For your information...

 Please consider this a public service announcement.  Did you know that you can go to ballotpedia.org and access ballots and candidates' information for upcoming elections?  I didn't until my wonder spouse made this discovery.

I have just spent almost two hours reading through detailed candidate information for our local election, which will take place two days from now.  I learned a lot about who I do and do not want to vote for, and feel more prepared for this election than I ever have before, and I have voted in many, many elections (almost always a split ballot, in case you're interested).  I will be voting in Allen County, Indiana so, if you don't live near me, this next bit won't apply to you.

So far my very favorite candidate for any office is a gentleman named Phillip Beachy who is running, as an independent, for our representative to the US House of Representatives from Indiana District 3.  In his bio he lists his religion as Mennonite and his profession as "semi-retired carpenter and refrigerator technician."  My wonder spouse's response, when I told him about Mr. Beachy, was "Well, at least he does something real."  I agree on two counts.  My father was a carpenter and we recently had our refrigerator repaired by a refrigerator rechnician for a very reasonable price, saving us the cost of buying a new one. 

So before you vote on Tuesday check out ballotpedia.org. You may not find Mr. Beachy on your ballot, but you'll be glad you did, anyway. 

Boooo!!!

 It's Halloween, that evening when strange creatures of every size and shape show up at your door shouting, or whispering (depending on the age) "Trick or Treat!"  

We had many, many young ones come to our door this evening, dressed in a great variety of costumes, from princesses to dragons to super heroes and one lady bug.  One little girl, dressed in jeans and a sweat shirt with a painted on mustache and beard, told me that she was dressed up as her father.  Since a similarly dressed man was standing out by the curb, I could believe her.  

It was a great night for going door to door, chilly but not cold, no precipitation, just a light breeze. We were comfortable standing out on our porch to hand out candy.

This was my favorite costume of the evening. Very scary! In addition to being Halloween, my west coast brother informed me that today is "National Knock Knock Joke Day" and here's the sample he provided:

Knock, knock.

Who's there?

Owls. 

Owls who?

Yes they do. 

That's it for this evening.  I hope you all got plenty of candy.

Cheers....

 Today the car got washed and we bought groceries, all part of the settling in (it's good to be home) process. Part of our shopping included a stop at our favorite Amish bakery for cinnamon swirl bread, apple bread, and sandwich bread.  We also bought a small cherry pie. At the Amish produce market we bought cider, potatoes, and some other stuff.  The cider was most important, and we were delighted that they had some available.

We did enjoy a few drinks while on our trip, but only after we were safely in a hotel for the night.  A  beer for my spouse and a gin and tonic for me were our typical drinks.  We were even given free gin and tonics at our hotel in Durango. 

All good drinks, but not nearly as good as cider.  This evening we both had a large mug of cider, heated gently and with a cinnamon stick floating in it.  Soooo good!!! and healthy - just the best juice from pressed apples.  No sugar or anything else added. 

Thinking about Durango brought back memories of our ride on the narrow gauge train, pulled by a steam engine, from Durango to Silverton and back.  Lots of fun and the drinks were good, but not as good as this evening's cider.  

Here's a picture of the little engine that could, with my wonder spouse admiring it, and, with his EE brain, figuring out how everything worked. 

Day 16, trying again

 I thought I had just posted a blog for today but for some mysterious reason it has disappeared.  Perhaps my faithful computer is upset with me because I neglected it for so many days.  Anyway, we had a safe trip home today, and my wonder spouse and I are both looking forward to sleeping in our own bed.  Tomorrow we will tackle the small mountain of laundry waiting in the laundry room.  Meanwhile here is a picture I took as we left Knoxville TN this morning.

I liked this view of the Smoky Mountains as we started our drive north.

The autumn colors were glorious.

Because I couldn't post pictures with my earlier blogs on this trip, I'm going to include some with my upcoming blogs.

The first stop on our journey was at the St. Louis Arch. It was huge.

We took the tiny elevator to the top, a fun ride, and looked down on the mighty Mississippi.  A wonderful first adventure on this trip.

Day 16

Day 14 or 15

 I think I missed a blog somewhere along the way, but never fear, tomorrow we will be home and I will blog from my computer and be able to include pictures from this amazing adventure. Today we drove through the Smoky mountains of Tennessee and spent a lovely afternoon and evening with a favorite cousin of my wonder spouse. As she treated us to ham and sweet potatoes and apple pie my spouse recounted the highlights of our trip to her and I realized, as I listened, that this really has been an excellent trip. Tomorrow will be our last driving day, straight north on I 75 for most of the way. We will park the car in our own garage, agree to deal with the laundry on Friday, and thank God for 4000 miles of safe travels. 

Day 13

 Today was a people seeing day. No more sight seeing on this trip. We spent the afternoon and evening with my dear niece and her husband in Smyrna, Tennessee. The temperature was mild and we spent some time sitting around talking outside, then more time at dinner, and more time late into the evening. There's a lot to talk about when you only see family once a year if that. But the thing I enjoyed most was the hugging. I've mentioned before in this blog that I like to hug and be hugged. It must be a family trait because my niece and I hugged and hugged. It's a special kind of closeness. I will remember the fun we had and the things we talked about but I will most especially remember the hugs.