RV Havin Fun!

The Village of St. Edward, Akron/Green, Ohio

And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. ~ Isaiah 30:21

And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” ~ Acts 8:29

Blaine and I were happily enjoying life near the beach of Grayton Beach State Park, when early on New Year’s Eve Day, his mom called distraught.  I answered Blaine’s phone because he was brushing his teeth and it was nis mom.  She’d lost her address book and was wanting to call his dad’s geriatric/memory care doctor because she wanted something strong to make him sleep all night.

I was able to help her with a phone number.  Blaine was now sitting in the living room area and as soon as I hung up the phone, I heard that familiar Voice that I’ve come to recognize, “You need to go home.  Now.”  The words spilled out of my mouth before I could even think about them, “I need to go home.  Now.”, and after Blaine picked his chin up off the floor, he agreed and we spent the next few days making all the necessary arrangements, and before we knew it, I was on a plane to Ohio.

I could write an entire chapter in my God Moments Journal – and did, but I’ll not share all of it here.  If you’re interested, just ask.  I’m always glad to share how God has worked and moved in both small and large ways.  Especially the small ones!

To say I was overwhelmed with the amount of love and help and support I received, not only from family, but friends and even total strangers, would be an understatement.  I was abundantly blessed with constant proof positive that God was working and moving in this.  As well as reminding me that He has surrounded me with the most wonderful Christian family and friends!

My ticket was one way because we didn’t know how long I would need to be there.  I lived with Ron and Joan and slept on their floor on a small air mattress in the living room area of their apartment in the Village of St. Edward in Green, Ohio, so I could be there virtually 24/7.  I felt my ministry was to first observe what was going on, then assess the situation, and then provide whatever assistance I could.

I was there for three weeks.

I feel very humbled and privileged to have been used by God in this way.  I have such wonderful memories of my time there, and the not-so-wonderful ones are dwarfed or even erased by the blessings.

Blaine lived alone and had to move twice without me – once from Grayton to Apalachicola, then on to Rainbow Springs.  More difficult for one person, but of course, he managed.  It is Blaine we’re talking about after all.  😊  It was the first time in his life that he’s been truly alone, and he didn’t like it much.  But as always, God was there lovingly holding his hand.

The rest of this post will be pictures.  Pictures Blaine took while he lived his bachelor life.  Pictures others shared with me of what was happening in their lives.  And even a few I took myself.

Thank you to those who’ve waited for my return to blogging.

Grayton Beach State Park, Santa Rosa Beach, Florida

Then he (Antiochus III The Great) will turn his attention to the coastlands and will take many of them, but a Commander (Lucius Cornelius…) will put an end to his insolence and will turn his insolence back upon him. ~ Daniel 11:18

1. Antiochus III The Great set aside thoughts of ruling Egypt and began focusing on capturing the Mediterranean ports
2. A Roman Consul named Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus (now THAT’S a mouthful!) defeated Antiochus The Great in 190BC in the Battle of Magnesia (FYI – a consul was the highest elected political office in the Roman Republic).  Antiochus had 70,000 men compared to Rome’s 30,000

Well, it’s January 4^th as I write this.  I’m sitting in Charlotte, North Carolina’s airport waiting for nearly six hours to pass, so I’m attempting to get caught up on the blog.  Unfortunately, I never downloaded all Blaine’s pictures, so we won’t have those because I don’t know when I’ll be able to get back to blogging.

There’s been some very interesting weather around here!  Dense fog, biking in fog, walking in fog, people watching, more biking . . . .

Sometimes, there was so much fog blowing around, we felt like we should go home and watch “Dark Shadows”!

I made the traditional pork and sauerkraut for New Year’s Day dinner and Kentucky Derby Pie for dessert.  It’s sort of like a pie-shaped chocolate chip cookie.  Yum!

Blaine has had something weird going on with his foot that prevents him from walking much, so on our next to last day (January 2^nd), after biking to Rosemary Beach, 20 miles round trip, I told him I wanted to walk the beach for what would most likely be my last time.  He tried to go with me, but didn’t even make it out of the parking lot.  ☹  I had a nice walk though and then he joined me on a bench when I was finished.  The fog had lifted and the sun was shining and I snagged the only bench on the beach.  It was a wonderful time together.  😊

The next day we did all the domestic chores, like shopping and laundry before I left the following day.

And now, because I was able to get a seat at a computer station in Charlotte, I can tell you a little bit about my trip.  For the past three days, my flight was delayed for hours because of the heavy fog.  Today (January 4^th) there was no fog, but now it’s thunderstorms and tornado warnings. Good grief!  But it’s all in God’s Hands.

