Final Email - Journey Home
I know it seems I would never get this last email out. We finally got our internet yesterday and have a little bit of breathing room.
This week has really been a whirlwind for us. Just last Sunday we were biding farewell to our Newcastle family and heading home. Nothing seemed like we were “leaving our mission” until we got past Rapid City, SD. The scenery and such were just places we had visited before. We made it to Sioux Falls SD the first night. Along the way, we had intended to check out the Badlands in SD but didn’t realize there was a fee. So we only got to see what was near the road. The Badlands looked cool, but nothing compared to the Black Hills.
Even though we were driving separate cars, it was easy enough to talk to each other if we got lonely. Sometimes, we would just drive and chat. We didn’t get into Sioux Falls until about 8 pm. We were grateful there was a Texas Roadhouse just across the parking lot, so we ordered up some grub and relaxed. There was actually an Eagles concert on a PBS channel on the TV that night. It was a really awesome concert; brought back some memories over the years, as we listened and sang along.
Monday, was day 2 of the journey home. We left our hotel about 10:30 and headed to Iowa (our next stop). That is where I started feeling a bit of humidity; it wasn’t much but could feel it. Iowa was so beautiful. The route we took was not a major one and had corn field after corn field on both sides. It’s a flat place, so we could see for miles. It was like putting green cornfields with Wyoming. It was a nice stress free drive. In a town call Holstein, we saw what they call “the Avenue of Flags.” It was so amazing. There were hundreds of flags lining this road. Another interesting thing in that town was all the names of the roads were German. Pretty cool.
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| Captain Floyd Monument in Sioux City |
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| The next 4 pictures of Avenue of Flags, Holstein Iowa |
There were two others interesting stops that day. One was Chick-fil-A. It’s one of Walt’s favorite places to eat and there is only one city in our mission that had one, and it was nearly 7 hours from Billings. Sioux City had one - in the parking lot of the mall. There were signs directing customers to a tent with attendants taking orders and then showing you where to park. Then someone would come from the restaurant (which was in the mall) and deliver your order. They were just as busy as ever. The other was the Hard Rock Cafe. When I saw the sign about which exit, I knew we would be stopping there. Walt has a nice collection of Hard Rock Cafe t-shirts. I was right on the money. This one had a casino with it. We definitely did not want to walk through - it was smelly and smokey (although there was a sign posted that said - No Smoking). So we had to walk around the entire building and it was pretty hot outside. He was able to find a nice one and it was half price. That was pretty nice.
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| Parking lot Chick-Fil-A |
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| Getting Walt's T-shirt at Hard Rock Cafe |
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| World's Largest Popcorn ball - Sac City Iowa |
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| An old time village at the World's Largest Popcorn ball |
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| Hay is everywhere |
We stopped in Waterloo, Iowa for dinner. There was an Olive Garden there and a much needed time to stop. We wouldn’t be getting to our hotel in Davenport, Iowa till late. We still aren’t big on eating in restaurants, so we ordered Curb side service on the phone and then sat on a curb at an empty store across the street in the shade. I guess you could say we had “Curbside dining.” We know we’re on the strange side, it’s ok with us. The last two hours of driving seemed to last forever. I know you folks from Wyoming and Montana think what a driving sissy I am. Walt wasn’t able to get onto the internet and so we weren’t able to get our weekly email out that day.
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| My traveling companion. |
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| Curbside Dining |
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| Love seeing so much of the road ahead |
Tuesday Morning - Day 3 of the journey. After breakfast, we decided to stay and get our weekly email out before starting our drive for the day. Walt worked on repacking the car; which seem to get out of control already. It was really hot that day, and he needed a second shower by the time he was finished. We got out of there about 11 am. It was an intense day of driving. We passed through some good sized places - Indianapolis, Indiana, Champagne Illinois and finally arriving in Dayton Ohio. We have not missed driving in that kind of traffic; driving in Wyoming and Montana is like heaven.
