How to keep occupied while visiting the US--Part 1 Traveling

I always wonder what I'll do when I spend my time in the US. . .

And I always find plenty to do.

Having two young grandsons helps.  If the truth be told, as much as I love visiting other family, my friends, and our supporters, these two guys are the real reason I still come to Omaha twice a year.

I started this trip with a quick visit to my brother and sister in Chicago.  I discovered, that if I book a three part ticket, I can go add Chicago to my itinerary for only about $40 more than a straight round trip to Omaha.  It had been more than a year and a half since I saw Cathy and Jim, so this stop was well worth it.


I arrived in Omaha Sept. 15, and am once again being hosted by Bo and Gail Higgs.  They open their extra bedroom to me every time I come back, and it is such a blessing to have a "home away from home."  I've been so busy, so far, that I haven't seen much of them.  We did manage to go to dinner one night, though.

Since Dick Rutgers was in the States during my time in Omaha, he decided to come and see some mutual friends who he has met through teams which have come to Guatemala, and meet my family.  We've been on the go much of the time he has been here, including a trip to Iowa to see his Aunt Hermina.  Finding her proved a bit of a challenge, but, through one of our "God-incidents" we connected with Dick's second cousin, Cathie Tien, and were able to visit her in a retirement home in Sheldon.

She is such sweet 94 year old lady.  When Dick told her that she was always his favorite aunt, she replied, "I'll try to live up to that."

I also got to visit the Hope Haven International headquarters, Sioux Falls, SD on our way back. I get to work with Hope Haven at their wheelchair distributions when I'm not teaching, but had never been to their headquarters.  I got to meet Nicole, their ministry director, and spent time visiting with her and Michael Richard, while Dick and Mark and Matt Richard, were messing around with putting a Hope Haven seating system on a power chair base.

A couple days after we got back to Omaha, we headed out again, this time traveling south to meet Scott and Linda Hardee, good friends and supporters of the ministry.  They drove up from Kansas City where they live to meet us half way for lunch.  Though the visit was much too short, it was good to see them, hear their voices, and catch up a little.  The best part of the day was discovering that they will be coming back to Guatemala for a few months this coming winter.

I enjoyed traveling (if you'd like me to come see you and/or talk with your church or small group, let me know) on flat, good roads, so different from where we live in Guatemala.  I had fun doing a large part of the driving (Dick almost always drives in Guatemala), and even got used to being harped at by the GPS on Dick's phone--especially when I took a short cut the satellite didn't know about.

I think Dick didn't mind the traveling too much, either, though he had to suffer through so much of my driving.  He only asked "Are we there yet?" or "Where are the mountains?" about every half mile!