OK, so where were we? Right, we were on our way to Huntsville Alabama and the US Space and Rocket Museum. That was on Thursday, right? Sometimes all this fun really runs together!
So, the museum. Well, it was pretty good. The museum itself was quite interesting, and we enjoyed a free tour (and no small school children) during our time there. The Rocket Park (and outside area with many older rockets (the real rockets, not just representations) and a couple of ride-type attractions) was a little….well, seedy is probably the best word I can think of. The rockets needed to be painted, the mulch needed to be weeded and freshened up, stuff like that. There is a lot of construction going on, so maybe the park is next on the list, but we were definitely disappointed with that part of the museum. All in all – we’re glad we went, but probably won’t have to go again any time soon!

We pulled into our October project on Friday Morning. We’ll be serving at Shocco Springs Conference Center -located outside of Talladega (yes, home of the Talladega SuperSpeedway) and my, this is quite a place! It’s one of the largest facilities we’ve worked at, with everything from lovely modern meeting facilities to adventure camps complete with high ropes courses and paintball! We’re parked near the center of things – right across from the lake. Here is a shot of where we are parked, and then taken from almost the same spot, our view of the little lake.

. The guys will be rehabbing (is that a word?) several of the hotel rooms and we ladies will be mostly working in the laundry or in the office. There are a total of 6 Sower couples here, quite a switch from our summer months. Seems like a fun bunch, so we’re looking forward to our time here!
And of course, in an effort to get a feel for the area we had to do some geocaching on Saturday. (Yes, we are quite addicted!). We did a total of 8 (and found all of them!), and four of those were in the same park in nearby Pell City. It was a beautiful day for a good walk (one of the benefits of geocaching), and as you can see by this photo it was a lovely park!

And as you can also see by the dock hanging out of the water in the middle of the photo that they are DESPERATE for some rain down here!
We didn’t actually spend that much time down by the water, but water shots are much more interesting than pictures of containers hidden in the middle of dry creek beds like this -

See what I mean?

A little miscellaneous….
Even though I post my pictures on Flickr (and really like the service) I was given a coupon to make a photo book on Shutterfly. It was fun to do – and here is the finished product if you’d like to take a peek. The real thing should arrive here in a week or so. I can’t wait!

Better get to bed – I’ve got all that towel folding ahead of me tomorrow!

Remember WEC in Ft. Washington, PA (hey, it was just last week!)? Well as many of you know I am very intrigued by old houses/estates and this one totally intrigued me. On our last day there I tracked down a brochure that detailed the property’s rich history plus a CD with some pictures of it in its heyday. And since I found it interesting – I thought you might also! Here goes – (a very condensed version)
Long before it was a beautiful summer estate, it was the location of Gen. George Washington’s encampment before he moved to Valley Forge. That’s when it became known as “Camp Hill”. This historic spot was chosen in 1882 as the site of the country estate of Susan Drexel (daughter of the founder of Drexel University) and her husband John Fell and was called Camp Hill Hall. After she died in 1929 it was sold for a military academy. That failed and the estate remained vacant and was subject to vandals, tramps and souvenir hunters until 1951 when WEC and Christian Literature Crusade put together an offer to purchase the property. They were then able to sell a portion to State of PA for the 309 Expressway which then paid off the mortgage. The story goes on – really miracle after miracle. Today it’s the beautiful headquarters for WEC and several buildings have been added for housing and meetings. Here are a couple of then and now shots.
Then:

Now:

Not the exact same angle – but you can see some of the differences.
Here’s a print from an article about the estate – the water tower and surrounding gardens:

And now….

OK, so that’s all for that history lesson.

But still backing up – we did several geocaches on the way to Chattanooga and then we even did a couple with Chris. She lives very close to the Chattanooga National Cemetery and there were two “virtual” caches there. (A virtual cache is one where you need to gather information and log that in before you can actually log it in as “found”). Anyway this is a beautiful Civil War era cemetery, we were there just at dusk – and I couldn’t resist a couple of shots.

And then there was the Aquarium today – very very nice! There were virtually no crowds, so we were able to take our time and really enjoy the day. Great exhibits – here are a couple of shots, and there are more here. I know, I know. A lot of them are of butterflies, and they aren’t exactly found IN an aquarium, but they did have a cool butterfly garden. And they are much easier to take pictures of than fish and such!

