Sunday, June 26, 2011

Sunday, June26^th.
After breakfast, we had time to walk on a bike and hike trail near Zion Lutheran Church before Bible class would start. This is in town between the church and a shopping center. We carefully parked the car so our license plate would not show and especially our bumper sticker that says, “Saving a place for you at St. Mark Lutheran Church” with the Conroe address and phone number. We didn’t want anyone from Pastor Borghardt’s church to spot the car and mention to him what they saw. Didn’t want to spoil our big surprise.
Saw some ducks in the stream that flowed next to the bike and hike trail, andsaw a muskrat. This was a very pleasant way to begin the day.

Upon entering the church foyer, as the early service was ending, we were shown where Bible class is held. Our dear friend, Amy was in the kitchen preparing the coffee. Since she was not aware of our trip, we were able to really surprise her when we said, “Good morning, Amy.” What fun to see her face light up as we gathered hugs. This was the first time we had seen each other since last October. Then we proceeded to the church to surprise our friend, Pastor Borghardt. The look on his face was priceless as his chin dropped; he couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw us. What joy we shared as more hugs were exchanged. We truly enjoyed being in his Bible class.

After church we shared lunch with Amy and the children. Pastor Borghardt had other obligations that kept him from lunching with us. After lunch, Amy gave us a tour of their church before we were able to visit with Pastor Borghardt before he went to play baseball with his church team. It was in another town so we spent more time with Amy and the children and had ice cream at their favorite ice cream parlor. It was a wonderful afternoon of visiting.

                                                  David won the chess game, but said George was a good opponent.

Then David and I took advantage of the fact that Wisconsin is only about 20 minutes away and Lake Michigan was about an hour away. We went to Wisconsin first for a short visit before returning to Illinois and heading for the lake. Just wanted to take a few photos. This was a wonderful, memorable day filled with laughter, hugs and fun. We were blessed with the best weather.

                              This was in Wisconsin. Never saw a sign stating when we went from Illinois to Wisconsin.

There was a very nice resort here, but there also was public access to the beach. Funny thing about where we parked…when we got back to our car we were parked next to a car, with Illinois plates, but it was purchased at Joe Meyer Ford in Houston. What are the chances of that happening?  The reason the beach was so empty even though it was a beautiful day is that the park was going to close in about 1 1/2 hours so most visitors had already left. It is actually later than it looks.

Went back to the motel . Spent the evening doing laundry and preparing for the return trip home through Iowa and  Missouri as we visit more relatives.