I had never been as far east as the ocean before our trip.  Our first plane
flight went well but we got there after just about everyone had already
boarded.  We, at first, had made reservations for just Sandy and I but then
later, just in time, reserved a ticket for my 9 year old grandson, Everett.
After making some minor changes, they put Everett and Sandy together and I
sat across the aisle from Sandy.  It was just over 3 hours to Phily from
Denver as a direct flight but we were on the ground in Denver for about 30
minutes because they had to reboot the navigational equipment which took
several minutes.  The flight was great and the tail wind made up lost time
so we arrived on time.  Trenton, our oldest son, and one of his daughters,
Amanda, who is seven, were there to meet us at the airport.  It took us
about an hour to get to Trenton's home due to traffic but normally it is a
45 minutes trip from his house in New Jersey to Phily.

During the days we were there, we got to go to a farm that gives you a hay
ride, or wagon ride is more like it, to different areas of the farm to pick
your own fruit.  Right now, some cherries were in and some strawberries but
they have apples and other things.  Monday, we went back into Phily and took
a ride on an amphibious vehicle, called a duck although I misspelled it to
make it read properly, which has 6 wheels for driving on land but it is also
a boat.  It was about a 90 minute historical ride around parts of Phily and
then we drove into the Delaware river for about 30 of those minutes to see
other things in Phily from the water.  It was very educational.

After that ride, we went to see the Liberty Bell.  They normally allow blind
people to feel it so Sandy and I did.  I cannot explain the emotional
feeling you have actually touching something as historical and politically
important as the Liberty Bell and that includes the crack.

Tuesday, we went about 90 minutes from their home to the Atlantic and
although it was in the seventies, it was super windy and very cold.  My son,
his wife and girls, all went into the ocean to play but Sandy and I were
just too chilled.  I wish we could have gotten in but I'm too old for that
sort of cold and I didn't want to get sick as a result.  Our grandson,
Everett, played so hard in the ocean, he slept on the couch when we arrived
home, and even when my son awakened him and helped him upstairs to bed, the
next day he couldn't remember being helped upstairs.  Sandy and I were under
a large beach umbrella most of the time but it was so chilly, they took it
down and we sat in the sun to try and stay warm.  I wore my cowboy hat but
the wind was always trying to blow it off my head.  I am such a whimp, I
even used a large beach towel to cover up from head to toe.  We did not get
sun burned but we sure got wind burn because the wind was super gusty.

Wednesday, at about 11 o'clock in the morning, we drove to Phily to catch
the plane home.  It was a good flight both ways and this time we got there
early enough that they could arrange, or rearrange, seating so Sandy and I
and Everett could all sit in the same roe.  That made the flight go a little
quicker.

The humidity in NJ just about killed me off.  I haven't been to a humid
state for many years.  Just walking across their house made me ringing wet
and I was horribly thirst all the time.  They have central air but it seemed
like that didn't help much.  Fortunately, and this was a big blessing, as it
turned out, they had a cold spell the five days we were there.  It was about
80 or 82 when we arrived but then dropped down into the low seventies the
rest of the week and one day it was only about 68 degrees and we about froze
due to the humidity.  The last day we were there, it was about 80 degrees
and the next day I believe my son said it hit 90 degrees so we made it out
just in time.

My other granddaughter's name is Allison.  She is about 4 and as I said,
Amanda is about seven.  Amanda was in Christian school last year and her
mom, Cheryl, works for the school, gets paid an hourly wage, plus a big
discount on their school bill.  Allison will be in kindergarten this fall
and both girls will be in the same school.  Their school is an old red brick
church building which was made in 1901 but the church that owns it has
carpeting and rebuilt and remodele3d everything inside so it is a very nice
school and church building.

I likely have left out some things that Sandy may comment on later but
needless to say, we had a great time.  I still can't believe I went because
I am kind of a hermit.

My son, Trenton, right after graduating from Christian school, went and
applied at Merrill Lynch.  I have no idea how you spell that.  He has always
worked, over the last ten years, in operational departments so he does no
selling.  When they closed the 1 billion dollar operation in Denver 3 years
ago, they gave Trent an opportunity to move to NJ and to keep his job.  He
has now, after many promotions in these 10 years, also taken some difficult
exams they offer and is now in a special program which allowed him to leave
the main Merril Lynch operation and move into local branch offices.  He is
learning three levels of department operations and once that happens and he
takes another test, they will, in this special program, allow him to move
next summer, most likely, to another branch office to run by himself.  There
is, fortunately, a branch office in Denver,  Wouldn't that be wonderful if
they could move back to their home town?  If not, I suppose I'll be taking
another airplane flight to some place else I have never been.  By the way,
he also takes college courses online for which the company pays him for.  so
he eventually will end up with a college degree, and although he is paid
quite well now, he'll be way up the ladder in the company.  god has
certainly blessed him.

If you would like to read something quite interesting about my son which he
wrote, log on to my website, click on True Testimonies, and cursor down to a
testimony called "Jesus Gave Me An Orange Match box car."  It is an amazing
story of healing he experienced.

Phil.


Phil C Sharp
The Coil Of The snake
A Free Online E-Novel
www.SafePlaceFellowship.com