We only made two stops the whole day; especially since we got a late start. We both were just wanting to get the driving done and be at our next stop. With such intense driving, it took a bit of relaxing to be able to sleep. We just kept thinking, one more day and we will be home with our family. Today was the day it finally felt like we were really leaving our mission behind and the tears flowed. It was so hard to leave everyone and all the things we have come to love on our mission. I knew the emotions would catch up with me sooner or later. It’s just something I have to process and work through.
Wednesday - Final travel day!! This day of driving was a tad shorter than the rest - 6 1/2 hours instead of 7. Walt was the leader and I think the closer we got, the faster he drove. We took a more back route for the last third of the drive. I was so glad we did, it was a much calmer and prettier drive. I knew how beautiful our mission area was, but had forgotten how green and beautiful Pennsylvania is; especially in the summer. The area near us is rural and has amazing forested mountains. I realize there is the conflicting term of “mountains” between the west and the east. Our mountains are much older and not as tall, but breath taking all the same.
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| Awesome Welcome Home Sign. Going in for a group hug |
Abe, Anya and the kids had stayed in our house while we were gone, so they could remodel theirs to accommodate a family of 9 people. They moved out at the end of May, and then painted most of the interior and got things put back in place at our house. It looked really nice. It was a bit weird to be in our home again. We enjoyed a nice pizza dinner and catching up. One of the interesting things about all of this - was some lack of planning on my part. Before we left for our mission, I packed up some things to make room for their stuff and to keep things like my silverware and pots and pans around and nice. Not sure I worded that well, but think it was understood. We all know how children tend to throw away silverware when the clean off their plates. We also packed up our clothes and things like that and stored them in the basement. What I didn’t prepare for was remembering where we had put everything. It was 18 months ago, and I had no idea. Most of our stuff was segregated to one section of the basement, but it was a very large and stacked area. We luckily found the silverware the first night, it was right on an uncovered shelf, but the pots weren’t found for 2 more days. So the first night back was a little stressful.
The next day (Thursday) was our first grandchildren sleep over. Walt tried really hard to have them stay the first night, but I insisted we needed at least one night alone to unwind from the trip. Walt slept in and I got up early, but then went back to sleep. Love having no schedule - retirement life. That day was so hot and humid. Bless Walt’s heart; he emptied both vehicles in the heat, while I took care of putting things away - somewhat. I can’t believe how much stuff we have.
Beth, our middle daughter, and her daughter, Emma came over the next day to welcome us home. Emma was a little hesitant at first, but then I grabbed her up and gave her lots of hugs. She will be in second grade in the Fall. We visited a while; catching up on things, and then Emma said - “Mom, you can go home now.” She was anxiously waiting for her cousins to come over for a sleepover. The rest of the gang showed up about 4:30 with ice cream (requested by me). They were so excited to be all together. About 5 pm, I suggested we go ahead and have ice cream. The reply was “Before dinner?! Our parents would never let us do that!” Silly children, we are grandparents! So a before dinner ice cream party began.
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| Pre-dinner Ice Cream |
They all did just fine an hour later, with having spaghetti dinner. There were even requests for seconds. It is so different having a house with 8 grandchildren versus just Walt and I. We love it; especially since it isn’t 24/7. Walt had discovered some sparklers on top of the fridge, so once it was dark, we headed to the driveway to light them. Each child got to have about 10 sparklers a piece. What an exciting night. It was 10:30 pm before each child was tucked in and ready to sleep. They still enjoy having me read a bedtime story. We have LOTS!!
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| Real Dinner - Speghetti |
Friday morning, was pancakes. That is what they expect for breakfast at our house. They can go through some pancakes. I had to make 2 large batters.
It was another very hot day, and our grass looked rather brown, so we thought a water activity with the kids would work perfectly. The sprinkler was set up and then we also have a creek in our back yard. Between the two options, everyone was happy. Walt and I were happy sitting in the shady wood area near the creek to watch all the action. Ace (9 years old) decided he would “get granddaddy” by pouring water on him. I warned him that Grandaddy would win that battle. There was no deterring him. Once he got Walt, Walt chased him down the creek. A splashing battle began, and Ace was doing ok. Then Walt grabbed a plastic container and was drenching Ace. They were both laughing.
