Leaving Tupelo -

I have to say that I fell in love with Northeast Mississippi and the city of Tupelo! It's a bright, beautiful, friendly place where I never had a concern for my safety. They pride themselves on the care they take with Downtown and Business Districts, the Natchez Trace and of course, the Birthplace of America's first Music Superstar, Elvis Presley. In Tupelo you have a real sense of community. So many activities going on all the time and everyone, even strangers, who smile and treat you like family. It was sad when we finally had to start packing to leave. 

*****

Things I will miss -

Riding bikes with Darryl on the Natchez Trace and around town.

My morning swim....

And reading by the pool.

Images of Elvis ....

I never really appreciated his great talent or the trails of his life after he skyrocketed to fame.

Walking the parks on Sundays.

My early morning, very warm walks.

And so many friends from church and our apartments.

👍👍👍

The missionaries came over on Monday the 7th and helped Darryl move all of the furniture into the trailer. I can't thank Elder Allen and Elder Stanford enough for all of their help!

Tuesday morning we hit the road. We took the long way back to Idaho via Louisiana and Texas. 

The first stop was late Tuesday afternoon in Deridder, Lousiana to visit our dear friends Jordan and Janet Evans and their family. I can't believe how much their children have grown since March of  2014. Janet fed us well and the whole visit was a delight!

We left Deridder Wednesday morning and drove over to Burleson, Texas to visit Darryl's brother Bill and his wife Linda in their new home. We were enjoying ourselves so much I didn't even think about taking a photo. I did snap these three pictures of Grandma Yoder's Cactus flower quilt which was on our bed. 

Her applique and needle work/stitches were impeccable.

Thursday Morning we decided to drive over to Weatherford, Texas to see some familiar sites and dear friends. We hardly recognized the East and South sides of town.

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We drove out to Harmony Circle and saw a For Sale sign on our old house. We decided to take a look. It was beautiful and Glenn Payne was trimming the shrubs. He invited us in an showed us around. They've done so much work!

The Happy memories I have of my children playing on this front porch.

The side yard on the west.

The finished shop building...

and the car port

 They added about a 1800 sq. foot addition onto the house that is plumbed for a kitchen. The house could really be a duplex. They tore out the old Plum Orchard and built a new brick home for their retirement.

They still use the wood stove.

And I love the new cabinets and tile in the kitchen and dining room. The atrium is gone and few other changes were made, but my memories of our first home we ever owned will never fade.

Bob and Su Bell were in Houston and we missed seeing them, but we drove on down the road to see if Jim and Marsha Norwood were home. Jim was a work but Marsha was there and two of her daughters were visiting!

  Rebecca and Missy Norwood (now Kramer and Bateman)! Missy (Melissa) was 8yrs old when I first met her and she carried the train to my wedding dress at the reception. Becca, Jesse and their friend Bonnie Bell were inseparable as little girls!

One of my dearest friends, Marsha Norwood.

We had a very nice visit with Marsha and the girls, but all too soon it was time to hit the road and head up to Burkburnett to spent the night with Sandy.

 We took Sandy out to dinner and Darryl helped her do a little tile work in her living room and fix a a couple of things before bed. We left early Friday morning for Denver where we spent the night at the Drury Inn. We were blessed with beautiful weather and not too hot temperatures for our drives. Once in Denver we found out that I-70 was a mess with lots of construction and delays, so we planned to go north through Cheyenne on Saturday morning.