A flood of postcards from the four corners

I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move.

-- Robert Louis Stevenson

Let's try to get caught up on your summer vacation travels, as relayed from your many, many postcards.

First, congratulations to Travis and Nita Doss , who celebrated their 50th anniversary with family in Hawaii, where the sunsets are "incredible."

Ernest and Martha Odom , of Evans, sent greetings from Germany and the Blue Danube River, where they enjoyed a river tour to Budapest, Hungary.

Suzanna Ashworth , of Grovetown, sent a postcard from her 30th high school reunion in Denver.

From farther northwest -- British Columbia -- comes a card from Bo and Daisy Herndon, Phyllis and Bill Barnette, and Martha and Gene Blackwell , from Aiken, and Ray and Sheri Hall, George and Wandra Hensley, and Bill and Eileen Boynton , from North Augusta, all traveling for 21 days and having a good time.

Another big group from Brandon Wilde was traveling through Oregon, Washington and Idaho. They are Jan Van Keuren, Evalyn Wilkinson, Beverly Dorn, Dorothy Jens , plus Augusta travelers.

Jan writes: "While cruising the three rivers of the Northwest, the Willamette, Columbia and the Snake, we visited the Tamastslikt Museum, where guides explained the lifestyles of our ancestors.

"The four virtues to be human are: bravery, fortitude, wisdom and generosity. Among the 80 passengers aboard are 19 members of the Quechan tribe of native Americans from Fort Yuma, Arizona. We are happy companions in this peaceful place."

Katrina, Tyler, Ashton Burton, Sandy, Emily Gunn and Myra Poole are enjoying the beach and seafood near Jacksonville.

Roxanne and Andy Davis enjoyed scuba diving on the Island of Bonaire, while Catherine Callahan was having a great time on the Cayman Islands.

Chelle Bailey sent a postcard from Jamaica, where she wrote: "Thirty high school kids and adults are here from Trinity-on-the-Hill United Methodist Church on a mission trip. We taught vacation Bible school in a remote mountain community called Preston Lane. Such beautiful, kind, well-behaved kids!"

TODAY'S JOKE: Here's another one shared by Everett Fernandez .

It seems a Sunday school teacher was testing the children to see if they understood the concept of getting to heaven. She asked them, "If I sold my house and my car, had a big garage sale and gave all my money to the church, would that get me into heaven?"

"NO!" the children answered.

"If I cleaned the church every day, mowed the yard, and kept everything neat and tidy, would that get me into heaven?" she asked.

Again, the answer was, "NO!"

By now she was starting to smile, thinking she had gotten the message across. "Well, then, if I was kind to animals and gave candy to all the children, and loved my husband, would that get me into heaven?" she asked them.

Again, they all answered, "NO!"

"Well," she continued, "then how can I get into heaven?"

A 5-year-old boy shouted out, "YOU GOTTA BE DEAD!"

Reach Bill Kirby at (706) 823-3344 or bill.kirby@augustachronicle.com.