Our Trip

Rita and I decided to take a short retreat for a week since she was feeling so much better after her surgery. She is waiting for her radiation therapy now scheduled for May 30th this month. Our choice was to take a leisurely drive down to the Smoky Mountains and use some of our time share points to stay at Bentwood Creek Resort. The weather has been really nice this year and the mild temperatures continued during our whole trip. We had lots of nice days to enjoy the Tennessee cooking and sit by the many creeks and streams in the Park area. The town of Gatlinburg was a nice distraction from the big city of Pittsburgh and the crowds were thin and the restaurants not crowded. One of the best days we had was to walk the streets of Gatlinburg and end up in the Smoky Mountain Park area and just sit and enjoy the sounds of the rushing streams and end the day by the fireplace at our condo time share. Rita progressed enough during the stay that when she came home she spoke to her employer about perhaps coming back for a week and one half before her radiation therapy. After talking to her doctor and the disability carrier it created too many problems going off disability and returning so soon again for her therapy. The therapist wants Rita to rest for several weeks to make sure that she does not have any brain swelling from the therapy before evaluating her return to work. We are so glad though that she felt well physically and mentally enough to consider the option of going back to work temporarily. The LORD has been so good to us as we have worked our way through her treatments. It will be wonderful to finish the next stage and look forward to resuming our lives without so much medical interaction. Our time was so relaxed we spent each day reading our Bible lessons and reflecting on how GOD uses our difficulties to bring us closer to HIM.

"Hold fast to Christ and He will give

The will to see you through;

And if you keep on keeping on

Your strength He will renew."

I have included some pictures from our trip location. What a tranquil place.