Wednesday, 10/20/21, rode the trike to Texas, ice cream at DQ, dinner at Chopping Block

Bill and I stopped at the cemetery Herb Shreve and his wife Shirley’s graves are.  Bill met both of them at a rally he went to in N.C. They started CMA. They are with Jesus!  The one guy at breakfast told us the cemetery was only a couple of miles away.

Bill when we got to Texas

Me in Texas

Bill 

Bill with his hot fudge sundae.  My banana split 

Lunch at the Chopping Block

CMA on Iron Mountain in Hatfield Arkansas 

Love this CMA saying 

Worship leaders tonight

Miss Becky singing some old hymns with them

Drive coming from the rally to our motels

Ziggy, Wayne, Lisa, me and Bill at the rally

Isaac, Vikki and Peyton at Dow Gardens

Slept in this morning.  No CMA service til 7 tonight.  We got ready, did our morning reading, then. started on our way to Texas.

We stopped in Hatfield for breakfast and invited two CMA guys to join us.  They were bold in sharing about their love for Jesus and all He has done for them.  I had an omelette that was the best one I’ve ever had.  It was in the mid 70’s and we rode on some beautiful hilly and curvy roads.  We got into Texas and went to Texarkana.  It was 80 degrees by then, so we stopped at a Dairy Queen and got ice cream.  Vikki face timed me, so I got to see Peyton Isaac.  They were having fun at Dow Gardens so only talked for a short time. We headed back a different way that was nice too.  When we got back to Mena, we stopped at The Chopping Block Steakhouse and had a late lunch.  Came back to our motel and relaxed for a couple of hours before heading to the starting service of Changing of the Colors Rally.  Such amazing worship.  An amazing older guy played his guitar and led us in some old hymns and a couple newer songs, finishing with Way Maker.  It was awesome!  We sat with Wayne and Lisa, our previous State Coordinators and Ziggy, our new State Coordinator.  Talked with Betty and Mel and Andrea.  Juan, one of the guys we ate with this morning came up to us and we talked with him for a while too. It’s always good to make good friends.  CMA is like one big family.  Texted with Adam.  Came back to the motel and caught up on Facebook and worked on the blog.  

Tuesday, 10/19/21, ate breakfast, went to leadership training, Royce grandsons got their cards and surprises

Eli and Vikki had so much fun at the canopy walk at Dow Center for the Arts

Isaac texted his mom on his watch and made us both so happy.   These are the two things we wanted to know.  Then later he let her know Peyton was having fun and doing great which was the other thing we wanted to know.  I sure am thankful Isaac is a Techy grandson!

Isaac at Hartley

Peyton at Hartley 

The Philippines got chartered in as members of CMA international last night.  Holly does an amazing job and has such a love for people that radiates from her.

Max with his card and gift card we sent him

Jack with his card

Evan with his card

Ziggy , Pat, Art, Jeff and Bill at Cruizers

The little restaurant we like is closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays, so we went to McDonald’s for breakfast. Al and Lucy came the too, so we sat next to their table.  It was funny because they ordered the same exact thing as we did having no idea what we ordered.  We went to the conference after that.  Holly Ogden shared about CMA chapters in many different countries.  She travels and meets with their area reps and takes a friend who is an interpreter with her.  God is doing amazing things.  Last night she had couples share who were here from Mexico, the Philippines, Paraguay and Canada.  They really touched our hearts with their testimonies and very evident love for the Lord!  We had chili, salad and grilled sandwiches for lunch.  Heard more about what CMA chapters in the US are doing which encouraged our hearts.  We got done at 3 and came back to our motel to relax.  Went back at 5 to eat dinner (yummy chicken and rice) with Ziggy, Jeff, Sue and Bubba.  After that Ziggy, Bill and I rode our motorcycles to Cruisers for ice cream.  Pat and Art from the U.P. and Jeff met us there.  We had banana fudge sundaes. YUM!  We came back to the motel and I talked to Melissa. The boys each talked to me and thanked me for their cards and surprises.  I talked to Vikki after that!  Texted with Adam!

Monday, 10/18/21, Happy Birthday Kimmy and Vikki! Called and the also got to FaceTime with my birthday twins. Had breakfast with Ziggy, who we later foun out is our new State Coordinator. Great leadership sessions all day, with lunch and dinner served in boxes again. Evening worship and service

Beautiful sunrise this morning, but 47 degrees out

Happy Birthday to Vikki and Kimmy!

Vikki took Melissa a mocha and they celebrated Vikki’s birthday together.  Jack wanted to visit with her too because he was missing her.

I

Peyton and Isaac ready for their trip to Hartley Nature Center today!

