Home Again, Home Again . . .

When I woke up at the hotel this morning the parking lot was full of these contraptions. Seems the local railroad is just a spur line of the Rock Island that goes solely to Centerville, and the locals get permission when the line is not in use to take their privately owned rail cars up and down the tracks.

No, I said that right. These folks have their own private rail cars to zip up and down the tracks, which must be some sight to see. There must have been twenty of them at the hotel, all heading south of town to get put on the tracks.

(And I thought fishing was weird . . . )


Left Centerville after breakfast with cousin Kelli again this morning. That’s a habit I could learn to get into. Kelli and I are so alike personality-wise that it’s really fun to sit and chat with someone who seems to agree with you so much on a personal level. I think Ariane (my wife), my cousin Nancy in Indiana, and Kelli would all get along great. We’ll have to arrange a meeting in the near future. A year is probably too long, but the most likely option.

Next year we’ll drive up for a week of recreating and sunbathing on the shores of Lake Rathbun; visit the local cemeteries and Library, and get re-acquainted with the family I just found. (And here's Lake Rathbun from the air as I flew over it this morning at lower right).

Ariane had better watch out, or she might find herself falling in love with Centerville. They’ve got a Dialysis Clinic and everything; and I understand they’re having trouble keeping a Director for any length of time.

Hmmm . . . jobs and everything.

Well, we’ve been saying for years that some day we’d rent an RV and go somewhere. 2008 may be that year.


Just a note for Julian’s benefit; I even found a Murphy USA gas station to fill up the rental Toyota (which was ‘waaaaaaay too small for my six-foot frame) on the way back to the airport. The “Tour of America’s Finest Wal-Marts" ™ continues!






I don’t know who designed the Des Moines airport, but it’s certainly not like other airports. For one thing, they’ve eschewed the usual stairs-and escalators thing for long sloping ramps, which is a literal pain in the calves! Add to this the very, very long way to walk to get anywhere and you have a full-fledged aerobic workout for the tired traveler.

Plus the first thing you notice when deplaning is the wet spots in the carpet where the roof leaks when it rains. That’s always a nice touch.

Add to that the early 1980’s “Star Trek Next Generation” décor, and you have a very dated, dilapidated, tiring layout.



Managed to catch the first available flight to Dallas, and the view was tremendous; so much so, I made a video of it:



Lots of pretty, fluffy clouds and deep purple shadows for contrast. Too beautiful, really; God's gift to soothe the savaged soul.

Or maybe just bad weather for Oklahoma. Depends on your perspective, I guess.


Got back about 3:30 pm, just in time to make church tonight and drop Julian off for his Study Group. It's a pretty weird Study Group; he does Physics all afternoon, then they practice what they've learned by going roller skating. Somehow, I don't think that would have qualified as Lab Time when I went to school . . .

So now I'm doing laundry and getting ready for work in the morning. Good Stuff. No Place Like Home, Don'tcha know!

~~JD~~