Tag Archives: Travels

Family and Friends, On the Road, Pictures of the Adventure, The Adventure, The Cabin

Summer Plans

April 26, 2026 steph 1 Comment

The official start of Summer might still be weeks away, but in our little corner of the world, big plans are afoot! I’ve often said that in my ideal world we’d be someplace warm for the winter, but up in Vermont for the summer. We’ve figured out the “warm in the winter” part (well, it’s mostly warm here in Lindale in the winter), but the summer in Vermont presented a little more challenge. Since our cabin is a family property and used by three generations of Dwinells, it was not available for us to just hang out there all summer. (Though truth be told, we’d be more than happy to do that!) So we signed up for May (when there’s not such a demand since most of the kids are in school) which gives us the honor of opening up the cabin. Gary gets the water system up and running, while I’m inside tackling the dead fly bodies, cobwebs, and any other surprises that be waiting for us! We truly love The Cabin in May, when the trees are just beginning to wake up, and the beautiful ‘bones’ of our landscape are visible! Our niece, Christiana, who lives nearby in Bradford, was up last week (it’s always good to make sure the road is passable and things are generally in good shape!) and she sent along this picture –

I am so ready to be there!!

So that takes care of most of May. We head to Ohio over Memorial Day weekend to watch granddaughter #3 graduate from high school and spend a week or so with our Columbus (area) crew! Looking forward to lots of beautiful family chaos there!
In June, we’ll be back in Vermont, staying at our niece’s house in Bradford while she enjoys some vacation time. We’re calling it ‘housesitting’ – but it’s such a blessing for us to be able to stay there. A huge perk of June is that my sister and hubby will be at The Cabin for a couple of weeks during that time! Pretty sure we’ll be able to get in some good sister time!

July was presenting a bit of a challenge, but we put a little ad in the local whatever (you know – Responsible 70-something couple looking for short-term rental…willing to do renovations, etc.) and that did give us a couple of options. But it was actually the time-tested “friend of a friend” connection that found us this sweet three-bedroom cottage to rent for July and part of August. And the location is excellent – less than 10 miles from The Cabin!
Bonus for being in the area in July is that both of our Ohio families will be at The Cabin during the month. So we can spend time with them, but not crowd them. (Plus, we get to go home to a flush toilet. Just sayin’!)

We’re pretty excited about these Summer Plans! We’ll be stopping to see friends and family in the coming and going travels, so let me know if you want us to try and stop by! We are very thankful that these plans have come together so very nicely, and we will once again avoid a Texas Summer. (I’m sure it will happen sooner or later, but not this summer!) We leave TOMORROW!! Today is worship, lunch with friends, final loads of wash, and wrapping up the packing. Leaving your home for four months in the Texas heat requires many boxes to be checked. And really lovely neighbors!

Which brings me to my final point. You know I’m excited about spending the summer in Vermont. All of the above plans are answers to prayer. But our little Texas neighborhood has certainly found its way into my heart, and I will miss the dear folks we have come to love here. Truthfully, we will miss our little nest and the community around it.

I’ll try to keep up the blogging (sporadic though it may be) throughout the summer. But I’m also bringing my sewing machine, so we’ll see how it all works out!

I think the dryer just beeped – better get back to it!

As always – thanks for stopping by –

Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand. Proverbs 19:21

On the Road, Pictures of the Adventure, The Adventure

Filling in the hole

September 11, 2025 steph Leave a comment

During our 20 years traveling this continent, we’ve spent the night in 48 states and eight Canadian providences/territories. It’s been amazing. Really AMAZING! But one state we never even stepped our toe into was North Dakota. As we headed west on Our Sofa Surfing Summer trip it seemed like the perfect opportunity to rectify that oversight!

I knew we weren’t going to get to see the whole state (and I’m fully aware that there is some fabulous stuff over on the west side), but we were able to experience some of the eastern North Dakota treasures!
Like Fargo –

We did a walk-about of the downtown

and loved the quirky quaintness of it!