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| Walt chasing Ace down the creek |
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| Water battle |
Immediately after the cousins left, Emma was ready to go home as well. It’s just better with cousins. So we took Emma home, and headed to Costco to stock up. We had credit on our account from returning things in Billings. The drive out seemed rather long since Beth lives 30 minutes farther from Costco than we do. The trip home seemed like a piece of cake - only 45 minutes. Before our mission, that seemed like pretty far. Now it’s just around the corner. That’s barely longer than a one way trip to Gillette.
Saturday was Walt’s birthday. I think being home was the best gift ever. Two of the grandchildren came over and helped us while their parents did some chair shopping. We worked, but also played cards and ate pizza for lunch. That evening we went to Beth and Matt’s for a birthday dinner. They ordered Chipotle. It’s been 18 months since we’ve eaten there. Beth also made chocolate cupcakes from scratch! It was all so yummy! We tried not to stay too late, since we both had to prepare some thoughts to share on Zoom Sacrament Meeting in our ward the next day. We each had only 10 minutes to speak. It was really hard to put a 18 month mission into that short amount of time. I wrote down a list of all the people we worked with so we wouldn’t talk about the same stories. I figured Walt could have first dibs.
Sunday, we dressed for church and went over to Abe and Anya’s. We still didn’t have internet. The talks went well. The funny part was that Abe was asked to give the opening prayer. I thought I had unmuted it, but had not. The Bishop asked him to give it again - unmuted. Poor Abe. It is hard giving a talk on Zoom; especially when most of the people weren’t using the video. That’s just life right now. Our Stake will be starting up church about the beginning of August. Of course, with modifications. It’s been interesting to see how each ward does things a little different; especially since State regulations are different everywhere. We’ll have to wear masks, have the meeting in the cultural hall, and no singing. There can only be 25 people in the building at a time, so there will be several meetings through out that day. We also have a second ward that meets in our building, so church will just be every other week. It is what it is.
One thing I heard frequently on our mission is the importance of obedience. Obedience brings blessings. So even if the plans are not optimal, we follow the counsel our leaders provide.
After church, it was lunch time, nap time and catch up on journal time. For dinner, we went to Abe and Anya’s for another birthday dinner/celebration. It’s great to be so popular. This time dessert was cherry pie with vanilla ice cream. Another of Walt’s favorite. I don’t know how we will lose our “COVID 19: (lbs) at this rate. We had picked up Emma prior to the party, so she could have cousin time and spend the night. Beth’s husband Matt was off on Monday, so we thought it would be nice to let them have some time without a child. With us gone, and the COVID 19, there has been little of that for our children/grandchildren. This time, it was a girl sleepover - only 4 children. That went well and they stayed until 5 pm yesterday. Was yesterday only Monday!!!
We’ve been spending lots of time re-organizing, finding, and cleaning and have plenty more to do. That’s just what happens when you’re gone for 18 months. Can’t say we are getting bored between that and all the sleepovers. There is another total sleepover Wednesday and Thursday night; allowing Anya to travel with Abe (for his work). It’s so rough having so much grandchildren time.
Sadly, this is our last email. Our mission is complete and time to move on to regular life. Words can’t express the joys, miracles, love and eternal friendships we experienced on our mission. Newcastle WY is definitely where we were meant to serve. It’s so hard to process that is is finished. A friend of ours that served a mission in Kirbati said it this way.
“ Our lives are so uniquely changed that it’s almost impossible to put into words. It’s more than a memory, these incredible experiences forever become of part of us now.”
Thank so you so much for your love and support over the past 18 months. Friends in Newcastle and Billings - you have all changed our lives forever. Thank you for allowing us to be part of your journey to be closer to our Savior. That is what serving a mission is all about “Helping others to Come unto Christ.” Our current plans are to return for a visit next June. It won’t come soon enough. In the meantime, we’ll keep in touch. The journey will continue, just in a different way.
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