Back home again in IN

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Happy Labor Day weekend to you all! We had an interesting afternoon yesterday on our drive from Joliet to Kokomo, Indiana, where we are staying with Michelle & Kevin, Tom's sister and her husband. In Merrillville, IN we stopped at a candy factory, where we bought some goodies. I was enjoying some licorice taffy, and guess what? I lost one of my gold crowns. We called Michelle to get the number of her dentist. After several phone calls back and forth, I was able to get into the dentist's office, where he took an X-ray, checked out my tooth, and re-cemented my crown. How fortunate was that! Here it was, a Friday afternoon before a holiday weekend, and we were able to get it taken care of. That's one example of a how we've been blessed on our travels. We got an oil change (after all, we've driven 3500 miles by now), and a car wash; had to take it through the car wash twice in order to get all the bugs off. Michelle and Kevin wanted to take us to an Amish restaurant for breakfast for my birthday, but because it was closed for the holiday weekend, we ended up at the Cracker Barrel in Kokomo. As we were leaving, Tom felt a tap on his shoulder, and there stood his boyhood buddy Steve Groves. Needless to say, we stood there for almost an hour catching up. Another travel blessing! We are having a wonderful time relaxing and visiting with family. Tom enjoyed revisiting some places in his hometown, such as Ben, the world's biggest steer. We're leaving Monday morning for a stop-over in Cleveland on our way to Niagra Falls. Thank you for your birthday wishes. Hugs, Tom & Nancy

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