The next day we ventured a further west,

with our sights on Bismarck, the state capitol.

It’s a little late in our travels to start trying to get to each state capital, but I’m glad we stopped at this one! Instead of the more familiar (to us anyway!) dome style, this was built in 1931 in an Art Deco tower style. There was lots of symbolism in the interior of the building

and a pretty great view from the top floor, too!

I’ll be honest here – at this point of our Sofa Surfing Summer travels, we were both running out of tourist gas. So although we knew there was LOTS more to see in North Dakota, we settled for a capitol tour, a great lunch and a quick drive through town before we turned our truck south. Some final impressions of North Dakota?
The Great Plains are expansive!

There are oceans of sunflowers (ND is a leading producer of sunflowers!).

And when you least expect it, the field is populated with bison instead of cattle!

North Dakota – we didn’t do you justice, but at least we can say we’ve been there!
Just one state to go, and quite honestly, I’m not sure Hawaii is on the docket anytime soon.
But now to find that North Dakota sticker…

Thanks for coming along!

Family and Friends, Mondays are for Memories, The Adventure

Mondays are for Memories

August 7, 2023 steph Leave a comment

As I was thinking about doing a Mondays are for Memories post for today, I thought I would look back to the last time we stopped by here at High Braes – September 2010. It was just a quick overnight, and I documented it in a blog post called (wait for it) – Catchin’ Up. So apparently, I’ve been backlogged for a Very Long Time!
But anywho – here we go!
Catchin’ Up – September 2010

There is soooo much catching up I need to do. Bookkeeping, thank-you notes, journaling, blogging, bank statements, emails…..the list is long. Too long. But this post is about some catching up we were able to do as we traveled from Ontario to Ohio to meet that new grandson. Each night on the road we stopped and were able to catch up with old friends.
Monday night we stopped at a SOWER project in upstate NY –

and had a lovely evening catching up with the folks we worked with on our very first project six years ago. We’ve seen them a couple of times over the years, but not recently. It was great to enjoy a cup of coffee and some very good brownies with them and catch-up.
Tuesday morning we traveled to North Chili, NY (near Rochester) for a lovely afternoon and evening with SOWER friends, Dave and Edie. We worked with them on our third project, have seen them a couple of times since then and were delighted to be able to spend some time with them.

(That’s the Erie Canal they’re standing by. Did you know the Erie Canal is still a viable (363 mile) waterway that stretches from Albany, NY to Buffalo, NY? We were touring an historic canal barge – very cool!).
Wednesday we headed into Pennsylvania. Even though PA is where I grew up and raised my family, we were heading into totally new territory for us. My best friend from high school lives just outside of Mansfield, PA and since we hadn’t seen each other in 30+ years, it seemed like a perfect opportunity to make a little detour to catch up with her! We’d lost touch over the years and only recently “found” each other through the miracle of the internet (and a sweet mutual friend who had an old “where are they now” class list!).

Not only was Gail my best buddy in high school, she was also one of the two attendants in my wedding.

(This was a good summer for reconnecting with the wedding party for me. Back in July we spent a night at Deb’s house – remember?)

Thursday morning we left Gail’s (with great hopes for staying in touch) and continued on to catch up with another SOWER couple that we had worked with a couple of times.
They were also on that third project back in 2005 –
(that was our first “big” project – and it was lots of fun. Earlier this summer we had stopped to see another SOWER that we had met at that project, so you can tell it was a very special month!) We’re delighted to be working with them again this winter in Florida. Such a blessing it is to be part of the SOWER family!

By Friday morning we were heading to Ohio – and those grandbabies!!!!!!!

And although little Noah was (given the newness of his status – oh, and the fact he is a he) the star of the show –

we certainly had lots of fun with the girls (who actually knew we were there!).

And as startling as this may be, there are a bazillion other pictures of ALL the Conrads HERE if you’d like a peek!

Fair warning, there’s a lot of cuteness going on there!

