August 2010 Update from Uplands
Greetings from Tennessee – the Volunteer State! After our townhouse in North Carolina was on the market for 5 months, it sold! With the market in its current state, we feel very fortunate. As planned, we downsized some of our ‘stuff’, closed on July 30th, hired the moving truck packed and headed for Uplands Village located in Pleasant Hill, Tennessee which is about 75 miles west of Knoxville. There are several towns named ‘Pleasant Hill’ in Tennessee; Uplands Village is in the one located in Cumberland County (about 20 miles into the Central Time Zone) and is on the Cumberland Plateau which is one of the highest elevations between the Smokies and the Rockies at about 2,000 ft.
Because of the house sale, we completed only 4 months (instead of 6) at our last volunteer assignment at Franklinton Center in eastern NC. We left feeling good about the work that we accomplished. Hopefully, the staff will make good use of the improved and updated database.
While deciding on our housing options (house or condo) we are renting a two bedroom apartment at Uplands Village. There are several places available and plan to explore the options carefully before making a final selection.
David, Christy, Ashley and Drew are now a bit further away (was 100 and now 300 miles) but we’ll continue to visit frequently. It’s about a 5 ½ hr drive from Pleasant Hill to Charlotte. They are all planning on a trip to Disneyworld on the 14th of August and are using one of our timeshare weeks. Mary is flying down to Orlando on the 17th to help watch Drew. At 18 months, he’s a ball of fire. They will all drive back and Bill will meet them in Charlotte. Their family is celebrating a healthy year for Ashley who is very fond of anything to do with princesses; Magic Kingdom here they come!
Cindi, Mike, Sawyer, Brynne and Luke are now a little closer (was 1200 and now 800 miles). In mid July we flew to Texas to see everyone for a week. They are all involved as usual. Sawyer and Luke (and Mike) are still into motorcross racing and both boys play football. We took Brynne for a trip to San Antonio to see the Alamo as well as other sites. Their small ranch now has 2 horses: Zip and Rebel; we watched Sawyer and Luke ride them around the property. Brynne competed in the National Jump Rope Contest in Galveston. There were hundreds of competitors from around the country and she placed 3rd in two events against a large field.
Many have asked us if we still plan on volunteering now that we’ve moved. Actually, while in Texas we met with the director of a camp and conference center in New Braunfels, Texas, and are committed to volunteering there Jan-Mar of 2011. It’s ‘only’ about 200 miles from Cindi and family.
For your information, our new permanent address:
PO Box 295
Pleasant Hill, TN 38578-9998
We have the same email address: williamruth@hotmail.com and
the same cell phone number, (336) 684-2381.
We’ve secured a local land line phone number: (931) 277- 5231.
We still plan some trips to NC to see family and friends, finish up some dental work and attend Elon University Homecoming.
Let us hear from you. Until next time.
