Saturday, 5-17-97

It felt good to sleep in this morning. We still hadn't seen Donna. She was in bed when we arrived last night and she was already at work when we got out of bed. The first thing I did, after we were up and around, was set up a computer for our nephew, Steven. I put the computer together at home in California, made from cast off parts. All the parts are in good condition, they just have been left behind by the rapid advance of computer technology. I was very pleased that everything worked okay after being bounced around in the motorhome. Steven is familiar with the "Microsoft Windows" interface, so he was able to use the computer immediately.

Terry next to his new car

We visited for a while with Terry (Donna’s brother) and I called my mother to let her know we had arrived safely. Then it was off to the airport to pick up a rental car. Terry gave me a ride to the airport in his new Pontiac.

This trip we have a new Oldsmobile. Now with our "own" car, we went over to visit with Kay’s mother and father (Lois and George). We also visited with their dog, Pete. He has really grown. He has finally reached his full grown size. Pete remembered us this time and he has become a real nice companion for George and Lois.

Floraine with her friend Kiwi

It was on to my mother’s place for a visit with her. I used Kay’s digital camera to take a few pictures of her and her pet bird.

When we left my mother’s place, we went back to Jim and Donna’s house to prepare for an evening of fireworks. We finally were able to say "Hi" to Donna. She was home from work when we got back to the house. It is always nice to see her. She and Jim always make us feel right at home when we visit.

Kay’s mother wanted to go with us to see the fireworks display. Steven decided to go with us as well. The fireworks display is the traditional end to the annual Wichita River Festival. We headed for a place to view the display without having to deal with large crowds of people. We found a nice place about a mile and a half from ground zero. The show usually starts with a concert before the fireworks are launched. This gave us time to find a place before the fireworks display began.

To get things going, a B-1 bomber flies over at a low altitude and kicks in its afterburners. We saw the B-1 bomber climbing for the clouds while we were driving toward the display area. It was quite a sight. The big plane had dual blue, pointed plumes of fire pushing the aircraft at a steep angle into the sky. Dark storm clouds formed a very dramatic backdrop for the ascending aircraft.

We found a nice spot to view the show that turned out to be an excellent display. It was put on by the same team that did the fireworks show for the Statue of Liberty Centennial celebration. A local radio station played music that was synchronized to the show. Because we stayed back from ground zero, it was very easy to get back on the road after the show ended.

We took Lois home and continued on to Jim and Donna's house. Donna, Terry, Kay, and I set up lawn chairs in the front yard and visited until 12:30AM. While we were visiting, we watched for signs of thunderstorms. All we saw were a few very distant flashes in the clouds. Again the storm front passed us by. As we went to bed, a cool breeze was developing.