This is Old Bear ritin 2 U agin and I've been on 2 trips since I did my last ritin. The first trip wus in March 2 go see sumpn kalled The Painted Churches that are reel famous. Where we had to go to see the Painted Churches wus the town of Schulenberg which is a purty long way frum Dallas where we live. About 40 peoples got 2 go on a big coach and Mr. Byron wus the one who told us all bout where we were going and wat we wuld see. Here's the peoples on the coach and wen we stopped to go to the bathroom and eat kalachis in West.

They are mostly little churches that were bilt by peoples cumimin on boats frum wat is kalled the Old Country 2 live in Texus. That's why there are a hole lot of German and Czechoslovakian peoples in Texus. They are kalled painted churches cus the peoples who bilt them wanted them to be real purty so painted them up real nice on the inside. Most of them we visited were Catholic but the first one where we went wus Lutheran and it was The Church of the Wends. The Wends kame 2 this cuntry cus the boss peoples where they were wouldn't let them talk in Wendish which wus their special language.

It wus here that we had a reel gud lunch of noodles and saugsage and sauerkraut in a big eating place. The ladies of the church fixed it for us. Here I am with the cook lady and here is a pitcher of wat we had to eat. My man sed he don't hardly like noodles or sauerkraut but these that the Wend ladies cooked were really gud.

My man tuk a hole lot of pitchers on this trip but I can't show u all of them cus I want to rite about our trip to Ilnoise too.

Here's the courthouse in Schulenberg. Mr. Bryan who wus the tour leader told us lot of interesting stuff about counties in texus and how the county seat, the town where the court house wus, had to be where any citizen culd leave there farm after brekfust and drive to the courthouse in an oxcart, do their business and be back home by supper time.

This is the eatin place where we had our good lunch of noodles and sausage and sauerkraut and the museum building where we saw all kinds of interestin things that the Wendish peoples brought with them when they cum frum the Old Country.

There wus about 40 of us and after we ate we all went to the church 2 C wat it wus lyke. But me and my man went first to see an old timey cabin like this one where the Wend peoples lived after they cum 2 Texus.

It wus purty interestin and sew wus the church cept from the outside it didn't luk lyke much. But it shure wus different inside. There was a guide man in the church who told all about how the Wends cum to Texus and how they lived and how they built the church and he didn't get paid 4 doin guide stuff but jist lyked 2 tell peoples about it. Here are sum of the pitchers my man tuk with his ditchital kamra.

You kan C that I got 2 sit on the altar and pretend preach. You kan't C me but I got 2 get way up high in the pulpit 2.

We got to stay in a hotel in Schulenberg that night and the next day our coach driver tuk us to the Chamber of Commerce place where we met the lady guide who wus going 2 show us 4 other Painted Churches. I got 2 see a real cute baby kitty kat while we were waitin and my man picked him up and petted him. The other churches we saw were all Catholic churches and had lots of statues and paintings like I guess most Catholic churches du. I don't even know wat the names were or where they were but here are a few pitchers that my man tuk.

On the way bak to Dallas after seeing the Painted Churches we stopped in some little town to see a famous old timey general store for the ladies 2 du sum shoppin. We bought a big dish of ice cream and it shure did taste gud. Here we are out in front of the general store getting ready to get back on the coach for the trip home.

We tuk a longer trip to Illnoyze in April 2 visit my aunt Mary and my gramma who is in a nursing home. My man bought tickets on the Amtrak 4 us to Bloomington in Illinoyse. There wus lots of room on the train sew we got to have seats by ourselves and slept real gud. That's my picture at the top of this ritin wen I'm sittin in the Amtrak train. Here is wen we stopped in St. Louis for a few minutes.

Usually we go to Chicago and then to Kewanee where my aunt Mary lives but this time she drove up to Hudson in Illinois where aunt Judy and Uncle Marty live and they cum to meet us in Bloomington. That wus a real good idea cus Bloomington is where my bestust frend Samantha is frum. We didn't get 2 C her cus she's married now and a skool teacher in another town but my man fixed it so he culd have dinner with her momma and daddy. He sed they had a real gud meal at a Chinese buffet place. I don't hardly ever eat nuthin so I didn't go.

We stayed until the next day in the new house where Uncle Marty and Aunt Judy are living now in Hudson. It sure is nice. It's in a brand new part of town so there isn't many trees growin yet.

The inside of their house sure is nyce to and has lots of interestin things to see in in it. Aunt Judy showed us all around and it wus sort of lyke goin on a trip to Afriky cus Aunt Judy likes African stuff and she has a hole lot of it. Here's the bedroom where me and my man slept.

There wus pitchers of elephants and lions and other wild animals all around. Aunt Judy likes to paint pitchers and here's one she sed that she likes real good.

Here is Uncle Marty restin after he cum home frum wurk. U maybe kan see he isn't wearin his shoes. That's cus they have reel purty karpet and try to keep it reel clean by not wearin their shoes

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After we spent the night there we drove to Kewanee in Aunt Mary's new red car to stay a few days. We didn't do much cept go to the nursing home 3 tymes to have lunch with my gramma. She is in a wheel chair and has to be fed by sumbudy else so that's what Aunt Mary did. The home where my gramma lives is real nice and they treat her reel gud and they have gud food too. Here's one of the nurse ladies who helps take kare of my gramma and the other peoples who live there.

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My aunt Mary has a dog named Sadie who used to try to chew on me but don't do it anymore. And she has a bird named Sonny who mostly lives in a cage but sumtymes she lets him out to fly around. Here is my Aunt Mary with the bird on her shoulder. He's a purty gud bird even if he dus byte my man's fingers.

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My man went to church with Aunt Mary the Sunday we were there and met the the preacher man and his wife. Aunt Mary sez he is a real gud preacher.

We went back to Bloomington to catch the train back to Dallas and Mr. Paul and Miss Pat cum 2 see us off and sew did Sam's sister Caroline who cum home from kollege. It shure wus gud 2 C her.

The train wus reel crowded and stopped some tymes and I we didn't now why. Here's wen we stopped in Marshall, TX and got to get out and go see an old timey train station.

We were real tired wen we got home but it had been gud to go see my aunt Mary and my gramma even if she is purty sick.

Purty soon we are goin 2 fly on Southwest Airlines to New Orleans for 2 or 3 days and then in August we are goin 2 fly to Phoenix on Southwest for a convention and then in November we will get 2 go on another cruise. It's shure fun to travel even if it dus make one get tired.