Our 35th Anniversary ~ Brugge to Ghent (Day 6, Part 1 of 2)

We woke up on Monday morning, May 25th, for the last time in Brugge (for this trip at least.)  It was our 35th anniversary and what a ride we've been on!  I adore this man more today than ever:

 

We had breakfast in the dining room.  This was buffet style.  The captain came along just as Les was breaking his hard boiled egg and added some assistance:

 

From the food that was available, we could also pack a lunch.  We both made peanut and jelly sandwiches and this would be the only day that we packed a lunch!  We had enough stops each day that taking a lunch was unnecessary.  One of the goals for our adventure was, "We're obligated to stop for coffee and pastries everyday!"  We were very successful with this goal.  Our first stop was about 11 miles from Brugge.   

 

 

 

Sign for the restrooms!

 

Another few miles down the road we saw our first strawberry vending machine!  I had read about these and Franklin had told us to be sure and stop.  They were amazing!!

 

 

This was a wonderful place to stop!

 

We ate about half our strawberries, then I put the rest in my backpack to have with our sandwiches later.  We stopped a few more times to take pictures of poppies and windmills:

 

Our route for the day was Brugge to Ghent, approximately 24 miles.  With just a few miles to go, Les suddenly stopped.  "Where's my backpack?"  He'd been wearing a backpack that had the lock for our bikes, his sandals and his sandwich.  We looked at our pictures and figured that he must have left it at the first coffee stop.  In hindsight, we probably could have ridden back and gotten it and had plenty of time.  I'll fill you in on the rest of the story tomorrow....

(Somewhat) Wordless Wednesday

Les has been at a work conference in Miami this week (he comes home tonight - yay!)  I took a picture of my coffee mug this morning to send to him:

I was trying to figure out why it was so pink.  Then I looked out the window...

God still paints the best skies!

Saturday This and That

I woke up at about 4:00 this morning to the sound of rain.  It was in the forecast, but I didn't believe it would actually rain.  Water is still dripping off our patio covers.  I am not complaining!  Last year on Labor Day weekend it was very hot.  We made s'mores and the chocolate was melted before we could finish toasting our marshmallows.

Of course this type of weather has me dreaming of cooler temps.  I know we'll see more of summer, but I wanted to share a coupon from my favorite coffee company - Hawaii Coffee Company.  We have been buying coffee from them for years and there is nothing that Starbucks makes that can even come close!  We don't have to leave the house when we make our own and the cost savings is huge.  You can get 15% off any orders this weekend (click HERE).  I highly recommend Vanilla Mac Nut, White Chocolate Strawberry Truffle, Toasted Coconut and Kaka'ako Caramel.  They also sell single serve pods if that's how you brew.

And now it's time to fasten your seat belts - the final four months of the year are upon us.  Holidays, gatherings and good times.  Blink and it will be 2024!

30 Days of Thanks, Day 25: Photo of Photo

Happy Thanksgiving Eve!  I hope wherever you are and whoever you are with tomorrow it will be a wonderful day.  We are going to the Grand Canyon today so there will be plenty of photos taken.  For now here is a simple screenshot:

It’s cold!  No, it’s actually freezing here!  I’m thankful for a warm place to sleep, warm clothes, and coffee!!

A Visit to New Orleans

New Orleans, Nawlins', NOLA - whatever you call it, the Crescent City was our first stop during our Thanksgiving trip this year.  Les and I found cheap tickets and decided to take a couple of days to play before meeting up with the extended McElhaney clan in Panama City, Florida.

Our flight landed at 12:30 Sunday night/Monday morning, so our fun didn't begin until mid morning on Monday.  We picked up our rental car then went to Dot's Diner for breakfast.  The food was good, not great, and our server was subpar.  We asked for and never got a refill on our coffee, which should be a crime at a breakfast location!

We spent most of Monday in the French Quarter.  We had two objectives - beignets at Cafe du Monde and live music.  The paid parking lot was great - I could pay right from my phone.  I even got a text reminding me that my time was almost up and could add additional time if needed.

Cafe du Monde did not disappoint!  The line looked a little scary, but it moved quickly.  Two orders of beignets and we were quickly diving in to powdered sugar goodness.  I found this recipe online if you can't find beignets near you.  The final instruction of "Sprinkle the beignets with the confectioners' sugar and serve hot" is not quite accurate.  It's more like a downpour than a sprinkle!

We wandered the French Quarter for a few hours, laughing a lot, and just enjoying a beautiful southern Fall day.  Wanna-be street musicians (mostly kids playing "drums" on large buckets) and magicians entertained the crowds while carriages filled the streets.  We walked in and out of shops without buying a thing.

As I mentioned, we really wanted to hear live music.  What we didn't want was to go in a bar or club.  Just steps away from where we parked we found the best of both worlds - Cafe Beignet with live music!  Since we'd already had our beignets for the day, we wanted to get another New Orleans specialty - the Muffuletta.  This is an Italian sandwich that was invented in New Orleans.  Cafe Beignet had Muffulettas on the menu, but were out when we tried to order.  We split a roast beef sandwich which was delicious and settled in for a delightful couple of hours.

The first group included a keyboard, bass, and trumpet - the three instruments that Les and I know the best since those are what we play.  They ended their set with "When the Saints Go Marching In."

The second group included a keyboard, drum, and trombone.  The drummer was a guest from France.  This keyboardist was so fun to watch!  I could tell he was having a great time.

The French Quarter was a great way to start our vacation!

Mindanao Campground (and a Garden Revelation)

The majority of our time in the Philippines was spent at the Mindanao campground.  This is a seven acre plot of land that is being put to great use.

There are two large buildings: The Elder H.W. McDaniel Building - the sanctuary which can seat 300.  It was completed in May of this year.

The Dale Messner Memorial House - housing for visiting ministers and families.  The house has just been completed and we ladies spent most of Tuesday putting some finishing touches on it.  We had a beautiful dedication service on Thursday evening that I'll blog about later.

Also on the grounds are dormitories for each church when they come for conferences and camps.

The rest of the grounds are being put to amazing use.  Farm animals include cows, goats, turkeys, and pigs.

 

There is a large cornfield, which was harvested on Thursday while we were there.

There is another plot for other fruits and vegetables.

There are a couple of coffee trees.  Elder Barrero harvested, roasted and ground beans for us.  We then brewed it and it was amazing!

There are also cacao trees.  Elder Barrero told us that the Philippine government is encouraging the growth of cacao trees.  The Philippine islands are located within the cacao belt - the narrow, 20-degree band on both sides of the equator determines the best places to grow this coveted crop. In this region, high humidity and between 40-100 inches of rainfall are guaranteed throughout the year, needed by cacao trees to thrive. The world's chocolate industry is a $100 billion business, so the investment in this crop is great incentive.

While Les and I were drinking our Filipino coffee on Friday morning, I received a full revelation of the trees in the Garden of Eden.  The Tree of Life was surely a coffee tree. The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil that was forbidden must have been a cacao tree. Think about it, would a woman really be tempted by an apple?  Probably not, but I don't know many who can resist chocolate!