So now it’s on to the rest of the catch-up. I think I’d better start with those thank-you notes! Or maybe the bank statement. Or maybe that new book……

On the Road, Pictures of the Adventure, RV Life

R&R at Rend Lake

September 1, 2020 steph 1 Comment

September. Really? Where did the rest of the summer go? The last couple of weeks have been filled with family and friends and fun, and I’m going to do my best to catch you up on some of them (maybe even do a post a day for a while – whaddya think?). But for now, a little real-time update.

Today was a travel day. We left in the morning fog

and, (after a 60 mile (truck only) detour to retrieve Gary’s phone that had been left behind at Lara’s) we set our sights on points west and south. Although our next family stop will be in Lorena, TX, we decided to do a little bit of R&R camping on the way south. Destination for today was Gun Creek Campground on Rend Lake in Illinois. The spot was chosen because of it’s proximity to I57 (just south of Effingham, IL),about 400 miles into the trip and also the price – $13/night (full hook-ups) with our senior pass. Sometimes it really pays to be old!
Our drive was mostly uneventful – though it seemed like there was an inordinate amount of construction along the way

and way too many trucks on the road. But then again, I’m happy to see that America is still moving across the country!
The day ended with a bit of rain

but was clearing out as we settled into our spot for the next couple of days.

The lake is just through those trees at the end of the road. We’ll be exploring tomorrow for sure!
I am so thankful our safe travels today (something I never take for granted) and for this guy-

who once again got us to where we needed to be! Even with ALL those trucks!

Family and Friends, Pictures of the Adventure, RV Life, SOWER Projects, SOWER Projects 2018, The Adventure, The Cabin

Bullet Points

October 1, 2018 steph 7 Comments

Hello October!!!! We’re in a new month and at a new location, so it seems like a good idea to get this little corner of the internet caught up and back on track! Perhaps the most efficient way to accomplish that is do do it in ‘bullet points’, so here goes:

- - Too much time has passed to really go in depth about our time at our Vermont Cabin, but let me tell you once again, how critical those three weeks are to our mental health.
    
    If you’d like to see more photos from our Vermont vacation, you can check them out HERE.
  - Spending the day in Waco with our son and family (especially little Anderson who we hadn’t seen since he was 10 weeks old) did our hearts good!
  - Getting together with fellow SOWERS at the “Western Wound-up” (i.e. SOWER Rally in Oregon) was SO. MUCH.FUN.Â It was lovely to not be in charge of anything, and just enjoy all of the fellowship and fun.Â We don’t often get to work on the West Coast, so this was a wonderful opportunity to meet new friends and connect with others that we did know!Â From Silly
    
    to Serious
    
    it was a wonderful time!Â More pictures of the sweet craziness HERE!
  - We meet this super talented double neck guitar player, Mark Kroos, and his sweet wife at the Rally, where he wowed us with his guitar playing.
    
    We were so impressed with Mark’s incredible talent, that we wanted to spread the word about him!
    
    Check him out!
  - After the Rally we were back in Lindale, TX getting ready for the Trustee Meeting. I even got the dashboard sorta-kinda decorated for fall! Sometimes it’s the little things…..
  - So the Board meeting.
    
    All went very well, and when all was said and done, this happened –
    
    Should be an interesting (and hopefully productive) year!
  - With the Trustee meeting in our taillights, we were headed to our October/November SOWER project at Oakridge Ministries In Anadarko, OK. (See the “Where are we now” for more details!) We made it a two day trip so we could connect with some SOWER buddies that we don’t get to see often enough!
    
    Such a wonderful perk of our life on the road is making these (somewhat) random connections!
  - And that brings us up to date! We arrived here at Oakridge on Friday, and started work today!
  - Oh, before I forget – Happy 5th Birthday to this little cutie!
    These kids need to slow down in the growing up department!
  Thanks for hanging out with me as I’ve brought you up to date. Maybe, just maybe, it won’t be so quiet over here in this new month! I wonder what exactly “Back on Track” will look like?