We woke up to a specific destination. Bethlehem. No, we didn’t have a vision. We weren’t even responding to a call from Caesar to be counted. We just wanted to go by and see the Dammeyer family. They were all at work, but since they run a family business, they were all in one place. Well, except for Allen’s wife, Lauren, and Lindsey, who is back in Tennessee. We pulled them away from work duties for an hour or so just chatting. Great to see them.
From
there we drove up to Scranton, Pennsylvania, to the Steamtown National
Historical Site. It had several trains and historical exhibits and of course a
National Parks stamp. It was actually a working train roundabout. My Grandaddy
worked on one of those. Fascinating stuff. While there we agreed to take on
board a little rubber ducky train engineer. He was so happy to get to retire
and travel that he threw up his wings and said, “Quackaluia!”
We
made our way all the way into New York before stopping for the night in
Binghamton. Once we got checked in, we went over to the nearby Cracker Barrel
for some supper. While we were waiting for our food, a really old guy stopped
at our table. Now, by old, I mean considerably older than me, although that
“considerably” factor is rapidly shrinking. But this guy told us right up front
that he was 90 years old. Or maybe he said 80.
But old. And why stop and talk to us? Aside from the comradery of age,
apparently I looked like a football fan. He asked if the Giants won.
Fortunately, I had checked that score since they played the Cowboys. Giants
lost. And no, I didn’t rub it in by telling him I was from Texas. It wouldn’t
have mattered anyway. He said that the score of a football game was just not
going to change his life. Very wise man. But then he said that he had been
looking all over for his wife. Seems no matter where they go, she can get lost
in an instant and it takes him 15 or 20 minutes to find her. Fortunately, he
spotted her at a table nearby, looking embarrassedly at him. They were
reunited happily. Think I’ll start doing that - roaming around the restaurant
talking to strangers. Wait. I already do that …
After
we ate, we decided to get the oil changed in the car. I mean, we had already
decided before we left home that we would do that in either Pennsylvania or New
York. But when we found out that Firestone couldn’t work us in, we decided to
go to a Valvoline Quick Change place. The one right down the street, of course,
didn’t have the correct filter. So they sent us to the next little town over.
Actually I was glad for the switch. I really liked the new manager, and his
whole team of five guys immediately jumped in and got to work. They not only
changed the oil and filter, they also changed the air filter (after letting me
look at it and decide if I wanted to or not - no pressure). They also aired
up the tires. On top of all that, when he saw we had found a $7 coupon on their
website, he changed it to $15 to “give you some help on the air filter.”
The price was about what I expected, and they were finished in less that
fifteen minutes, with us still in the car. Nice job. Before going back to the
hotel, we stopped in at Aldi’s (first time ever) and picked up some bananas and
oranges. Ready to head into the frozen northern wastelands now …
Romans 8:31 says, “What, then, shall we say
in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”
Father,
please be with the Dammeyer clan. Bless their business and draw their family
closer to you. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment