised. Visit the picture website to view ALL the photos.



Flat, corn and windmills. i.e.Iowa













The underground RR rest area.













The sun's last hurrah.












Sunset's many fingered wave.













Our "coach".

Dinos dining at Basta's Monday night.

Day two:
7:45 am: After partaking in a scrumptious 6 am continental breakfast of omelets, French toast, sausage, cereal, fruit and baked goods we boarded and departed under clear skies, heavy fog and 52 degrees. Devotions this morning were presented by Dick, our resident Gideon, who yesterday had distributed New Testaments for us to hand out and fulfill our ministry as opportunities might present themselves throughout the trip. (By the way yesterday's devotional leader was Virgil.)

9:10 am: Arrive at the Lincoln Presidential Museum to meander the morning away through the multitude of displays and multimedia presentations depicting the times and events of his history.
12:10 pm: Depart Springfield, IL under partly cloudy skies and 64 degrees.














1:15 - 1:45 pm: Extended half-hour RS at a Decatur, IL truck stop where even the pastor was seen WORKING helping to wash the windshield of bugs and we were on our way again with clear blue skies and 66 degrees. Back home it's 79 according to the weather report.
Minutes after our departure, snacks were being distributed in all directions when the ordinarily venerable Virgil "supposedly" lost his balance and flew into the security of the blogger's arms. The soft sofa allowed both to escape injury of all but their pride. The rendezvous was short-lived but the deranged camera toting dinosaurs demanded a reenactment. And to think, Virgil's bride was sitting just across the aisle!!! Not to mention it is the blogger's 13th anniversary today!! And her husband was sitting on the other side of the odd pair! It was remarked that we were passing through Champagne, IL at the time. Not that there HAD to be any connection. But it IS only minutes up the road from that last extended stop.
But speaking of daliances, it is rumored aboard the motorcoach that a certain salvage dealer, Dick, may have some marital salvaging to do after his verbal sortee with the cute waitress at the second table at Basta's last night as he sat beside his wife of more than 50 years!!
And while we're on the subject of relationships, another anniversary couple is with us, Ranleigh and Julie Anderson, married 48 years today. Another occasion of note was overlooked in my report yesterday. The royalty among us, Mr. Jack Phillips of England, celebrated his 94th birthday and we crowned him king for the day with a REAL crown from Burger King!!


An amazingly astounding adventure occurred at the museum this morning. There were such realistic wax figures of Lincoln and others of his time you could almost imagine they were actually breathing!

Wait! Who are those two kids on the ends? That looks like... No. Could it be??!!? I thought it was just his 94th birthday yesterday not 194!!














3:33 pm (actually 4:33 because we're in the Eastern time zone now): RS Waynetown, IN. Beautiful clear blue above us. Deep green all around us and beneath our feet and 72 degrees.
4:45 pm: Again underway with another round of snacks.
Pastor Wayne (no known connection to that RS) taking note of the blogger's silliness with her stuffed coyote neck rest piped up saying that I'd been on the "____" too long. We ALL loudly reported him to Cindy the cop who came with the Tootsie Roll to collect his fine. As she passed Shirley Braaten, who also made confession, the cop HERSELF remarked that Shirley was the most honest person on the "___". Her hand flew to cover her wicked mouth as all within earshot pointed condemning fingers in her direction. She beat a hasty retreat to her seat toward the front as her face turned crimson with shame that she too should be discovered a sinner!! A vicious chant of "Cindy, Cindy!!!" mushroomed throughout the coach.
6 pm: We're on the interstate now so we're really truckin', so to speak, that is.
A few long tubular clouds are scattered on the whole circle of the horizon. Just about an hour to tonight's hotel. And we just voted to try for Cracker Barrel for dinner. For the morning we'll be only a short jaunt from our main destination, the new creation museum. And tomorrow is "museum day" all day long!!
7:15 pm: Arrive Cracker Barrel in Harrison, OH where we celebrated today's two anniversaries and yesterday's birthday with free desserts for the celebrities.
We enjoyed browsing the vintage items at the gift shop before and after dinner. The crew of servers joined all of us at Jack's table and sang for him as he teared up with joy at the special attention. As we made our way back to the coach we held an impromptu photo shoot on the restaurant porch as a whole line of dinos rocked the night away...in the country style rocking chairs on display. Jack's knees, as he sat in his chair, played host to a variety of young women leaving the restaurant, one of whom shared his birth date. A few of the less inhibited guys in our group also tried out his lap for the pictures.
9 pm: Depart Harrison for Hebron, KY and our home for the next two nights, Comfort Suites.
A rousing sing along erupted aboard the coach, gradually melting into a series of sweet hymns before fading into the darkness. Off to our rooms. See you in the morning.

Creation tour trip - Day one

6 am: Rolls, donuts and coffee at First Baptist in Baxter.
After getting oriented and loading our baggage we headed out at 6:40 under a clear sky, fog and 39 degrees. Our long awaited trip was underway. Day one is now behind us. What kind of a road trip would it be without "technical difficulties"? Before I tell you of our day's adventures I must apologize that there are no pictures tonight. Our two resident techies hope to fix that for tomorrow and you can see some of what we saw today, then. That was the second glitch of the day.
The first was the failure of the blower motor which caused us to need a replacement bus before breakfast!!! We began waiting in Monticello for the new bus from Glenwood. Forty-five minutes later we decided to return to Clearwater instead and were treated to a delightful truck stop complete with gift shop, bookstore, bakery and restaurant. We transfered everything and continued on our way in the new bus.
Now that is the last time I will use that forbidden word, "bus". Don, our director exceptionale, strictly cautioned us in orientation that we were only to refer to our transportation as a motorcoach or coach. NOT a bus!!! Anyone who used that word from then on was "penalized" by paying 25 cents into a large Tootsie Roll tube bank. The good news is that the fines collected will be given to Aaron and Mandy Braaten, our missionaries in Israel. So no more mention of the "b-word"!!!
10:32 am: Depart Clearwater under scattered high clouds and 52 degrees.
11:32 - 11:45 am: Rest Stop (RS) and take on an additional passenger at Plymouth Fourth Baptist continuing under partly cloudy skies and 55 degrees we were dubbed "dinosaurs" by our devoted driver, Jim. We must indeed be southbound. It's getting warmer each stop.
'Ere the sun reached its zenith the formerly mostly paired off couples were becoming thoroughly intermingled. The quiet murmur with which the morning began had grown to just under a low roar by midday. The Tootsie Roll jingled with the weight of many quarters. "Sins" could be remitted at the bargain price of five for a dollar if paid in advance. Having slept off the early morning fog in our brains as well as out the windows, everyone was busy with crafts, reading, music, movies and games mingled with lively conversations touching on thousands of topics.
1:45 -2 pm: Grab-n-go with a quick fast food lunch from Lake Mills, IA in our laps. It MUST be Iowa. All we see for miles around are windmills, corn and FLAT.
3 pm: We were treated to a movie biography of Billy Sunday, the famous evangelist of a century ago.
3:58 - 4:12 pm: RS and a fast snack (Wendy's, Subway or McD's) in Waterloo, IA with partly cloudy skies and 66 degrees.
5:54 pm: RS at a very interesting rest area in Wilton, IA. Historical markers told of the journeys on the underground railroad. The floor featured an inlaid map of the 15 stops in the area. Quilt patterns on the walls and in the floor hinted at secret signals and instructions for escaping slaves to follow to safety. Quilts were hung in a seemingly ordinary fashion "to dry" secretly sending the messages to initiated observers.
6:08 pm: Depart for Peoria, IL. Next stop our special Italian dinner at Basta's and the night's lodging at Holiday Inn Express.
As the sun neared the western horizon a fight nearly broke out over language and interpretation of words. Cindy, keeper of the "penalty box", jumped to her feet cheering, "Fight, fight!!!". With clouds left over from Ike growing thicker peace settled over the dinosaurs as we rumbled across the low bluffs down to the river (Mississippi) by the Quad Cities. Coming through the bottomlands we were saddened to see acres of trees and tree farms under leaden skies still drowning from the spring floods.
7:15 pm: As the sun dipped below the horizon it gave us a final many fingered wave across the bottom of the cloud bank silhouetting the farms and trees in its last hurrah. We trust a red sky at night will hold true to its promise of delight on the morrow.
9:45 pm: Delicious dinner over and checked into our rooms we will see you in the morning. Nitey nite!!

Pre-trip announcement

Hi! This is Char. We are going to be going on the creation tour September 15 -19 with others from First Baptist Church in Baxter MN. We will be posting pictures and dialog at the end of each day to tell you what we did that day. You will be able to follow with us even though you can't actually join us. We hope you enjoy the "trip".