by Barbara Taylor & Homer S. Sewell III
Since last we visited with you we have finally arrived home in Jasper for a couple of weeks. We got in Friday night and now have less than one week until Christmas. We hope all of you are having as much fun shopping and getting ready as we are.
The AbeMobile is doing just fine since we got the new engine in it. We have put about 2,000 miles on it since we left the repair shop in Wisconsin two weeks ago.
It was good to get back into the AbeMobile after spending two weeks in motels and the little rental car. We left Watertown, Wisconsin on Sunday December 6 and drove down to Highland, Illinois where Homer spoke to a school there on Monday. We then drove on over to St. Clair, Missouri and then on to Edinburgh, Elnora and Tell City, Indiana before heading for Mr. Lincoln's birth state of Kentucky for schools there on Friday in Henderson and Oakland. We spent Thursday at two schools in Tell City right near the southern border of Indiana and Kentucky. The counselor there was Sally and she was one of the most organized ladies we have met on this trip so far. She was a big help in setting up and assisting me in running the ABE's Store in both schools. We sold a lot of ABE souvenirs to the students! We give the school library 10% of whatever we sell so they can buy more books.
We spent the weekend in a nice state park in Kentucky. We didnt get to do much hiking because it rained all weekend. It was nice to be able to relax back in the AbeMobile and get caught up on some reading and correspondence.
Sunday afternoon we drove on over to Prestonsburg. Then on to Emmalena, Hindman, Inez, Barbourville and Helton, Kentucky. A word about winding roads in Kentucky coal country.....If you ever think the roads at home are bad you should drive a 28 foot motorhome around the mountains in Kentucky. Wow! I was scared! Homer kept the dirty side down and the shinny side up on some very narrow, winding roads with no guard rails and steep drop offs to streams or gorges as coal-loaded BIG trucks went speeding by us. We were glad to get out of those hills and onto some wider, straighter interstate roads in South Carolina and North Carolina. We visited a school in Wellford, South Carolina and then headed for Mount Olive, North Carolina before heading home on Friday. Mount Olive's big claim-to-fame is their pickle factory. They ship out so many pickles now that they have to import cucumbers from Florida to meet their demands. They also grow a lot of cotton and raise pigs.
Since we've arrived home I've had a chance to visit with my children, Melinda, Janet and Jennifer, some of my eight grandchildren and my good friend Cindy from my old job at Piolax in Canton. We are both running around trying to get caught up on everything that needs to be done around the house and get ready for Christmas. Homer had to repair a broken water line down by the barn so he was up early Saturday morning to get that done. He will be seeing his children, Chip, Kimberly and Jason in the next few days and we will be cooking Christmas dinner for a lot of family and friends.
We wish all of you the very best of holiday seasons and hope to be able to visit some of you while we are in town for a couple of weeks. Please give us a call at 692-3682. We would love to hear from you and tell you all about our experiences......On the road with ABE. Until next time....may God continue to bless you and your family and this wonderful country of ours.
Barbara and Homer signing off for now......