Jay, our National Evangelist sharing at the conference 

Ziggy took this selfie with us in the background.  They just announced today that he is our new State Coordinator! He will be great and will serve the Lord well.

Happy Birthday Kimmy and Vikki.   I love you both so much and I am so thankful to have such loving, kind and godly daughters!  God gave me the best! Delicious breakfast with Ziggy at the Skyline Cafe.  We had great teachings all day.  We also heard the amazing statistics of what the ministries supported by our Run for the Son fundraiser is doing for the Lord. So thankful we are part of this ministry.  We rode our motorcycle back to our hotel, and got a face time from Vikki and Kimmy.  We talked to them for a couple of minutes while we were riding in the campground, then face timed them back when we got to our hotel.  It made my day!  We shopped at the Goodies store and used our gift certificate we were blessed with.   Picked up our boxed dinners.  It was chicken fettuccini and Bill ate all of his and liked it.  I didn’t mention cheese.  We had a good worship and teaching service after that.  Face timed Vikki when we got back to our motel.

Sunday, 10/17/21, Left our motel at 9, Got to Mena, Arkansas at around 1, Went for motorcycle ride, Went to leadership conference for CMA

 

Cotton field we passed on our way to Mena

Got to the Mountain Top Resort and unloaded the Trike

Bill at Iron Mountain where our conference and rally will be. He called to see if our room at our hotel was ready and it was

Our peaceful beautiful room 

Bill in our little kitchen area

Our cute bathroom 

Bill eating our leftovers for lunch. Yummy chicken and yummy biscuits!  Had to use toilet paper for a napkin.  Will get paper towels and plates tomorrow.

Our view out our patio door 

We left our hotel at 9, after we had our delicious hot breakfast. I talked to Melissa a long time, and we prayed for Hailey’s safe trip home from Muskegon.  She went there to babysit her little cousins.  After that we listened to our church’s live service on my phone. It was such a great message.  We got to our hotel at around 1.  It felt like home because they treat us like family here and are so kind. That why we are staying at the same place as last year.  Check in isn’t til 3, but she told us she would have someone get our room cleaned right away.  We took the trike and went to Walmart, then rode through the CMA Campground on Iron Mountain.  The campground is full.  We came back, unloaded our stuff, ate our leftovers, then relaxed.  We went to the conference at 4.  We forgot they were going to feed us.  They had meals all boxed individually for people.  Great food.  The worship was just amazing and John Ogden Sr. gave a great message.  We had eight of us from Michigan there; not as many as last year.  We came back to our motel, relaxed and then went to bed.  I listened to Hailey’s favorite worship song right now that she sent me.  I love it too! It’s called Only Want to Sing by Hillsong Young and Free.  Texted  lots with Adam today.

  

Sat. 10/16/21, Ate breakfast at our hotel, Left at 8:15, went through Kentucky and into Tennessee, and then made it to Forest City, Arkansas.

Riding through Kentucky 

Jacob was a referee for Eli’s game!  Very cool!

Jacob with the other refs

Jacob sure is a great referee and a very handsome one

Jacob

Wow, Adam is a handsome referee too

Adam was a great referee too!

Our room ..this helps me remember for next year.  I look it up to see where we stayed

Crossing the Mississippi River 

Faith Riders Color Tour. Ron, Barb, Elaine, Don, Bill, Sabrina, Kevin, Vicki, Lou, Cindy, Dawn, Mike and Wes.  We couldn’t go because we are going to CMA changing of the colors rally

 I took my shower and got ready, then Bill got up and took his.  The shower was amazing.  I read my Bible while he got ready, then he came and sat by me and read his.  We watched the weather channel to check how it was going to be today. Supposed to be beautiful out.  We ate our hot free breakfast,  which was good.  He went out to hook up the trailer and I put stuff back into the cooler.  We went through the rest of Ohio, Kentucky and got into Tennessee. We stopped at a Cracker Barrel for a late lunch.  I talked to Kimmy and family on speaker phone.  Adams soccer game got cancelled because the field was too wet.  Adam was a referee for a game, and Jacob was a referee for Eli’s game.  Kimmy took some nice pictures for me. I texted lots with my Adam.  Sent pictures of the Mississippi River when we crossed it.  Peyton and Isaac loved seeing it, and so did Melissa’s boys. Melissa said Evan is studying about how La Salle was the first to travel the Mississippi River all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico.  I just sent it to Adam and forgot to send it to Kimmy to show the other boys.  Adam texted me that he wanted to come with us because he was outside all day in the cold and wind.  He wanted to come here where it was 70 degrees.  Bill drove until we got to Forest City Arkansas, then we stopped there and stayed at at Holiday Inn Express.  No upgrade tonight, but it was a very nice room.