These fish totally posed for us – plus we were able to (more or less) get in the photo too!

And here is one of those butterflies…..

And finally….(still backing up!)
We started on our trip to Chattanooga pre-dawn on Monday. As the sun was rising on our left I grabbed the camera and tried to snap a couple of quick shots. I never know what they are going to look like ( it’s hard to compose a shot when you’re traveling 65 mph down an interstate) – but I was pretty pleased with this one….

Oh just one more “backing-up” – we’re back in the Central Time Zone. Move those clocks back one hour!

We’re wrapping up our time here at the Final Fitzpatrick stop. Niece Christiana moved to Chattanooga in July, but only moved into her house less than a month ago. We had a great visit! Her little neighborhood had room for Lizzie, so we’ve been parked right in front. (It’s so nice when we can bring our bedroom when we come for a visit!) – We checked out a little Italian restaurant on the riverfront (excellent), did some sofa shopping for the new place (found a great deal on a sofa & loveseat – being delivered Friday), took care of a couple of “new house” chores (we love you Gaaarrry, oh yes we do-oo) and just generally had a good visit. Today we head to the Tennessee Aquarium (yes, we’re breaking out some of those Tourist Dollars) and then we’ll be heading on our way to Huntsville, AL (and the Air & Space Museum). Guess I’ll get this posted before we head out – and then I can update (and get some pictures up!) later tonight.

Off we go to support the Chattanooga economy!

Aren’t Sunday afternoon naps wonderful? We just enjoyed a classic Sunday dinner – Pot Roast, Mashed Potatoes with gravy, and fresh green beans. Yummmm. And now to the afternoon nap. Hopefully Mike & Robyn will get a nap in before 2 yr. old Molly wakes up. I’m out in Lizzie, so I have no such time constraints!

But before I succumb to the Sunday slumber, let me catch you up on a little of our “doings”:

Sunday and Monday – Fasting, Flushing and Finding.
Ok, so the fasting and flushing had to do with… ah..cough..mumble…my colonoscopy Monday morning. Everything went well and the Dr. found nothing, so I’m good to go (sorry) until 2014 at the earliest. Sounds good to me! But after the morning’s event, and after I had a wonderful fresh bagel from the Bagel Barrel in D-town (first food since Saturday night), we did a quick geocache right in the middle of town. It was our smallest ever – and it was a fun to do one right in town. So here is the real “finding” of the day…..

Tuesday and Wednesday – Cheesecake for 170.
This past week at WEC was their annual conference. That meant, for those of us working in the kitchen, that instead of the usual 100 folks that we were cooking one meal a day for , there were now about 170 folks for whom we were cooking lunch and dinner. It was certainly a “ramped up” week – but a real blessing to be even a small part of the spirit of the conference. We were working with a great couple in the kitchen, Shirley and Bob, who had volunteered to come in and do all the cooking so the kitchen manager could attend the conference meetings. The menu was very special, and yes, I did make cheesecake for 170 people. Nothing like working with 12 pounds of cream cheese at a time! The fellowship in the kitchen was wonderful – I must admit it’s one of my favorite places to serve (and sure beats lavatory detail any day!). It was a very special week and we were so glad to be there. As the participants worshipped our Awesome God – whether in Spanish or Korean or English or Portuguese or quietly in their hearts – and shared what the Lord was doing on a variety of mission fields all over the world, I was impressed with their unity and spirit. God is truly evident in this ministry.

Thursday and Friday – The Fitzpatrick Sweep begins
By Thursday the guys had pretty much run out of work to do (and it was too late to start a new project since it was our last day of work), so they worked on “getting ready to leave” chores. Naomi and I were still pretty busy in the main kitchen, so we left them to their own devices (and I was very pleasantly surprised to find Gary washing our kitchen floor when I got back!). We pulled out just a little after 1PM – and began our drive south. By next Friday (the 28th) we should be Talladega, Alabama getting settled at Shocco Springs Baptist Conference Center where we will be for our October project. BUT, on the way there we are enjoying several stops along the way to see family (all of whom belong to my sister Joie and her husband Fitz). In what has become our standard operation procedures, we stopped for geocaches at almost every rest stop we went by. (BTW – the rest stops along the PA Turnpike are some of the least attractive ones we’ve come across. Ugh.) After we tucked Lizzie in on a dead end street outside of Carlisle (where friends of J&F live) we headed over the mountain to Green Park. Yep, we even hunted down a cache on the top of the mountain at the Hawkwatch at Wagonners’s Gap. Here are a couple of pictures from that adventure! Here’s Gary at the top of the hawk watch-

This is the view looking north into Perry County-

And this is the view looking south into the Carlisle area. The day was hazy, but the views were amazing nonetheless!

Friday Joie & I headed out to “the Pike” to do some wedding shopping (their daughter Abby is getting married in November) and have some good old fashion girl time. While we were catching up, Gary got in 12 geocaches, several with my nephew-in-law Brian and two of his kids. He said he saw some gorgeous spots, but since he didn’t have the camera, it’s only a rumor. It was a good day for all involved! We left after a lovely breakfast on Saturday and headed south to Front Royal, VA.

Saturday and Sunday – Dr. Mike and family
After a couple more stops to find caches at rest stops along the way, we arrived at my nephew (J&F’s son) Mike & Robyn’s for two days in Front Royal, VA. Just in time for the Penn State/Michigan game. (I guess you know by now that the evening was a sad one for the Penn State fans in the house!) We’re parked in their drive right now and Robyn’s the cook of that delicious Sunday dinner. We’ve been enjoying a sweet kick-back visit – good food, good fellowship and it’s been fun to get re-acquainted with their 2 year old daughter Molly. This is our second visit here – and we’re always glad for the chance to come and sit a spell. (Plus we fit nicely into their driveway!) After our naps, we all went geocaching together. Molly was’t all that excited about the treasure hunt, and but she did enjoy the playground at our last stop (despite the fact I couldn’t get her to smile for the family portrait). However, the best smile of the day came when she climbed behind the wheel of Lizzie. Better watch out Mike & Robyn!

*************************************
OK, so it’s a little later in the day and the nap is just a distant memory. We pulled out from the Fitzpatrick drive and moved to a Walmart down Interstate 81 about 20 miles. We’ll get an early start tomorrow as we head to Chattanooga to visit our niece Chris Fitzpatrick who just moved there to start her new job at Covenant College. It’s over 500 miles, and there are geo’s to do along the way – so it could be a long day on the road.

Stay Tuned for the Fitzpatrick Sweep, Part II!

Dear friends, I am soooo behind in keeping this journal updated. I think it’s because we’re home and running ALL the time!
First of all – our SOWER work. I know I have said this before, but one of the joys of this ministry is that every project has it’s own flavor. We’ve been parked in tall grass behind 70 yr. old school buildings, we’ve been in official campgrounds at different retreat centers and we’ve been in the middle of a field plugged into the bath houses. But I must say, we’ve never been parked near (nor worked in) a castle. See what I mean?

This is the US sending base for WEC (Worldwide Evangelization for Christ) and we have been amazed at the international community here. Naomi & I have been working in the kitchen (they feed dinner to about 100 folks each night) and we have worked with folks from Brazil, Puerto Rico, South Korea and France. Right now there are candidates here from all over the world for 2 months of orientation – young and old, couples and families and singles. Next week about another 40 folks join them for their annual conference. And that should make for a Happenin’ Week! Oh, the guys? They have mostly been busy painting anything white on the outside of the castle. If you look closely on the bottom left picture you can see one of them up on a ladder. If it’s white, it’s on their list to paint!
And when we’re not working…..we’ve been RUNNING!
In the last two weeks I’ve managed to fit in -
Dentist (no cavities! )
Doctor
Hairdresser
Nat’s Pizza
Renewed Drivers License (I’m good until 2011)
Perkins with the quilting gang
HPI visit
Dinner with my b-day buddies
Time well spent with Janet & Joe
Dinner with Josiah’s In-laws (and Josiah & Abigail)
Getting a new phone
Card night with FBC friends
Working in the kitchen at FBC

And on deck….
another morning at HPI
dinner with the Sensing family
a morning out with Naomi
dinner with Ikoniaks and Gellers
getting the truck fixed (and keeping it fixed!)
an evening out with Abigail’s mom
and
a colonoscopy (ok, so it’s not all fun….)

So all and all it’s beena grand couple of weeks! We’re very blessed to be just a little part of the ministry here at WEC and we’ve treasured all the opportunities to connect with family and friends. And while ‘taking care of business” isn’t all that much fun, it does feel good to get so many things accomplished.

Yep, it’s been a Home Run!