Vacation, Day 1

Friday, December 31, 2010
The Eve of the Circumcision and Name of our Lord
New Year’s Eve

The Lord be with you

Kitty and I are taking a short vacation down to Texas to visit my son and his family. This vacation is short in part because of our time share, which we traded out for a place on South Padre Island. It is also short because I have to be back in town for the first session in my next seminar at Gardner-Webb University, which is Epiphany Day (January 6). The seminar is on preaching, so I’ve brought a few text books with me to read if I have the time.

Any ways, we are spending the night in Lake Charles, LA. The last time we were through here was just after Hurricane Katrina. There was massive destruction all along Interstate 10. Here in Lake Charles I remember seeing a yacht that had been blow completely up on dry land. Roof after roof were covered in blue, the massive advertising signs along the road were destroyed, buildings had whole sides torn off, and on and on. They have done a great job of rebuilding, as far as I’ve seen.

We are staying in a Motel 6. Gas prices along the way have been only a couple of pennies short of $3.00. We ate lunch at a road-side stand named “Lil’ Italy” and it advertised authentic Chicago Style Italian food. I didn’t know Chicago had moved to Italy.

Every time we drive down I-10 we are impressed and amused by the names of so many of their swamps, rivers, and the like. I’m sure everyone in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arkansas can pronounce them with out giving them a second thought. For those of us from other parts of the US they are a mystery. I hope we can write down some of them on the way back. I did get one of the easier ones, “Atchafalaya National Heritage Area.” Try to say that five times real fast!

The drive was fine. We did have some rain, but that was a blessing as it kept us fresh in the afternoon. We did pass a hazardous spill on I-10. They closed down the interstate going east and they had scads of emergency vehicles for every branch of the government cleaning it all up. Kitty and I hope we didn’t breathe in anything too bad.

Temperatures were in the mid-70’s. Quite a change from Spartanburg which had snow on Christmas Day! No pictures today, maybe tomorrow.

Blessings in Christ,
Pastor John Rickert