Sunday, September 13, 2009

A Trip To Walmart



My sister Eleanor Stevens riding Rose's Morning Glory in the barn at Van Bert Farms. Morning Glory is one of those horses anyone can ride and be safe. H T offered her a ride on Morning Glory and before you could turn around twice, she was on and riding. And may I add loving it. As you can see by the smile on her face.

Stanton Kentucky is under construction on the roads in the city and we had to make a detour to get to Abner's Motel where we were staying during the World Show. It has been a real hassle for everyone. Van Berts had some trouble going through the detour with their loads of horses. And even bottomed out one or more times.

It has been a most inconvenient time for the state to be in a reconstruction project and having the road closed that leads to the Van Bert Farm and to Abner's Motel. But progress is always inconvenient it seems. Van Berts do not like to leave horses in unfamiliar stalls during horse shows if not necessary so they made a lot of trips back and forth to the UMH grounds near Winchester. And many trips though construction and detours with their trailers loaded with horses.

The classes didn't always start early at the World Show and one day we (Eleanor and I) got up and decided we wanted to go to Walmart at Mt Sterling. Judy Brummer had said she had gone to Walmart in Mt Sterling and Vera also mentioned it so we decided we would go to Mt Sterling. Now let me say this, I am not very familiar with the cities and towns in that part of Kentucky. I live near Louisville and I can find almost anything in that city but Mt Sterling, Paris, Lexington and Winchester and yes Mt Sterling are all foreign soil to me.

I have onstar in my Silverado but what to heck. It is not as satisfying as finding something on my own when I have enough time to explore a little. It is like going into a store and trying to locate an item I need. I seldom ask. I like to look around and I often find something that I forgot I needed. When you are not certain of where you are going out in the country, you will see a lot of sights and places you might have missed otherwise.

I remember the time Bill and I brought Mike's car home to Kentucky from Texas when he was deploying to Iraq the first time. We had rented a car to drive to Kileen and made arrangements to leave it at the car rental in Austin which was near the airport. We got to Kileen and found Mike's apartment and met up with him. The next day we took him to work and drove both cars to Austin to turn the rental in.

Bill always liked for me to drive because I have a better sense of direction. Again coming back from Austin there was a lot of construction coming from the airport to the freeway I knew would take us back to Kileen. I missed the entrance ramp and although I could see the freeway, I could not get back on. So I kept driving. Bill didn't like to miss chances to tell me I had messed up because it happened so seldom. (I hear you laughing Mary Beth and you stop it). But I contended I was taking the scenic route back to Kileen. We drove for some time and finally he decided he was hungry and would probably die of starvation if I didn't find some place to eat soon. He could get rather dramatic when he was hungry.

As luck would have it, I pulled in to the parking lot of a restaurant, a little hole in the wall place actually, that served maybe the best hamburgers in all of Texas. So the lesson there and one I haven't forgotten is even if I am temporary side tracked something good may come of it. It didn't take much longer from there to find the entrance to the freeway and Bill had one of the best hamburgers he had ever eaten.

So once again, I figure sooner or later I can find most anything I want so we set out for Mt Sterling. I had seen the sign on the Mt Parkway at Clay City pointing the way to Mt Sterling as being a right at that exit. So I took the right. I watched for additional signs and saw none so I kept on the same road figuring we were going in the right direction. We drove for some time. I thought we were getting into Mt Sterling when I started seeing businesses along the way. I commented that they had a Kroger in Mt Sterling too.

We next passed a funeral home and I commented that it was the same name as the funeral home in Stanton and they must have more than one location. Then we got to the stop light and Eleanor said with utter disbelief that Mt Sterling was as torn up as Stanton. The street going to our right and left was torn up and traffic was at a standstill as they moved equipment back and forth. I didn't know for sure which way to turn so I made a guess and turned left. As soon as I made the turn, I started laughing. I said to Eleanor, " We are back in Stanton!"

We both had a really good laugh about that as did our friends at the horse show when we related the story to them.

I made several turns through Stanton and got back on the same road that had taken us into Stanton and I watched along the side roads until I did find a sign pointing us in the direction of Mt Sterling. We found the Walmart. Eleanor went roaming through the store while I was looking for what I needed. She found her favorite brand of jeans in the store. And even better they were half price. See how that works.

Next time we might just go to a different Walmart and see some different scenery. It is no telling what we will find. We may just find the restaurant that serves the best hamburger in Kentucky.

Until next time.

May your routes always be scenic. And may God keep you in his loving and tender care.

Regards

Mary

"How wonderful it is that nobody needs to wait a single moment before starting to improve the world."

~~Anne Frank~~

And the unltimate improvement in the world was:

For God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

John 3: 16

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