Day 16: June 30, 2025, Dayton, Ohio

It was so nice to be able to sleep in late this morning without having to pack up the car and drive all day. Sometimes travel takes its toll. 

We went over to a really lovely grocery store picked up a little breakfast, food as well as some lunch. 

We would join Dick‘s brother John, and his wife, Beverly, for lunch in the afternoon. Dick had been out visiting John when he was in the hospital and rehab not so long ago, so it was nice seeing John healing and in his home. We had a nice afternoon sitting out on their beautiful deck and talking about our lives and travels.  We especially enjoyed watching the birds at their feeders.  We miss our backyard birds while we are traveling. We took a little afternoon nap break back at our AirBnB.

And then joined John and Beverly for an enjoyable dinner at Cracker Barrel restaurant. Lots of stories were told and it was a really nice time. 

Then, back to our Airbnb. The days go so quickly.

Day 15: June 29, 2025 Wellsboro, Pennsylvania, to Kettering ( Dayton) Ohio

We both had a good night sleep and then popped over to our friends’ house for an early morning breakfast. 

We were all going along with Gere to attend his Sunday morning service. Gere considers himself having "failed retirement" several times. His latest responsibilities is to be the minister of two small churches where he normally leads a service at each every Sunday.  But, on the fifth Sunday, which happened to be today, they do one joint service together and then a potluck picnic in the park. We were pleased to be able to see Gere preach and also to meet and experience his congregations. 

He drove us to each of these small churches and we walked around inside one of them. It is a challenge to keep small church afloat in these complex times. They are so lucky to have Gere as their minister. And who doesn’t like a nice potluck in the park?

After lunch, we needed to say goodbye because we had just about 9 Hour drive to go to the  Dayton, Ohio area where we would be seeing more of Dick‘s family. It was a smooth, but long drive.

We stopped in central Ohio in the town of Delaware. This is the place where both of Dick‘s grandparents as well as his parents are buried. Whenever we get to Ohio, we try to make a little stop at the cemetery and do a little grave tending. We like to remember the blessed loved ones who have gone before us. We were able to do that and were so pleased to be able to just be there for a little bit. We could feel a storm brewing, but it held off until we were headed to the car having paid our respects. Then the rain began.

We stopped after a small town for dinner at a sports bar. We both knew getting some food in us would be important.

Then, on to the Dayton area, where we checked  into the Airbnb that we would be staying at for several days. We were tired from a long day and glad to settle in for a nice long visit.