Cleveland

Our whirlwind trip to Cleveland is over--we're back and trying to adjust to Mountain Time. Tony & I took Helen and Maggie to Cedar Point. If we'd known that all they wanted to do was the arcade, we would have taken them to Chuck E Cheese!! But we did get to ride some of the rides--just not the big, fast, scary ones. On the way out we SCORED!! There was a table set up by the gate, and you could buy a bag (about 2 feet tall) and fill it with anything you wanted from the table for $10. We split the cost--got hats, jewelry, toys, bags, candy, etc, etc. For $10. We think they were just clearing out the warehouse, making room for next year's merchandise. But--we probably had well over $400 (at least from the price tags) worth of Cedar Point merchandise.
We got to spend quite a bit of time with Tony's parents. His dad looks like he's 93 (he is), and doesn't look like he can last much longer. Color is pasty white, skin and bones, hardly eating or drinking enough to stay alive. But he was really good while we were there--we took his favorite jelly donuts from Fragapane's bakery, Tony's sister made homemade pizza, and Tony's dad ate more than he'd eaten in the last week! It was good to be able to visit them.
On Monday, Tony & I drove down to Amish country--my favorite part of Ohio. We just wandered the backroads--stopped at little home produce stands and bakeries, soaked in the peaceful, beautiful rolling hills, marveled at the beautiful farms tilled and worked without modern equipment, and waved at the people driving by in buggies. It was wash day at every home--dresses and shirts on the lines everywhere! And all done without electricity. I bought enough produce to last weeks--but how do you take a watermelon in a carry-on bag?? We left almost everything with family. But found some powdered vanilla--has anyone ever used it, and how do you measure it compared with liquid? Sure made my bag smell great--maybe that's why TSA inspected my bag.
In Chicago, we got the Southwest Airlines announcement that our flight was over-booked. I was almost to the podium before the announcement ended. We got to stay a few extra hours in Chicago in exchange for credit for our return flights plus $100 each. So we have over $400 in credit--what a blessing that may prove to be soon. In exchange, instead of a non-stop flight to SLC, we got to stop in Kansas City and Denver before getting to SLC. Well worth it. But I am blaming the flight (or maybe someone at Cedar Point) for the fever and sore throat I have now that's keeping me from church, visiting teaching, and our youth fireside tonight. Don't want to spread it.