We were awake at 3:30am.  Left the motorhome at 5:15am, and as we neared the airport, Blaine had to drive through the storm.  There were times we could barely see the road for all the water.  But we made it.  There were some equipment glitches as I checked in and went through security, but other than that, it was smooth sailing, and my flight was running on time.  I was on track to arrive at Akron/Canton at 1:10pm.

And then, everything changed.

The storm that hit Destin, Florida, continued moving along the flight path, and we ended up being delayed, which meant I missed my connecting flight in Charlotte.  A lot, and I mean a LOT of people missed connecting flights.  Which delayed us even more as they reassigned people.  Blaine informed me that I missed my flight by only 20 minutes.  ☹

And now, here I sit.  I’m scheduled to arrive in Akron at 7:53, where my friend has very graciously offered to pick me up and drive me to my in-laws.  I’ve been so very blessed by many offers of help while I’m home.  Thank God for the friends He’s given us!

Blaine’s foot is better today, and he was able to walk the beach and send me a couple of pictures!  So grateful he’s better!

Carson Village, Birmingham, Alabama

He (Antiochus III The Great – North) will determine to come with the might of his entire kingdom and will make an alliance with the king of the South.  And he (Antiochus The Great) will give him (Ptolemy V Epiphanes – South) a daughter in marriage in order to overthrow the kingdom, but his plans will not succeed or help him. ~ Daniel 11:17

1. Antiochus gave his daughter Cleopatra I (not THE Cleopatra) to Ptolemy Epiphanes in marriage in 194BC, with the intent to appear to offer peace, but the real plot was to overthrow Egypt
2. They were both 10 years old when they were ‘married’ (They had their first child – Ptolemy VI in 186BC at the age of 18)
3. Cleopatra I essentially defected and sided with her new family

Moving day was cloudy, but warmer.  There was nothing memorable from the drive of 260 miles and 5 hours. But Blaine did have to clean quite a bit of ice off our slides before we left.

Grayton Beach State Park, Santa Rosa Beach, Florida

We’ve done some significant lazing around, as I continue to recover, but we did walk the beach and took the sidewalk to head home on Wednesday.  It’s a very busy place in the town of Seaside during holiday week! 

And now, I’m wondering if I’ve contracted Covid, because I’ve lost my sense of taste.  I attributed the fact that I couldn’t smell Vicks Vap-o-rub to either a diluted new formula or the fact that my head was plugged up, but now?  I could barely taste the buffalo chicken sandwich I made Wednesday night for dinner.  And Thursday morning, it was official – I couldn’t taste breakfast at all.  It’s a really strange sensation.  At lunchtime, I ate an apple and some peanut butter.  I could feel the juicy apple, but it had no taste.  I could feel the smoothness of the peanut butter, but it had no taste at all.

So now, I’ve been under the weather for an entire week.  I’ve used so much sanitizer, hot water and soap, I think maybe my fingerprints are burned off.  I’m just grateful no one else seems to be infected, including remarkably, Blaine.

With this new weird thing going on, I’ve determined that the reason we love to eat so much is because of the way food tastes, because there’s no excitement or anticipation for eating right now.  Well, duh!!!  😊

We walked the beach again Thursday afternoon. 

Whenever the sun would shine, it got warm enough to remove my jacket and tied it around my waist. When the sun ducked behind the clouds, it was cool enough to put it back on.  Now wait.  This is important.

We were headed back, and nearly back when I discovered my cell phone was missing!  I felt pretty sure I’d most likely dropped it when I was putting on my jacket the last time.  So how do you find a dropped cell phone on the beach?!?  Blaine wasn’t pleased, to say the least. 

I took off in search of. . . .  Stopping to ask people periodically, scanning the sand, praying, stopping, talking, scanning, praying . . .

I’d reached the end of where I determined to stop searching because during our walk, we’d been all over and walked a couple of miles.  Up ahead, was a semi-circle of empty chairs, except for one young girl about 8 years old.  She was intently studying something on a phone (which I could tell wasn’t mine).  I wasn’t going to speak to her, but the Holy Spirit insisted. So I did.  And she pointed to one of the empty chairs, and there it was!  Even sand-free!  Praise God from Whom ALL blessings flow!!  Who has a God Who cares about things like this?!?  We do!!

There’s a nature trail where we enter to walk the beach, so one day, we did that. It’s only a mile, but it was quite interesting and fun!

We’re waiting for the crowds to die down after the 1^st to take a long bike ride, but until then, we walked the beaches.  Except during the 24 hours that it rained – hard – from Friday afternoon until Saturday late morning.  Then we headed back out to enjoy the sun and surf.  Which has been very high since we arrived.  So awesome a display of God’s power! 

