THE GOOD AND THE BAD

Yes, you read that correctly.  Our second day in Lancaster started out good and went downhill from there.  Joe was up at 5:00 a.m. but I hadn't fallen asleep until 2:00 a.m. so I was not ready to get up and go.  So he waited until I got up at 8:00 a.m.  We got ready and went to the last seating at breakfast.  The breakfast buffet comes with the room.  We were a little apprehensive about how Joe was going to do, but it wasn't bad at all.  I guess because it wasn't crowded and there weren't people crowding up against his bad side.

After we ate he sat on a bench while I ran through the gift shops buying a few things (even got a Christmas gift).  There was so much I would have liked to buy, but I kept it around $20.  Yay for me!  I didn't even look in my favorite store -- the boutique.

By this time it was almost time to check out so we hurried back to the room, finished packing and went to the office to return the keys.  The people there are so nice and it's always a pleasure to stay there.  The manager invited us back for Christmas and told me about their package where we could see the Christmas show at Sight and Sound for half price with the price of our room.  We can even request the same room since that is the best one for disabled people because it has the large renovated bathroom.  Maybe...  We'll have to see how finances are.

I then parked the car under a tree in the shade.  Joe stayed in the car while I took a last few pictures.

A daytime picture of our room

Outside of the restaurant and shops.

I loved these fall wreathes.

One of the chickens escaped!  It must have been a hard time because she was sound asleep.

This little goat was so cute peeking around the side of the barn.

And two baby white goats.

I love the pond and the little bridge over it.

It's so serene.

Heading back to the car I looked at the chickens again and there was this duck.  Where did he come from?

People have their picture taken in this Amish buggy all the time.

There was every color mum imaginable.

More mums.

And Famous Amos overlooking everything.  He really is HUGE!

 We went and got gas.  It was 20 cents/gallon cheaper out there so I filled the tank.  Then went to the outlet stores.  Joe got a new sports coat and pants.  I got a cake holder and some more kitchen cleaning supplies (that I can find only out there).

By this time it was getting late, so we headed for the show.  We went to Sight and Sound to see Noah.

I had seen Noah about 20 years ago when it first came out.  It has been off of the stage for years now, but is brought back for one year.  Joe had never seen it.  It was changed some, so I call it the "new and improved" Noah.  It was really good.  Of course I can never go to Sight and Sound without crying.  My sister either.  Just ask her.  We always make sure we have tissues with us when we go.  This was no exception.  When at the end an actor portraying Jesus comes onto the stage who gives an invitation to accept Him as Savior it is so touching.  (And people do accept Christ.  It's great!)

So that's the good.  Now for the bad.  Joe was in intense pain from sitting in the theater.  We got into the car and instead of going to dinner decided to go straight home.  I knew I would hit rush hour, but I didn't know how bad it would be.  The 90 minute drive turned into over 3 hours.  What is worse, about 1/4 of the way home the light went on that I was starting to get a flat tire.  There was no where to go, no where to pull over on the highway, so I just had to keep going.

Then to top it off, I took the wrong exit and had NO IDEA where I was.  Joe was beside himself with pain in his back and shoulder and begged me to pull onto the shoulder of the road and put the seat back.  I was afraid to, but found a place where the traffic wasn't too bad and did it.  I laid him back and he said the pain eased up almost right away.  I guess we really shouldn't have gone away because it was too much for him.  I checked the tire and it was low, but OK to continue.  I got back into the car, took out the GPS and plugged it in and got back on the highway.

I must have gone about 30 miles out of my way.  There must have been an Eagles game going on too, because it was all backed up by the sports stadiums, but after I passed that it moved along faster.  So we left Lancaster at 4:30 p.m. and got home around 7:45 p.m.  It was a long drive.  But God was good to us and got us home safely.  Once I laid Joe back, he went to sleep and slept the whole way home.  He said he had never done that before.  But at least he wasn't in pain while he was sleeping.

As Joe was getting ready for bed, he noticed that his silver and emerald pinky ring was missing.  I had bought it for his birthday and he wore it only on special occasions.  It was a little loose on him, but he wanted to wear it.  We searched everywhere but it is nowhere to be found.  He is very upset about it.

It was very cold in the house, so Joe asked me to turn up the heat.  Unfortunately, our heater is not working.  So it is still very cold in the house, although it is getting warmer now that the sun is rising.  I did put on the stove last night to warm up the house a little.

Last night Joe said that we are never going away for our anniversary again because so many bad things happened.  We'll see.  I know he is in a great amount of pain, so when he feels better he might feel differently.

Well, that's my story.  I hope today is better.

Tuesday -- sunny
High:  67 degrees at 3:45 p.m.
Low:  48 degrees at 6:45 a.m.
Sunrise:  6:43 a.m.
Sunset:  7:05 p.m.