My Trip to Paris, etc.

Well, first of all, the date on this post is a little deceptive. I started working on this as a draft on Aug 12 and then I got a little busy and wasn't able to finish it for posting until Aug 17. (not to mention that sometimes I am kinda OCD)

I told you on July 25 that I was "away from home". The entire truth is that I was traveling for work. What I didn't say on the blog was where I went. My employer sent me on a business trip to (insert fanfare) world famous Paris!!

Thats right, folks. I spent 5 days and 4 nights practically in the shadow of that world famous tower. I even took pictures with my cellphone to prove it!


(Thats a piece of one of my digits there in the bottom right of the photograph. I had to get in the picture somehow :-)
I realize that some of you have probably only seen the famed tower in movies but now you can say that you have a friend that has walked right underneath that most famous edifice of all - "The Tower in Paris Texas".

(I'll give you a minute to recover from the "celebrity shock" )

On the afternoon of Friday, July 28, I told you that my mom contacted me earlier that morning to tell me of the death of my Uncle.
This sad news also necessitated travel, as the funeral was several hundred miles from my home.

My parents left Saturday morning and my wife and daughter and I set out Sunday morning after church. On the advice of a good friend, instead of taking the big interstate highways we stuck to a smaller, older road that wound through small towns. This turned out to be really good advice because by missing the traffic in the larger metropolitan areas, we saved a good bit of time on the trip. Not to mention the fact that the scenery was nicer and we got to see some cool places that none of us had ever seen before.

I even saw this guy while I was waiting in line at a gas station.

When we arrived at our destination, pop already had a nice room for us.

The funeral was scheduled for Monday afternoon so we did some "family tree" sightseeing Monday morning during these few hours that we had so far away from home.

We went back to the house where my dad grew up - because of its "out of the way" location it hasn't been torn down and now it sits completely empty and unused. But don't get the picture in your head of some 'storybook cottage' tucked away just waiting to be swooped up. The house was being used as a storage barn in the mid eighties and the only thing that remains "structurally sound" is the chimney. That chimney will probably be standing long after I'm gone.

Anyway, pop took us to see his old school, too. Actually, he took us to see where his old school used to be.

Now all thats left is a pasture, a marker and the steps into the "schoolyard".

Daughter with marker. (Pasture in background)







Steps.
Pop grew up here because my grandfather was a "yard boss" for Total.

Total Pipeline Corporation has named one of their pumping stations for him.

Here is pop, daughter and me. (I can't remember if mom or wife took the picture but they were both there)

If you count the sign as proxy for grandpa then this would be a picture of four generations of Bivens.

I "painted out" the emergency contact number before posting the picture. (my friends are such comedians that I don't want to give them any ideas) The actual sign is in great shape.

Wife and I came back alone, (leaving daughter with granny and abuelo for a day or two) and, after seeing all the remaining family in the area, we started our return trip Monday evening.

South of Fort Worth, Texas I was excited to see a sign that said "Glen Rose". I didn't have any idea that we were gonna be that close to Glen Rose. I have wanted to visit the Creation Evidence Museum ever since I first heard of it (many) years ago. It was worth the admission fee for wife and I ($2 each).
Here I am sporting my "Young Life February Fling" t-shirt.

This intriguied me. It says
The Petrified Rose
Description: This is a man-made rose manufactured out of paper. The rose was then immersed in natural water from the hot-springs in Karlovy Vary (Czech Republic) for about 14 days. As a result, a layer of "rock", called aragonite, has built up on the rose. True petrification results when all of the original material of a once living organism has been replaced with minerals. Petrified wood is true petrification. This rose, however, demonstrates that rock formation can happen rapidly. The next time someone says it takes millions of years for rocks and fossils to form, show them your "petrified" rose.

hm.... who do I know that believes in old rocks....