Seeing the Sites

I will warn you all that this edition of Karen’s blog is written by Ken. Karen has assigned me the task of keeping her blog updated while she’s in the hospital. I’m doing this edition under her direction so I am sure I have the process down and don’t make any mistakes.

Karen mentioned in her last entry that I was off to get a rental car so we could see some of the local sites. First, I want to say that we are thankful to have had some down time between the barrage of lab work, scans, poking, prodding earlier this week and the surgical procedure that will take place tomorrow.

Friday, we drove to NASA’s Johnson Space Center for a tour. We were both quite impressed with all there was to see and even got to see some astronauts practicing in the mock-up building. The tour includes several displays and screen presentations as well as a tram tour to several buildings. Our total time there was about four or five hours. I would recommend the tour to anyone who happens to be visiting Houston.

Following our tour we drove to Galveston. We were warned by a Houston local that Galveston is not much to look at and the beaches are “muddy”. We actually had considered not going because of the less-than-glowing recommendation. Karen’s plea to see the Gulf of Mexico won out and we drove the extra miles so we could both say, “I’ve seen the Pacific, Atlantic, Caribbean, and Gulf of Mexico”. I know it’s not much of a list considering all the seas, oceans, and other bodies of water there are in this world but we will take what we can get. Let’s get back to Galveston. We found the sea wall to be a wonderful place to visit. The temperatures were in the mid-eighties and several surfers and swimmers were out and enjoying the water. Okay, so the water was not blue. We still enjoyed dining at a restaurant across from the sea wall with a view of the Gulf while we ate.

Saturday, we did drive to San Antonio. Originally we had received some misinformation that San Antonio was a five hour drive from Houston. Thankfully some people corrected us on that so we started out early and endured the, “…three hour tour. The weather started getting rough, the tiny ship was tossed. If not for the courage of the fearless crew… ”. Okay, I got off track there a bit. The drive to San Antonio took three hours. While there, we toured The Alamo and walked the River Walk. The River Walk was everything we had ever heard about and more. The boat tour helped us get to the parts we wouldn’t have walked to and also provided the history behind it’s development. The return drive to Houston also took three hours (no surprise). I can’t say much about the Texas countryside. Close to San Antonio we got an occasional rise in the road along with a low spot or two. The rest of the drive was flat with some flatter areas thrown in.

Today, Sunday, we found a church to visit and offered praise and thanks to God for all He has done and is doing for us. The church, 1st Baptist Church of Houston, was on the order of Overlake Christian Church as far as size goes. The church was of interest to Karen because Beth Moore, Women’s Bible Study author and speaker, attends there. Karen thought it would be nice to see her. Well she did. “Ken, there’s Beth Moore!”, she whispered. Sure enough, there she was. She looks just like she does on the DVD’s from her study materials. Karen wanted to walk up and say hello but chose to respect her Sunday of worship.

Tomorrow’s the big day. Karen checks in at 7:30 AM, with the procedure scheduled for 9:30 AM. We are hopeful for a beneficial outcome but recognize that God is the one with the plan and our role is simply to give Him praise and glorify Him regardless. We thank all of you for your continued prayers. The next blog entry will be my report to you following the surgery. Talk to you again tomorrow …

Ken