Visiting Suzie,

Dear Family and Friends,
This has been a very meaningful day. I arrived this morning at about 1:30 carrying Jennifer and Dana, Suzie's adult daughters. I had met them at the airport in Sacramento and we reached I 5 at about 9 pm. From there on it was smooth sailing. In fact from the airport to Redding I never cancelled the cruise having set it at 60. Traffic was light and Jennifer sort of introduced herself as we drove bringing me up to date on your life. Finally fatigue overcame her and she went to the bed in the back and went to sleep. Dana had boarded the motorhome and was asleep on the front bed in about 5 minutes. They both had risen very early in Houston and Florida to board flights across the country. I had reserved a couple bottle of Starbucks Mocha lite to assist me in staying awake. It worked. The trip was flawless and uneventful but I was very happy to finally get here and be out of the drivers seat. Jerry had kindly placed a power cord where I was to park and within a few minutes of arriving I was relaxing. Jerry had stayed up just to make sure everyone found their place and were settled in. The girls came in to see Suzie and actually got very little sleep the rest of the night. I went to bed and slept great until 8 this morning. At that point the dogs could wait no longer and insisted on a pleasure walk around the grounds of this fine resort. We walked and enjoyed the crisp morning air, the flowers, the fresh fruit and the expanse of carefully groomed lawns.

After walking I settled in on the deck to await the morning and human beings. Gradually they began to emerge after a very long night of caring for Suzie. There are many people here ranging in age from a 2 month old baby to Sharon who is Donna's sister. There is a sense of caring, holding one another up and family that is rarely seen in today's world. Susie is not doing well at this point. She is weakening but has not let go yet. She usually is aware of who is in the room and is certainly relieved to see Dana and Jennifer.

Jerry and I went for a hike this afternoon and sorry Ken, this hike has more views and points of interest than our walks around the lake. While we were hiking scout Jerry began to point out tracks of various animals including the tracks of a BEAR. We followed the tracks for quite a while and also saw deer tracks, bird tracks and signs of coyotes. But the amazing things was looking up at many vantage points along the path and seeing the western face of Mt Shasta. Jerry says it was no more than a few miles away and it is impressive. Our hike took us through beautiful rugged country and this time I did not have a low blood sugar hit so had a wonderful time. We were gone so long that the phone calls started with those at home asking where were we. When we got back I was able to show them the cell phone photo of the bear track and that seemed to settle them right now, NOT.

Earlier in the day Jerry and attacked his peach tree. It was loaded with beautiful fruit and we managed to pick every one of the dozens of peaches. They are amazingly good to eat and will taste good in the promised peach cobbler. It was a rare pleasure to be able to work side by side with Jerry and I always learn new things from him as we work. He is an amazing brother and I'm not just saying that because he is letting me use his computer to write this blog entry.

When I looked over the fuel usage coming up I think I was able to achieve about 11 miles per gallon and I'll probably do a bit better tomorrow when I drive home in the afternoon since the first part of the trip is downhill and I won't have a head wind as I drive home.

I would ask that you continue to pray for Suzie that she will rest in God's caring hands. She should have no doubts about being loved with the excellent care she is getting hour by hour. Hospice is guiding the care and they are incredible.

Please pray that my trip back will be uneventful tomorrow and for the will and the way to find more work once I get home. These moments of retreat to see Suzie and the family are very special and I love every one of these dear people.

love

tim
a special work of thanks to Ken and Ray for helping prepare the motorhome for this trip and to Leann who is feeding the cats and the fish and to Lois for keeping an eye out for robbers.