One particularly windy day, we watched a wind surfer tame the wind and water.  He was obviously well-experienced, flying out into the ocean, leaping and spinning in the air at least 25’, then turning and storming the beach only to turn at the last possibly second before the sand.

Poor little Cooper had to have his tonsils out this week.

New Year’s Eve day, we spent walking and eating.  I made four appetizers that we munched on all afternoon and into the evening – Crab Rangoon Dip, Veggie Pizza, Ham-stuffed Mushrooms and Wings.  Yummy!!!  You’ll find recipes for the dip and mushrooms below.

There was more to our December 31^st than eating though.  We began the day discovering that Blaine’s dad’s dementia has taken a sudden turn for the worse and St. Edwards (where they live) doesn’t have a Memory Care room available.  So after some discussion, it was decided that I’ll be flying home on Wednesday, January 4^th and living with them until we can decide what to do.  Unfortunately, Blaine will have to remain with the coach in Florida for reasons I’m not taking the time to get into.

At 9:00pm, we took a break from the OSU/Georgia game and ventured out to our picnic table where we stood to watch the fireworks at Seaside.  Unfortunately, there were a few trees in the way because the show was relatively low to the ground, but we could still see quite a bit.

Back inside, I returned to the back to watch my stuff, while listening to Blaine watch the OSU game.  Trust me, I could tell exactly what was going on.  😊  Close and exciting game.  Too bad OSU couldn’t quite pull it off.  Final score, in case you’re wondering?  41-42 Georgia.  ☹

A new year approaches!  Opportunities to serve our Father God abound!  We can’t wait to see what God has in store for us, because good or bad, He will be with us, loving, teaching, forgiving, guiding and growing us to be more and more like Jesus.

Crab Rangoon Dip (8 x 8 pan)

Dip

• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature
• 3 green onions, sliced
• 12 ounces canned crab meat, drained
• ¼ cup Helmann’s
• ¼ cup sour cream
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• ¼ cup fresh parmesan cheese
• 1 cup shredded Colby-Monterey Jack cheese, set aside an additional ½ cup for topping (optional)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• ¼ cup sweet chili sauce

• Preheat your oven to 350°F.
• In a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese, green onions, drained crab, mayo, and sour cream well.
• Add the Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, lemon juice, parmesan cheese, Colby-Monterey jack cheese, salt, and pepper. Combine ingredients thoroughly with a hand mixer to make sure that your dip is extra smooth and fluffy.
• Spread your creamy mix in an 8×8 pan and sprinkle with the extra cheese you set aside if you’re a cheese lover. Bake in oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until bubbling.
• Once it’s out of the oven, pour on some of the sweet chili sauce over. Garnish with some chopped green onions or parsley if you like.

Crispy Wontons

• 1 package wontons wrappers
• olive oil, or cooking spray
• salt, to taste

• Open up a package of wonton wrappers and cut each wrapper in half to make two triangles.
• Lay each wonton triangle on a baking sheet and lightly spritz each triangle with cooking spray or olive oil and sprinkle with some salt.
• Bake them for 4 to 5 minutes. The wontons should have crispy browned edges and a white center. Be careful not to overcook them. They can burn easily because they’re so thin.

NOTES:

• You can also make this recipe in a crockpot or a slow cooker. Simply mix all the ingredients and cook for 2 hours on low while stirring at least once.
• Make sure to drain the crabmeat can before adding it to the dip mixture, as you would do with a can of tuna.
• Make sure your cream cheese is at room temperature so that you don’t end up with lumps in your cream cheese mixture.
• Our wontons took about 9 minutes. At the 5-minute mark, they were still pretty raw, but they do brown quickly, so you need to keep an eye. A lot will depend on your oven as to how fast they will bake.

HAM-STUFFED MUSHROOMS

24 whole fresh mushrooms

2 T. onion, finely diced

2 T. butter – DIVIDED

¼ C. ham, finely diced

¼ C. parmesan cheese

1 T. flour

1/8 t. salt

½ C. milk

¼ C. bread crumbs

Remove stems from mushrooms.  Finely chop stems.  Cook stems and onion in 1 T. butter until tender.  Remove from heat.   Stir in ham and parmesan cheese.  Set aside.  In a small saucepan, melt 1 T. butter.  Stir in flour and salt and mix well.  Add milk all at once.  Cook and stir until thickened and bubble.  Remove from heat.  Stir in ham mixture.  Fill mushroom caps with the mixture.  Sprinkle with bread crumbs.  Place on a greased shallow baking dish.

Bake at 425 degrees for 8-12 minutes or until mushrooms are tender.