Our Unexpected Trip East

Now some of you are going to say what on earth do these pics have to do with the title of the post. Read on and you shall find out.

On Sunday the 11th of Nov. Helmut and I left Wpg. for Markham, ON, with a fully loaded mini van. This was a very impromptu trip having only decided at the end of the week that we would be going for sure. Sat. afternoon we had to make a trip to Portage 60 miles from home to pick up 14 mattresses that were stored there and that we wanted to take with us. When we returned home that evening Helmut packed the van with all the stuff to delover to Markham where a container was scheduled to be packed for Zambia on Thurs. the 15th. I got my ersonal packing done and a lot of other details so that we could leave Sun. after lunch.

Sorry I don't have any pics of how the van looked all loaded - stuffed full inside with 18 boxes of blankets and part of the 14 mattresses. The rest of the mattresses were tightly wrapped and tied to the top of the van.

A few miles along the way we had to stop to retie one corner of the load on top as the plastic was really flapping. Helmut's skills with ropes and knots really came in handy and after that one fix up the whole thing was secure for the whole trip.

Sun. night we stayed in a hotel in Thunder Bay, ON.

Mon. evening we arrived at our friends home outside of Little Current, ON about an hour south of Espanola, ON and that much off the straight path. We enjoyed a little visit with them, a place to stay and a little tour of their place to see the changes since the last time. Evert has been very busy helping their second daughter build a barn and arena for her riding stables.

By Tues. supper time we were with Val & Dennis ( the family in the top picture). Val is my niece. They live at the New Tribes Missions Training facility in Durham, ON. They are first year students with NTM. It was so enjoyable to visit with them and play with their daughters.

The oldest daughter in the middle is now about three & a half years. She said to me the first afternoon, "You look like Grandma." Her Grandma is my sister and we have some family resemblances as you might see from the picture of her and her husband with two other of their granddaughters.

By Wed. both of Val's girls were calling H & I Grandpa & Grandma. We happily accepted the title.

Wed. we took a three hour drive from Durham to Markham delivered our load and returned to Val & Dennis in time to take them our for Kentucky Fried. After the girls were in bed the big people had a game of Scrabble. You have to ask Dennis how it went.

Thurs. we went to classes with Dennis & Val in the morning and found how interesting their courses are and what all they are doing at NTM.

After lunch we started for home taking the routw through the states. There was a very long line up at customs in Sarnia, ON/Port Huron, Mich. but we finally passed through with out trouble and droave as far as Lansing, Mich. to stay for the night.

Fri. was a long day the rest of the way across Mic. around Chicago and Minneapolis and to Albany, MN where we spent the last night.

Sat. we were home by 2 pm. which was very nice.

Weather was cool but dry most of the way. We saw several deer in the fields but not on the roads and the other wild life was fairly scarce - a squirrel or bird once in a while.

In the middle picture you see U. Helmut reading a story to "Button" ( nick name used by the family). We had lots of fun with all the girls.

Thanks to Val EASTON & SARAH VAN ESSEN FOR THE picutes>